Monthly Archives: March 2012
Dressing For Your Figure – Clothes That Flatter
It’s been fun seeing all the spring fashions come out lately. All the bright colors, the fun patterns, and of couse peep toe heels are back in action now that the snow is gone! But amidst all the sunshine and sundresses, most of us are a little self-concious about certain parts of our bodies. Maybe it’s our belly, our butt, our legs, our arms, etc. So when it comes to dressing your body for spring wear, I wanted to help you look and feel your very best.
I present to you, dressing up for your figure. Clothes that flatter all types of bodies!
No lie, this is how I determine what I’m going to wear each day. The thought runs through my head, “What are we trying to avoid showing most today?” And you know what, that’s okay! None of us are perfect, that’s for sure. So why not learn to dress to flatter your shape the most?
Of course, we all know that black is slimming and vertical stripes are as well. Don’t go with something ‘too busy’ in patterns, but feel free to experiment with what makes your body look great! Because there is something out there that is going to make you say, “Yes. I look great!” So find that, use that, and perfect that and you’re on your way to a lovely style made just for you.
Do you use any tricks when you’re getting dressed? I’d love to hear them!
Hearts,
Ruby
The Housewives Join The Walmart Bake-Off Spark! YUM.
Get ready guys, because this blog post is going to going to make you hungr
y. We are not responsible for watering mouths, enlarged eyes, or rumbling tummies. With that being said, here we go!!!
First off, you should know about the website, Bakeoff.com that is filled with yummy recipes no matter what you are looking for. Quick dinners, appetizers, breakfasts/brunches, or my personal favorite, desserts. So it’s no surprise that I found an incredible recipe for desserts on this website that I decided to give a whirl!
Of course, I am all about coupons – so before I went to get all my ingredients (all 7 of them) I headed to find some coupons at Walmart’s Everyday Saver page.
Now, of course – I will share this recipe with you because it was DIVINE. I tested it out on one of my very good friends, a fellow coffee-lover, and she LOVED it. That’s when I knew I had a winning recipe on my hand. So here you go, you should probably bookmark this page asap because you will want to try this.
Cappuccino Toppers
Recipe straight from Bakeoff.com
Ingredients:
- 1 package Pillsbury® Ready to Bake!™ refrigerated oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
- 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons instant cappuccino coffee mix
- 1 1/2 cups frozen (thawed) whipped topping (4 oz)
- 1/4 cup Hershey’s® mini chips semi-sweet chocolate baking chips
- 2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles
Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 48 mini muffin cups with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Cut each cookie in half; press each half into bottom of mini muffin cup.
Bake 6 to 9 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes in pans. With knife, remove cookies from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and cappuccino mix with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gently fold in whipped topping and mini chips.
Spoon or pipe mixture onto each cookie (if piping, fit decorating bag with star tip with 3/4-inch opening). Top each with sprinkles. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. Store covered in refrigerator.
If you need high altitude directions, you can find them here.
My Modifications:
My Walmart didn’t have the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies available, but they did have the chocolate chunk cookies that looked equally yummy so we went with that.
I used Maxwell House’s mocha blend for the cappuccino.
Reddi-Wip’s fat-free whipped cream was used as my whipped cream on top. It was nummy!!
Finished Product
So are you ready to see the final product? Of course you are! Here are the yummy treats…
Just try and tell me that you don’t want some! 
Hubby even loved them. And the coffee flavor really came through, I was impressed!
Disclosure: The gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by Walmart and General Mills, through MyBlogSpark.
Now guess what, our lovely readers!! We have been given the opportunity to give away a $25 Walmart gift card to one of you! Who wouldn’t want that?
Here’s how to win your $25 Walmart gift card!
Winner will be drawn using Random.org for a random winner. For EACH entry – leave a separate comment. That is your ticket to more entries! There are numerous ways to enter, so take advanage of that! Read on for the methods of entry.
- Visit Bakeoff.com and come back to comment which recipe you’d like to try.
- Check out Everyday Saver and browse the coupons that are available. (This is a good time to print some off for your next shopping trip!) – leave a comment saying you did so.
- Like Walmart on Facebook – then leave a comment here on our blog saying you did so.
- Follow Walmart on Twitter – then leave a comment here on our blog saying you did so.
- Like the Real Housewives of MN on Facebook – come back and leave a comment saying you did so.
- Follow the Real Housewives of MN on Twitter – come back and leave a comment to say you did so.
Best of luck to all of you guys! We can’t wait to give one of you this very nice gift! Contest ends at 5pm on March 30, 2012. Contest has ended!
Congratulations to Mari (marisquared)!
Hearts,
Ruby
Words of Praise: Stay-at-home Moms
I often get comments about how impressed people are that I am able to work full time while having a baby. While I appreciate the kind words, I’m realizing more and more how impressed I am by moms that are moms full time. I am currently on a break which has thrown me into reality as a full-time mom, temporarily. I feel stupid saying this, but 13 months in to motherhood, it is really hard for me to handle a baby for an entire day by myself. I am used to seeing my little one for a couple hours a day, mostly when my husband is also around to help me. I am used to being able to only worry about myself and what I need to do. Then being able to do it when I need to. Well, life at home with a toddler is totally opposite and the transition hit me like a ton of bricks! This is me putting my pride away and admitting it.
So here are my words of praise for stay-at-hoe moms: I admire your selflessness. I admire your ability to juggle a hundred things at once. I’m impressed by your confidence to decide that being a mom and taking care of your baby full time is the right decision for you. And having been on both sides of stay-at-home status, my hat goes off to your strength.
Love,
Macy
What’ve You Been Up To?
Remember your memories
Last night when I was getting my sweat on at the gym, I noticed a man walk in who looked really familiar. After the double take, I realized it was my old varsity coach and high school teacher.
High school, which was about 7-8 years ago, seems like it was just yesterday. But when he stopped by my treadmill to say hello, he asked me a very common, but potentially interesting question.
“What’ve you been up to?”
Well like I said, high school was quite a few years back and so it’s been a while since I’d seen, or even talked to him. Have you had this happen to you? Usually when I talk to Macy and ask her what she’s been up to, it’s a matter of working out, or hanging out with her little one and husband, etc. But where would do you even start when someone asks you a question that ranges almost 10 years?
No really, what would you say?
How would you answer?
I never realized how much can happen in 7-8 years. As I started to list off all the things that I’d done, and what I’m doing now, my husband jogged silently a couple treadmills down (mine had a better tv, so I opted to run separately) And after I’d listed off my college degree, latest job, new home, and new husband, I started to realize this was a very loaded question.
After we made a few more bits of small talk, he walked away, and I jogged on. But I couldn’t help but thinking – there’s so much that happens in our lives. So much that happens everyday that we don’t even notice is happening.
What if someone walked up to you and asked you what you’ve done in the last ten years? What points would stand out to you?
More importantly, when those points were in-the-moment, did you realize how precious they’d be? Maybe some were obvious (births, weddings, etc.) but maybe others that stand out to you, weren’t really a big deal at the time.
SOOOO… my message here is this; just stop for a second. What’s going on around you? Enjoy it, and make it memorable. Because someday someone is going to ask you, ‘What have you been up to?’ and you can smile back on these good times knowing that you really did enjoy them, and they didn’t just fly by unnoticed.
It’s a round-about tale, but I had a good moral to my story, no?
Hearts forever,
Ruby
DIY Nike Plus Pocket
A couple weeks ago, I told you guys that I got a new pair of running shoes! I was pumped. They were cute, they were pink, and they had nike plus! If you’re not familiar with nike plus, what it is is a chip that goes into the sole of your shoes that acts as like a pedometer that tracks how far you run, how fast you ran, and how many calories you burned. It’s awesome.
There’s only one problem – I ended up not liking the shoes as much as I initially had. The heels were too high and they rubbed when I did my dance classes. So I took them back. Well I love the nike plus, so I didn’t want to get rid of that, however I don’t have any shoes now that are nike plus compatible.
I had to do something.
So of course, I took to my sewing machine and my ideas. I decided I was going to put together my own little nike plus pocket! So here’s how it went:
DIY Nike Plus Pocket
1. Cut your fabric into the size needed to fit your nike plus chip. You’ll want to first sew the velcro onto the fabric so that you won’t have to try and sew it by hand from the inside once the pocket is formed. You’ll want the velco to secure the pocket tight enough so that your nike plus chip will fit inside and stay secure.
2. Create a little pocket that fits around your nike plus chip by sewing it much like a pillow (but much smaller).
3. Create your strap according to your shoe size. You’ll want the fabric to wrap under your laces and velcro together on top of your laces.
4. Attach your velcro to this strap so that it will stick tightly together on top of your laces.
5. Secure your pocket to the end of your strap. Voila!!
Tip: Make sure that your strap fits tightly before you attach the velcro. You don’t want a loose plus pocket!
Let me know if you make one, I’d love to see your guys work!
Hearts,
Ruby
