Summer Guest Blogger Friday! Nikki of My Fantabulous Wonderful Life

Thank you to Nikki of My Fantabulous Wonderful Life for being our first Summer Guest Blogger.  You know how much I love a made up word and she used one in her blog title which makes her freaking awesome in my book.  Y'all be nice and go over and say hello to her!  I have just TWO spots left for this summer guest blogging series, if YOU {don't be a wimp} are interested shoot me an email!


Hey All, I'm Nikki and I'm so totally new at this whole bloggin thing!!! I was completely honored that Michelle asked me to come be a guest over here because I totally heart her blog....A LOT!!!

I like to consider myself as a xanax popping, vodka drinking (it's actually raspberry tea most of the time but vodka sounds so much more bad ass), photo taking (or as some like to call me... the lady who blinds all the kids), husband loving, baby adoring, potty mouthed bad ass mama!!!! I'm obsessed with my family, I have the best parents and siblings and wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for each and every one of them!!!

I started blogging after my little Miss Mia was born as a way to journal for her and for me. It was my outlet at the time. So I started last October and maybe wrote one post a month for the first 3 or 4 months. All of a sudden I started reading more mommy blogs and became obsessed with them....they inspired me....they made me want to find some part of my so called creative side and write and be myself and share my stories about me and my crazy ass family and share my photos because I love my little peeps!! I want to be able to look back at all my posts and feel proud of what I wrote and know that I WAS myself....the good, the bad and the random!!!

I try to write like I think and like I talk....and that means a little bit of potty mouth shows up here and there so beware...I've warned you....I'm not the most lady like gal you'll meet...at least when it comes to the trucker mouth because I love me my mascara and my Coach...that's pretty lady like...isn't it???

Not wanting to bore you all with more ramblings I'll share something with you all that I'm planning on making this weekend just because it's summery and...well....delicious and I really just want to!!! And the fact of the matter is is I really do fuckin (see...there it is) love vodka!!

Raspberry Flirtini


* You need a shaker...if you don't have a shaker like I don't just use some plastic cups (pretty classy huh??)
* Fill with ice
* Raspberry Vodka - pour count of about 10 or however much you want!
* Cranberry Juice - a couple shots
* Pineapple Juice - a couple splashes (don't you just love these measurements?)
* Champagne - Fill the rest of the shaker/cup up with this.


Shake and served chilled. In the bottom of your glass add a small handful of frozen raspberries!!!


These are obviously not the greatest measurements so just go with it!!! Make it your own!!! Have fun with it because I'm tellin ya, it's delicious and it will totally knock you on your ass if your not careful!!!

Happy Drinking and relaxing and thank you for letting me stop by!!!!

World, Meet 6 1/2 Year Old Me.

Won't you take a trip back to 1982 with me this fine Thursday morning?

Meet Michelle, she's sassy & apparently not very nice {I'm guessing Lyndsey was the recipient of most of these hits} and also a "gifted" artist that is gender-blind...

Some things have changed...

And some things have not...

Apparently, I was also a 6 1/2 year old badass...

I never remembered wanting to be a nurse when I was little... it was always an actress or a singer, but apparently 6 1/2 year old me disagrees.

Finnegan has his own My Book About Me awaiting him, a gift from his Aunt Lyndsey at my baby shower.  That is how much of an impact it made on us as children.  We both have held on to them for 25+ years and still remember completing them, it was the first thing she purchased for my baby shower.  You can get your own right here for your child, I promise you it will be the best $10 you have ever spent.  You can certainly fill it in for your child if they haven't learned to write, but I'll tell you, seeing my hilarious handwriting {there are several entries where I needed to erase and start over} makes it even more fun.

What did you want to be when you grew up?  Did you have a My Book About Me?

Blog Tips.

I read a lot of blogs.  I have a Reader that is perpetually chock full of fun stuff. 

The one thing I didn't like about using Google Reader, was that it took the personalization of visiting the site out of the equation but, thanks to this cool Google Reader trick from Working Woman, I now have a solution to that.  I am not kidding when I say, if you use Google Reader, go over there right now and check out her post, it will change your life.

Ok, so now I am back to visiting your actual blog and my commenting is easier because I'm already there so I find myself commenting more.  More comments = awesome, no?  Please please please nest your comments under the post rather than having a pop up box for them.  Pop up boxes also deter from those reading your blog on a smaller device {Blackberry, iPhone, etc...} from commenting.

Which reminds me, if you are on Blogger and you have your email hidden, we bloggers that WANT to respond to you via email can't do so.  It sends a dreaded noreply-comment@blogger.com message when I hit reply.  I wrote this post on how to fix it.  Do it.  Do it now so I can flood your inbox with my drivel.

One last request... and this one is a biggie.  Take the music off your blog.  Pretty please.  It usually slows down the page load.  It is not good for your readers who are at work and not doing actual work covertly reading your blog to have music start blasting out of the speakers.  Not everyone loves Barenaked Ladies as much as I you do {or insert your music choice here} at 7 am... or even at noon.  Have you ever heard the sound eminating from your laptop when you have three windows open with three different blogs that also have music?   There is nothing like a mashup of Christian rock, Prince, and Jay-Z.  That right there is an episode of Glee I don't want to see.

So there you go, my bloggy notes for everyone.  Feel free to add your own in the comments... or tell me to fuck off because you like your music, your comments in a pop-up, and your hidden email.  It's ok, I can take it. 

Happy Wednesday! 

Grilled Pizza

Did you know that you can turn your grill into an outdoor pizza oven?  Fantastic for keeping the heat out of the kitchen and for enjoying the tastes of summer on yummy fire grilled pizza.  It is also super easy and faster to put together & have ready than delivery.

Preheat the grill for about 10 minutes... meanwhile, prepare your pizza. 

We used a premade pizza crust, we've also had great success with making pizza dough in the breadmaker and using that for calzones on the grill, but for something quick you can't beat premade. 

Top with pizza sauce, your favorite toppings, & cheese.  Here we used pepperoni, chopped mushrooms, fresh basil, and a little drizzle of olive oil.  I can't wait for the heirloom tomatoes to come in so I can make Dave a pizza with buffalo mozzerella, fresh basil, and fresh tomato.

It is one of my new favorite summer recipes and if you have lots of differing pizza opinions in your house, buy the personal size and let everyone make their own!  I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine.