{ Housewife Confessions of the Wannabe Chef: Pillsbury's Funfetti Cake. }

Although an abundance of my cooking is gourmet and made from scratch, about 90% of the time. Sometimes a girl just needs a sweet, little break. Even gourmet housewives, a matter of fact!

A childhood favorite: Pillsbury's Funfetti Cake!

{ Gourmet Tip. }

A great way to add scrumptious flavor is by zesting a large lemon. Trust me a little bit of lemon equals a whole lota heaven!!

{ Getting Started!! }

I hope everyone had a wonderful week by adjusting to day lights savings. My internal clock kicked in and didn't want to lose my extra hour of sleep. To me, that's a lot to take away. My husband still laughs at me when there's 2 minutes before I have to get up and I will take advantage of every second of those 2 minutes.

Last Sunday, {heaven forbid my lack of sleep}; my Dad and Suzanne came over to help me paint our guest bedroom down stairs. {Same color as our master bedroom.} It was fun to learn how to paint the 'right way'. Some talent my Father neglected to pass genetically to me, along with his patience. I swear the man can do it all.

After painting, I was explaining my decorating ideas to my Dad and my thoughts of hiring help to paint the majority what's left of the house. Why not paint it myself? I have high vaulted ceilings and I'm a poor painter. I might be a fantastic cook; however, I am woman enough to admit when I suck incredibly at something.

Getting to the main point, my Dad offered that he would paint for me! I would pay for his time {a fraction of what a profesional painter would charge}and labor. What a deal!

I'm still looking for colors, fortunately, I have found some favorites. In the time being, I do have some colors I would like to do for a certain spot in the house. I have selected colors from {Pottery Barn.} 

I LOVE all the color palettes in this fan deck!

While looking at different colors and such, I began looking at the {Pottery Barn Catalog}and found some chic chandeliers.

Amanda's Note of Honesty: {I'll probably end up purchasing them, I do love them that much!}

Camilla 6-Arm Chandelier.

Perfect for our dining area.

And yes, I did say chandeliers...meaning...yes, buying 2 chandeliers.

Wine Bottle Chandelier.

I know, I know, pretty dang sweet.

Cal and I are planning putting a bar area in our basement.

This under a mahogany card table, cocktails and good friends, can't get any better than that.

Not to mention I love wine!

Let me know what you think!

{ Photo Credit. }

{ Guilty Pleasures Tuesdays. }

Some of my Guilty Pleasures for this week...

Dancing with the Stars: Kate Gosselin

You can't help but to be annoyed by her.

{This might sound mean: I hope she falls on her face.}

DVR = The Good Life

Nordstrom Rack: Smell the deals baby!

My mother-in-law and I just checked out the NR in MG, MN. Believe me, designer heaven.

{You just have to dig!}

CBS: The Good Wife

My ultimate favorite show!

Chilly: The North Face Fleece

Keeps me warm while my naughty pooch drags me everwhere in the neighborhood.

{I bought mine at Cabelas, try digging in their Bargin Barn.}

 Purchase mine for $59.99, Orignially $165.00. A steal!

Real Housewifes of New York City: My Husband hates it!

{Drama, drama!}

{ With Love, Meggie Mayhem. }

So, this past month has been pretty crazy for us Smiths. LITERALLY! Cal was promoted, his highest position thus far. I am so proud of him and so incredibly grateful for the things he does to support our family. Myself, after two long years trying to make headway into a desired career path with a certain company, finally, I was able to interview and was offered THE JOB! That's right, makin' big girl money now! It applies to the degree I'll be graduating with and learning those crucial - new skill sets before completing college. A few months before 2009 was towards its end, I prayed to God everyday to help follow the right path and find the job that I have always wanted. I cherish how fortunate I am and will not take anything for granted.

Lastly but not least, Meggie Mae. Yes, Meggie has progressed into a fine healthy young dog. However, we believe her behavior has gotten the worst of her. My Mom calls it "She's in her terrible twos!" Yeah -- terrible twos my ass. It's like this oh-so sweet puppy has the devil in her. Meggie right now is 8 months and I cannot wait for this devilish chewing, biting, jumping and acting obnoxious stage ends in a few months. Unfortunately, that's me dreaming. Yes, of course it's nice she's not pissing and pooping all over the place but c'mon {!!!} the poor manners has gots to go. We still do the daily trainings and dominance trainings with her. Nevertheless, I think we need some help. After Meggie's embarrassing behavior at her photo shoot, which I won't get into details because that's a page or two long just to explain; I've been pricing out dog trainers for private lessons and boarding schools. And, I hope whomever we pick will indeed help us with Meggie's challenging behavior.

For some of my previous posts explaining Meggie being out of her crate alone for a few hours is out of the question now. This past month her 'Terrible Twos' avenged out on us, she's an 8 month old puppy who gets bored very easily.

This is what happens to naive and not so smart pup-parents:

 

This is our foyer. 

I don't know how she managed to do it but I'm sure after hearing me say a million times that I hate these ugly floors, she probably thought she was doing me a huge favor. 

Be careful what you wish for.

She also chewed up our foyer rug.
I was too embarrassed to take a photo of it, although here's the new one. 

Do you like?

 

  

My jewelry armoire. 

She did this while we were sleeping. 

Luckily, it was practically free -- I won it at work. 

Yet, still not good.

Here's the recent photo of this now kenneled at-all-times princess:

  

Good thing she's cute and nothing she destroyed was from Pottery Barn. 

Goodnight.