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POSTED BY: Stefanie LaSalle "...users can take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a controlled list of recipients. These sent photographs and videos are known as "Snaps". Users set a time limit for how long recipients can view their Snaps (as of April 2014, the range is from 1 to 10 seconds),[6] after which they will be hidden from the recipient's device and deleted from Snapchat's servers. Snapchat's popular and distinguishing feature is that the pictures that you send are temporary. Why would that capability be popular among teens ages 13 to 23? Hmmm... Well everyone soon figured out that you can just screenshot the Snaps and keep a copy of them forever, which might not be great news for some users. However, if you have a friend like Meaghan, you might be glad that the Snaps you receive aren't lost forever.  Meaghan's current job has her working overnights, and sometimes she gets very tired. To stay awake, she often sends me crazy Snaps. They started out simple, like the one above. Then things started to get pretty SERIOUS. Take a look at a sample of some of my favorite Snaps, all created by Meaghan (and used with her permission). Enjoy! Nintendo. Batman Villains. Old School. Miscellaneous. Pure Terror. It hasn't always been a joy opening her Snaps when I wake up in the morning, because sometimes they're just plain disturbing, like this clown. But, it's worth the risk for all the cool ones that I get to see!!!
Keep 'em coming, Meaghan! POSTED BY: Stefanie LaSalle 
Thanks to a birthday gift card from some very special parents, I am now the proud owner of these cap-toed shoes. So comfortable! So stylish! But they have a secret... They're CROCS. Crocs has come a LONG way since they first introduced their iconic clogs. Now they have all sorts of styles for men and women, including these cap-toed flats. I like these so much, I ordered a black pair too. 
Happy Tuesday!
-Stefanie POSTED BY: Stefanie LaSalle Get your free day of PicMonkey's premium package by clicking HERE! My favorite online photo-editing site is having a promotion for a free day of their premium Royale package. This is what I primarily use for editing pictures, making collages, and I even designed our save-the-date postcards on it earlier this year! Here are some things that I've made in PicMonkey: Chili Ballot. Most recently, I whipped together a little ballot for our Superbowl chili contest. Then I used a word document to print pages of them.  Save-the-Date postcards. Besides the obvious little images and fonts, I also used PicMonkey on the photo of us. I applied a filter, removed people and cars from the background - I even removed some smashed pumpkins!  Work. I also use PicMonkey to play around with ideas for events at work. Here were some quick draft logos I made for a sales contest. Try PicMonkey out yourself FREE by clicking HERE!
POSTED BY: Stefanie LaSalle Superbowl is by far our biggest, and favorite party to host all year. Our day started at 2pm for the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet. If you've never heard of the puppy bowl, let me sum it up for you. Puppies, kitten half-time show, and penguin cheerleaders. Throughout the day, we have anywhere from 10-20 people here watching the game, and it can get a bit crowded in our small living room and kitchen, so PLANNING IS KEY. 
Now, I know this is a bit extreme, but it definitely helps maximize our seating. We try to do stadium-like seating in the living room where the big TV is. And we put all the food in the kitchen, along with a little tv, so no one misses any of the action. 
I did ALL of my cooking on Saturday, because I didn't want to be trapped in the kitchen when all of our guests were here. I got all the baking out of the way first, since it is the messiest and takes the longest. I made some butterscotch cookies! And then I realized Monday morning that I never put them out. So yay for cookies in our lunches all week! In the picture above, I'm not trying to be fancy - I just don't have a cooling rack and I have to get creative. This is the best way they cool off without sticking to each other. I could go out and spend $5 for a real cooling rack, but I've been trying to hold off on any kitchen purchases so that we have things for our wedding registry.
This is one I can check off my list - my 14 Recipes for 2014 list, that is! These little guys are cheddar olives, and if you love olives like the 10% of us at the party, you will absolutely love these. I just refrigerated them in this container covered with foil, and baked them on Sunday when people started showing up. 
I prepped the veggie platter on Saturday. I didn't want to cut them up completely because I was afraid some of the veggies would loose their crispness. I peeled, washed and pre-cut everything, and Sunday morning I cut it all down to the right size pieces. 
My grandma's delicious and simple macaroni salad would be perfect with chili! Unfortunately, this is another dish I forgot to put out. We didn't end up needing it with all the food that people brought, so we will have another surprise snack in our lunch all week. 
Spinach. Artichoke. Dip. Our friend Jodi made this back when she lived around here. Now that she is travelling all over the country for her work, I stole her recipe and make it for pretty much every party. I'll do a post with the recipe soon! 
Rob loves trivia, so he put together some game-day trivia and handed out prizes. Our neighbors Matt and Krista won! Good team work!
These skewers were my favorite things that I made for the party. They were also the most time consuming to assemble. I will definitely be making these again. Here are the links to the original posts where I found them. Caprese skewers from Pioneer Woman Italian skewers from Very Culinary 
Our tiniest and cutest party guest.
"Stadium" seating in the living room. The Chili Contest 2014For the last few years that we've hosted Superbowl, we've done a chili contest, and I can't help but brag that our friends are pretty amazing cooks. This year we had a record number of entries - 10 chilis! It always surpises me how different they all are. 
Before kick-off, we assign each chili a secret number, and create a key for reference. That way no one knows whose chili is whose. Then, we fill these little blue cups with a spoonful or two of chili, and everyone tries #1 at the same time. And we continue to pass out cups of chili until everyone has tasted all 10. 
Then, we hand out ballots, and each person picks their TWO favorite chili's. The double voting system help prevent against everyone voting for themselves. 
Photo by: Tim Ehrens
Thanks to our friend, Tim, we have one nice picture of all the crock pots lined up. In all the action, I totally forgot to take one! Our electric bill is always high in February because of this event. 
Speaking of Tim, he was our WINNER! His cheesy chili was the crowd favorite! His name is now on the Chili trophy. He will have to start thinking now about what he is going to make next year! Thanks to everyone who came. We had a great time and we're looking forward to next year. GO PATS! |
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