Mandii's Muse

I usually don’t do anything worth blogging about on the weekend, but this weekend was an exception! My mom’s side of the family  all got together and celebrated my Grandma’s 93rd birthday! You guys, she is so spunky for her age, completely has all of her marbles, and isn’t afraid to voice her opinion. She just recently gave up the crown for being the Queen of her nursing home, but she will always be the queen of our family! She is also on the food committee for her nursing home, and they had better watch out because girlfriend has got OPINIONS on the food.   We kept it really simple, and had pizza and salad. Everyone brought their own drinks and chips, and we had a party! The birthday gal requested white cake with chocolate icing, so Sam’s Club created that cake for us! She had a great day, and it was nice to see all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins who I don’t see all that often.

Hey All! I had a super busy weekend, and didn’t get to write a post for today! Sorry! I will be back again on Wednesday! Enjoy this little funny Lady Gaga meme in the meantime. 🤣

Hi everyone! I’m currently writing this from my iPad, so if my pictures are all jumbled over the place you know why. Haha! (P.S. Getting a keyboard for my iPad was a great decision.) I’m linking up with Andrea today to share with you some of my favorites for the week! First favorite, when you just go in to buy a lottery ticket and end up being on the front page of the newspaper. I went in to grab a Powerball and MegaMillions ticket, and a reporter asked me some questions and took my picture. I thought it would be a small article on page six. Instead, I wound up on the front page. My phone and social media accounts were going a little crazy on Tuesday. Haha! Next favorite is celebrating my Grandma’s 93rd birthday. We’re having a party for her this Sunday, and it will be fun to get together with my cousins and aunts and uncles. As usual, I went to my favorite pizza place this past Sunday. It never disappoints! I also made a wine slushie for the first time and it turned out reall...

The first weekend in October is OglebayFest. If you have never been to Oglebay , it is one of the most beautiful places in West Virginia. Nestled on a mountain steeped in West Virginia history, Oglebay is a year round center of activity! Oglebayfest has a section for the Ohio County fair to show off their award winning produce, flower arrangements, and livestock. When my family and I  went, we were lucky enough to be in the livestock tent when a downpour happened. On the hillside by the mansion, is where all of the crafters set up. There are also lots of food vendors that you can sample wine, dips, and even some local honey and maple syrup. Next year, we decided that we are eating at the German food area! The food sounded so good! Here is a little more information about Oglebay: Oglebay is home to the Good Zoo, a zoo that has a cheetah exhibit and other animals. If you want to make a weekend out of it, Oglebay is known for their Festival of Lights, where the entire park is d...

I.LOVE.This.Recipe! I have made this recipe several times, and it is the perfect quick side, or lunch option. It is super easy to make, and with only a few ingredients it comes together in about 15 minutes. Here's what you need: 2 Tbs. butter 1 1/2 cups uncooked orzo pasta 1 can (14.5 oz) low sodium chicken broth 1/4 tst salt 1/4 tst pepper 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 1/3 cup drained oil packed sun dried tomatoes-patted dry and sliced (I use scissors!) 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint (I've made it without the mint, and used a little dried parsley and it turned out fine!) Directions: In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add orzo and cook stirring occassionally until lightly browned. (About 5 minutes) Next stir in chicken broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover. Over medium heat  cook until liquid is absorbed. (Depends on your stovetop!)  Remove pot from heat. Let stand covered for 5 minutes, and fluff with a f...

I want to share a few favorites with you on this Friday! The weekend is near, readers! My first favorite is that I had my favorite Wedgewood Pizza recently, and I think this might have been the best one ever. Now, I've had this pizza MANY times, and all of them were delicious, but I really think this particular pizza was the best one I've had. I also wanted to share that I did not pay this much for this book, but it took a lot of searching on Amazon to find. I needed the third book to finish my collection. P.S. This is such a great read, and book series if you like Christian books! It's Karen Kingsbury's Above the Line series! One non favorite is how my Cleveland Indians played in the playoffs. We looked like a completely different team. Maybe next year!  How are you enjoying your Friday? Leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks for the linkup Andrea !

If loving this is wrong, I don't want to be right! I have not made this dip in ages, but I wanted to make it for my Faith Group that I hosted! I could definitely eat this until I was sick, so I wanted to make it where other people were going to eat it with me! It's like a cannoli, only more sinful! Trust me, you'll want to make this! Chocolate Chip Dip Ingredients: 1 package cream cheese 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup powdered sugar 2 Tbls brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup mini chocolate chips Directions: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. (I made this the night before to let all the flavors mesh together, and it turned out great!) Isn't this easy? I served mine with windowpane pretzels, but you could easily serve this with animal crackers or mini graham crackers. Just so you know, I take no responsibility for the 5 pounds you will gain while eating this dip...

If you missed part 1 of my WineFest weekend, you can find it here ! Going into this weekend, we knew that we wanted to hit all of the North East wineries one day and the New York wineries the next. So Saturday morning, we woke up and got breakfast at our hotel and got ready for the day. Grape Discovery Center There was a new winery that opened in Fredonia New York, and while we weren't expecting to travel as far as we did for it I am so glad we did! First of all, the drive there was absolutely beautiful. There were vineyards as far as you could see, and we passed a wind mill farm! This was so cool to see from the road, and after a quick Google search, the Arkwright Summit Wind Farm creates enough power to power about 35,000 homes! The winery is called Woodbury winery, and they had the best wine that I tasted all weekend. I bought two bottles, but easily could have bought 4. They have a cute gift shop that has wine goodies, as well as all their wines. The young man that did...

Recently I had a group of girls over for our monthly "Faith Group." Sometimes we cover a Christian book, sometimes we cover scripture, or sometimes we just talk about the issues we are experiencing in our faith. I look forward to these nights because it is so good to get together with like minded women and just talk about our faith in Jesus. We take turns hosting, and this time it was my turn! I just wanted to give you a quick glimpse into what I did to set up for this very informal gathering. For food, we always keep it simple. I made a fiesta taco dip that I got in North East, PA. It was simple, just mix with sour cream and mayo, and pour the dip mix in. I served in with tortilla chips, and that's it! If you have something savory, you always need something sweet! I made chocolate chip dip. (Recipe coming to the blog soon!) I only make this occasionally because I would literally eat the entire bowl. It's that good! I served it with windowpane pretzels, because...

Today I'm linking up with Shay to discuss how we meal plan! Fun fact about me, I so much more enjoy cooking than I do baking. Baking is so precise, where when I'm cooking I can throw a little of this or that in and my dish will 90% of the time turn out well. Meal planning is important, but not necessary in my opinion if you have a well stocked freezer or pantry. I try to look at the grocery store ads to see what is on sale, and plan around that. We try to have some type of protein every night either beef, chicken, or fish. Once every two weeks or we might eat out. Usually in the rotation is tacos or sloppy joes, chicken on the grill with a baked potato and veggies, and fish either a baked potato or macaroni and cheese. Sometimes we'll grill burgers, or have a chicken sandwich. Do we meal plan and say on Wednesday we're having this? No. I absolutely think that in cases that is necessary, but like I said earlier a well stocked pantry and freezer will help you in th...

I wanted to share my weekend at WineFest with you! North East, PA has a WineFest every year. (This is their 37th!) It is an absolutely beautiful, quaint town, and I could totally see myself living in a town like this among vineyards. (Just please don't let me experience their winters!) I went with my aunt and uncle, who have a much better lay of the land than I do, so we took off Friday for a weekend of fun! *I want to preface this by saying that I like sweet wine. So all of my recommendations of wine will be sweet. However, if you like dry wine everyone that gave us our tastings at all these wineries were so knowledgeable and would be more than happy to assist you in finding you your perfect wine.  We were in North East by 12:30, and hit our first winery. Courtyard Winery is so cute, and their wine is even better! Everyone in my group purchased the Mamma Mia Sangria. Chilled on a hot summer day, this wine will be fantastic with or without fruit! They even give you a san...

Wanted to share some quick Friday Favorites with you! This week was a busy one with birthday's! My best friend Courtney celebrated hers on the 1st, and my mom celebrated hers on the 2nd! I celebrated my friend's by taking her out to lunch, and then we went to our local animal park to feed the animals. Then I treated her to a manicure! It was the most perfect girls day, and I was so happy that I got to celebrate her birthday with her! For my mom's birthday, my dad and I prepared breakfast and cleaned it up. She went to lunch with her brother and sister in law, (Hi Aunt Mare!) and then we all went to dinner at our favorite restaurant. I had the tacos, the best! She said she had a wonderful day! Also this week, it was my turn to host our monthly "Faith Group." We continued our study on Max Lucado's book Anxious for Nothing, and it was a great night. I also tried my first ever pumpkin spice coffee. I don't know what took me so long, but I ...

I'm having a group of ladies over tonight for our monthly "Faith Group." We don't really have an official name, but that's what I am calling it for now. Haha! Our group has been dealing with the topic of anxiety. Man, this one has really hit home. We have studied the book by Max Lucado called Anxious for Nothing . This book is centered around Philippians 4:4-8. This is probably my all time favorite piece of scripture. This book details how we as people are just anxious by nature. However as Christians, we should not be anxious. God is directing our steps. He's fully aware of the path that he has put us on, knowing each obstacle that will arise before we do. I know that for myself personally, I definitely struggle with anxiety. Who doesn't? I know that I get anxious every morning as a substitute teacher. What class will I be in? How is the day going to go? Will any behavior problems or drills take place? I have been trying to remind myself that God has ...

I go on makeup kicks every now and again. I’ll get stuck in a rut, and then try something new and want all kinds of new makeup. I’ve made a few trips to Ulta recently, and wanted to share with you what I’ve been buying! I almost always buy things on sale at Ulta during their 21 days of beauty! The first thing I bought was a total impulse purchase. I went to the Philosophy section of the store and stopped and smelled their fragrance Fresh Cream Warm Cashmere. Oh my gosh, it smells divine! I don’t even know how to describe it to you. It’s vanilla with warm musk, but still fresh and clean smelling. It is perfect for all seasons. I only bought a small size, but I will be buying the full size! The next thing I bought was the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Definer. I needed something that is a little bit longer lasting, and this fit the bill. I probably won’t use this every day, but only on days where I need them to last longer than the average workday. I also bought three lip products...