The LaPrade Lifestyle

Today is that beginning of Rachael Ray's Season 4!! I believe it is truly the highlight of my day! It's rainy outside and I have to work late but I do get to run and watch Rachael Ray at the gym! Yea!! I can't wait to see what she cooks today and get new recipe ideas!!

It's beginning to look a lot like fall around here! I am so excited about cooler weather, pumpkin spice lattes, and wearing boots that I decided it was time to decorate our place like fall! Ross may not have been as excited as I was but he is adjusting to the new decorations!
I went to kohl's and found adorable place mats for the kitchen table and cute
pumpkin candles at target to put in the kitchen area of our place!
This is the centerpiece:

Here is a view of our table with the adorable place mats! I have recently found the rest of the napkins and napkin rings...I think my little helper moved them to a hiding spot during the big move! It looks so cozy and when all the candles are lit the apt smells
slike spiced pumpkins!

This is a view of our mantle...I replaced all of our candles with orange
candles for the fall season and purchased the cute little pumpkins at hobby lobby!
I just love hobby lobby! They have great deals and a wide variety of decorations for any room in the house! We also have a kitchen hand towel that says happy fall and a hand towel in the restroom that says fall is in the air with leaves and pumpkins! I just love this time of year and really enjoying the pumpkin spiced lattes at at starbucks!

Mom came in town last weekend and we had a blast! We went to see Mama Mia at Dallas Fair Park and loved it! We sang along to all the songs and enjoyed the 4 year old little girl sitting beside us who also sang along! Ross and Dad joined us for dinner before we went to Dallas. Ross is even trying seafood these days! He tried calamari and ate at Nate's Seafood in Allen! My dad was so proud of his son in law for trying new things!

So on Friday Ross got his new game that he had been waiting months for...Batman Arkham Asylum. He pre-ordered it a long time ago and it came in this huge box! I leave the room for one second and this is what I returned to....he had redecorated the mantle! He put his new batman batarang on the mantle...moving one of my favorite engagement pics to display his new pride and joy! It stayed for a few days but it now has a new location...

We got our wedding album!! Melanie had the wedding album and all the pics on cds! I just love looking at them! She did an awesome job!!

This Sunday we celebrated Ross' Dad's Birthday! We had lunch with Ron, Nora, and Bill and Jean (Ross' Granparents who are just adorable!)

Ross with Bill and Jean! So Sweet!

Ross playing with Toby....we sure miss having Toby around I think he would gain a little bit of weight if he stayed over here more often...I keep dropping things on the floor and saying toby!!

Ross with Ron, Jean, and Bill! I think we can hear the surround sound from here!

Ross, Toby, and I relaxing on a lazy Sunday!
Toby is a great lap dog and so sweet!

These pumpkins are just adorable and I can't wait to decorate our place for fall!! I have already picked out pumpkin place mats and plan to get the mini pumpkins to decorate our kitchen area.

When we got the new pottery barn catalog in I immediately fell in love with this! It would look great behind the tv in our living room and have a calming feeling too. We have a few pottery barn gift cards left over from the wedding and I believe this will be my next purchase!!

Oh and of course everyone knows how much I love pink and they made a pink polka dot hair dryer in the pottery barn teen magazine along with a curling iron and straightener! So cute!
I just love Pottery Barn!

Thursday night girls night! wahoo!! Pretty much every Thursday Britt, me and Cathy hang out at cathy's house for good tv, dinner, and lots of girl talk! It is the highlight of our week and we just love spending the evening together! So far for the summer we have watched a variety of movies and also recently gotten hooked on True Blood! This past Thursday I made dinner for the girls and Britt made an amazing cake! Here are a few fun photos from our night! We got to see Collette and Amy before they leave to go back to college...we will miss them since they have such wild personalities it adds a little spice and attitude to our gatherings!

In the kitchen dinner is ready!! Cathy and Brittney ready to eat! ;)Brittney kept thinking I was making tuna and so for the rest of the evening referred to the ground turkey as tuna!
She is so much fun and witty!

Amy, Britt, Me, and Collette enjoying dinner together!
I got a little burnt at the pool earlier in the day!

Britt begins to make the vanilla buttermilk cake with chocolate fudge frosting!

Ok so once she had the frosting made I was eager to help and of course lick any spoon that was finished frosting the cake! I think I ate my weight in the delicious frosting and had to work out

double time the next day so that I wouldn't feel so bad for eating so much frosting!!

Cathy and Britt licking the frosting too! It was the best we have ever had!

Oh and Cathy has the neatest kitchen tools I have ever seen! She kept bringing out all these little gadgets to help us out with dinner and the cake ...I took notes to hopefully put some of the items on my Christmas list for my kitchen! ;)

The finished product! Britt is an awesome cook! haha!

Looking forward to the next Thursday night for food, fun, and of course great girl talk!

We are patiently waiting for Grey's to come back on!! Love you girls!

First of all I cooked ground turkey for the first time ever and it was a great success!!

I found a recipe in Rachael Rays magazine for ground turkey cal zone style. I decided Ross may want to try something different for a change from our great chicken adventures!
I didn't have to touch the meat at all I just opened the package and tossed
it into the pan...browned the turkey, added tomatoes, salt and pepper then put
it on pizza crust and made it into a "sloppy" cal zone!

Here is the finished product! Ross loved it and has even requested it to be cooked again this week! Notice how in the above photo...one of our many slurpee cups that Ross has collected from the Transformers movie! The ground turkey is very lean and healthy and can be used in a variety of recipes!

Spinach and artichoke on a fresh baguette! Delicious! Another Rachael Ray recipe that was a great success! I made them one night for my friend Alina and I, she was truly impressed with my cooking skills and we have plans to cook together again to teach each other new tricks in the kitchen! I am determined to master her guacamole ...it's to die for!

This weekend Ross went to New Mexico to be in his friend Lance's wedding so I had the weekend to myself and of course work..Friday night I went with my friend Reem to see Julie and Julia at the movies and we both loved it! It made us crave bruschetta so off to Carrabba's we went! The movie has inspired me to make bruschetta from scratch and chocolate cream pie! Saturday I was ready for Ross to be back in Texas and not be at work so once I got off work I snuggled in bed with the laptop and the Sex and The City movie...a great chick flick! Ross got back Sunday and I picked him up at the airport and surprisingly with the bride and groom to take them to their car only a few blocks away from the airport. They all had a good time in New Mexico but were glad to be back in Texas! We headed home and stopped at Water's Creek Shopping area by our house where we had amazing pizza from Grimaldi's and Oreo cheesecake! Ross normally doesn't like cheesecake and my mom still can't wrap her mind around that one but when Ross saw that it was Oreo cheesecake he had to try it! We both loved it and will be going back from more...well once we hit the gym a few days a week!

Here are a few things I am looking forward to:

I got tickets for mom and I to go see Mamma Mia at Fair Park when she come in late

August! We both love plays and loved the soundtrack to this musical...we will already know all the words to all the songs!

Ross and I are going to Laguna Beach, California in September to visit with my mom and brother. I can't wait and hope to spend the day on this gorgeous beach!!

Also, in September I get to visit KC, Kinley, and Chance in Florida!
Last year I went right after Ross and I got engaged and KC and I had a blast looking at magazines and having lazy days at the pool! I can't wait to see her and the twins again...it's been to long since the wedding and I miss them so much!!