Sunday, August 26, 2012

Sunday Snaps Week 4: 08/26

MAN, is it really Sunday ALREADY?! Where did the time go? As they say, time flies when you're having fun! My trusty co-host Julie reminded me that our Sunday Snaps link-up is on today, and I couldn't believe it! I hope y'all are having a great end to your weekend :-) Here are my personal favorites from this past week!

Photo by Life's a Beach

This photo makes me want to go find the nearest drive-in movie theater and book a date, pronto! I love the lit up drive-in sign with the cars lined up right next to it!

Photo by The Chunky Goddess

How adorable is this photo? I seriously LOVED playing with Mr. Potato Head dolls growing up (who else loved them some Toy Story movie time?), so this instantly became one of my favorites!

Photo by My Mind's Lens

Kaeley has blown me away yet AGAIN this week! I LOVE the focus on this shot, and the way her angle sheds light on how long and seemingly never-ending the tracks are. BEAUTIFUL!


Great job to those whose pictures were chosen this week! Don't forget to grab a button if you were featured!

Sarah B Texas @ City Girl Gone Country

And now, without further ado, here's today's link up! (If you need an example of what kinds of posts to link up, feel free to view any of the old link-ups/posts in the blog archive, or take a look at my link-up post from this week! I went ahead and linked up my recipe post from earlier this week.) 

Rules:
  • Please follow both of your hosts! (Myself and Jules)
  • You MUST provide the party button somewhere in your post in order to link back to this party (available to the right on my sidebar). Failure to do so may result in your link-up being removed.
  • Link up to specific posts, not just your blog.
  • Please only link up to three blog posts each week. 
  • HAVE FUN! And follow some of your fellow link-up bloggers while you're at it! ;-)




SBTsig

Friday, August 24, 2012

Culinary Creations: Aloha BBQ Chicken

Once in a while I'll invite my boyfriend, Joe, over to my place after work for a homemade dinner. I pretend am pretty sure that he enjoys this part, because I try to spice things up and come up with meals he wouldn't normally attempt at his place.

Last week I struck some luck and created a recipe that was a sure winner in both his and my book. I had been craving fruit all day and wanted to incorporate it into my dinner plans. Now, while I would be perfectly fine with a bowl of fruit for dinner, I don't think Joe wouldn't fancy it too much after a long day's work. I love the mixture of tangy and spicy flavors, so I decided to pull out some seasonings to create my 5-step masterpiece:

Sarah's Aloha BBQ Chicken


Ingredients (makes for two servings):
  • 2 Chicken Breasts
  • 1 Can of Pineapple Rings
  • Juice from Can of Pineapple Rings
  • BBQ Sauce (I used Kraft Hickory Smoke BBQ)
  • BBQ Rub (I used Weber "Smokey Mesquite" Rub)
  • Aluminum Foil
  • Oven-safe Dish

Directions:


1) After thawing and cutting off excess fat from your chicken breasts, apply your choice of BBQ rub liberally to your chicken, rubbing the spices in with your fingers. Place both pieces into an oven-safe dish (I used corning ware) and set aside. At this time, pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees.

2) Open the can of sliced pineapple rings and empty the juice contents into a mixing bowl. Set aside the can and pineapple rings for later. Then, gradually mix in your BBQ sauce of choice until your mixture has a somewhat-thick consistency. You don't want your mixture to be too soup-like (as a reference, I used half the bottle of BBQ sauce in order to achieve my desired consistency).


3) Cover the chicken breasts with the mixture you have just made, saving 1/4 cup of the mixture for later use. Cover the remaining sauce and place in your fridge. Then, slice the pineapple rings in half and place them over the chicken and the mixture. 

4) Cover your oven-safe dish with aluminum foil, and bake in the pre-heated oven for one hour. Then, remove the aluminum foil, pour the remaining mixture over the pineapple rings, and cook uncovered for 15 more minutes. This will allow for the pineapples to caramelize and retain the savory flavors of the sauce.

 

5) Allow 10 minutes cooling time to give the chicken a chance to reabsorb its juices. Then, serve with corn-on-the-cob, baked beans, or your BBQ side dishes of choice. Bon Appetit! 

Mahalo for checking out this recipe, let me know if you try it, and how you liked it! As always, I'd love to see pictures :-) ALSO, if you liked this enough to want to try it later, PLEASE pin it! ;-)


PS: I tried this same recipe out on my family. They all LOVED it! I used 8 chicken breasts (quadrupling the rest of the ingredients), and all but one-half  of a chicken breast were gobbled up by the end of the party :-) I know YOUR family will love it to! It's the perfect main dish for a luau/Hawaiian theme party.




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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Go Check Out My August Guest Blog!

Hey, y'all! Today I'm guest blogging over at Ramblings of a Southern Belle with Tif!

Photobucket

I feel so honored to be able to take over her blog for a day, and for being chosen as "blog of the week!" Go check out my guest post HERE and let me know what you think! Be sure to send Tif some love, as well :-)

PS: Don't forget to get your posts linked up for this week's Sunday Snaps! You can link up ANY post that has a cool picture in it for a chance to be featured the following week! The link-up closes Friday night, so get to posting HERE! ;-)

SBTsig

Monday, August 20, 2012

My Sunday Snaps post: week 3

This post had been put on the back burner, because the boyfriend (Joe) and I traveled to California EARLY Friday morning and have been on the go for the last few days. I am EXHAUSTED, but I think I was a perfect tour guide for the mister in my hometown :-)
My "Sunday Snaps" post consists of a little sneak peek of our weekend together (a full post will come later on when I'm done vacationing!) Enjoy, and don't forget to go here and link up for this week's Sunday Snaps link party!

Joe and I enjoyed a round of disc-golf with my Dad in Huntington Beach this weekend. It was great to be able to play an outdoor sport without worrying about the Texas heat or those pesky mosquitos! 


"The Big Mouse" would be the reason for our energetic demise yesterday. Joe and I spent the WHOLE day at Disneyland, going on every ride we possibly could and seeing every show available. Needless to say, we were SO tired last night and are SO sore this morning!


It's these moments where I'm ashamed to say I used to be able to go on the Disney rides anytime I pleased while being a cast member... HOW does the newbie end up beating me on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters' game?!


I have literally JUST gotten home after dropping Joe off at the airport, and am finally decompressing from the busy-but-fun past few days. Not pictured yet are the shots from the line-dancing bar I dragged him to on Friday to meet my friends, a day at the beach where we wrote our names in the sand, fun times on main street in Huntington Beach, and lunch/dinners with my family members at various locations. All in all, I think he had the ultimate California experience, complete with a souvenir shirt I bought him at the end :-)
Hope y'all had great weekends, as well! Can't wait to see those pictures on this week's Sunday Snaps Link Up!


SBTsig

Sunday Snaps week 3: 08/19

Hey Everyone! Umm, can we please "play pretend" that it's Sunday?! My bad. I should have warned y'all that I am out of town this week in California, visiting family before starting my Fall 2012 semester, and consequently have not been on a reliable computer for the last 4 1/2 days! But, anyways...
Welcome to week three of our photography link up: Sunday Snaps! 
Here are my personal favorites from last week's link-up party (in no particular order):

Photo by Making Pinterest My Reality

Photo by Boys Oh Boys

Photo by My Mind's Lens

Just like last week, these were BEAUTIFUL photos. It keeps getting harder and harder to choose my favorite three each week! Keep up the great work, everyone! And congrats to those who made it on the top favorites; don't forget to grab a button if you did! 

Sarah B Texas @ City Girl Gone Country

And now, without further ado, here's today's link up! (If you need an example of what kinds of posts to link up, feel free to view any of the old link-ups/posts in the blog archive on the right, or take a look at my link-up post from this week! I went ahead and linked up some pics from the weekend.)

Rules:
  • Please follow both of your hosts! (Myself and Jules)
  • You MUST provide the party button somewhere in your post in order to link back to this party (available to the right on my sidebar). Failure to do so may result in your link-up being removed.
  • Link up to specific posts, not just your blog.
  • Please only link up to three blog posts each week. 
  • HAVE FUN! And follow some of your fellow link-up bloggers while you're at it! ;-)


SBTsig

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Sunday Snaps Week 2: 08/12

Hey Everyone! Welcome to the second week of our photography link up: Sunday Snaps! 
Here are my personal favorites from last week's link-up party (in no particular order):

Photo taken by Finding My Way In Texas

Photo taken by Sweet and Sassy Texan

Photo taken by View From the 512

Beautiful photos! Everyone did a great job, thanks for participating, blogging friends! Don't forget to grab a button if you were featured!

Sarah B Texas @ City Girl Gone Country


And now, without further ado, here's today's link up (if you need an idea of what to link up, come check out my post this week HERE; I went with the theme "Here Comes the Sun" this week)! 

We've updated the rules a bit to give you some more freedom; take a look!

Rules:
  • Please follow both of your hosts! (Myself and Jules)
  • You MUST provide the party button somewhere in your post in order to link back to this party (available to the right on my sidebar). Failure to do so may result in your link-up being removed.
  • Link up to specific posts, not just your blog.
  • Please only link up to three blog posts each week. 
  • HAVE FUN! And follow some of your fellow link-up bloggers while you're at it! ;-)


SBTsig

Sunday Snaps, Week 2: Here Comes the Sun

Hey All! While Julie and I have decided to give you the leniency to make your OWN theme and link up whatever pictures you want for Sunday Snaps, I thought I would give myself the theme "Here Comes the Sun" as Julie had suggested to me beforehand. Check it out!
I thought this picture was very "summer"y and sun-shine-y enough for my theme. My friend Brooke on the left and I had a little mini photo shoot a few years back when laying out by the pool. Still some of my favorite pictures of us!

This is another picture from our mini photo sesson. I don't think I need to explain why this is "here comes the sun" appropriate! ;-)

I was fortunate enough to catch one of the last days of the Texas state fair last year. (I have a terrible tendency of missing fairs by being out of town.., I'm missing TWO this summer!)

What are your favorite "here comes the sun" themed pictures? If you think you've got some winners, I'd love to have you show them off at this week's Sunday Snaps! Post 'em and link 'em up! :-)


SBTsig

Friday, August 10, 2012

Happy Anniversary to ME!

Hey y’all! I guest blogged today over at A Beautiful Day with Jules, and loved the content of my guest post so much that I thought I'd share it with y'all here today! :-)


I moved to Texas from California a year ago this week, and I thought it was only fitting that I create a blog post to commemorate my first anniversary here in the ‘ole hot state (since as I’ve mentioned in SEVERAL previous posts, I always like to celebrate the ‘little’ things)!

On August 6th, 2011, I packed my bags and headed over to this glorious state. I had NO idea what I was in for, but managed to keep an excited smile planted on my face as I transferred my poor body from a cool 70 degrees to 100+ degrees in a matter of two days.

Since living here in Texas, I have learned and picked up so many things/habits I didn’t know in California. One of which is the oh-so-famous “y’all”! I am SO guilty of this one! It’s just so convenient. Why the conjoined word phrase hasn’t mozied its way on down to CA is beyond me!

I REALLY learned what football is all about here—especially college football! I could not believe how much fun it was getting to attend my university’s first game of the year… even if we didn’t win (anyone who knows about UNT knows we don’t have the best track record when it comes to winning football games).



I’ve learned about love and I’ve learned about heartache. I’ve learned the true meaning of friendship and how crazy but oh-so-fun it can be to live with 3 random girls. I’m still constantly learning things here in Texas (like how much mosquitoes love my sweet blood), but I’m so proud and so happy to call it my home for the time being. J So cheers to my first anniversary here in Texas, and cheers to the blogging community for enduring my mini-celebration! ;-)




It's been a great ride here at City Girl Gone Country. I'm still amazed when my DIY posts like my T-shirt to Tank Tutorial gets countless views each day (you like me, you really like me!). I can't wait to see what comes next, and look forward to sharing more crafty things in the future with y'all!
SBTsig

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Sunday Snaps Link-Up 08/05: "Personal Best"

Hey, y'all! Welcome to the very first link-up of Sunday Snaps: a weekly-themed photography link up!

Sunday Snaps with City Girl Gone Country
This week's theme is "My Personal Best." Anything goes (whatever the subject, whenever the date), so long as it was taken by YOU! 
If you need an example on how to compose your post, check out my post from this week. Here are my three "Personal Best" photos:



Now it's YOUR turn!
Rules:
  • Please follow both of your hosts! (Myself and Jules)
  • You MUST provide the party button somewhere in your post in order to link back to this party (available to the right on my sidebar). Failure to do so may result in your link-up being removed.
  • Link up to the specific post, not just your blog.
  • Please only link up one blog post each week. 
  • No repeating blog posts each week; this wouldn't make sense, anyhow, since there will be a different theme each week!
  • Please only post a total of 3 pictures for this link-up!
  • HAVE FUN! And follow some of your fellow link-up bloggers while you're at it! ;-)

SBTsig
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