Lady and the Tramp

In the Disney animation, Lady, a lonely cocker spaniel falls for Tramp, a stray schnauzer-mix. Lady, in this case, is Beau who relentlessly pleaded for one of the pups from the Humane Society. How could I look into those lovely, dark eyes and say, “No.”

After much debate, we agreed on a name {sorry, Finn will be a future pup} that ties to our trip to London. Welcome our little Tramp – Heiney.

{Ren Reiske © All Rights Reserved}

Dinner and a movie

“...you deserve a beautiful life.”

I love the book, Water for Elephants, and highly anticipated the movie which opened this weekend. We made an evening of it and began with Matt’s homemade rendition of chicken parmesan with russet potatoes á la Giada.

Saved the best for last: Paula Deen’s double chocolate gooey butter cake á la mode {recipe}.

{Ren Reiske© All Rights Reserved}

Lips like sugar

Each moment is transient. Why not enjoy enjoy the interesting things around you. A few cool finds while I was in Chesterfield…

Lip service. To know me is to know this is me. {Earthbound Trading}

Pink Paris.

R.E.N. decoupage.

Reeses peanut butter cup cheesecake. Why not? {Cheesecake Factory}

Tiny treat

It’s difficult to pass up this homemade treat {thank you, Monica, for the sweet treat and recipe} because it’s red velvet — my favorite. These cakes are moist and exceptional.

1 cake mix (prepare cake mix per instructions on the box)
*Cream cheese frosting:

1 pkg of cream cheese
2 ½ cups of powder sugar
¼ soften butter
1 tsp of vanilla

Almond Bark (your choice, chocolate or vanilla)

*{source: Monica Cain}

Prepare the cake mix as per instructions on the box. Bake cake 350 degrees. Once cake is baked, set to cool.

Once the cake is cool, crumble it in a large mixing bowl. Mix the crumbled cake together with the cream cheese frosting. Once mixed, place it in the refrigerator for about half an hour.

Roll the cake into balls then place them in the freezer for about an hour.

Once you have your rolled cake balls in the freezer, start melting the Almond Bark. 
Best way to melt Almond Bark: Need a skillet, stainless steel bowl and wooden spoon. Fill a skillet 1/3 full with water. Place the skillet on a medium burner. Allow the water a few minutes to heat. 
Place almond bark in a stainless-steel bowl or other bowl that will not be damaged by heat. Break the almond bark into smaller pieces to facilitate the melting process. 
Set the bowl of almond bark in the pan of water so the heat from the water can melt the almond bark slowly and indirectly. Once the almond bark begins to melt, stir continuously with a wooden spoon to keep it smooth. Use the melted almond bark as directed in your recipe. 
Remove the cake balls from the freezer and dip into the melted chocolate (Almond Bark) one at a time. Hold the cake ball and turn it back and forth or softly tap it, so the excess chocolate falls off.

Place cakes in the refrigerator to dry out completely. Once dry, you may wrap it individually. Scrumptious.

Sweet and Sparkly

I created this simple DIY wine label for my creative friend, Jenn, who just turned 25. Sweet and sparkly — just like her. {Renette Reiske © All Rights Reserved}
Friday, I met up with Jenn and friends to continue her celebration at 44 Stone Public House, where I dined on Three Little Pigs — three toasted corn tortilla tacos with house-made chorizo, avocado, goat cheese, pickled red onion and cabbage. Delicious.

My all-time favorite: Irish coffee bread pudding with Bailey’s and cream. Yummm. Happy Birthday, Jenn!

Do what you love

My day began with less than four hours of sleep and segued to a 3-hours seminar with motivational speaker, Dr. Pelizza—talking about The Positive Principles for Better Living. He is like the perky buzz one gets from a strong cup of java. As I listened and participated in his morning talk {have I mentioned that I am not a morning person?}, those key things that one knows and experiences come back to light for me. Having gone through a few major changes recently, I could relate to his words and actions. Been there, done that. But I thought it was a nice wake-up call and reminder of what’s important in my life and how to keep positive about change. 

EP — his coined term for Emotional + Personal: what is most important to us. For me, it’s my family, my health/well-being and life goals, which are always evolving and changing. According to Pelizza, CHANGE is good. “What’s familiar doesn’t create energy.” And change happens, so change before you have to. Amen. 

This reminds me, I really need to get back on that 4-hour body plan and daily exercise routine. Be accountable {tell others, receive support} and track it {journaling, blogging :) }. 

Pelizza also mentioned bullies. “Bullying in this country is unbelievable.” I could only smile and think, I survived that type of environment. At some point, I stopped believing the manipulative lies and negative talking. YOU control what you think and how you feel. Yes sir, I do. 

Be better. That should be on a t-shirt or wallpaper on my Mac. There is always room for improvement. Make it better. Be better, be better. The power of positive thinking. 

It’s all too familiar, but when life is difficult, I have these reminders: Hard but not impossible. Give it time. 

It was enlightening to start April’s Fool Day on a positive note. No tricks today, just good thoughts and new goals. Do what you love. What do you want to be better at? What motivates you to move and go forward?

Pretty Simple. Simply Pretty.

I’ve been perusing websites for work and stumbled upon several goodies, coveted items. They all make me smile so I thought I would share.

Pink and oh-so-pretty. {source}

Messenger/Saddle bags: I covet both of these messenger bags. Big enough to carry all my goodies. Simplicity and functionality combined {source; moop}.

Dream bed: I didn’t realize this was Mexico. But how can one resist this bed, this view? Absolutely dreamy {source}.

{Ren Reiske © All Rights Reserved}

Hunger Games trilogy: How am I so late in the game? Forget that they are labeled teen-reading … Devoured these three books in less than four days.

Guitar ring and picks: Pretty Simple. Simply Pretty. Reminds me to pick up my beautiful guitar and start playing again. {ring, pick}