GIVEAWAY Time!!

Michelle and I are so excited to feature this giveaway!!  We really have been on pins and needles about this!  Our fantastic giveaway is courtesy of the amazing Tara of Winsor Photography.  Tara is an incredible photographer and she also happens to be one of my greatest friends.  Check out some of her awesome skills:

For today's giveaway, Tara has kindly offered to give one of YOU a photo shoot!  Here is what you will get:

1-2 hour photo session with up to 8 people

Online viewing gallery of photos

Images on a disc with a print release

The fine print: The photo session must take place in 2011 in Utah between Utah and Cache counties (so if you don't live in that area, make arrangements to visit!).  Sorry, no weddings.

So, how do you enter?

Leave us a comment with your name, email address, and a description of how you'd use your photo shoot (family pics, photos of your newborn, graduation pictures, etc.).

Don't worry -- you can change your mind about how you want to use your photo shoot. :)

It's that easy!

If you want to increase your chances of winning, leave us an additional comment for each of the following:

Become a follower of She Said

Become our friend on Facebook
Post about our giveaway on your Facebook

Become a friend of Winsor Photography on Facebook

Please make sure that your comments include some way for us to contact you.

The giveaway is open through 12 PM PST on Monday, January 31.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, February 1.

If you win, we hope you will make sure to become a follower.

If you don't win, we still hope you'll be our friend anyway.

GOOD LUCK!

The Perfect Brownie

My dear friend Greg is constantly on the search for "The Perfect Brownie" and when my friend Heidi fed me this one (she really didn't have to feed it to me, after she told me what they were I opened my mouth and shoveled them in happily) I knew that I had found : "The One"

Cookie Dough Brownies (oh yes! They do exist!)

1 Box Brownie Mix, plus ingredients for the brownies
1/2 C. Butter, softened
1/2 C. Brown Sugar, packed
1/4 C. Sugar
2 TBS Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 C. Flour
1-3/4 C. Chocolate Chips, divided (I also use whatever chocolate candy I have on hand. I used chopped up Reeses eggs in the recipe pictured)
1 TBS Shortening

1) Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions in a greased 13x9 pan. Cool completely.
2) Cream butter and sugars in a mixing bowl. Add milk and vanilla mix well. Beat in flour. Stir in 3/4 C. Chocolate chips. Spread over cooled brownies and refridgerate until firm.
3) Melt remaining 1 C. Chocolate chips and shortening, stirring until smooth. Spread over filling. (The brownies that are pictured are not iced)
Store in an airtight container in the refridgerator.

Enjoy!!! Sometimes dreams really can come true!

P.S. The two reviews that I have had on this say that they really don't like refridgerated brownies - neither do I - in fact I don't put them in the fridge. I think they say that so that leftovers can stay firm, but if you are like me there will be no left overs!!!
P.P.S. If you are thinking, "but there is cookie dough on top that needs refridgeration!" there isn't Egg in this recipe, so don't worry! But they aren't bad from the fridge.....JUST EAT THEM!

List of Three...Comfort Food!

Cold winter weather creates the perfect opportunity for indulging in some of our favorite comfort foods.  Whether it's a favorite childhood food or something recently discovered, everyone has a few recipes that work wonders when it comes to nourishing both body and soul.  Although there are many things I would classify as being "comfort food", here are the first three that came to mind.

 1- Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup.  Come on, who doesn't have a memory involving this?  It HAS to mixed with milk, not water.  My mom always made it his way; it turns the broth yellow and gives it a richer taste.  Add some oyster crackers, and life is good.

2- Spaghetti.  You may find it strange (and Michelle will probably shudder when she reads this), but I love spaghetti with just butter and salt on it.  Growing up, this was my go-to comfort food when I was sick.  A bowl of spaghetti while watching Disney's Cinderella made just about everything better.

3- Chocolate cake.  I have a one-pan recipe that my mom makes.  It's super easy, delicious, and perfect when paired with a glass of milk.

Ho!Ho! Comfort food I think I could ride that train all year long! There are so many different dishes that I can associate with comfort food, but I'll try to whittle it down to my top three:

1- Grilled Cheese Sandwhiches, preferrably with some tomato soup. I really like this on cold, rainy days. There is something about toasted, buttered bread and gooey melted cheese that makes you feel oh so good. In fact when I was preggers I craved them so much that one night I couldn't decide between grilled cheese and hamburgers that Mr. S made me a hamburger with grilled cheese sandwhiches as buns....how is that for love, comfort and ...calories!

2 - Spaghetti. If anyone ever asks me if I could only have one food for the rest of my life this would be the one! Now I don't share the same love for butter and salt, but I do love my Dad's tomato sauce. It's actually made me a spaghetti sauce prude. I'm very picky about my spaghetti sauce. Whenever I go home this is what I request - homemade spaghetti sauce please!

3- Macaroni & Cheese. I think if you want to comfort me just give me melted cheese!! A small talent of mine is that I can eat a whole box of Mac & Cheese by myself, it's true. But I have found a new...little more healthy love, in homemade macaroni & cheese. I'll have to share the recipe with you in another post, but it's oh so good and I could eat the whole cassorole dish and not feel guilty - a little gluttonus, but not guilty!

What are your three favorite comfort foods?

 

A Flashback

While watching Dick Clark's Rockn' Eve to celebrate the new year they were listing off their entertainers for that night and my ears perked up when I heard The New Kids On the Block. I was a HUGE fan back in the day. I had (and still have stashed in a box somewhere) all of their tapes...ya cassett tapes, my New Kids blanket & the Jordan & Joe doll. But wait! There was more! Backstreet Boys would be performing with them! Now the Backstreet Boys was our (mine & Nan's) first BIG concert. Me, Nan & our friend Merisa (along with Merisa's wonderful Mom Jane) shouted and screamed and sang along with a billion other girls at the E-Center for the Backstreet Boys.
Sadly I didn't get to watch their performance on new years eve - I was swiftly out voted by my dad & two brothers, but I found it on You Tube (ya got to love it). I guess they will be touring together this summer.
For your viewing pleasure I have their performance at the VMA's...who knew they had so much in common?

All you people can't you see, can't you see N-K-O-T-B-S-B!!!

Hey ladies! Shout out your favorite New Kid and/or Backstreet Boy!

Mine's kinda complicated. I started to like Jordan, but then changed to Joe and I have always liked Nick!



What I Want Next Process

It's about that time of year that we start to make new resolutions for the new year!I found this while reading a magazine & immediately tore the page out so I could keep it. I've held on to it for four years now and use it whenever I want to set new goals, make new resolutions, set priorities or just figure out what the heck I want!

You Need: A pencil, a paper, a watch/timer and your personal calendar.
You are only allowed three minutes per answer because you don't want to overthink your answers. Write down whatever pops into your mind first. You are looking for bullets, not paragraphs
You should go through this process often. Today's answers might not be next months.
Again, there are no limits or boundaries. Write down whatever comes to your mind, personal or professional as large or small as you imagine.

1. Spend three minutes listing items to answer this question: " By the end of my life, what do I want to have done?"
2. Spend three minutes listing itmes to answer this question: "By one year from today, what do I want to have done?"
3. Spend three minutes listing items to answer this question: " I just found out I have 30 days to live. What do I want to have experienced in this last month of my life?"
4. Circle the three most important items to you from each of the first three steps. Combine repeated item answers into a single goal.
5. List your top three goals for Steps 1, 2 & 3. You may have fewer than nine goals after combining duplicates into one goal. Now, look at your schedule for the coming week. For each goal you listed, make time on next week's calendar to take a specific action twoard accomplishing that coal. Write down the action you will take and specific day & time when you will spend at least an hour working on it.
Goal: ___________________
Action: ___________________
Day/Time: _____________________
6. Be realistic. If you can't easily think of an action to take or don't want to spend an hour to move forward on it, then cross that goal off your list.
7. Now you have your final list of your most important goals, an action to propel you toward each goal and a specific time to take that action. If you crossed a goal off the final list, don't be concerned. It probably wasn't that important to you. (or isn't the biggest priority for right now)
Take a look at the list of all the goals still left. Study it. Search for broader themes about what you want to do next. What do these goals say about who you really are and what you want? Take a wide view of your goals so you can complete the following sentence:
What I want next is........

Sadly I don't have the authors name to this process, but it's taken from the book What I Want Next: 30 Minutes to Reveal Your Future (whatiwantnext.com)
It looks like I want to be more organized in the new year...what are your goals/themes?