Design: Thrift Shop

Our Officers' Spouses' Club operates the thrift shop on base. For the month of July the shop was closed so volunteers could work on making some improvements. They are continually doing projects to make the shop better and better. I was asked to create a flyer to promote the reopening of the shop.

Sometimes it is hard to find a background graphic that does not have a watermark on it. I probably saw a whole bunch that I would have loved to use, but I didn't want to pay to use them without the mark on them. I found this one and it works great! It also provided me with a fun, bright, cheery color scheme that would catch some attention.

Fonts used
Little Lord Fontleroy
Quicksand

Design: Cinderella's Closet

The base we are currently stationed at has an awesome resource called Cinderella's Closet. I have not had a reason to use it yet, but they have an amazing collection of formal dresses that folks can borrow for FREE!  Most of the dresses were donated by a Blue Star Families group in New York. There are dresses in every color and every size.

I recently had an opportunity to create an updated flyer for the Cinderella's Closet. Our base's Air Force Ball is coming up and the lady in charge of the Closet wanted to get the word out about the free dresses.

Fonts Used
Cursif
Century
Quicksand

K's Breakfast Casserole

I am a baker. That means I love following recipes...to a T. Cooking, where you make stuff up as you go along, is not my thing. However, I'm finding that the more I cook the more comfortable I am taking some liberties with recipes. Is that a sign of being a grown-up?

I recently hosted a Coffee & Coloring social for some friends. I wanted to offer a food item. At first I was thinking almond poppy seed bread or some other sweet item. But someone else offered to bring banana bread. Then I thought breakfast casserole! So many recipes included hash browns or potatoes which I didn't have in the house. I finally found one that was potato-less. I decided to alter it a little and it came out delicious!

K's Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup (ish) salsa
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 large eggs
Splash of milk (it was around 1-2 Tablespoons)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown meat in skillet with salsa. (I used a peach salsa which is yum, yum, yum! I also love salsa with pineapple in it.) Drain fat and let cool.

Mix cheese, eggs,  milk, salt and pepper. Stir in meat mixture. Pour into 9 inch baking dish or pie plate. Bake for 45-55 minutes.

The Holy City: Pitt Street Bridge

One of my all-time favorite places in my hometown is called the Old Village. Charles and I got married at a church in that part of town and our reception was right down the street at Alhambra Hall. A couple blocks away is the Pitt Street Bridge. Whenever we are in town we make an effort to stop by for a stroll. If you go around Sunset you are almost guaranteed amazing photos!

The Holy City: Audubon Swamp Garden

Magnolia Plantation is also home to the Audubon Swamp Garden. Charles had wanted to visit Cypress Gardens while we were home, but they were still closed from the crazy flooding that happened in October. We figured the Audubon Swamp Garden would give us a little taste until we can return and visit Cypress Gardens.

We saw several alligators while walking around Magnolia Plantation and the Swamp Garden. This one was the closest, but luckily we were not eaten.

The Holy City: Magnolia Plantation

Another attraction I have never visited while living in the Charleston area is one of the many plantations in the area. We found a Groupon for Magnolia Plantation and decided to check it out. I did not realize that several of the plantations were close to my in-law's house. Convenient!

When we first arrived, we encountered a peacock in the parking lot. They are such beautiful creatures! Later, while walking around the gardens, we came across his counterpart--a pea hen. We recently learned that is the name for a female. We have been watching 72 Cutest Animals on Netflix. Together they are called pea fowl.

The garden was lovely. They are lots of paths to walk down and wonderful views overlooking the water.

We saw sooooo many of these guys throughout the gardens. Must be a nice place to live!

These flowers reminded me of the flowers in Alice in Wonderland. One of my favorite movies!

We did not tour the house on this visit, but the lower level consists of the gift shop. It was a lot larger than I expected and filled with lots of neat items.

The bamboo garden. It was neat to walk among such large bamboo plants.

Cypress "knees"

The Holy City: Fort Sumter

Did you know that Charleston, South Carolina is this year's World's Best City (according to Travel + Leisure)? My home town of Mount Pleasant is adjacent to Charleston. This July my parents rented a beach house and we all went down for a visit.

View from the beach house balcony

I was craving humidity (yes, you read that correctly) and the beautiful views of palm trees, beach and marsh. This trip satisfied all those cravings and more.

On our first full day, we visited Fort Sumter. Even though I grew up in the area I had never visited this historic site. The boat ride out to the Fort was lovely and educational.

View while waiting to board the boat

The first thing we saw after stepping foot inside for the tour was a rifle musket demonstration. I really enjoyed this. I had just read a book that took place during the Civil War and talked a lot about firing rifle muskets. (The book is called I Shall Be Near You and I HIGHLY recommend reading it).

The USS Yorktown. We didn't visit it on this trip, but maybe next time

Charleston skyline

The rifle musket demo. I'm glad I don't have to wear that uniform on a hot summer day in Charleston

 

After the tour and boat ride back, we visited Jack's Cosmic Dogs for lunch. This is a Mount Pleasant/Charleston institution and, again, another place I've never patronized. My chili dog was yum, yum, yum! And the atmosphere is fun with a vintage flair.