What does a girl gotta do to get a little "Bloglovin"?

Unless you have been living under a rock (no offense), you might have noticed something is up in the blog world!  Okay, let's be honest...I was a little late to this party!
My first clue was the e-mails that kept pouring in about followers on Bloglovin!  At first I am thinking "sweet...random good day for me in the followers department".  Then I started thinking "did I sign up for some sort of giveaway that I can't remember about - where people had to follow me on Bloglovin"?  By around 3:30 yesterday I was thinking "Okay, something is definitely up"!
Don't you all love how intuitive I am?!?
Maybe I don't live under a rock, but I certainly work under one...because I feel I'm the last person on earth to find out about this!  I'm still not sure how I feel about no more Google Reader (I'm guessing this means GFC too...clarification please, I'm hearing mixed things)!  I suppose life will go on, but in the meantime let's make the transition!  I'm planning to finish making the switch tonight!  Personally, I LOVE Bloglovin...if you are new to it, I'm sure you will love it too!  Give it a chance!
Have a great Friday friends! :)  

Holy Eyebrows!!! (Guest Post)

You all just HAVE to meet Annie, from Annie One Can Cook!  She is cute, funny, AND she can cook!  Basically, she rocks - and so does her blog!  I'm hooked, and so happy to have her on my sidebar this month!  I'm also very excited to have her guest posting here today! :) 

*************************************

Hi All!

I'm Annie from over at Annie One Can Cook, a cooking and lifestyle blog that covers everything from food to weddings to life as a newlywed (my blog is "the funniest, sweetest and most entertaining blog on the net" -Carol, Annie's Mom). It's such an honor to be posting here at Never the Same Spice Twice! Today, I'd like to talk to y'all about eye brows and achieving that perfect shape/arch for your face.

I've been told that I am blessed to have such full and dark eyebrows (I have never looked at it this way--if I don't tweeze my unibrow everyday, I'm mistaken for Anthony Davis--sooo blessed!). My brother has the same dark/bushy eyebrows that I do so I guess it's just one of those fun, genetic things (thanks, dad..). Anyway, I have never really known how to groom my brows. I had bangs once (for 21 years) so I didn't have to worry about grooming them quite as often.

The 'brow sibs (Christmas 2007).

It's 2010--full bangs are still cool..

And then my boyfriend (now husband) came back from Afghanistan and I decided to lose the bangs.. and the brows..

They don't look too bad here, but standby for the next pic.

Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup.

Kudos to whoever get the reference.

I have a heart shaped face with varying features (wide nose, oval eyes, wide smile/full lips) and I quickly learned that thin eyebrows DO NOT mesh with my face and I needed to let those bad boys grow. I did some research to determine what my 'perfect' shape is and I'd like to share those resources with you!

Beauty How-To: Eyebrow Shaping (Elle)

The Best Eyebrow Shapes for Your Face (Glamour)

3 Ways to Groom Your Eyebrows (Every Day with Rachael Ray)

Without further ado, I'd like to show you how I'm sporting the brows today.

Oh, I have a new trick to hiding them--I wear glasses now!

As I was writing this post, I started thinking about how random eyebrows even are--it's just some weird hair that chills on your face. Crazy stuff.. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this post and that I can help you or somebody you love from making the same mistakes I have (ha).

Well that does it for me! Please swing by Annie One Can Cook sometime to say hi! A huge thanks to the fabulous Stephanie for letting me stop by today and share my brow story!

Mustard Chicken Packets

This yummy awesomeness was inspired by one of Ryan's creations on Sustenance Reinvented!
This beauty right here...

Mustard Chicken with Roasted Onions, Cherry Peppers, and peppercorns.

I couldn't get my version to come out as pretty, but I'm sure it was just as tasty!  I did however, tweak a few ingredients, and cooked it in packets!  Try it, I'm sure you will LOVE...and if you haven't liked Ryan's page yet CLICK HERE! :)

Ingredients:

Tear off 4 15x12 sheets of tin foil
4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

1 cup of whole grain or course mustard (I used Grey Poupon)
2 Tbsp. of white wine

1 large onion sliced
2 cloves of garlic - minced

1 cup of grape tomatoes -halved

1 cup of sliced roasted red peppers
1 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. of fresh thyme

salt (to taste)

pepper (to taste)

2-3 cups of cooked whole wheat cous cous or brown rice (*optional)

Directions:

(*Preheat oven to 400 degrees)

1.  In a small bowl whisk mustard and white wine.

2.  In a larger bowl mix sliced onions, garlic, tomatoes, and roasted red peppers.  Season with salt, pepper, thyme, and drizzle with olive oil.  Mix thoroughly, so everything is evenly coated.

3.  Fold foil in half widthwise, and open back up.  On one half of foil (dull side up), place chicken, 1/4 veggies, and 1/4 of mustard/wine mixture on top.  Fold foil back over in half, and carefully seal all of the edges off.  I did this by making a series of (sloppy) mini folds, working my way all the way around.  Make sure the packets are nice and tight so none of the steam escapes.  Place foil packets on a baking sheet.

Should look like this...okay I didn't really fold it...more like rolled it up

4.  Cook the packets for 30 minutes, let rest for 5 minutes before carefully opening.  

5.  Serve contents of packet over whole wheat cous cous or brown rice (*optional)

Super easy!!!  Let me know how you like it!  :)

What's cooking this week?

Yesterday, I VERY carefully walked/jogged a 5k with hubby.  This is my 3rd year doing the "Scope it Out 5k" in honor of my friend Jen's Aunt Debby who passed away from Colon Cancer.  I just couldn't sit this one out, it is too special!  I feel so proud that I did it too!  The doctor said it would be fine as long as I was only doing it for fun, and not competing to win.  I'm thinking..."when am I ever competing to win these things"?  I started off jogging at a very slow and steady pace, and then walked as soon as I started feeling like I was losing my breath.  I continued this pattern for the entire 3.1 miles.  I didn't start jogging again each time until I felt I completely caught my breath.  It was the most relaxing 5k I have ever done, it was great not to feel  all the pressure I usually put on myself!  This strategy seemed to work great too because I finished in 39 minutes and 57 seconds!  Not too shabby....so happy I did it!  :)  

Some of my favorite instagramed moments...

Hanging with the Vrags pre-race!

Post race with a few lovely ladies!

Hubby and I feeling very accomplished!

A few of my favorite boys!

Well as careful as I was, obviously I am super sore today!  We sat around watching movies yesterday (Wreck It Ralph = my new favorite).  Actually, I am sitting in bed watching it again right now...so stinkin cute!!!   I'm thinking it is going to be a very similar lazy scene in our home today, although I will be getting up to stir the sauce every once in a while.  That is all, we are saving all of the big plans for next weekend when Mom and Dad Sko come to visit!!!  I have an easy week planned as far as recipes go...

Tonight:  Sunday Sauce (making a double batch, so I can make a tray of baked ziti for the in-laws later in the week)

Monday:  Chicken Caprese Panini

Tuesday:  Taco Tuesday 

Wednesday:  Easy Ranch Chicken and Rice 

Thursday:  Loaded Veggie Pizza

I hope you are all having an amazing weekend!!!

*Also, don't forget I'm still offering a special 30% off of all advertising spots with the promo code "NTSST"!

$300 (Yes, THREE Hundred) Nordstrom Gift Card Giveaway

First, let me start by saying I LOVE NORDSTROM. 

They are the perfect mix of simplicity and class. So, this month I have teamed up with Marquis @ Simply Clarke and other amazing bloggers to GIVEAWAY a $300 Nordstom Gift Card to one lucky winner!

This will be great for Easter Dress shopping or accessories, a new handbag or new shoes. You could even get a ton of little things like make-up, Toms, or an iPhone case, etc. So many amazing possibilities! Take a look at what you could get: 

Marquis @ Simply Clarke / Hallie @ Life: Oceanside 

Danielle @ Taking Notes Coast to Coast / Victoria @ Marine Wifey / Jenna @ Life is Sweet

Rebekah @ All That Glitters / Alli @ Allena Mistral / Myrna @ Undecided Mamas

Co-Hosted By: Love Laughter Happily Ever After, Lets Get Bananas, Faith Love and Babies, Carolina Fireflies, Confessions of a Busy Busy Bee, Wanna Be Green, The Sapphire Bee, Glamorous Affordable Life, Never the Same Spice Twice, Be Blessed Ya'll

RULES 1// Giveaway is open to US RESIDENTS  2// Winner will be notified via email on Friday 3/22/13 or Saturday 3/23/13. You will have 48 hours from the timestamp on the email to respond, or a new winner will be chosen. 3// WINNER WILL BE VERIFIED!!! 4// View the Terms & Conditions listed on the Rafflecopter below

a Rafflecopter giveaway