Downtown Phoenix Historic Home Tours

It was a year ago this December when we first spotted our 1920's English Tudor home in the F.Q. Story neighborhood in downtown Phonix. We ventured to this unique part of town during the annual Home Tour and our future residence was having an open house the same weekend. It was love at first sight. The perfect front porch, original double-hung windows, and black and white tiled floors just oozed charm and character. A little over a month later we moved in.

If you enjoy history, interior design, architecture, or just like to look at homes the Historic Home Tours have something for you! Food and gift vendors are also on site during the tour. Ticket sales go toward preserving and supporting these historic neighborhoods (as there are no HOA fees). Checkout the schedules below and websites for more information!

F.Q. Story
December 6th & 7th, 2014
Website: fqstory.org

Willo
February 8th, 2015
Website: willohistoricdistrict.com

Coronado
March 1st, 2015
Website: gcna.info

Encanto/Palmcroft
March 29th, 2015
Website: encantopalmcroft.org

Homemade Cheese Ball

My mom makes this cheese ball every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It doesn't feel like the holidays until we're munching on this snack with Triscuits and Wheat Thins. It can be a little tricky to find all the ingredients -- the Roka Blue Kraft cheese can be evasive, only showing up around the holidays and in select grocery stores. I went to three stores this year before I found it at Safeway. I had to get a manager's help, and even then it was on the top shelf out of sight. Best of luck in your cheeseball making adventures!

Mom's Cheese Ball

8 oz. cream cheese (not fat free as pictured)

1 jar Kraft Old English cheese

1 jar Kraft Roka Blue cheese

4 oz. blue cheese

1 clove garlic

1 small onion

chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

parsley

Mix cheeses with electric mixer until soft. Add garlic and onion to the mix. Chill at least 2 hours, or until firm enough to handle. Roll into ball form and coat in nuts. Makes 1 large ball or 2 small. Freeze, then thaw, for best serving results.

Must-Watch TV: The Profit on CNBC

Listen up, folks. Marcus Lamonis is the prophet on The Profit. If you can get over the pun and the constant tweets on re-runs, this is must-watch TV.

What is it? Well, imagine a Shark with a heart from ABC's Shark Tank out in the wild stalking prey. He finds struggling small businesses. Assesses them. And makes an offer. Then, the madness begins. 

One small business owner insulted a nine-year-old girl. Another refused to trade down her new BMW while her employees helped pay for inventory out of their own pockets. And the popcorn people - oh my - lied, cheated, and tried to steal the Prophet's ideas.

Watch it. Here's a sampling.

Perks of Sephora Rewards

I've mentioned before that I love the rewards program at Sephora (HERE). A couple times a year they offer some AWESOME makeup bags filled with 8 different samples. Here's my latest reward:

This package introduced me to my new masacara favorite, Blinc. It's a tubing mascara which means that each lash has a tube around it giving extra length and volume without smudging or flaking off. It really is fantastic. Read more about tubing mascara here.

And guess what? It's already time for another one of these awesome makeup bags! I get to choose one of three with my next purchase. Which would you choose? Is there a product you've been wanting to try? Let me know!

 

IKEA is Getting Crafty

Have you been to Ikea lately? Most of it looks the same. It still takes a year to walk through, the furniture is still uncomfortable and the Sweedish meatballs are still filling. But it's the new section that caught my eye. Holy smokes. I was in a gift-givers paradise!

They have TONS of coordinating wrapping paper, ribbon, gift tags, paper lanterns, party supplies, and more! It was such a nice little treat and I got to explore the new paper crafts section with my friend Maryann which made it that much better (the hubs wouldn't appreciate it like my lady friends. That's the gospel truth). AND, the best part? Christmas trimmings and wrappings a-plenty! Go check it out!