Fabulous 4th Recipes and Decor

No festive 4th of July shin-dig can be complete without amazing decorations and delicious food! Check out some of my favorite festive finds...




Red Velvet Cake a la Bon Appetit Magazine




Pottery Barn




Country Living




Martha Stewart




Southern Living




Pottery Barn




Patriotic Flag Cake a la Martha Stewart

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I know, I know.. now you're drooling, right?

{ Me too! }

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I can't wait to road trip to the big OKC to see my besties! Lots of BBQs, baking, and fun to be had... look out!


What are your fabulous 4th plans?
Have any cute patriotic decor or recipes?

Team Jacob Unite!

Tonight's the night! That's right, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is finally out and you'd better believe I'm going to be sitting elbow to elbow with 3,000 frantic, screaming middle school girls... can't wait!

{ Team Jacob UNITE! }


{ ...and you're welcome for the photos. }

Get It, Shakira!

My Zumba instructor played the official World Cup song, "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)", song last night in class. I went crazy! Not sure if I have ever danced that hard in all my life.


{ Waka Waka = Downloaded! }






Can't wait to run to this song today... check it out and BUST A MOVE!


Do you love this song too? Wooo World Cup!

Sweet Blog Treats

If you missed out on yesterday's amazing Mingle Monday party, don't you worry! I have a list of all of the best blogs in town right here!

Thank to all of you who stopped by, hopefully picked up some new followers and made my day. I love Mingle Monday! Here are some delicious new blog treats for you to discover...

{ enjoy! }



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{ This Week's Winners! }


1) Karen @ The Kimchee Chronicles

- You HAVE to stop by and check her out! Always hilarious, completely girly and fun, this is a daily read for me. LOVE Karen's Flirty Fridays posts!


2) Mei @ Diary of a Fair Weather Diver

- What a fun new blog to discover! Complete with fabulous movie and book reviews! Go stop by and tell Mei how fun her blog is!


3) Kat @ Between You and Me and the Kat's Whiskers

- Cute, cute, cute! I just love the pretty design and layout of Kat's blog! New to the blogging scene - go give her some love!
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{ Looking for a new FABULOUS read? }


- Chocoholic @ Diary of a Chocoholic
- Tiffany @ The Apple Doesn't Fall Far
- Sarah @ A Girl in the Sunshine
- Christy@ 25 Before 25
- Aubrey Rose @ My Simple Everyday
- Breanna @ Sweet Silver Lining
- Megan @ Stories From Meg
- Mrs. Ayers @ The Ayers Travel Adventures
- Casey @ Poodleism
- Nikki Jo @ A Single Girl in the City
- Caro @ Caro's Ramblings
- Jen @ Casa de Cowan
- Jenna @ Sweetest Surprise

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If you were new to Mingle Mondays this week - what did you think?


I hope all of you really look forward to Mondays as much as I do! I love reading the story, seeing your excited comments, and more than anything...
helping YOU out!




{ This is all about YOU, my sweets! }







**Please note that all 3 weekly winners were chosen at random. Please try back next week for your chance to win and be highlighted!

**Also, if you were not listed you may have left out your blog NAME and/or URL. Next time be sure to double check, because I would love to have you on the list!

**If you think there may have been a mistake, PLEASE let me know! :)

Ice Cream = Protein... right?

Would you like to know how my weekend went? Well, it went a little something like this...



Macaroni & Cheese + Gelato + Hamburger + Angel Food Cake
Homemade Pizza + Strawberry Rhubarb Pie + Bagel
Vanilla Soy Latte + Brunch + Frozen Yogurt
Mexican Food + Haagen Dazs

{ O. M. G. }





Holy crap... best weekend ever.

I thought the food frenzy was going to wind down yesterday... nope! We went out with our kickball team for a post-game treat at a
{ delicious } frozen yogurt store. So naturally after healthy frozen yogurt you have to load up on the Mexican food...


...and so we did!


If that wasn't enough, BF and ran to the grocery store afterward to grab ingredients to pre-make the main dish for "family dinner" Mondays. Of course we couldn't leave without a pint of vanilla bean FIVE Haagen Dazs ice cream and chocolate shell topping.


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If you haven't tried FIVE, you'd better run to the store STAT!
And I mean literally run... this stuff is so deliciously addictive, you'll need to start working it off now.

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Here's to working out!



PS- If you haven't dropped by Mingle Monday yet - you'd better get to the party and gain some new followers! :)

Mingle Monday!

Without further delay... WELCOME to Mingle Monday! I hope you all are ready for some fun, new friends, and lots of followers!

If you are new to my blog or Mingle Monday - Thanks for joining us! Please click on the Mingle Monday tab located at the top of [Life of Meg] for details.


Just a few housekeeping rules...

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1) Please include the NAME of your blog as well as the correct URL.

Example: [Life of Meg]
www.megnificentlife.blogspot.com


2) Unfortunately, any minglers lacking their blog's name and URL will not be able to be included in tomorrow's blog highlight list. So... please make sure it's included in your comment - this is here to help YOU! :)


3) Also, your blog grows the more readers that follow. In order to get your name out there, we all have to tell our favorite blog friends about Mingle Monday. The more bloggers the merrier!!

4) Remember, I will choose 3 mingler over-achievers (who post on their blog about Mingle Monday) to receive a feature review and recommendation of their blog in tomorrow's post.

In order to be entered you MUST comment again and leave the link to your blog's Mingle Monday post. Bueno? Bueno!
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{ Let Mingle Monday commence! }





{ Here we go! }
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After weeks and weeks of late work nights and never-ending case loads at the firm, Amy was completely burnt out. Young, ambitious, and dying to make a name for herself, she thrived off of the challenge, but she had reached her max. Amy loved living within the Boston metropolis, and lawyer life was great, but she was feeling restless... trapped. She knew it was time to get away.

Usually Amy was the responisble planner type, weighing her pros and cons while analyzing every last detail, but not today. This was her day to be free. She decided to call in sick bright and early that Thursday morning, packed up her Louis Vuitton luggage that she spent her Christmas bonus on, and was off to the airport.

With her long chestnut locks cascading out of her floral head scarf, she decided to go for it. There were millions of fabulous destinations to choose, but she felt like being wild, spontaneous Amy today. Walking up to the ticket counter, she took a deep breath and finally worked up the courage to say...

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...and...

{ GO! }



Happy Mingling!

Merry Weekend To You!

Hello weekend... take me away!
First off, I can't tell you how HAPPY I am that it's Friday (...can I get an "Amen"?!). Second, super happy I have so many lovely things to look forward to...




dinner + puppies + girly cousin time
literally counting down the minutes until USA wins tomorrow's game!
{ USA USA USA USA USA! }
zumba in the a.m. - must work off my yummy Mexican lunch
cooking + baking + new recipes
soooo excited for our lovely family dinner plans tomorrow
seeing my family friend who's in town visiting from Michigan
kickball Sunday with the church gang
QT w/ BF

{ Spec-freakin'-tacular! }



What are you looking forward to this weekend?!


PS- To all those who asked... Toy Story 3 = AMAZINGNESS! Go see it!! :)

Shout Out

I cannot even begin to tell all of you fabulous readers {new and old} how much you brighten my day! Thanks for sticking with [Life of Meg] and being such wonderful, active, comment-happy friends!

{ You guys rock! }




I have to give a big SHOUT OUT to several super sweet people who I need to thank for the following awards - I'm flattered beyond belief!


A big thank you to A Chocoholic's Diary!




My dear friend, Amanda @ Don & Amanda - thank you lovey!

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In order to accept, I am required to answer 7 questions and then pass the award on to 7 people. So, I will combine and pass!

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1) I LOVE YELLOW. Like woah.

2) I lived in lovely San Francisco for 4 months and now I miss it everyday!

3) Nothing is sweeter than a bouquet of fresh flowers.

4) I'm passionate about my job and LOVE helping cancer pateints and families every single day!

5) Completely obsessed with (500) Days of Summer. If you haven't seen it, we can't be friends... GO SEE IT!

6) Drink of choice: Soy Coffee Frappucino

7) I've never karaoked before, but when I do I would love to sing "Walking in Memphis" - love that song!

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And now for the pass along...

I am going to use the beautiful blogger award and give it to these 7 lovely bloggers. You all inspire me and are more than deserving of a fabulous award:


- 25 Before 25-
- Honeycomb Creative Co.
- A Girl in the Sunshine
- Lovely Happenings
- Lucky in Love
- Newlywed Adventures
- The Kimchee Chronicles


Also, I missed Miss Tiffany during Mingle Monday, so please show her some love... go visit her at The Apple Doesn't Fall Far. Adorable blog - cutest layout I've seen in a long time and her photos are gorgeous!


Hope this added sunshine to each of your day!

Disney-holic

Yes, I am fully aware that I am 23-years-old and my favorite movie is the The Little Mermaid (the first movie I ever remember seeing in theaters), but I don't care...

{ I'm a Disney-holic! }



Ashamed? Me?
{ No way, Disney is totally bomb! }

Well, tonight I am headed out with a handful of my favorite people to go see Toy Story 3! Woop woop! Have any of you seen it yet? I'm expecting amazing things from another Disney/Pixar collaboration film.




In lieu of Disney, my list of top Disney films that I love!

- Aladdin
- The Little Mermaid
- Beauty & the Beast
- The Lion King
- Pocahontas (You're welcome, seester!)
- Robin Hood (You're welcome, broski!)
- Up!
- Meet the Robinsons
- Wall-e
- Peter Pan
- Toy Story
- Mulan
- Lilo & Stitch




Did I miss any of your favorites?!

Marry Me, Landon Donovan!

WE DID IT!!!
USA lives on to see another round of World Cup play thanks to Landon Donovan! After an intense first half of seemingly frantic ball play, we finally got our act together just in time - 91st minute goal madness!


A photo of my future hubby.


Just in case you missed his spectacular last minute goal, I found it for you.
(You're welcome.)






Perhaps a little more eye candy a la Vanity Fair just because...






We're in the process of planning our elaborate fall wedding. Planning on a lovely outdoor vineyard, you know, just a small gathering of about 500-700 people.



Still in the process of picking out flowers, cake flavors and such, but with Landon being so busy right now, it's been hard to finalize details. Don't worry, you're save the dates are in the mail... get excited!


(Haha, jk! BF, I still like you - you're my fave ;) MUAH!)



GO TEAM USA!

Record Breaking Party

That's right! The [Life of Meg] Mingle Monday party had so many wonderful bloggers in attendance! To all of you wonderful minglers - thanks for coming! - hope you all had a BLAST!



As far as I could tell, I didn't have any bloggers who posted about Mingle Monday on their blogs, so nobody to highlight this week. Bummer! If by chance I missed your blog post, please let me know! I would love to see your blog myself and send a million jillion new followers your way!!


So many new wonderful blogs to check out! Please stop by and visit all of these wonderful minglers - I know I will!

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Nikki @ A Single Girl In The City

Casey @ Poodleism

Jennee @ Jennee

Dani @ OK Dan

Breanna @ Sweet Silver Lining

Teresa @ Monday Morning

Tiffany @ The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

Aubrey @ My Simple Everyday

Susie @ A Slice of My Life

Royar @ Young Southern Prep

Jayme @ The Simple Sweet Life

Wendy @ Domestic Success

Mei @ Diary of a Fair Weather Driver

Joanna Noel @ Dance and Dream 4 Ever

Nicole @ That's Life

Chloe @ Tryin' To Throw My Arms Around The World

Lacey @ This Freckled Lemonade

Eneida @ More Faith Than Fear

Chocoholic @ A Chocoholic's Diary

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I tried super hard to make sure I added everyone, but if I missed you...

A) Super sorry!
B) Pretty please let me know - don't be shy!



Did any of you MEGnificent minglers get any fabulous new followers?



I'd LOVE to hear about it!

Girl Power!

How on earth did I MISS this?
Glamour magazine did an incredible photo shoot that turned today's biggest celebrities into our beloved American icons. Behold our power women...




Alexis Bledel as Rosie the Riveter



Hayden Panettiere as Amelia Earhart



Emma Roberts as Audrey Hepburn



Emma Stone as Carrie Bradshaw



Elisha Cuthbert as Brandi Chastain



Alicia Keys as Michelle Obama



Camilla Belle as Mary Tyler Moore



{ Absolutely LOVE It! }



Which one is your favorite?






PS- Don't forget MINGLE MONDAY!