Cash Cowan

Under Construction and a Quickie Update!

2012-05-26T11:26:00.000-05:00

So, I'm excited to share that I'm working with a blog designer for a new look to Cash Cowan! It's been a few years and I've got a lot of new things going on, so, I'll need just a little bit of updating!

I'm happy to report that Tuesday I start a new job. I'm really excited because it's a combo of the 2 things I love to do most - recruiting and social media. Who knew that something you are passionate about could turn into your dream job? Totally excited about that!

I had surgery on my ear almost 3 weeks ago to remove some damaged tissue in my ear. They pretty much had to cut off my ear and put it back on. I go back on the 5th for a check up. So far, I'm feeling better, but still having some hearing issues. I think they are planning on putting a tube in my ear when I go back.

Lots of babies in my life right now! My blogger buddy, Alyssa had her lovely baby Autumn last week and I got to meet her on Thursday. If you know me, I'm not a baby person so me holding her for over an hour is definitely something out of my comfort zone! Jeff and I hosted a baby shower for our cousin's newest arrival last weekend and we had quite the event. I have photos to come.

And weddings galore! I've gone to 2 weddings in the last month. Here is a photo hubs and I at his cousin's wedding in St. Genevieve.

And one of Marcy and I with our Ring Pops. So fitting since that's my dress print!

So that's a good update for now. Hopefully I'll have the blog updated here shortly with the new look and feel. So long googly eyed cow - hello sleek and sophisticated cow! If that is possible!

Happy Memorial Day!

Nautical by Nature!

2012-05-16T08:23:00.000-05:00

Source: google.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

It boggles my mind how I can have this love of nautical things when the closest water to me is the murky Mississippi River. I've always had an affinity for stripes and I just don't know why. I was so excited when one of the Lilly groups I'm in on Facebook shared this J. Crew dress with me. LOVE! I ordered it immediately and wore it yesterday to a nonprofit consulting meeting. I looked down and saw that the navy had bled into the white and it definitely didn't look like it was going to come out. On my way home, I stopped at Frontenac and the girls were nice enough to let me swap out of my dress in the store. Excellent customer service!

Source: jcrew.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I also fell in love with these lovelies this week. Because everyone needs tug boat earrings right? I think they are just the right amount of quirk that I love about Kate Spade. Don't forget they are having their big secret sale right now! I didn't find anything I just needed to have, but there were lots of cute goodies!

Source: katespade.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

The Latest Addition...

2012-05-10T04:00:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for a dress for my cousin's wedding for Saturday with absolutely no luck. I'm not going to feel all that up for dancing 3 days post surgery, so I thought I'd go with something a little simple.

Enter the Lilly Pulitzer Evie Ring Pop Dress

I got it last night and love it! The thing I love about Lilly prints is until you get really close, you don't realize what the print actually is. Up close, this is all big bling rings! Love! It was from the 2011 Fall collection, but I should be able to jazz it up for spring!

Mini Vacation!

2012-05-09T04:00:00.000-05:00

Friday morning hubs and I boarded a plane to sunny Florida to see my Dad before I have surgery on Wednesday. Dad was just a little worried about everything and wanted to see me before. I'm cool with that. My grandparents got us tickets and we flew down for a quick mini visit.

My Dad and grandparents only live about a mile from each other which works out quite well. We stayed at my grandparents place. We caught up with them, they are always so interested in how work is going and like to hear what we have going on.

We made our usual Miromar Outlet trip. I picked up a new hot pink Polo dress with a blue pony for $16. You can't beat that! I got some new makeup too. Sadly, I think we didn't win big like we usually do at the outlet mall. Hubs got a few polos, but that was about it. I think that's the least amount of money I've ever spent with only $40!

Sunday we ended up going to our favorite place - Pinchers Crab Shack. We go every single time and sit at the same table. We've been going for years, there is something to be said about tradition.

Isn't my Dad a good lookin' guy?

Jen vs. the Stone Crab.

Side note - I do believe I can only wear my Joy Tunic dress in Florida. I don't think the lovely people of St. Louis would appreciate coral and seahorses. I'm starting to get quite the vacation dress collection!

Hubs enjoying his Stone Crab. He gets the same thing every time!

Overall, it was a great visit. Nice and relaxing. We ended up getting dad an New iPad so he can Skype and read books. He's not very mobile so we thought having that touch screen access may be the trick for him.

I'm anxious to get back and visit - I can't fly for 4 weeks after surgery so I'll have to wait till late June or July, but we'll be going back very soon!

Stanley Steemer to the Rescue!

2012-05-08T14:42:00.000-05:00

Did you know that you should get your carpets professionally cleaned about once a year?

Yes, I didn't know that either! I was so excited when MyBlogSpark contacted me to participate in a spark for Stanley Steemer!

I was out of town the week before for work, and I called the weekend before to schedule out appointment for Saturday morning. They indicated they would come between 8 and 11 and call 15 minutes before. About 7:45 we get the phone call and we jump into speed clean mode. You need to have everything off of the floor, all things that can move, like chairs, and smaller furniture should be moved. We put a lot of our goodies in the kitchen since there is hardwood floor there. Hubs jumped into cleaning action vacuuming the floor. He was worried that the Stanley Steemer guys would think we were slobs. They indicated we were definitely not the messiest house they had ever seen! Whew!

The 2 guys came in and we came them a tour of the rooms. We were having our entire main floor cleaned. We pointed out spots that we knew had stains (ie pee pee spots) and they used a special spot remover and everything came right up! Riley thinks she is pretty sneaky with peeing in the corners, but we figured her out!

One of the biggest stains we had was in the chair where hubs like to sit. He has this nasty habit of wearing shoes in the house and spilling things.

Here is the before:

Here is the after. Totally different, right?

Definitely less noticeable!

Overall, we were very happy with the service that Stanley Steemer provided. They even shared a tip with us that you should rake your carpet before vacuuming because it will pick up more things in the carpet. Who knew? We picked up their spot remover and they showed us how to use the product. Very accommodating guys and they were very mindful asking us for feedback on how everything looked. I felt like I was in a brand new house! The carpets took about 18 hours to completely dry and we had all of the smaller furniture on foam blocks so that the wood stain wouldn't stain the carpets.

This is a great time for Spring Cleaning and you can schedule an appointment too! They often run coupons in your weekly circulars to save extra moolah!

Disclaimer - I was provided with a $100 gift card for my review of Stanley Steemer and an additional $100 for a friend or family member. In on way did this influence my decision on Stanley Steemer.

Review & Giveaway of Char Crust!

2012-05-02T17:09:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, hubs and I went out to dinner to one of the nicer restaurants in the area and their special on the menu was a Char Crust filet. When we inquired about the char crustiness of it all, they said it was actually a seasoning blend and not the the grill. I was so excited because I was contacted by Char Crust to do a review. Challenge Accepted!

Char Crust has 4 flavors that they sent us. The one we really liked was the Roasted Garlic Peppercorn. The cooking instructions are super easy - dredge, and grill. I just added the seasoning to a pie plate and coated. I also let the seasonings sit for a little bit to really soak in.

Dinner was served in no time. The flavor really comes out in the grilling. Served with broccoli with fresh grated parm cheese on top and of course a glass of wine.

Char Crust and Cash Cowan have teamed up to offer you all 4 flavors that I was able to try! Be sure to follow Rafflecopter for instructions! Get ready to get your grill on!

• Roasted Garlic Peppercorn features the robust flavor of roasted garlic and onions with the zing of peppercorns and a hint of Worcestershire and lavender. Its versatility has made it a best seller. It complements steaks, lamb, seafood, pork, poultry, and potatoes.

• Ginger Teriyaki is a balance of sweet teriyaki, fragrant ginger, plus a tingly touch of wasabi that lends a new dimension and creates a modern teriyaki interpretation. It complements chicken, fish, and steak.

• Amazin’ Cajun is a spicy-sweet blend of piquant cayenne pepper, onion, garlic, oregano and a mélange of other Mardi Gras flavors. It brings the sublime heat of New Orleans to catfish, chicken, shrimp, and even “dirty” rice.

• All American Barbecue takes the best flavors of American barbecue and blends them into a tangy-sweet, slightly spicy rub. It has rich molasses from Memphis, tangy tomato from Kansas City, mustard, pepper and vinegar from the Carolinas, plus a wisp of smoke from Texas.

Disclaimer - I was offered a 4 piece sample pack and giveaway item. In no way does that influence my opinion of Char Crust. All opinions are my own.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"Fried" Pickles

2012-04-12T04:00:00.001-05:00

My goal every week is to try a new recipe on Pinterest. Last week I tried "Fried" Pickles. We were grilling and I just wasn't feeling our usual tater tots or fries, so I went with something different. I followed the recipe exactly except for the Cajun seasoning. I didn't have any. I substituted paprika instead. I had the large oval pickles on hand, so they are a little larger than a regular pickle chip. I like that though, they were a little more substantial.

They were super yummy. I think next time I'll add a little more salt and maybe a big of a kick of cayenne. I was surprised how crispy they got in the oven under the broiler.

I served them with light ranch dip.

Okay, I need a suggestion for my next recipe to try. Any recommendations?

Mad Men Party!

2012-04-11T04:00:00.000-05:00

A while back, I was invited to host a Mad Men Premier Party. I called up all of my Mad Men loving friends and we set the date. House Party provided me with a fun box of goodies including these Man Men Faces. They were the hit of the party!

We had our usual party snacks. Watched the finale of season 4. Brought a few friends up to speed who didn't watch the show and let the fun begin!

Instead of Old Fashions, we opted for Sangria. Doing something just a little different.

Roger Sterling, be still my heart.

Everyone picked their favorite character. Except my husband. He picked Peter. For real, who likes Peter!?!?

We're ready for this week of Mad Men. What's up with the weird Betty story line???

It's Tea Party Time!

2012-04-10T04:00:00.000-05:00

Saturday afternoon, my dear friend Merri put together the most spectacular Lilly themed Tea Party for our Junior Junior Leaguers. It was hosted at our new location and we had such a fantastic time. We asked my Mom to come and talk about etiquette and had some fun activities.

Each table was decorated with cookies on sticks to decorate

Everyone had a tea cup name tag

Cake Balls & Scones

We needed a sample decorated cookie.

I was willing to help out. Pink and Green, Of Course!

Finished product!

When the girls were finished with their cookies, we wrapped them up so they could take them home and tied them with a pink bow.

My mom talked about proper ways to hold a tea cup, sit in a chair. All the important things you need to know.

Then at the end, we talked about the importance of hand written thank you cards. The girls wrote a thank you card to their mom who brought them to the tea party.

At the end, always a time for a photo op.

Me & Mom. She wore a vintage hat to tea

Me & Merri.

Isn't she adorable in all her Lilly?

Overall, I think it was a very successful afternoon!

Giveaway - General Mills Curvy Straw Prize Pack!

2012-04-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is eat a big bowl of cereal and watch the Today Show. It's the only time during the week I actually have time to sit down and enjoy a big bowl of cereal. What I love even more is drinking the milk out of the bowl and making the fun slurp noises.

To encourage kids to drink their milk, General Mills has added Curvy Straws to specially marked boxes of their cereal. There are 6 to collect! Drinking milk can help you get the Vitamin D and Calcium you need on a daily basis. You can get $1.25 off 2 boxes coupon here! You can even use your fun straw at dinner to drink a glass of milk!

Cash Cowan and General Mills have teamed up to offer a prize pack which includes:

1 box of a participating Big G cereal
1 Curvy Straw
1 ‘spilt’ milk bowl
2 glow cups
2 tangle toys

Want to win? Here's How:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: The prize pack, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Easter Recap

2012-04-08T19:13:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm pooped! This year we hosted Easter for both sides of the family. I think it went very well. I was determined that I was going to make at least recipe from Pinterest. And so I did! I made the Peep Sunflower Cake. I'll say mine isn't quite round with my Peeps, but it turned out super yummy!

We also hosted an Easter Egg hunt from my nephew. He had a fantastic time.

Me & Jeff.

I'm currently experimenting with semi-curly flipped hair. Obviously being in the kitchen all day, not so cute. The dress is a Lilly Pulitzer Janet.

And we can't forget Riley Sue! She has been in heaven with this weather. She wanted to lay in the grass all afternoon.

And she is exceptionally trendy currently with her blue feather. Don't worry, it was free. I would never pay for my dog to get a feather extension, but it was free. I say, if it's free and it doesn't bug her, let's go for it!

How was your Easter?

Baby Shower Time!

2012-03-26T04:00:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago, I helped celebrate my friend Monica's new arrival that is coming this month! Monica and I were in the same business fraternity in college and then we found out we worked in the same building a couple of years ago. Who knew? Here are a few photos from the fun afternoon!

Miss Elena. My friend Sara's youngest. Isn't she adorable?

Diaper Cake!

Party Favors.

Diaper Wreath - I've never seen one of these!

Sara, Monica and I.

( I love this dress, but it's photographs awfully!)

I was super excited because I gifted Monica her first Lilly shift for her baby girl! It's my thing. I gift all my friend's their first Lilly. I like to start the habit early!

Aww, fun for all!

Fish Fry Friday!

2012-03-24T04:00:00.000-05:00

If you're a St. Louis native and Catholic (we're not) you typically go to your local parish for the Fish Fry on Friday night during lent.

Being that 1) we aren't catholic 2) we try not to eat fried foods and 3) we don't eat a lot of fish you'd come to the conclusion that's not our hoppin' spot. Right? Right!

BUT we went to our first one last Friday. Apparently there is a list of the best places to go and we tried out Immaculate Conception in Maplewood.

Hubs seemed to enjoy it. He ate half my cod from above. The nice ladies of the church had baked goods too. You can't pass up 2 cupcakes and a piece of strawberry cake for $1.50. I think not!

Afterwards we headed over to the Schlafly Bottleworks and had a beverage. This St. Louis weather is absolutely nuts. It's 84 degrees out and you must enjoy something on the patio!

We're trying another fish fry place today!

Is this just a St. Louis thing, or is this every where?

Tory Burch Private Sale!

2012-03-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

This morning I woke up and said I will not spend money for the next 2 weeks. Then I got an email about the Tory Burch Private Sale. Crap. Crapola!

So, then I browsed the dresses and I came across this little LBD. So I had to get it, right?

Good thing, this little lady sold out in minutes! I have a ton of weddings and dressy events to go to, perfect with my new cheetah pumps (just like the picture!)

via

I also bent one of my gold Banana Republic hoops, so I thought I'd get a replacement. They were only $24, you can't pass that deal up, right?

via

The Private Sale runs through the 26th. They have lots of cute goodies!

Old Navy Style Council + Crowdtap = New Dresses!

2012-03-22T04:00:00.000-05:00

Crowdtap did it again! I was selected for a See and Share for dresses as apart of the Old Navy Style Council! I called up one of my fabulous Junior League Buddies, Merri, and we headed out to Old Navy! We tried on probably 10 dresses a piece, but forgot to take photos! The girls that were managing the fitting rooms kept giving us strange looks. So, here are a few of the favorites!

Please ignore my insanely messy hair. I don't quite know what was going on with the poof!

Merri started out with the Belted Tie-Sleeve Crepe Dress in Stainless Steel

Next I went with the Embroidered Chambray Dress. It was cute, just too bulky. Ugh my hair!!!!

Merri ended up going with the Wrap-Front Dress. Isn't it adorable?

I ended up with the Printed Chiffon Key-Hole Dress. You can't tell from the photo, but it has green polka dots! I wore it last week to work with my royal blue Tory Burch flats and it was cute! I love this stress because it has the drawstring and has a TON of room, but it's flattering. Perfect for a maternity dress at some point!

Big thanks to Crowdtap and the Old Navy Style Council for letting have a fun girls afternoon. I was provided 2 free dress coupons. In no way did that influence my opinion of Old Navy or Crowdtap.

Mug Swap!

2012-03-20T19:26:00.002-05:00

Ya'll, I heart swaps. I love getting to know other bloggers, and then find them something cute and fabulous and brighten their day! I was excited to participate in the Mug Swap. Yes! I was matched up with Rebekah and I got her the cutest mug. Silly me forgot to take a photo of it! I brought it home and hubs said it was pretty much the coolest mug he'd seen in a while and asked why I was giving it away. Silly Squirrel.

I came home yesterday to fabulous box from Anthropologie! Oooh yea!

How adorable is it? I love monograms and this is so cute and unique!

Speaking of awesome monogramming. Check out my sweet deal I got at Kohl's!

They were $4.99 each and then I had a 20% off coupn, makes them $1 a napkin. Quite the deal!

Happy Anniversary!

2012-03-15T08:12:00.001-05:00

4 years ago, I married my best friend. It was chilly, I was freaking out. I made my dad cry, but it was one of the best days of my life!

Here's to 100 more!

Tonight we are celebrating with a LivingSocial Escape deal that I purchased. We'll go out to dinner, relax and have a fun evening. We even got Riley a baby sitter! Then tomorrow we took the day off to relax and have some fun. I'll be back this week with lots of fun updates!

Mad Men Love

2012-03-02T16:48:00.001-06:00

I must confess I didn't watch Mad Men until last year and over the past 6 months Jeff and I have been steadily catching up. We're now in the middle of season 4 and should be all caught up for the premier March 25th! I was totally excited today when I got an email from House Party that I was selected to host a Mad Men Premier House Party! Totally excited.

In addition to the premier of Mad Men my mecca store, Banana Republic rolled out a Mad Men Collection from the show's costume designer Janie Bryant. This is the second collection, and I couldn't pass up this adorable dress! I can't turn away polka dots!

via

So, that's my exciting Friday news! House Party changed their requirements so you have to send out 10 emails to even be selected for the party. I'd much prefer to do an evite or a Facebook invite, but sadly, I've got to play by their rules. I'm really tempted to have a themed party where everyone has to dress up!

Jeff dressed as Don Draper? Yes, PLEASE!

Anyone else excited about Mad Men?

Yelp Black & Red Ball

2012-02-28T10:44:00.000-06:00

This weekend was absolutely crazy! My craziness started out on Friday night with a few on my favorite people at the Yelp Black & Red Ball. As a Yelp Elite, I was invited to come to the party a whole hour before hand and sample some delish bites and frosty beverages from the evening.

Probably the coolest thing of the night is Melissa and I got to meet Steve Ewing! Now, if you're not a St. Louis native or an Urge lover then this means nothing to you. But he's the lead singer of The Urge and he opened Steve's Hot Dogs on the Hill. They were hickory smoked and quite tasty!

So, being the 15 year old giddy girls that we were, we asked for a photo. Super cool guy and he even filled us in on about some shows for the summer!

Melissa enjoying Bogart's Smoke House Ribs. My goodness were they good!

Definitely will have to take hubs out there.

We met up with Marcy & Joey and Julie and Keith too!

For once Marcy was taller than me.

Oh, my dress? It's the Lilly Pulitzer Julianna accented with a bit of Banana Republic sparkle bling.

Julie, Me & Melissa

I had the bartender make me Jen Jack. It was Agave, club soda, OJ and pomegranate juice.

Oh snap was it lovely. It just needed a hint of sweetness.

Then they had a fabulous photo booth. I think I need to find myself a fancy pair of purple shades for all time!

Spring on my Fingers!

2012-02-15T21:12:00.003-06:00

So in between going to the doctor yesterday and then having to go get a CT Scan of my ear, I had about 20 minutes to kill and I popped into Ulta and picked up this amazing box of spring goodness. It has 4 colors and the nice gals at Ulta gave me the 20% off coupon so all 4 colors for $14 bucks! Deal! I'll blog more about my ear drama later, for now, I'm going to lay on the couch and catch up on Modern Family!

Source: shop.nordstrom.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T08:06:00.001-06:00

Well Happy Day of Commercial Love, Crap and all that is roses and pink goo.

As you can tell, we don't really celebrate Valentine's Day since our anniversary is a month away.

But, we do swap cards. I got hubs the most spectacular card that was fantasy football themed card at tiny prints, and his was pretty funny. He also got me a bag of gluten free gummi worms. He's so cute, he gets excited when he finds something notifying him right on the package.

Tonight we are going out to dinner to our favorite seafood place, Bristol's. Not because it's Valentine's Day, but because we felt like fish. Well, that's what we're saying.

Oh, and thought I'd leave you with my new favorite song. I know I'm late to the game as it's been on a commercial. But I don't listen to the radio. I'm an XM gal and I listen to 90's music. Yea, I'm awesome and lame all at the same time.

But Enjoy! Happy Valentine's Day. What are your big plans?

Pink Swap - Round 2!

2012-02-10T04:00:00.000-06:00

Friday, I came home from Happy Hour and I had a package waiting for me! So excited. Ashlee wrote me a cute note explaining each item. It included Lilly Croakies, Burt's Bee's lipgloss (love!), a Miss Manicure set that is already in my purse. A tropical candle and holder from the BBW, some hair product, chocolate and OPI's latest pink color for the Nicki Minaj collection. I ended up going with this color when I went to get my nails done on Saturday. Love!!

And of course, I have to show you Miss Riley Sue's new Valentine's Day bows. They have little white hearts and a big rhinestone. She is uhh dorable. But then again, I'm biased. :o)

Pink Swap - Round 1

2012-02-09T04:00:00.000-06:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I was participating in the Pink Swap with Kappa Prep. To recap, the deal is you have to get 4 items or more and spend $30. You get a buddy, swap some emails, stalk their blog and find out what they would like.

So, I had Ashlee, and we had lots in common, especially Lilly. So I was so excited when I found lots of cute Lilly items at my local store including a mug, notebook, and postie notes. I also picked up a bunch of cute goodies at Target. How can you not resist the a cupcake kit, heart shaped cookie cutters, napkins, magnets and notepads and nail polish. I wrapped everything up and shipped it out on Monday.

I got a sweet note back saying she loved it!

Mission accomplished!

Jason Wu for Target

2012-02-08T04:00:00.000-06:00

So, I'm glad to see this wasn't like the Missoni craziness. I did see some long lines to get into check out the goodies, but just not as insane like before. I wasn't overly impressed with much, but I totally am in love with this. Minus the weird socks. Ya'll know me. I'm a sucker for anything nautical and a dress. Be still my heart.

via

Anyone else find anything they liked?

Afternoon Tea at the Ritz

2012-02-07T04:00:00.000-06:00

Tea Anyone?

Well, that is was the Junior League Brunch Club decided to do a few weekends ago. I had never been to a formal high tea, so I jumped at the chance. I convince Merri, McKenna and Debbie to come with me too! There were probably about 20ish ladies in all from the League.

Merri, McKenna & Debbie

Me & Merri

We had the full tea, which included sandwiches. Now, I'm going to be honest and say the sandwiches were not worth the $10 extra dollars that was added for the full tea. I would have been quite happy with the lighter version.

But, it was yummy! My favorite was the scones and cream. YUM! I would go again, but definitely going for the lighter side of the tea. Everything else was fantastic!!