About Me

Hello!  I’m Stephanie, or Steph, if you prefer not to say all the syllables.  I have lived in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati tri-state area my entire life.  I call my husband, D (aka Dustin), my not-so-high-school-sweetheart because although we were classmates from Kindergarten through 12^th grade, we never really knew each other, despite the fact that our class only consisted of about 55 people.  The only thing we knew about each other was our names.  Well, I knew he was a jock and he knew I was a nerd, but really everything else we were oblivious to.  After graduation, D and I each went our separate ways, got married and then divorced before we “re-met” on MySpace and Facebook while planning a high school reunion. Truth be known, I think he’s been stalking me since grade school.  In fact, I was going to file stalking charges against him, but when he introduced me to his dog, Zeus, I couldn’t bear knowing that beautiful animal would be sent to the pound while his master was in jail.  So I forgot about the stalking charges and agreed to go on a date with him instead.  Fast forward a few years and we still live in Northern Kentucky with Zeus, a “pet” tarantula named Spidey, and munchkins Matthew (age 11) and Tori (age 7).

This is my husband, Dustin.  Also referred to as Hubby D, Hubbidy Dub D, Mr. OCD, and a bunch of other names that wouldn’t be appropriate to put here.  He is responsible for making my culinary creations “pretty”.  I come up with the recipes and he makes sure it’s presentable.  See?  I told you we are M.F.E.O. (Made For Each Other for those of you who haven’t seen Sleepless In Seattle).  The doggy in the picture is none other than Zeus, a Giant Alaskan Malamute.  He’s a boy, but sometimes I help him accessorize.  Take this pink bow for example – it really pops when set against the black, white and gray in his fur. I’m pretty sure he’d prefer I give him a hot dog instead of a hair bow, but I’ve seen his papers and he doesn’t have a fair guarantee on them anywhere.   

The other animals of the house, Matthew and Tori.  Sometimes I’ll affectionately refer to them as Thing 1 and Thing 2.  I’ve been seeing snippets of my humor and personality breaking through both of them.  The jury’s still out regarding if that should make me proud or scared.  

 

This particular family picture is my favorite.  D and I have the smiles that say “We are enjoying ourselves during this family vacation, damn it, if it’s the last thing we do!”  At the same time, D has the Vulcan Death Grip on Matt’s shoulder and I am forcibly dragging and holding Tori in the picture. We really do put the “fun” in dysfunctional.  

If you haven’t already noticed, I prefer a lighthearted approach to life, which means I’m laughing with you as you laugh at me.  I was influenced at an early age by the writings of Erma Bombek and Dave Berry.  In fact, while my girlfriends were trying to figure out a way to become hookers and meet Richard Gere before their parents realized what they were up to, I was hanging out in various department store dressing rooms in hopes that I would learn something about the animal kingdom.  I believe I was as successful in my endeavors as they were with theirs.

This blog is meant to be a showcase of all of the loves in my life and how they interact with one another; writing, cooking, crafting, and what I call “the art of beauty” which includes hairstyles, makeup trends and my favorite – nail art design.  It is my hope that I pass along a nugget or two of information to help you include these things in your life, while at the same time incorporating a bit of my twisted humor to put a spring in your step and a smile on your face.  Unlike other bloggers, I’ll include my failures right alongside of my successes.  I revel in my humanity, and I’m not ashamed to show you the things I’ve tried that don’t work.  You can ask my best friend Lola*, I’ve made some pretty damn funny mistakes, including my “genius” idea to put her futon up on plastic bed risers to give it height, and the potato candy recipe that led us to make a 42lb log of peanut butter and sugared up potatoes that was intended to go to her boss one year around the holidays (hey, how were we supposed to know the recipe was wrong?  We had no idea one potato candy roll shouldn’t take 10 pounds of confectioner’s sugar.  Besides, the diabetes is a gift that keeps on giving all year round).  Hopefully we’ll laugh together until the tears run down our legs while learning a thing or two in the process.     Enjoy!

Stay Beautiful,

*Some names have been changed to protect the victims, err, I mean innocent.