blue bird bake shop

remember these pom-pom letters I made for baby nola? well she has finally arrived & I had the pleasure of meeting her a few weeks ago. her mama & I go way back to 9th grade. I've seen heather get voted class president, go off to college, walk down the aisle, give birth to a handsome baby boy & now a beautiful little girl. 

I had the pleasure of accompanying the whole gang on their first outing as a family of four. we headed over to the super-delicious blue bird bake shop for some sweets (their cupcakes are incredible!). hartz & nola had a blast (ok, so nola slept the whole time) & we had the whole place to ourselves. it was such a fun morning with such a sweet family! 

snapshots from the weekend

we had a very low-key weekend, with some homemade food, local beer & a little gardening thrown in there too. and thanks to my sweet parents for coming over & cooking dinner (and dessert!) for us on sunday night. what a treat!

 {this sucker popped up in our backyard over the weekend}

  {leftover rolls = french toast}

 {local brew}

  {shredded zucchini...}

 {to make chocolate chip zucchini muffins}

 {flowers from mom}

 {delicious peanut butter banana pudding in mason jars, made by mom}

surprise nightstand

I'd been eyeing this nightstand for months & months, waiting patiently for it to go on sale (I don't buy much of anything unless it's on sale). and when it finally did, west elm didn't have any left in the store. waaaaaaa. so my sweet husband surprised me a few weekends back when I got home from a trip & this was waiting for me when I walked into the bedroom. he's pretty great. 

august cookie: french crullers

today would have been my pop's 84th birthday. in his honor, I decided to dedicate my august cookie to him. we always gave pop a hard time for not liking chocolate. he was, however, a huge fan of the donut (he used to stop by our old house on the weekends when I was just a tot & tap on the backdoor while everyone else was still asleep & I'd let him in & he'd leave a dozen hot donuts for us for breakfast). I saw this delicious recipe for french crullers on pinterest & knew it would be right up pop's alley (even thought it's technically not a cookie). they didn't turn out as beautiful as the recipe photo, but they were pretty tasty with a cup of tea. cheers to pop, who's probably eating vanilla birthday cake up in heaven right at this moment. 

{recipe from here}

mini caprese skewers

we had two get-togethers to go to in the same day & I wanted to make something easy that I could take to both parties, without too much effort. with all the delicious tomatoes in the store this season, I decided to create these little mini caprese skewers. I bought a ball of mozzarella & used a really small circle cookie cutter to cut out pieces (or you could just cut it with a knife), halved a bunch of grape tomatoes, picked some fresh basil from the garden, & threaded everything onto toothpicks. I added a little drizzle of fresh lemon, olive oil & salt & pepper too for flavor. they were delicious & the perfect one-bite appetizer. 

diy succulent place cards + favors

succulents are all the rage these days & it's easy to see why. they are gorgeous & practically indestructible (which is great for people like me, who can't even manage to keep herbs alive).  follow these simple instructions for making mini potted succulents to serve as place cards + favors for your next event. dinner parties, weddings, birthdays, you name it. they're easy to make & your guests will love taking them home at the end of the evening. 

here's what you'll need:

 step 1: line the bottom of the container with a thin layer of gravel (this will help with drainage).

step 2: add a layer of soil.

step 3: carefully loosen the roots of your succulent & add to the pot. the succulent should be placed at least 1-inch deep in the soil.

step 4: pack the succulent down & add another thin layer of gravel to the top.

step 5: cut & label the scrapbook paper with your guest’s name or a sweet message & glue it to the wooden skewer.

 step 6: place the skewer into each pot & use them to decorate each guest’s place setting.  

*you only need to water your succulent once a week, if not less. they also like bright, indirect light.

orla for target (again!)

my friend has this awesome job at teen vogue & she just texted me a photo of what she nabbed off the "giveaway table" at work (I don't know exactly what the rules of this "giveaway table" are, but it sounds like it's a table full of free stuff! eeek!!). she knows how much I love all things orla kiely & informed me that these adorable method soap dispensers would be available for all of us plebeians this fall! *update- I just hit up my local target for necessities (you know- nail polish & a pair of corduroys) & they had it in stock. so I bought 4 bottles! 

snapshots from kara's place

my sister's apartment is so stinking cute. she has a knack for arranging things in such a thoughtful, uncluttered way. pretty much everything in her home is vintage & almost all of it has some kind of story behind it (see all of her vintage collections here). being in her home is truly a breath of fresh air. it's beautiful & unique & makes me never want to step foot in a kirklands again.

{kara's olympic flower display in honor of the open ceremony!}

sister visit in atlanta

over the weekend, my mom & I took a little road trip to visit my sweet sister in atlanta. it was such a fun weekend getaway, filled with good food, estate sale hunting, shopping & hanging out at her adorable place (pics of that next week). kara took us to the cutest antique market called "paris on ponce."  the owners were so nice to talk to have done & amazing job renovating this old warehouse. if you're ever in atlanta, you've got to check it out. also, the best bbq ever can be found at heirloom market. ah-mazing. here are some snapshots from our trip. 

 {heirloom market bbq is the shiz!}

{paris on ponce antique market}

 {cookies + lemonade - 'cause shopping makes you hungry}