happy (belated) easter

this post is a week late but I hope everyone had a wonderful easter weekend. and thanks to my mom for whipping up an amazing meal and dessert (my kitchenaid is still packed away). and also for making sure the easter bunny still frequents the house every year ;)

happy st. patty's day

my mom bought me some pretty "lucky" emerald sprinkles, so I made some cupcakes for st. patrick's day today. I added green food coloring to a box mix and then iced then with my favorite chocolate buttercream icing recipe. hope you had a wonderful weekend! 

hearts

I haven't used my sewing machine in far too long. so with valentine's day coming up, I thought it would be fun to use a bunch of the leftover felt I had to make some little decorative hearts. I just cut out two hearts of the same size, sewed them together leaving a space at the bottom to turn them under. I stuffed them with batting & stuck in a wooden dowel that I colored with a gold sharpie. then I just threw a little glue gun on the bottom to seal them up. xoxo

reservations

well, thanksgiving dinner at that tapas restaurant I mentioned didn't quite work out as planned. turns out the restaurant that took our reservations ended up being closed on thanksgiving (totally reminded me of that seinfeld episode- clip below). so where does one go when almost every restaurant in the city is closed? why cracker barrel, of course (well, it was either that or piccadilly). there is nothing more my dad appreciates than a good deal. we got turkey, ham, 3 sides, a drink & a piece of pumpkin pie for $8.99. it was actually delicious & we ended up having the best time. we pretty much giggled our way through the entire meal ("I can't believe we are those people who are eating thanksgiving dinner at cracker barrel!"). god bless that place. 

 {kara & robert, waiting on a table}

 {you better believe my martha-stewart-mother would never fail provide cute place cards on a holiday}

 {a little pre-meal game}

{thanks to our amazing friends the xides for letting us crash at their place & finish their puzzle}

inspired by pinterest week: donut fruit skewers

have you ever heard the following?

"there is a sign-up sheet on my desk for anyone who would like to contribute food for the surprise baby shower."
"please bring an item for the (required) breakfast meeting potluck. we will have (required) fun!"
"would you like to volunteer to bring something for the birthday celebration?"
"you bring the food, we'll provide the drinks"

if any of these comments sound familiar to you, then you're in luck. thanks to pinterest, I discovered this easy, cute, make-ahead food that is perfect for any event that you don't want to put a whole ton of effort into. I got the idea for these donut fruit skewers from the val so cal blog. instinctively you may be duped into thinking these are only a breakfast item, but trust me- I've made them for other-time-of-day occasions & they are always appropriate. and you get the fruit in there, so they are really healthy, right? right? strawberries, blueberries & raspberries were in season, so that's what I used for the fruit. and the donuts are just store-bought entenmann's ("the display case at the end of the aisle" for you seinfeld fans out there). happy breakfast (or lunch. or snack. or dessert). and happy 4th of july today! 

april cookie: carrot cake whoopie pies

every year I make the easter dessert & the request this year was for carrot cake. I wanted to put a little spin on it & since I obviously love whoopie pies (seen here & here), I decided to make carrot cake whoopie pies. I used this recipe but adapted it just a bit. they were really good (especially the orange cream cheese filling!), with only one to spare at the end of the day. hope you guys had a wonderful easter weekend!

happy easter!

"praise be to the god and father of our lord jesus christ! in his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead..." - 1 peter 1:3

st. patty's chocolate stout float

need a quick & easy dessert to serve for st. patty’s day? try this chocolate stout float. it’s super simple.

here's how: place a brownie in the bottom of a mug (a boxed brownie mix works just fine). then add a few scoops of vanilla ice cream and top off with your favorite irish beer. I used murphy’s irish stout, but you could also use guinness. erin go bragh!

snippets from valentine's day

happy valentine's day! I like to think I celebrate love all year round. so v-day isn't too big of a fuss. here are snippets from the day. hope you guys had a lovely, low-key day.

{sweet tulips from my sweet husband}

{super target had pillsbury cinnamon rolls... with chocolate icing! yes, they were awesome.}

{my annual heart tights - goin' on three years with these babies}

{I made some white chocolate covered pretzels}

{treats for my work friends}

{I printed out a bunch of our instagram photos as a gift for robert. idea courtesy of elsie}

{and right now I have a handsome man in my kitchen, whipping up a three course meal. best gift ever -both the man, & the meal!}

valentine's day packages o' love

inspired by pinterest, here's a super easy valentine's day craft that is fun for kids and, let's be honest, adults too.

to start, cut out various sized hearts from kraft paper. be sure to fold the paper so that it's doubled-up & each heart has a front & back. decorate them with sweet messages & designs. I also think they look pretty just leaving them undecorated. 

sew around the edges, leaving a hole for stuffing. don't have a sewing machine? you can do this by hand with a needle & thread, making the stitches a lot longer. or seal using some fun washi tape on the sides. or heck, take a sharpie and color the top of some staples & then just staple around the edges. whatever works. 

now the fun part. fill with treats: candy kisses, lollipops, confetti, lip gloss, hamburger erasers... you know, normal stuff.

 stitch back over the opening so that it's secure.

pass these "packages o' love" out & watch your friends rip into them with joy & excitement. 


ps- what I made for robert last year for valentine's day. 

it's beginning to look a lot like...

christmas! I know, I know - I just posted about thanksgiving. but I'm one of those annoying people who starts listening to christmas music the second the weather turns chilly (chilly being like 60 degrees here in florida). of course, I don't do it in front of others (in fact, when people make comments like "it's the second week of november & they're already playing christmas music! can you believe that?!?!" I'm all like, "gosh, I know! is nothing scared anymore?" and then I hop into my car & secretly turn on lite 96.1 - "all christmas music, all the time").

so by the weekend after thanksgiving, I am totally antsy to go get the tree & start decorating the house.  we got an awesome tree this year (as well a second little mini tree so we can have one in each of the rooms that we hang out in). I swear the house smells just like one of those pine-scented tree-shaped air-freshners... but better!

{there's something not right about picking out a tree while wearing shorts}

{a bus full 'o trees}

{and it was so hot, we had to stop for ice cream on the way home}

thankful

it was, yet again, a wonderful thanksgiving. it was on the small side this year, as some of the family was traveling. and my sis works in retail, so therefore she couldn't make it into town (thanks, black friday!). but other than that, it was a beautiful day at the lakehouse, with lots of super-delicious food. I am reminded all the time how incredibly grateful I am for the countless blessings in my life. god is good! 

{prepping to smoke the ham}

{grammie is still the world's best thanksgiving cook}

{we are thankful for the lazy susan}

{post-meal walk around the lake -  to help make room for dessert}

{too chilly to swim}

{robert trekking through the weeds}

{the lake at sunset is a beautiful thing}

pictures from easter sunday

{three generations. missed you, kara!}

{the easter bunny did good. he must know I collect mid century modern china}

happy good friday + easter

happy good friday & happy easter! here are some easter cupcakes that I made last year. enjoy the long weekend!

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.”  - John 3:16-17

black & white irish cream cupcakes

a little belated, but I thought I'd share with you these black & white irish cream cupcakes that I made yesterday for st. patty's day. I used this recipe for the cupcake & the cream icing & magnolia's recipe for chocolate buttercream icing. they turned out really delicious, with just a hint of the liqueur. have a great weekend!