Welcome Spring!

I love this time of year.

I can finally see signs of spring in my yard.

We have had two minor snake scares this month so I have been a bit weary of working in my yard.

I plan to plant my usual sunflowers this year and maybe add some other pops of color in my yard.

 These just started blooming this week....

azaleas

lavender

lambs ear

hydrangea

My porch furniture, a work in progress....

I found these felted eggs at Target this year, I think I bought all the bags they had in the store!

I love moss.

Happy Spring!

Staycation

My week of sleeping in, late breakfasts, coffee in my pajamas, napping, snacking, and shopping is coming to an end....

Luckily I have Easter Sunday with my family to look forward to tomorrow.  

This week has been so relaxing.

I went shopping and tried new restaurants with a sweet friend.

Got my hair done.

Went to the outlets.

Painted my porch furniture a fun color.

Spend time with my husband.

Ran all the errands I needed to.

Made homemade gnocci for friends

and....discovered my new favorite show, Smash!

I tried a new cinnamon roll recipe this week.

Recipe

Blueberry cinnamon rolls, to die for.

My latest Food Network Magazine had a recipe for homemade gnocci.

I knew I was going to make a big batch over my Spring Break and test it out.

I got to use my potato ricer which was so fun!

Add an egg and some flour and you have your dough!

Blake was my sous chef. 

I also made homemade pomodoro sauce in the crock pot with salad and bread but...I think I was so hungry by the time everything was ready that I just sat down and ate it before taking any pictures.

There were 8 of us eating dinner and we ate it all!

I also made these peanut butter, banana, chocolate chip cookies.

I may or may not have tested each batch right out of the oven. 

You can see the soft banana peanut butter center, oh my.

Recipe

My husband was also a taste tester.

Now off to enjoy the rest of my time at home with the pups.

The Baby Shower! Part 2

The mom-to-be and I share a love for food.

Whenever we hang out it generally involves baking, cooking, or trying a new restaurant. 

I wanted the shower food to be exciting for Kristen!

I made labels for all of the food, drinks, and desserts.

Yes, I even made a label for the water.

I found the yellow water bottle wraps online and printed them and wrapped them around, so easy!

I love mason jars. They can be used for so many things.

I ordered the grey and black striped straws for them!

I knew I wanted to have lemonade for the shower since the yellow color went with the theme!

I made these lemonade fruit ice cubes.

I borrowed ice cube trays from a friend and filled them with assorted fruits; raspberry mint, blackberry lemon, blueberry lime, and strawberries.

They worked out perfectly because they didn't water down the lemonade and they were pretty!

We had some "adult" beverages to mix in with the lemonade.

We added peach tea vodka or sweet tea vodka.

It was a hit!

The invitation asked everyone to bring their favorite childhood book for Kristen.

I loved the Postman books when I was a kid so a chose those for her!

My mom and I also put together this little cube toy for the baby.

We used scraps from the quilt.

The take away gift for everyone at the shower was chocolate covered pretzels and a bookmark.

The gifts were in this antique shopping cart.

I ordered the chevron bags in grey and black and closed them with a staple and a fabric scrap.

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

I sewed the little flags on the paper.

The dining room was for the desserts!

My brother painted this wooden sign for me.

The desserts were SO good!

Cream cheese pound cake

Salted caramel coconut cookies

White chocolate and orange petit fours

Milk and white chocolate filled raspberries

More chocolate covered pretzels

*The food label pots were so quick to put together- I printed the names on the computer and glued them to a skewer and stuck them in a moss filled pot. Then decorated them with twigs, eggs, and/or a bird!

Chocolate covered clementines with chili salt

 The food was amazing.

It was so sweet of friends to help me with food and desserts.  

I could not have pulled it off without them!

I decorated the tables with burlap ribbon and some yellow ribbon.

Bowtie pasta salad with pine nuts, sun dried tomatos, spinach, green onions, and an olive oil dressing.

Pear and pancetta crisps. These were gone in minutes!

Pears, pancetta, gorgonzola, pepper, and drizzled honey.

Enough said.

Debbie's famous corn dip.

We requested that she bring two next time.

It's that good.

Fruit salad

These were my two new appetizer recipes. Both turned out tasty and easy!

Sparkling cranberry brie bites with mint

Roasted brussel sprouts with prociutto

Chicken salad

I wish this was sitting in my kitchen right now!!

It was a fun day filled with laughs, happy tears, full stomachs, and prayers.

I can't even explain my love and excitement for the beautiful mom-to-be!

Only a few more weeks till we meet this little boy.

*We played a game at the shower and guests filled out baby wishes.

To be continued....