{confessional}

I have a confession....well other than the fact that I haven't 'blogged, blogged' in awhile that's a different story...I have never been to Williams Sonoma. There I said it. It's true... I don't know if you frequent there a lot, a little, or a none, but I absolutely loved it! A little overwhelming since I am in no way a chef, but taken in small, quick doses, I'm sure one could certainly become a chef! The poor best walked through listening to me "oohing & awing" the whole entire time, all the while I yell out "LOOK AT THIS, OH I LIKE THAT all over the store!" Bless her heart, she thought she was just going in to grab a mother's day gift (I should take notes from her & not put things off like I do!), browse a little, & be done. Little did she know, I had never been.


So while on my mini tour de Sonoma, I stumbled across the baby cook section. When I was expecting Miss Busy A, I had HUGE aspirations of buying the baby beaba cooker & making ALL of her baby food. Well since I've never been to Williams Sonoma, you can probably also gather that, that did not happen. (although I did make sure she only ate organic baby food & read all ingredients!) It's like I was this Super Nanny/Pretend Mom/Amazing Housewife before I had my own child & then I became a mother for the first time! Easy-peasy until she hit 3months old, then I just became consumed with trying to entertain her, soothe her teething pains, & just trying to take a shower every other day! Anyways, back to admiring the baby food cooking machine & reminiscing about my dreams of making all of her food, I saw a cookbook, the baby&toddler cookbook; fresh, homemade foods for a healthy start. I flipped back to the 12+mos. section & LOVED what I saw. Then it hit me, it's not too late to make her food! The recipes were right up my ally (quick, easy, & healthy) PLUS I thought, hmm all these recipes are things that the Mr & I like too! Everything from pastas, fritters, soups, pizza, etc! So there I was waiting to checkout with my very first WS purchase.




Which brings us to the WHOLE point of this post...This little recipe was so amazing, I thought while we ate it, "this is worth blogging about", then I thought "is there enough left for a photo-opp?" So here it is:


Cheesy Pasta Wheels 
(Totally used mini bow-tie because WholeFoods unfortunately did NOT have wheels! Yes I was beyond bummed, but luckily Miss Busy A has no clue yet!)


1 cup dried pasta
1 cup chopped broccoli
3 tbsp. heavy cream
1 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
(makes about 2 cups cooked!)


step 1: Bring lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta & cook for 8mins, then add broccoli (I used frozen florets!) continue to cook 2-3mins. longer. Drain well in a colander.
step 2: Leaving pasta/broccoli in the colander, return the saucepan to the stove. Add cream & butter,simmer over medium heat until the butter is melted & the cream is bubbling. Remove from heat & stir in the cheese. Return the pasta & broccoli to the pan & stir gently to mix well.
step 3:Bon Appetit! (And mommy's please share with your child! I know you'll want to eat it all for yourself, but this is a children's recipe after all ;D)

Until next blog....

oh Alice...

Until next blog...

...when skies are grey!

I can just see this in a nursery or little boys room! Would also be really cute in a bathroom! Such a fun, sweet print! Enjoy!

Until next blog...

it's 11.11, make a WISH!

You're invited....

to take a peek at our daughter's first birthday! She was born on 11.11 & with her turning 1 on 11.11.11, we knew we had to make it extra special! So I decided early on with a Make a Wish theme.

Here are a few of the details... (all photography is courtesy of jenny.lynn photography, message me for her info!)

Step 1: Invitations [photo below]

Have you ever envisioned something & set out to find it, but you come up empty handed? Yup, you guessed it...that happened to me in the invitation department! I thought it would be cute to have star wand invites...out of ALL the invitation places (online, etsy, & around town), I pretty much came up empty handed. And I just wasn't finding anything that I had envisioned. Then I decided, well I will just buy star shaped invitations, embellish them, & turn them into wands! Eeehhnt, WRONG! You can find lobster claws and even tequila bottles (complete with mustaches)- shaped invitations, but NOT stars! ((now that I've made this claim, they will all of a sudden appear e v e r y where like magic!)) So last resort to fulfill your vision? Call in the brother-in-law to draw the stars on a computer for you, you come up with the wording, & take them to Office Depot to print them....and yes, hand cut them allllll out :D Thank goodness for family! {wish for mommy= GRANTED!}

Step 2: Decor [photo below]

decor=glittery, stars, girlie...wishes!

1) made a ribbon garland! Super easy (time consuming, but easy!) just sewed (with thread that was my memaw's!) misc. ribbons/trims to a 6ft piece of pom-pom trim! Then bought an empty frame in the "custom" framing department at Hobby Lobby (a little tip, they sell mess-ups from people who placed an order & weren't happy or decided on something else etc!) then my wonderful mr spray painted it for me! Then I just painted a wood #1 (craft section, yes @HL) & hung it in the center! {wish for a cute backdrop for her cake smash & double as cute party decor in general (plus a keepsake I will add to her big girl room some day..) = GRANTED!}

2a) inside the china cabinet: I removed all of our china off of the middle shelf & replaced it with everything from when she was born...all of her firsts: hat, shirt, bow, blanket, pacifier, bracelets, etc...a collage frame with pics from our maternity shoot, as well as a photo from her newborn shoot & a large picture of one of her announcements & her going home outfit. I ended up liking the way it turned out so much, that I haven't brought myself to take it all out yet! 

2b)make a wish banner...would LOVE to take credit for it, but unfortunately the invitations took a little more out of me then I expected, so I ordered it off of etsy! From Little Pumpkin Papers, SUPER, SUPER cute things & I was able to do a custom order! Which I also got

3) wish tree: tags from too! I customized a star tag she already offered & decided to use them for Alivia's Wish Tree. I had it set up on a table with pens & asked guests to "make a wish" for Alivia! I thought it would be a perfect keepsake & absolutely love the personal touch it adds. In fact, afterwards, we decided this will be one of our traditions. A wish tree every year for birthdays. {traditions started = wish come true!}

4) this pic gives you a little glimpse of it all together! The centerpiece at the front of the pic was handmade by her Nana's best friend, Lana's Lullaby Cakes & Cards, she is one crafty, talented, & amazingly awesome lady!

Step 3: More Decor...[photo below]

1) another find in the HL custom frame department & another awesome spray paint job by my mr! My inspiration started here on Pinterest. I was discussing things with my (soon to be) sister-in-law "SNL", how cute I thought it would be to do 1 picture from every month! So we did it! I'm a little biased but I think it turned out perfect! It seemed to be a big hit too! Everyone enjoyed getting to see how much she had changed & grown from 0-1!

2) birthday girl dress: I kept going over & over what will she wear for her birthday...I knew a tutu outfit was last resort because (yet again!) I envisioned something different. But this time, I didn't exactly know what I had envisioned. And actually I have to be honest, I ordered this dress before I even knew/planned on using it for her birthday! I sent a pic of it to my best & asked for her opinion...it's great to bounce ideas off of people, especially ones who will be honest with you & it always helps me to come up with even more ideas when I say it out loud or even just send it in a text! So I sent it to her & then all of a sudden it needed a belt & a headband & BAM, birthday outfit had been born! SNL & I went off on an excursion to Joann's to find the fabrics for the flowers/ rosettes! SNL did an amazing job on it too I might add! She even added small broach-like buttons from my wedding shoes to her belt & one to her headband! Another personal touch that I adore! {wish for personal touches= SUCCESS!}

3) some of the table decor...bought two little glass jars+glitter+tags 1)first birthday 2)wishes + painted a chipboard #1 = part of the table decor

4) birthday wreath: found a star at the party supply store+painted an A from HL+tied it on with ribbon= TaDa Little A Wreath (already had the tiffany blue door ;D)

Step 4: Cake & Cuppycake Decor [photo below]

1) Cake for ALL! (1 tier white+1 tier chocolate= all cake lovers covered)

2) Cuppycake for ONE!

Step 5: CAKE smash SMEAR!! [photo below]

1) smash cake apron: designed/made by her Aunt (SNL)! We picked the fabrics out at Joann's. Turned out AAAAAA-dorable & she looked so cute in it with her little bloomers & cake headband!

2) cake headband from a local gift shop+custom cake banner+ONE giant cuppycake= One happy Little A. She is such a little texture person...always has been from when she was even teeny-tiny. Always wanting to touch everything...so naturally she LOVED squishing, smearing, sharing, throwing, slinging, & nibbling here-and-there on that giant cuppycake!

3) just SOME of the cake smearing damage! BUT well worth it! {wish for memories to be made= without a doubt!}

Step 6: First Birthday Memories [photo below]

1) I had THE best time envisioning, planning, & throwing this First Birthday Party! I couldn't have asked for a better memory for our daughter. I can't wait for her to look back when she is older & see just how special she has ALWAYS been to us, even from the very beginning. I realize that when they are this young, "they aren't even going to remember", but the pictures will show her, all of the wishes people wrote for her will tell her, & all of the lifelong keepsakes will let her know that she is our little wish come true!

{the wording to the right of the picture is what I personally came up with for her invitation! I thought it was just perfect & seemed to just come to me so I stuck with it! amazing how one very special birthDATE can inspire a whole theme!}

I couldn't have done any of this without my amazing mr...all of her grandparents...all of her aunts & uncle...the best...all of our family & friends...and especially our little wish come true, little a herself! I could never thank everyone enough!!!

Until next blog...

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...i must confess!

So I must say that I have always been one to enjoy each holiday...and have always tried to not rush through them! I even might say that I have said once or twice "I can't believe they already have the Christmas stuff up!" while shopping in stores. But for some reason...I must confess! I couldn't wait any longer & have started decorating for Christmas! Yes before my rule of waiting for the day after Thanksgiving! I just LOVE decorating...especially for Christmas! It's not that I don't appreciate Thanksgiving & all of its glory of leaves, pumpkins, turkey's, & pilgrims, but let's face it..there are only so many girly decorating options with Thanksgiving. So while I am SO Thankful for Thanksgiving & can't wait to celebrate it with my family. I just couldn't wait to get the ball rolling on Christmas decorating this past weekend!


Now enter Exhibit A...Little A to be exact :D Here is Little A's Christmas tree in her room::

I went in a very girly direction for her room, but also added personal little touches that represent her! I found little music note ornaments for her love of piano music...the only thing that will stop her dead in her tracks & cause her to pay attention for 2.5 seconds in time! Then there is a giant glittery bow shaped ornament...to represent all the countless bows mommy tries, tries, tries to keep on her :) even though she insists on eventually ripping it off! I also included a star ornament, which represented her birthday party theme this year (11.11 wishes). Then one of my favorites is a glass ballerina...and although she is too little for dance at this age (she just turned 1!) she insists on walking only on her tippy-toes, which calls for everyone who witnesses it to say "awe she is going to be a little ballerina!" Then the last ornament that isn't just for decorating the tree, but holds a special representation, is the two keys...because she simply is the key to mommy & daddy's heart!


So there you have it! Proof that I am guilty of decorating before Thanksgiving...but can you honestly tell me you haven't started or even thought about decorating for Christmas yet!!?


Until next blog...

the truth is...

until next blog...

[pley-room]

When we bought our home, we were expecting our first baby and we knew that a baby does not stay a baby long therefore she was going to need somewhere to play! We envisioned doing an addition. Phase 1:remodeling the original house. Phase 2:the addition. Phase 3:the deck. Phase 1 was complete before we moved in. Phase 2 started (& almost completed!) a few months ago. Phase (end of 2) and 3 are going to be started soon. When you are the owners of a roofing/construction company, your things are always the a)last to be completed and b)almost always done in the fall/winter months.. So we patiently wait to complete our master bath & closet and the laundry room. As well as our deck out the back door...But the good news is our home is almost all complete and is at least 100% livable. One of the spaces, other than the laundry, that I have started decorating is our playroom...

play·room [pley-room] n. a room set aside for children's play.

When I think of a playroom, I think of toys, books, a child's size table & chairs...tv, movies, art supplies, pretend area...you know a playroom! So I knew right away that I wanted it to be colorful, happy and bright. I wanted to have plenty of children's things but I also wanted the adults to be able to utilize the space. At first when we put our furniture in there, it screamed boring...brown...and just plan blah. (wood floors, tan walls, tan couch, brown chair, wood buffet, you get the idea, Brownsville!) It did not feel like a playroom at all. Then I decided, well I could add colorful pillows, some shelves with colorful accents on them and toys.

It kind of started when I found this little teal vase at michael's...then I found these glass bottles at hobby lobby and I thought well I will buy them, all else fails I will return it if I don't start to find fabric and such to go with it. Then I found some fabrics at hobby lobby and decided they would be the pillows. I just ran with this teal, pinks, multicolored setting. By now, you might start to gather that I am drawn to pinks, tiffany blue, teals, pastels, etc...and I have to say you are right. I can't help it...these tend to be my "colors". It hasn't always been this way though! Our first home when we got married was actually a grey sectional & black accented furniture, with black & white pictures and Marilyn Monroe everywhere...then I soon discovered that black furniture and 2 little dogs that shed white hair, do not mix. It wasn't exactly my plan to dust e v e r y single day!! So I decided after we moved, our next home would not have black furniture. I decided to take my love of creams, whites & tans with splashes of color, outside of the bedroom and into the "main" parts of the house.

So here we are today! The playroom is in the middle of its finishing (decor) touches. You'll see that I lack storage for the toys (I have been on the hunt for the perfect baskets or containers to put on the buffet to hold them) as well as, we need some more trinkets (or something!) for the shelves on the wall and on top of the buffet. I also want to do some abc artwork or something for the other wall (the one with the large picture on it) and/or we are considering some built-ins and a desk...but for the most part you can see which direction it is going. Oh and that would be my little assistant sneaking in some of the pics... :D

{fabric details}

front pillow fabric (multi): brother sister designs fabric

pillow in the back: leopard print

{fabric details cont'd}

teal fabric: solid teal fabric

multi fabric: brother sister designs fabric

{bottle details}

short pink bottle

tall teal bottle

So there you have it, our playroom. Hope you enjoy it, find some inspiration or spark a new creative idea for your own home or space!

Until next blog!