Braggy McBraggerson

Since I am apparently in a stealing mood today, I thought I’d share some photos of Jayden that I stole from the style:thrifted website. These were taken by my good friend and gifted photog Amber McGaughey, who was kind of enough to come over last Friday {even though she was only in town for the weekend!} to snap some much needed pics of our little man. 

How big is this boy getting? And how cute is he?? I am one proud mama!

Oh, and here is one of the belly bump...36 weeks!!!

Baby Sprinkle for Grace Olivia

I know you have all been waiting anxiously to see the pics from my oh so fabulous baby shower last weekend…and here they are! I cannot believe all of the detail and planning that went into this day. Everything was amazing…and over the top frickin adorable!!

I stole these pics from Jess’ blog since I was waaaay too busy taking everything in to take pics myself. Can you believe all of the personalized details? I couldn’t get over those pillows!!!

A HUGE thank you to Jess and EVERYONE (moms, sisters, friends, aunts…) that helped make this a special day for me & our rapidly approaching arrival. It was the perfect way to celebrate this sweet little girl!! 

Sugar and Spice

This weekend I attended the most fabulous baby shower of all time…it was mine! J More details are on the way, but I just wanted to give a HUGE thank you to the most awesomest sister in law EVER. She put so much thought into this sprinkling, and it really showed in all of the details. And thank you to all of my friends and family that also helped out…we are sooooo blessed!

Sweetest Niece

I just have to take a moment to brag about my niece for a minute…how cute is this little one??? What a doll baby…

We’ll be soooo sad when she {and her mommy & daddy!} goes back home to San Francisco in a few days!

Happy Birthday…To Me!

Sorta. As many of you know, my birthday is in January. But I recently got a birthday present from my crafty sister…this adorable cupcake apron.

And this matching pot holder and oven mitt.

Sooooo cute I just had to show it off. I didn’t know Sara was such a master seamstress! J She is taking orders if anyone is interested!

From Drab to Fab

I bought a chandelier for Gracie’s room and it looks great…except for the horrible “candlesticks” that came with it. Why in the world would a white and crystal chandelier come with these hideous yellow parts?

So I busted out the pink paint we used for her walls & covered up the hideousness…and voile! They are pretty now! And I am MUCH happier with the overall look.

Btw, the baby’s room is very near completion and I will be revealing the final product next week! Yay!

Mission: Cupcake ~ Week 13

I promised the hubby this week that I would make him a healthy cupcake {he is starting to complain about how the weekly treats are contributing to his waistline…I don’t see it, but I’ll comply}. So I did some research and found these carrot cupcakes made with whole wheat flour & applesauce…and carrots, of course {any cupcake with vegetables in it has to be healthy right???}. I couldn’t resist cheating a tiny bit on the recipe, so I topped them with an indulgent cream cheese frosting…but I did use a little less powdered sugar than called for. I sprinkled some lemon zest on top & the finished product looked quite lovely. And the taste? Not too shabby for a somewhat healthy treat! Well, at least J was happy J

JR Organics Farm Tour

It’s been a super busy week both at work and at home, both in preparation for our rapidly approaching new arrival {she could “grace” us with her presence in just a little over a month! Ikes!}. But today we took some time off to visit the farm where we receive our weekly box of produce. 

Nani, Pops and Aunt Sharon also came along for the tour…and I think we all left with a better appreciation for how much work and strategy goes into growing organic produce. One of the highlights of the tour was them letting us loose in the strawberry fields, where we were left to pick {and eat!} to our hearts content. These were by far the most deliciously sweet strawberries we have ever eaten, and it was a special treat to get to take a few baskets home with us. Check out Pops and Jayden working hard for their little treasures…

And even Grace showed some enthusiasm over the strawberries…she was bouncing all over the place after I ate a basketful of them!

The second highlight was the lunch they served, which was made using all of the fresh produce from the farm. We feasted on zucchini & cheese soup, lentils, chicken & strawberry salad, cucumber salad, beans & rice, chips and guacamole and strawberry agua fresca. Everything was soooo yummy and we are definitely excited to be a part of this CSA and support a local business promoting green & chemical free farming! 

Mission: Cupcake ~ Week 12

If any of you have ever been to the Spaghetti Factory, then you have probably tried, or at least heard of, a delicious dish called Mizithra. What sets this pasta apart (aside from the cheese), is the browned butter sauce…sounds healthy right? It’s amazing. So when I read this recipe for butter pound cupcakes with browned butter icing, I just had to try it out…plus I knew Paula Dean would be proud. And just as I guessed, I am a big fan…of the icing at least. For some reason my cupcakes are all coming out very dense…which I suppose pound cake usually is, but I think I am ready for a light & moist cake next. Let the search begin! Anyway, these cupcakes were extra delicious warm…and the browned butter definitely gave them lots of yummy buttery flavor...can’t go wrong with butter J

Wedding Yummies

I love weddings…there’s something about watching two people blissfully {and completely unaware of how much work that bliss eventually & inevitably turns into} commit their lives to each other that rekindles the romance in your own relationship. You can’t help but be reminded of your own wedding day and all the feelings that the bride and groom must be experiencing…and how much has changed since you first said those “I do’s”. 

And then there’s the food. And you can only hope there’s going to be an open bar so that you won’t be so self conscious on the dance floor {or, if you’re like me, you just position yourself in the middle to avoid the stares of the fuddy duddies sitting at their tables around the dance floor}. But when you can’t take advantage of the open bar, you really just care about the food. And to my delight, there was lots of it and it was d-lish. Of course I had to try a bit of everything, and I couldn’t resist checking out these little yummies – mini red velvet cupcakes.

So congrats to the newlyweds, Mr & Mrs Scherer, and thanks for reminding me how much I appreciate my hubby and for all the tasty nibbles!

Girls Mini Vacay In Palm Springs

Yep, this weekend I paid yet another visit to the Palm Desert, only this time I spent some QT with my work besties, Mel & Stacey. We managed to escape from the office in time to miss Thursday work traffic on the trek up north, which put us into the desert with enough time to settle into our super nice and spacious condo {thanks to Stacey’s timeshare!}. The bathrooms were huge…and checkout the Jacuzzi tub! This was the most action it saw {at least while I was there}, but still pretty awesome…pay no attention to the big fat belly in the background J

We also squeezed in some delicious dinner at Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza, and then indulged in cookies and cream malts and a girly movie back at the condo. Friday morning we sipped Starbucks and ate some breaky on the patio {while attempting to ignore the lawnmowers…why do hotels insist on grooming the entire premises first thing in the morning??!}, then headed off to town for some overdue pedicures {well, at least in my case…I have been hiding my toes for weeks}. We spent the afternoon lounging poolside in our fabulous sunhats and enjoyed the 95 degree weather.

After striking out on finding “Yummi Yogurt” to satisfy our froyo craving, we settled on some Ben n Jerry’s {hardly settling right?}, then hit the “funny, but a little more serious than we had thought” movie, Bridesmaids. We concluded the evening with an amazing meal at PF Changs {love!}, followed by a glass of vino, m&m’s and some Chelsea Lately back at our home away from home.

I had such a great time with these girls and didn’t want to leave Saturday morning, but I had to get home for a wedding {and I missed my boys, of course!}. But I got some much needed R&R and girl time…already can’t wait for the next trip!

Weekend Wrap Up

Ok, so obviously the weekend was over a couple of days ago…but I figure if everyone else can blame delays on the Monday holiday, then so can I! So there! J Anyway, this weekend was foxkicken {aka super awesome}, because it was a whopping 4 days long thanks to a 9/80 work schedule combined with Memorial Day…although it made coming back to work on Tuesday that much more painful.

Friday J & I got down and dirty in the front yard doing some gardening after spending a whopping $150 at the plant nursery. Neither of us really have a green thumb, but the plant lady reassured us that these plants will be low maintenance and survive year round. We are pretty good at killing off plants, so I won’t get my hopes up. Saturday Jayden & J took the very first dip in the pool of the season, while I soaked up some sunshine {not a chance I was getting dragged into that chilly water!} 

That evening we had our neighbors and their kiddos over to watch Gnomeo & Juliet…Quick Review: NOT foxkicken. But the little ones were entertained, and the adults got some much needed rest and quiet time J

Sunday we BBQ’d over at my sister’s house so that Grammy & Papa {my parents} could fill up their tank with grandbaby love before they headed off on vacay for two weeks {jealous!}. And Monday was filled with house projects, including curtain hanging & nursery touch ups {thanks to the preggo slave driver…BUT, I was suckered into gardening on Friday so it’s only fair}. We did manage to fit in some fun time - I picked up this pretty sweet water toy from Kohls and Jayden had a blast running through it. Check it out...

The long weekend was wrapped up with an amazingly delicious carnitas meal at Por Favor {our favorite!}, followed by some FroYo from the East County gem that is The Yogurt Mill…totally worth the ½ hour wait!