Potlucks...

Yesterday Brian called me from work and asked if I could make him something to take to the potluck tomorrow.  Sure no problem!

But, I didn't have a car because it is at the shop for maintenance... so I decided to put the little lady in the stroller and we would walk.  It isn't far, maybe a mile away, and it would be nice to get out.

Off we went, having a great conversation all the way to Trader Joe's.  We picked out great shrimp and veggies to make some citrus grilled kebabs... got to the register and realized that my wallet was in my car, which is not with me!  Awesome!

How embarrassing is it to say "oh, never mind... I don't have money to pay for these after all"

It's not like it was 50 years ago where you can just take them and pay the store owner tomorrow.

So, we walked back home and tried to figure out what I could make from what I already had.... 

Deviled eggs and strawberry cheesecake.

Not what I was hoping for but at least I didn't have to send Brian empty handed.

Finally

I finally got Brian to hang the pictures and found a couple fun decorations for the table... I know it needs more but for now I am done

On the table I have a white outdoor lantern that I filled with silk hydrangeas and mums.  I found the "family" sign at Ross for $5 along with the candlestick that was $6.  

Under the candlestick I have a stack of Brian's Grandfathers old encyclopedias that are probably close to 100 years old.  

The table is not perfect, but I promise it is 1000000 times better than it was before!

Peanut Butter FAIL

I swear since the day Elise was born Brian has been counting down until her first birthday-- so she could finally have peanut butter with him.  He couldn't wait to be the first person that she sat down and had a good 'ole fashion PB&J sandwich with, after all it is the "Most American Thing in The World" as Brian puts it. 

See, Brian loves ALMOST everything about me... but he just cannot understand how a person, an American, can utterly hate the stuff.

I cannot even stand the smell of it... but Brian adores it with a large glass of milk (which I also hate!)

Most fathers cannot wait for first words, steps and father-daughter dances.... but Brian couldn't wait for THIS face!

But not so much this face....

  And he definitely was not hoping for this!

Sorry Brian, it looks like you (and peanut butter) lose

Girls: 2       PB&J: 1

Good news is she loves milk!

Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny has made his rounds and Elise got her first Easter basket!  As much as I LOVE Easter I (I mean the Easter Bunny) didn't really go that all out for her basket this year.  

It's not like she needs candy or cookies so we skipped all of the sugary goodness and filled it with books and a play cell phone.  She desperately NEEDED a cell phone so she can play with that instead of Mommy and Daddy's real phones that are not capable of standing up the the toddler beatings. 

She loved the phone! She found it right away and "called" Daddy.

The best part is that it is a 2 pack and they are actually walkie-talkies.  Brian can't wait to put batteries in them and scare her  talk to her!

 Brian, Elise and I then headed out to my grandmother's house to share the special day with the family.  There were so many kids, chocolate bunnies and brightly colored eggs and we had an amazing day. 

Did you notice the Warn Egg Wreath that I made for Grandma! She loved it and I would be surprised if my Aunt and Mom haven't started their own yet.

Elise's Great-Grandma and Papa got her a cute little hat filled with an adorable plush chick and a few toys.  She is not a great hat-wearer but she did humor us for a moment with this one.  It was adorable!

Here is Elise doing her best Queen Elizabeth impression... 

just in time for all the buzz around the upcoming Royal wedding

It is always so much fun getting the whole family together and sharing these special holidays together.

We had so much amazing food and wine.

This is one of the appetizers that I made to share.  It is Pea Pesto Crostinis from the Food Network.

There are not a lot of pea lovers in my family (except for Elise that cannot get enough of them) but this is such a great recipe and everyone loved it!  Spring is the best time for this because the peas are so fresh and sweet! Yum!

 Here is the recipe: give it a try

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pea-pesto-crostini-recipe/index.html

I also made Prosciutto Melon Balls

Another delicious snack and and so great for spring/summer!

Happy Easter!

Belated Project

Another fun project I did was a gift for Valentines Day for Brian.  I saw a cute idea on This blog that I thought would be such a sweet "homemade" gift.  Not that I was trying to be cheap but Brian and I don't ever really go crazy for Valentine's Day and I thought this was just a little something cute to add to a lonely wall.

He knew I was up to something because I asked if I could trace his hand... but he quickly forgot and was pleasantly surprised when he opened the package.

Elise's hand really isn't crooked or oddly shaped... YOU try tracing a squirmy 11 month old to trace a hand all by yourself!

I was so proud of my sweet little Valentine's Day gift.... then I opened my present-

A new MacBook!  Woo hoo!

So much for "something little" huh!

NOT that I am complaining of course!

Family Silhouettes

Because of our vacation and getting ready for Easter I had put off working on the silhouettes that I was wanting to do in the living room.  Well I finally got some great frames at TJ Max (how have I never been there before now! There are a million great finds!) 

Here is the blog where I found the original idea http://papernstitchblog.com/2010/08/10/tutorial-framed-fabric-silhouettes/

I got three 8x10" frames.  I was wanting fun "chunky" frames that also looked a little old fashioned.

I spray painted them all white which was not the original plan either.  I thought I wanted to paint them this great merlot color that matches the adjoining wall but after I saw the white I kind of fell in love.

 This is after just the first coat.

Notice Elise's finger-painting blanket has become multi-functional.

Then I took profile pictures, traced and cut 

Doesn't it look just like her!

This was the beautiful background paper I had picked out but then realized that it is almost exactly the same color as the wall so I needed to try again.  I found this gorgeous merlot colored damask paper that looks wonderful.

So far the girls are done... I just have to wait until Brian gets home from work to take his mug shot and then hang them above this table.  Next will be something to decorate that table with....

 Time to go shopping!

Easter Egg Painting

There is no way Elise can dip and dye Easter eggs yet, as much as I would love to think she could.... so instead we improvised and combined our regular weekly finger-painting and printed Easter eggs.

She is still much more interested in the paper plate that I pour the paint onto than actually painting anything.  Oh well, we have a "first" Easter egg that we can save.... that won't smell bad in a few days!

She got a little overzealous and got a ton of pain on her face.  So I guess it was finger/face/egg painting day here!

Here was the first stroke

Easter Crafting

Easter is this Sunday and I have been trying to think of a fun gift for Grandma... I know Easter isn't normally a gift giving holiday (other than from the Easter Bunny of course) but I always like to find something fun for such a special lady.

A few weeks ago I came across this great blog that had an adorable yarn Easter wreath here http://thesweetsurvival.blogspot.com/2011/03/yarn-egg-wreath.html

Perfect!  So I grabbed a 12" wreath from JoAnn's, a huge bag of plastic Easter eggs, a bunch of hot glue sticks and some extra yarn that I had laying around (meaning all of the cheap yarn I bought 2 years ago when I was going to teach myself how to knit then got frustrated and stashed it away in the closet because there is no way in the world I can get my hands to do that) and got to work.  

There is a great tutorial on the Sweet Survival blog.  

Here is my end result:

My suggestion would be to splurge and buy some nice yarn... no cheepo Wal-Mart stuff like I used.  Maybe a thicker version as well (ok, I know there is a term for that in the yarn world but I have no idea what it may be)  I would also use more muted colors, mine were a little bright and the eggs seem a little "shiny" to me which I don't love.

So now I can't decide if I am going to give this one as the gift or make a new, prettier one and keep this for myself.  Either way they are fun to make and look great on either the front door or maybe on a decorative wall in the house.

I couldn't give Grandma just a boring gift bag... so I dressed it up just a little bit.

I also made a cute Easter Bunny candy sack for the kids.

I have 13 nieces and nephews that I love to make things for.  Now that I have my new Silhouette Machine there are so many cute things I can create for them.  I made the "Bunny Bag Topper" and filled each bag with different candy.

The pictures are a little dark since I took them with my cell phone, but you get the idea.

Our Visit To The South

Our family headed south this this past week to visit Hubby's brother and his family.  We spent 5 days in Charlotte, NC.  I had never been there before and it honestly took my breath away.  Everyone that I talked to said how much we would love it but the California Girl part of me thought "no way!"  I was so wrong.  It is GORGEOUS!

Not only did I fall in love with all of the green grass and trees, but the community ties and the buildings.  Mostly the homes.  Here in California you are lucky to steal a home for less than $500,000 (at least in the part of So Cal that I am from).  In Charlotte you can get a house that is 4x's the size for a FRACTION of the price! Holy cow am I jealous.  

Here is my very favorite one

But let's just say I wouldn't say no to these....

Can I just say that ALL of these are under $300,000!!!! You couldn't get a condo here for that!

Not only are the houses beautiful but the churches.  I couldn't stop taking pictures and gawking at all of the beautiful brick and stone churches that line the streets.  Now, being in the Bible Belt, I knew we would see a lot of them, but I had no idea they would be so gorgeous.

I LOVE this one

We had a great visit with Brian's family and enjoyed seeing the sights (we even snuck in a short visit with a Realtor shhh).  In all honesty, we would LOVE to live there, and we may one day.  It would be terribly hard for me to leave my family which is all in California, but my heart felt great there.  Brian and I both grew up in very small (and safe) towns before moving to Los Angeles.  Growing up we were able to play in the streets and walk to the park without our parents worrying (at least not too much).  We grew up having block parties and 4th of July BBQ's... those are things that just don't happen here.  BUT they do in Charlotte!  

We went to this beautiful outdoor shopping center on Friday night where there was a local band that played jazz music while the parents sat on the patio and shared appetizers and sipped wine while the kids started a game of pick up football (is that what it's called?)  Of course all of us were keeping our eyes on the kids but it was just different.  You didn't have to sit on pins and needles wondering who they were talking to and what was going on.  Everyone knew each other and said their hellos and caught up with what each family was doing for spring break and how cute "Ally" looks in her new braces.

We spent one day just driving all around both North and South Carolina seeing the different neighborhoods, farms and the lakes.  I found an amazing farm that I think my parents should buy and retire at.  They would love it, other than the humidity of course.

There was a house right on Lake Wylie that I love! But let's just say that our family AND Brian's family would have to go in on it together!  

It was taken from the bridge across the lake since I couldn't get close enough ('ya know, since I left my yacht at home and all!)

So in all we had a great trip and cannot wait to go back.  Brian's sister-in-law is due in a few weeks so we may just have to go back this summer to meet the little guy (and look at more properties possibly).  But for now I need to get to working these biscuits and gravy goodness off my butt!

A New Mommy Group

I am so excited that I am starting to make more and more "Mommy Friends".  Yesterday we had a great group of 7 of us moms that got together for a beautiful walk around Lake Balboa Park.

We had a great time and loved spending time with all of these beautiful women.  I am so happy to be a part of this mommy community and look forward to more outings with them.

Next time I will be sure to take pictures.

Silhouetting the Silhouettes

I was using my Silhouette machine like crazy when I was getting ready for Elise's birthday party but haven't really played with it since.  I am SO not a graphic designer so it is hard for me to "create" things sometimes but when I get my ideas rolling I really love it.  

One thing that I am wanting to do is redo a special wall in my living room.  We have this one middle wall that doesn't have much because we have a little girl that reaches up and pulls everything off.... I wonder who that is?  So far we have a very generic print (in a cheap ugly frame) that we bought at Kirklands when we first moved in that was supposed to be a temporary fix.  Well it was just forgotten about and I was always working on other things... anyway! It's time for some new decorating and that ugly picture is out!  am REALLY wanting to do a silhouette Wall.  Actual silhouettes, not the crafting machine!  But I am going to use the machine to make said silhouettes.  This is what I am picturing:

Found on http://papernstitchblog.com/2010/08/10/tutorial-framed-fabric-silhouettes/

Similar to this but I am thinking all different frames and a damask background maybe.  Our wall is actually the same color as this one.   Then there will be the fun in finding what I can put on the long table that a little lady cannot get to.  I am thinking I need a trip to Cost Plus World Market this weekend! Yay!

So all I have to do is figure out how to cut these out on the machine... or I just go old school and print, trace & cut which means it could have been done already!  

Fun in the Sun

It is so beautiful today we wanted to spend as much time outside as possible.  After lunch I took Elise out back to play with her water table again.  This is honestly the best $30 we have ever spent! She loves it! We can't walk by the backdoor without her pointing and reaching for it.  

Since we were already stripped down I thought it would be a good time to have some blackberries as a snack.  They are SO messy but they are the only fruit that I can get her to eat... so we went crazy!  Then hosed off again!

I guess you know you are a mom when you are OK with sacrificing a beach towel if it means that you sneak in one fruit serving for the week!

She played and splashed so much she was pooped and went down for her nap an hour early! Cutie pie!

New Additions

No, not that kind of addition!

Elise has a few new additions to her vocabulary.  A week or so ago she finally "got" sign language.  She now signs "all done" and "milk" on a regular basis but she just added "more" yesterday! YAY!

She was sharing water with her Daddy and after every sip she signed more.  We were a little worried that she was going to think "more" was actually "water"  but she knew what she was doing.  The two of us girls were playing and I asked for a kiss, after she gave me one I said "more" and she signed it to me and planted another smooch on Mama!  YAY Good girl!

Another new trick she is doing is shaking her head no.  But it is so cute and not like a proper head shake, it is more like a ghetto attitude neck waggle.  She will get this serious look on her face and start the shake, stop, smile and shake again!  How do you say no when she does something so darn cute?

She is changing and developing so much in these last few weeks it just amazes me.  

On another note.  This morning I did Day #5 of the Shred.  It is getting much easier and I think I am going to bump it up to level 2 tomorrow.  Elise woke up from her nap when  I still had about 10 min left to do today so I brought her out to the living room to watch me.  She thought Mommy doing jumping jacks was pretty silly.

But when I got on the floor to do crunches she crawled over and gave me kisses! I would do 1000 more crunches for more of those precious kisses!

Craft Fail

I was so excited to put some of my cute scrap fabric to work and make these adorable fabric flowers that I saw on Thehouseofsmiths.com

Well, so far it is a FAIL.  

On my part though! 

I think the fabric I am using is too thick and I am trying to make them smaller since Elise's head is still pretty petite.

So... off to the fabric store I go tomorrow and I will try this again!

But I could spend a day in itself on their blog and then spend a million dollars trying to bring their ideas to life in my house! 

 Amazing!