Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Quick Salad Recipe



I really love salads, but I never take the time to fix them for myself. I am the worst about actually eating the amount of greens that I should because, honestly, I don't enjoy making food for myself. I am home alone so often that I hate to make a mess of any sort because I have to clean it up. So spoiled, right?

One night, we went to dinner at a friends' house and they served arugula with extra virgin olive oil, lemon, and salt and pepper. It was sooo delicious to me for some reason. For my own little version, I have added avocado and edamame to the mix. There is nothing to this salad, which makes it perfect for a quick fix, but it definitely doesn't lack in flavor.



What I use:

Arugula ( about 2 handfuls)
EEOV ( just enough to slightly coat the arugula so that the salt and pepper sticks)
1/4 of a lemon ( feel free to use more, but I am not a huge fan of a strong lemon taste)
avocado
edamame ( chilled)
salt and pepper ( to taste)

I make it in a large bowl so that everything gets nice and tossed together, then put it in a cereal bowl :)
Enjoy!



This little lady quite enjoyed edamame! Yay for new snacks!! :)

Monday, February 25, 2013

Happy WeekENDING

Despite my Saturday "moment", we had a pretty good weekend...in hindsight. Baby girl woke up on Sunday morning around 1:30 am throwing up. Not fun! We did the whole bathing, stripping the sheets, trying to not get sick myself routine. I had her back in bed by 2:30 ish and spent the night on the floor in her bedroom. I really hated hearing her "choking" on the monitor, so I opted to be close to her upstairs just incase it happened again. Thank the good Lord in heaven, Amara slept through the rest of the night without a peep. It must have been something that she ate. Although, I ate the same thing and I was fine. Who knows!?!....babies!

 I think it is safe to say that she was very happy to see me laying on the floor when she woke up. I got her out of her crib and asked her to shut the door, so she couldn't wander out. Then, I went back to "sleep" while she brought me every book off her her bookshelf, and placed them next to my head....sweetness.

We got to meet up with some friends on Saturday morning at this super cute coffee and crepe house in Franklin. It has a little area where kids can play, which is just a Godsend really :). Here are a few pics from our morning.



Beautiful mommy, Rachel, and sweet baby Malachi ....the new addition to the kid club ;)



 This girl will eat almost anything that she can dip. Who wouldn't want to dip something into whipped cream?





Thanks for making us a part of your Monday reads! It means so much...truly!


Saturday, February 23, 2013

I don't mean to complain, but I guess I am





 We are smack dab in the middle of Gabe's tour season right now. We knew we had a 3 month long haul ahead of us, but I gotta be honest.... I thought it would go so much faster than it has. It is so defeating to have a rough week with him gone and look up and realize you are barely half way through it. We will get back to having a full week together come April, but April still feels soooo far away!!

 There are plenty of days where I look at Amara and think " I have such an amazing child! She is so good and very pleasant to be around!" Then, there are those days where I just feel like I want to put her down and walk away for a few minutes...or hours....ok....days. These rare feelings don't always occur because she is behaving badly either. Sometimes I just want the consta knot that lives in my right shoulder blade to take a break from throbbing, or I want to fan myself until I quit sweating. Sometimes, I don't want to have to get her out of the car when I got in somewhere, but then again I don't want to end up on the local news..."baby left in car while mother shops in JoAnn's". I would never leave Amara in the car....let's be clear on that, but sometimes I just want a big, FAT break.

 When Gabe comes home, not only does he want to "rest", which involves me hanging with A, but he also wants family time, which involves me hanging with A, and he has to take writing sessions, which involves me hanging with A. Therefore, I truly feel like I never get a break to myself. Even when we have to drive separately to something, it is only natural that we assume that I will drive with Amara. I am sure other moms can relate that sometimes just that moment of being alone and turning up the music as loud as you want feels pretty dang good!

 All of this to say,  I don't want to be in a place where I am complaining or sounding unhappy every time I talk to my husband. It is the last thing he needs, and it has the ammo to strain our relationship. We barely get to talk when he is away as it is....don't want to fill that up with complaints. However, I have to be honest with myself sometimes and just say " I need a day off!!" I don't want a trip to the grocery store alone to be my outing every week. I want to go do something that is impossible to do with a toddler. Just as much as we need family time together, Amara also needs time with daddy alone. I would feel guilty taking a friend up on an offer to watch Amara without it being something that I HAD to do. I don't feel that way with my husband. Gabe and I are partners and we have each other's backs!!

 I am taking a "day off" on Thursday, and I honestly can't wait. I have an amazing husband, and great family that is more than helpful, but there is nothing like truly stepping away to reset and recharge! I know I can finish this tour off strong and happily!!

Thanks, as always, for reading!!


Friday, February 22, 2013

I have got my eye on you!

Whenever the seasons start to change, I start shopping...in my head at least! These are a few of the things that I have my eye on for baby girl and me. I just may have to email the link to this post to daddy! ;) He never reads this blog, ya know!

Happy Friday!!
xoxo











Tuesday, February 19, 2013

DIY felt ball garland

We got two packages in the mail today. One was a Netflix dvd that my husband requested. The other.....beautiful, handmade felt balls from Germany! Sounds fancy, huh? Well....mine does, not the Rambo dvd that is sitting on my dining room table right now. 



 I searched and searched and searched and searched for the best deal on felt balls or felt ball garland ( already strung). For ME, this seemed to be the best route. I ordered 50 felt balls from Etsy. The best part is that you get to pick your colors. Perfect for a control freak like me! They took a couple of weeks to arrive, but the shipping was cheap!!! It was worth the wait. I opened the box, and I was so pleased with the quality and the beautiful colors. 

Gorgeous, right!?!





I laid all of my colors out in the order that I wanted them strung.




The pictures below aren't the brightest, so you can't see just how amazing the colors look. It just the time of day. I will post better ones when Amara's new room is revealed! 
I am one Etsy print and a couple of framed photos away! :) 





Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day

It is a beautiful day here in TN, and I hope that you get to celebrate today with ones that you love, and know that YOU are loved. We celebrated a bit early this week as daddy is out of town, but I get to snuggle this little one below! Look at that bed head would ya? Our home couldn't be filled with more love, and I couldn't be more grateful!!

Happy Valentine's Day friends!!


P.S. Who doesn't love a gift on Valentine's day? Even Amara got a little goodie bag full of lovely treats. I grew up with Valentine's Day being celebrated very much so. I plan to carry on that tradition ;)
Anyway, I got a new perfume that I am OBSESSED with. I can't stop smelling it. It is from Anthropologie. It makes this mommy feel like a new woman! ha! Just thought I would share.


xoxo



Sunday, February 10, 2013

Thank you from 1 to 200!!

I want to take up some blog space with a big ole "THANK YOU!!!!" to anyone and everyone who takes a moment out of their day to click around on my little ole start up blog and letting something important to me be important to you. I am so overjoyed as my post about the baby sprinkle has hit nearly 200 views. I am going to be very honest in saying that its NOT a lot of views for most bloggers, but since my highest ever post views was around...oh...say...62, I feel like I won the lottery ;). So, thank you! I never fully know EXACTLY who is looking at my blog, so please drop a line every now and then. I read every comment, every e-mail, and everything in between! I would just like to "meet" you. It is just more motivation to keep writing and to carefully pick my topics. Anyway...thank you a million times over people!




It's raining babies....

This past weekend, I co-hosted ( along with my mom) a baby Sprinkle for my mom's neighbor, and dear friend, Amy. I have known Amy since I was in high school, so I was happy to help celebrate her 2nd bundle of joy! This shower was extremely simple! I even used SOME of the decor from the snow sprinkle I threw two weeks ago. It has been a hectic couple of weeks, but I really wanted this shower to feel special for Amy. It ended up being a great time! Drinking out of a mason jar with a cute stripey straw, cupcakes, and cute new baby gifts to look at..... good way to spend a Saturday morning if you ask me!

I really only decorate 3 little areas in my house when it comes to smaller parties like this. I do a little mantle display, something hanging over my dining room table and a little artwork of some sort on my chalkboard wall. Sometimes, less is more, ya know?



I used a newborn paci and some of Amara's baby shoes for a little added mantle decor.


I really wanted to fill the entire mantle with moss, candles and flowers. HOWEVER, I COULD NOT find my moss the night before the shower. I was only able to use what I had resting in a giant candle holder. I am sure all of the other moss will show up when I am looking for scissors or something!


I am in love with layering garland!




I am a picky cupcake eater, and Amy is a gluten free eater. I was nervous about how the cupcakes would taste, and I have to say...they were soooo good!! We used King Arthur yellow cake mix. YUM!



I love this wrapping paper that Target has. I find it much easier to wrap with than actual kraft paper. It is tiny little pinstripes on it, and worked perfectly as a table runner. I just used my circle sponge and dotted it with green paint.




I suspended the fake clouds in the air with fishing line. I just hot glued pillow stuffing that I had laying around together and tied fishing line around each end and taped them to my ceiling with heavy duty clear tape. Then, I attached "rain drops" made from construction paper to fishing line and used a needle to attach the line from the bottom to the top of the cloud. Finished it off with a knot! Definitely took me longer than expected. Clouds kept falling, stuffing kept coming off, but I eventually got it!



I think the chalkboard art was my favorite! I loved the little cartoon looking clouds!

Thanks for reading! No more showers in my future until my brother and sister-in-law welcome their baby girl. Pink and turquoise....oh yes!! Can't wait!!