Thursday Tidbits

Thought I would take a moment to catch you up on what has been going on in my life

• A few weeks ago,  I went to a baby shower for one of my best friends from college.  It was so good to see Brandy and the rest of my girl friends who live out of town.

Emily {Thomas}, Aly, The mom to be - Brandy, Jenna {Olivia}, myself

The hostess' really outdid themselves.  All of the little details were amazing!
Bottom right is my gift for mom and baby
Bib - Etsy Southern Style Sticthes
Blocks - BBBlocks, a way to document your baby's growth

• I have had the kids twice in the last week.  I have thoroughly enjoyed having them around.  Molly is becoming quite independent and VERY determined as of lately, and Domingo has become ultra ornery and my little buddy! I thoroughly enjoy having these two around the house.  They bring me so much joy and happiness.

Playing together on the iPad

• We celebrated my 30th birthday last week.  My parents took us all out to a wonderful dinner, and it was nice to spend the day with the ones that I love the most.  
• I've been completing some DIY projects around the house lately, I will be posting a few of them in the upcoming weeks, along with more outfit posts, like I promised when I recommitted myself to blogging.

What's new....

This past weekend we went down to Dayton to Jimmy and Jess' house for the Real Daytonian Experience part dos

the girls
the boysI was in charge of bringing the fixings for s'mores
and of course I can't just make your typical ones
so I asked my friend Molly if she had any good recipes, and she sent me this link
UMMM hello delish!
So i decided to bring the fixings for a few of the different ones
Sunday we rushed back from Dayton just in time for Jenna's baby shower
Jenna {in the gray and pink dress} is due with Olivia in October, and our friend Shauna {in the black and pink} is due in 2 weeks, along with Jess and Aly
It was so good to see the girls I went to college with
Olivia is going to be one spoiled little girl {this is just 1/2 of her presents}
and Belinda did not miss a single detail of the shower

Last week I decided that I wanted to get feathers...
I know, I feel like I'm the last person to jump on the band wagon, however I wanted something different for my hair cut
I was going to get them last week at my hair appointment but she only had purple, red and green ones left, not very professional
So i made an appointment for Tuesday evening at 7:30, and I didn't tell anyone about it, because I just wanted to go and do it
So when Justin asked what we had planned for the night the conversation went a little like this:

L: I have an appointment at 7:30
J: What kind of appointment
L: A hair appointment
J: Didn't you just have a hair appointment last week?
L: yes, do you really want to know what I have an appointment for?
J: yes, just tell me
L: fine, i'm getting feather extensions in my hair
J: Like, feathers as in your going to look like an Indian?

I about DIED laughing.. I'm pretty sure that he pictured me coming out from the salon with a full out headdress on.. rather than the little tiny extensions that look more like highlights than feathers.

I happen to LOVE them! They are something subtle but different.

So thats what is new in my life... i LOVE our busy/crazy life and wouldn't change it for the world!

{I also love that I was able to link up to 4 different blogs within one post... I love how blogging has become such an integral part of not just my life but also some of my closest friends lives as well!}

Weeked Recap

So sorry blogging friends for not updating since Tuesday... I really didn't think much about it [weird huh!]- however Justin, my parents, and my sister all said something to me about it today.... making sure I was okay since I hadn't blogged for almost a week.

Thursday night I made these cute little treats for a potluck at work - individualized fruit pizzas [the trick is that i bought store bought sugar cookies] made my cream cheese frosting and placed my fruit on top...
Saturday morning I went to a baby sprinkle for Lauren... Ashley hosted it at Mimi's [yum!] - i am so excited for this little one, truitt to have a baby brother - is truitt not the cutest little one in the whole wide world
ashley and i
lauren opening up her gifts
ashley, lauren and myself

lauren and myself - only 2 more weeks

our favors - so cute!
today i went shopping with jaci.. and i asked her if we could go to walmart... now to most, this is not an exciting adventure, however this just happens to be my first time ever shopping at walmart... and what an experience it was..i was pleasantly surprised, and really enjoyed myself! i had to capture the moment of course! ha

sunday night we always have dinner with my parents, however tonight we celebrated some exciting news in our family - my sisters engagement! they got engaged 2 weeks ago in denver, however it was the first time we had seen each other since doug had popped the question.
the spread for dinner

i had to get a little something for my sister - so we put together this basket, including a chew diamond ring for lily - their dog
and if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, my sister asked me to be her maid of honor, and of course i said yes, i wouldn't want to be anywhere else on her big day! congrats alli and doug!

Oreo Pop tutorial

So when Melissa, my cousin's wife found out she was preggo I was so excited that I was going to be able to throw her a shower. Early into the pregnancy she also realized that her cravings for oreos was much larger than normal - and if someone would ask her if she needed anything she always replied - "oreos". so from that moment i knew that i wanted to make oreo pops for her shower that we were going to be throwing her...

i thought that these little favors would be adorable and fun to make - however they turned into a little labor of love [but with a few trial and errors - a process was created, so stay with me - i was photo happy to begin with and then i think i forgot to take a few pictures during the process...]

I started out using double stuffed oreos - and i twisted the cookies apart keeping the top with the bottoms... and yes it is okay to eat all of the broken cookies

so this is the dangerous part [and i am VERY accident prone so please have 9-1-1 on speed dial if you are similar to me.. ha!] i used my gas stove - but a candle or anything with a flame will work - heat your lollipop stick over your heat source[bought in the candy isle at your local michael's or joanns]
press the sticks into the frosting [and make sure the stick goes all the way through to the cookie - so that the cookie will go back together properly] make sure the sticks are completely set before you move onto the next step
melt a little bit of white chocolate chips in a double broiler and spread it onto the cookie piece of the oreo [the non frosting side]
make sure that the oreos are set and secured to their lollipop sticks and are not going to come undone before dipping them into the white chocolate. dip the cookies into melted white chocolate [you can add a little crisco, paraffin wax or olive oil to stop to prevent the white chocolate from sweating once it sets - and the evoo will not make it taste funny - i promise!] and let cool on wax paper.
[please envision a bunch of dipped oreos that have been dunked into white chocolate]

i drizzled two different colors of white chocolate on top of the dipped oreos [i used pink and green to match the shower]
once the drizzle is set then you can bag the pops. i used these from michael's which worked perfectly and they fit right over the oreos

my guest probably hate this next step but its the only thing that i can think of to hold the bags shut - so i use fishing line initially
and then add a little flair with a ribbon
and then i put all of the favors in this cute little basket [that i found at joann's]

and there ya have it a looooong tutorial of how to make oreo pops!

i hope you have a chance to make these little lovlies! they may be a labor of love when you are making a large batch - but i think they are so cute!

Weekend Recap Part II - Melissa's Shower

I was soooo excited to have the opportunity to co-host (with my mom and sister) a baby shower for my cousin's wife Melissa. They are due in May 6th.. and I cannot wait to meet Addison Riley. I absolutely love Melissa, I have actually known Melissa forever, we went to the same babysitter when we were growing up, and I couldn't be happier to now have her in our family - and I just know that she will be an AMAZING mom!!!

the guest of honor and myself

Kitchen Table

Dining Room Table

The mantle

Addison Riley C

the food

the cake

Shower guests enjoying the food

Melissa waiting to open up her gifts

Her nursery is done in the Brooke pattern from Pottery Barn and here is one of her owls - she was so excited to get this!

i bet ya'll will be shocked to know that i got her a set of BBblocks and made her a pillowcase dress (and yes I know that I haven't posted how to make one of the dresses yet - i will sometime this week!)

the oreo pop favors (which I called a labor of love... I will have another post on how I made these)
I can't wait to meet Addison, she will be a well loved baby!