Moments to remember

There's nothing more charming than a girl in a tutu on her daddy's shoulders:

Delicious Desserts: Raspberry Oat Bars

One night a week needs to be 'leftovers night', so I don't end up throwing out lots of yummy food. I've learned that the hard way. Tossing old pizza isn't bad, but when you're throwing away meals that you spent time and effort making, it hurts a little more. On those nights I've decided to try a new dessert recipe off Pinterest to keep consistent.

This one came from allrecipes.com and it's pretty good. I like fruit desserts, the only thing I think I did wrong on this one was not crumble the butter into the mixture enough. The top came out of the oven a little dry and 'dusty'. I fixed that by just taking a fork and mixing up the raspberry with the topping while it was still hot. I think next time I'll try to add in some mashed fresh raspberries instead of only using the preserves.

All in all, they were tasty.

Delicious Desserts: Loaded Chocolate Chip Cookies

Meet the best cookies ever. EVER. You want to make some. Now. I think this recipe is originally from allrecipes.com but I can't be sure since I have a printed version that I taped to a recipe card years ago {I'm not the type to claim a recipe is 'mine'}...Well this time I decided to try a more 'packed' version by adding a couple of new ingredients, and I have to say, they're amazing.

Loaded Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats {Use 1c if you like more moist cookies, 2 cups makes it a little more dry}
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300º F. Grease cookie sheets. Stir together the flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients until well blended before stirring in the chocolate chips, coconut and walnuts. Drop in spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets and flatten to 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 21 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool, if you can be patient enough after smelling baking cookies for 21 minutes...

These are perfect on this snow-filled morning. Yes, I'm eating cookies for breakfast. Don't judge me.

crafty chic: the black and blue flower

Look what I made:

I didn't think to do a tutorial while I was making it, but I thought maybe a photo would at least inspire you to make something of your own. I didn't think I was going to like the mix of black and blue, but turns out it's very handy for a lot of outfits...I added a pin back and an alligator clip so I can use it on headbands or as an outfit embellishment. Cheers!

paint my picture

It's all her fault. I absolutely HAD to make one of these silhouette portraits for the house. Of the bebe of course. Because my profile isn't nearly as cute. Shame on you Marybeth, shame on you. All in all though, this was a really quick and easy project. The longest part was waiting for the stain to dry. So check out her pieces and learn how to make your own here. You can even enter her blogerrific contest to win your own custom wall art. Trust me, it's worth it.

Mine found a happy little home in the craft/guest room:

I added a new feature down at the bottom of each post. If you've got time to kill, kick back and enjoy a random-past-posts blog stroll.

Delicious dishes: creamy tomato soup

Perhaps this actually IS how you make tomato bisque, or maybe it's not {more likely}, but it tastes just as good and it's SUPER easy. I'm no cook, I have much more talented friends for things like recipes from scratch, but this is a really quick and simple fall-back recipe. As in, you forgot to plan something for one night, so fall back on this. Add whatever version of a grilled cheese you like, and voi la.

All you need is a 32 oz box of tomato soup {I like creamy organic Trader Joes tomato soup, mmm mm}, a 14 oz. can of roasted {or non} chopped tomatoes and about a cup of heavy cream, more if you prefer...

You can combine all the ingredients in the crockpot or on the stove. I find if you use the crockpot, you need to cook it on high for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Stovetop, obviously until it's hot.

Delicious dishes: chick pea and tomato salad

So the husband and I have decided it's time to get organized, do a budget and spend less. In an effort to keep our monthly grocery bill under control, I decided to spend Sunday/Mondays working on a weekly dinner plan and grocery list. Pinterest of course is an amazing tool when it comes to recipes, as long as you can find the ones that are correctly linked...

This last week I tried several different main dishes and sides, but one of my favorites was this Chick Pea Tomato Salad. Seriously. It was delicious.

Try it for yourselves and let me know what you think. And keep in mind, I'm not really a cold vinegar salad kind of girl. Now if you have any interest in the other recipes I tried, I keep them all on this Pindid board with my own comments in the descriptions...

this old foreclosed home: a guest room do over

There's something I've been wanting to do for a while, but until the house reno was complete, I couldn't justify repainting a room just for fun. This paint color was awful. I absolutely hated it when I painted it, but we had to be out of our apartment and into the house and since this was the only livable bedroom, it had to stay. It was like a bad rotten pea color, or something you'd find in your bebe's diaper. See:

So even though I really really really wanted gray {and tried several different samples before finding the perfect one}, the husband eventually put the kibosh on that, so I went for 'grey beige' and created a happy compromise for everyone. The room is pretty large and bright, but the dark diarrhea color wasn't helping it much. Now it's lighter and brighter and more inviting. After grabbing some decor elements from around the house, and finding a $10 end table at the thrift store, it feels good. A $50 change makes a big difference.

Bebe blues

This little girl has eyes that can stop me in her tracks. I'm betting she'll use them to her advantage, and might even get a pony if push comes to shove. Maybe she won't figure it out. That would be perfect. In the meantime, she can go right on being adorable. And I'll go right on pausing every now and then just to admire those eyes.

Bebe on a Ledge

She's not really a bebe anymore, but to me she'll always be. With a little help from a friend, I captured a moment that I wanted to remember forever. It came to me one day when I was busy getting her ready for something or other, and I saw it, the perfect spot for a photo op. Why hadn't I seen this before?

If you're going to photograph a squirmy bebe on top of a dresser or any elevated platform for that matter, I recommend {highly, you'd be stupid not to} having a friend just a step away, out of the camera's lens. After just a minute of snapping, this girl was ready to climb down. By herself. She's crazy. I love her. But she's still nuts. Said helper friend to the rescue. Thanks Bethany! I'll love these photos for ever and I wouldn't have done it without you.