This Week

 

Happy weekend, friends!

 

Can't believe another week has come and gone; they seem to be flying by so quickly lately. My little brother is currently en route to Houston, so we're all kinds of excited for a fun next few days!

 

Our week was full of play dates, treats, & and spending time outside enjoying the beautiful weather. It was in the high seventies almost everyday this week, which meant lots of park/driveway time for Bear & me.

 

 

afternoon treats, courtesy of Starbucks (salted caramel cake pop is to die)

 

play date fun at Aria's

mornings on the driveway

and an #ootd from yesterday...can you tell I have a slight B&W obsession?

 

nap time for Bear= relaxation time for Mommy

the sweetest bff's

 

just your typical bathroom selfie (Bear kissed himself in the mirror at least 18 times)

every day.

warm weather makes for perfect hammock time

 

Charming Charlie, Bear's favorite! ;)

 

I am in love with 3D fiber lash mascara. I don't have naturally long eyelashes; this stuff is like magic! One coat, no curling, gives me this result. Order yours here!

And because most posts only show our "highlights", here's a "behind the scenes" of yesterday when Bear decided to dump out a brand new bag of Cheetos on the driveway (and then proceed to eat a few). Ahh, life with a toddler.

Hope you have the best weekend!

xoxo

Weekend

Last weekend was one of those that isn't too terribly busy but still seems to fly by. Zach has been working pretty long hours during the week so we really treasure our weekends and time with the three of us.

 

My little brother is coming to visit this weekend so we are already making plans and getting excited :). Tomorrow's already hump day!

 

 

It all started with a little Friday night run to Walgreens for "medicine".

Valentine's candy is the best though, right? Totally warranted.

 

 

Saturday morning we got up and headed out to get the boys haircuts. Bear & I are big fans of slip-on sneakers. And Skittles.

 

post-cut

 

After a nap (for only Bear, sadly), we headed to Braxton's birthday party at My Gym. Bear had a blast!

 

Sunday morning we tried a new brunch spot, Forest Café & Bakery. It was pretty yummy. We didn't love love it, but we'll definitely go back.

 

Then we did a little shopping, of course. Because weekends were made for such.

Saturday evening we watched the Miss Universe pageant and made chocolate chip cookies...because those clearly go together, right? Nothing like seeing beauty queens in bikinis while you're stuffing your face with chocolatey goodness.

Hope you had a fabulous weekend, and are now in the middle of a great week! :)

This Week

Happy Friday, friends!

 

 

In pretty much every blog post, I mention how busy we are. Well, not this time! For once we've had a pretty low key week, mostly because Bear and I are both battling nasty colds. Bear did get antibiotic at the doctor today so hopefully he'll be over this in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed, he's been such a little trooper.

 

I've been bitten by the craft bug as of late; all I seem to want to do is run to Michael's and make something I've spotted on Pinterest the night before. Anyone else having this problem? :)

This is a picture heavy post so I'll hop to it. Hope you've all had a wonderful week!

 

 

It all started with "just another mani Monday". Chose the deep purple, in case you were wondering. ;)

 

Macy's has been having some killer sales that I can't seem to stay away from. Neither can Olaf and Sven (both of them).

 

When in question on Starbuck's treats, just get two. Have you tried the salted caramel cake pop? It's heavenly.

 

This little man had a run in with an open drawer one evening, but luckily he's just fine and it's the scratches are almost completely healed.

 

Because this seems like a great way to watch TV.

 

Bear and I are excited for our Valentine's Day party next month! So excited that we already whipped up some (very) homemade Valentine's for Bear's friends.

 

This Charming Charlie trip lasted all of 5 minutes before Bear had his first ever major meltdown over a pink owl-shaped lip balm. That was....fun.

 

Thursday was rainy & gloomy, so we spent the day inside battling our colds and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

When you fight your nap all day, you fall asleep at 6pm in Daddy's chair.

 

Bear and I honestly never have days that we don't leave the house. It's really, really rare for us. So we pulled out all the play-time stops yesterday, including being "tuh-tulls". We rocked our shells alllllll afternoon.

Because Mommy's friends deserve Valentine's, too! Found these yummy candles at Michael's on sale for 60 cents apiece, so I couldn't resist. Told you I've been craft crazy.

Today's #ootd. Obsessed with black and white these days.

 

Can't even begin to explain how amazing this ice cream is. Truly beyond words. Run, don't walk, to the nearest grocery store.

Bear did so well at his 2 year check-up today; happy to report we have a healthy (big, 35 lb.) boy!

 

xoxoxo

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread

Another year, another banana bread recipe.
If you've been following this blog for awhile, you probably realize that this is the third banana bread recipe I've posted. Oopsie! I can't help it; when I find a really good one I get the urge to share it with other bakers :).

 

You don't even have to be a "baker" to make this recipe; it's really simple and oh-so-good. Zach isn't a banana bread fan at all and he even loves this stuff. It freezes well too, so you can always double the recipe and save a loaf for later!

 

My favorite recipes are the ones I always have all the ingredients on hand for. This is one of those recipes; you have a few extra ripe bananas going to waste and chances are you already have everything in your kitchen to whip up this bread.

 

It's moist, chocolatey, and delicious, with just the right amount of crunch from the pecans. The perfect breakfast, dessert, or snack in between.

 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 medium)

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 9x5- or 8x4-inch loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, beat sugar and butter with spoon until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Stir in bananas, milk and vanilla until well blended.

2. In small bowl, mix flour, nuts, chocolate chips, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into pan.

3. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Wrap tightly and store in refrigerator.

 

recipe tweaked from here

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Totes Ready for Valentine's Day

^Lame post title, right? I know. I've been out of the blogging game for awhile now, y'all; it's gonna take some time to get back in the swing of things! ;)

 

It's true though; I'm getting really excited for Valentine's Day. I almost fell over in shock today when I realized it's January 17th. It's been almost a month since Christmas?! Can't be possible. Time to pull out all things hearts, red/pink, and write love poems on every chalkboard in the house (get excited, Z).

 

My sister-in-law, Scarlett, gave me the most functional (and pretty!) gold & camel reversible tote for Christmas, and it's safe to say I'm in love. It's perfect for running errands, and as a mom on the go I'm always looking for a large bag that holds lots of snacks, diapers, etc. This one is perfect! I also feel like my style has changed a bit over the past year or so; I'm leaning more toward comfortable pieces that still reflect my personal style. These Steve Madden shoes are my go-tos for daily wear; and they match pretty much everything in my closet.

 

Enough babbling. Hope you're having a fantastic weekend!

 

metallic reversible tote, shoes, jeans, jacket (forever 21, similar here)

 

Has anyone seen American Sniper? The previews look really good and it's all over my Facebook feed the past two days; people saying they loved the movie. Would love to hear your opinion if you've seen it!