perfectly spring-y.

The sun is out.

The sky is blue.

The wind is warm.

Spring is here!

And that means I am utterly inspired by all of these sweet "spring things"!

What a tasty looking cake, and so perfect for the season that is upon us! Leave it to Martha, right? Recipe here.


I want to run around barefoot in bright green grass with this dress on. Don't you?

Photo from Eddie Ross, who I totally adore. This spring color palette makes my mouth water. So inviting!

OK, forget what I said about being barefoot. My feet want to live in these. Yum!

And then I'll curl up in this fantastically cozy bed, painting my nails red and reading lots of fashion magazines. Pure heaven.

{photo source here.}

Happy spring!

xo! :)

shop love no.1

I've got about a million shops that inspire me daily.

I like to etsy-stalk people and drool over their fabulous finds.

So why not share them here?

Each Tuesday, I will be posting a pretty little shop!

Know of any cute shops on Etsy or around the www?

Let me know!

Onto the first of many....

This shop is scrumptious!

Tiny paper flowers, butterflies, and bouquets round out the sweetest little shop!

I think these yellow butterflies would look gorgeous dotting the top of a birthday cake or cupcakes. Seriously, these stunning little paper goods coulc be used in a multitude of ways.

Pop over here to visit The Gilded Bee! :)

Happy Tuesday, xo!

shortbread circles.

Grab your ingredients, folks! Some tasty little treats were made over the weekend and this recipe I must share with you all. I LOVE shortbread. I LOVE cookies. These are a perfect combination of both. Plus they only have three ingredients, so the lazy part of me was happy, too! :)

Shortbread Circles

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup slightly softened butter

To Do:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine all 3 ingredients at once and mix for 8 minutes. (Use a stand mixer if possible, or a strong hand mixer and spatula will also work.)

Mixture may be dry and crumbly to start, but will become more batter-like after mixing. (The photo above is after I mixed it up - looks like thick cake batter!)
Drop by slightly heaped teaspoons onto a parchment-covered cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.

Makes about 36 tiny shortbread cookies. :)

Enjoy, xo!

fixing what's broken.

What in the world is up with my blog???
So sorry to anyone who has visited lately and has come across broken links and such! I will be working some technical issues out this weekend hopefully, so bear with me while my blog looks like crap. I hate when things like this happen, ugh. :(
Has anyone noticed problems around here?
And thank you to Heather for pointing this out, I so appreciate it!!!
xo!

you gotta laugh. :)

Andrew and I were baking cookies yesterday and he wanted to get stools out so he could climb up and get the ingredients down for me. Which turned into him wanting me to videotape him climbing up to the taller stool and back down again.
Long story short...
Tilt your head to the left and watch this.
It is cracking me up.
Does that make me a bad mom?? :)
And PS.
The cookies turned out fantastic... recipe will be posted here on Monday!

Happy weekend, friends!
xo! :)

happy friday.

Andrew has been sniffly and coughing the past few days, so I decided to keep him home from school today and we have had a quiet and lovely Friday so far...

...Coloring in this fabulous doodle book that my sister gave to Andrew...

...Reading Magic Tree House books...

...Baking yummy shortbread cookies {recipe will follow on Monday!}...

...And, movies on the couch is our next stop since someone isn't wanting to take a nap :)

Take a cue from our funny dog Gwynnie

and have a relaxing weekend, friends!

xo!

food revolution.

Did you watch it?

Food Revolution

airs this Friday on ABC,

but there was a special sneak peek last Sunday.

Let me begin by saying that

Jamie Oliver is amazing.

He is going in to the unhealthiest town in America, trying singlehandedly to change the eating habits of the school children and townspeople. It is inspiring and wonderful. He is such a bright person, full of life and emotion, and he can't help but put a smile on my face. (Can't say the same for some of the stubborn nuts in that town though, eek!)

If you haven't watched yet, please do this week!

You will think twice about what you are putting in your mouth, I promise.

What are you watching?

PS.

Anyone watching Life Unexpected or Parenthood?

Those are my other two new faves at the moment!

Let me know what you think!

xo!

coming together.

This week has been full of organizing, trips to Ikea and Target, putting together new furniture, and cleaning up. Moving is such fun! But I have to say, the new craft room in my house is making me extra inspired. I've already been hard at work on new items for the shop, items for the Queen Bee Market coming up in May, and Andrew has been happily drawing right alongside me. When everything starts to come together, I feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief.

PS.

I am taking part in Point and Shoot once again. I love being able to take a photo of something over the weekend and blogging about it first thing Monday morning. The photo above was taken in my new craft room. Lovely, right? Simple and clean is my motto for the new house. Can't wait to share more pictures with you all!! xo!

transition.

We just moved {again}.
With a move comes so much work it's crazy.
So I am letting you know now that my blogs may be sparse in the coming week or so.
However, the decor ideas are filling my brain as I write this!
With white spray paint in hand, I am transforming my bedroom.
It's going to be so gorgeous!

And meanwhile, I am pouring over the first few issues of Lonny Magazine. How did I not know about this?! Without Domino, I felt like there was nothing out there to inspire me decor-wise, and now there is a perfectly fun alternative online! LOVE this. Go read it and get lots of great ideas. You'll be decorating in no time.
OK, must organize now.
xo!

really, american idol???

In my opinion, two of the brightest talents got kicked off American Idol last night.

Lilly Scott?!

Alex Lambert?!

Two of my favorites!!
Let's just say that I'm not too happy with American Idol right now. :(

What did you think??

Favorites so far?

Did your favorite make it to the Top 12?

xo!

OMG, OMG, OMG!

Words cannot describe how excited I am about this!!!!

I've already watched it way too many times this morning.

(Before you watch it, go down to the bottom of my blog and pause the music!)
EEEEK!!!!!!! :)
Who else is jumping out of their skin about this??!!!
xo!

nuts and bolts and cupcakes, oh my!

As promised, here are the photos I took of the adorably perfect birthday party we attended this past weekend! My friend, Christina, threw such a great "construction" themed party for her one year old son! Lots of cupcakes, lots of candy, and lots of Etsy-fabulous items made this party one to remember!

A cute banner from Etsy, complete with pictures of Austin throughout his first year... it made a perfect backdrop to the party space!
(find it here!)


I love how the yellow flowers were tossed in amongst the construction hard hats and nuts and bolts! What a clever table decoration! :)


The cutest party favor (and soooo yummy!!) ... from this shop on Etsy!


And get a good look at the gorgeous candy buffet, omg, omg, omg!!! It was put together so well, complete with little bags so we all could take a helping of candy home with us. I'm still snacking on yellow and orange jellybeans, haha! :) The cupcake toppers from the photo I posted a few days ago are from Party Box Design, so cute!

Please go visit this fantastic momma, Christina and tell her hello! And thanks for hosting such a wonderfully fun party, my friend! I hope Austin had lots and lots of fun turning one!
xo! :)

super exciting event!

For those of you in Southern California,
and all of you handmade-lovers,
this is the event for you!

I am super excited to hopefully be a part of this event!
The Queen Bee Market
will feature handmade artists and crafters
and their fabulous creations will be for sale
on May 1st.

There is still time to send in an application if you'd like to be part of it!!
Go here for more information!

I hope to see lots of you out and about that day,
shopping for handmade pretties!
xo!

point and shoot.

This was my weekend fun!
The objective of a "point and shoot"?
To capture something, anything, from your weekend.
I love this idea.

So I will give you a little teaser to the birthday party I attended on Saturday. It was a party thrown for the sweet little one-year old of a good friend of ours. (visit her here!) She did an amazing job on this "construction" themed party for her son and you will die at the gorgeous photos and the amazing candy bar table she set up. Christina, you are a Martha-Stewart-in-the-making, my friend! :)

More photos tomorrow...

See more fantastic photographs here on one of my new favorite blogs. Such fun!
Enjoy the week, xo!

excuse the mess.

I am in the process of re-doing my blog,
so things are looking wonky at the moment.
Bear with me while I fix things up in the next few days :)
xo!

a new addition.

Little Baby Breckyn Timothy

Born February 23rd, 2010

My cousin Kylee's sweet new little bundle!

I had to share this amazingly cute photo! :)

I am a proud "auntie"!

xo!

splurge vs. save - "jeggings"??

I love a good deal.

We all do, right?

I am here to share with you this super find.

I love skinny jeans.

I love leggings.

What better creation is there then...

the "jeggings"!!

They are so comfy and I could live in these.

No joke.

But the problem is that most of them are so pricey!

Case in point....

Eeeeek.

I am not about to spend that on a pair of jeans.

There was once a time in my life that I thought I needed expensive jeans. I am no longer that girl! The cheaper the better- but I don't like to sacrifice fit either. So here is my happy medium....

I am not lying when I tell you these are my favorite jeans EVER.

EVER!!!

They are snug, fit like a glove, and make my butt look nice.

Could I ask for a better pair of jeans?!

I think not.

Plus, they are way cheaper than those pricey True Religions!

Go here.

Buy a pair.

Let me know if you love them as much as I do!

xo!

number salad.

Get the kiddos cooking! Mollie Katzen has a whole set of children's cooking books with the sweetest illustrations and recipes. Andrew and I are going to make some fun and fabulous salad! This makes eating your fruits and veggies much more exciting, right? :)

Thanks to Mollie Katzen for the photos and recipe shown here!

Happy salad-mixing, friends!

xo!

i have to know....

What is everyone thinking of

American Idol

so far this season??

I have yet to watch tonight's show, but so far it seems like we are off to a sloooowww start with all of these contestants.

My favorite picks so far?

Lee Dewyze

Casey James

Crystal Bowersox

Andrew Garcia

Oh yeah, and Ellen. Love her! :)

What are you all thinking so far? Favorites? Least favorites?

I want to know! :)

xo!

building an army.

Bath-time is always fun around here!

Happy Tuesday!
xo!

crap, i'm excited!

The Bachelor

finale

is on

tonite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Why do I get so obsessed with shows like this??!!!)

And to add to the excitement, the Dancing with the Stars peeps for this next season are announced tonite as well! I hear that Kate Gosselin is one of the new dancers... (what the &%#*?!!!! Can she ever stay at home with her EIGHT kids?!)

I am gearing myself up for tonite.

Who else is going to be watching?!

xo! :)

my new project.

A new bathroom to make pretty.

We are moving to a new house very soon!

And my new bathroom has a cute little space where a dormer window is.

This is sparking my decorating imagination.

Can I create a little window seat area?

Remember this post?

I adore window seats and am thinking of creating something similar here in the bathroom.

The window is opposite to the sink and vanity area and on either sides are the closet and bathroom/shower area. It is a fabulous and bright little "dressing room" type bathroom and I can't wait to get started.

Any fun ideas for me?! :)

xo!

PS.

Happy Birthday to my dad!

Red velvet cake and presents are ready for tonite! :)