May 20, 2017

.oh darlings, let's be adventurers.

In this crazy post-divorce, post-move back to TX, restart of my life, I've decided one of my main goals is adventure. Life is a wild ride, I might as well try to make it as fun as possible.


Pedernales Falls State Park!
The girls and I try to get out as much as we can between work and
responsibilities. Hiking, museums, play dates with friends and even an epic spring break road trip to visit family in Colorado. I want the girls to look back on these years and not see the struggle, but rather that they had amazing adventures swimming in the Guadalupe, being surrounded by the love of friends and family and hiking into a mother fucking volcano crater!


So, that is what we do.


There are definitely some lazy movie days as well but these babies are sun-loving, adventure-seeking, inquisitive little mountain goats. Watching them explore new trails, learn cool new stuff, and expand their view of the world around them is always the highlight of my week.


I, of course, take pictures of our adventures. But I wanted another way to look back on them as well. Enter.... The Adventures Book!


I snagged this accordion style folder from Target a few months ago. Embellished it a bit. Then I just put whatever little keepsakes we find on our trips! Park information, art the girls do at museums, anything we want. Eventually I'd like to also get some of the favorite pictures printed and pop them in there as well. I added a list of the states just for fun, because I like to keep track of that. Half filled in squares mean only I, or perhaps Tyler and I, have been to that state. Can't wait to have all 50 filled in completely!


This is something simple and inexpensive that makes us happy. Which is basically our jam now. The girls love holding on to the brochures and coloring books from their travels to put them in the folder. For someone who isn't all that into things like scrapbooking, this is an awesome way to keep all the information and memories you want, without having to spend hours cutting, glueing, designing something like a scrapbook. Ain't nobody got time for that!


Here's to all the adventures to come!

XO

January 23, 2017

.well, then.

Hey lovelies. 

Here's to revamping. To a new life. New friends. Love for old friends growing. Healthy habits. New experiences. Positivity. Big journeys. Love, love, and more love.

Looking forward to 2017 and everything it will bring for me and my little ladies. 


XO

May 13, 2016

.nothing like the smell of wood stain on a sunday.

Truth.

Just wanted to share a cute little home project I did a couple weeks ago.


Like many others I have fallen in love with instagram style photos. The filters, the ease, the cute little 4x4 print outs! I have been searching for a way to showcase these quick, candid shots of my little family without breaking the bank. I found a great picture frame last year, on Amazon, that could fit 12 square pictures and bought two. One, however, quickly broke and I realized at $30 each I didn't want to spend the money replacing it.


A picture frame also makes it less convenient to switch the pictures out frequently, which with this style of photography I wanted to be able to easily remove old ones and add new ones as the kids grow.

Then about two months ago I stumbled upon Command spring clips. I am a command strip junkie, I use them for everything! As soon as I saw these clips I knew what I wanted to do. All you need is a piece of wood, wood stain, a brush, and you're ready to go!



A quick and inexpensive trip to Home Depot had me coming home with an 8 foot 1x4 board (that Home Depot can cut into quarters for you!) and an 8-ounce can of Polyshades Bombay Mahogany gloss stain and polyurethane. I already had a small paint brush.


I did one coat of stain on each board, let dry overnight, then attached the Command clips on the front, Command strips on the back, and they were ready to go! I'm not kidding when I say this is an easy project! I decided to add some art boards to my photo boards, so I also have a great place to showcase the adorable artwork my daughters make as well!

XO

April 13, 2016

.everybody loves cheese.


Over the past 3 years I have done one full Whole30 and multiple W14s and every single time all I can think is how I could never eat paleo 100% of the time because, cheese. I might be a little obsessed but, cheese is delicious and I don't want to live without it. Everybody loves cheese. You know, except for the few people who don't. This is not a post for those people.



A few weeks ago I had an awesome little gathering for some ladies I have met recently. There was cheese, there was wine, there were fruits and veggies and it was just a grand time. One of the things I made, that I was probably most excited about, was baked brie, topped with cherry preserves and wrapped in pastry dough. I've wanted to try it forever and the fact the it was so amazingly easy just made it even better. Plus it was insanely delicious. After the party there was about a quarter of the wheel left and my husband tried a small bite.... then took the whole serving bowl and finished it off!




After that successful recipe attempt I was curious as to what else I could do with baked brie. I didn't have any more crescent rolls but one night the husband was working overnight. It was just the little ladies, me and Frozen for the billionth time. I had brie, half the jar of leftover cherry preserves and a can of biscuit dough in the fridge.

So.... I stuck it all together and bada bing, bada boom. Delicious, gooey, tart, carb-filled amazingness was born. And again, it was so easy it's almost ridiculous. I feel like this dish would be awesome at a party as well. Truthfully, there's not even really a recipe. It's as easy as putting the brie in the middle of a baking dish or sheet, pour the preserves on top of it, arrange the biscuit dough around the sides of the brie and bake as directed by the biscuit brand. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and serve.

I feel like this would be amazing as some sort of savory brunch option as well. Perhaps some bacon on top of the brie, with the biscuits. Scramble up some eggs to go with. I'd love to hear more ideas!

XO