A Day in the Life- Favorite Bargains, Blogs, Recipes, Style Tips & Mommy Moments

January 19, 2011

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REALITY CHECK: Our house is taken over by toys. 
every family room needs a tent and tunnel. c’mon..
SIENNA IS 5 MONTHS… I feel like she is growing up so fast.
i’ve heard it said both ways..that the 2nd baby progresses faster or slower than the 1st.
 but i feel like she see’s everything sophia does and is starting to copy her! 
before we know it she will be tumbling around with sophie! eek! ;)


PARENTING-FAILURE…sometimes i bribe sophia with candy so i can capture her on tape doing the cute things she recently is saying or doing…. haha.
please tell me i’m not the only mama who does this……lie if you must.

RECENT CLIENTS....I recently created some Baby Shower Printables for 
the fabulous Brandy of Jumping Jack!
water bottle labels, cupcake toppers & menu cards. they also are having each guest bring a book for brady so we made up a cute sign that matches to put on the table. love those little touches at parties!
i have been doing a lot of custom party themes lately and plan on adding them to my etsy shop soon so be sure to stay tuned for that! there are some cute ones…(circus..shabby chic…)



LETS GET COOKIN’…These are two of my recent ventures in the kitchen. 
tried and true recipes…delicious.

1. Stuffed Chicken Thighs.
This is one of my go-to recipes. Easy and we usually always have the ingredients on hand.
–Use any type of meat with skin (breast or thigh..i like dark meat.)
–cover chicken with olive oil and seasonings of your choice. i usually use salt, pepper, garlic powder (or cloves if you have them!) and ground sage.
–Make the stuffing as directed
–Use your fingers to pull the skin away from the chicken just enough to slide in the stuffing through one end.
–cover with foil so it doesn’t dry out!
–Baking times vary…but I think i put it in @350 for 45 minutes..maybe longer.
super easy..and always delicious.

2. The Pioneer Woman’s Beef Stew
I used that as my base for the recipe..but i didn’t have her exact ingredients. i used what i had!
She called for stew meat but i had a peice of pot roast meat so 
i just trimmed off the fat and sliced that up. 
dinner was ready wayyy faster than a pot roast..and just as delicious!
I also didnt have tomato paste so i used ketchup..
and i used whatever potatoes i had in the pantry!
click here to see her beautiful post with the recipe.
the best part of this recipe….the leftovers are amazingggg.
also, you feel pretty domesticated while making this. haha. 
i felt very housewife making beef stew.

lunch the next day…..
mmm.yeah. better than a pb&j.



SISTERS.. i am loving having the girls so close in age.
(15 days from being exactly 2 years! just happened that way and it’s been perfect.)
they are so lovey and entertain each other most of the day. 
giggles are contagious. :)

FAVORITE PARTY THEME- Baking Theme Party
created by One Charming Party via AAE
I am lovinggggg this theme!!  how precious are those chef hats? and  I love how they used cupcake wrappers throughout the party decor..with the garland and the “flowers” attached to the chef hats. adorable. definitely want to throw a party like this when sophia is older. if we did this now…well..lets just say my kitchen wouldn’t be as clean as theirs…haha.

 
 
MY FAVORITE DIY- It goes along with the baking theme party…..
A Cupcake Wrapper Garland
i’m making one of these! 
already grabbed up some valentines day-red wrappers that were on sale at Target..
stay tuned for how it ends up! :) and while you wait…
go check out the tutorial and make one yourself!












Link up below! can’t wait to read all of your posts! 
I’m sure i’ll be inspired and want to share you or your finds next week. :)

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  • Anna Liesemeyer
    January 19, 2011 at 12:27 am

    Don’t you just love One Charming Party?! Amazing.
    Your girls are too cuuuute! We have the same tunnel in our family room. Too funny.

  • Marjorie
    January 19, 2011 at 9:22 am

    definitely going to give that chicken recipe a try. i have to figure out how to attach your button to my posts, but i gotta run to work this morning! thanks for hosting!

  • Cory
    January 19, 2011 at 2:07 pm

    LOVE the recipes again! :) ANd we also keep the tent/tunnel up a lot! Cate LOVES it! Going to link up now!

  • Jumping Jack
    January 19, 2011 at 5:38 pm

    The girls are adorable! I can’t wait to watch the video of Sophia (I don’t have sound at work, ugh!) and I don’t bribe w/ candy yet, but you can bet I will!

    Thanks for making all the printables for Brady’s shower! I can’t wait to see everything all put together.

    Loving that party theme this week. I just love little kids in baker’s hats! :) I can’t wait to send Jack to Little Chef’s School when he’s a little older.

    Hope you’re feeling better!

  • Jumping Jack
    January 19, 2011 at 5:39 pm

    And, we’ll be having that chicken recipe next week. Sounds (and looks) delicious!

    We did have a tent & tunnel in the living room, but it’s in temporary hiding so my sanity could briefly return! HA!

  • Lavender and Lilies
    January 19, 2011 at 6:25 pm

    I love the baking party idea! I’ll have to tuck that one away.

  • Megan
    January 19, 2011 at 9:20 pm

    I bribe my oldest to take pictures ALLLL the time, from ice cream to cookies. She doesn’t like taking pictures at the moment so ANYTHING that gets one with her smiling is what I do. ;)

  • LeAnna
    January 19, 2011 at 11:11 pm

    Thanks for your sweet comment today! I’m glad you stopped by. Your girls are TOO CUTE! My daughtera and son are 21 months apart, and I’ll be sooo glad for the day when they can entertain each other. Woohoo! Loved reading this!

  • carissa @ lowercase letters
    January 19, 2011 at 11:46 pm

    the cupcake wrapper garland will be made for Sage’s 1st birthday!!! how presh!!! love it. sophia seems to really be embracing her big sister role… so sweet! aww, the pioneer woman… i must make that recipe!

  • Shannon
    January 20, 2011 at 5:25 pm

    What a beautiful job you did for Brandy! Speaking of toys, our house is overflowing with them too and I’ve just got one little. Today I packaged up more than two boxes of toys to pass along to the local Alpha House for abused women and their children. Hopefully they’ll get some use of of them, Lawdy knows GG needs to share her abundant blessings!

    And as always, I’m in awe of your blog…you continue to have such beautiful pictures and fab ideas! Not to mention two of the cutest kids around!

    Oh and PW…my goodness she’s popular! But I’ve yet to try her recipes. I must really be missing something!

  • Whatever Dee-Dee wants
    January 22, 2011 at 3:16 pm

    That baking party is so cute I don’t think it should be just for kids. I want one too :)