Newest Addition

Finally FINALLY I am able to blurt out, what I have been wanting to shout out since Christmas Eve! Matt and I are going to have a baby!!!!!!!! We are beyond excited, and can't wait to meet our little bundle of joy in September! The official due date is September 8th, so I am in my 12th week. It's definitely been a long 3 months, but has totally been worth it! We find out on March 25th what we're having and that day can't come soon enough. Our familes are so thrilled, and we are so excited for the next 6 months to unfold once the little peanut finally joins our family. Duke is pretty pumped too. I think he's most looking forward to all the toys and stuffed animals that are going to be laying around, because hey, he'll think that they're his! I forsee many more baby gates in our near future! Stay tuned for pictures and updates!!! :)

Happy Thursday! xo
                                                                                             i only hope our baby has little chunky legs like this:)

Countdown is ON

Is it really only Wednesday??!! For some reason this week is draaaaaging along, and I'm sure it has just a pinch to do with the fact that we leave in three days for Colorado!!!!!! I am so beyond excited I can hardly stand it. I must look at the website every day to see what the temps are and how the snow is looking. It certainly is going to be cold there, which is why packing for this trip has become such a process! Here's where we are staying, and it just looks so incredibly cozy! I can't wait to bundle up next to a warm fire and soak it all in. And here's just a "few" of the things I plan on indulging in while out there...

Baubles

So last night kicked off my new business I'm doing on the side! I'm really excited about it, and exicted to see the potential it has. The jewelry is awesome, just see for yourself!

I hosted my big launch party at the house, and had a lot of fun planning for it and setting it up. I had a pretty good turnout, considering it's always hard to get people to come to house parties. And all the girls that attended walked away with some pretty fun jewels that hopefully they will all be excited to wear!! What I love about Stella & Dot jewelry is that a lot of it is very versatile, it's unique and there are some fabulous statement pieces that all you have to do is pair it with a plain white or blank tank and a pair of jeans and your ready to go! This and this are two of my favorite statement necklaces out of their Spring/Summer '10 collection. These and these are two of my fave earrings! And I LOVE LOVE this vintage bracelet. I think I must wear it every other day!

Here are a couple pics of my display from last night....

Holy Cakeness

I thought this would be a fun post for a Friday! Everything about this is the obvious...Colorful!!! This cake is like NOTHING I have seen before. Talk about having lots and lots of patience to make this bad boy. I spotted this colorful rainbow here in her most recent two posts...(great photography blog!) This is definitely the ultimate kids birthday cake, and I think you could score some major brownie points with the kids if you could pull this off. I'll have to jot this one down in the books for later on down the road. In the meantime, I should just attempt at making a "basic" homemade cake before I go getting all baking crazy on you here. Check out the recipe below...

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Rainbow Cake

 You'll need:

(for the cake)

•  2 boxes of white cake mix
• food coloring (try Ateco)

 (for the frosting)

• 4 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese
• 1 cup butter
• 5-6 cups powdered sugar
• 1 T vanilla

To make the cake:

1.  Mix up one box of the cake mix, following the directions on the box. Separate the prepared mix into three bowls with roughly 1 cup of cake mix per bowl. Add food coloring (red in one bowl, orange in another, and yellow in the third).
2. Bake the three cakes in round pans according to the box instructions. Make sure to check the cakes about 10 minutes before they are supposed to be done. With less mix in the pans, they can cook faster.
3. Repeat with the second box of cake mix and the remaining three colors (green, blue, purple).

To make the frosting:

1. Mix together softened (room temperature) butter and softened (room temperature) cream cheese until well combined. Add vanilla. Combine. Slowly add in powdered sugar. After the 5th cup, taste the frosting. If you'd like it sweeter, add the 6th cup. If not, leave the 6th cup out.

To assemble cake:

1. Level the tops of each layer of cooled cake with a large bread knife. Slice into the cakes horizontally so that the centers of the cakes are no longer higher than the edges (something that usually happens to them when they are baked). This is important so that the colors will display evenly when the completed cake is cut. Your rainbow will appear warped and not even unless you level the tops of each cake first.
2. Begin assembly with the purple layer. Set the purple layer on your cake stand or plate. Add enough frosting to cover the layer with enough to spill over the edges (about 1/2 to 1 cup of frosting). Run the flat, smooth side of a large knife around the cake to smooth out the frosting.
3. Add the blue layer of cake on top of the frosted purple one. Put more frosting in the middle and spread again with the flat, smooth side of a large knife so that the frosting covers the layer and falls out over the edges. Run your knife around the outside edge of the cake as well, to smooth out the sides.
4. Put the cake into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or the freezer for 1 hour.
5. Repeat with green layer and then yellow layer.
6. Put the cake into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or the freezer for 1 hour.
7. Repeat with orange layer and finally with red layer.
8. Freezing between each two rounds of layers is recommended. The cake can get really heavy by the time you are adding the 4th, 5th and 6th layers. If it is somewhat frozen at this point, the cake will not get smooshed or crushed. Additionally, it is much easier to frost the cake when it is relatively solid, not wobbling all over the place.
9. Cover the cake with frosting and run the flat, straight edge of a knife around the top and the edges of the cake to smooth out frosting. Add wording or decorations to the top of the cake with royal icing. Add cream cheese frosting and orange food coloring to a pastry bag and add the orange dollops around the base of the cake.

Plant Panthers

I remember as if it were just yesterday, walking up on stage at my high school graduation...and that was back in May 2000. I loved high school...and definitely think I enjoyed it to the fullest extent possible (just take a look at my grades...yeah, not so good). But we won't go there. And I'm so lucky that I am still such GREAT friends with all of my closest girlfriends. Even though many of us moved miles apart for school, and even further after school, we've all managed to keep in good touch!
We all knew our 10 year high school reunion would be coming up this summer, but hadn't heard anything yet. I opened up Facebook yesterday, and there was the message notifying us of the date...June 18th and 19th. Kind of crazy to think that 10 years has already gone by...man, that is making me feel just flat out plain OLD. Not in a bad way, because I actually love the age I'm at in my life...and I have heard quite a few people say that your 30's are better than your 20's, so I'm going to embrace it with open arms!
Anywho- should be interesting to hear who plans to go back for it...and if I'll actually make it back down to sunny Tampa, Florida for the big shindig. We shall see....

Quick Movie Reviews

Well folks, this was a first. I saw two movies in two days! "Valentine's Day" turned out to be MUCH better than both Matt and I were anticipating. That was the perfect cast for the movie. It sort of reminded me in a sense of "Love Actually", where there were many different story lines going on, but each somehow related to one another. Definitely a good, funny flick...one I would for sure watch again. Unlike "He's Just Not That Into You", which again, had a great cast, but I thought really lacked in everything else! So Gary Marshall pulled through this time.

Now, last night I went to see "Dear John". Completely opposite from Sunday's movie, in the sense that I had a box of tissues sitting in my lap the whole time. Recovering from a cold and seeing a sappy movie, just do not mix well together. Channing Tatum was quite delightful to sit there and watch I must say!! I'm a big Nicholas Sparks fan, so even if everyone hated this movie, I would still probably like it. I have heard though the book is much better, and has a slight different ending...so I've got it set aside to take with me to Telluride and hope to finish it while there.

What good movies have you all seen lately??

Will you be....MY VALENTINE?!

The hubby and I are keeping it pretty low-key this year. We are going to be cliche, and go see "Valentine's Day" tomorrow. I really don't have high expectations whatsoever, but none the less, it's got a great cast! I'm hoping I can convince him to take me to Rockford downtown for an early dinner too...so we'll see about that one.

What are you all doing to celebrate Valentine's Day weekend? xo

Cupcake Surprises

I don't know why, but lately I have really been in the mood to whip up some fancy cupcakes. There's something about a cupcake that just makes you want to smile. We have a local cupcake shoppe that I just absolutely love going in to. Whenever I have to pop in there, it is usally very quick to pick up some for a friends birthday. But, one of these days, I'm going to go in there, select from their fabulously delish selection, with a cup of coffee and enjoy the delightful atmoshphere. Perhaps Valentine's Day might just be the perfect day to bake some for my sweet honey. He might not enjoy them as much, but I know I will ;) One of my favorites is Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream frosting (pictured at the bottom)!!

What's yours??

xoxo

Romper

Loving all of these cute rompers! And wishing I was sporting one today, with an oversized cardi and flats!

{Filigreed Frill Romper $148}
{ Chorus Girl Romper $98}

{Basic Geometry Romper $118}

JCrew Addiction

So, waiting for me this morning when I got to work was JCrew's latest update with all of their "NEW SPRING ARRIVALS". Torture torture torture, especially when they are calling for 12" of snow this weekend!! WHAT?!?! I usually heart the winter and this time of year, but I think I am soooo ready for spring/summer it's not even funny. I can just taste the warmthness, yet it's still a good few months away. Anyway- back to JCrew. The new arrivals are A-mazing! Everything is so frilly and covered in ruffles, which are my absolute fave!! JCrew, why must you do this to me...
(I did just get my rewards card, and still have a little bit of a gift card left, so perhaps a visit is in order...but shhh, we'll keep that one from the hubs!)

Happy Friday
xo