Cookie Exchange

Last Thursday my friend Nat hosted her annual cookie exchange party and it was delicious! Everyones cookies were so yummy! Nat even had a milk and a hot chocolate bar - so adorable. I am pretty sure that everyone left with a major sugar high.

12 yummy cookies for all!

Those ginger snaps look so darn professional!

Hot Coca Bar with different flavored marshmallows! So yum!

Chocolate, Strawberry and Regular Milk

 I didn't do a very good job taking pictures of actual people - apparently I was very focused on the cookies. 

Lindsey and Lauren

Lindsey and Nat

Oh and by the way, my cookies won!

Salty Carmel Crunch Bar

90 Club Crackers (such as Keebler brand)
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch baking chips
1 cup chocolate hazelnut spread, such as Nutella brand

Line a 9x13-inch pan with 1 layer of crackers, cutting as needed to fit

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add graham crackers crumbs, both sugars, milk and vanilla. Bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and spread half of the cooked mixture over the prepared crackers. Place another layer of crackers on top. Spread the remainder of the cooked mixture over the creackers. Place a last layer of crackers on top.

In a small microwavable bowl, carefully melt the butterscotch chips, using short bursts of power, stirring in between. Stir in the chocolate hazelnut  spread until smooth, heating slightly if needed to make mixture spreadable. Evenly spread chocolate mixture on top of bars and refrigerate for about an hour to set.

Cut into bars.
Makes approximately 54 bars.
Enjoy!

Starbucks

Last week Ryan and I headed up to the mall at 9am so that we could get a ticket to see Santa. Well, 9am was too late - our time was noon and we had music so we ended up going back on Friday (which I already posted about earlier). Anyhow, we are at the mall at 9am and most of the stores are open but it's pretty empty. Just your typical mall walkers and moms. Yup.
Anyhow I let Ryan out of his stroller to burn some energy. He walked all the way from where Santas picture area is to Starbucks and he did it like a man on a mission. When we got to Starbucks he peeked in and was like "Ah - yes, this is where I was headed". I just followed him in and watched him go up to the counter and order a latte. Ha, just kidding....well he might as well have. He walked up to the little refrigerated area and scoped out his options. He spotted the chocolate milk and grabbed it, took the straw off and handed it to me (picture below).  In Ryan talk that means, "here mom open this"

And then he tried to put the straw in the milk. 

Anyhow, I thought it was adorable and bought him his milk. We never really go into Starbucks so I just found the whole thing odd. He really acted like he knew exactly where he was going. I guess the first time they do something like that it is cute...

Success!

Future surgeon?

I mean, if you ever need your funny bone removed - I know a little man who can do it.

We pulled out this game the other night for Lyla and Audrey to play. Unfortunately we didn't have anymore triple A batteries so we couldn't play BUT Ryan did not care. From the second he saw them playing with it he wanted to play too. After they left he sat on his little chair and had a field day with it. So cute!

Santa 2011

We finally made it! I have been seeing friends post pictures of their kids with Santa for the past couple weeks and couldn't wait to take Ryan. Last year we saw Santa at North Park and at Neiman's downtown. The Santa at Neiman's is great and there is no line, but there is something special about the Santa at North Park that I just love!

He's pretty darn popular - which obvious by the always existing line of children waiting to see him. Everyone loves him because he has a reputation for authenticity. The CBS Evening News once called him "one of the country's premier Santas," and years ago The Wall Street Journal labeled him the world's Santa expert. Now he even has a blog! Check it out here. 

Since I wanted to take him back to the Santa at North Park I knew I was going to need some help. Luckily my mom was in town AND Grandma was available too! Yia Yia headed to the mall at 8:30 to get a ticket for us to stand in line. We were #19 - wowzers! And that's standing in line 30 minutes before it even opens! A lot of people get their ticket early and then come back in the afternoon because then you basically just get put right in the front of the line. Since we were working around Ryan's nap time I wanted to go before noon. Santa came out at 11:15 and I think we saw him around 11:45ish.  But between myself, YiaYia and Grandma we had Ryan covered! He played in the toy store, walked around and ate some snacks - not a bad morning if you ask me!

I wondered how Ryan would react this year. I wasn't sure if he would cry - which seems to be the normal reaction for kiddos his age - but I wasn't quite sure what he would do. I was excited to find out. And this is what we got:

As I mentioned before, it was around 11:45 when we finally got to sit on his lap - which is basically nap time. He started tugging on his hair...which made it impossible to keep it nice and neat. He wasn't really scared of Santa but he also wasn't jumping for joy. I think we probably could have gotten a smile out of him if it hadn't been so close to naptime. Oh well! I love my little bug!

It's hard to believe that this was only a year ago...

5 things

So I decided I was going to start something new for my blog - a favorite things list if you will. I always enjoy hearing what my friends are LOVING - that's how I hear about most cool new things out there! I am not keeping it category specific so things are going to be all over the board. If you are loving something right now - leave a comment! Would love to hear about it!

1. Erin Condren Life Planner: My latest obsession is my life planner - it's just as amazing as I dreamed it would be. For the past five years I toted around a "paper" calendar and it worked for me. I just love to write everything down, heck I even like to cross off days...oh and I like to use my 24-pack of assorted colored sharpie pens to do so. Anyhow, after I stopped working and started toting my calendar around in my diaper bag it really took a toll on it. My new planner is amazing. The laminated cover is perfect for me and I love that it is completely personalized. A quick overview - each month has it's own tab, you have a full month calendar view as well as weekly pages separated  out into morning, afternoon and evening sections. There is also a "to do" list area as well as "goals".  With your calendar you also get free labels, clear zipper pouch, matching gift labels, double-sided folder for loose papers (stamps, receipts ect.), special dates calendar pages and much more awesomeness. If you are a planner and love to write things down I definitely recommend this!

2. Vince Camuto 'Jordy' Booties:  I mentioned before that I was in search of some black booties and I found them!  A friend of mine mentioned she had gotten some so I knew I needed to check them out - glad I did. No worries - I didn't get the EXACT same ones! Not that she would have cared... I love these little guys - and they are super comfortable! Definitely recommend - plus they are on sale!

3. WoodWick Cinnamon Chai Candle: Since we have a fake Christmas tree I was in search of a candle that could get us in the holiday spirit. After smelling a ton of them I finally came across this one....it's the perfect hint of cinnamon without going overboard. Ryan helped me too - he is a great candle sniffer.  If he likes the scent he tries to eat it - so cute!

4. Zella "live-in" leggings: Ladies, these are seriously the best leggings I have ever had...and I have gone through my fair share. They are for working out or wearing out - and I do both. They are great for everyone but as a mother of a 16-month old I think they are fab -  I am constantly on the go and they are comfortable and great quality. They are thick enough so you don't have to worry about them becoming see-through when they are stretched. Also, they don't fade at all when you wash them - big plus for me.  Lastly, they are reversible - one side is a little shimmery-er, which is fun.

5. Xen-Tan self tanner: Surprise surprise...a tanning product. Every fall I start to feel a little pale and even though EVERYONE around me tells me I am crazy - I know I am not. I just like a little color...and there ain't nothing wrong with that.  Since I gave up the tanning bed three years ago I have moved on to lotions. I have probably tried all of the drugstore tanners and they just don't seem to work on me. I was happy with a L'oreal one last year, until I took a look at some pictures and realized I was looking a little orange...yikes! Anyhow, I found this tanner and while it is a lot more expensive than anything I could find at a drugstore I think it's definitely worth it. It's cheaper than spray tanning and lasts longer.

Meal Plan Monday

It's been a couple of weeks :) I guess I have a bit of an excuse with the Thanksgiving and what not...I am having a hard time getting back in the swing of things so hopefully writing this post will help!

Last week I decided to try some of the recipes that I have been pinning on pinterest.

We tried taco stuffed peppers, but I wasn't thrilled with them. First of all, I was really confused when I looked at this recipe and there was NO meat!! How do you make a taco with no meat....goodness. Anyhow, it inspired me to make my own rendition of it. I think they would have been pretty good if I would have used the regular taco seasoning (Old El Paso Or McCormicks) that I usually get at Kroger's, but I was at Central Market and they didn't have it so I got something they had there. I can't remember what it was .... but I am pretty sure it is what messed it up for me. I think if you want to do this, just make it like you make your regular taco and put in a pepper instead - a low-carb taco if you will. Easy peasy.

Anyhow, I think my next pepper stuffing recipe will be these:

No worries, there is definitely meat here. 

The other recipe that I tried was lemon chicken. I ended up seeing it on Pinterest but remembering that my sister-in-law said the Barefoot Contessa recipe was delicious, so I tried it - and we both agreed. Big hit!

Ok, so moving on to this week:

Monday: I am wanting something with seafood but this weather makes me want something hearty....so I think I am going to make this:

Probably not the healthiest thing but it sure looks delish!

Scratch that - all that taco talk before got me wanting tacos....so that's what we had :)

Tuesday: I feel like brussels sprouts are so trendy right now, I am seeing them everywhere! I don't recall ever eating them growing up but my mother-in-law made some last year and I loved them. This week No More To Go has a recipe and I am going to try...Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts! Yum! We will have Buttermilk Grilled Chicken and Baked Cheese Grits.  (from No More To Go)
Wednesday: Crock Pot Pulled Pork Tacos (from No More To Go)
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: Kevin's Christmas Party

POP

Yesterday we threw a baby sprinkle for my friend Nat. She is due in February with another sweet little boy! It was so much fun planning this sprinkle because I got to work with two very talented ladies (Trinh & Mylien)!

The food table was just as adorable as it was delicious. Keeping along with the "Pop" theme we served:

Strawberry Spinach salad with POPPY seed salad

POPcorn Chicken

POPovers with Strawberry butter

Crab Ragon POPs

Assorted Soda POP

Cake POPs

Rice Krispie POPs

Nutella Banana POPs

Mini cupcake POPers

And we had a POPcorn bar with Kettle and Buttered popcorn, along with sweet and savory toppings  

Adorable, right?

On the front door we hung this wreath that I created for Nat and her new little man. The "T" is for "Tantinarawat" (her last name) since they haven't decided on a name for the little guy yet. 

Our popcorn bar - Trihn made the popcorn stand by wrapping a shirt box and cutting holes in the top. 

Yummy treats made by Mylien

Who says you can't have Chick-fil-a on a Sunday? Delish!

Topt tier of the diaper cake that Mylien made.

Trinh made these adorable party favors. The mini bottle of champagne was for Nat to celebrate with once the little man arrives!

Fun "Pop" themed treats inside!

Lots of ladies in stripes...

The fruit punch was a big hit...and it was good with champagne too

The guest of honor requested donations for the Genesis Women's Shelter in lieu of gifts. What a great idea especially this time of year! 

We wanted to make sure she got to take some things home so we had guests fill out "Wishes for Baby" so she could save for the little guy. We also stocked a basket full of goodies for Nat & Baby T and made a game "memory" game out of it. I carried it around the room and then guests had to recall what they could remember - its pretty hard if you aren't a mom....lots of crazy things in there! haha. It was a cute little game and a way for us to "sprinkle" Nat with a few things. 

Party planners with guest of honor. I had so much fun planning this party and love how it all turned out!  Can't wait to meet Baby T in February!