Glorious Ball-Orrific Necklace!

It has become quite clear to me that I absolutely love multiple groupings of balls.  It most likely began with Megan's  wonderful wreaths, but it is now showing up all around me.

This necklace was handcrafted by jewelry artist Kristina Klarin.  I am absolutely loving how big it is and that you could basically wear just a plain tee or tank and wear this necklace with it and feel totally hip to be square.  Her color combinations are spot on too!  via: constant changes

Dreams Do Come True!

I have two pairs of TOMS sneakers one pair in red that my grandmother got me for my birthday, and one pair in army green that I wore everyday last summer.  I love everything about them especially the fact that they are so comfortable, but also the fact that for every pair of shoes you buy through them they give a pair to a child in need.  That is just too good to be true, but it is!

WELL WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE!!! Coming soon to my closet are these absolutely adorable wedges courtesy of TOMS!!  I mean they do not come cuter! via: adored austin

Fry 'em Up!

I am attempting to eliminate processed foods from our diet.  Taking little baby steps here and there.  Mostly really reading ingredients.  The same food that you grandmother was eating... may have the same label and taste the same... but the ingredients most likely are not the same (preservatives, high fructose corn syrup,  and a whole bunch of other words that you won't understand)!  I'll take food that may rot quicker any day.  It always pains me to throw out or be wasteful, I have the compost going but I can't really put a lot of food products in because we have a lot of raccoons and skunks in the neighborhood... but the more you cook the more you learn the quantities you should buy.

That being said.  I'm still not all that healthy!  And Owen really likes French Fries!  I figured making them myself would give me some advantages:  I can see exactly how many potatoes I was using, and give myself the ability to portion out appropriately.  I can buy my own potatoes and we prefer organic and local it makes us feel better.  I can add my own spices and use whatever oil I want.

But let's be real... I still fried the crap out of them!  Next time I'm going to try an experiment with baking them and see how that turns out.  I'll keep you updated on the results.  But for now feast your eyes upon these:

My husband's eyes opened really wide and he said "they are way better than McDonald's."  All lies but hey it made me feel good.  And just a quick note... if you have a picky eater that actually likes them to even look like fast food fries... you don't have to cook them as long as I did, that's it!

Breakfast Bars from Scratch

My entry in the Outside the Box Challenge:

I have been really making a greater effort to make what we eat from scratch. But my biggest desire and hurdle lately has been trying to eradicate Nutri-Grain Bars from the cupboard.  Both my husband and son (2yrs) absolutely love them.

I scoured the internet trying to find a suitable replacement replacement and it was pretty difficult to find something but I came pretty close when I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen.

I made a few edits:

*Substituted Whole Wheat Flour in place of All Purpose Flour

*I only had 10oz of Organic Raspberries in my freezer so I added 6oz of a mixed bag of berries including, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries.

I’m going to attempt to freeze these and see what happens because the ability to pull them out whenever would be a plus.  I’m also going to really play around with the recipe now that I see how it works and try and make it more of a fruity nutritious bar instead of a sugary treat…  It’s nice to have the taste of grains in the morning.

Beany Cuteness

We are absolutely in love with these bean bags from Cocoon Couture.  Visit their site for more cute gifts for kids with really sweet designs!

Valentine's Day Wreath Fame!

 

Megan's Valentine's Day Wreath has gained some notoriaty via Sweet Home Style!  We all keep telling her she should sell them!  So festive!!

A Lemony February Birthday

Saturday was my Grandmother's Birthday and we celebrated with homemade pasta I made with my new pasta maker, and a yummy chicken parm recipe from bon appetite. We topped it off with my great-grandmother, Lola's famous lemon cake. When you have a February birthday it is sometimes nice to remember that spring is right around the corner!