Valentine’s Day Breakfast: Coconut Flour Cake Donuts + Raspberry Milk

February 8, 2016

I crave donuts just about every day, anyone else? Considering it probably wouldn’t be wise to give into that regularly, I found a good coconut flour cake donut recipe that doesn’t have to be categorized under guilty pleasure. Super simple to make, and maybe not as sweet as your standard cake donuts, but you can always slap on some icing if you need them sweeter. A healthy Valentine’s Day breakfast option along with some raspberry milk (no dye)!

Cake Donuts:
I used Tasty Kitchen’s Recipe
Slight adaption: Added a little more flour, and substituted some of the honey for raw maple.
Make sure you have a donut pan.

Raspberry Milk:
4 c. Milk
Small quart of Raspberries
2 Tbls. Raw maple syrup

Found the milk bottles and straws in the dollar section at Target:)
I like Valentine’s Day more my little ones than anything else….ok and maybe the flowers. My mother always made it special for us, so I am trying to keep up with her rad traditions. You all should also check out these adorable DIY candy heart boxes, fries before guys printable, and the cutest gold foil heart shirt. What can I say? I am a sucker for it all.

I’ve got a really cool post on relationships coming up this week, so stay tuned!

Galentine gift: Triple tulips

February 3, 2016

“Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.” –John Harrigan

You all know I love a good quote;) I am really into keeping things simple this year now that I have four chickadees under my roof. Flowers are my favorite thing to give (and receive!), so this is a simple way to gift your best gal-entines for friends or teachers. Wrap a few tulips, tie with string, and attach a good quote to it. It will guarantee at least a smile from someone deserving of one. Max thought these were for him as you can see. I had to coax them out of his hands to ensure they would be delivered to the right person. He’s a pretty cute florist though I must say…

31 Dresses, No. 4 – Red Lace Dress

February 2, 2016

“Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own home. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor . . . Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”
-Mother Teresa (Life motto:))

On the occasion that a date around February 14th does offer an opportunity to get out to a fancy schmancy place, this will be the dress. Especially if you happen upon a very french looking cafe….might as well dress the part!

Dress found at Asos (The red style is 40% off. I went up a size for length. Here’s another similar style + and a plus size version I love.) // Clutch // Earrings // Trench // Shoes (similar)

*Photos by Morgan Blake

Valentine’s Day date night in

February 1, 2016

This week I’ve got a Valentine’s Day line up for you starting with a Valentine’s Day date night in idea that might be good to have in your back pocket in case dinner plans fail;) In our first few years of marriage, babysitters were hard to come by, so most of our Valentine’s Day dates looked a lot like this. After picking up ingredients to make dinner for two, we would wait till the kids were asleep and cook our favorite apps, dinner, and dessert. We’d follow that up with a stack of movies we would never last through, popcorn, movie candy, and all of the blankets we owned. Still my favorite way to spend the 14th if you ask me;)

As you might guess, we have become popcorn snobs over the years. Here’s a few of our favorite toppings you can test out for your own popcorn buffet next movie night…

Base: Popcorn oil (magic stuff)
Seasonings:
Cheesy – Parmesan, dill, and salt
Sweet – Cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg
Savory – Lawry’s Seasoned salt, chili powder, and cayenne pepper
Wooden bowl
Wooden snack bowls
Serving Tray

And while we are on the topic, here are some of my all time favorite romantic comedies:

Return to Me
You’ve Got Mail
Sleepless in Seattle
About Time
The Importance of Being Earnest
Emma
Any Audrey Hepburn or Doris Day flick

What about you? All time favorites?

(Bedding lineup: Linen sheets, Faux fur blanket, linen pillows c/o Wayfair)

The Weekend Guide

January 29, 2016

Wearing….
This adventure tee with a favorite pair of stretch denim and cawfee mug in hand. My friend started Novaelle this year to help different women’s causes (currently it’s the Nepali rescue project!), and lemme tell ya, it will quickly become the most comfortable tee I own. Living AND maybe sleeping in it. I’ll pretend we are doing something adventurous this weekend and something more exciting than taxes.

Tasting….
Gabe has always liked to make up sandwich recipes, and I willingly volunteer as tastebud tribute. This one was so good, that I not only swallowed it whole, but decided it was smart to always have the ingredients needed in stock….just in case:

French bread grilled in kerrygold butter (the good stuff)
Two slices of grilled canadian bacon
1 Fried Egg
Sharp white american cheese
Tzatziki sauce
Dill

Watching….
We were in sore need of some new shows to binge watch, since we were all caught up on our usual favorites. Thanks to all your suggestions, here’s a few we’re intrigued by:
Madam Secretary
Peaky Blinders
Agent Carter

To be perfectly honest it was a helluva week, and I am probably a little too excited January is ending. (By the looks of Monday’s post comments, I take it I’m not the only one!) So I plan on ordering take out tonight and diving head first into the weekend. See you Monday with the start of Valentine’s Day fun (I do love a good excuse to holiday).

Dresser Makeover using Removable Wallpaper

January 26, 2016

We have some old dressers around here in need of some TLC, but I wasn’t quite up for a full overhaul. Have you seen all the fun removable wallpaper prints and murals from Walls Need Love? I have worked with removable wallpaper before, so I knew it’s sticky side was pretty easy to manage. However, I could still use some practice on cutting straight lines! Read on for the easy instructions for a dresser makeover using removable wallpaper.
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Loving them through the longest of days.

January 25, 2016

When the end of January rolls around, I usually feel the need to throw a party…because well, we survived. January is that long month of holiday withdrawal, cabin fever, stir-crazy month that tries to convince you that spring is so very far away. When you have little ones in your care, you have to make the conscious effort to make the most of it, and not let it keep you down.

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