Friday Favorites #16

This edition is super colorful and cheerful!  Hope you guys are enjoy the sunshine-Y days and blooming flowers as much as I am!  Hello Spring is right!!!

1. Abode Plate Set ($40): These plates might be a little pricey at $40 for eating on, but I think they would make adorable wall art and for that price, they may be justifiable!
2. Hello Spring Printable (free): This may be one of my favorite printables to date!  I can just picture framing this beaut up to welcome in the Spring season!
3. Latte Bowls ($30): Anthropologie, you are amazing (but oh so expensive), however at $30 for a set of 6 these bowls are actually manageable and are great for ice cream sundaes (I may just know first hand).
4. Orange Tray Table ($40): I know orange does not work for everyone but this would be such a bold pop color to work in if you can manage it!
5. Green Coat Stand ($30): I mean who out there does not love like 98% of everything Ikea sells?  So this green coat stand is no exception, I love the color green--it is very Kelly green-ish and I think would work perfectly in every home, but then again maybe I just love Kelly green?!?!

Baltimore!

After a grueling winter of snow after snow after snow, I finally planned a weekend to go up to Baltimore and visit Sara!  CJ came along for the ride and the shenanigans (wait since CJ drove, maybe I was along for the ride...), we got there Friday evening and meet up in NOVA for dinner with Erica!  Then on Saturday we made breakfast at home and took it easy before heading to Arundel Mills for some shopping and a fun feast at Medieval Times for an early dinner!  

Peanut wanted to come home with me!

Well after Medieval Times, I got a text from Erica saying there was ice and snow coming early Sunday morning and I had not checked the weather since Friday (when it said rain), so I was happy to get her warning but sad that the text meant we needed to get on the road that night versus the next day.  We came home and packed up to head home much earlier than planned, but not before snapping a few totally ridiculous pictures....

No wonder we have been friends for 10 years now, we both have the same sense of crazy!  Thanks for letting us crash, Sara, and you bet your dollar I will be back, hopefully sooner rather than later!

P.S.--tell Peanut his Auntie Lala misses him! ;)

Happy Spring!

Today is official it!  The first day of spring!  Sorry for all my friends that are having to deal with snow :(  But take heart, spring is coming!

Oh and if you love this chalkboard print as much as I do, go here to buy the card from etsy!

February Revisited

My phone has been hoarding pictures again so I figured it was time for a life update/picture dump all in one!   You may remember I actually did post about my trip to Norfolk to celebrate Tiffie's birthday.  Well let's see what else has been going on....

Brutus has been cute, as always and so I snapped this curious picture of him!  

I chaperoned the youth retreat at my church at Camp Willow Run, what fun we had:

The whole group before we headed back home

Was able to spend some quality time with this cutie (Emily's baby):

Me and Caleb

Went bowling for Family Fun Night (and lost so poorly against these players):

Bowling League Champion

High Powered Bowling Champion

And cuddled up for the last of the cold weather with these cuties;

I am so optimistic that the winter is over and we are only brighter and more sunny days!  What all have you been up to recently lovely readers?  Have you been enjoying the beautiful weather as much as I have?

Kristi's Chicken Pot Pie

So it may not be Kristi's recipe, but she is the one that gave me the recipe that has become a family favorite, so she gets the credit!  Months ago now, Kristi had me over for dinner and made the most delicious chicken pot pie ever!  I got the recipe and have since made it at least 4 times, so now I am sharing this with you all!

I love this recipe because it is an easy go to recipe and can be made ahead of time.  It has just the right mix of assemble and prepared stuff to make it something Sandra Lee would love to feature on her semi-homemade show (P.S.--does that show even still come on?)

Let's get started:

First, unroll one piece of the pie crust into a pie plate (or a cake plate if you do not have a pie plate, as the case is for me).  

Then get your ingredients together and start mixing.  I had cooked the chicken the day ahead but you can certainly cook it then or even substitute chicken cubes for rotisserie chicken if you have some leftover (I have done that too).  You also want to cook the veggies ahead of time in some chicken broth to really add in the flavor.

Mix together all the ingredients (sour cream, cheese, veggies, cream of chieken soup, cooked chicken, and cheese).

Pour the ingredients into the uncooked pie crust and smooth out.

Cover with remaining pie crust and crimp the edges to seal it all in.

Cut lines in the top to make sure the steam can get out.

Then bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until hot and top is golden brown. I actually do not have an after picture because apparently I was so hungry I just ate it!  haha, but you get the idea!

Now for the full recipe:

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
* 1/2 bag of mixed frozen vegetables
* 1 can of cream of chicken soup
* 1/2 cup light sour cream
* 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* Roughly 2 chicken breasts, cooked
* 1 box Pillsbury Pie Crusts
* Chicken Broth

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook vegetables in chicken broth and drain (and cook chicken if you do not have pre-cooked chicken).  Mix together all ingredients.  Roll out pie crust to fill pie plate.  Fill uncooked pie crust with chicken mixture.  Top mixture with additional pie crust and crimp edges.  Slit air holes in the top of the pie and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  Enjoy!  Makes about 8 slices (maybe only 6 if you are real hungry).  You can double the recipe and freeze one pie if you prefer. 

Friday Favorites #15

It seems that spring has finally started to appear!  We have the warmer weather, the rain, and the sunshine and I am oh so happy about it!  Since I was feeling very spring-y, this Friday has a number of colorful spring things--just go along with it!

1. Zoku Duo Quick Pop Maker ($37): Who does not love popsicles?  And when you can have them quicker, that is even better!

2. Mental Floss Logic Puzzle Book ($8): My friend Amanda got me hooked back on logic puzzles!  I actually got the book (I picked up a used--like new one) and did 7 puzzles the first night!  Success!  I love brain work-outs (way more than I love real work-outs in fact)!

3. Botanist Knoll Apron ($28): Oh my goodness, this apron is so cute!  Who am I kidding, I find like 90% of all aprons cute, but really this one is adorable!
4. Love the Journey Print (Free): This might be a nice spring-y addition to update your picture frames, just saying!
5. Cognac Cross Body Purse ($23): I have had this purse for like 2-3 years.  I love it so much that I have actually used one out completely and got a new one for my birthday last year!  It is the perfect purse for me and I love the cross body aspect!  If you are in search of a new small purse, this might be it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, get out and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Friday Favorites #14

It is a good thing this blog is not my job, or I would totally be fired!  Sorry for the delay in posting, but life man--just life!  So here I am back with (hopefully) a few good posts this week, including a very new SPRING themed Friday Favorites!

1. Old Navy Tulip Print Blouse ($30): Or if you are like me, you will get that sucker on sale and pay about half that for it!  But it just screams spring time ready to me!

2. Tufted Upholstered Loveseat ($430):  Obviously this is one of those more expensive things but it would be so versatile for decorating and it looks so fancy, I am loving on it!  Every time Target, every freakin' time!

3. Whale Tail Measureing Cups ($32): What a great nod to the great colors of spring.  If I was not already completely obsessed with measure cups, then I might would add these to my collection.  But even an avid baker/cook like myself does not need more than like 3-4 sets, right?

4. Tom's Haiti Musical Note Shoes ($68): These are a bit pricey but they are one-of-a-kind hand painted shoes from a member of the Haiti Artist Collective, so you are still contributing to the one for one movement AND helping to employee a native of Haiti, so a win-win!

5. Vintage Map Printables (FREE): For all you map lovers out there?  What's that?  It's just me?  Well, anyway, here is a great collection of vintage maps to use as art around the house if you do share my affinity for travel and maps!

Tiffany's birthday weekend

Let's all try to ignore the fact that it has been almost a month since we went to Norfolk to celebrate Tiffie's birthday and just appreciate the cute nephew pictures!  Okay?  okay, we are agreed!  The Bons and I went down February 7th weekend to see the kiddos and to celebrate my favorite sister!  Despite the cold temperatures, it was a wonderful weekend, as always, when I get to play with these kiddos!  

But enough background, let's get to the real fun, the pictures:

Corbin and me making silly faces!

Corbin and Mommy reading time!

A lesson in Static

Garrett's "I'm so over this" face

Twinning at it's finest!  

Corbin and I decorated cookies and he wanted me to label his!

Got ONE birthday present picture all weekend!

Captain Holden

Auntie La la caved and gave him 75 cents to ride this motorcyle!

Garrett has an adorable monkey backpack, Hello cuteness!

Why hello there!

Corbin and I built a tall marble run

Holden was all smiles

A momma and her 3 boys!

Corbin as a spider at the Zoo

Warning: Dangerous Animal!

Corbin with his favorite animal, the giraffe 

What a fun weekend we had!  I enjoyed spending lots of quality time with Corbin (who switches from who he prefers--Gaga or Lala, this was a Lala weekend in case you could not tell). It is also so fun to see the twins really growing and expanding their little brains, every time I see them, they are capable of more and more so its a fun age for me!  I think their mom would think the fun age will be when they all sleep through the night! ;)