Jump on this Bandwagon

Yes, I have.  And I suggest all of you to do it.  C'mon, you know you wanna...

Pinterest, if you haven't yet heard, is quite possibly the best thing since sliced bread.  It's a great site that allows you to catalog thoughts, images, ideas - whatever your heart desires and links them back to their original sources.  This is great for folks like me who have so many bookmarks I've lost count.  All my faves are centrally located in visual library that I can categorize as necessary.  You become your own curator of sorts and everyone in Pinterest can peruse everyone else's "boards" to see what kind of wonderful eye candy is out there. It's a real sense of community and I suggest you check it out! 


p.s.
The party post is coming shortly - I've just received the images from Kathie Tam at Pixie Dust Photography and instead of innundating you with every single image (because they are all so wonderful), I need to narrow them down!  Stay tuned!

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Little Mister Birthday Party Edibles

I am not tooting my own horn when I say that the food at the birthday bash was A.W.E.S.O.M.E.  Seriously, I take no credit for the great food that came together on that beautiful spring day.

I knew in my heart of hearts that I would be a crazy mess on the day of the party and that the food would be an afterthought.  My wonderful family came to the rescue and went above and beyond in helping me prepare.  They could whip up some amazing food and I was not disappointed in the least:

1.  Fried chicken wings
2.  Spicy Pork Salad
3.  Shrimp in a Basket
4.  Eggrolls
5.  Chicken Curry Puffs
6.  Pasta
7.  Fried Rice
8.  Stuffed Chicken Wings
9.  Pad Thai

Okay, now wipe up that drool off your keyboard (don't deny it).  I heard compliment after compliment about the food.  I should have told everyone to come hungry.

It was at the dessert table that I really brought the colors of the party together complete with birthday cake, cake truffles, carrot cupcakes (for the kiddos), kusintas (a Filipino dessert), and chocolate drizzled marshmallows.  There were also iced cookies that came after these pictures were taken.  

Food photos courtesy of Jennifer at Architette Studios.

Sources:
Cake Truffles and Cupcakes: ~bonbon~
Birthday Cake: Cakes by Cathy Young (210-493-8466)
Cake Plate: Aedriel Originals

And you know that picky eater I was telling you about the other day?  Well, he decided not to be picky any longer and ate and ate and ate.  Maybe it was because Papa was holding him.  What a little stinker.

Up next: Party Details!

Garage of Good

I think this might be my new favorite San Antonio event.  Beautiful, spring (albeit humid) Texas morning?  Check!  Happy giggly Little Mister?  Why not?  Discount boutique shopping at the Pearl Brewery?  Count me in!

Welcome to the Garage of Good where I will wander into the foray of deep discounts and fashionable steals.  It's not just the shopping that is appealing, no way.  The nearly 40 vendors range from high end boutiques and vintage goods to independent artisans and vendors and a percentage of the proceeds go towards a local charity.  The event is held two or three times a year and although I haven't been able to attend in the past, I've been looking forward to this for a while.

As I'm always on the lookout for things for Little Mister, it is no surprise that I was immediately drawn to  these cute onsies and t-shirts from Adelle June by Jennifer June Martinson.  All the little wears are hand-dyed and patchwork sewn with care.  The creatures donning the outfits (particularly the monsters) kind of reminded me of the Little Mister during the sillier times.  Seriously cute and the colors were great - bright yet muted in an earthy tone.  Unfortunately, they didn't have anything in Little Mister's size but she gave me her business card and if you check out her website, she is also TLC's Homemade Millionaire Fashion Winner for her "Magic Dress."  How neat is that?  And she's local!  

There isn't a picture of the item that I coveted most of all - a vintage bar stool with orange (!) legs.  Why oh why did I pass it up?  Oh, I remember, I have limited space in our humble abode.  *sigh*   

Lucky us, it was also the weekly Farmer's Market at the Pearl.  We got there early enough to take in all the edible eye candy and beautiful produce.  Even without the sun shining, the colors just popped.  

We ended the morning with the tasty concoctions of Artisan Crepes.  Goodness, it was tasty.  We decided to go with the savory ham and emmental cheese with mesclun greens, tomato concasse, and aioli.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.  The crepes themselves were delicate and light with just a hint of sweetness.  The fillings for the other crepes were just as amazing.  The vegetable ingredients in particular are grown in their garden and they are conscious about composting their waste.  What also impressed me was how quickly and efficiently they were getting the crepes out to the hungry customers.  The whole process of creating each crepe was methodical and graceful at the same time.  While there is no real storefront at the moment, I think I may stalk them on their facebook page - I hope they don't mind. 

Until next time!

Ipad Needs a Warm Place to Sleep

I was generously gifted by my wonderful husband and son an Ipad for Mother's Day this year.  I couldn't believe it!  My sneaky boys stood in line to snag the last of the stock sold by Apple the Friday before Mother's Day.  I've been tinkering away at it ever since and finding all sorts of cool apps for us.

Matt also picked up the cool smart cover in orange, natch.  And it is really so beautiful and so well designed.  Aside from playing with the Ipad itself, the cover got equal billing in my book.  It's integration into the functionality of the Ipad really sets the bar for a cohesive and complete design package.  In a word: love.

Being the person that I am, I wanted to be sure that the Ipad (I think I'll call him "Slim") has a nice and cozy place to sleep while getting lugged around in my abyss of a bag.  The smart cover is great - but Slim's rear might get cold (and scratched!).  With Pinterest at the ready, I went in search of the perfect Ipad cozy.  Here is what I came up with:

The 100% wool felt is so lovely, and the strap to keep it closed is really sleek. by ccommeca

Miu Miu, How I love you!  While not really my style, I do love the ruffles. via herblog

I love that the intricate patterning serves as a nice juxtaposition to the protective nature of the cover. by toviecorrie

This one really evokes summertime for me.  I guess it doesn't hurt anything (but my wallet) if Slim has a few wardrobe changes based on the weather. via net-a-porter 

The offset pleats are so incredibly simple yet powerful at the same time.  It appeals to the architect in me.  by squark

Simple, green with a peek of neon pink.  What's not to like?  by mlmxoxo

Dinner Drama

Little Mister used to be a star eater.  Anything I put in front of him, he willingly put in his mouth.  Butternut squash, green beans, broccoli?  Yes please!  Dumplings, meatballs, noodles?  Couldn't get enough!  I was a baby food making machine and took a lot of cues from all the blogs out there.  My favorites:  Styleberry Blog, Wholesome Baby Foods, Either/Or/And, Yumnums, and Weelicious!  Everyone had their own take as to what to offer baby and I'm so glad everyone did a lot of the legwork for me with various recipes and helpful hints.  Our small freezer made no difference, I wanted to make sure he was getting a wide variety of all sorts of foods. 



I was particularly interested in incorporating my own family's Thai foods into his daily intake.  I want him to get used to all the great food that I grew up with.  I can't remember a time that my mom, aunts, and grandmother weren't in the kitchen preparing lunch and then immediately working on dinner right after.  It was great and a real testament to the heart of the home being centered around the kitchen. 



But lo, when Little Mister turned 11 months, 2 weeks (I remember the day) - the finickiness set in.   "What?" I would say, "You liked this yesterday!"  I didn't give up completely and continued to offer foods to him even though he would outright reject them.  The dogs love sitting by his highchair and Little Mister is getting very adept at offering them "bites."  Even when I make his food in the mornings for school, I think to myself, "He's going to hate me for this one."  Sure enough, I would pick him up and he wouldn't have eaten a thing.



He's growing and gaining weight so there's nothing to worry abut in that department.  He's getting his nutrition from somewhere.  A child's growth is amazing. 





So dinners as of late have been filled with a lot of sad faces from baby, mommy, and daddy.

Last night's dinnertime spread consisting of ground turkey with tomato sauce, sauteed zucchini and squash, cheese, spaghetti noodles, and strawberries.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Notice much of a change?  Me either.  I needed to document this Food Drama mostly for my own sanity and hopefully some day, I can look back on this and laugh.  I feel bad for Little Mister, really I do.  We'll just keep trying and see what happens.



Does anyone else have eating problems like this or am I the only one?



 

Party Preview!

The party ended up being a huge success!  Our wonderful photographer, Kathie Tam at Pixie Dust Photography, sent us a little preview of the pictures she took.  I can't wait to see the rest!

photo credit: Pixie Dust Photography

I love that he's holding up his finger as if to say "yes, I'm 1!"  More pics to come soon!

Little Mister's Birthday Party Invites

Little Mister is turning one tomorrow and although he is already a spitfire that we can barely contain, his birthday is making me especially nostalgic and excited at the same time.  Matt and I went through so much to have him. We finally came to a point in our lives where we were ready to have kids and we came to find out that we couldn't.  Those days, months, and years were the emotional roller coasters that you only hear about but never think you'd ever have to experience firsthand.  But I will save that story for another time.  We thank our lucky stars every night for our little miracle.  

For now, I have to share this with you:

I took inspiration from several sources including Design Aglow and Liv's One Year Old in a Flash Birthday Party to create this invite for Little Mister's birthday. I'll be posting details and photos from the party soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

mmm Banana Bread

The other night I made banana bread for ourselves and the Little Mister.  I had never made it before and I guess I was always just intimidated by the supposed complexity.  I am the first to admit that I'm the farthest thing from a homemaker and cooking (especially baking!) is not my forte.  I want to be better at these sort of things and thankfully, to help me along the way, my good friend Melissa gave me this simple recipe that I would love to share with you.

mmm Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup mashed bananas (3 medium)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel (optional)
1/2 cup uncooked oats


Aaaaand make it!
1.  Pre-Heat Oven: 350 / 50-55 minute bake time
2. Grease the loaf pan. In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda & cinnamon.
3. In another bowl combine the egg, bananas, suger cooking oil & lemon peel. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in oats.
4. Pour the batter into previously greased pan. Bake in preheated oven 50-55 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean.
5. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan (you should literally be able to turn the pan over and have the bread dump out). Wrap and store overnight.

So tasty!

Easter Basket Remnants

Little Mister with his Easter Basket.

I suppose I could've put him in a nicer shirt but I really get a kick out of how much of a "boy" he is.  He attracts dirt and grime like a little magnet.   Thank goodness, he loves his baths.

 

The basket and all the goodies were quickly discarded for a potted plant with some dirt.

Maybe next year he'll care more.