Finley's Birth Announcement

One of my best friends had a baby girl in March and asked me to do her birth announcements. She wanted pink & orange and paisleys. This is what I came up with. It came out pretty cute, don't you think?

Cinnamon Apple Cake

You may find this surprising but I do not love cake. Well, that's not exactly true. I don't like frosting. Or whipped cream. Or most cakes... I like pound cake, coffee cake and butter cake. This Cinnamon Apple Cake... LOVE. It's from Cooking Light so it's not ALL bad for you. You can eat it for dessert or breakfast and not just cause you want to eat cake for breakfast. Technically, it falls under a coffee cake. It is moist, delicious and feels like fall. I served it as a dessert with the Salted Caramel Ice Cream that I wrote about last week. I didn't use Rome apples, I had some small Paula Reds, the first apples of the season at the Farmer's Market. While they took me forever to peel because they were so small and I had to use a dozen to make three cups, I was glad that I used the first pickings. This is one cake I will make again and again and again...

Summer Glitter Mix

The Black Keys

Michael Franti- he's pretty hot, ain't he?

The Constellations

A new mix has made it onto my itunes. Aaaahhhh, how I love music! :)

1. Dog Days Are Over * Florence + The Machine
2. Never Tear Us Apart * INXS
3. Style Monkeys * Lambchop
4. You're Not My Girl * Ryan Leslie
5. Everlasting Light * The Black Keys
6. Tightrope * Janelle Monae featuring Big Boi
7. When the Night Comes * Dan Auerbach
8. I and Love and You * The Avett Brothers
9. Beauty in the World * Macy Gray
10. Little Lion Man * Mumford & Sons
11. Kiss With a Fist * Florence + The Machine
12. Felicia * The Constellations
13. No Trust * The Black Keys
14. Devil Inside * INXS
15. The Sound of Sunshine * Michael Franti & Spearhead
16. 2 Atoms in a Molecule * Noah and the Whale
17. Blood Bank * Bon Iver
18. Beg Steal or Borrow * Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs
    
19. Manteca * Dizzy Gillespie

So I got a couple songs from Mel at Chicago Girl Gone Mild. Thank you, Mel, especially for the introduction to The Constellations. Love Felicia! My friend Jayne has a mad crush on Michael Franti and usually has his music on the mixes she makes for me so in turn her birthday mix will have the fun and upbeat, The Sound of Sunshine. It just makes you want to dance, like a lot of his music does. Ryan Leslie has a JT vibe. The Black Keys have a great classic rock feel (which you know is my fave style). Tightrope makes me want to dance as well while Dan Auerbach makes me want to kick back and relax with When the Night Comes. I couldn't resist putting a little Diz on here as well. Hope you found something you like!! Enjoy!

The it's Friday, I'm in love series

Summer

1. PRESCHOOL: Well, I am always in love with this little guy- not just on Fridays!! But I am glad that he has started school, is loving it and I am getting back awesome reports about my little man.

2. Taylor Kitsch/Tim Riggins: Best thing to hit TV in a long time. I love Friday Night Lights, his character and mmmmm, just him! I am going through FNL withdrawal right now... How could you not think this guy is F-I-N-E, fine?!?!

3. Booking an Art Studio Tour trip with my mom in October. We're going to areas of Wisconsin I have never explored before. First up is the Fall Fresh Art Tour in towns along the Mississippi River like Stockholm and Lake Pepin and then we are heading a little farther east (but not too far) for the Falling Leaves Art Studio Tour in towns like Fairchild, Augusta and Fall Creek. Never heard of them? Not surprised, they are tiny! Well, you may have heard of Pepin because if you were a Little House On the Prairie nut (I was NOT.) it is where Laura Ingalls Wilder was born. Little factoid for you. I am really looking forward to hitting Abode in the town of Stockholm. My mom bought me a cool wall plaque from there last year for my birthday last month.

Art by Gail Pommerening

4. My paper order! Pretty papers came this evening and I can't wait to use them! I am in love with plaids, paisleys, and surfboards. Never been surfing but I am kind of obsessed with surfboards. For a long time, like 10 years... I know, I am weird. Love these that came- Oh the colors! :)

Paisley Parade by ki memories

Rusted Sun collection from Fancy Pants Design

Brooke Line from Crate Paper

There you have it. My first Friday Love Series post. Happy weekend to you all! We have plans to do... NOTHING! Don't you love those weekends too?

Jimmy Fallon performs live on America's Got Talent - He's SO darn cute!

Totally ANNOYED!

I am so annoyed at Blogger right now... When I posted yesterday, I couldn't get any space between the top picture to type anything. My post tomorrow morning I can't get any text before or after the video, so it is JUST the video. What the heck am I doing wrong? Do I need to now post my pictures after I type text in (because before it would reformat it for you which was also annoying)? Help PLEASE!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

On Saturday I made this Salted Caramel Ice Cream from Cooking Light to bring to a friend's house for dessert after a dinner party. OMG! It is SO good! I had to adapt it a little since I have a Cusinart Electric Ice Cream Maker versus the old-fashioned kind that the recipe called for. So basically after you put the pan over ice to cool it, I put it in the freezer can of the ice cream maker, let it spin for a half hour and then popped it in the freezer. I didn't scoop it out of the freezer can before I stuck it in the freezer but I would recommend putting it into a plastic container after it finishes spinning. The taste... YUM! I put a little fleur de sel on top before serving it instead of the flake salt because I didn't want to buy flake salt just for this. Make this ice cream pronto!

How I know I live with a preschooler Tuesday...

With his best bud, Tyler

With his teacher, Mrs. Roz

How I know I live with a preschooler? Because today was his first day of preschool!! He waved and said 'Bye Mommy!' No tears were shed. By either of us!

Music Monday

Obsessing over Florence + The Machine right now. Love this album! When I can't decide which song I like best, that's a good thing!! She just plain rocks and the music is great to cook/bake (I crank it for that!), hang out or work out to. And I know I mentioned this before but she really does look like a fairy in this picture! Just add some wings and she is good to go...

P90X

Oh bananas, I just ordered P90X... It is gonna kick my (getting bigger) butt and I need this desperately since I am at the heaviest I have ever been. Apparently, I must wear flattering clothes because people keep saying I'm 'in shape'. Um... yeah. Except for that spare tire around my gut (it may be a mountain bike tire but it is still a tire!) and my expanding thighs and butt. This past weekend even the flabby arm thing came up as 2 friends and I were waving to our hubbies and kids on a boat 500 yards away. You know, 'Man, I hate waving because my fat is waving as well.' All 3 of us agreed. I wish I could blame this on birthing a kid but I don't even have that as an excuse since we adopted ours! So I am making the commitment to change this and am going to P90X it in shape with the exercise and food. Ouch. I can hear my butt already screaming for an Almond Joy instead of another leg raise...


And, no, I am not posting 'before' photos!!

How I know I live with a preschooler Tuesday...

So a couple weeks ago, I took AJ to daddy's office so I could pick up his phone. He fell asleep in the car on the ten minute trip to his office and did not want to get up and out of the car until I told him that he'd get to ride the elevator up to his office. He turned to me and sleepily said, 'The alligator?'

Music Monday

My sweet friend, Jayne, sent me a CD of new music for my birthday last month. I love when Jayne sends me a CD because she has awesome taste in music! So here is what was on her latest mix:

1. Mas Que Nada * Sergio Mendes featuring The Black Eyed Peas
2. You & Me * Dave Matthews Band
3. Everyday * Rogue Wave
4. So Fresh, So Clean * Outkast
5. Quiet Dog * Mos Def
6. Groovin' * The Rascals
7. The Weary Kind * Ryan Bingham
8. The Heart of the Matter * India Arie
9. Sweet Disposition * The Temper Trap
10. All This Beauty * The Weepies
11. Fallin' & Flyin' * Jeff Bridges
12. Southern Cross * Crosby, Stills & Nash
13. Tighten Up * The Black Keys
14. La Gloria * Gotan Project
15. Alive * Goldfrapp
16. Beauty Beats * Beats Antique
17. Unless Its Kicks * Okkervil River


Quiet Dog is my favorite. Love Tighten Up. Unless Its Kicks is one of my faves, especially to workout to. Beauty Beats is pretty fly as well.

A new design

I made this card for thank yous for birthday gifts the other day. Banners are super trendy right now. I made a happy birthday banner for AJ last year for his 2nd birthday and can hang it every year. So this is where I am running into a slight problem... I picked these papers from Cosmo Cricket's Mr. Campy line because of the vintagey feel. Yesterday, I got the CHA Release Sneakpeak (CHA is a scrapbook convention for retailers) from Scrapbook.com and Cosmo Cricket hasa banner paper using most of the papers that I used! How weird is that?!? I am wondering if I should change it to a different pattern paper set completely. What do you think?

How I know I live with a preschooler Tuesday...

We went to a baseball game last weekend. There is a team in town that is made up of college players called the Wisconsin Woodchucks. So we are at this game and the music for charge comes on and at the end AJ yells 'George!' instead of charge because that's what he thinks he hears and since he is such a huge fan of Curious George. We thought it was cute. There was another thing he said at the game that made us just laugh. We told him he had to cheer for the team so he went through his teams, "Go Badgers! Go Brewers! (much to my chagrin, a Cubs fan) Go Game! Go Woodchips!" Hee hee.

Summer Sparkle Playlist

Florence + The Machine (she looks kinda like a fairy in this picture!)

Christina Perri

INXS

Canned Heat

So it's the time again to add some new music to my ipod and this is the list for mid-summer...

1. Dancing Scarlet * Jason Myles Goss
2. Blessed * Brett Dennen
3. Addicted to Love * Florence + The Machine
4. Forever Young * Bob Dylan (from The Essential Bob Dylan album)
5. Going up the Country * Canned Heat
6. Rock & Roll * Eric Hutchinson
7. Amy Amy Amy * Amy Winehouse
8. Jar of Hearts * Christina Perri
9. Butterfly (from the Casa Nova Sessions) * Jason Mraz
10. Hot-n-Fun * N.E.R.D. featuring Nelly Furtado
11. Touch * Natasha Bedingfield
12. Squander * Skunk Anansie
13. Irish Eyes * Jason Myles Goss
14. The Dress Looks Nice On You * Sufjan Stevens
15. Cosmic Love * Florence + The Machine
16. What If You * Joshua Radin
17. Normandie * Shout Out Louds
18. Province * TV On the Radio
19. OK, It's Alright With Me * Eric Hutchinson
20. Need You Tonight * INXS
    

I heard a number of these songs on SYTYCD but they resonated. Especially Jar of Hearts. Christina Perri became an overnight sensation because of her song being on that show. I didn't even like the dance (the WAY it was danced I should say) that went with it but the song... Natasha Bedingfield came on to perform Touch and now AJ and I just dance around the kitchen to it. Of course there is some Bob Dylan. And TV On the Radio has made an appearance after some time off. I have always been a big fan of INXS. HUGE! And Michael Hutchence was always hot. Rest his soul. And Canned Heat reminds me of summer especially Going up the Country.

Book Review: The Sisters Grimm Book 1: The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley

This book was so cute! If you liked Harry Potter you would get a kick out of the wonderfully imaginative The Sisters Grimm series. The two sisters are catapulted into a town where the 'Everafters' (all the fairy tale characters you've ever known) are residents stuck in Ferryport Landing. The girls, descendants of Wilhem Grimm, then start in the family business as detectives in their free time. Michael Buckley has a quick wit and creative writing that is just amazing! I have already downloaded the next 3 to my Kindle and look forward to reading them!

How I know I live with a preschooler Tuesday...

I just love this picture too much not to post it.

In the last three weeks I have morphed from Momma to Mommy. I am not sure how I feel about it. When becoming a mom started to become a reality, I didn't want anything to do 'momma' because I felt like it wasn't really me and then when AJ said it I was hooked. 'Momma' is so endearing and precious. Then it became 'mommy' and while it is still sweet it just isn't the same. When the third m and y get dropped it'll be even more of a jolt in reality. But for now I will embrace Mommy for the time that I get to have it...

Happy Birthday to ME!!

Today is my birthday! The big 35!
You know what I am getting? I'll give you a hint. It looks something like this...

Although I haven't gotten around to ordering it yet. No rush but maybe I'll go over there today.

And since my hubby said, 'What else do you want for your birthday?' I ordered up a custom purse from 1154 LILL Studio. Because now I don't have to carry a diaper bag! At least for awhile...

How I know I live with a preschooler Tuesday but on Wednesday...

It's Camp Potty at our house.

He is doing awesome on the potty training! At first he was really resistant but on Monday I stayed home all day with a pantless little boy and had movie day. We watched A LOT of movies. We talk about poop a lot within our little parent circles so this post is not weird to me! When he took off for the potty on his own Monday night with 'that face' and pooped on the potty for the first time, I almost cried I was so proud. He even turned on the fan. And did a courtesy flush. And then we headed to Barnes & Noble, all 3 of us so proud, and bought him the fire truck book we promised.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad! Love you dearly!

And Happy Father's Day to my husband, love you to the moon and back... You make being a momma so much easier! You are a fantabulous daddy-o!