Summer Bucket List!

Inspired by Pinterest I am creating a Summer 2012 Bucket List to keep us busy this summer! I'm off to a good start, but I'd love some ideas! Please add you ideas in the comments below!

• Go to a drive - in movie 
• Go camping 
• Plant something (and hopefully keep it alive!)
• Go to an aquarium 
• Make S'mores over a fire
• See a waterfall 
• Go to a museum
• Go to a baseball game
• Make a scrapbook of it all :) 
• Tie Dye! 
• Catch lightening bugs in jars! 
• Picnic at the park
• Watch fireworks
• Go to the beach
• Build a sand castle
• Make stepping stones for each kid & dog
• Make ice cream
• Mail a postcard
• Fly a kite
• go to the zoo
• have frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity
• go on a rowboat in Central Park
• go to Coney Island Boardwalk
• Eat a REAL Nathan's Hot Dog 

Caileigh's 3rd Birthday!

This post is a little delayed- but finally, here is Caileigh's 3rd Birthday Party! Since her birthday was only a few weeks after my due date with twins, I decided to have it at a local gymnastics gym. They let me bring in any decorations that I wanted to- so she still got her 'Tangled' themed party! 

 Above it dessert buffet. If you have watched "Tangled", you know the sun is a pretty important part of the movie. The "Snuggly Duckling" was the pub that Flynn Rider took Rapunzel to!

Jen from Elemental Cookies made the apple cookies for Maximus. Luckily, Maximus didn't eat them all, so we got to enjoy their delicousness! 

The Rapunzel- colored cake was also delicious and created by Olicious Cakes

 Since Rapunzel spends her spare time painting, I created an "Art Studio" as favors. I bought a giant box of crayons (800!) and tins. I ordered stickers to personalize them from VistaPrint. Each child got to create their own box of crayons. (I really thought the girls would pick all purple and pinks and the boys would go towards blues- but surprisingly, all of the colors went equally!)

Each guest also got a mini-easel and coloring page! 

I can't believe my little girl is 3!! 

Here I am :)

I have been seriously lacking in the crafting, decorating, posting area of my life. I've been a little busy growing twins. This pregnancy started off rough from the beginning. As some people know (and some don't), we had to undergo fertility treatments. I had a very bad reaction to the medicine, which caused some breathing issues because of a fluid build up in my body. Landed me in the hospital for some painful treatments for 5 days in August. While I was there, I found out that I was pregnant (hooray!) and moved right from severe  OHSS  to severe hyperemesis, which caused me to not be able to teach this year and have a home nursing service come to give me IV's and hook me up to a zofran pump! Fun TIMES! In the middle of all of this, we found out that we were expecting not one, but 2 little bundles of joy! I am feeling slightly better now, but am fully feeling the effects of a double pregnancy and *trying* to keep up with our 2 year old. Thankfully, I have an AMAZING husband and family :)

All of this time in bed has opened many doors for me on PINTEREST and has allowed me to find some amazing nursery ideas. I have decided to go with a Beach Cottage feel, because I was having a hard time finding something that would fit our boy/girl twins. I already knew I MUST have the Pottery Barn Kids Madras crib bedding that I had lusted after when I was pregnant with my first daughter. I almost cried when I found out it has been discontinued. I lucked out and found something semi-close at Babies R Us by Trend Lab.... Check it out:
 This is the girl bedding:

And our little boy's: 

I found some great art and wall decor on Pinterest, so in between bouts of morning sickness, I created my first piece. I love sayings & thought this one would be adorable surrounded by photographs from family beach trips.

I wanted to do a burlap background, but when I went to the fabric store, this stuff was right next to the burlap. I figured because it was a tighter weave, it would much easier to paint. ( I think I was right!) 

 Also picked up a 12 x 12 canvas

 I wrapped the canvas with the material and used the staple gun to fasten the fabric to the back.

It looked like this after I attached it: 

 I used scrap vinyl that I had and cut out my saying. The vinyl seemed to work pretty well sticking to the fabric.

 Two coats of black paint:

 Peeled off the vinyl after it had dried for a bit and this is how it came out:

Pretty cute! Can't wait to get it hung up in the nursery!!

Party on at:

Awesome Breakfast Party!!

I love breakfast... in fact, my husband and I often argue when I want breakfast foods for dinner. At one point, I asked if we could serve breakfast food at our wedding. This morning I came across this party on Kara's party ideas... It's a funky, fun and colorful idea for a brunch! Check it out, because it will have you craving some donuts (even if you aren't pregnant with twins, like me!)

Homemade Christmas- 2011 Version!

Last year, I made a lot of the Christmas gifts we gave! I canned apple pie filling, hand painted plates to serve it on, and packaged it all up... I loved them (And I hope their receipents did too!), but this year I am pregnant with twins and just don't have the energy to can, paint, etc. I have been using Pinterest to find some cute ideas, though!

Whipperberry posted this lovely idea of making HOMEMADE vanilla. Like the lovely ladies on Whipperberry, I always wondered what the cooking show hosts meant by "good vanilla" for baking! I guess now I know :) I just ordered my vanilla beans & will be making this homemade vanilla for some gifts. I am so excited to try it out! Whipperberry also posted the lovely packaging they made for the bottles!

Another lovely idea I found on Pinterest was this awesome quick bread in a jar! My friend Hannah was awesome enough to make the label for me!! I am only wishing the recipe called for vanilla so I could package both together. Oh well ;(

Gotta try this... Halloween Treat

I was browsing Facebook and came across this site. I am totally in love with this little treat packs..

How adorable, right???

I'm totally making these this year!! I found this Martha Stewart Punch that would be perfect for it. All I have to do it order some Stampin' Up cardstock and I'm good to go!

Gotta Try This...{Wedding Keepsake}

While browsing the TaterTots & Jello Weekend Link Party I came across the cutest little gift idea... Although I almost gagged when I saw the Halloween and Christmas stuff out at Michael's yesterday (It's JULY, people), I had to rack my brain to remember if I saw those clear Christmas balls there...Anyway, look at this: 

Not only did this talented lady find an awesome use for the super-expensive wedding invitations that most people throw away, she created an amazing gift. How cute would it be to do this with someone's shower invite, wedding invite, and then follow up with future Christening or Birth Announcements!! 

Now, off to see if I can find any of my wedding invites around!! 

{My Parties}... Kristn's Graduation!

My sister recently graduated from high school and we threw a bbq to celebrate. I ordered adorable invites, bottle wraps, banners, and cupcake toppers from The Frog Prince Paperie after seeing some of their amazing work in blog land. Being that it was 90 degrees outside, we had tons of drinks- including my beloved lemonade stand!! (although I have lemonade stand envy- check this out PARTYLOVES LEMONADE STAND) 

Cute bbq themed water bottles!

In addition to the water, we had lemonade, strawberry lemonade & cucumber water. I had blue and yellow paper straws out since those were the school colors. The frames were from Caileigh's Cereal Buffet

I really wanted big bouquets of fresh sunflowers on the tables, but I had to remember the party wasn't for me..So, I painted wooden frames from Michael's red and used a flower embellishment from the scrapbook aisle. I had pictures from throughout Kristin's life all over.

Inspired by Hostess with the Mostess, we had a make-your-own hot dog bar... 

 I wrote out all the different recipes on the brown paper, but I'm pretty sure people invented their own

 My beloved Pottery Barn Stand served as a roll holder...

For the dessert table, I repurposed an old wooden window and my husband's saw horses. I am sorry for the lack of a close up of the cupcakes and toppers!! I don't know what I was thinking! The basket was filled with cakepops! 

Here is my daughter attempting to get closer to the sweets posing with Aunt Kristin before we dig in.

Congrats to Kristin & the class of 2011!

{Thursday's Treat} Lemon- Blueberry Bread...

Two of my favorite flavors in the summer- lemon & blueberry bread. I came across this recipe in "Martha Stewart Living".

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for pans
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 4 lemons)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Salt
• 2 large eggs
• 6 ounces blueberries (1 1/4 cups)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter nine 2 1/2-by-4-inch baking pans, and dust with flour, tapping out excess.
2. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and syrup is thickened, about 4 minutes. Let stand while making cakes.
3. Meanwhile, combine heavy cream, remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and the vanilla in a bowl. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in another bowl.
4. Beat butter, lemon zest, and remaining cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low, and add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with cream mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Gently fold in blueberries using a rubber spatula.
5. Divide batter evenly among pans. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet until a toothpick inserted into the center of each comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
6. Transfer pans to wire racks, and brush tops of cakes with lemon syrup. Let stand for 15 minutes. Turn out cakes from pans, and brush all over with remaining syrup. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Variations

To make a large loaf instead of several little ones, use a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan, and bake for 55 minutes.

I made 2 small changes- I used cooking spray instead of butter & flour to grease the pans and I used 1 cup whole wheat flour...

My very critical, highly trained food critic seemed to enjoy them!

Enjoy!

{WANT IT WEDNESDAY} Pottery Barn Mason Jar Drink Dispenser

I am in love...

I have a slight mason jar obsession (remember, I told you all about it here) and this drink dispenser would be a great addition to any party...

P.S. - Pottery Barn isn't paying me for this endorsement, but if they happen to be reading this I would like them to feel free to send money or free gifts my way :) 

WInner!

Sorry for the crappy picture! Between Blogger and camera issues, I can't win! Anyway, the lucky winner is Evelene S!! I will contact you via email! 

Remember, check out Lisa's At Home America Site for some awesome stuff :) 

Lisa's At Home America

Graduation BBQ... Planning!

We are hosting my sister's high school graduation party and we are going with an old fashioned BBQ theme!

Here's some of my inspiration!!

Hostess with the Mostess posted this wonderful BBQ awhile ago & it totally got my brain going! I love the corn on the cob with the corn chips. She also had some wonderful gourmet hot dog recipes for a make your own hot dog bar! I'm loving the idea of a hot dog cart for the table:

I'm thinking of writing the "hot dog recipes" on brown kraft paper...Like this from Host It Notes

I'm using some of these beautiful images from Country Living to inspire my table designs...

And last (but certainly not least!)- DESSERT! Thinking some delicious cookies and pies... displayed nicely like this!

Giveaway...{At Home America}

My wonderful friend Lisa is an At Home America consultant. Have you checked this stuff out?? It's awesome! If I were take a "hypothetical" shopping trip (because, I promised my husband I'd lay off the debit card- so if Shane is reading this, remember totally hypothetical!), I'd be the proud owner of...

These lovely chalkboard signs!

This lovely print with an amazing saying on the bottom!

This nifty bathroom organizer!

Their outdoor livinAt Home America g section is to DIE for!

Actually, if I could- I would buy every item in the catalog :)

And now, my lucky readers- we have several chances for you to win a $20 gift card to At Home America

#1: Go to the At Home America link and then come back here and leave a comment telling me what you MUST have to make your summer complete!

#2: Become a follower of this blog and leave me a comment letting me know you are a follower!

#3:  For THREE ENTRIES Buy any item from Lisa's 

AHA  site and come back here letting us know what you purchased. This will get your 3 entries!

#4: Post a link to this giveaway on your Facebook or Blog and come back here and leave me the link!

#5: For FIVE ENTRIES: Book a home party (in Orange, Rockland or Westchester Counties) or a virtual party (for everywhere else) and leave a link letting us know you did! This will get you 5 entries into the giveaway! 

Giveaway ends: July 9! Good luck...Oh, and if by some freak chance you can't find anything you LOVE in this catalog the fall/winter catalog comes out July 1... (however, please don't mention fall/winter or back to school to me, summer just started!)