The New Fixture

Months back I shared that I was on the hunt for a new chandelier for the kitchen.  In a pinch and until I found the *** perfect *** statement piece for my kitchen, I overhauled the fixture here.  I'm pleased as punch to announce that the lovely chandy re-do has been removed and in her place hangs this big ole' mouthful of a statement piece. 

Once I get my new over sink chandelier hung, I'll snap a few pics.  This beaute was on backorder from Pottery Barn FOREVER.  But, it was all worth the wait!  It's such an eclectic piece and really brings together the casual traditional feel of the main living area. 

J'adore!

   

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Oh lawzie, ya'll.... it's been a heck of a last week or two!  I can't believe I've not had a split second to catch up on all the fun times going on around these parts.  It's been a whirl wind the past few weeks.  From baby showers for dear sweet A (that lasted all day and into the wee hours of the night) to Swim Lessons with Baby B, my hours at home have been full of fun.  Not to mention all the planes, trains and automobiles that have comprised the various trips of the past few weeks! 

While on Pinterest tonight in search of some cute inspirations for Baby B's FIRST birthday (hard to believe that is just around the corner), I saw these awesome pics of my latest travels.

I've been here ... twice (Dallas, TX)

Here once but twice since the beginning of March (San Francisco, CA)....

Here ... I've lost count maybe once or twice (Chicago, IL)...

And am presently packing up for the long flight ahead for a lovely week here (Salzburg, Austria)...

Yep, it's been a wild ride the past few weeks.  I'm flying (literally) wide open and loving every minute of my time with my family and work.  Here's hoping I feel so positive in a few short hours as my 9+ hour flight takes off!

Double Double Southern Burger

Ya'll... if this were any more tasty and any more southern, I'd de'clare (note the apostrophy to get the appropriate dialect) this "Smack Yo' Mama Good".  Armed with a little free time after spending Saturday fixin' the yard, a large big green egg, desire to stay home and watch Master's highlights and a wild hair to create something delish... Dear Hubs and I created this masterpiece. 

Now, I'm a burger girl ... that's true, but this was so fabulous I'll be dining on it again real soon!  The only name suitable for such a fancy treat is the Double Double Onion Bacon Fried Green Tomato Southern Burger.  Short and catchy, right?  For short, we call this fancy the Double Double Southern Burger. 

Here's how this southern belle gave this burger the name....

• The patty is a mish mosh of ground beef, chopped bacon and minced onion.
• Cooked to perfection on the big green egg.
• Topped with American cheese (only the finest).
• Slide on some crispy bacon.
• Slathered in 1,000 Island dressing.
• With a fried green tomato and bibb lettuce for a dose of veggies.
• Served on an onion roll.

It's a meal on it's own.  Well, maybe that's because I snacked on the extra fried green tomatoes while I was waiting for the big debute!  My Christmas gift, cast iron skillet, came in handy here!

Since it was nice out, the Double Double Southern Burger was served with veggies from the grill and washed down with a lovely Arnold Palmer. 

Divine!

Egg-cellent Easter

I'm often reminded about how blessed I am.  Good family, friends and days like yesterday to reflect on the fact that in addition to these I serve a risen Savior and am blessed by the grace of God.  We started our Easter at church, where Baby B was asked to participate by adding flowers to the Christ cross.  Yes, this was a big deal and required the assistance of an older child to actually pull off :).

After church, we shifted gears and celebrated opening Easter baskets at the homestead before shipping off for family lunch with Dear Ole Dad, Zsa Zsa and Lala. 

We had a great meal and spent the afternoon soaking up every ounce of a wonderful Sunday afternoon together. 

Peep-tini cocktails kicked off the afternoon.  The trick to get Mr. Peep to stick to the glass is to cut a slit in the bottom using kitchen sheers.   

Followed by a beautiful meal and tablescape, compliments of Zsa Zsa.  I just love how she used a roll of moss for placemats - is that creative or what? 

My Peep Parfait was delish.  Angel food cake, whipped cream and fresh strawberries just can't be beat (unless you top it with Peeps!)

Sweet frosted sugar cookies from Lala - I resisted eating and took mine home for a much later.

More Easter baskets.  I brought strawberry "baskets" for everyone and Baby B lucked out with a million treats!

And we rounded out the afternoon with some fun at the park!

Happy Easter, ya'll!

A Note of Thanks

Just shy of Baby B celebrating his first nine months with us, I couldn't be more reminded that it truly takes a village to raise him.  Sure, I like to think I'm Wonder Woman and have this thing covered ... but let's face it ... between a crazy work schedule, travel, Dear Hubs work, our activities and so on; sometimes things get a little hairy when the plan needs to shift gears. 

On more than one occassion, my sweet friends and lucky enough to be neighbors; bestie P, D and K have come to the rescue (aka the desperate housewives).  I try my best to repay then whenever I can and I am forever grateful for the help in a pinch that they can sometimes provide. 

These days, I'm a big fan of cute notepads.  Let's face it - if I don't write it down these days ... it doesn't get done :).  So, when I saw these cuties, I snapped up enough for the girls too!  Embellished with a cute tag that said "Just a note to say thanks", these little dolls made their way to the mailboxes of the besties so they know how much we care. 

Thanks again, girls!  Ya'll are life savers (oh .... that might be the next sweet surprise!).

Egg-strodinary!

I'm just pleased as punch to share a little Easter crafty I whipped up.  I caved this year and bought one of those giant plastic egg sets at Hobby Lobby.  You know the one, you just can't miss these gi-normous monster eggs that are places decoratively in the front yards and porches of your neighborhood.  They are all the rage around these parts.  Well, I bought my little set because the er... Easter bunny ... yeah, that's right, wanted a big blue one for Baby B's little Easter basket.  The big blue egg came with a still very large purple egg, a midsized pink egg and a not so small green egg stacked inside.

Since I really didn't have a use for three crazy color plastic eggs, I did what any good southern diva can do with such a situation ... I spray painted those babies gold!  My proud southern DNA makes me a whiz with a can of spray paint ... it's a deep rooted, ancestrial gift.

I started by unevenly spraying a misty gold finish on the eggs.  Yes, Dear Hubs ... the streaks and lines and over run situations were ON PURPOSE this time!  I swear, you get carried away painting one time and never live it down around these parts!  As I was saying, I started by spraying the eggs gold.

Then, I took it a step further and added some rough patches of golf leafing for texture, color and overall blotchy natural bedazzled effect (that's a good term I must remember!). 

Each of the eggs was put atop a planter or urn with moss, grass or other goodness. And, while I swear the crease where the eggs are put together is far more obvious in these pictures than in person, the trio sits on my dining room table as a very elegant festive arrangement. I couldn't be more pleased!

Hoppy Easter, ya'll!

Dinner Fit for Fools

By the time Sunday evening had rolled around, I'm pretty sure most of the adults around these parts were still un-pranked and had let the April Fools festivities come and go without notice.  Well ... that was BEFORE my dinner plans hatched.  What started as an impromptu dinner with Zsa Zsa and Dear Ole' Dad dropping by turned into a dinner fit for even the craziest among us! 

Complete with party hats, Easter placemats, funny face glasses, Christmas glasses and unmatched china; the dinner guests were a bit confused as to what was going on.  I'm pretty sure right around the time Dear Ole' Dad sat on his woopie cushion / seat, the group was wise to my pranking.   

Dinner was served as only a fool knows how ... dessert first!  A "treat" of cupcakes was the main course.  Not just any cupcakes, savory meatloaf with mashed potato frosting of course.  Each mini loaf cupcake was wrapped up in a cute polka dot muffin wrapper to complete the effect.  I must say, this was hands down my best attempt at meatloaf EVER.  It was so good, mighty impressed!

And of course there was dessert.  Well, I guess if you consider a big, fat super sushi roll dessert!  This fine piece of sushi was skillfully crafted with a Twizzler center, fruity pebble inside roll goodness and rolled in a rice krispy treat wrapper.  Topped off with some Swedish Fishy goodness ... this was some sweet sushi!

The meal did the trick and had everyone, bigs and littles, laughing at how silly we could be!  And be on the lookout, I'm not equipped with enough woopie cushions to cause quite a stir!!!