12 Days of Baking!!

Hoping to find a little Christmas spirit in daily baking this year. It may be the last year my youngest 'believes' and I am struggling to make sure the magic is in our home. So far it has been a lot of fun, I'm baking with my girlfriend so we get to see each other for 12 days straight!

That's Right.. V-Day 2011 & I'm Back!

No time for explanations, let's just say I'm a busy girl (I'm holdin' on to calling myself a girl until I'm at least 50+, don't judge me!). So, anyway, it's Februray 2011 and I'm getting back on the blog bandwagon... how in the world will I ever make my blog book if I skip out for months at a time and let it disappear?! It's very possible I will do a huge re-cap post. It's very possible I will not. It is unclear as of yet.

I thought in honor of one of my fave days I'll do a list of things I heart....

I ♥ my man... Justin. There are not enough words to explain why... I just do with all my heart.

I ♥ my kiddos. They are awesome. Funny, adorable, witty, loving, sweet usually but feisty as well. I don't know how we did it but they are pretty great kids.

I ♥ my Cricut... so far it is used for school projects almost exclusively but I look forward to a day where I will actually use it for something around my house.

I ♥ my ipod full of crazy, eclectic music. Where else could you hear back to back old N

ew Kids, Eminem, Social D, The Rent Soundtrack and Johnny Cash?! Nowhere but my iPod I tell ya!

I ♥ my cell phone for giving me the freedom to go where-ever, when-ever and always be able to check my email, facebook as well as get all my calls and texts.

I ♥ DVR... O, it is sent down from heaven to save me from my chains to the television. It doesn't even matter that I have the entire season of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice sitting on it and haven't watched one. The point is that when I am ready... they are there.

I ♥ Netflix and it's instant watch capability. How would I ever watch all the HBO and Showtime shows with out it?!

I ♥ brownie batter... even more than the brownies themselves. Baking is great... but the batter is the whole reason I'm there.

I ♥ my girlfriends. From the PTO moms to friends left behind in AZ to my girls I hang out with every day to long lost friends I chat with on facebook. What would I do with out this amazing network of friends who care and are funny and will always be down for a quiet night gossiping or night on the town!

I ♥ my long list of podcasts that I listen to literally every day. This American Life (Ira Glass can do no wrong!), Savage Love, NPR Fresh Air, The Adam Carolla Show, Stuff You Missed In History and a ton more but seriously love me some podcasts.

I ♥ making dinner for friends and family on a Sunday evening. I can't think of many things that are as relaxing and fun as this.

There are so many more things but if I'm making a best of list this is it for sure. Now to share Riley's AWESOME valentine cards this year...

Little boxes of sweethearts in a iPhone looking wrapper. Adorable-ness. You should see Riley pretending to flip through the apps!

The Owl Birthday Party

Wow, I really didn't post pics of Kloe's awesome OWL birthday party??? How in the world did I forget - I remembered putting up the sign in my Cricut post so I guess I thought I had elaborated. Anyways - you gotta see this cuteness!

This party was a full-on collaboration of minds! Everyone pitched in to make it amazing.

More cricut goodness with the 'it's owl about you' tag on the pictured frame!

The gum paste owls and leaves were made days ahead of time by Carol, all I had to do was add them to the cake after I baked it!

The perfect sugar cookies, how could Nichole not pick these up? All the Owl themed stuff was perfect to work off of!

We covered a 'K' for Kloe and put together a tootsie pop topiary... get it... how many licks does it take???

Mini tissue paper pom-pom banner.

The branches with the owls?? C.U.T.E.

Don't even start me off on the OWL mini cake!! Our friend Katie, made this... like with her hands!! It was Kloe's personal cake to dig right into!

An owl pinata - LOVE it!

The little princess on her special day :)

Birthday Mom!

Birthday Sisters :)

Trick or Treat... Treats!

Well at least class party treats! Just as I planned... Oreo Cookie Mummies!

Riley loved them and was so happy to pass them out at his party!

Voila, Trays in Use!

How cute do those trays look in action?! This spread was for our teacher treat day - I made a few goodies and about 5 other PTO moms made some awesome treats too. We had fun setting up a cute little tablescape for the teachers & staff. They were so appreciative too.

Some Fancy Serving Trays

In case you haven't seen these all over blog-land - this is my try at dollar store trays! I am working on a fun, cute teacher treat day for the school and thought it was the perfect excuse to make the trays I've seen on about a million blogs.

Start with a visit to the Dollar Tree and pick up an array of trays and candlesticks. Then pick up some spray paint primer and cute colors.

Primer first - hopefully this will help the color stick!

Then I went color crazy, I'm going for bright and cheerful. I also sprayed clear coat to help protect from scratches.

Then I stacked and re-stacked until I found the combination that I was looking for.

Voila! An awesome collection of co-ordinating trays for my treat day! I'm using them tomorrow so I'll snap pics of them in action ;) Now go make some for yourself!

Halloween Treats Anyone?

Is it too early to start thinking about yummy Halloween goodies? I think not! My friend Diana agrees, and suggested I share some ideas here :)

Right off the bat, this year's top runner for classroom treats in my book:

Love this idea from How Does She? It's just oreo cookies covered in melts! I think it's a good follow up to last year's bats.

What about taking a page from Harry Potter and making some butter beer?

My Harry Potter fans will love this surprise after school one day! Find the recipe HERE.

How about some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Spice Bars? Can we say YUM?

This recipe looks awesome!

I'm having a hard time getting into the 'season' this year. Usually I've already dug out my ton of fall decorations and have them all over the house by now.... just not on the ball this year. I considered doing only a mini decorating this year but that still requires digging out the decorations so once they are out shouldn't I just go for it? The topic is still up for discussion so we will see what I end up doing. Whenever I'm looking for a little holiday inspiration I usually hit the Family Fun website. Browsing through all the Halloween ideas might give me the kick in the butt I need. I'm doing lots of baking for the school this week so I will add another goodie post later!