call me betty crocker

It's no secret I spend a lot of time on Pinterest.  And for the first time in my life almost all of the recipes I have tried that I've spotted on Pinterest have been really good.  Today I made these Shirley Temple cupcakes for my former co-workers just because I love them and miss them so much!  I thought they were good and I got a few good comments about them so I wanted to share the recipe. 

Shirley Temple Cupcakes

Mine were not gluten free because I didn't have any gluten free flour but if you need to make something gluten free these would be great to try.

A few other great Pinterest recipes I've made recently:

Salmon with Sriracha Sauce

This was sooo good.  My husband had seemed disappointed when I told him we were having salmon for dinner but loved it and has been asking for it ever since.  I served mine with rice and it reminded me of a Philadelphia sushi roll.  So good!  I added sesame oil to mine just because I love sesame oil.  I think it always completes any Asian recipe.

Sesame Noodles

These were really good as well and so easy.  I added chicken to mine.  It should be pretty cheap to make if you figure out the cost per serving.  Gidget loved it!

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

I can't lie.  I drink chocolate milk like a 5 year old.  And it was even worse when I was pregnant.  With both of my pregnancies my husband was always asking how I could eat every meal with a glass of chocolate milk.  What can I say, I love it.  Between that and apple juice (I told you I have the appetite of a 5 year old) I have set both of my girls up to be juice and chocolate milk addicts for life after both of my pregnancies.  So, thanks to me Gidget has lately become obsessed with chocolate milk.  About a week ago we ran out of chocolate syrup which has become an emergency in our house if Gidget doesn't have constant access to chocolate milk.  (For you concerned readers, don't worry I barely put any syrup in her cup).  I thought about running to the store to get more but it had also been bothering me that I didn't know exactly what was in the chocolate syrup I was giving her.  So I found this recipe.  It's so good, it tastes just like anything you would buy in the store.  It is good for two months, which is enough time in our house to go through a bottle before it goes bad.  And, when I compared the ingredients of this recipe with Nestle's recipe its the same except they have a few added chemicals at the end.  Needless to say, I don't think we will be buying chocolate syrup from the store anymore.  This recipe is so easy to make too.  Now I just need to find a cute bottle to store it in.  

Let me know of any great recipes that I need to try!

love

Love these.  They remind me of the silent films from the the 1920's.  So beautiful.

all images via the last doll standing and la vie en rose 

$585 lamp in my garage!

Okay I just had to share this.  Let me begin by saying that my house does NOT look the way I want it to.  It all started the day we came home from the hospital with Birdie.  It had bothered me a little before but being put under house arrest with two babies makes you really really reflect on every inch of your house.  And it bugs me so bad it makes me want to climb the walls.  If I had my way I would clear 85% of my house out tomorrow and start over.  I'm not kidding.  I've been putting a few things on eBay but this week I'm getting serious, if I don't love it, need it, or have a significant memory with it, it's going, on eBay. 

There are three reasons my house now looks the way it does: No. 1: Lack of funding, we just went from two incomes to one.  Enough said.  No. 2: I can't just run to the store for anything anymore.  I have to find a babysitter if I need to go out for anything.  And it's not usually worth it.  No. 3: I know that I am crazy but I never baby proofed my house until absolutely necessary.  Which means that as Gidget has discovered things I have moved them to a higher location or else it was destroyed.  She seriously loves to play with everything and it usually gets damaged in the process.  So every shelf from the floor to about 3 feet up is empty or nearly empty.  It looks insane.  Like an oopma loompa came in the night and robbed us.

Anyways, I have a vintage lamp in the garage which I don't think I've used since I lived with my sister when my husband and I were dating.  I've been thinking lately I want to bring it back in my house but am trying to decide if I want to take the chance of it getting broken.  I was window shopping online tonight and came across this lamp.  Well after seeing this now I'm really scared...

available here

$585!  And they are almost identical.  If it wasn't so late I would run out into the garage right now and take a picture to prove it.  Same shape, same color, mine has a tad bit of cobalt mixed in the paint, but other than that it's a dead ringer for my lamp.  I'm going to have to find a place for it again and bring it back in...unless someone wants to pay me $500 for it, I don't love it THAT much!  To make an offer and get a bargain, just email me and we can work something out.  The sale of the lamp will go to the highest bidder.  Just kidding, but seriously...   

alfred hitchcock

Birdie will be three months old this week and I think we are all finally becoming accustomed to our completed family and the new lifestyle that goes along with having a toddler and an infant.  I am finally starting to find time to do a few little crafts around the house.  (Note to self: quit saying things like that, you always jinx yourself when you do!).  I finally got tired of only being able to watch Mickey Mouse or Sesame Street while I feed Birdie so I have started reading books or playing on Pinterest while she eats.  I downloaded the Pinterest app on my iPhone and let me warn you, I love it so much!  I waste way too much time there.  There are just so many great ideas.  Forget Google, if I want to look something up these days I always start there.

First, I made silhouettes of the girls.  I love Gidget's but poor little Birdie's looks like Alfred Hitchcock.  I will redo hers when her profile becomes a little more defined.  I also need to make labels with their names underneath of the silhouettes but that will have to wait until the next time someone decides they want to borrow my children for a little while and let me go in public by myself like a grown up.  Ahh, the things you take for granted.  By the way, please ignore the mustard yellow walls.  I loathe them.  My husband has been happy with them and didn't want me to change them but he has finally decided he wants something else.  It's not that I don't like yellow walls, I just don't like them to look like a cheap bottle of mustard. 

Then I repainted this little chair.  It belonged to my mom's stepfather but had no significant value and is a little wobbly but Gidget loves it so we kept it.  I painted it pink with a red union jack on the seat.  I had put her name on the back part of the seat but didn't like the way I had painted it so I painted over it.  It already is starting to look very aged in parts because she is so rough on it that I think before long the union jack will look like its always been a part of the chair.  The second picture I included because Gidget wanted to show everyone how she sits in the chair.  What can I say, she knows she's beautiful.

Finally, I gave Birdie's little floor lamp a makeover.  I hot glued black bias tape to the top and bottom and painted on her monogram.  In the future I would probably have just used a sharpie or a paint pen for the monogram.  My hands are too unsteady to paint something that symmetrical.  We'll say that's the only reason why I could never be a surgeon.

Thanks to Pinterest I have a million more projects to complete so hopefully I will get to share some more soon.

On a completely unrelated note, would someone like to potty train my child?  If you would I promise to bake you a batch of cookies every week for a year.  It would make my life so much easier.

   

 

missoni for target

I don't think I have ever been as excited about anything involving Target as I am about Missoni's line.  Everything I've seen is amazing.  I. CANNOT. WAIT.  I'm going to have to start saving now just to be able to buy half of the things I've seen that I want.  And my house may look like a Missoni ad but is that such a bad thing?  Their stuff is classic in the sense that I don't think it ever goes out of style.  Here are just a few things I've spotted.

The collection is set to hit stores and Target.com September 13.
(All items via Pinterest)

for my birthday

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