A hidden paradise...

Today I took the kids to a hidden paradise where old historic buildings are and peacocks roam free. For those of you who live in San Diego you might recognize it as Leo Carrillo Ranch in Carlsbad. It is a unique little place. It's full of beautiful views. One of my favorite places was the stairs that led to nowhere...

What was surprising about this place was that it used to be a personal home. I kept thinking to myself it must have been gorgeous in it's day. It had so many buildings I'm not really sure what they all were. But they were old which was really neat for the kids to see. There aren't a lot of old buildings where we live so it was nice to be able to take the kids a few steps back in time.

One of the coolest things about Leo Carrillo Ranch Park is the peacocks. They are everywhere!! And a lot of them! The kids were able to get really close to them....when they walked slow....which didn't happen very often.

We even watched one munch on a flower...

It was lovely to be able to escape for a few hours. I hope you all can take a little escape in your week too. 

With love,

Becca

Relief for Japan

Sometimes it can be overwhelming trying to decide who to donate to. My husband and I have picked out a few groups that we donate to every year. But when a natural disaster hits, especially one like what happened to Japan, my heart aches to help the people. One organization that was brought to my attention was Soles 4 Souls. Last year a moms group that I'm a part of did a shoe drive for the Haiti earthquake victims and were able to donate over 70 pairs of shoes.

                Join the relief effort in Japan by donating your gently worn shoes at Sport Chalet now through April 10, 2011.

You can go onto Soles 4 Souls website and get to know this great organization that helps so many people. This is a really great way to teach even the littlest ones about giving and sharing with those in need.  They can personally put their used shoes into the boxes at their local Sport Chalet store. The organization also welcomes new shoes which you can often find for a few dollars on Walmart clearance racks. They want any size, male or female....and lets face it, who doesn't love shopping for shoes ;)

Happy Shoe Donating!

With Love,

Becca

My Week...Written Down

As a mom of two young children I am constantly on the go. My days tend to get very busy, very fast and I don't carry my calendar around with me. So I created a weekly to-do list that I've been keeping in my purse. I named it "My Week...Written Down." It's come in really handy these past few weeks. I find that as I am making plans I can pull it out and jot down a note for myself. Anything that makes my life easier and keeps it better organized is something I love. So I wanted to share it all with you! I hope you enjoy! Click here to download and print your own.

With Love,
Becca

Under Construction

Please excuse the mess. I'm trying to find the right look for my blog and it might go through a few changes over the next few days. Thank you all for sticking with me during the remodel!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you all are having a wonderful St. Patrick's Day. Did a leprechaun visit your house last night?? A leprechaun sneaked into our house and caused some havoc. He placed our shoes high up above our fireplace, placed jackets over our piano, brought bikes inside our house from the garage (he must have been having a grand old time), turned our milk green, and he left the evidence of a midnight snack on our dining room table. The kids thought it was so funny. But their favorite part was finding the gold covered chocolate coins in the leprechaun trap.

If a leprechaun didn't visit your house don't despair! There are still lots of ways to enjoy the day. If you are looking for a St. Patrick's Day word search, crossword puzzle or coloring page for kids click here. 

Tonight I'm making corned beef and cabbage. I'm also doing some roasted potatoes on the side. Corned beef and cabbage is such a simple meal to make. Click here to view one of my favorite corned beef recipes. As a side dish I'm roasting some red potatoes. I cut them into wedges, leaving the skin on, and coat them in oil. I find that vegetable oil works just fine, but you could substitute olive oil if you prefer. I season them with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Then I place in a 350 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes or until tender. You could also add some fresh herbs to this recipe, it's so versatile and yummy! 

(I like to add carrots about 10 min. before cooking the cabbage)

And to finish up your evening, Gwyneth Paltrow has rounded up some cocktail recipes. To view the Gwyneth Paltrow "GOOP" Newsletter featuring St. Patrick's Day cocktail recipes click here. Whatever you do this St. Patrick's Day I hope you enjoy!

Leprechauns...The real story

What is the real story of the leprechaun? Many of us have forgotten...but I know the story very well.

 For the real leprechaun story, click on this link

After reading the story about the leprechaun, you will understand why it is fun for kids to make a trap. My son made his trap this year all by himself. I recommend if you are trying to find a way to make this St. Patrick's Day special you can print out the story and make a trap. We started our trap with a cat litter box and lots of construction paper and glue.

  

We cut open one side of the box and added weights (aka...bubble bottles) so that it would shut when triggered.

We placed the "gold" inside to attract the leprechaun. We even put footprints to help guide the leprechaun to the gold. We used a campbell's soup can to help add weight to the back of the trap so that it wouldn't tip over when the door was open. 

Notice how the string is attached to the gold?? That string is also attached to a skewer that holds the door open. When the gold is touched the door closes.

It really is amazing what can be done with a little glue and masking tape and string...  Go ahead and give it a try!

The Wedding Cake

The cake was finished last weekend :) Yes, it did take me a full week to recover - lol! The cake was a lemon cake with fresh cut strawberries and a whipped cream cheese filling. It was covered with vanilla buttercream and then covered in fondant. The bride loved her cake and so I'm a very happy baker....who now needs to figure out her next big adventure :) Here's some pictures of the cake:

Wedding Cake Topper

It's been a very busy week here.....it's starting to feel like I'm saying that a lot! Let me explain....

It's wedding week! My husband's and my good friends are getting married this Friday. My hubby is a groomsman, my son is the ring bearer, my daughter is the flower girl and I'm the baker. It's seriously a family affair.   

♥

In between pick-ups, alterations, fittings, bachelor parties and baseball practice I've been working away on their cake. The first step in this cake was to make the topper. It's a fondant sculpture of the bride and groom.

The groom is a firefighter (of course he's in his suspenders) and the bride (who is gorgeous) is sitting on his lap while staring into his eyes .... *sigh*... I love weddings ... 

Here's some pictures of the newly finished topper. I'll be posting pics of the cake when I'm done :) But I have to wait till after Friday, I can't let the bride sneak a peak ;)

Valentine's Day

For my amazing die hard blog readers, you might recognize this picture from last year. In truth, I did not make these cookies this year. This year I'm still trying to decide what to do for Valentine's Day. I have a big wedding coming up the following week so I'm not sure that I'll be doing a lot. My girlfriend gave me a hard time about not making cookies this year, but a girl can only do so much ;)  I really do want to make cookies, but I know I need to focus all creative and mental energy on this wedding. If you'd like to make some sugar cookies and decorate them with royal icing here is the link for my amazingly simple royal icing recipe.

If you are lacking some motivation here are some simple ideas to help your valentine feel the love:

* Make heart shaped pancakes and use red food coloring in the batter to make them pink

*Make some toast and use a cookie cutter heart to remove the center of the toast and add some raspberry jam

* Cut out some construction paper hearts and leave some sweet notes for your loved one all over the house

* Put a coffee shop gift card in your loved one's brief case or on their car dashboard.

Recovering

Thank you to all of you who've been sending me e-mails. And a big thank you to my good friends who've kindly offered to watch my kids as I'm resting. My parents (who are angels!!) who've been staying with me have been taking care of all the house work and watching the kids (which is exhausting). I must say it was a very rough start. But I'm starting to feel human again :)

January Anxiety

The beginning of January was fun. I loved decorating for new years! This year I took down all the Christmas decorations and I put up New Year's decorations. I hung lots of curled gold ribbon everywhere. I also put lots of party hats, balloons, champagne poppers and noise makers everywhere. It was fun! 

Then the craziness started....not only did I forget that I have to get readjusted to the school schedule, but I also greatly underestimated my anxiety about an upcoming procedure. I have an operation coming up and to say the least I'm very nervous. I had my pre-op the other day and I feel much more comfortable with the whole procedure but I'm still very anxious. I've reached the point where I can't even read any more.....anyone who knows me knows that I'm a reading machine....so not reading, is not good. 

I'm not sure that there's a whole lot I can do until it's all over. But in the mean time I've scheduled a play date every day next week so that I can't think about what's going to ensue the following week. The good thing is I have an amazing family and amazing friends who will be helping me out. Yet I still can't shake this paralyzing anxiety. Anyone have any tips as to a great way to shake a funk?? My only thought is to start making lists and checking them off. 

Bringing in the New Year

On December 26th my husband and I let out a sigh of relief... it's over. As sad as we are to see it done, we're looking forward to the start of a new year.....and looking forward to all these goodies being out of the house. I mean, seriously?! No wonder I have to set New Year's Resolutions, my friends are determined to make me fat over the holidays! But it was worth it. The best part of this past holiday season was Christmas morning. As stressed out and overwhelmed as we were in the weeks leading up to Christmas it was SO worth it! Seeing our kids eyes light up and hearing the squeals of delight was priceless. 

I must admit I've been tackling the tedious job of organizing after Christmas. It looks like a toy store bomb went off in my house. Not to mention the not so fun task of taking down Christmas decorations :(

As I push on with "cleaning" I'm thinking to myself what exactly I plan to accomplish in 2011. There's always my typical eat healthy... last year I actually went to vegetarian and....well...that didn't last a full year. It did last about 10 months though. Maybe if I make a resolution to work out I can keep it for 10 months?? Hmm... doubtful. So I'm not quite sure what my New Years Resolution will be. Do you know what yours will be?

Magic

This year has been completely overwhelming. I'm not sure why I've gotten so much busier....but life has literally been flying by. Add in laundry, everyday cleaning, feeding the family ect. and it's insane. Oh, and it's December so let's also add a ton of cookies to make, cards to send out, family visiting, my birthday and can I just pass out now?! Do I sound like a scrooge? That was kinda how I was feeling. I totally lost sight the magic and the whole point of Christmas. I think it's easy to be stressed out and overwhelmed this time of year....but that's when we need to re-focus, re-organize, and treat ourselves to those high caloric eggnog drinks ;) I mean, who really cares (besides yourself) how many cookies are sent out. Send 4 instead of 8. You don't have to be the sole provider of their Christmas cookies....and we all need a moment to relax. 

This past weekend we took the kids to Disneyland. And let me just say, their isn't a whole lot more magical than Disneyland all dressed up for Christmas. Add in 8 real reindeer, Mrs. Claus and yes....Santa was their too. It was such a magical time and brought back a little peace and some energy to my soul. I hope you all can find the magic and keep in mind the reason for the season. 

Christmas Decorating

I know I haven't posted in quite a while. To say that Thanksgiving wiped me out was an understatement. I was exhausted! Then it seemed like Christmas was flying towards me at light speed....and I wasn't ready! This year it seems like everything has been more difficult. I think that the new school schedule has really thrown my typical plans through a loop. But I'm finally rested up and ready to tackle the season. First up on the list...decorating. I like to get all those little places that most people don't decorate. For example:

Above the microwave:

On top of the fridge:

Next to the phone:

Every year I decorate my china hutch. I put my special (aka breakable) decorations on top and then add garland around them. 

I also add some ornaments and garland inside too :)

For those of you in apartments, why not bring the lights inside?? On top of a mirror is the perfect place!

Here's some more decorating snapshots and maybe ideas.... my favorite is the mistletoe ball on the stairs :)

Turkey Wrangling

Here's the issue with the Thanksgiving turkey.... it is THE Thanksgiving turkey. It is the main focus point of the meal. You spend hours on end slaving away in the kitchen over side dishes and deserts all to complement a big chunk of meat. I mean, think about it- if you burn the turkey, that kinda ruins this whole meal that you literally have spent a month preparing and hours prepping for. It's kinda scary to most people to put that much pressure on one piece of meat!

Yes, even after doing this many years, it is still intimidating to me. Not to mention the whole "prepping" the turkey.

Here's what goes through my mind on Thanksgiving morning:

How the heck am I going to rinse this awkard lump of meat that weighs an insane 24 pounds ! Um...o.k. So I'm dangling this in my sink and trying to control where the faucet is hitting the turkey while trying to not drop it. It's freezing too! It's been thawed out in the fridge and happens to be very cold. And it's slippery! Oh crap, totally just dropped it- hope that didn't bruise it or tear the skin. This thing is bigger than a kid! It'd be easier to hug this thing and rinse- but eeew. Well, do I have another shirt? Hmm...no. Ok, bad idea. Ok, got most of it rinsed by this point. Oh darnit, the turkey just hit the faucet- mental note: Disinfect that when I have to disinfect the sink later. And, LIFT. And then try to gently set this monster of an obese bird on a roasting rack. Phew. Now just pat dry.....and thoroughly scrub myself and the sink and possibly floor where water went splashing everywhere. Now yell at the dog to not lick the water on the floor, dangit that's going to make him sick. Kids!

No running in here! Don't come over here!...... When do I get to open the wine?!

Here's the good part- it turned out perfect! After I patted it dry I rubbed it down with a salt/herb mix and slathered with butter and olive oil. It was soooo good. Yay for a successful turkey roasting!

Organizing the Chaos

I have a "junk" drawer in the kitchen and it seems like it's gotten even more cluttered recently. It seems like the junk drawer always coincides with how my life is going. When it's insanely cluttered I feel overwhelmed and am constantly busy. So I am taking the "junk" out of my "junk" drawer today. Thanksgiving is next week and I'm definitely feeling overwhelmed about that. I'm looking forward to it but it just seems like there is so much going on between now and then .... so much I have to do, clean, prepare, etc. I feel like Turkey day is racing here and I'm not ready! So I need to suck it up and get ready. I'm starting by cleaning out my junk drawer and organizing the house a bit. This way I'll get the cleaning done early. Hopefully this will free up some time closer to Thanksgiving and I won't be so stressed out. I will not be a stressed out mess, I will not be a stressed out mess, I will not.... maybe if I say it enough it will come true :)

Adult Place Cards

Every year in our house we put place cards on the adult table that say "We are grateful for our friends and family." It's our way of saying thanks for coming and we love you guys. This year I was walking down an isle at Target and came across these adorable felt stickers. All I did was print out our little saying on white card stock. Then I took the stickers and stuck them on the sides of the cards. Ta-da! Super simple, super cute. You can take this idea and customize it to whatever you have on hand.

The silver ball place card holders add a touch of elegance and are available through "beau-coup": http://www.beau-coup.com/silver-ball-place-card-holder.htm

Children's Place Cards

Taking the few extra minutes to make place cards for kids can make a huge impact. I really like turkeys so I decided to do a turkey for the kids but you could really do anything. I went to my local craft store and purchased large foam sheets of brown for about $1.99 each. The eyeballs were also purchased there for $0.99. This craft is pretty inexpensive. It would actually be a great craft to do with kids (age preschool and up).

1) I cut out a circle shape with scalloped edge scissors. Two per turkey.

2) glue feathers to the top of one brown circle. Apply other circle on top. Do not apply any glue to bottom half

3) I glued the eyes on. The beak and gobbler were hand made out of construction paper. Glue under eyes.

4) I hand cut a little sign like the turkey was saying the kid's name out of white construction paper.

5) Cut the base of the turkey so it's flat.

6) Let dry. Then gently pull the bottom apart to create a standing turkey. Done

Time to decorate for Thanksgiving!!

Last week I took down all my Halloween decorations and put up all my thanksgiving ones. Thanksgiving is such a fun time for me. It means lots of yummy food, good times spent with friends and family....and it's the precursor for Christmas! But before I can even think about Christmas I need to plan out my turkey day. And part of having a great turkey day is having a house that feels warm and welcoming and in my house that means lot of leaves. I think people can be a bit intimidated by decorating for thanksgiving. Don't be! Add those scarecrows and leaves! Here's how I decorated:

My welcome sign when I step in from the garage:

I always save pumpkins from October and use them to decorate for Thanksgiving. I also lite a lot of candles in the fall/winter, why not combine the two on a counter or side table?

A little pumpkin scarecrow, this one I positioned on some leaves.

My awkward steps above my fireplace..... I decorated them with pumpkins, scarecrows, lots of leaves and...

...a pumpkin turkey. What can I say, I thought he was cute!

See the hidden pumpkin behind the leaves???

I also like to decorate my china hutch. Everyone gathers in this area to eat and to be honest, it's a safe place for my Jim Shore woodcut figures.

I'm a little obsessed with Jim Shore woodcut figures...you'll see what I mean when I show you Christmas pictures...It's slightly "re-dunculous" as my hubby would say.

Cornucopia stuffed with leaves :) Simple and easy.

I even add a touch of leaves inside the hutch. It provides a nice pop of color and ties it all together.

I picked up this guy for $5 at my local craft store and the kids gave him a pilgrim hat :) I think we should name him.

Even our fridge is decorated. Turkey hand prints are the best! And so fun and easy. Just paint your hand with brown paint, then press on white paper. Glue feathers and ta-da! 

I purchased a bird houses at my local craft store and decorated it with fall colors and places it on top of my fridge. I'm not sure where this idea came from, but I like it.

Yes, my guest bathroom has fall towels and soap ;)

And I've replaced the real plants with a fall leaf assortment

My kitchen even gets a few touches

And Duke's treats

We made little American Indian pupets after reading a thanksgiving story. Simple craft and my kids love these guys! ....hmm....who knew.

And we can't forget our thanksgiving toys! :) The kids get really excited when they see these since they only come out of the garage once a year. Quick reminder: when storing seasonal toys remember to remove the batteries! 

I hope that gives you all a few ideas or maybe some Thanksgiving decoration inspiration! Happy decorating!!