The Second Reason for the Best Mail Day Ever!

So yesterday I posted about my awesome ring from Little Miss Momma, but I also said there was a second happy surprise for me.  It was this gorgeous headband from a giveaway on Dwelling by Devore.  Bethany has a super cute blog with all kinds of design projects.  Her blog is actually one of the first I started following through a mutual friend, so you can imagine my excitement when I won her headband giveaway.  What could make me happier...a free headband (obsessed with them for the Boss) from blog land (my new BFF's).  The headband was from the Etsy shop Cherrie Chic.   Michelle of Cherrie Chic also has a cute blog Cherrie Chic Life which follows her life as a wife, mommy, and decorator extraordinaire.  She has two little girls including one not too much older than the Boss.

  Thanks to Bethany and Michelle for this great giveaway.   I think the Boss looks truly adorable!!!

Check out both of their blogs or Michelle's shop to pick up a treat for yourself.

Greatest Mail Day Ever

Everyday I go to the mailbox hoping for something fun and exciting, and most days I am disappointed.  The box is normally filled with junk mail and bills, but yesterday there were two awesome surprises.  The first was this awesome ring from Little Miss Momma.  I follow Ashley's blog and appreciate her transparency and how cute she is.  She is such an encouragement to new bloggers. I can tell from her blog that if we lived in the same, country, time zone or state we would be friends.  I also wouldn't mind if  the Boss married her precious Baby W.  Along with her blog, Ashley also runs an Etsy shop (I love Etsy) also called Little Miss Momma that can be found here.  That is where I found this AMAZING ring that I just couldn't live without.  

It came in this cute heart box...

 I took pictures of it on both hands....

 It will live on my right hand though....

Check out Little Miss Momma either here or here for cute couture jewelery at a reasonable price.   

Check back tomorrow for the other great thing that came in the mail yesterday.

Happy Be-lated Family Day

We arrived home from VA late last night but had a wonderful trip!!!!  The Boss did great in the car and I bought her lots of great things from Target that I will share later in the week.  One of the best parts of the trip was spending Family Day as a family!  Although we were in a car for almost 12 hours, I was with my two favourite people!  Happy Be-lated Family Day (or Presidents day depending where you live)!!!!

 

Our First Road Trip...with a baby!

This weekend we are heading to Virginia to visit our friends. We are so excited to spend time with our friends and introduce the Boss to everyone.  I'm a little nervous about the drive, but Mr. D has downloaded cartoons for the Boss on his iPad.

One of the things I am really excited for while we are away is American shopping!!!!   Target is one of the stores I miss the most, but I've been told it's coming to Canada.  They have cute things at reasonable prices!  I did some pre-shopping online, and can't wait to get there and check these items out.

Merona Collection Women's Zea 2fer Dress $39.99

Merona Collection Women's Vevette Dress $39.99

Merona Women's Twisted Neckline $39.99

Merona Water Repellent Long Trench Coat- White/Gray Gingham $49.99

And for the Boss...

Cherokee Red Double Ruffle Dress $15.00

This final dress I'm thinking about for the Boss for Easter.  I think it's so cute!!!  I'm not ready to purchase it until I see it in person but I am definitely on the hunt for something super girlie and frilly for Easter.  Can you beat the price for this?

Charokee Navy Sleeveless Dot Dress $20.00

Can't wait to see what we find!  Have a wonderful weekend and  a wonderful long weekend for all my Canadian readers!

Happy Valentine's Day!

While reading everyone's Valentine's posts I thought, I better not miss my opportunity to brag about my day of love!  We started the morning with homemade waffles in bed, followed by a Mommy group Valentine party with some of my favourite little people.  This evening my Hubby and I spent the evening eating lasagna and spending time with our little one.  Other years we have enjoyed eating out and being romantic, but this year we wanted to spend time with the Boss on our day of love.  While I know some people think Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday, I think Hallmark had it right when they reminded us to show our love at least ONE day a year.  I, personally LOVE Valentine's Day.  Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!!!

My Valentine and I

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I was finally able to find a Red Velvet Cupcake recipe!  As you will remember my previous post here, I received cute muffin cups from my mom and I was dying to make Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day.  I didn't want to have to buy a cookbook so I went looking on the internet and came across this cute blog Pinch My Salt.  Nicole started the blog while living in Italy but now lives in California.  She has lots of yummy looking recipes that I will have to return and try!

The batter is a beautiful and vibrant colour

 Letting them cool... look how pretty they are!

 You can't tell me these muffin cups aren't great!!!!

 Decorated and looking pretty

 Close up...

 Now the moment of truth...do we even like Red Velvet Cake.... (please excuse the horrible lighting and the fact that we both look ill...it's just terrible lighting...)

The answer was yes, these cupcakes were so good and a total hit at my sister an brother-in-laws place tonight!  The recipe can be found here or below.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.

2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.  In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go.  Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.

4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda.  Yes, it will fizz!  Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter (they should be 2/3 – 3/4 full).  You may not fill all the cups, I ended up with 20 cupcakes.  Place muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven.  Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don’t overbake!

5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.  Frost cupcakes with cream cheese icing (recipe below) and decorate with red sprinkles if desired.

Valentine's Treat

My Mom was at IKEA this weekend and picked these up for me.  Aren't they adorable?

 I can't wait to use them!  I am hoping to make red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing for Valentine's Day.  I have no idea why I am so set on this idea, because I've never even tasted red velvet cake, but I am obsessed with the idea of it and trying to find a good recipe.  Does anyone have one?