Giralph, the 13-foot installation

I interrupt this regularly scheduled blog silence to bring you… Giralph, the 13-foot giraffe decoration I made for Alice-Anne’s birthday “party” this past weekend.

Everyone who saw this epic wall hanging insisted that it make the front page of Kate Schmate, so I couldn’t disappoint.

Alice-Anne has had a giraffe lovie since before she was born, so of course her birthday had to be giraffe-centered. After a living room furniture re-arrangement, we had a big gap on the wall. JD thought of the brilliant idea, and after some sketching, Giralph came to life.

I rarely am totally satisfied with the things I create, but I was thrilled at how epic and fun the decorations were. Despite it being completely over-the-top for a *very* small family party, it was fun to celebrate with new art.

I also made a strawberry cake from this recipe, using Ponchatoula strawberries. It was definitely a winner with the least picky person in our household (Alice-Anne). I would recommend it for any occasion.

The birthday girl also had a great time!

Friday Feast: Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

Oh, hey! Yeah yeah yeah, I know… it’s been *quite* awhile. More on that later.  Let me just PLEASE share this awesome recipe with you.

Ten years ago, some lovely person gave us a crock pot for our wedding. It was even on our registry. But it took us ten years to actually use it. JD and I literally wiped dust off of the top of the box.

But, when Alice-Anne was born (again, I’ll catch you up later), we were brought two amazing recipes… a beef stew and this sesame chicken recipe, both of which required a slow cooker. We wanted to try making them ourselves and decided to finally take the crock pot out of the box for the sake of yummy grub.

Some new things I’ve learned about the crock pot: your house smells amazing for a long time, the loose pot lid may scare your two-year-old, and I may have been missing something by not using this darn dish for so long! Here is an amazing recipe for a pretty great dinner, thanks to Damn Delicious:

Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken

• 1 small onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 cup honey

• 1/2 cup soy sauce (we used the low-sodium)

• 1/4 cup ketchup

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (this is specific and important)

• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• 1 green onion, thinly sliced for garnish

• Sesame seeds, for garnish

• In a large bowl, combine onion, garlic, honey, soy sauce, ketchup, vegetable oil and red pepper.
• Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, to taste. Place chicken thighs into a slow cooker. Add honey mixture and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 hours and 30 minutes.
• Remove chicken thighs from the slow cooker and shred the chicken before returning to the pot with the juices. Cover and keep warm for an additional 30 minutes.
• Serve immediately, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.

This was just awesome, and I highly recommend it!

I’m here!

 

 

More soon… just taking some time to smell the yellow flowers.

Babies Need Stuff

“The Wheel in the Sky” by The Gingham Owl

I remember the panic… I was in my second trimester pregnant with Maggie, and my mom had said I needed a registry for a few baby showers on the horizon. I didn’t know where to begin, and I was adamant that I didn’t want a lot of “stuff” for our impending arrival. (My baby was going to continue my minimalist lifestyle. I was NOT going to give in to Baby Consumerism!) So I read a few blogs, gathered some info from friends, and sat down with my mom on the couch and started registering. Looking back on that time, I had NO IDEA what I needed.

When a girlfriend jokingly g-chatted me the other day, asking me to make her registry for her baby due this fall, I remembered that time in my life where I was panicking about doing this very same thing. So I thought about it and assembled the list below for her. As it turned out, gathering the list came so easily to me. It was fresh on my mind since I was just sorting through things that Maggie didn’t need anymore.

The email to my pal became so epic, I decided to share it here with you because perhaps it will be helpful. Of course, I preface this with: everyone is different, has different preferences, wants different things… this is not a commentary on parenting style or even an exhaustive list of everything you may ever need. This is just what I needed and wanted. My only hope is that it provides a glimpse and a skeleton of what you may need if this ever comes up for you!

(All links are for Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us, since those are the registries my friend requested. I personally chose Target and Amazon, but all of this baby stuff is pretty much available at all of those sites.)

BATH

Bath seat (NO PLASTIC… too cold, this is the best)

bath robe/towel (you need at least one of these!)

bath toys (because your baby will be smart)

No need to put baby soap, shampoo, or washcloths on your registry… people just get them for you. Rarely will you need lotion, and almost never will you need baby powder.

cradle cap scrubber (this is not at your stores, but this is a very important product.)

DIAPERING

Diaper Champ (No need for special bags, intuitive, good.)

Contour changing pad

Changing pad cover/liner (register for 2)

Depending on if you get an actual diaper changing stand, you may not need the changing pad. BUT, we used a very old coffee table and put a chair next to it and that was that. We didn’t want to buy extra furniture.

Diaper bag… yeah, use something, maybe a backpack, but this may not warrant a registry item.

Pampers and Target-brand diapers were the only brands we liked.

SLEEPING

You won’t need a crib until maybe 6-8 weeks or so. Until then, you’ll want a bassinette to put next to your bed for during-the-night feedings. Try to borrow this. Otherwise, here’s a good option.

Swaddlers (you need at least one set of the Aden and Anis swaddlers. They are multifunctional!!)

more swaddlers (I would register for at least three to see which you like best.)

swaddle 3 (MIRACLE product when she got stronger)

Woombie (also excellent)

sound machine (if you decide to do that. We have and we watch very loud movies and all is right with the world.)

A friend x 2 (you’ll want to incorporate a “lovie” that they associate with sleep time. And you’ll want to get two in case Lovie #1 gets lost. TRUST ME.)

THIS SHEEP… great for the car, traveling, just good for soothing

Mittens… no kidding around here.

Monitor… we decided on a video monitor, and it’s awesome. This is more of a personal choice though. Ours is a Samsung, but you can choose whatever you guys are most comfortable with. The video monitor was by far the registered item I most rolled my eyes at, but JD wanted it. Now that we have it… whoa it is wonderful. I have no clue what I would do without it.

Crib… a completely personal choice. I actually had mine from when I was young and I repainted it… worked great.

But you will need a mattress and a mattress pad.

As for bedding… lots of people care about the bedding. I just wanted two crib sheets to rotate. Everything else is a choking hazard anyway.

People will give you a THOUSAND blankets… just stay away from registering for them. Nice people will give you tons at showers, and they could make and pick out nicer blankets than you could register for anyway!

BOTTLES AND FEEDING

bottles… at the beginning, babies need a slow flow, but then when they are about 6 months or older, they’ll need a faster flow. I would recommend THESE at the beginning, but then, I used all glass ones from then out. Not sure if you’re cool with these, you may just like plastic, but I loved them. 5 bottles is really all you need if you want to be minimalist. If you’re lazy, I’d recommend 8. For the faster flow bottles, you’ll need them around 8-10oz.

bottle brush (you’ll need a few… I’m on my third.)

bottle dryer rack (Don’t get the stuff that goes in the dishwasher. You’ll use bottles more than you use the dishwasher.)

nursing cover (if you go that way)

pump (if you go that way)

pump holder (don’t register for this… just buy it and save yourself hours)

Boppy (if you go that way but also great for sitting infants up on floor comfortably)

Boppy cover (if you go that way, but good to get two slipcovers)

burp cloths

spoons

bowls

more dishes

Do not register for bibs. You’ll get a thousand unsolicited bibs.

So… high chairs. Before we created our registry, a very generous friend of the family sent us the Svan chair, which is totally cool and will convert to a seat when your baby is bigger and can scoot up to the table. But it’s kind of expensive. I’ve also heard a lot of cool things about Boon Flair (I think more of a variety is out there but that link was on one of the two sites.). Otherwise, I know to stay away from cloth because it gets extremely dirty.

For traveling and friends’ visits, we also own this easy strapping one that Minimalist Me thought would serve all purposes (which it probably would if we didn’t get the Svan).

STROLLERS and CARSEATS

Infant carseat (Infant carseats can be taken in and out of your car by attaching to a base. If you have a second base for your spouse’s car, you can leave the carseat at daycare and attach the carseats easily between your two cars. This is super helpful, especially for running into the store, etc. This was something I didn’t think was necessary but it was extremely helpful to not move a sleepy infant while going from car to house.)

Regular carseat for when baby is older (might as well ask for it now… it’s expensive. We got one before Maggie was born, and then asked for a second one this Christmas. Maggie still fits in the infant carseat, but she’ll be bursting out soon enough.)

Depending on what infant carseat you get, you’ll want to purchase the same brand stroller so that the infant carseat can fit into the stroller, and then when the kid gets bigger, you can just use the stroller. These are called “travel systems” and you can look for them depending on what you want. I’d recommend sticking to one brand of carseats so you can just be used to the type of seatbelts… because they are confusing.

Also, something that I want now that I wish I had is a lightweight collapsible stroller that is easy to carry and good for throwing in and out of the car for shopping, fairs, farmers markets, etc. THIS is a good, cheap stroller.

Medicines, assorted stuff

Aquaphor… register for it… it’s amazing and expensive. It’s the cure-all… our pediatrician highly recommends it for everything: diaper rash, weird rashes anywhere, wrinkle cream for you. AMAZING.

thermometer (ours doesn’t work very well, so I don’t want to recommend ours.)

Infant tylenol (maybe 2? dye free! Otherwise, you have to administer it in the bathtub.)

Gas drops (yes)

Boogie wipes… totally great.

saline mist since they don’t know how to blow their nose

sunscreen (babies are special)

pacifiers (this will be a personal choice, and your baby may choose for you! I linked the one Maggie liked.)

 

OTHER

Itzbeen… AMAZING. We brought this with us to the hospital, and it’s a wonderful tool. I’m sure there’s an app that also does this, but this was great for caretakers to have so that they would know things also.

Bumbo (just register for one, pick your color. If you can borrow it, all the better)

Swing (go with the space saver!!) or (Maggie’s daycare endorsed) bouncy seat (You probably don’t need both, but you’ll need this to just put your kid in when it needs soothing and you’re exhausted. Or this may be the only way it goes to sleep for awhile. Or you need to shower and you don’t know what else to do.)

play mat

pack n play I actually own a different one for traveling, but my mom has one very similar to this because she wanted a pack n play to have at her house for us, and I prefer hers. It has a changing table which is super helpful when you’re out traveling and you don’t have to pack your own changing pad.

Bjorn carrier (We have this one, and JD loves it. I’ve used this often in the first year because I like having my hands free.)

sling (I’ve written about these before on Schmate but I looooove mine. Lots of pretty fabrics, so go with the Peanut Shell!)

mirror for your car… I mean, it’s just helpful, especially for long trips.

 

I’m sure I have forgotten something, but those are my big items. And, don’t worry… there is always a Target nearby, or Amazon Prime, which gets things to you super fast (free trials are totally worth it right after you have the baby!!).

Going Back to Work as a Mama

Soaring Baby Giraffe by Trafalgar’s Square

In the past week, I’ve had three separate conversations with newly-pregnant women who are worried about going back to work after having their baby. This is a very difficult thing to do, one that I received a lot of advice on from trusted friends who had also gone through it. Because of our health insurance conundrum, we had no choice but for me to go back to work or our family would be severely underinsured. (Hopefully that will change in the future!) Regardless of reason, it’s hard to go back to work after maternity leave. There were (and still are at times) many tears shed after drop-off. Here are a few things that I wanted to share, because I felt so alone and sad. My hope is that these tips will help others in the same situation.

It doesn’t get easier, it just gets more normal. My girlfriend Misty told me this leading up to my first day of drop-off, and boy did that resonate with me. Just like people told me that having Maggie would “change us,” I didn’t really get why… but you just can’t really know until your kid is here. And you realize that a kid changes something for everyone but not in the same way. Once we established a routine, I felt worlds better, and I could feel the rhythm of our mornings.

Talk to your child in the car and tell her about all the exciting things she gets to do at school that day. It seriously made me feel better than the drive of shame.

Feel confident in the location that you are leaving your child. I could not leave Maggie in the mornings if not for the awesomeness of Ms. Sandy and Ms. Amy and all the other loving people that actually enjoy caring for her. Maggie is loved, cherished, treasured, and taught well while I am gone. I think her school is great. I would feel even worse had I not felt 110% confident in her school.

Reward yourself for getting back in the car. The roughest part of the day is walking back to your car after you leave your child for the day. Oh man, that walk is the worst. What has helped tremendously is some kind of “reward” once you get inside… a book on tape (Tim Keller has been extremely comforting), a thermos full of coffee you don’t allow yourself to have until you get back in the car, and calling your mother or a friend. Distractions are key here. Sounds silly… but it works!

Go to lunch with people, including your husband! Instead of wallowing in the misery of being apart from your child all day, take advantage of the time at work. Pay your bills at your breaks, visit with friends by meeting them for lunch, have coffee with your network… make the time at work feel like your “adult” time. This is also the best time to catch up and have dates with your husband! No need for a babysitter! Overall, this particular tip has been hugely helpful to my social side, especially when I felt guilty about taking time away from Maggie in the evenings and weekends when I wanted to see friends after work.

Give yourself some slack. There’s going to be a day when you’re slightly relieved that you drop your child off… whether it is because you are excited about what is going on at work, or if you were just spit up on, or if you just need a second of silence. Why feel guilty for not feeling guilty? It’s a stupid potential cycle. Consider that day a gift of no guilt and know that days ahead may not be that easy.

You’ll figure it out and make your own routine. Of course this is different for everyone, and what worked for me may not work for you. Obviously, I’d much rather be at home, so this may not be the standpoint of everyone dropping their child off in the mornings. But, I do wish I knew a little more about the process at the beginning… the first 6 months were quite rough. But it does get better.

Maggie’s First Birthday Party

Throughout most of Maggie’s first year of life, I had this nagging feeling that Maggie’s first birthday party was supposed to be a huge deal: lots of friends, lots of decorations, lots of fuss. I had seen gorgeous pictures of other friends’ parties for their children, and I had started feeling the weight of making that happen for Maggie’s big day at the end of February.

But, once Christmas came and went, I was feeling a little fatigue and began picturing the logistics of a large party. After considering everything and weighing my guilt (which I decided to work on in the Year 2013), we made an executive decision to have a very small party with just immediate family, and we all couldn’t be happier! Maggie especially… it was a fun afternoon of new toys, yummy BBQ, and delicious cake and desserts!

My original theme was to do a Monkey party (with a Pinterest board of inspiration and all!), but I ended up doing only a banner of bananas plus a table full of pictures and other monkey items. We also had banana pudding (thanks to JD’s mom) and Monkey Bread.

Best of all, we had a special cake made from an old college friend, Alex, from Sweet Betweens. Maggie had her own banana cake, made especially for her sensitive baby stomach! Alex was awesome and did everything to accommodate our requests. And, Maggie LOVED her cake. When presented with her very own cake, she delicately picked at it, but ate quite a bit over about a half an hour! She enjoyed being somewhat clean with her eating, but we could tell she loved eating. It was so sweet, since we haven’t really given her much sugar at all since she started eating solid food.

Overall, it was a wonderful day filled with our loving family around our favorite girl. I’m so glad I didn’t let the crazy expectations of a big first birthday party get in the way of the fun.

One

Maggie turned one year old today. We had a very small gathering of just immediate family yesterday, and she was able to enjoy (immensely) a yummy cake. It was her very first bite of cake, and it was all hers!

More to come about this low-stress, low-key, high-happiness event very soon.

Friday Feast: Epic Awesome Cornbread

There’s not a lot of cornbread that I’ve enjoyed in my lifetime. Always dry, boring… truly, a waste of calories. But, my mother-in-law always nails it. Like, better-than-soft-bread good. When I asked about the recipe, she referenced the Fannie Farmer cookbook, which I’ve used since she gave it to me when JD and I first got married. Since the cookbook is long and filled with tons of recipes, I’ve passed over the cornbread because of my dry history with the food. But I took a stab at the recipe, and holy cow, so good. Here’s my adjustment to the Fannie Farmer recipe:

Cornbread (modified from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

just under 1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 egg, well beaten

2 tablespoons bacon fat (yes)

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Grease an 8-inch square cake pan.
• Mix the cornmeal,flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the milk, egg, and shortening or bacon fat, and blend well.
• Spoon into the pan and bake for about 20 minutes. Cool and cut in squares.

 

Soooooo good. Mad props to the mother-in-law for changing my long-standing views on cornbread!

31

 

It’s a little overdue, but I just want to pop over and say that turning 31 was quite great. I’m finally feeling awesome and settled in many areas, specifically at home, at work, and with myself, and I can’t express how appreciative I am about this. I had an excellent birthday with many surrounding surprises and events, and I feel so loved and blessed.

I’ll be popping over more frequently this month to show you a project I’ve been working on, some food I’ve been cooking, and a little lady we’ll be celebrating.

And, finally, a description of the shot above, because at first glance, it might look a little “pitiful”… The picture above was actually taken at about 2:30am one night in late January when JD, Maggie, Lucy, and I all crammed into our closet when the tornado sirens went off. Our little foursome was calm and sleepy, and Maggie slept on me most of the half hour we were in there. She was so snuggly and warm, and JD wanted to document how sweet we were… but the flash was so bright! So I squinted a bit. But, there we were, safe together in the cramped space. Thankfully the weather spared us, and it was a fun night as a family of three plus Lucy the dog.

Looking forward to sharing more with you soon.

Luster Cluster: Brussels Sprouts, scribbles, and music tv

Time for Luster Cluster! It’s been a while, folks!

Here are a few things I’ve found around the web lately.

Typeface for Doctors… love it!

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JD and I get DirecTV, but we have the very basic package. For the past few weeks, the channel called Palladia has been giving us a little free trial of goodness. I don’t know much about it… I think it’s owned by MTV and VH1 or something, but it’s all of what was awesome about music channels before “Jersey Shore” and other “music” shows arrived. JD recorded a bunch of live concerts they have been showing, and we’ve been watching/listening happily to Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Walk the Moon, Mumford, Avetts, Temper Trap, Passion Pit, you know the drill. Good stuff.

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If I could share all of my Google Reader stars with you, I would. Here’s are two of my recent highlighted posts that I think will be very helpful in the upcoming year:

“How to fly with a toddler,” by both Hither and Thither and Cup of Jo blogs.

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I love using old family heirlooms and antique furniture mixed in with otherwise modern furniture. Design*Sponge collects a roundup of its Sneak Peeks in a “best of” collection.

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These are pretty fun, no?

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Each day, in my inbox, I get two comic strips: Arlo & Janis and Calvin & Hobbes. I have a soft spot in my heart for comics, what can I say? So in preparation for the Super Bowl, coming up in just a few short weeks, I just had to share this giggle.

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I love my new job… (love it!)… but I’m now in a cubicle rather than an office “room,” and I’m struggling how to decorate it. I’m guessing this is too much? (It’s cool for a party, though. via Style Me Pretty)

* * * * *

Finally Tom’s that are work appropriate!

 

Tom’s Ballet Flats?! by sheilaho featuring toms

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And, last but not least… brussels sprouts. Why are they the “it” vegetable right now? Here are a bunch of recipes for them… someone please make them so I can try them please!

• Mapled Brussels Sprouts
• Brussels Sprouts and Red Onion
• Brussels Sprout Gratin

Resolutioning in 2013

“Take a Chance” by LupenGrainne

New Year’s resolutions… they feel so overdone. For so many years, I thought New Year’s resolutions were silly, but in recent years, I’ve decided it gives me great practice in goal-setting, looking ahead, assessing where we are and what needs to happen. If anything, it’s excellent self-reflection that should happen more often anyway… January 1 is just a great incentive.

So, in order to make myself a little more accountable, I’m throwing my New Year’s resolution out there, along with some readers’ resolves as well. What do you think? What are yours?

My resolution for this year is to have less guilt, do more exercise, and eat better. (So boring, I know!) I also want to complete a growth chart for Maggie (a project I’ve had on my mind for a few months now and hope to complete before her birthday), as well as do some house reorganization with the items I already have.

Here are a few others…

JD

Cussing less.

Della

1. My older sister and I are memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Two questions a week, all year!

2. Last year, Krammy and I spent less to pay off debt at rapid pace. It felt amazing and after a while it wasn’t even that hard to do. So this year, I want to start giving more. We have dear friends from Oklahoma who are trying to adopt. My goal is to save enough and give enough (without the help of my husband) to pay for their home study. I think it’s around $1000. It’s going to be tough, but I think I can do it. I’m praying that God will use this “exercise” to soften my heart and teach me more about himself. You can find their blog here.

3. Kids: finish teaching Cole to read and get Julia out of diapers.

Jessica

My New Year’s resolution is much the same as it was last year (obviously I followed through on it).

I would like to wake up an hour before everyone in the house to do whatever I want yoga, read, whatever so I have that time by myself before the whole house gets up and starts being all crazy.

Last year I made the same resolution, but the only time I got up early was when I played tennis 3x a week at 6:00am from June-October, but if I was not playing tennis, I was sleeping.

Mary

I have two ways that I want to improve myself in 2013.

I need to write more letters to my grandparents!  I don’t have a specific quantity, but I’d feel good if I got a letter in the mail once a month or so.  I should put a reminder in my phone so that I actually do this!

I also want to pick up the guitar again.  I’ve actually pulled it out recently and have been picking at it.  I’ve used YouTube some to relearn (I’m starting back at beginner–I don’t remember anything), but I’m just getting started.

Alex (please check out Alex’s blog!)

Along with the usual suspects [eat well, move more, love entirely and live immensely] I have a one word resolution for 2013 – spontaneity. I love that I live in Nashville and hope to quiet my wanderlust by breaking out of my usual routine and begin to truly enjoy and appreciate the unusual, the small, the out-of-the-ordinary that makes Nashville so special.

Libby

My New Year’s resolution is to get up when my alarm goes off the first time instead of the tenth.

Heat

Walk to and from work 3 days per week.

Bring my lunch (or otherwise eat for free) 3 days per week.

Emily

I want to work on my financial responsibility. Of course I’m also going to try to get back on track health wise.

Momma

I want to resoundingly beat my son-in-law at Words with Friends at least once.

Casey

New Year’s Resolutions…I am not a huge maker of these, because I tend to make resolutions all year long. :) But more so than ever before, mine is to spend 2013 getting organized!  Now that I don’t have an infant in the house, and knowing that my studio will be completed this year, I am making it a priority to de-clutter the house, weed through the kids’ toys, and organize my storage areas (such as laundry room, closets, etc) so that we can use our space to its fullest potential!  It may take most (or all, haha) of the year, but we will do it!  First up, I’m going through toys and donating what we have outgrown.

Sarah

Enjoy my children more!

Oh Advent Tree

There are a ton of things I love about Christmas, but my all-time favorite is the childhood Advent tree that I inherited from my parents. Ever since JD and I got married, I was able to use the Advent tree at my own house… what a thrill! But, the icing on the cake is introducing this pretty thing to Maggie, who responded to it as well as I could have hoped.

The Advent tree was handmade by a family friend in Ponchatoula, so it has a lot of memories and sentimental value from when I was very little. I had hoped that Maggie would also have that same joy of counting down to Jesus’s birthday. And even though Maggie is only 9 months old, I can tell that she already enjoys it. She lights up when we count to the date, and she smiles when we pull the ornament out of the day’s pocket.

Other little Maggie-friendly Christmas things this year include a ribbon-only Christmas tree. I fuzzied up the photo below (intentionally on Instagram), but here’s the best shot of the ribbon tree. I think it turned out nicely!

And, as usual, our Christmas cards decorate our stairway railing. At this time of year, they get pretty full!

Yes, our Christmas card is a little Maggie-centric this year, but, geez, how could it not be? What a cutie. Lucy made an appearance on the back…

Have a wonderful, merry Christmas, friends! I’ll be back around New Year’s to talk about some New Year’s resolutions. I’d love to hear yours!

 

Friday Feast: Nutella No-Bake Cookies

Last night I was scrambling to find something to bring to my girls’ quarterly “Wine Night,” but I didn’t have time to run to the store. I also didn’t want to spend my post-work/fun-Maggie time cooking. I remembered this recipe that I refer to often, but I just wasn’t feeling “peanut-buttery.” A quick scan of the pantry turned on the lightbulb: Nutella.

By easily replacing the peanut butter with Nutella in this recipe, I made an amazing cookie that was prepared quickly… as well as eaten quickly. JD also did quality control and thought it was great.

Check out our pretty spread last night, including the Nutella cookie beautifully placed within the mix of homemade pimento cheese, brie, baked pears, and, of course, wine:

Definitely check out the 2009 version, but here it is repeated, with Nutella.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 stick margarine

3 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup Nutella

• Boil the first three ingredients in a saucepan for two minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients and mix together.
• Spoon onto wax paper in individual cookie sizes.
• Let cool for at least 15 minutes.

We will miss you, Liz!! Alabama is better for getting you!

Gift Guide 2012: Parents of Kiddos

Sigh. Maggie. I just like her. And, I am so thrilled beyond measure to get to buy her Christmas presents for holidays to come. But, here’s the deal… she’s still not old enough to really ask for anything. Originally I would have posted this as a gift guide for kids, but actually, it’s for the mommies and daddies that love them. Here we go:

Ok, fine. I’m sure this is totally gross to all of you, but I went to a baby shower recently where this was gifted to the expecting mommy and I thought… genius! I would definitely get this Nose Frida for the new mom!

“Hare Styles” onesies and t-shirt… perfect.

While we’re talking t-shirts… have your people call my people.

I’m learning a lot about patience while I let Maggie feed herself with those little pinchers. I can’t quite trust her with a plate, but when she gets a little older, these plates would be a ton of fun.

 

Did you really think I’d go a whole Gift Guide year without something chevron? This is the cutest.

This whole Blik site has wonderful kids’ rooms decals. If I didn’t enjoy DIY painting, I’d be searching through here.

Considering I still haven’t filled two empty frames in Maggie’s nursery, I am always looking for sweet prints and cards to fill them. This BigCartel shop has a bunch of sweet drawings.

Little boys. Cute ties. Perfect combination.

We got this toothbrush for Maggie to begin her long life of brusha-brusha-brusha. This is one of the cutest little person things I’ve bought.

 

 

I totally stole this from Goop’s gift guide but COME ON. I can’t resist… sushi!! booties!! And, I’m done:

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Don’t forget to check out past Christmas Gift Guides since 2009! Scroll down to the bottom of the About Page.

Gift Guide 2012: Guys

Everyone knows that guys are the hardest to buy for… husbands, daddies, brothers, grandpas. It’s just hard to find the right gift. So, here’s my best attempt to find the gifts for the men in my life.

Boys will be boys, and reliably, they always play with their food. At least give them an instrument where they can put this trait to good use: musical wine glasses.

When in law school, JD carried his laptop everywhere, and that was before the iPad! I think this would have been a simple, masculine case for protecting all those Con Law notes.

A stocking stuffer for the deep Chevy Chase fan, why not a National Lampoon mug or Fletch jersey?

Ha! Well, this seems counterintuitive, but I know a couple of guys who’d love this.

While we’re talking about bacon… now that is a stylish paperweight.

While we’re in the Etsy category, these steampunk goggles would be a fun desk or house item for the vintage lover.

What guy doesn’t love good tv? A DVD set of his favorite series is a good idea. These are a few that I know JD would like: The Walking Dead, ESPN’s 30 for 30, and Breaking Bad.

For the lawn and garden guy, this Scout Regalia, fully-stocked and assembled garden for your deck or porch would be perfect for a beginning, or just a weary gardener. I love the whole package!

I absolutely like these rugged watches and watch straps that J.Crew has to offer. The straps are interchangeable, and they look so outdoorsy plus appropriate for work.

Wildsam Field Guides… written by Vanderbilt alum Taylor Bruce, these part-almanac, part-best of features different city guides. Of course, Nashville was the inaugural edition. JD got the book for his birthday, and we both have poured over it… and we live here! (Thanks, Bearings.)

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Don’t forget to check out past Christmas Gift Guides since 2009! Scroll down to the bottom of the About Page.