Slight double chin...

... but still adorable for his age (aren't we all)!

Playtex Sport Wipes

I was chosen to test these for crowdtap - they are great! I love that they are individually wrapped and have a light, fresh scent. Just right for a humid Kansas summer (right now it's 88F outside, sigh).

Garden Koi

So beautiful, but insanely expensive: uncommongoods' fishy garden decor.

Om Nom Nom

Poundcake, vanilla ice cream, strawberries + a splash of Limoncello = heaven.

It's not Easter...

... until my fingernails are dyed red, yellow and blue!

...and it's not Easter without a raisin Easter braid (and tiny Asian ginger-salmon cakes for some strange reason, and some savory feta/roasted red pepper/basil muffins - meh, I got bored...)

Brahmin Summer 2011 collection

I'm not a huge handbag aficionado, but something about this one - the "Haze Leopard Luxe Clara bag" - makes me want to put it on a shelf in my closet and admire it... I really like those muted colors.

- (got an exclusive preview of the Brahmin Summer 2011 collection thanks to the Vogue Influencer Network) -

Here's some more:

Nutty Guys...

I love Nutty Guys' dried fruit, nuts and candy - thanks to recent Groupon offers, they're actually quite affordable. Milk chocolate covered cinnamon gummi bears, wasabi peanuts, ranch corn nuts, and my all-time favorite: Butter toffee cashews! Ooooh...

Precious...

Beautiful necklace from Pangea! Got a great deal thanks to a Jasmere groupbuy coupon.

Upward II by Brent Nelson

Just got this (my birthday present!) from eBay. Love it! And it goes so well with my blog colors!

Sweet Potato & Spinach Gnocchi

I stumbled upon this recipe on a yummy blog called "amybites", and since I had some time to kill & some sweet potatoes and spinach in the fridge, decided to spend a bit of time in the kitchen.

The recipe is insanely simple - just sweet potatoes, spinach, and flour. I had to use quite a bit more flour to get the dough to stick together (potentially due to poor spinach squeezing skills), but they turned out super yummy (if a little less good looking than the original blog photo, but that might also be b/c I fried the heck out of them).

Since by the time I was done microwaving/boiling/frying everything, it was about 90 degrees in the kitchen, I just enjoyed my gnocchi with a chopped up tomato - they were SO good!

SheSpeaks - New "Tostitos Artisan Recipes" tortilla chips

Yeah, the somewhat overused term "artisan" in combination with good ol' corn chips made me a little suspicious too, and I probably wouldn't have bothered to try them, had I not received a free coupon thanks to SheSpeaks. SheSpeaks is a great website for women to try out new products and give feedback (as opposed to SheYells, which is somewhat less popular among companies :D) .

So, we went and got the Fire-Roasted Chipotle chips (they also come in Roasted Garlic & Black Bean but I love Chipotle seasoning so I went straight for that one). These Tostitos contain 100% natural ingredients with a 9-grain blend: white corn, wheat, triticale, oats, rye, barley, millet, buckwheat, brown rice (I had to look up "triticale" - apparently it's a wheat/rye hybrid! Never heard of that!)

How I liked the Fired-Roasted Chipotle chips: Well, less than half of the bag is left after a day. They were too spicy for the hubster (hah!), but I thought they were JUST right. Mildly sweet with a little kick. Nice!

Spring!

It's springtime! Quick, hurry outside before all the blossoms are gone.. darn it, too late.

Smug bunny

More cupcakes!

... followed by yummy Sangria with strawberry and orange pieces. Cheers!

Brain slug #2

This one turned out a lot bigger than the first one I crocheted. I wonder whose brain it's been feeding on...

Homemade Kahlua!

After the Limoncello Incident, I was somewhat hesitant to use up the rest of the Everclear grain alcohol. Hesitant, that is, until I stumbled upon a link on Cooks.com for homemade Kahlua with lots of rave reviews.

I made about 1/4 of the recipe, using double strength hazelnut coffee and raw cane sugar, and it turned out super yummy. Adding Vodka to your White Russians isn't even necessary since the Kahlua is quite potent - just add ice cubes & milk, and enjoy!

Yep.

Here's why I love Costco

This is pretty much all we're buying from Costco (wholesale store) right now. We originally got the membership for the Hubster's new glasses and now we're just going in WITHOUT A CART (that's the trick - otherwise I tend to pick up too much junk food here and there - OOH peanut butter filled pretzel bits!) and buying these few things - a huge tub of organic spring lettuce, a vat of feta cheese, a boatload of mushrooms, a gallon of Sabra pine nut hummus, and shmaybe some bread (if they ever get the blue cheese & pepper ciabatta back in, I'm going on a carb binge, though!)

Fry up sliced mushrooms with garlic, add some balsamic vinegar & let reduce, pour - still warm - over dressed salad, add feta crumbles - dinner!

Sephora by Opi

Ooh pretty! Sephora by Opi nail polish in a delightful shade of blue called "Slushied" from their Glee collection. Got one for free from the Vogue Influencer Network and love it! It's part of the "Sephora Hot Now" assortment for March.

I can't stand nail polish on my fingers, but "Slushied" definitely looks awesome on my toes (the cat thinks so too), and it stays on forever!

More from the Sephora Hot Now collection...

Here are some more awesome beauty products I received for free to review from the Vogue Influencer Network:

Couture Color Pequi Oil Treatment - moisturizing hair oil that softens, smoothes and adds shine to all hair types. I used this both on wet and dry hair and it tamed my frizzy hair and made it nice and shiny! I love that you only need a few drops so it lasts forever.

My second favorite: The "Buxom Waterproof Smoky Eye Stick" eyeliner - lasts forever without giving me raccoon eyes! I'm still experimenting with the look since I usually use lighter colors, but this eyeliner definitely makes for a great, dramatic look.

This one wins the award for weirdest ingredient: the "Peter Thomas Roth Laser-Free Resurfacer With Dragon's Blood". (Yep. Go make up your own Charlie Sheen joke there). This skin serum "contains the cutting-edge Dragon’s Blood complex - an Amazonian ingredient that reduces inflammation and accelerates skin repair". I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds (and looks) fierce.

Here's the cutest one of all - the "tokidoki Sodashop Tin" containing 12 high-pigment eye shadows, a Perfetto eyeliner in Carina, a SANDy nail file and tokidoki magnets. I'm a huge fan of Tokidoki designs and this one made me go "awwww". The colors are great and the whole tin is just freakin' adorable.

Last but not least, I received the "Hourglass Aura Sheer Cheek Stain" in a shade called "Flush". It has a great sponge tip that makes application so easy, and I love the color!

All of these are part of the "Sephora Hot Now" collection of the latest & greatest beauty products.

Nutella cupcake party!

I got a great package from Nutella - a big, BIG jar of Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread, and enough mini Nutella packs, coupons, recipe cards, Nutella spreaders, and coffee tumblers to share!

So, what to do with so much Nutella bounty - apart from eating it on toast, waffles, toasted and buttered french bread slices... *drool* - CUPCAKES! Yay!


And coincidentally I found a great recipe for Nutella cupcakes with 3-tone frosting. Even before baking, the cupcake dough is insanely yummy, almost like a Nutella flavored chocolate mousse. One mistake I made was to not use paper liners - they ended up a bit crumbly, but oh so tasty!


The best thing, though, were all the different frostings! The almond butter cream cheese frosting is so good, they should bottle it & sell it. The Nutella frosting is nicely chocolate-y, and the vanilla frosting is... probably pretty good as well, but I ran out of sugar so I only made the two kinds.


Piping frosting is CLEARLY not my strength, but they were a huge success!

Birthday cupcakes

A slightly changed version of German black forest cherry cupcakes... (who would have thought that canned cherries actually have an expiration date, and taste kinda metallic after a year... so I had to use strawberries instead.)

Banana Daiquiris

We have a new blender. Nope, not for making healthy smoothies and whatnot - we've been making Banana Daiquiris! How come nobody ever told me about Banana Daiquiris? They're practically healthfood, what with the banana, and contain just the right kinds of alcohol - rum, triple sec - and flavoring - sugar, lime juice - so we can make them all the time. Oooh, I guess THAT's why nobody ever told me *hic*

Birthday preparations...

Aaah! It's a brain slug!

A crocheted Futurama brain slug! RUN!!! (pattern from hookandneedles.com)

Who came first - bunny or egg?

OMG these are sofaking cute!!! Modern pet houses from peipod.com! I want one for the kitty...

My thoughts exactly...

Birdies!

Walking at Indian Creek trail park, we saw a few cardinals and a bluebird! I love bluebirds!