Happy Easter!

Busy Day!

Hi all!  Today is going to be a busy day, but I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a blessed Easter weekend!  I hope you all have  a wonderful time with friends and family!!  We're off for an afternoon of Easter egg hunting with Papa Sal and then home to dye eggs.  If I have a couple of minutes, I will post pictures later.  TTFN!

XOXO,

Kim

Easter Celebrations

Knowing this is Holy Week and Ittybit attends a Catholic preschool, I knew Easter celebrations were going to be kept to a minimum, especially on Holy Thursday.  They had an Easter egg hunt, which is always cute to watch, but I wanted to do something special.  Now, don't tell Betty Crocker, because I'm taking full credit for these adorable lamb cupcakes!  We did make them our own by not adding the ears and changing out what color M&M's we used to make the eyes.

They were super easy to decorate and Ittybit had fun helping.

And eating...

Now, if any of you can come up with an easier way to halve the marshmallows, please let me know!!!

May you all have a blessed Good Friday and a joyous Easter!  Celebrate all that God has given you!!

XOXO,

Kim

Kate Puck Jewelry

Hi all!  Today I would like to tell you about Kate Puck jewelry.  She is a wonderful jewelry designer out of Charleston, SC and her work reflects her love of the sea.  So far I've bought four pieces and find any excuse to wear them, especially with my favorite Lilly Pulitzer outfits!  I tried to find decent pictures of me in her work, but none of them wowed me, so here are her samples:

Here is my first purchase from the Kiawah Starfish Collection.  I adore the necklace, because I just love pearls, especially these golden pearls!  Besides, who can go wrong with a necklace named Ocean Goddess!

And look at these adorable earrings to match

After I received my first order, I was hooked and quickly made a second purchase from the Ocean Blue Collection.  Look at this "Delicate Creature!"

I went with these earrings to go with it

Here is what is next on my wishlist from the Golden Amber collection -- Dear Husband, Mother's Day is in May and I did give you FOUR beautiful children!! ;)

Here is the Amber Waves Necklace:

And to go with it I must have these amber earrings:

I'm also in love with Kate's newest collection the Seabrook  Can you believe it?!  Pink pearls!!!  I've died and gone to preppy heaven!!

Well, I hope y'all enjoy her work as much as I do!  Please note that I was not compensated for this.  I just wanted to share some great pieces of jewelry with you and, hopefully,  inspire you as well.  TTFN!

XOXO,

Kim

Spring Exchange

Hi all!  Several weeks ago I signed up to do a spring gift exchange hosted by Shopaholic in Alabama and Maryland Pink and Green.  Well, I was paired up with Erica and it turned out to be such fun!  First of all, Erica was super easy to shop for.  Hey, a girl who loves fashion and food, easy -- apron!!  So I went right over to my favorite lady, Lynn, and grabbed up the cutest and springiest Lilly Pulitzer apron I could find.  Erica seemed genuinely happy, even said she was going to use it for Easter!  I also gave her a copy of "Social Climbers,"  very important reading!!!

Then I received her gift and boy was it ever cute!  The minnies have actually taken all of it from me.  It included these fun items all packaged in a pail with shovel:

No picture of the pail, because it's already in use in the sandbox at their playground!

It really was a great exchange and I wanted to thank our wonderful hosts, Lori and Bethany, as well as my adorable partner Erica! 

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring gifts!  TTFN!

XOXO,

Kim

Chocolate Chip Cookies Warm the Soul!!

As I told y'all earlier, Husband adores his chocolate chip cookies!  So, today, I thought I'd share my favorite recipe with you.  This is a great cookie to share with those you love!  It's super easy to make, especially with a KitchenAid mixer.  Is there any other?!  And, though optional, I highly recommend one of Lynn's aprons all pretty and Lilly-fied!!  I own two sets for me and the minnies!!  They just make the whole process more colorful.  Just so you know, I bake the cookies on a Pampered Chef stoneware piece.  I swear by them for baking.


Finally, here's my recipe:


Chococlate Chip Cookies
1 C sugar
1 C firmly packed brown sugar
1C softened butter
2 eggs 
1-1/2 to 1-3/4 tsp pure vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2-3/4 to almost 3 C flour
14-16oz Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips
(sometimes I'll use 1/2 semi-sweet and 1/2 milk chocolate)


Preheat oven to 375.


Beat together sugars, butter, vanilla and eggs until fluffy.  I start on speed 2 and increase to Speed 4.


Then, on the lowest setting, mix in the baking soda and salt.  Once incorporated, mix in about 1/2 C flour until incorporated.  Continue to add flour by 1/2 C increments until all flour has been used.  Then turn mixer back to speed 4 for about 30 seconds.  Back to stir and add chocolate chips.


I use a PC medium scoop and place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the cookie stone.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes.  Let the cookies cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie stone, then remove them to a cooling rack.  


Personally, I enjoy them warm, but Husband prefers them after a couple of hours with a glass of milk.  How do you enjoy your cookies?


Well, this has made me hungry, so I'm off to eat a cookie!  TTFN!!


XOXO,


Kim

Birthday Boy

Hi all!  Well, yesterday was a big day -- Husband's birthday!  It's funny how we differ on this.  To me it was a big deal, to him it was just another day.  As a kid, his family really didn't celebrate birthdays, so he could take them or leave them.  I, on the other hand, believe you should celebrate the entire month of your birth! 

Birthdays are a big deal.  They mark the day you came into this world and were first held and loved by your parents.  And, heck, let's be honest, the alternative to another birthday really stinks!  But, back to Husband, and his day.  I still think he had a nice one, I hope.  The kids made him birthday cards and it's always fun to see what their imagination has in store.  It was really cute watching Ittybit tell him what her scribble scrabble said!  The eldest and I made him chocolate chip cookies, because he hates cake, so that was fun for me.  Bonding over bakimg is always best!  Husband really liked the cookies, as he always does.  Truth be told though, that's good and bad, as he has Type 2 diabetes.  We won't tell his doctor he ate a few! ;)  He also received calls and emails wishing him a happy day -- that was all he needed. Other than that, we didn't do anything else.  That's what makes Husband most happy, just a quiet day with his family.  Well, as quiet as it can be with four kids!

Husband, I hope your day was just the way you wanted it!  And, to all my blog friends and family, I hope you celebrate your day, your way, too!  TTFN!!

XOXO,

Kim