sweet & sour

the sweet:
the realization that a new jack johnson song came out. the race between me and husband afterward to see who could download it first. (i won, duh).

sometimes when i hold my baby, she pats me on the back to let me know everything is okay. man that girl gets me.

realizing the salt water and the sea are only seven short days away.

lemon ricotta pancakes...i want to stop talking about them, but i just can't.

my nightly ritual of picking up toys, books, kitchen utensils and anything else skylar has gotten into throughout the day. makes me really feel like a mom. makes me feel really happy.

the sour: 
my dvr cutting off the last ten minutes of the season final of game of thrones. noooooooooooooooooo.

the swimsuit situation.

accidentally buying an $8 fathers day card at target. they make cards that are $8!?

letting my kid play with the sugar packets at a restaurant to keep her from having a full blown breakdown. as a former server, this is a full circle moment people. i would like to note that i did put the sugar packets back in the container in color coordinated order. thank yew.

lemon ricotta pancakes

sunday morning, i got up and did something i never (but always aspire) to do. i made breakfast this morning. ever since i pinned the recipe for lemon ricotta pancakes it has been all i can think about...so i made them this morning and man, are these guys amazing. and easy! make these asap, but make sure its a weekend...

because you are going to be really full,
and need a nap, 

and have a baby and not be able to take a nap...

lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberry sauce

recipe adapted from food network

¾ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
vegetable oil

in a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. whisk to combine and set aside. In another bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, eggs, milk, lemon zest and lemon juice and stir to combine. add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and whisk gently until just combined.

heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and coat with vegetable oil. for each pancake, pour approximately 1/3 cup of the batter onto the pan and cook on both sides until golden brown.

blueberry sauce 

4 cups fresh blueberries
¼ cup cold water
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch

place ingredients in a saucepan and stir to combine over medium-low heat until the sauce bubbles. cool slightly before serving.

uno.

a month ago my little girl turned one. ONE. i can hardly believe it. i feel like saying the past year has been the best of my life, doesn't even give the year justice. its has been better than that...truly. I have grown with this child and become a better version of myself, for her.  Thank you sweet girl...for being such a dream, and for showing me how much i can truly love. 

a few pics from her fiesta themed birthday party:

 {the invitations, while adorable, took forever...so naturally mimosas became involved}

 {photo booth}

{of course we had mini layer dips in mason jars...}

{...and sangria}

{me and my big girl}

 {another labor of love - diy pinatas}

 {i loved the favors - instragram cookies...of course, i had too much sangria & forgot to give them out}

{family}

february fourteenth.

hope your day is filled with sweet surprises and lots of love. xx

also...happy birthday to my beautiful sister in law, holli hart. (yep, hart, like heart, get it?)

a weekend of mostly nothing

we are still in flu recovery over here but well enough to at least enjoy a weekend of mostly nothing. february is such a blah month, no? 

saturday i did get to go to a beautiful baby shower and celebrate my friend karen who is having...wait

for it...twins! every time i say the word "twin" i have a brief moment of anxiety because i can not even imagine. but if anyone can handle it, it's her and don't worry because she has three pack and play's now. #registryissues

my dad and step mom came up and treated us to dinner at Leon's which is just, so freaking yummy. included...my sweet angel child allowing her parents to enjoy a night out on the town, a bottle of merlot and the best fries ever.

 today we are watching the rain, finishing off valentines and in keeping with our italian sunday dinners, cooking chicken piccata.   if there's one thing getting me through this month...its our sunday dinners. and live texting with my best friend through all the red carpets.

february...blah, blah, blah. xx

i didn't get the flu shot and now i have the flu.

{my view}

to be honest, i thought that seeing as i had bronchitis for A MONTH followed by two colds and constant anxiety that it would be very cruel for life to give me the flu. but okay world, lesson learned. and can i just say, that being bedridden for three days makes you do crazy things....like have full blown breakdowns over super bowl commercials about horses and farmers, and google things like "beyonce post-baby diet" and "fifty shades of grey casting news." 

help.

because it's mine.

is anyone else obsessed with this photo? i am. no shame. 

i just feel like this is me and my best friend in 40 (gulp) years. 

and i kind of love us.

hello two thousand thirteen

{family}

i know i know, there is a statute of limitations on how long you can reference the new year once you reach the middle of january...but here we are. and i want you to know that...looking back on 2012...i feel nothing but happiness. i mean, what a year! i spent this year really taking the time i needed to bond with my little girl and to figure out this new, insane and just really lovely new life. i closed a chapter at the end of this past year. the chapter where i learned what it feels like to be a mother and in the process became more comfortable with who i am than i have ever felt in my life. and this next chapter, i feel, i hope, will be the one where life just makes total sense.

throughout my journey into motherhood, i realized very quickly there were several things that would have to sit by the wayside while i figured it all out and unfortunately this blog was the first to go...but i love this little online journal. i love being able to chronicle our lives and take a little snapshot of how i am feeling, or what we are up to in the moment. for myself. so one of my many goals this year is to really make an effort to capture more memories and keep them here...in this space where our friends and family can see what we are up to but more importantly, where we can look back and remember.

cheers to a new year, a new life, the next chapter...xx.

i haven't posted in three whole months...

my house is a mess

my hairdryer is collecting dust

there is mail and magazines scattered...everywhere

my list of people to call back...

and thank you's to write...

is enormous (sorry friends!)

but i have a crawler. 

and i feel that that is enough said. 

xx

firsts.

my baby girl is growing up so fast! how was it only four months ago that we were two terrified parents who cradled every bit of this little baby's body so that nothing would break. above...a picture of her first time sitting up straight in her bumbo chair. it seems like every day is a new first...and every bit of it is so fun to watch.

...and i am trying to just take it all in because these little moments...they go so fast.

...and just in case you didn't already know...we are so in love.