Baby Shower Goodness

My absolute favorite part of the shower was definitely the cake & cupcakes.  I mean, how cute are they?!  I loved all of my gifts (okay, those are probably my favorite part) and having all my family in one setting again warmed my heart.  But that cake.  So.  Freaking.  Cute!  Ashley Holt, winner of TLC's Next Great Baker, created the confections and did an outstanding job!

The food was delicious and the champagne flowed (fake champagne for me! cider for the kiddos!).

Look at all that loot! I was definitely showered with gifts and love that day.  I'm so grateful, 'cause this whole parenthood endeavor is 'spensive!

It's not everyday I share photos of myself on here, especially when I'm looking like a beached whale. But here you go, one big ole belly shot, even if it is hard to see since I'm wearing a black dress.

My sister-in-law did a terrific job planning everything.  The shower was held at the Mellwood Arts Center here in Louisville in one of their gallery rooms.  It was awesome to be able to walk around and check out art while the shower took place, plus it called for minimal decorating for the main event!

Hey look, it's me again! Bonus!

I was pretty stoked about those JJ Cole sleep sacks, obviously.  Also, the cutie in the bottom left corner was my little helper.  She and Ann handed me presents so I didn't have to bend over to get them (such a big ordeal these days) and threw away all my trash.  Plus, she served the cake.  She rules.

Baby boy got so many cute clothes, coats, blankets and stuffed animals.  Mom and dad got some really great stuff as well, including the "baby cadillac" of travel systems, a video monitor, breast pump, etc.  The best surprise of the day was definitely the mobile my mom handmade.  I'd been coveting an Etsy mobile pretty much since we found out we were expecting but had resisted buying it.  I opted to put it on our registry since we created an online one, but had no idea my mom was going to handcraft one!  It even has a little badger on it, and we've already hung it up above the crib.  We might not have that room together yet (I'll share when we do) but that mobile is up!

It was so wonderful to have my family in town and to get everyone together to honor a super special little guy.  It's hard to believe I'm 30 weeks along and that he'll be here in 2 months!  I can't hardly wait!  

Thanks again, to everyone who was a part of this amazing day, and to everyone who has extended their love and support for us in this endeavor.  We're beyond thrilled to be embarking in this journey with all of you along for the ride!

Thursday, randomly

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Whoa.  Isn't this shot oh so lovely?  I'm...in love.  

  

How awesome is this mid-century wooden table lamp? I think...I'm in love...with this as well.

My not-so-in-shape body really appreciates the high-waisted swim trend this year.  While I won't be ordering this Free People bikini, I'm totally into the idea of finding one similar.  Via

Oh.  Em.  Gee.  Whatever person builds something like this for a wee person deserves to have all the #1 dad/grandpa/grandma/mom/etc mugs there are in this world.  This is so unbelievably cool.  Via

Oh Flourishing Foodie, you know how to suck me in, every time.  And then you go and take a Sweetapolita cake and make it your own, thus making me even more of a fan.  I love it. So beautiful.

Don't forget to get your name in the Shabby Apple giveaway!  Happy Thursday, everyone!

Thursday's Randoms

I've been rather obsessed with Tory Burch lately, evidenced by my recent splurge (hey, I had a gift card and my cheapo sunnies broke after a year!) at Sunglass Hut.  So when I saw these riding boots this morning, I fell in love.  

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I saw this image on my Pinterest this morning and immediately thought it would be terrific in that dream store of mine, as a display for stationary or something similar.  Yesterday we stopped at a flea market in the middle of nowhere (thanks I-65 emergency closing) and saw tons of things like this that I wanted to snatch up, but unfortunately they were closing and we couldn't make a decision!

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Speaking of awesome things for my dream store, aren't these wall decals used fabulously?!  What a creative way to take an ordinary kitchen and spice it up a notch!  

This image by Tina Crespo reminds me of our neighborhood.  It makes me feel happy, as I love the forest and I love the overall tone of the photograph.  I'm on the lookout for a giant picture of the forest to hang above our mantle, so keep your eyes peeled (he he).

Will someone please buy me this black and white leather triangle tote from the ever awesome renneslechateau?  Oh wait, it's sold :(

Since recreating our wedding cake, I've had an itch to bake more and more.  It was difficult to make the cake, but challenging in all the right ways (the edible reward was pretty top notch, I must say).  I want to get in there and challenge myself some more - and this time use food coloring to get an ombre look like this adorable cake.

Hope your weeks are fantastic so far!

Caramel Apple Cake

Can you say mmmmmmmmm?

While it may not have been the prettiest looking cake I've ever made, it certainly was one of the most delicious ones. 

Every week we watch Dexter with our friend Inna.  Her birthday happened to be over the weekend and I knew I had been wanting to make this cake, so I baked one right on up for her last night!

I followed Honey & Jam's recipe for the cake and the apple filling but because of a crunch for time, I used this caramel frosting recipe.  Mmmm, mmmmm, mmmmmm.

Now we're down to only a handful of apples, huzzah!

A very special Birthday

Ladies and Gentledudes,

Today is Anna-Maria's birthday!!!  Happy Birthday to my most favorite Londonite in the world!  What an amazing friend she is.  And she's not just my most favorite person from London, she's truly a special woman and I love and adore her with all of my heart. 

Anna, I hope you have a wonderful day.  I hope Bort treats you to an amazing time full of cake, romance, gourmet food and whatever else your cute little heart desires.  Here's to another wonderful year!  We are all blessed to have you in our lives!

(Photo via too nice to slice)

A Badger Birthday Redux

We spent last Sunday celebrating the birth of Badger. Mo and yours truly found a carrot cake recipe (so good, even though there's not a grain of sugar in it), and Lauren helped us turn it into a work of cake-art!

It looks like we melted a Simpson...



Fire! Singing! Hope you had a good one, DB :-)

We laughed - and then some!

How can cake decoration possibly go wrong? Here's Cake Wrecks, an entire blog dedicated to just that.

We just perused the New Discoveries in the Animal Kingdom page.

There's also pages and pages of turkey cakes from the holiday season.

I won't spoil the fun...

It's obvious I'm hungry, isn't it

I WANT TO EAT THIS.  MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.  I stumbled upon this delicious looking rainbow cake and now I am dreaming about it.

Just look at its beauty!

You can find the recipe here.  Enjoy!