Bachelorette Party

One of my best friends from high school is getting married in a couple weeks so I offered to throw her a shower. As a general rule I hate showers with their stupid games and crappy food so I decided to do what my BFF did for my shower - go to Olive Garden. But with something as simple as going out to dinner, the little details have to be perfect to make it special for the bride. My BFF offered to help me so we spent the last couple days working on favors and decorations.

We went to hobby lobby with a few things in mind and ended up getting inspired by what we saw and changing our original plans. (That always happens to me, except when I go without a plan hoping to get inspired - then I draw a blank.) We decided to re-live high school, since that's when we were all the closest.

Mariah in high school was punky-pink. So we did everything in black and pink and tried to add in a little punk.

BFF made little purses out of pink paper with black polka dots to hold the favors which were funky colored nail polish (a Mariah fashion must) and candy flavored lip gloss along with a manicure set. She also made covers to hold CD's that I made of songs we listened to in high school.

I made this simple centerpiece (the bottom white & pink is Good & Plenty candy)
I made a veil (pink, of course) with a black headband that we made her wear and we got a bachelorette sash, just to embarrass her.

Being the shower only for friends (as opposed to one where her mother would be there) we were able to give her the dirty gifts

It went over really well. It was fun to leave the little one home with daddy and have fun with the girls. But I'm always happy to come home to my loving hubby and my beautiful girl.

Sammi, Mariah, Me, Marne'

Mariah, Me, Marne', BFF Kalli

Garden Cake

DH's grandpa turned 80 last week. Grandma asked me and my sister-in-law to make a garden cake that had chickens and rabbits. This is what we came up with: All the decorations are handmade from fondant. This really was a fun cake to do. But I'm done doing cakes for a while.

New Love!

We have a new cupcake bakery in Ogden! I've been twice in the last 2 days. Guess I should start adding an extra workout to the week. They have fun flavors that the kiddos will love, like peanut butter & jelly! DD loved it!!!!

If you're ever in Ogden, stop by! 470 24th street.

http://vintagecupcakeco.blogspot.com/

The PERFECT Roast Beef

I found this method of cooking a roast on recipezaar. I tried it today and it truly is perfect!


I cooked mine medium-rare so it does look quite pink. I should have let it sit longer to avoid losing all this juice, but it doesn't matter, it was moist and delicious! I find that often the beef flavor gets covered up by all the herbs and other ingredients that recipe's call for, but this recipe actually lets you taste the beef.

Another major bonus: this roast took less than an hour to cook!

Try it next time you're making a Sunday roast!

Mother's Day Brag Boards

DH and I were tuck home last Sunday working for the mortuary, so I had an extra week to get our Mother's Day gifts done. They're finally complete and ready to give to our mom's.

I decided to make Brag Boards for them. I got the idea from a blog (which I can't find now) where the mom was sick of having her refrigerator covered in the kids' artwork & pictures, so she made a brag board.

I wanted to make them to fit both of our moms' personalities and I think I accomplished that.
Here is the one I made for my mom:

And here is the one I made for DH's mom:

This one was a little trickier than my mom's was. I went to Roberts to get white vinyl but they were out, so I had to figure something else out. I looked at chipboard letters but they were too small. I thought of letter stickers, but again, too small. I finally decided to use my neighbors cricut and cut out the letters. We found some really elegant ivory paper with a gold sheen (enlarge the picture to see) and then we found some awesome jewel embellishments.
I painted to board Cinderella blue, MIL's favorite color. Even her car is that color. I painted the border of the board and the clothespins ivory to go with the paper.

I'm pretty happy with the result. I think it looks better than it would have if I had just done white vinyl. Funny how that always happens; you go to the craft store with an idea and you end up doing something totally different.

I had pictures printed to hang from the clothespins but I cannot find them!!!! Hopefully I'll come across them before we head to our folks' houses.
*****Sad Update: DH's mom's brag board was damaged en route to her house. It was still a little tacky and DH's clack coat touched it. Now it's covered in black fuzzies. There is no way I'm giving this to my mother in law. Aaargh!

Toddler Bed

DD fell in love with this toddler bed at Kid to Kid. DH wanted to get her a toddler bed and this was only $35! It's sturdy and in great condition! It had a beautiful cherry stain but the nursery is white, so....

My Review of WinCo

WinCo just opened a store 1 mile from my house. I've watched the building process and I'm so excited that it's finally open!

I told myself that I'd wait a few weeks to go since I knew it would be crazy busy, but I couldn't help myself. I went on opening day and it was a madhouse, but I got about $80 worth of groceries for $30, so I couldn't complain. Later that night, DH and I needed to get milk so we went back. I thought it would be less crowded but I was so wrong! The check-out lines were literally to the back of the store.

My dad loves a good deal so he and my mom came over today so we could go to WinCo. It was still busy but much better so I was able to take a better look at things and I'm very impressed.
The prices are better on most things, but there were a few items we looked at that we knew we could get cheaper at Wal-Mart or Costco.

The store itself is very clean and has a good flow. My favorite section of the store is the bulk section. They have every herb you could possibly want for super cheap. I love that I can get as much as I need and not have to buy a full jar of a spice I need for just one recipe. They also have a huge variety of flour including semolina, gluten, rye, & multiple kinds of wheat. They have bulk honey, which I've never seen. They have a big meat & seafood department and even though I think fish & seafood is disgusting, I did notice that they have a huge variety compared to most stores.

The biggest con I can think of is that you have to bag your own groceries. I like to watch the scanner and make sure I'm getting the right price, but it's not that big of a deal.

I was told today that they're building in WinCo in Layton which should open next year.

I love this store. It is definitely my new store of choice.