[haute mama] w39d1 ~ happy birthday to BHG

This past Friday the gals over at Badder Homes & Gardens threw a 2nd blog birthday soiree at Beauty Bar, and we rolled out (literally, in my case) to join in on the festivities.

Beauty Bar is really kitschy & cute - it's a bar, but all decked out like a 60s salon.  I really liked the ambiance and look forward to going back for Martinis & Manicures night when I can take advantage of the former!

Oh, and also?  I'm HUGE!  In case you didn't gather that from the photo.  As I write this post, I'm T minus 2 days from my due date, and I'm not sure my tummy can stretch much further.  Please send me non-late vibes!

Sarah & I

All three fab BHG ladies, plus Sarah's awesome family

my duds: top & bubble necklace: JCrew, jeans: Old Navy, boots: Seychelles, clutch: H&M

Thanks for the great party, ladies, and here's to many more years of wit & snark!

Hope to be posting some news SOOOOON.... 

should auld acquaintance be forgot

Is it too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year?  We're only 9 days in, so I think I'm okay.  I hope you all had great holidays and are recovered from all of the festivities & excitement.  There was no travel for yours truly, so we had our first Christmas in the new home.  My parents flew in from the Great White North of Wisconsin, and we did a lot of eating, relaxing and working on the nursery (post to come!).  We also threw a little soiree for New Year's Eve and my mom's birthday:

 Me 'n' the tree...36 weeks!

Cute, cute parents.  Happy Birthday to Jean!

 Sarah of Badder Homes and her festive frock & self-made tiara.

 Sarah's awesome mini-pie maker, a very important guest at the party.

 Great pic of Bill.  He needs to write a novel & put this on the back cover.

 Dad & I stationed by the food. 

 Me & my boo.

El Bebe's first New Year's kiss from grandma at midnight.

All of these photos are from our amazing new camera, courtesy of my parents for Christmas.  We're still plugging our way through all the bells & whistles (i.e. Rod is reading every single page of the manual and giving me the highlights I'll be most likely to remember/use), and will hopefully be pros by the time el bebe makes his arrival.  It's less than 3 weeks away at this point...I can hardly believe it.  

Happy 2011, y'all!  Stay tuned for a nursery tour later this week.

[fiesta, forever] ain't no party like a blogger party: POST recap

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the POST Blogger Social, hosted by Beth of Hello, Splendor and Kelly of Fabulous K, pictured here in all their loveliness:

*photo by Kevin Dotolo*

The party was held at Nest, otherwise known as the reason I need a serious raise.  What I love most about this shop is that it's pretty much undefinable - I was expecting a space full of furniture and other home interior goodness, but that's just the beginning.  Nest also hosts a chic array of accessories, books, gourmet bites, bath & body items, stationary...the list goes on & on.  Here's a glimpse into this beautiful space:

It would probably easier to list what I didn't want from this shop, but here's a handful of what stood out to me in a major "I wawnt that" way:

Jonathan Adler Addison Chair and Key Pillow

Missoni Home (I think?) throw that would look ah-mazing pretty much anywhere in my house

Jonathan Adler Slipper Chairs for my orange-accented living room

Giant Zook for the baby room (he stands 3' tall!)

These fabulous Skull Harp Chairs redesigned by Nest Interior Design 

The other eye candy of this soiree?  The attendees, of course.  I met a bunch of great Dallas bloggers, and ran into a couple that I know & love:

Cassie of Hi Sugarplum *photo by Kevin Dotolo*

Sarah of Badder Homes & Gardens

Last but not least?  There were cupcakes.  I'm not going to tell you how many I ate, but I will say that I'm now a total devotee of Citizen Sweet:

*photo by Kevin Dotolo - more party pics by this talented young man here*

It was a really great night!  Thanks again to Beth and Kelly for putting it all together.  When's the next one??

tricks-or-treats

Feliz Dia de los Muertos, and happy belated Halloween, y'all.  We had a fun weekend of dress up, sugar consumption, and fun parties.  I'll kick things off with a new recipe that I made for my friend Sarah's party on Friday night, Caramel-filled Chocolate Cookies (courtesy of Allrecipes).  Here's the skinny (although there isn't much that's skinny about these bad boys):

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon white sugar
48 chocolate-covered caramel candies (I used Rolos)

Directions

1.Beat butter until creamy. Gradually beat in white sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, and cocoa. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in 1/2 cup walnuts. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.

2.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

3.Combine remaining 1/2 cup nuts with the 1 tablespoon sugar. Divide the dough into 4 parts. Work with one part at a time, leaving the remainder in the refrigerator until needed. Divide each part into 12 pieces. Quickly press each piece of dough around a chocolate covered caramel. Roll into a ball. Dip the tops into the sugar mixture. Place sugar side up, 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.

4.Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool for 3 to 4 minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
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They were pretty easy, although a little time consuming.  Here are some pics of the process:
 

After the dough is fully refrigerated (don't skip this step!), roll into balls.  I made mine on the small side so the cookie-to-caramel-center-ratio would be about half & half.  I also used parchment paper on the cookie sheet, per many of the reviews on Allrecipes.

 

 Next, make a little "well" for the Rolo (my thumb worked great for this), press the Rolo into the cookie, and seal the dough around it.

Dip in sugar, and then chopped walnuts.  You can skip the walnuts (or sub for another kind of nut), but I'm not sure why you'd want to do that unless you're allergic!  They add a lot to the texture and also the Delicious Factor.

Here they are fresh out of the oven.  Also do not skip the cooling step or they will fall apart on you.  A few minutes is all it takes.

Are you ready for this? 

 

  **DROOOOOL**

They were super awesome, if I do say so myself, and a hit at the party.  Speaking of which, a few shots from said party - Rod and I went as Juno & Paulie Bleeker:

 Kristen, Bill & I

 Sarah, our hostess, puttin' the hurt on some Journey.  I love how Rod looks like he's stretching for the 50 yard dash in this shot.

My favorite costume of the night, Sarah's dog Billie.

It was a super fun night, and you can see more pics of Sarah's kick-ass decorations on her blog, Badder Homes & Gardens.  She went all out & her house really looked super spooky and awesome.  Thanks again for the good times!

[fiesta, forever] let's shower together

My lovely friends and mama threw me a baby shower during our trip to Wisconsin over Labor Day, and it was nothing short of the best shower, ever.  We had the perfect weather, and my parents' back yard provided the perfect setting:

And it wouldn't be a party without a huge table full of beautiful and delicious eats:

I had to make these Better-Than-Crack Brownies that a friend tipped me off to on How Sweet It Is:

I have always been a sucker for anything with peanut butter involved, and pregnancy has only strengthened my relationship with the PB.  Needless to say, I was very happy when this recipe came into my life, although I may be singing a different tune as I'm trying to lose the baby weight later.  But I digress.  As you may have guessed by my dessert's accessories, the theme of the shower was nautical, in keeping with our plans for nursery decor.  This sign (along with this hunky cater waiter) was one of my favorite touches:

Rod, my dad, brother, and uncle all were super helpful, not to mention excellent sports, and helped the hostesses by refilling drinks, dishing out desserts, etc.  They all donned sailor hats with Rod in a captain's hat.  I'm still kicking myself for not getting a photo of all of them together!  Believe me, it was pretty damn cute.

But speaking of cuteness and sailor hats, I'd be remiss if I didn't pay tribute to the hostesses with the mostestsses in this post - Toby and Julia.

I can't thank these girls and my mom enough.  Love yous!

And for good measure, the outfit details:  dress: H&M, necklace: Kohl's, shoes: Boutique 9