Spoiled Sweet.

I'm officially spoiled. And in a sugar coma.

My birthday was so special, and I just had to share some of the wonderful, thoughtful gifts that I received! My friends and family know me so well.  Baked goods = awesome birthday.

My parents gave me the beauty.  So perfect for summer. Like butta!

An assortment of delicious cupcakes that we shared during staff lunch, courtesy of my wonderful friend, Christin!!

new running shoes from hubs. they'll get a good breaking in this weekend as  AB and I conquer our first 5K!

My first treat of the day- Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. I die.  Thank you AB! 

Orchid from my in-laws.  So sweet, beautiful and it smells wonderful.

Ashley, the domestic wannabe, has obviously gone from a wannabe to a full out domestic goddess.  These muffins were to die for.  The best part? She surprised me at school with them and balloon! I was shocked to look at my classroom door and see her and her adorable little one standing there- such an incredible birthday surprise! We got to hang out for a little while during my plan period, and it was the perfect start to my week.

  Peanut butter, chocolate-chip banana muffin. It is the perfect mix of flavors!

don't mind the mountains of paper- check out the balloon! my students were so jealous :)

my team at school made this yummy cake that we shared today. YUM!!

 Told you- lots of sugar. It was awesome.  Thank you so much everyone- I'm definitely feelin' the love.

I'm off to run...and run...

... and drink a glass of milk.
-m

Birthday Trip- Weston, MO.

I celebrated my 25th birthday (with the help of MANY loved ones!) on Monday. My husband surprised me with a Saturday trip that he planned all out.  One word: perfection.

By far, my favorite gift is the gift of experience.  I love to go places and do things that I know I will remember forever.  This day was definitely one I will never forget.

I know J knows me so well, because this day included all of my favorite things! We headed out of town (after a quick stop at the local Farmer's Market) and drove to Weston, Missouri.  I had heard of this town, but had never visited it before this day.  The town is super tiny, and quaint.

We stopped for lunch a local burger joint for cheeseburgers and onion rings before heading to the annual antique fair!!!! J had done his research, and knew that this was the one weekend where all the local vendors showed their goods.  I was in heaven.  Pictures start at this moment:

I loved the canisters and jar caddy.

this went on for five aisles of awesomeness....

LOVE this farmhouse table.

We walked over to this local winery where we tasted multiple delicious wines.  We walked away with only one bottle... but I have a feeling we'll be back soon for some more :)

 There was a beautiful terrace outside the winery.

We walked literally across the road to the local brewery where we took a guided tour.  It was so neat to hear about the history of the town, and to tour the 100 year old brewery! The old brewery is now an Irish pub with local music playing each night.  The pub is built underground in the old cellars-nearly 6 stories underground!  Below are some pictures of our tour through the cellars.  At the end of the tour, we sampled six beer and chatted with some other tourists.

Doing his Irish Jig :)

looking down into the pub

visiting the empty cellar

I am so grateful for this awesome day!  It truly will be one I remember forever.  I'm already counting down to the next birthday :) No pressure, hubs.

-m

Pinterest obsessed.

It's taking over the web!

I'm officially a pin addict.  This site never let's me down when I'm looking for some inspiration... for food, design, fashion, quotes, ... the list goes on.

Here are some of my favorites pins so far:

adorable. and delicious

so true.

genius.

can't stop staring at that ceiling.

bold, bright and beautifully unique.

You can follow my pins here.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

I'll be back soon to share some photos from a wonderful Saturday I spent celebrating my birthday with my hubs....

Enjoy!
-m

Lemon Blueberry Scones

I printed this recipe a LONG time ago, and just now got around to making these scones.

This was my first attempt at scones, and these definitely didn't dissapoint.  The best part? Super easy to make. They'll also be great to freeze and reheat for a weekend morning.

Or midnight snack.

Sorry for the poor iPhone pics.  My camera is MIA. I really need to work on the photography aspect, but you get the idea :)

Enjoy!
-m

I'm feelin HOT HOT HOT!

Okay, not really. But my mouth is on fire.

In a good way.

I say this recipe for jalapeno cheddar hummus on a blog I regularly visit and knew it would be something I loved.  Combine cheese and jalapenos and nearly anything, and it's bound to be delicious. 

This took approximately 3 minutes to make.  That includes opening the can of beans.  Here's the rundown, it won't disappoint!

Ingredients: (adapted from original)

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 cup jarred jalapeno

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1 tsp cumin

I didn't actually measure any of it out, so I'm guessing that's about right.  Then, I just threw all the ingredients in the food processor (thanks, Cori!) until it was combined. 

Serve this with veggies, crackers, or just eat it with a spoon :)

Enjoy!

-m

Chicken Fajita Pizza.

I made that up... Tacos? Pizza? Burrito? This really could be any of those.

We ate this meal twice this week. It was super easy to make, and delicious! Hopefully fairly healthy as well.

Ingredients:
Flour tortillas (we used fresh made, and they were delish!)
Chicken
Red Pepper
Onion
Shredded Mexican Cheese
1 can green chilis
Sour Cream
Cumin
Salt

I sliced up the chicken and cooked it in a skillet with a dash of cumin for some spice. While that was cooking, I diced the red pepper and onion and cooked that in a different skillet with a tad bit of oil and salt until it started to get crispy on the edges of the onion.

One night we assembled tacos, the next night we made skillet "pizzas". The photos are from the pizza. Basically, I warmed the torilla on the skillet with a little cheese, then topped it with the chicken and vegetables. (The sauce is a mix of one can green chilis and about a cup of sour cream.)

We'll definitely be making these again. YUM!

-m

Polyvore.

When planning my wedding, I came across the site, Polyvore.  It's A-MAZING for people like me who love to put together different style combonations.  You can use this for interior design, fashion design, and I'm sure more!

I recently purchased the Poplin skirt from JCrew Factory (loving that the Factory Outlet is avaliable during the weekends online!) and put together a couple of combos that I could pair with the skirt.  I tried to find items that I already owned, or that were similar to items I own.  The search collection on the site is HUGE, but it's mostly current in-store items.  You can click on the sets to see more information about each item. Here's what I came up with:

-m