Cooper's birthday was today and to celebrate we had a BBQ for him. His cousins came over and the neighborhood kids too. The kids played baseball and played on the swing set and had a great time. Cooper had not been feeling well so he was pretty mellow and mostly just interested in drinking his water :) He was so cute though and such a big boy. I got him an electric quad and he loved it. He hasn't quite figured out how to let his thumb off the button even when he runs into something, but I'm sure he will catch on soon. He rode it all over the backyard, so cute!
It sure doesn't seem like it has been 2 years since he was born but time just flies. He has turned into such a neat little kid, he loves people, LOVES to be outside (I think he would live out there if he could) and he loves candy :) Typical little boy who loves to play in the dirt, fight with his sister and play with his trucks and trains and he sure is loved a lot! Here he is on his quad:
I wanted to try the Smore's cupcake that was featured on Martha Stewart but we found out they are only available on Sunday's and Mondays. I got a lemon strawberry cupcake and Michael got the triple chocolate. I also had a hot chocolate which I had heard was amazing and it definitely did not disappoint. They use a special kind of chocolate that is rich but so tasteful and each cup is topped off with a homemade marshmallow. I'm telling you if you ever get the chance to visit Trophy Cupcakes, you must try the hot chocolate, it is phenomenal!
Trophy Cupcakes 1815 N. 45th Street, Suite 209 Seattle, WA. 98103 206.632.7020 M-F 8:00-8:00 Saturday 8:30-8:00 Sunday 8:30-5:00
After we left there, we headed down to the University District to have dinner at Pallino, a yummy little pasta place. There used to be one in Woodinville that I went to often but now it's not there anymore so I thought we would go there. First we stopped at The Confectionery Store, a cute little candy shop. They had pretty much everything you could think of and it was displayed adorably. I got some light blue taffy and some dark brown taffy to use as part of my favors for the baby shower I'm hosting next weekend. Michael got an almond chocolate bar and I think he was finished before we even got to the car, he loved it.
The Confectionery Store, University Village. 206.523.1443 -- M-S 9:30-9:00 S 11:00-6:00
Pallino University Village. 206.522.8617 -- S-Th 11:00-9:00 F/S 11:00-10:00
So I told you it was Cupcake mania! Just had to share my first experiment with my new Wilton Big Cupcake mold. I was shocked to get it yesterday as I just ordered it on Tuesday. Melinda, Campbell and I were so excited, we just had to try it out. I used the "sparkly cake mix" aka Rainbow chip, along with the matching frosting. I think it turned out Darling! Although, next time I will add more batter into the top portion of the mold and cook it a little less, but other than that, it turned out great.
They can be purchased here for only $27.99.
As I go about my day today, this will be on my mind.
For the past couple of months, I have been obsessed with pretty much anything cupcake. I visit all things cupcake daily to see all the cute things on there.
I've ordered a few things online for the little ones in my life like this:
and this:
Bought from this Etsy shop. Aebaby carries some adoreable things, all hand made with great quality.
I also purchased this recently from Target and I can't wait to make my first one. 
Last week I talked about my love for my Ipod. I'm always shopping around Itunes looking for new music to add to my collection and on Friday I discovered this group, Lady Antebellum.
They have a song on the radio now called, "Love don't live here anymore", and it's more of an upbeat song.
I decided to listen to their 30 second clips on Itunes and immediately fell in love with them. There is 3 members in the band, 1 girl and 2 guys. They have wonderful sultry and smooth voices that go together so well. I bought several of their songs and my favorites are:
Yesterday I decided to take Campbell shopping since it wasn't a very nice day outside, and let's face it, I'm just not one to stay home. Our original purpose to go shopping was that I was going to let Campbell pick out a present to give her brother for his birthday next weekend, a present just from her.
We started out having lunch at The Cheesecake Factory at Bellevue Square and then we went in the mall. We went to the stamp store which I love, Bare Essentials and then to The Children's Place. We walked in and Campbell went straight to this little number. I don't quite know what it is about this dress, but she is just giddy over it. She carried it around with her and told me she was going to wear it to Lynsie's Baby Shower, her brothers birthday next weekend and of course her birthday too..this all within 30 seconds of seeing the dress :) She had big plans for it and there was no way I could say no, it was just too cute!
We picked out some cute purple strappy sandals to go with it and a cute headband in Purple to top it off. She talked about it the rest of the day and had to try it on immediately when we got home. I painted her fingernails and toenails a light blue color to match her dress because of course she is wearing it to school today even though it's 45 degrees, I don't think that matters much to her.
We got her some other fun summer clothes too, including these:
These were my absolute favorite thing we got, they are just so cute and only $6.99, can't beat that.
I paired them with this:
I can't wait for her to wear that outfit.
I know we had snow all weekend but I am going to just pretend that Summer is right around the corner :)
Here she is in all her glory. Although I wasn't really a fan of the dress when I first saw it, it does look darling on her :)
Most of you know me and know my friend Jay. He recently got a new job with Geico Insurance to be an Insurance estimator/adjuster for car accidents, etc. Part of this job required training, out of state training. So, for the past 3 weeks he has been in San Diego. He got to come home Friday night before he makes the transition to Washington D.C. where he will be until the middle of May and then he will head back to San Diego until June 13th.
Needless to say, I've missed him. I was so glad that he was able to come home for a day since at first he didn't think he was going to be able to. He called Saturday morning and said that he and his family were going to dinner at a new Japanese Steakhouse by their house and they had made a reservation including me for 5:00. I was so excited since I wasn't sure if I was going to see him while he was briefly here. After dinner he had planned that we would go to Tenino to watch the races, but we found out they had gotten rained/snowed out.
We went to the Japanese Steakhouse "Samuri's" and it was so nice. Jay and his family have went to the same place in Tacoma for the past 20 years and a guy that used to work there, opened up this new one and it was super nice! We had a great time laughing, chatting, hearing all about San Diego and having some good food too.
After dinner we headed to a bar called the Black Star and we stayed there until it closed. We had such a good time! I met some people that Jay used to work with and their girlfriends and we had so much fun chatting and laughing.
I'm so glad that we got to spend time together. Jay and his family are important people to me and we always have a good time together! 
12 eggs
1 lb. hamburger
1 pkg. chopped spinach
1/2 red onion chopped
1 cup parmesean cheese
Crack eggs into a bowl and scramble together.
Cook hamburger and season with salt and pepper.
Heat spinach in microwave just until not frozen anymore.
Add together in large skillet, eggs, hamburger, onion and spinach.
Cook and mix together until eggs are cooked then top with parmesean cheese.
Feeds 6!
In my family, Joe's Special is a bit of a tradition for Christmas morning, Easter Morning and Mother's/Father's Day.
When I was a little kid, I used to dread this meal but as I've gotten older, I've grown to love it. I decided to make it this morning since it feels like a winter breakfast and it feels like winter right now!
I usually don't post 2 blogs in one day, but this just had to be shared.
Here it is at 6:30 pm on Friday April 18th:
YES, that is SNOW, and a lot of it!!
This is so crazy to me for a few reasons, mainly because it's April 18th and it's supposed to be Spring right now. Secondly, a record was just broke last weekend on April 12th for having the earliest hottest day recorded at 77 degrees in Seattle, with reports of it getting to 83 in Monroe.
And now 6 days later, we are breaking the record for the latest snow fall, which was previously April 17th, 1972.
It has been snowing like a blizzard since I first got home at 5:30, the ground is completely covered and the whole sky is socked in.
When I went to the post office around 2:30, they were playing the song "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"! I just busted up laughing, it was pretty funny. Then I go into Top foods, where it's supposed to be "Hawaiian week" and all the employees are dressed with their Hawaiian shirts and lays, meanwhile its a winter wonderland outside.
I'm not really complaining since I do love the snow and all, I just wish it would have came about 3 months ago..Now that I got a taste of that warm spring weather, I want it back. But the snow is beautiful to look at, so I will just enjoy it for what it is :)
"Whoever said money doesn't buy happiness doesn't know where to shop."
Well one thing is for certain and that is that shopping can always make me feel better!
Melinda and I went to The Container Store and Paper Source last night, 2 of my new favorite stores. I could be in both of them for hours and hours so thats why I go when it's almost closing time :)
I got a few things at the container store including:
Some green hangers to go along with my blue ones that I got last time. Only .29 cents!! And oh so cute. 
To go along with my love of cupcakes, a Cup a cake container to transport them. The cupcake is firmly in place so that even if dropped, the frosting wont be ruined. Only $2.99 and super cute!
Paper Source, my new crafting heaven, was our next stop. I just love all the opportunities available for making cards, invitations, presents, lables..anything and everything! I am just overwhelmed when I walk into that place. 
These little containers were new at Paper Source and they are just darling. I love when you open them up and there is a colorful fun print inside. I dont know what I would use them for, but I just want them.
I also love the racks and racks of paper by the sheet. So many cute designs to choose from.
Things that sparked my interest and will be purchased in the near future:
Market Tote. There are so many things I could think to use this for. I am always toting around something and these are so cute and sturdy. I think they would be adoreable to use for a picnic or anything really. 
Mesh sink basket. What a neat idea! I love to wash things in the sink but it never fails that I end up dropping things so this is a great way to be able to wash fruits, vegetables..anything, without dropping it all down the drain. So cool!
I hate migraines and I got one Tuesday night. My head still doesn't feel quite right, although I am feeling better. I would love to know why I get these and how I could prevent them. I am always paranoid at the thought of one.
My mom has made pea salad for holidays ever since I can remember and it is definitely a family favorite. For Lynsie's baby shower, I'm going to serve all kinds of salads and this is going to be one of them so I decided to make it and perfect it before the big day.
I made this last night and it was delicious, and the recipe is so easy it would be silly to not make it.
Recipe as follows:
1 bag petite peas
8-10 pieces bacon
1 can water chestnuts
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 red onion chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup miracle whip
Cook bacon, let cool and then crumble into pieces. Chop water chestnuts and onion into small pieces. Mix all together and chill, serve cold.
How easy is that? And it is oh so good.
Side note, for those that don't like miracle whip I promise you, you will like it in this.
Ahh the Apple Cup, the first race of the season..that can mean several things. Excitement, anticipation, nerves, hot tempers..you name it. I was so excited for this race. Finally a real live race with people I know.
Travis qualified 4th for the main event and then had to do a 25 lap qualifying race Saturday afternoon. He took the lead on lap 2 and lead the rest of the time, until a starter came off of some one's car on lap 21 and Travis and another car ran it over. A piece of the starter flew up and hit the flagman which was a very scary thing. The race was red flagged and they got the flagman to the hospital where he was stitched up and sent home with some meds so the good news is, he will be okay. During the red flag, Travis's car caught fire because when he ran over the starter, it tore his oil line. That was scary, but he got out quick and they got the fire out thank goodness!
Unfortunately that meant he would have to start last for the main event on Sunday since he wouldn't be able to finish the heat race.
It was pretty warm in Yakima and I got a nice little burn, although not as bad as some people were! The overcast conditions Sunday is what got me.
Travis started last in the race and had an excellent car. He had no problem passing cars on the inside or outside and he made his way up to the top 5 pretty quickly. There was a break at halfway where they made some adjustments and then he was good to go. He got a few more positions and ended up finishing 3rd which was awesome! He drove the wheels off that thing and there isn't a scratch on it, really couldn't ask for more. I love watching Travis race, he always gives it his all and makes it exciting.
After the race, we went to dinner at the Outback and had a good time. Justin, Becca and Dailey came too so we spent a lot of time laughing at Dailey, she is just the cutest thing! She is getting so big and she says things here and there, the cutest was "lets go!". She always has a huge smile too and she loves people! She definitely loves her Auntie & Uncle and at dinner she was trying to say Uncle..so cute :)
I took a few pics of her in Trav's car before the race:
Dailey was trying to drive Uncle's car :)
Rarely do my plans ever work out the way I plan them to. Last night, I had planned to go home and make the cupcake pops, but that didn't happen.
Instead I drove to downtown Seattle to a bar called Fuel to watch the Nascar West Series live. It is only available on HD Net and nobody that I know has it so a few fellow racing fans drove down there to watch some of our Northwest Boys. My friend Shelby's fiancee was racing in it and I really wanted to see it and I'm so glad I went down there. The race started at 7:15 and I didn't decide to drive down there until 6:30 but I made it and only missed the first few laps.
Jeff did so good, he had blown his primary motor earlier in the day in practice, so he had to put in his backup which wasn't his favorite motor. Shelby kept me updated throughout the day and let me know that Jeff qualified 6th and was feeling good for the race. They rented some crew members off of David Reuitimans team and a guy from Petty's team to do their pit stops since that is key at Phoenix.
Jeff had to start dead last because he changed his motor, which I don't understand since he changed his motor before qualifying. He worked his way through the field, avoided several wrecks and did an awesome job. He finished 5th and he was so happy with that. Jeff has terrible luck and usually always gets a flat tire during a race so he was happy to just see the checkered flag and be in such a good position.
Maybe I will get my baking done tonight...but wait, there is the Busch race from Phoenix on tonight and my favorite boy Rowdy is in it..hmmmm, well maybe I'll get to the baking, after the race of course ;)
The Container Store is another place I have discovered recently and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.
Jenn had seen it on Oprah and wanted to go there while she was here since she didn't have any close to her, so we headed to Bellevue to check it out. I was amazed. A whole store of stuff to organize with, and it was all cute. Cute colors, cute patterns, I just loved it all and the place is huge!! They have everything you could ever think of and then some.
My purchase of the day included these:
.29 cents!! How could I not get some of these. I love the aqua blue color, but there was a huge wall of colored hangers. I only got 18 at the time, but I think I will go get a case of them so that they can all match :)
They also had a great gift wrapping section which I was not expecting at all, but there was some cool things in there. They had all kinds of wrapping paper, several kinds of gift boxes, ribbon, cute bags..all my favorite stuff. 
I am definitely a fan of this store and I think I will be visiting it entirely too much :)
Seriously, I really wonder how some people are so creative?
I see things like this and think, that is SO cute! Why didn't I think of that?
So, just another idea for me to steal...or borrow, I should say :)
Bakerella aka Angie Dudley, is my latest inspiration in baking. I came across her blog after hearing about her debut on Martha Stewart. I went on Martha's site to get the recipe for the Cupcake Pops and read through some of the comments to discover that Angie had a blog, of course I had to check it out immediately.
How cute are these??
I am so a fan of Bakerella. Especially since she was just one that enjoyed baking and started a blog, never thinking it would turn into what it already has and even more, what it could become. Pretty inspiring to me!
I am planning to make these for Lynsie's baby shower in a few weeks, but first I must try them out to make sure I can get them as cute as Bakerella's...so that will be my project for tomorrow evening. Tonight I went to Michael's and got all the supplies and I hope mine turn out atleast half as cute as hers ;)
I have been waiting for April 5Th to come around for a few months now and it finally did! Friday night, my friend Christy flew over from the Tri-Cities since the passes haven't been good lately and I picked her up and took her to 13 coins for dinner. I haven't been there since I was a little
kid so that was fun.
The other part that got me was when they sang "He ain't the leavin kind", and towards the end of the song, they had some Marine's walk on stage and then Gary turned around and sang it to them pointing and singing "and they ain't the leavin kind either" and then bowed down to them. The crowd went crazy and I think everyone was a little emotional.
