5 on Friday: Volume 13

{one}
Faux Fur vest & Pigtails: Who wore it best?

Eloise vs. Maxwell (aka Jessica Simpson's daughter)  

                         

{two}

Booties. 
When the bootie craze started this season, I was skeptical about the look.  After seeing them on some real people and not just the skinny & super tall models on Banana Republic or J.Crew's websire, I was sold.  After a trip to DSW and some serious online shopping, I ended with 2 pairs.  Black ones are Dr. Scholls & Taupe ones are TOMS.  Both are actually super comfy!  In fact, I've worn both of them all day at work. 

{three}

Brussel sprouts. 
For no particular reason, I'm obsessed with brussel sprouts right now.  A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a bag of shredded brussel sprouts in the produce section and decided to give them a go.  There was a VERY simple recipe on the back of bag that I decided to give a whirl. At this point, I've been making it weekly so I have the recipe memorized.

• Olive Oil
• Minced Garlic
• Chopped Onion (I use the frozen chopped onion - super easy)
• Real Bacon pieces
• Brussel Sprouts, shreds or chopped
• Black pepper, to taste

Saute' some minced garlic and onions.  Add the brussel sprouts shreads & bacon pieces.  Stir to mix.  Cover. Stir periodically.  Let simmer until brussle sprouts seem tender. Serve immediately.  
 

{four}

My mantel decor. 

I got this great chalkboard print from one of my favorite bloggers - Jessica Garvin. Her blog sparked my love for chalkboards. You can find all her prints at her Etsy shop.

 

{five}
300. 
No, not the movie 300.  This is the 300th blog post for Sew Snappy!!  YAY. 

Thanks for reading! 

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Also, feel free to check out The Littlest Kalins, my blog dedicated to the all the awesomeness that is my 14.5 month old daughter Eloise.   

5 on Friday

5 on Friday is back from a few week hiatus.  Between my real job and weekend photo shoots, I've been busy! 

{one}  

St. James Farm

On Columbus Day, I ventured out to St. James Farm with my mom and Eloise to check it out.  It is such a gorgeous space!  I'm excited to have another great photo spot for outdoor photoshoots.  Can't you just picture a family or a couple in the middle of these trees! 

 

{two} 
Breakfast cookies.
I'm obsessed with these "cookies" and have been making various versions of them the past few weeks.  I've seen this recipe everywhere so I don't know who to give credit to but it is super easy!

• 2-3 ripe Bananas mashed
• 1 cup Quick Oats
• Handful of Chocolate chips
• Handful of walnut piece

Place tablespoon-size scoops of mixture on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes.  Other combinations: chocolate chips, walnuts & dried cranberries

{three} 
Gallery Wall update

Oh yeah...I need pictures in there too. 

{four}
Family Halloween Costume
Eloise is going to be a Bumble bee for Halloween & I'm going to be a Bee Keeper.  Gotta love a family costume!

{five} 
Top Secret Pregnancy announcement & gender reveal photo shoot
On Saturday morning, I'm doing this awesome and exciting photo shoot!  I'm literally one of the few people who know the gender of this couple's baby.  I made some custom props for the photo shoot too.  I have a bunch of fun ideas to incorporate into this photo shoot and I can't wait!  Stay tuned for the big reveal!

5 on Friday

{one}
Wine colored clothing.
Deep burgundy must be super hot this Fall season as I have picked up a cardigan, 2 blouses, and a pair of skinny trousers.

{two}
This song. 

I'm embarrassed to admit it but I have been singing it all week! 

{three}
Fall Photo Shoots. 
This weekend kicks off a string of photo shoots that I have scheduled for the Fall.  2 this weekend, 2 more the weekend of the 11th and 2 more before the end of the month.  Fall is such a great time to do photo shoots.  I still have some free time - email me if you interested!

{four}
What's for dinner?  Venison. 
Brad got his first deer last weekend!  With the deep freezer stocked, I'm in venison-recipe mode.  So far, we've had chili, salami, and tostadas.  So good!


{five}
Eloise's Halloween Costume. 
I'm losing my mind over here trying to come up with an idea.  I've looked at everything from Tinkerbell to Blueberries to Rainbow Bright.  You are probably thinking that this is not a big deal but they do a parade at the daycare at the hospital.  I can't be the mom with the lame costume.  Help!

Here is her costume last year.  She was an owl to match her forest-themed nursery.  

5 on Friday

{one}
Chili
As Autumn turns into Fall, I couldn't be more excited that it is Chili season!  This past Sunday I made my first batch of Chili in the Crock pot and it was great.  My recipe is a mash up of various chili recipes but the key is it is super easy!

Mandy's Chili
1 jar of Salsa
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans black beans
2 cans kidney beans
1 chili seasoning packet
1 lb of ground meat - beef, turkey, chicken, or our favorite - Venison!

Brown the meat.  Stir in seasoning.  Dump meat & everything else in the crock pot for 4 hours. Enjoy!
Favorite toppings: Fritos, Doritos, Shredded cheese/Avocado/Tortilla Strips, or Oyster Crackers

{two}
Family Dinner Recipes
I don't know what has gotten into me but I'm a recipe printing freak lately!  My email is continuously getting flooded with links to Pillsbury, Kraft, and Betty Crocker.  I've always been obsessed with collecting recipes so I'm loving that there are so many yummy new dishes out there.

{three}
Fall TV premiers!
Last Fall, we were in a newborn baby haze and watching our favorite shows was the furthest things from our minds.  Now that our little baby is 1 and goes to bed like a champ, we can enjoy our shows again.  Here's to watching Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, Glee, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, Bones, and whatever Bravo has to offer!

{four}
Gallery Wall is a go!
My personal handyman Brad is on board with my latest project!  As part of our date night last Saturday, we went to IKEA before dinner and our movie to get all the frames.  We decided to go with a combination of black and white frames with white mats in various sizes.  We even mapped out the layout the frames.  Some may think the hard part will be hanging all of these frames but I think it is going to be picking out the photos.  Thankfully we just had a photo shoot for Eloise's birthday with the amazing Chantel Ferraro so we have some great photos to pick from!

{five}
Eloise's 1 year Photo Shoot.
"The best that a photographer can do is have someone else take their family photos" - Chantel Ferraro.  We got to see some sneak peaks this week from Eloise's 1 year photo shoot and they were amazing.  We can't wait to see the rest!

5 on Friday

{one}
Market Salad
Right now I'm obsessed with this salad.  Easy pantry ingredients and so simple to throw together.  Mixed Greens, Dried Cranberries, Bleu Cheese crumbles, Walnuts & Balsamic Dressing.
Balsamic Dressing suggestion:

{two}
Gallery Wall

With the new interior paint, I find myself bored with most of my decor.  I've been sniffing around Pinterest for ideas and keep coming back to the concept of a Gallery wall.  I have the perfect place for it and everything.  Now to get Brad on board.  He loves a good project!

{three}
5 things you could live on
One of my favorite authors Shauna Niequist posed a random questions on Facebook - What are your 5 things that you could or do live on?  She said peanut butter, cheese, bread, wine, and coffee.  Me? Peanut Butter, Hummus, Red Bell Peppers, Cheese & Bread.  Runners up would be Diet Pepsi, Cold Milk, and Chips & Salsa.  How about you? 

{four}
Fall Decor
I've said a ton of times on this blog that Fall is my favorite season.  I love the food, colors, weather, holidays/celebrations, clothes, and decor.  Fall/Halloween is probably my favorite holiday/season to decorate for - more so than Christmas.  I love seeing pumpkins in the obvious and not so obvious areas of the house.  With a curious toddler on my hands now, I will have to do some serious thinking when it comes what I can do for Fall Decor this year.  I see a Hobby Lobby trip in my future...

{five}
And just like that...I'm done nursing.

I stopped pumping a few weeks ago and was just nursing in the morning and night. This past weekend, I dropped the morning feeding with no problem.  I figured that I would keep the evening feeding for another week or so.  Wrong.  Come Tuesday, I could tell that she was done.  If I would have known that Tuesday night was going to be the last night, I would have cherished it more.  Instead of playing on my phone or looking at the clock, I would have just stared at her.  Eloise & I have come so far in this Breastfeeding journey and I'm so glad that I was able to do this for her.  Here's to putting away the nursing bras, tanks, pads and all other nursing gear! 

Would you like a cocktail with dinner, you ask.  Why, yes.  Yes, I will.

5 on Friday

  

I took last week off from 5 on Friday as I was in the midst of some serious birthday party prep, but I'm back in action this week! This week's 5 on Friday is mash up of last week and this week.

{one}
Devin Jay Thakur
On 8.29.13, my bestie Sarah gave birth to her second child, a sweet little baby boy named Devin Jay Thakur.  Dev was 7lbs and 18.5 inches.  A few weeks before he was born, I made him a name banner for his room.  I've been dying to share it but I was sworn to secrecy when it came to the name.  Name banners are by far one of my favorite things to make for kiddos.

{two}
Toddler.
And with the passing of August 31st, all of the sudden my inbox is filled with everything Toddler.  "3 amazing facts about your Toddler," "Getting your Toddler to eat," and the best so far, "How to raise a patient and kind toddler."  I feel like I'm a contestant in a spelling bee and I was just informed that my word to spell is Toddler.  Use it in a sentence? Sure - I'm the parent of a Toddler.  Provide a definition? Sure - Toddler: what happens after a sweet baby starts to walk and turns 1.  Over on The Littlest Kalins blog, I did a Baby Face Friday post every week.  With this whole Toddler thing staring us in the face, I will have to come up with something else...

{three}
Do you remember my last post about looking for my reward, award, or medal for nursing for a year?  Well, my sister surprised me last Friday with a one of a kind trophy commemorating my year of nursing.  Seriously, sisters rule! I really want to display this next to my diplomas and professional licenses.  Heck, it may need it's own trophy cabinet.

{four}
Iced Pumpkin Mocha Latte
I'm a freak for Fall and all things pumpkin-flavored.  When I heard a commercial that Dunkin Donuts was debuting all their pumpkin menu items this week, I was eager to give something a try.  This drink definitely did not disappoint.

{five}
Donnie Wahlberg & Jenny McCarthy.
It's official.  They are a couple.  That's all.

5 on Friday

{one}
Pink & Yellow.
1st Birthday Party preparation is in full swing.  As pink & yellow is my color scheme, I feel like I'm seeing the two colors together everywhere.  I find myself hearing this song in my head while strolling the isles of Target, Home Goods or Party City as I look for items for the party.  Humor me and listen to the chorus and say Pink & Yellow instead of Black & Yellow.

{two}
Basil Plants 2.0
Since I killed off my first basil plant, I sent out an SOS to my parents on what to do.  They went a hunt for a sturdier basil plant and found 2 viable options.  This past Sunday, my Dad came over and replanted them for me as well.  Thank God my parents have a green thumb! Here's hoping I do better with my Basil Plant 2.0

{three}
Oh Kale Yeah
One of my besties Anita is a Vegan and champion for the plant-based diet.  Over the past few months, I think I have seen her eat every type of vegetable the Whole Foods has to offer.  Most days at lunch, she entertains the questions of "what are you eating?" "did you make that?" and "that's kale, right?"  With Brad out of town this week, I decide to get some kale and give it a whirl.  Of course, Anita was thrilled and was armed with lots of tips.  Homemade kale chips here we come!

{four}
Kitchen Revamp.
As mentioned earlier this week, we had the interior of our house painted. With new paint, comes new decor!  In preparation for the new paint, I had picked up some new accessories for the foryer area and living room but completely forgot about the kitchen.  For some reason, I guess I thought that what I had decorated the tops of kitchen cabinets with back in 2007 was going to work with this new color.  Wrong!  As soon as I took these decorations down, I started to hate them.  That's how it is when you are redecorating - you instantly start to hate what you've had for years simply because you are so excited about the change.  Thanks to a few Visa gift cards I got for my birthday from my girlfriends & Home Goods, I was able to start revamping the Kitchen accessories immediately.  Lovin' the new look so far!

{five}
Last Day of Pumping!
I know, TMI.  Deal with it.  So, where's my medal?  We get a medal for doing this whole nursing & pumping for a year, right?  No medal? Oh, ok.  A prize?  We get a prize, right?  No prize?  What?  No medal, no prize, no nothing?  So, remind why I did this again?  Oh yeah, because I wanted to.

One thing that I have learned since the moment that I was pregnant is that motherhood is all about doing what works for you and sometimes simply just survival.  No matter what you do - natural childbirth vs epidural, breastfeeding vs formula or cosleeping vs sleep training etc - no one is going to give you "something" as a reward - no medal, no prize, no award.  All you get is the satisfaction knowing that you did the BEST THAT YOU COULD for you and your baby.  Seriously.  Think on it.  It's so easy to sit judgement of other mothers and what they are doing when you are having one of those supermom days yourself.  Believe me, I've done it more times than I would like to admit.  When fellow new moms or other pregnant women ask for advice, I've found myself telling them this: Do you what you can and what works for you and your family.  I made the decision to nurse Eloise as long as I could from the beginning.  I would take it day by day, week by week, and month by month.  Now that we are staring at the finishing line, I feel great that I made it this far and I'm ready to be done with whole nursing lifestyle completely in the coming weeks.  Real talk?  I may run my car over the pump just to show it who's boss for once.      

5 on Friday

{one}
Book of Mormon Soundtrack.

Brad & I saw Book of Mormon this past weekend after months of anticipation.  It lived up to all the hype!  We were cracking up throughout the entire performance.  All week long we have been singing the songs and watching you tube videos of the various songs.  I honestly don't know why we haven't just bought the soundtrack! 

{two}
Duck Dynasty started this week.

{three}
My Chocolate Peanut Butter Addiction goes to another level.
At the Farmer's Market at work this week, the bakery booth had Chocolate Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls.  Seriously.

{four}

Canada? Yes. As in the country right above us. Brad leaves today for a week long fishing trip with 2 of his brothers and some other friends. It's a total "man" trip as they bring minimal clothes, lots of gear, and make bets about who can grow a better beard in a week. You may be wondering why this is part of my 5 on Friday since it is Brad's trip. Well, to be frank...all I have heard about for the past few weeks leading up to today has been all about Canada. "I need this for Canada"..."This one time in Canada"..."When I'm away in Canada"..."I'll take care of that after Canada" and sometimes even, "the weather in Canada today is..." Gotta love your passion & excitement Bradley!  I hope all the hours of organizing fish tackle, sharpening filet knives, shopping at Bass Pro Shops, and practicing casting pays off and you have the wonderful trip that you deserve!  Try not to loose any fingertips like you did that one time in Canada.

{five}
Oh Daddy
Brad's dream is that when he returns from Canada that Eloise will do this...

Brad & I are obsessed with this video as well as many other "welcome home videos." 

We know it's weird.  We can't explain it.