pinteresting

Happy hump day! Jess is off to the doctor again this morning to get checked out. She'll be getting a verdict on whether or not she should be on full time bed rest until the baby gets here. So we're thinking good thoughts for her today! We want him to stay in for at least 2 more weeks.

Onto happier thoughts, it's the middle of the week which means it's time to share some beautiful pinterest finds!

Source: westelm.com via Rouge on Pinterest

Loving this chair. I'm currently lusting over beautiful outdoor spaces. This chair would make a gorgeous addition to one!

Source: bhg.com via Tracy on Pinterest

Beautiful living space. It has a gorgeous color scheme too!

Source: thesocialhome.blogspot.com via Elena on Pinterest

Beautiful way of organizing a kitchen. Love the labels. It say's it's a dollar store makeover too!

Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Kelly on Pinterest

I LOVE this apron. I love everything about it. Too gorgeous!

Source: nestdallasdesign.com via Ellen on Pinterest

Love the bed and the carpet

Source: weddingwire.com via Gina on Pinterest

These are amazing.

Source: ruffledblog.com via Heather on Pinterest

This would be the most amazing wedding I could imagine.


Have a fabulous rest of your week.

oh pregnancy

It's days like yesterday that make me super grateful that I'm not pregnant! I definitely was not envious of Jess yesterday as I watched her and talked her through over 10 hours of steady contractions 20 minutes apart. Apparently she has an irritable uterus, which basically means that she will be contracting like this until he comes out. He did a fFM test and that came up negative. I guess that means that she won't be going into labor for the next two weeks. Barring any other major changes (like her water spontaneously breaking!)
But this is what my day yesterday looked like:

This was the best part of the day! Who pregnant ladies shop at the
pool supply store.

Focused on the monitor and fetal heart rate!

You can't see her contractions here, but his heart rate was perfectly steady. The best part of the night was hearing his
heartbeat.

weekend in pictures

I hope you had a fabulous mother's day weekend. I had a long weekend, which was awesome. I spent Friday staining our back deck and then I went to see my cousin in his middle school production of Macbeth. He was the lead in the play and he did fantastically. My sisters both stayed at the house this weekend to celebrate with mom, so we had 4 dogs running around the whole time. On Saturday Jess took her dog to my cousin's house and Mike and I took the other 3 to the dog park. It was about 80 degrees and sunny. The dogs really loved it and I loved soaking up some sun while watching them play.
For Mother's Day mom wanted to have an early breakfast at home and then head to the outlet mall for the day. Since it was another sunny 80 degree day we all agreed that it would be the perfect Sunday. I don't think we had much luck with shopping, but it was definitely awesome to spend the day all together!
Now enough babbling - on with the pictures!

(Dean's play - he's the bright white blur, it was in a middle school cafeteria, not exactly good for pictures!)

color love

This week Alison told us to pick a color and run with it. I know my color choice here seems pretty darn lame, but I have to say I'm loving it! I'm normally a very bright and colorful kind of girl. I'm the wacko who thinks that yellow shoes go with a white skirt and purple shirt. Or that a green cardigan is a neutral. But sometimes you have to tone it down.

When I saw this dress from the new "shops" collection at Target, I was immediately smitten. Honestly this was my second favorite dress I saw, but I couldn't get the image of the fabulous strapless green one to show up. Plus, like I said, sometimes it's good to stray from your norm.

color love by rundreamcook featuring a short sleeve dress

Short sleeve dress
$43 - target.com

Kate Spade ankle wrap sandals
$275 - jildorshoes.com

Prada logo tote bag
£1,150 - flannelsfashion.com

Chloé enamel jewelry
£129 - harrods.com

books

While everyone else under the sun is busily reading 50 Shades of Grey, I'm working on a much more tame book. Don't get me wrong, I read 50 and enjoyed the first one for what it was, a silly erotic novel, but I'm kind of over it. I'm not so vanilla that I couldn't appreciate the tone of the book. What it was that I couldn't grasp onto was the characters themselves and their relationship. I'm not a huge fan of whiny wimpy girls who fall hopelessly in love with someone who is clearly not good for them (especially when the girl KNOWS that it isn't a good place for her - but is drawn in only by her desire for sex...ugh). Any who...That is not the point of this post.
I am currently in the middle of How to Love an American Man. I'm in love with the book already. The first two chapters had me in tears and loving every second of it. I started the book after a suggestion by my Aunt Cindy who read it after Jenna over at Eat Live Run read and recommended it.

So, if you're in the market for a more tame story, I'd totally suggest you pick it up!

morning!

Good morning and happy Wednesday! Since it's Wednesday, it's time to share some of my favorite pinterest finds of the week!
Enjoy!

Source: elenaslife.com via Sonya on Pinterest

Early morning yoga pose. I wish that I did this already today.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Abby on Pinterest

One of the most gorgeous kitchens I've ever seen

Source: bhg.com via Debbie on Pinterest

Beautiful bathroom color. I don't love the wainscoting though.

Source: sousstyle.com via Anna on Pinterest

And this is how I wish I ate breakfast this morning....

Source: plataformaarquitectura.cl via Camila on Pinterest

Can I live here please? It's a bit intense, but I'm in love with it.

Source: stylemepretty.com via Keren on Pinterest

Beautiful bouquet of flowers. Love it a little...

Source: toppics.mooo.com via Flan on Pinterest

There are few things cuter than a baby in a skull hat.

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Erin on Pinterest

I can't wait to have my own house so I can paint the front door bright green just like this.

Source: tasteofhome.com via Diane on Pinterest

Yum! I want these please.

tuesday motivation

i get knocked down...

So, I didn't win the cupcake war challenge...I tied for 3rd place for the day (out of 13). I was pretty bummed but I'm ready to try again. Third place isn't awesome, but it isn't terrible either.
I made vanilla cupcakes with lime curd filling and a whipped lime buttercream. Delicious.
And if you were wondering, I do still have a tiny bit of lime curd in the fridge and it takes EVERY ounce of self restraint I have to not stick my finger in the bowl every time I walk by....

Frosted and ready to be boxed

When I got to the radio station they got adorned with tiny candied lime zest curls. Gorgeous and delicious...

The moral of the story here is that I'm trying again in 2 weeks. I'll be at the Gardiner cupcake festival on the 19th submitting two flavors. I'll be bringing my chocolate/caramel cupcake and perhaps a vegan one too...We'll have to see how the testers come out!!

Also, if you have any experience doing gluten free or vegan baking, I'd love some tips! I'm working on perfecting a delicious gluten free and/or vegan cupcake. I was thinking the gf one would be apple/caramel and the vegan one would be something else. I'm not on gf or a vegan diet so I'd love some advice!

derby day

This morning I'm off to cupcake wars with a dozen of my most gorgeous lime cupcakes. Check back later for pictures and a full recap of the competition!!

But for now, this is my dream derby outfit. I'm in love with those shoes!!!

derby day by rundreamcook featuring bangle jewelry

AX Paris belted dress
£20 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Kate Spade strappy wedge
$227 - katespade.com

Coralia Leets gold filled jewelry
$115 - otteny.com

See by Chloe bangle jewelry
$55 - couture.zappos.com

Kokin raffia hat
£105 - julesb.co.uk

cupcakes galore

I figured it out. I'll be competing in cupcake wars tomorrow morning. I'm working on perfecting the flavors, and I need to get a new cupcake pan. Apparently my cupcake pans are more like muffin pans and are a bit more shallow/wide than I'd prefer. The shapes of my cupcakes are off just a tiny bit and it makes them a little uglier than I'd like. Since they'e so wide they need more frosting and more isn't always better.
These are the ones I was up all night making last night....

Chocolate cupcake filled with gooey caramel, chocolate buttercream and flaked toasted coconut

Vanilla cupcake infused with tequila filled with lime curd topped with sweet lime buttercream

Chocolate cupcake filled with peanut butter mousse. Dipped in chocolate ganache topped with chocolate buttercream
and chopped peanuts

The changes I'm debating:
The chocolate peanut butter cupcake with have a peanut butter buttercream with a chocolate shell instead of the ganache
Add a salted lime wedge to the margarita cupcakes
Add coconut oil to chocolate and make a chocolate shell on the buttercream for the samoa cupcake