Happy Mother’s Day!

dancing

To my mother:

Thank you for the unyielding, unwavering love you’ve shown me, every day since the day you and Dad brought me home from the hospital.  I feel so honored, grateful and blessed to call you my Mom.  I look up to you so much, even more now that I’m older and truly realize all that you’ve done for me, the sacrifices you made and the understanding you bestowed.  Thank you for making me feel beautiful, and telling me so when there were days I felt anything but.  Thank you for holding me up when I fell down, and for dancing next to me when I stood tall.  Thank you for literally helping me learn to walk again, and for holding my hand when I wanted so badly to quit.  There are so many memories that I cherish, and so many more that I know we’ll have.  I love you. 

Even though I wasn’t able to spend the day with my Mom today, we were able to have a nice long chat on the phone and catch up with each other.  I look forward to Sunday afternoons for that very reason; my Mom and I can talk on the phone and an hour will pass before we even know it.  Every time we talk I’m instantly transported back to the couch in my parents’ living room, where we used to curl up with blankets and talk for hours.  Whenever I’m there for a visit, we’re always sure to spend time on that same couch, reminiscing about the past and talking excitedly about the future.

apron

I figured that if I couldn’t physically celebrate Mother’s Day with my Mom today, I could do the next best thing to pay homage to her: bake.  I learned how to bake from my Mom, who no doubt learned from her Mom, and so on.  I have vivid memories of being a young girl with an apron tied around my waist, pouring through the endless kitchen cabinets.  What became known as “glass bowl” involved Mom giving me a dozen different ingredients to measure, mix and make my own creation.  We’d never actually cook or eat whatever concoction I created, but I know that’s where my love for baking first blossomed.  To this day she is the best cook I know.

This afternoon I made banana chocolate chip muffins, with a cream cheese filling.  Some of my favorite things to make with Mom were sweet treats: decorated sugar cookies, cranberry orange scones, and the infamous chocolate ganache praline cake that is somewhat of a legend in our family.

muffins

Banana Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese-Filled Muffins
Makes 15 muffins

    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 3/4 cup brown sugar
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 egg
    • 2 overripe bananas
    • 1/2 cup milk
    • 1/3 cup butter, softened but not melted
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
    • Spreadable cream cheese, softened

Preheat oven to 350.  Arrange 15 liners in muffins tins.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl, beat together egg, bananas, milk, butter and vanilla extract on a low setting until smooth.  Pour wet mixture into flour mixture and stir until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop a spoonful of the muffin batter into each liner.  Using a teaspoon, drop cream cheese into each of the liners.  Top each with remaining batter.  Bake for 18 minutes.

A {Surprise!} Baby Shower

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Last Thursday night,  instead of our usual weekly couples’ get-together, we threw Anna and Jami, our resident mommies-to-be, a surprise baby shower.  This little plan had been in the works for a good two months, and I have to give our group of girls a ton of credit for keeping it a secret for that long-I know it was hard for me!  The looks on their faces when they walked into the room and we all shouted “Surprise!” were priceless.

waffle bar

The food spread and decorations were incredible.  When you have two interior designers among your group, you know the party is going to be stunning.  After dinner–which consisted of a waffle bar, fruit platter with dip, breakfast quiche, cake and the world’s best baklava–we decorated onesies and wrote inspirational messages on two canvases that Elle had painted for the girls’ nurseries.  Toward the end of the night, the husbands swooped in (after holing up in a bar for most of the night, far away from the “ooh’s!” and “ahh’s!” that accompany a baby shower) and demolished the leftover waffles and cake.  I think that was the extent of any male participation in the shower.

babyshoes

paintings

The night was absolutely one to remember.  I am beyond grateful that I made friends with such an amazing group of women relatively quickly after moving to Atlanta.  Drew and I talk all the time about how blessed and lucky we are to have been led into fellowship with such an amazing group of couples.  And there goes any resolve I’d had about not writing an overly-mushy, baby-crazed blog post.

My contribution to the breakfast-themed potluck were cinnamon roll cupcakes.  I’d never made such a thing before but used the logic that cinnamon rolls are delicious, and cupcakes are delicious, so together they would be a double dose of deliciousness.  The batter smelled vaguely familiar to my Mom’s homemade cinnamon rolls, and I could have eaten a bowl of the brown sugar cinnamon streusel with a spoon.  Except that I didn’t, because I’ve heard of the cinnamon challenge and it scares me.

cupcakes

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Cinnamon Rolls Cupcakes, adapted from this recipe
Makes 1 dozen

1/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup plus brown sugar, packed
1 Tbs cinnamon
3/4 cup plus white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 12 muffins tins with paper liners.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, beat butter at medium speed until fluffy.  Add white sugar and beat until combined.  Add egg and vanilla.  Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk into the bowl, continuing to beat at medium speed until everything is incorporated.

Drop a spoonful amount of batter into each muffin tin.  Sprinkle brown sugar cinnamon mixture.  Add another spoonful of batter into each tin and sprinkle the tops with remaining cinnamon mixture.  I took a knife and swirled everything together to make sure the brown sugar cinnamon mixture was evenly dispersed throughout.

Bake cupcakes for 20-22 minutes (I took mine out right at 20).  Allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.  To make the frosting, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy.  Turn mixer down to low and add powdered sugar, a small amount at a time, until frosting is fluffy and spreadable.  I used the open star decorating tip from Wilton to frost the cupcakes.

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Concerts, Babies & Waffles

Need to Breathe performing at the Fox Theatre!

Need to Breathe performing at the Fox Theatre!

This past weekend was an eventful but fun one.  Friday night we had tickets to the Need to Breathe concert at the Fox Theatre, which I had gotten for Drew’s birthday.  The last time we’d seen a concert at the Fox together was Mumford and Sons a few months before we got married, so it had definitely been a while.  Before the show, we ate dinner at Baraonda, one of our favorite Italian restaurants, with our friends Lance and Shelly.  Several of Drew’s coworkers were also attending the concert.  Drew and I hadn’t heard of the opening band, Drew Holcomb at the Neighbors, but they put on a great performance.  Drew introduced me to Need to Breathe shortly after we got married, and we still listen to their very first CD on every single road trip.

Drew and I at the show

Drew and I at the show

Saturday morning we took Theo for a walk through Piedmont Park.  Every Saturday there is a farmer’s market with dozens of tents-there’s even a vendor who makes wood-fired pizzas!  The beautiful weather brought a large crowd which proved to be too much excitement for Theo; he was wanting to jump in everyone’s laps and be their new best friend.  That afternoon we attended a baby gender reveal party for our friends Andy and Jami.  Neither one of us had been to a gender reveal party before but we were looking forward to celebrating such a special time with all our friends.  All the guests sprayed silly string to find out the gender, and after a count of three, everyone was covered in pink!  Congrats to Andy and Jami, who will be welcoming a little girl come August.

Is it a boy or a girl?? Andy and Jami's friend Lesley Anne took this amazing picture!

Is it a boy or a girl?? Andy and Jami’s friend Lesley Anne took this amazing picture!

Its a girl! Congrats Andy and Jami!

Its a girl! Congrats Andy and Jami!

The rest of the weekend was pretty laid back.  Sunday’s dinner was a new discovery.  Who knew the putting two or three Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in a waffle maker would yield the most delicious waffles ever?  Apparently one of Drew’s coworkers did, as that’s how we found out about it.  I have a feeling these will be making a regular appearance in our kitchen.

waffle

Best discovery ever.

The Color Run, Version 2.0!


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This past Saturday, Drew and I forwent our usual “sleep-in day” in order to participate in the Atlanta Color Run.  I use ‘Atlanta’ loosely as the race was actually out at the Motor Speedway in Tara, Georgia.  In order to make the 45 minute drive and arrive early enough to queue up with the first waive of runners, we had to leave the apartment shortly after 7 A.M. Now if that isn’t dedication, I don’t know what is.  Lucky for us, since we ran the race last year, we knew how much fun it would be, well worth giving up a few extra hours of zzz’s.  The race definitely didn’t disappoint.

Jhana and I at the starting line. Hence the squeaky clean shirts.

Jhana and I at the starting line. Hence the squeaky clean shirts.

Jhana and Jacob all color-riffic after the race.

Jhana and Jacob all color-riffic after the race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After seeing the massive crowds of people, I’m not surprised they moved the race location.  I’m also glad we got there early.  There had to have been at least 50,000 people which is probably double the number that ran through Piedmont Park last year.  We’d heard that residents had complained about their cars getting covered with the powder at the various color stations along the course.  Apparently not everyone wants their cars stained hot pink and teal.  I can’t complain too much; minus a short stretch of gravel, the race course at the Speedway was pretty much flat as a pancake.

photo 4

Our friends Jhana and Jacob also ran and as usual, I think the best part was the post-race color-throwing-sweaty-moshpit-dance party. With a thousand of our closest friends.  I was a bit sad to see my relatively new Brooks shoes get dirty, but I’m sure it was only a matter of time.  Plus, every time I lace up my shoes I’ll be reminded of an awesome day.  Another reminder? The streaks of purple that have remained in my hair the past couple days.  Surprisingly, I actually don’t mind them.  I may even be a bit sad when the last of it rinses out.

Drew’s 26th Birthday!

Things I like about March:

(1.) College Basketball.  This still makes the list, even though my precious UK Wildcats didn’t make it to the tourney.  Heck, they didn’t even make it to the basketball court most of the season.  Nevertheless, I love March Madness and watching teams surprise everyone and bust brackets nationwide.  FGCU, I’m looking at you.

(2.) The beginning of Spring, Easter Sunday, warmer weather. Welp, you can cross that last one off.  Except for the weekend Mom and Dad came to visit, it’s been downright freezing here.  Considering half the country is covered in snow right now, I suppose I can’t complain too much.  However, I didn’t move to Atlanta to be wearing my winter coat the week before April.

(3.) Drew’s birthday! Which brings me to this post…

Drew turned the big 2-6 this past Sunday.  Before I began writing this, I had to take a trip down memory lane remind myself what exactly we did to celebrate.  We definitely didn’t start the day out with a run like last year, that’s for sure.  We actually ended up sleeping past 10 a.m., which is pretty late for us.  We’d had friends over to the apartment for cake and board games the night before and definitely needed the extra zzzz’s.  Drew loved the mustache cake I’d made for him.  It took us about 10 minutes to figure out the right way to flip the pieces so that both sides turned upward.

photo 1

Tada!

photo 2

We started the day at Starbucks for free coffee (the best kind). Drew’s got a free mocha for it being his birthday, and earlier in the week I had received an email for a free caramel mocchiato.  Win! With our warm coffees in hand, we walked to Flying Biscuit for a spur of the moment brunch.  Funny how we’d gone a year and a half without having been, then we go twice in the span of a week.  And yes, we both ordered the same thing as the time before.  Why mess with perfection?

photo 4

That right there is the best biscuit I’ve ever eaten. But it didn’t fly…

photo 3

After brunch we drove to Canton to spend time with Drew’s grandparents.  Drew has been building himself a bike with CR over the past couple months, completely from scratch.  I haven’t ventured down into the basement mancave to see how it’s coming along, but I’m excited to see the finished product.  Then he can start getting to work on mine ;-)  We finished the night with dinner at Provino’s, a great family-owned Italian restaurant, then headed home to watch Walking Dead.  For his birthday gift, I got tickets for us to see Need to Breathe in concert at the Fox Theatre here in a few weeks, so we have that to look forward to soon!

Mom and Dad Visit Atlanta, Round 2

Since the last time my parents visited Atlanta was over a year ago (not trying to make you two feel bad or anything, I promise!), I was extremely excited to have them in town this past weekend.  So much has changed since their last visit: Drew and I both have new jobs, our apartment is looking at little more homey–it’d only been a few months after the wedding when they came to visit–and, oh yeah, a dog lives in our apartment now.  Coincidentally, they were also visiting during a pretty big weekend-both St. Patrick’s Day and the Georgia marathon were on Sunday.  Their first few minutes in the city were spent experiencing the organized extreme chaos that is Atlanta traffic.

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Reunited at last! Mom may have been more excited to see Theo than us…

Thankfully, Friday night’s dinner was just a short walk away from our apartment.  After stocking our freezer and pantry with some of Mom’s best homemade goodies, we set out for Takorea.  I had been talking up this Korean/Mexican restaurant to Mom and Dad for months and not surprisingly, it didn’t disappoint.  We got two orders of sesame fries for the table-I think those were Mom’s favorite food of the entire weekend.  And trust me, we ate a ton.

Saturday we awoke to absolutely perfect weather.  I’d been watching the forecast all week and the weatherman actually got it right-low 70′s and sunny.  Much, much better than the cold snow back home in Kentucky, right guys?  We went to Flying Biscuit for breakfast, a cafe Drew and I had been meaning to go to since we moved to Atlanta-especially since it’s just a few blocks from the apartment.  After another great meal we decided to take advantage of the warm weather and head to Piedmont Park.  After a quick browse through the farmer’s market, we headed on to the dog park.  We met a bunch of cute dogs and of course Theo was the life of the party, as usual.  One dog in particular would not leave Theo’s side for even a second.  We called him ‘stalker dog’ for the remainder of the visit-he even tried to leave with us and made an escape run for the gate!

photo 1

We spent the rest of the day relaxing until heading back out for our dinner reservation for JCT Kitchen.  Fries apparently were the theme of the weekend.  While browsing our menus, we raved to Mom and Dad about the truffle oil Parmesan fries.  I think those were Dad’s favorite thing.  I’m sure he and Drew could have each polished off their own bowl.  Thankfully, they shared with their wives ;-)

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Enjoying lunch at Brickstore Pub in Decatur

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Sunday was another beautiful day, although a bit chillier with the sun hiding behind clouds most of the day.  After attending church and showing Mom and Dad the new building that Grace Midtown moved into almost a year ago, we headed out to Decatur for lunch.  Drew and I figured we needed to celebrate St. Patty’s Day appropriately, plus we couldn’t skip an excuse to go back to Brickstore Pub.  Once again taking advantage of the nice weather, we dined outside and then browsed the shops along the square.  Before heading back home, we drove through Decatur, showing Mom and Dad where we hope to move next year.  We discovered some really, really nice neighborhoods (and some not-so-nice ones).  We even stumbled upon two little girls running a lemonade stand.  It’s still a ways away yet, but Drew and I get excited thinking and planning for the future.

Cheeeeese.

Cheeeeese.

Just when you think we wouldn’t be able to stuff ourselves with anymore food, we went all out and ordered deep dish for dinner.  Nancy’s is a restaurant that actually originated out of Chicago and makes authentic deep-dish style pizza here in Atlanta.  Soon after, with happy hearts and full bellies, we said our goodbyes.  It was a weekend full of fun, laughter, great food and some much-needed time with family.  Mom and Dad, thank you so much for coming to visit and see our stomping grounds, filling our freezer with enough meals to last us a month, and making us feel so loved.  I know how proud you are of the two of us, but really, I’m just as proud and blessed to have such amazing parents.  Until next time!  And hey, let’s not make it almost a year and a half again, OK?!

Spring is (Almost) Here!

Even though the first day of Spring technically isn’t until March 20, this weekend definitely made it seem like Winter is finally over.  Even though Atlanta weather is definitely milder than a lot of places, like my hometown for example, there were quite a few days when I was downright miserable.  Last year I only had to break out my heavy winter coat a few times; this year I’ve worn some type of coat almost every day since New Year’s.  But no longer!  Unless I’m jinxing myself, it looks like warmer weather is here to stay.

I’ve been meaning to redecorate the wreath hanging on our front door for quite a few weeks now–it seems like dark red foliage is just no longer appropriate.  I finally got the chance to on Saturday when Drew and I were running errands and stopped by Michael’s.  I’m pretty proud of how it turned out!  Hopefully I can keep it up well into the summer months before I get the urge to update it again.

wreath

After running errands, we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon before going to our friend Elle’s house to help celebrate her birthday.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with our house church friends, as well as meet some new people.  We didn’t stay out too late, knowing that the time change would make it extra hard to get up the next morning.  Even though we only lose an hour, I feel like the entire next day is just thrown out of whack.  Thankfully we had a pretty relaxing Sunday, attending church then heading to Piedmont Park for a picnic with friends.  The weather was still a bit chilly, but it was wonderful being able to spend time outside and soak up the sunshine.  Hopefully there will be a lot more picnics in our near future!

park

I spent the rest of Sunday making cake balls for a baby shower/birthday celebration at work.  It wasn’t any easier this time around than the first time I made them.  I don’t know how places like Starbucks make them look so flawless because mine sure didn’t.  Drew is convinced they use an automated machine and that there isn’t some actual person out there cranking out perfect cake ball after perfect cake ball.  I like his thinking.  But if there is, I want to beat them up.  And them make them teach me how to make the perfect cake ball.

cakeballs1 cakeballs2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At least they tasted good. Really good.