Most Wanted: Erin Condren Life Planner

I have always been a sucker for stationery and personalized items. When I was a little girl, I had a huge collection of stationery, so I would write letters to all of my out of town family members. They would write me back and the joke is that they were constantly having to write me because I would immediately turn around and write them as soon as I received their letter. I wrote about all sorts of interesting things, like what I had for dinner. I still have all of those letters somewhere. How hilarious would it be to go back and reread them all now? 

Well, moving on to the point of this post. I discovered this awesome line of stationery and other personalized products when I ordered my planner for this current year. I am a bit obsessed with my planner. I am not one who puts appointments and parties in my iPhone. I like to hand write everything on my calendar. I purchased my Life Planner from Erin Condren and love it! This planner has everything you need. You have the full month calendar, weekly calendar (divided into morning, afternoon, and evening), along with places to write to-do lists and goals and fun stickers to put on your special dates!  It is a little pricey ($50) but I definitely think it is worth it if you are a planner person. I use it to put all of our appointments, parties, and I even use it to track my running and eating. It helps me stay accountable by writing those things down and I can go back and look and see oh I didn't run very much that week, or ooh I ate out a lot this week. Plus, they are just gorgeous! The designs are so colorful and fun and you can personalize with your name. There is even a photo option! If you are looking for a new planner for the upcoming year, I definitely recommend this one!

I am pretty sure I am ordering this one for the 2012 year! I love the zig zag pattern!

 This is a new feature for this year! Mine does not have the tabs to divide the months. So great!

 Logging my diet and my running really helps. I schedule when I am going to run, so that it is an "appointment" and not just something I will do if I have time. It keeps me on track!

 So much room to put everything going on in your busy life!

I love the stickers! They have Party!, Hair Cut, Birthday!, Concerts, plus so many more!

 So pretty! Fleur Feliz pattern - love the colors and the two font name

 This would be great for new moms! Believe me I considered using a wedding picture on mine, but thought people might think I am a little obsessed! 

 Candy Lace - I have this one currently in orange and pink.

Kaleidoscope - If I did not want the Zig Zag, I think I would get this one! Love it!

Check out the website and all of the other super cute items! I have bought a couple of "groupon" type things for the site that I need to use so I will be ordering my planner and some other pretties soon! Let me know if you get one! 

Hash Brown Casserole

This is such an easy side, it is not even funny! I have had variations of this from several of my friends and when I needed a side to make to take to Blair's first birthday party, I knew this would be a great choice. It just takes the most simple (and bad for you) ingredients and you have an instant hit! You could lighten it up and use fat free or light sour cream and 2% cheese, but Eric insisted we use the fatty stuff since "others would be enjoying it". Eric made them again the next day to take over to his friend's house to watch some football game or something... haha

 Allright here is the line up.. Frozen Hashbrowns, Cream of Chicken Soup, Sour Cream (pic taken before the light was removed and full fat substituted), Frosted Flakes (generic works just fine!), Sharp Cheddar Cheese, and of course butter. Not pictured: An onion.

Stir together the diced onion, sour cream, grated cheese, thinly sliced butter, and cream of chicken.

 Add the hash browns and mix it all up! I used a spoon at first, but it really is best if you just moosh it all together with your hands. (Don't worry - I washed!) Your hands will get very cold and it will be miserable, but you gotta do it...

 The lovely mixture.

Next spread it in a casserole dish and crush up some corn flakes (1 cup) and top the whole thing with it. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Sadly there is no after picture as we were rushing out the door to get to the party and then I was enjoying the party and didn't snap one! Creamy goodness, I promise!

Here it the recipe on Cooks.com.  Sour cream, butter, cheese, potatoes, what more could you want?!

Oh yeah! Check out my bestie Ashley's blog, Love-Sweat-Renovate! She did a post on the Stella & Dot party she hosted! So much fun!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Ollie!!

We celebrated Ollie's second birthday last week as well! I can't believe we have had him for almost two years now! He is so big! He probably weighs close to 60 lbs, but doesn't act like it at all. He will step on your foot or sit on your head. He definitely does what he wants! For his first birthday, we went all out and had a party. We grilled burgers and even had a cake for Ollie!  It was a lot of fun, but this year we had a more low key celebration. I went to City Pet and go him some treats. He loved his raw Buffalo bone (yum!), duck liver treats, pigs ears, and new flappy duck. Here are some recent pictures of Ollie! You know how he loves to pose!

Why so serious Ollie?

 So weird, he will just rollover and want you to pet him.

 

Where I found him last week when I came home from lunch. He has been sleeping in the study during the day while we are gone.

 These pics are from his birthday photo shoot.

 Up close and personal!

 I love this face!

 "Ohh what's outside? I think I need to go look!"

 Please ignore my dead plants.

 And he is off to get the squirrels!

Happy Birthday little boy!! We love you!!

Happy 1st Birthday to Blair!

Eric and I's niece, Blair turned one on August 31st! We celebrated with family and friends on Saturday at Eric's sister and her husband Jeff's house. Jessica did a wonderful job with the party! It was monkey themed and the decorations were too cute.  Blair had a blast and everyone enjoyed watching her as she enjoyed her day! She actually decided to start walking on her birthday as well! It was exciting seeing her walk!

 Jessica hung pictures of Blair from the chandelier so we could see how Blair has grown!

 Proud Mom with the birthday girl!

 The monkey cake and smash cake. Eric's mom made these cakes! 

Presents and Blair's monthly pictures displayed

 Jessica's good friend Lyric and her cute baby Campbell - I love her dress and headband!

 More friends! Annie, Warren and baby Natalie. Jessica and her friends all seemed to have babies at the same time! 

 Kitty wants the presents...

 Natalie and Blair playing

 She already got her first pony!

 All smiles for the birthday girl!

Smash cake!

 About to dig in!

 Blair and Uncle Eric

Happy birthday Blair! I can't believe you are one year old!

Crazy Good Saltine Crackers

This is a super easy recipe that anyone could make! If you are the type who just wants to throw something no bake together, this recipe is your new go to! The first time I had these crackers was at the Jimmy Buffett concert back in May. Eric's coworker Jamie brought them and we all LOVED them. I saw the recipe on my bloggin' buddy Elizabeth's blog here and knew I wanted to make them again!

Ingredients:
4 sleeves of saltine crackers (or you can get the mini ones that are meant for soups and stuff. That is what I used!)
1 1/2 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon dill weed
1 tablespoon red pepper
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 small envelope of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing

Combine oil and seasonings in a bowl and combine.  Put your crackers in a zip lock gallon size bag and pour in your oil mixture. This is the fun part - now shake and rotate the bag to coat! Yum!

City Mama's 94th Birthday!

Eric's grandmother recently turned 94 years old! We are all so fortunate we were able to get together and celebrate this momentous birthday! We all gathered at City Mama's assisted living home and enjoyed a fun night of pizza, presents, and cobbler. Some of you might be wondering where on earth did his grandmother get the name City Mama? It is a really cute story actually.  Eric's grandmother is a twin and they were the youngest of like 10 children. Eric's grandmother, Annie Laurie, lived in Houston and her sister, Bessie Laurie, lived on a farm outside of Houston. When Eric was a little boy, to distinguish the two twins apart, he started calling his grandmother City Mama, and his great aunt, Farm Mama and it stuck. I love the unique names and we still call her City Mama to this day! Here are some pictures of her birthday celebration.

Blair was on the go the whole time! She is almost walking!

Love that happy smile!

Uncle Eric teaching Blair how to play the piano.

The whole family! Happy Birthday City Mama!

Soft Brown Sugar Cookies

These cookies were the absolute best! They were the sweets I served at my Stella & Dot Debut Trunk Show Launch and I have been asked for the recipe no less than three time since, so they definitely deserve a post! These cookies are so soft, as the title says, they are almost cakey, not like a cookie. The icing was super easy! I made them again this morning to take to my mom's Stella & Dot trunk show today, so I am super excited to get to have them again!

Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream (Weird, yes I thought so too.)

Blend together the butter and brown sugar in the mixer.  Add eggs, one at a time and blend well.  Add vanilla and beat until light.  In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with sour cream; mix well.  Drop by rounded tablespoons onto non-stick or lightly greased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes (mine took more like 10).  Remove to a wire rack and cool. Frost with browned butter frosting. Makes 2 dozen or so.

Browned Butter Frosting

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat until it turns golden.  Watch carefully as this will happen quickly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in powdered sugar and enough milk to make a spreading consistency.