Dining Room

I have slowly been working on one room at time in our home. The living room is pretty much done. I need a new rug for the living room. I will look for one during sales this year to complete that room. 

The dining room has taken the longest to get to this point.  When we left California we got rid of our dining room table. My cousin so graciously said he would build us a table. I sent him the legs that I wanted and a picture from Pinterest. He made the table exactly like the picture I sent! The table turned out AMAZING! I love it! 

We picked up the table in February. I had plans to buy chairs, but Covid happened. Overstock was having a sale over Memorial Day on chairs I have been watching. I finally pulled the trigger on them. It took about 2.5 weeks to get them. 

The entire room looks so much better!!! I absolutely love these chairs. I am so happy with the look and quality of the chairs! 

Table: custom made by cousin

Chairs: Overstock

Clock: TJ Maxx

Gather lazy susan: Nutcracker Market 

Cash sit at the right end of the table, so I keep that chair to the side under the light switches. There is plenty of room to keep the chair there until he is done with his high chair. We eat breakfast and lunch by the island in the kitchen. We just move the high chair to the table for dinner and put it back by the kitchen for the rest of the meals. Cash can move it himself and puts it in his spot for dinner. All I have to say is time to eat, off he runs to get the high chair and he stands there yelling for us to put him in. That boy doesn't mess around when it's time for a meal. 

Gluten & Dairy Free One Pot Hamburger Helper

As a busy mom aren't we always looking for easy meals we can make for dinner?  I decided to remake The Defined Dish one pot hamburger helper for my family. I feed Cash dairy and gluten free foods. I also try to limit gluten for G. When I saw this recipe I thought it looked and sounded so yummy! This would be a great meal for a busy night too. 

This is one of Cashy's favorite meals. He will gobble this up! I love that I only have to get one pot dirty for a filling meal. It also makes enough that we have plenty of leftovers for 2-3 lunches. Art or the kids will eat it the next day. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 pound ground beef or turkey - I use whatever I have on hand
1 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste 
1-2 cups of spinach
1/2 cup of shredded carrots
1 package of gluten free pasta (usually around 8 oz)
2 cups bone broth 
2 cups of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

Instructions:

- heat your pot over medium heat

- melt the coconut oil

- saute your chopped onions and minced garlic cloves for 20-30 seconds

- brown your ground meat with the onion and garlic

- once the meat is almost all browned, add in the salt, paprika, nutritional yeast, spinach and tomato paste. Stir to combine in your meat.

- add the bone broth and milk to your browned meat. Bring the liquid to a boil. 

- add in your pasta and cook for the time amount on the package. It's usually around 8 minutes for 8 oz package. 

Serve and Enjoy!

I like adding spinach and shredded carrots to get some veggies in the meal. If I don't have spinach or carrots to add I will serve a side salad on the side or some cut up raw veggies. 

Gallery Wall on a Budget

One of my favorite bloggers Veronika's Blushing did this AMAZING gallery wall in her home. You can find her blog post HERE. When she posted the gallery wall it was around the time we were listing our house and planning to move to Texas. I decided in my next house this was the type of gallery wall I wanted to do. It was clean, crisp and beautiful!!! 

When we looked at our house I immediately thought of 2 places to do the gallery wall. I started planning to do one. I loved the frames Veronika used. She got hers at Target HERE. I put a lot of thought into those frames. I have all silver or brushed nickel hardware in my house. I love the gold frames, but I was concerned with having large statement gold frames with silver every where else. Also the cost was another reason I just wasn't sure I could go for them. 

Walmart has REALLY stepped up their game with their home items. I have bought a few things from them for the new house. I bought this bench for my mud room. It is very sturdy and adorable! I also bought this desk which matches the bench. We have the desk in the mud room too. The mud room is very large, so I wanted the items to match. The colors of both items are gray and they go together well. The description of the names isn't the same online. I feel they might have had a different option for the desk when I bought it months back. Anyhow these items are great quality! 

I started looking for frames all over the internet. Amazon, Walmart, Target, Kohls etc. I read a lot of reviews to see what people were saying. I wanted to keep the gallery under $150. The size of the frames I wanted to use if I went with the Target frames it would cost me around $300. Walmart had THESE frames for $10.99. I was able to get all 9 frames for under $100. The frames I bought from Walmart are AMAZING quality! If you bought them from any other retailer you would spend $25 and up on them. 

The frames sat in an enormous box in our guest room for a month. The thought of measuring and hanging them was daunting. I ordered all the pictures except one. I had Cash's pictures taken, so I wanted to put one of his new pictures in a frame. I was talking with my friend Krystal and she mentioned using these Command Strips to hang pictures. Using the strips no longer sounded like a daunting task trying to hang 9 frames. I ordered the strips from Amazon. Then I came down with strep throat and the project got pushed back another week or so. 

One day during nap time I decided it was time to just bite the bullet and hang the pictures. The huge box kept George entertained while I took all the frames out of their packaging, put the pictures in the frame, adding the command strips and arranged them how I wanted them to be on the wall. Laying them out of the floor really helped give me a visual of how I wanted them on the wall. I moved certain pictures around and was able to determine the order before applying the strips on the wall. 

I used a level to make sure each picture was level and to measure the space between each frame. It was so easy to do! It took longer to take them all out of the packaging then it did to hang them. It took me maybe 10 minutes max to hang them even with letting G climb up and down the step ladder a couple times. The entire project took me around an hour and a half from start to finish. I was able to sit down for about 10 minutes to enjoy the amazing gallery wall before Cashy woke up from his nap. 

I absolutely LOVE the final results!!!! I sit in my living room and love look at the gallery wall at least once a day. This is one of my favorite projects I have done in any of my homes. I love the white frames! I think it really lightens up the wall and makes the pictures pop more! 

Frames: Walmart 

Photo Credits:

Photography by Chelsea Lynn Bulik 

Sparkle Photography by Ashley 

I ordered all my pictures from Costco.Com  I have always used Costco to print my pictures. I find their quality to be great! I have pictures from them from 11 years ago that still are great quality and crisp. I spent maybe $10-$15 on the pictures. 

Total cost of the project was around $132. 

Frames were $98.91

Pictures were $15.00ish

Command Strips $18.00

Monday Thrive August 28

1) I have always loved back to school stuff in the stores. I love school supplies. It's been a long time since I have been in school or needed to buy school supplies. When I see school supplies on sale for $.25 for a box of crayons I think I need to buy like 10 of them. lol I do try to avoid that area of the store because honestly how many pens or boxes of crayons does one person need? 

G is now going to preschool, but we don't have to take any supplies. He will be going 2 days for 3 hours a day. All supplies are provided and snacks, so we just send him in play clothes. They do lots of art and play outside a lot. He comes home usually with paint and dirt all over himself. I learned very quickly do not send him in cute good clothes. They won't make it! One of his sweatshirts still has red paint on the sleeve. That will be his school jacket from now on. lol

2) During Nordstroms Anniversary Sale I bought the Barefoot Dreams circle cardigan. I wasn't sure about it, but I had heard so many great reviews about Barefoot Dreams items. I decided to order one. If I hated it I would just return it. OMG! This thing is the softest thing in the world! I wish I had ordered another color. I wear it all the time! I really want the mink one next! 

I also discovered for the first time probably in my entire life I actually need a black cardigan. The black and mink cardigans are going on my wish list! I will be ordering another one of these next year during the sale. 

3) I started listening to Jen Hatmaker podcasts when I was flying back from ND. I LOVE this podcast!!!!!! Her recently one with Brene' Brown is a must listen too! Sometimes I need something uplifting. This podcast is exactly that! I always feel so much better about what is going on in my life after listening to Jen. She makes you feel like you are doing your best and your best is good enough!

4) The hurricane/flooding in Texas is so very sad! Last year Art and I went to the Houston area to look at possibly moving there. Maybe one day we will, but right now we aren't. The area that is flooding is right where we looked at moving. I saw pictures of MD Anderson the medical facility I want to go to. It is terrible! The place that helps thousands of people is flooded. It's really heart breaking to see MD Anderson flooded! I know so many people that go there. They are one of the few places that understand Medullary Thyroid Cancer and actually help people fight this ugly cancer. Lots of thoughts and prayers for everyone dealing with this catastrophe. 

5) I am not sure if I shared these paleo chocolate chip cookies on the blog in the past. Sometimes you just need chocolate chip cookies even when you are eating as healthy as possible. These cookies are amazing! My dad even liked them which says a lot. He thinks I eat the craziest stuff. If you want something healthy, non-dairy and paleo these are your go to cookies! I actually haven't bought the ingredients for them because I can't avoid them. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Monday Thrive June 5

Happy Monday! 

1) This is our last week before preschool starts and vacations begin. G is enrolled in preschool for 2 days a week this fall. They suggested to enroll him in a session of summer school, so he would get use to things. Summer school is every day for 3 hours a day. I was hesitant to enroll him at first. Every day is a lot to me, but it is only for 4 weeks. Then we will be going to my parents for a month. When we come home we will have about a month before preschool starts up 2 days a week. 

I have plans to paint the trim in our house and go to hot yoga while he is in school every day. I am going to feel lost, so I felt I needed to find some activities to keep me busy. We will have our afternoons free to go to the zoo or other activities. I think we are both going to like the little change for a month.

2) Cinemark is offering $1 movies or $5 for 10 movies in select theaters near you. Click on the link to see if any movies are playing near you. G loves The Secret Life of Pets. They are playing that a couple times at different theaters new us this summer. I am planning to take him to a couple of these movies. I figure if he sits for 30 minutes for $2 it's no big deal. It will be something fun for us to do together and with friends. I am not sure how he will like a dark theater. 

3) Later this week I have a gift guide for Father's Day posts. My sister and I usually go in on a gift for our dad together. If you ask my mom what to get my dad she will say get him black jeans. If you ask my dad he will say DO NOT BUY ME BLACK JEANS I HAVE 100 PAIRS. It's a running joke between Lacey and I now. Hey it's dad's birthday do you want to buy the jeans or should I? He does have a ton of them! I need to figure out what to get him and have it sent, so it doesn't arrive 2 weeks after Father's Day. He is an easy person to buy for since he likes almost anything other than black jeans. lol

4) I recently read an article about a mother who started parenting like a Danish for a week. I really loved the article. I try to parent partially like this. I don't hover around G. I have always felt it was important that he should play independently. I also will let him run around the house without me following him around. I keep doors shut to rooms I feel he could get hurt or I put things up. I have noticed lately that he is playing better alone and his imagination is really growing. He was playing with his pets the other day with different voices pretending they were putting out fires. He is REALLY into fire trucks, fire poles, putting out fires etc. He still loves garbage trucks, but firemen/trucks are right up there with them now. What do you think of this article? 

5) Tomer Kosher recently sent me a variety pack of their beef jerky. I love jerky! The problem now that I am Paleo is trying to find jerky with ingredients that I don't cringe over or make me sick. They sent me the original, pepper, Cajun, hot and jalapeno. When I see hot jerky that is what I go for first. I love spicy things! My palette for spicy things is high I guess because this didn't seem hot to me at all. I have tried the original and Cajun. Art and I both really liked the Cajun. It has a kick to it! 

I really appreciate Tomer Kosher sending me the jerky. We have only ate 3 of them. I am trying to enjoy them as we eat them. lol I will purchase these in the future. These are something I would much rather my family eat then others on the market loaded with questionable ingredients. G loves jerky! Tomer Kosher mini beef sticks would be awesome because G would love them. =) 


Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Monday Thrive appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant.  

Monday Thrive!

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday weekend. 

1) I wrote a blog post that will come out on Friday about potty training G. I had 2 things on my new years resolution list that I wanted to complete for G. Potty training him and taking away his bottles. I was happy to put check marks by them now that they are completed. I expected it to be a horrible week once we took the bottles away, but honestly it was only 1 horrible bedtime. The rest of the time if he got upset I was able to distract him. I also thought maybe he would drink less milk without a bottle. Turns out we have been going through more milk. One of the reasons I waited so long to take away his bottle was because I felt he needed the extra calories from milk. 

2) Summer vacations are already starting! Have you bought sunscreen for this summer? Even if you are staying home this summer you will still need sunscreen. BeautyCounter's sunscreen does not have any harmful chemicals and it is safe for the entire family! I keep the stick in my purse, so I have sunscreen with us at all times. Protect your skin! 

3) What did we do before there was Google or Youtube? I use Google a bazillion times a day.  I recently bought a stroller second hand. I needed to know how to fold it, move the seats, and even how to open it once it was folded. I was able to Youtube all the instructions. 
I have used a Bob Revolution Stroller since G was born. Well let me say I have had like 5 strollers. Over time I have gotten rid of some. The first one I bought was a Bugaboo. It was my dream stroller. Once I had it for a year I got rid of it. I liked it, but I liked my Bob and Maclaren a lot better. 

I have been babysitting for a little baby for a couple weeks. I like to go on walks. I needed a double stroller, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money on one. I had thought about buying a double Bob. I ended up finding a Phil & Ted double jogger stroller for a steal on a mommy board. Well this stroller is a game changer. I am going to sell my Bob. If you end up needing a double stroller the Phil & Ted is worth very penny. I suggest looking for a used one if you can find it. They run over $500 plus extra for accessories. 

One thing I love about the Phil & Ted is the fact I can use it as a single stroller or double stroller. If I have an extra child with me I can add on the seat, but if it is just G & me it can be a single stroller. I would happily have a garage full of strollers. My husband on the other hand is not happy with me and all my strollers. I do keep it down to 2 strollers now. At one time we did have 4 strollers in our garage. 

I won't be getting rid of my Maclaren! I will keep that one until G no longer needs a stroller. A friend graciously gave me that one and it's one of my favorites. It is a fabulous stroller once your child can sit up on their own. I love that it is compact, doesn't take up much trunk room, but is very sturdy. I hate cheap flimsy umbrella strollers. 

4) I have been on the hunt for some "mom" shorts! I don't want some frumpy shorts that make me look 60, but I need them longer. I am not comfortable with super short shorts. I wanted distressed denim shorts. I tried some on at Target that looked awful! It was nice to be in regular sizes, but just because something fits doesn't mean you buy them. They just weren't flattering at all. The price was nice, but the rest of them looked awful. 

I love how American Eagle jeans fit me. I ended up finding a pair online that I ordered. They are skinny bermuda distressed denim shorts. I ended up going to the store recently. I like a lot of their clothes, but I felt like a granny in there. All these young kids who were like 12-18 years old were crammed inside the store. I think that is a store I need to visit on a Monday evening when the mall is empty, so I don't feel so darn old. lol  Check out their jeans! They really fit amazing.

5) I changed my name on Instagram to MrsPost08Blog. I am considering changing my blog name to MrsPost08 Blog. I realized recently that I don't even have my blog name on the top of my blog anymore. I have called it Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant for the longest time. The name change just seems more fitting these days. I am going to be working on updating the look of the blog in the near future. I would love it if you would follow me on Instagram! 

Never Miss a Monday!

I thought it would be fun to start a weekly blog post called Never Miss A Monday! Now that doesn't mean I won't miss a Monday posting these fun things, but I am going to give it a good try to be weekly! I am going to share 5 points each week. Some of them will be about BeautyCounter, Paleo, style, beauty, natural cleaning products I love and other random things.

1) I started using BeautyCounters Body Wash in October. The bottle lasted me from October through March. Art also used the same bottle of body wash. It costs $24 for a 10 oz bottle. It costs us $4.80 per month for this body wash for 2 people or $2.40 per person per month. That is the cost of a bottle of Suave body wash. BeautyCounter uses all safe ingredients in their products. I love that we don't have to worry about harmful ingredients!

You can find more about BeautyCounter's Never List and Story by clicking on the links. I am happy to help you start getting safer products in your home. If you would like to try any samples, please don't hesitate to email me. I send out samples often to people who want to try products prior to purchasing them. If I have the product I will happily send you a sample.

2) Purely Elizabeth came out with some grain free granola. There are times I miss granola and want to add some to coconut yogurt. I tried the original grain free granola. I really liked it! You can find it on Amazon and Whole Foods. Target carries the gluten free flavors, but I haven't been able to find the grain free ones at Target yet.

3) The weather has been warming up lately! We had a lot of rain over the winter. I felt we were bundled up with rain boots almost all winter long. We are loving the spring weather. I pulled out my Lularoe kimono last week to wear. It is perfect to wear over a tank on warm days.

4) I haven't listened to Podcasts in ages. Here and there I will listen to short ones when I go on a walk. Some other bloggers were commenting on IG that S Town was an amazing Podcast. I decided to listen to the first episode when I went for a walk. The rest of the day I spent it listening. I had a very productive day. My house was clean, cars cleaned, laundry done and I sat outside listening for a little bit. I just couldn't stop listening to it once I got started. I don't want to spoil it for you. It's a must listen too!

5) If you want to see more of what goes on in our daily lives follow me on Instagram BetterBeautyWithBecky. I post pictures from our day to day lives, safer beauty products, paleo food and whatever else is going on with me.

I hope everyone has a great week! Happy Monday!

Disclaimer: All thoughts and opinions are my own. The post Never Miss a Monday appeared first on Because Chocolate Can't Get You Pregnant. 

Holiday Style Link-Up: Holiday Traditions

Growing up we had Christmas traditions that we followed almost to a "t" every year. I LOVE traditions and I love the holidays. Christmas Eve at noon my mom would make homemade pizza and we would open presents from my parents. Christmas Eve night we would go to my grandparents for a big dinner, open gifts from my grandparents, cousins and aunt. Christmas Day we would rush out to the tree to see what Santa left in our stockings. Around noon we would go to my great grandma house where all my Grandma Fischer brothers, sisters and their kids would come over. Great grandma had 10 kids, so there were a bazillion people at her house. Everyone stopped by her house even if it was just for a little bit. The young kids went to the basement to play while the adults talked upstairs. It was a LOUD German house. If you needed something you had to SCREAM. lol  I love those memories.

My brother and I didn't really ever believe in Santa. When my sister was born we decided she NEEDED to believe in Santa. We love it that she thought Santa was real and played it up. Poor little Lacey was soooo upset when she found out Santa was fake. 

Even now as an adult when I still eat pizza on Christmas Eve. Even if I spend lunch time alone I eat pizza. It is my families tradition and I am not going to stop eating pizza on Christmas Eve. Today Art is working and I am eating leftover pizza from last night. I decided to order pizza for dinner last night just so I could have pizza for today. 

Lacey and I started a tradition I am not sure how many years ago making a gingerbread house every year. We buy the kit and put it together sometime around Christmas. Sometimes we were putting it together on Christmas Eve, but when we are together it is our tradition. We do not want other people to help us decorate our house either. We will allow our mom to put the icing on the house because she has A LOT of experience icing cakes. 

Christmas 2011 pictures above

This year it didn't work out with all my health issues eating up all my PTO time at work to travel to North Dakota for Christmas. I am hoping next year we can either be in North Dakota or my family can be in California with us thawing out. 

I am linking up my Holiday Traditions Post with More Pieces of Me and On the Daily Express. 

Holiday Party Part 1: Casual Holiday Style

My friend Caryl over at More Pieces of Me is having a holiday link up party! This is her first link of party, so I wanted to support her by participating. 

This week is casual holiday outfits. The outfit below I would wear to church on Sunday, casual work Christmas party or a holiday party at my house. To dress it up more you could add a sparkly tank & heels. 

Tank & Tights: Target

Jacket: JcPennys

Skirt: Lane Bryant (borrowed from my aunt)

Shoes: Lucky from TJ Maxx

Necklace: Jane.com

Bracelets: J Crew Factory & Zuni

Link up to the fun & check out the other outfits!! 

Greek Dinner

Art and I both have bought chicken on super clearance at Fresh & Easy. Currently our freezer is packed with chicken thighs, legs, drummies, breasts & ground chicken. Our freezer looks like we own a chicken ranch. lol  What does one make with all this chicken? I am scouring the internet looking for different recipes all the time. I love to throw it in the crockpot with some type of sauce, but that can get a little old. 

Art really likes Greek pitas. I found a recipe online for Grilled Greek chicken pitas. Chicken pitas would go perfectly with my friend Krystal's Layered Mediterranean Dip! I can't even remember how I found the chicken pita recipe. Possibly looking on Pinterest and found the link. However I found it the pitas were a hit. I threw everything into the bag of chicken while I ran some errands. A couple hours later while the chicken was cooking I made the layered dip. Threw the dip in the fridge while I finished the chicken, made the tzatziki sauce and wa-la dinner was ready. 

I bought pitas from Fresh & Easy, spread the tzatziki sauce over them, shredded the chicken, and placed some sliced tomatoes over the top. I served the dip with pita chips on the side. It was really delicious and easy. 

We need more responsive bloggers!

I love when bloggers actually read comments on their Facebook pages and blogs. Recently I comment on J's Everyday Fashion Facebook page about an outfit. She actually answered me. I felt like a celebrity was talking to me. lol

Eeekkk!!! =)

What's the point of blogging?

I've been struggling the past week with why do I blog, does anyone out there even read my nonsense, should I continue to blog and if I continue what should I write about?  There are THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of blogs out there. Mine won't ever be super popular and that's ok. Popular blogs have thousand of followers and 50-100 people will comment. I am one of those people who rarely comments on blogs because honestly it's a pain in the butt. People have funky codes you need to fill out, it's not easy to comment from a blog reader and after 100 comments on a blog post does the author really care what I have to say?

I started this blog as something fun. It has become a dump station with a filter for all the craziness in my life. Somethings I am very open about and other things I don't ever mention in blog land.  I hope one day the journey I've shared with weight loss, MTC and infertility will help someone. All three of those things have been such a struggle in my life now more than ever. 

There are days I'm exhausted and just can't come up with a topic to write about. I had planned out what I would write about yesterday for the week. Well I was too exhausted to put words on the screen. Even with the topics on my to do list weren't enough to help the post come together. 

I like the fact I blog regularly for my own sake. My memory has really gone down hill over the past 2 years. I really noticed a difference around February 2012. I couldn't remember things off the top of my head, I needed lists and I couldn't remember what I just wantted to do. What did we do for our anniversary in 2009? No clue - the blog probably has a picture so I resort back to the blog. 

I also use my blog to keep track of recipes and menus I've done. Refer back to those posts all the time. In the last year I started documented my outfits. Outfit inspiration is a great way to figure out what I should wear the next day. Sometimes I use my own, but most of the time I run off to Pinterest. 

So after all that craziness I guess my decision is I will blog when I feel like it and not blog when I don't. I'm trying not to put so much pressure on myself.  That is a hard thing not to do because I like structure and with structure there needs to be rules. The whole not putting pressure on myself is something I am working at home and work. I put A LOT of pressure on myself to be as perfect as I can be. At work I rush to get EVERYTHING handled ASAP. I am not one to let things slide or not respond to emails, voicemails etc. Well the past week I have actually just said I can't do that and need another week. 

Life is always a work in progress. 

I am slowly working on putting myself first and everything else second!  

Fashion Blogs

I recently found two new blogs I started following. I am always looking for new fashion ideas. I need to mix what I wear or I am known to wear all black. 

One of my friends Carylee has a fabulous blog called More Pieces of Me. I love Carylee fashion and her love for Kate Spade. She has helped me become more brave with colors, mixing patterns, jewerly. She has a FABULOUS shoe collection. My mom would die to have that collection. One day I hope to have a closet half as fabulous as Carylee. 

I found Style Diary because of Carylee blog. I like this blog because she buys reasonable clothes. I don't like blogs that only buy high end clothing that hardly anyone can afford. I just started reading this blog, so I still have a lot of posts to go through. 

Check out More Pieces of Me and Style Diary for some great fashion! 

Krystal's Virtual Baby Shower - CUPCAKE!

A little over a year ago I participate in my very first virtual shower for my friend Krystal. I made a Cuban cake in honor of little Cookie. Well a year later we are having another virtual shower for Krystal as they are about to welcome Cupcake! The theme for this virtual shower is CUPCAKE. lol I was trying to figure out what kind of cupcakes I should make and each time I came up with some thing someone else had picked it. Well luckily Pinterest helped me in a big way this time. 

My readers know I have been trying to avoid sugar and carbs. I found a recipe for Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes. Hey at least I am avoiding one of the items - flour. I also can share these cupcakes with  my future son in law since he can only eat gluten free products. When I bake I like to share them with people. 

I am so excited for Krystal to welcome little Cupcake into the world! Cupcake is going to be such a handsome little man and a lucky little brother to Elena. Eric and Krystal are such amazing parents to Elena. It has been very exciting to watch their family grow and see them as parents. 

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

3/4 cup butter

1.5 cups chocolate chips

6 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

In a double boiler melt the butter and chocolate. Separate egg whites and yolks. Let chocolate and butter mixture start to cool and then add in yolks. Beat egg whites until peaks start to form. Gradually add in the sugar and beat until eggs form stiff peaks and glossy. Whisk some of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and then mix egg whites into the entire chocolate mixture stirring slowly. Bake at 275 for 25 minutes. 

The last photo with Cookie and Cupcake still baking!

Check out Eva Bakes for a round-up of all the baby shower cupcake blog posts. 

5 Truths About Me

One of my bloggy fashion friends tagged me in a 5 Trusts About Me post on her blog. You can find her blog post here.

Truth One

I met the original Naked Cowboy in NY last September. 

Truth Two

I became a grandma at 32.....this is what happens when you marry a man a little older. 

Kaleb is just the cutest little guy that brings us so much joy. He thinks his Mimi is a comedian. 

Truth Three

Next week we will celebrate 5 years of marriage. It is hard to believe that 5 years have gone by already. 

I met this amazing group of girls on theknot.com while we were planning our wedding. I am still friends with 50 of the girls and we talk every day. I think it is really cool that planning a wedding has created such a bond between 50 women. Believe it or not there is rarely any fighting amount the group too. 

Truth Four

I could drink Dunkin Donuts coffee every day. I love that stuff! It might be a very good think we don't have Dunkin Donuts in California or I would be fat & broke. lol

Truth Five

I love to find outfit inspirations on Pinterest and recreate them with the items in my closet. 

Below is an inspiration I recreated for my birthday dinner. 

I am not sure that any of the truths were actually new information. I could have wrote the same 5 truths that Sassy in Sequins wrote. lol  Now it is your turn Cara, Gracie, Krystal and Liz. 

DIY Headboard Idea

I have been wanting a headboard for our bed, since we bought it in November 2011. Art and I do not agree on what to get. I like the upholstered headboards and Art hates them. I don't want to pay a lot of money and think we should be able to make one. Well I found the perfect one for Art to make!!!! Like how I said for ART to make. lol Vintage Revivals redid a mantel headboard and IT IS IT!!! I want it! I think we can actually make it without buying an actual mantel. 

How adorable is that headboard?  So now I need to get started on making it! It is going to have to be massive to fit our California king bed. lol I don't want the arrows and I would rather have the background the same color as the sides. I am thinking of doing the whole thing in gray. We will need to buy it all and paint it a light gray. 2013 is the year of finishing, so I think we need to finish decorating our bedroom. 

source: vintage revivals

Don't Forget to see all the food from.....

Krystal's virtual baby shower over at What's Cookin, Chicago and Krystal also blogged about it at Mrs. Regueiro's Plate. I really want a bite of every.single.thing!!!! I just ate breakfast and I am hungry! =)

I have been getting the question of what is a virtual baby shower. Krystal explained it best....A virtual baby shower is a like an online potluck party composed of dishes that we would have all enjoyed if we really had the party together in real life.