CELEBRATING MOTHERHOOD

 

I was lucky enough to spend mother's day with my mom this year.  It was a beautiful day filled with flowers, mimosas, brunch, and good friends.  Even though every day is a celebration of my mom, yesterday's celebration was one to remember.  Happy mother's day to all mothers out there!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA!

                Filled with cupcakes, massages, wine, and yummy italian food, it was a birthday to remember. 

(and breakfast the next morning :) )

RECENTLY CAPTURED MOMENTS

THE WEEKENDER

This weekend Kurt and I are headed to our hometowns for family parties.  I'm excited to spend time with both of our families and visit pieces of our pasts.  I hope you have a great weekend!  Here are some of my favorite links from around the web this week....

I've always liked doing work at coffee shops.

....and it turns out that coffee is good for us too!

How great are these his + her mugs?

Hopefully I'll have time to make one of these beautiful crowns for the fourth of July weekend.

How cool would this bedroom be?

In just a few weeks I'm going to be surrounded by cacti.  I might try making this cute mini cacti garden for the new yard...

I would love to take a road trip and visit some of these beautiful national parks (and make a stop at the Redwoods).

I love these ideas for a little spring cleaning for your body.

BEERBEERBEE

{I loved the Apple Peach Hard Cider from Ciderboys}

This weekend was perfect!  Friday night we celebrated my mom's last day of work with our favorite fish fry and some Veuve Clicquot. On Saturday we made our annual visit to the Breast Cancer Showhouse.  It was beautiful and fun, as usual!  After the showhouse we visited the newest restaurant in my town, The Bay.  I give it rave reviews, the salmon salad was delicious.  Then we headed home to get ready for Beer Fest. We spent the rest of the day tasting the amazing beers of Wisconsin with friends and enjoyed a barbeque at a family friends house for dinner.  It was the perfect weekend.  

{one of my closest friends, Luckey, and I at our second annual beer fest together}

{me, Charlie, and my mom enjoying the day}

{one of my favorite beers was a chai tea porter from this Stevens Point Brewery}

IVY LEAGUE

I spent a good amount of my weekend driving but it was worth being able to celebrate my cousins graduation in New Hampshire.  It is a beautiful part of the country that I have never been able to explore before.  Although Dartmouth is located in the middle of nowhere, it was absolutely beautiful and inspiring in it's isolation.  From frat parties to official Phi Beta Kappa meetings, it was a wonderful weekend full of food and a lovely celebration of accomplishments.  Congratulations, Joey!

THE WEEKENDER

{a shot of the Lion's Gate Bridge I took while visiting cousins in Vancouver last summer}

I can't believe its already the weekend again.  And I'm already headed back to the east coast!  My cousin is graduating from Dartmouth and we are on our way to celebrate with him.  I'll be driving through some familiar territory (a similar route I used to take when I would drive to school in Dayton) and some new (hopefully beautiful!) areas of the country I haven't seen before.  Here are some fun weekender links for you....

This is my favorite playlist to listen to while spending an evening cooking, eating, and enjoying wine in the kitchen with my family.

Have you seen these funny and interesting maps of the United States?

Safe Haven was my first Nicholas Sparks book and I liked it so much that I'm going to try out this memoir during the drive to Dartmouth!  I heard it's a little different than his others so I'm really excited.

I'm also going to be reading this.  Alex was reading it on the beach last weekend and it seemed so uplifting and interesting.

As a fresh graduate with no current employment I have been scouring Netflix for a new show and ran across Private Practice.  I'm a huge Grey's fan and am always a little late on TV shows so it's so perfect for me.  I've been loving it!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

PIZZA PIZZA

I made the most amazing pizza for my family last night.  I found the recipe on one of my (new) favorite food blogs The First Mess.  I was a bit wary about adding the mint at first but it was the perfect addition and the extra touch that made the pizza as delectable as it was.  I used my own sauce recipe and paired it with a delicious (and cheap!) bottle of red table wine from Trader Joe's.  Try it out and enjoy!

Sauce:

one can of tomato paste

three spoonfuls of Trader Joe's Red Pepper Spread with Eggplant and Garlic

two garlic cloves, minced

a squeeze of lemon

salt and pepper to taste