"i knew you were trouble when you walked in..."

"i knew you were trouble when you walked in..." yes, this is a song i frequently sing to my little guy. the other day i turned around and he was on top of our coat hanger... i scolded, "Gunther get down! but not until i get a picture!" he got down alright, but only because it toppled over from all his squirming :) oh how i love this kitty!  

Easter Sunday.

I hope everyone had a beautiful Easter Sunday! We had a quiet, intimate day, just the two of us (or "three" if we're including the kitty). We started the morning off at church and came home to do our Easter basket hunt. Every year we hide Easter baskets filled with candy for one another and every year it takes me forever to find mine, while that boo of mine finds his right away. Well this year we are living in a much smaller space, so finding creative hiding spots was much more challenging. And I am proud to say that for the first time, this lady right here found her basket first!

 

The Easter Bunny even brought something for our little Gunther! I wasn't sure if Gunther would be too interested in the things in his basket (let's face it, giving him a basket was more for our benefit and entertainment), but he really was! He spent a good while playing with a new toy and eating kitty treats :)

 I decided to splurge on an unhealthy dinner, being a holiday worthy of celebration and all ;) Lately we've been pretty strict with our diets throughout the week, eating plain chicken breasts and plain sautéed veggies...no butters, cheeses, salts, or desserts. But for Easter, I made chicken cordon bleu, creamy corn, and other fresh veggies, with berry cobbler, and strawberry lemonade cupcakes with lime buttercream frosting (recipe to come). 

We have lots of leftovers, not to mention all of our Easter candy, so it may be awhile before the diet resumes ;) We are so blessed with all we have, but most of all for the life we have in Christ. His resurrection is the basis for how all believers ought to live out their lives. 

Happy Easter!! 

surprise girls night.

so... i took an unplanned break from the blogging world for a couple weeks... the internet in our apartment was out and reading blogs is just not as convenient from my phone. so i feel like i've been out of touch for awhile! anyway, thankful to have our internet up and running again!

last night i was "kidnapped" by a good friend and taken to our friend, d's house. i was all ready to "go see a play" with brian, when my friend andrea showed up and said i was coming with her. she drove me to d's house where a few other friends were waiting with a great homemade meal and banana split cake. our friends are so sweet and planned this fun night to celebrate andrea and i's birthdays. 

after we ate our delicious meal, d told us that we were heading to the toledo museum of art. the museum itself was beautiful and it felt like we were the only ones there... and that was pretty much how we acted ;)

the 19th century french section was my favorite section by far. there is so much romance in those paintings!

there's a section right across from the museum itself thats a glass pavilion and specializes in glass art. check out this dress made entirely of glass!

we also got to watch a tutorial on making glass art, which was pretty fascinating! 

we had a great time and i cannot wait to take brian to this museum one night for a fun date. 

the art museum was also on the list of things to do in toledo, in the sweet scrapbook that d made for me. it was great being able to check another item off the list! thankful for these ladies who have shown me so much love. 

a blessed birthday brunch.

i went home to cincinnati this past weekend for my birthday. my mom organized a little get-together with some friends in the area. i seriously have so many amazing people in my life!

i took gunther home with me so i could show him off to my friends. we played "pass the kitty" so everyone could hold him. then we let him play around everyone. he knew that he was the star of the morning!

even though everyone might not understand my love for kitties (orange ones in particular), allison does. she has two kitties of her own who are going to be fast friends with little gunther.

i was so blessed to be able to spend saturday morning with so many wonderful women. i was totally feeling the love. 

like i said, allison totally understands my love for kitties...and baking... so she got me this adorable Kitten Aid print. it is perfect and looks just like my gunther. 

and it goes oh so well in my kitchen!

new kitten, lots of wonderful friends, and brunch. 24 started off perfectly. 

secret agents, tea tree oil, & the days you have an overwhelming desire to look like lisa frank.

1. due to my recent “alias” kick, i have dreams where i am a secret agent all the time. so far, i have been successful on all my missions...i even threatened a bad guy with a knife. it felt pretty good, because then he left me alone. not only do i have the dreams, but when i am alone at night, i actually (silently) dare any creepers to try and attack me (but not really) because i think i have a shot at taking them down.

**disclaimer: when a woman dares you to do something, she’s really saying, “do this and you’ll be sorry” which is what i mean when i say i “dare” someone to attack me. i do not actually want anyone to attack me, ever. didn’t think i needed to clear that up, but you never know. 

2. tea tree oil is the remedy for everything! it cleans bacteria and soothes skin. when i had my nose pierced, i used it to prevent infection. currently, im using it on my nail beds to sooth pain from hangnails. my pain instantly goes away when i apply it. i got my bottle from whole foods market. it always comes in handy!

3. let’s face it, every little girl wanted the latest lisa frank folders, pencils, “trapperkeepers,” and accessories. going back to school was bearable for me as a child, because at least all my school supplies would be lisa frank. secret: i still love her. and sometimes i just want my world to be swirling with rainbows and hot pink cheetahs. enter hair chalking. i found this lovely trick on the glitter guide. you simply get some oil pastel chalk (i got a huge pack from hobby lobby for $7) and wet your hair. then color random strands of your wet hair until you get the desired color. then blow dry so the heat will set the color. this is great if you want colored tresses for just a night, because it washes out with shampoo! and yes, you can look like a character from lisa frank! 

so to sum it up... if you are a creeper, i might distract you with my rainbow hair and chuck a bottle of tea tree oil at your head and then sprint away. you have been warned. 

life lately.

wore a little sparkle for the 4th... why not dress like fireworks? 

spent a little time eating, catching up, and shopping with my beautiful roommate. 

baked some vanilla macarons with my friend allison.

became inspired by this adorable little macaron book allison so graciously gave me! (we are baking more later this week... blogpost to come)

spent evenings with friends who welcome us with nice little signs :) we were feeling the love. 

baked these lemon blueberry cheesecake cookies...yum ((please dont make me fat)). 

i am a blessed lady. thankful.