Thoughts For Friday

Hard to believe this is the last Friday of 2011!! We are in the midst of undecorating and getting ready for our second annual New Years Eve Party. It is nothing fancy just a few of our closest friends and their kids but we sure do have fun!

I am thinking about whipping up these babies for the party- Baked Brie Bites. There is nothing I love more than melted Brie!

I am in the market for a new planner for 2012. I know nowadays everyone uses their phone for dates and appointments, but I am old school and love to hand write things down. I am contemplating, The Erin Condren Planner and the Sarah Pinto Planner. Any thoughts or recommendations?

I am 100% obsessed with this dress Mackenzie wrote about on her blog this week. Need it for my Spring wardrobe!
Rachel Pally Stripe CutOut Dress

I am convinced my little man is going to be famous artist. Check out his latest work of art. As hard as I try I can never create anything as fabulous as what he paints! Or maybe I am just biased because he is my son!

Hope you all have a festive and happy New Years! I will be wearing my new JCrew leopard dress

and undoubtedly drinking lots of this!

Oh and the best part- I have an amazing house cleaner for the next day. He is pretty good with a vacuum...

HAPPY NEW YEARS DOLLS!

Snickers Fudge

This past week while I was home my mom and I baked our tails off. This was one of our favorite new recipes that we tried so I had to share it. If you like Snickers you are going to love this fudge. It really tastes just like a Snickers! It was easy to assemble because you do it in steps. You could honestly make one layer a day if you wanted to. We would make a layer then wrap gifts, make another layer and run errands and before we knew it was ready. It does taste best if you let it refrigerate over night. Enjoy and trust me you will not be able to eat just one piece!


SNICKERS FUDGE

INGREDIENTS
First Layer
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup peanut butter

Second Layer
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped salted peanuts

Third Layer
14 ounce package caramel cubes
1/4 cup heavy cream

Fourth Layer
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

DIRECTIONS
First Layer Prep:
Lightly spray 9×13 baking pan with cooking spray.
Over medium heat, melt milk chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butterscotch chips in small saucepan. Stir together until completely melted and smooth, then pour into the baking pan. Spread the mixture evenly with a spatula, then refrigerate until set.

Second Layer Prep:
Melt butter over medium-high heat in saucepan.
Add sugar and evaporated milk and bring to boil. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and quickly mix in marshmallow creme, peanut butter, and vanilla. Add peanuts to mixture and spread evenly over chocolate layer.
Refrigerate until set.

Third Layer Prep:
Melt caramels and heavy cream over low heat until smooth.
Pour over peanut mixture and refrigerate until set.

Fourth Layer Prep:
Repeat step one.
Melt chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter over low heat until smooth.
Pour over caramel layer and refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting.

Christmas with the Family

This year Christmas came and went so fast! We had a wonderful Christmas. It was a little stressful and a little crazy at times but overall it was fabulous. We were all spoiled rotten and watching Sterling open his gifts was priceless. My mom busted out these napkins last night and I could not stop laughing- so true!

This year, I drank way too many of these. Lord I love a dirty martini.

Ate so many sweets I swear I gained 5lbs but I am avoiding the scale til I feel skinny again. (check back tomorrow for the recipe for this amazing sweet treat, you don't want to miss it!).

And loved watching the joy in my little man's face. Children really make Christmas that much more special. He was so excited about all his gifts, he absolutely loved Christmas. Santa brought him this new red electric car that he is obsessed with! Watch out if you live near us, Sterling is a speed demon in his car!

I hope you all had a very merry holiday season with your families! xoxo

Pixie Lily Sample Sale!

As many of you know Pixie Lily is one of my favorite baby lines ever! The designs are so precious and the outfits are so soft. Here is Sterling in one of his first Pixie Lily outfits, adorable right??


Pixie Lily is hosting a huge Sample next week on December 27th and 28th in Charleston. If you live here or nearby you don't want to miss this sale! The sale will take place at 48 Society Street (the corner of Anson and Society). The preview sale for facebook fans will be on Tuesday, December 27th from 1-3. Shoppers must bring a print out of their facebook likes page with Pixie listed in order to gain entrance. If you are not already a Pixie Lily fan on Facebook click HERE to do so and gain early entrance to the sale!

Wednesday, Dec 28th doors will open at 9:00 and will close at 4:00 or whenever they sell out ...whichever happens first. All layette, toddler and womens loungewear is $16.00 (regularly $52.00-135.00) Blankets: $13.00 (regularly $44.00) Hats, Booties, Mittens: $2.00 (regularly $17.00-20.00) Bibs, Burps and Diaper Covers: $4.00 (regularly $18.00-24.00). These prices are amazing!





This is a great time to stock up on essentials for your baby or gifts for friends. Trust me you don't want to miss this sale!

PIXIE LILY SAMPLE SALE
48 SOCIETY STREET
DECEMBER 27TH 1-3 FOR FACEBOOK FANS
DECEMBER 28TH DOORS OPEN AT 9

Obsessions

5 days til Christmas and I could not me more excited. I love this time of the year! As I am typing this Sterling just walked over to me and says "poo" and he was holding a piece of dog poop- I am not kidding. Great way to start the day off!
BCBG COLOR BLOCK MINI
I am convinced this dress needs to be mine for the Summer. Love everything about it!

Peanut Butter Twix
If you have not tried these you need to immediately. They are my newest addiction.

ALESYA PURSES
How amazing is this purse that is actually a laptop bag? This stylish yet oh so functional laptop bag was designed by Alesya. Alesya is from Charleston, so I always love to support my local girls! The bag is available in Eggplant, Equestrian Tan, and Kelly Girl Green. But if you want one you better hurry the Eggplant is already sold out! You can check out Alesya's fabulous blog and shop HERE!

Added Bonus, how cute is the wrapping paper that Alesya uses to package the bags?

COPPER LIGHTING
I love that Copper is making a comeback. The Copper lights are perfection in this Kitchen!

The LayOver
Anthony Bourdain's new show the LayOver is awesome. I have recently watched the New York and Miami episodes and he featured so many great places I want to hit up next time I travel. The best part is this is one TV show the hubs and I can agree to watch together!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

I have really been in the mood for comfort food lately, I think it's just that time of year! I had a bunch of potatoes left over from a Beef Stew I made last week and decided to put them to use in a Loaded Baked Potato Soup. I googled several recipes but just ended up creating my own with what I had on hand. What made it truly amazing was mixing truffle oil in in while it cooked and then drizzling more on top afterwards! We chopped up some Hot Sausage (It was the Hillshire Hot Sausage links that look like hot dogs) we had in the fridge and sauteed it for the top. It was the perfect addition of heat and flavor with the potatoes. I think this would also be amaze with crumbled bacon too. This soup was so cheap to make and easy. Trust me you are going to love the creamy goodness of this soup!

Ingredients
8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
3-4 cups Chicken Broth
1 small onion chopped
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2-3 Tablespoons Fresh chopped Parsley
3-4 Tablespoons Truffle oil

Garnish
Fresh Diced Chives
Truffle Oil
Cheddar Cheese
Sauteed Sausage (or crumbled Bacon)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Boil Potatoes about 25 minutes until soft.
2.While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add in onions and cook about 5 minutes. Whisk in flour until smooth, then gradually stir in the milk and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
3.Drain Potatoes. Mash 3/4 of the potatoes and reserve the rest to add in as chunks to give the soup more texture. Add Potatoes into the milk and broth mixture. Stir in the sour cream, Cheddar cheese, parsley, and truffle oil until melted and well blended. Season with salt and pepper. Let soup sit on low heat for 30-1 hour. We found the longer it sat the more the flavors came out.
Garnish with Fresh chopped Chives, Cheddar Cheese, Sausage, and Truffle Oil

Weekend Recap

I got a flat tire Thursday night leaving the park. There was a huge screw stuck in my tire. Luckily they were able to just patch it and I didn't have to buy a new tire. Sterling loved playing with the tires while we waited. I am sad to admit Sterling is wearing his last bubble in this picture, much to my dismay my little man is too old for bubbles now:(

Had friends over for dinner and made the most delish appetizer. It is so easy just two ingredients turkey kielbasa and crescent rolls + dijon mustard for dipping. Make it you won't regret it. All you do is wrap the kielbasa in the crescent rolls and bake about 20-25 mins until brown.

Here is my outfit from that night:

Rebecca Taylor Nailhead Blouse

Steve Madden Intyce Boots

Finally watched Sarah's house, my newest obsession on HGTV. Girl can decorate the heck out of a house.


Wrapped ALOT of Gifts

Drank the most amazing Chardonnay.

A successful weekend.

Melts My Heart

Enough Said. This little boy is most certainly my whole world.

Thoughts For Friday

A little over a week til Christmas! Yikes. I feel like I have so much left to do. I will say I work best under pressure though and this week is crunch time.

I finally got our Christmas cards addressed and mailed. I went with the solo picture of Sterling trying to open the door, it was too cute not to use! I am very old fashioned and traditional when comes to cards. I like the kind where you attach the picture yourself and hand write a message. Time consuming yes, but I love a gorgeous Christmas card. This year our cards came from Crane and Co and the photo was taken by the fabulously talented Julia Ryan.

Around this time of the year when I am Christmas Shopping, I start to get a little selfish. As I am buying gifts for others I start to look for things for myself. This quote really put things in perspective for me and helps me to realize I have more than enough! That's not to say I still don't browse for myself- I just try not to buy!

Sterling's school had a holiday fundraiser this week. They had a bunch of different companies come and set up booths with proceeds going to his day school. I picked up this Stella and Dot Serpent Bracelet. I absolutely love it. I thought it would be a piece I could wear daily. and I am not going to lie the fact that Kelly Ripa has one and wears it all the time made me want it even more!

Sterling and I baked a batch of these Christmas Tree Sugar cookies this week, how cute are they? Although I have to say mine did not look nearly as cute as Martha Stewart's- how does that woman do everything perfectly?? I will say by accident I bought regular M&M's instead of minis so that was part of the problem-lesson learned.


Have y'all seen this Tory Burch Blanket? I want it so bad!

Have a wonderful and festive weekend Loves!