Baked Brie Bites

I ended up making the Baked Brie Bites for our News Years Eve Party and trust me you will want to make these for your next party. They were super easy and melt in your mouth good. I found this recipe on Pinterest which led me to the original site it was from, PlainChicken.com. You must check out this site if you love food. Her recipes are amaze. I will most definitely be making these tasty treats again. They also reheat well if you have leftovers. I served them again the next day and just redrizzled with honey and baked for a few minutes and they were just as delish. Enjoy!

Baked Brie Bites:
mini phyllo tarts
Ile de France brie cubed
brown sugar
chopped pecans
honey

Preheat oven to 350. Place a cube of brie in each phyllo tart. Sprinkle each tart with approximately 1/2 tsp brown sugar. Top with approximately 1/2tsp chopped pecans and a dollop of honey. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until brie is melted. (use more or less of each ingredient according to your preference).

Picture via Plain Chicken

My Newest Gadget Obsessions

For Christmas I got several new gadgets that changed my life. Now I am totally not a gadget girl, I never buy these kinds of things. I would rather spend my money on clothes and home decor, but I love to ask for gadgets as gifts. So far I am obsessed with these 5 items.

1) KEURIG COFFEE MAKER
I love this coffee maker. It makes the perfect cup of coffee. I feel like our old pot of coffee would sit and get stale. Not this thing, it makes a fresh cup everytime. Can't recommend this enough. It has a clean sleek look so I don't mind it sitting out on my counter. I also love it for making hot green tea as well.

2) SONICARE TOOTHBRUSH
You may be thinking what a lame Christmas gift, a toothbrush? But this thing is amazing. I used to always laugh when my dentist would tell me I really needed to get one of these, a $150 toothbrush, umm no thanks. My parents surprised us with this and I swear I will never go back to a regular toothbrush. My teeth feel so clean! It is set on a two minute timer to make sure you really clean your teeth well. Before I got this I swear I must have only brushed my teeth for like 30 seconds because 2 minutes seems like forever. My teeth have never felt cleaner.

3) THE NINJA BLENDER
I never got the Breville Juicer I wanted for Christmas but I did get the Ninja Blender. This makes the best smoothies ever. It really will puree anything you put in it. I am off to the store this morning to get the stuff to make my favorite green smoothie (part of my New Years Detox)!

4) WARING ELECTRIC WINE OPENER
Ever since using my parents electric wine opener, I was obsessed. Santa was nice enough to bring me one and I love it. It makes opening wine so easy and you all know how much I love my glass of wine.

5) KITCHEN AID IMMERSION BLENDER
I love to make homemade soups, but always have to pour the mix into my food processor to puree. This usually makes a huge mess. This immersion blender makes pureeing my soups so much easier. Love the sleek white look of it and it is small enough to stash in a drawer or cabinet.

I am definitely no techie or gadget pro but these are a few of my new favorites that make my life easier!

Scenes From Our New Years

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years! I am not going to lie I am a wee bit hungover. Way too much booze has been consumed around here the last few days. I am in major detox mode now. Motivating to go jog off all the food and booze from the Holidays. One of my best friends and her fam came and stayed with us for the weekend and we had the best time! Thought I would share a few pictures from our long weekend! Here's to 2012 being a fabulous year!

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