Baby, It's a Boy

Yes! We're having a boy! Not we as in Bryan and Me,.....We as in My good friend and her hubs are expecting a little boy and I'm so happy for them! There is nothing better than the experience of being a parent and I can't wait for them to share the love and bond with their new little bundle of joy. Congrats Anne and Tim, may this journey be everything and more you so deserve.... xoxo

Completely Unfinished

blog//twitter//shop

I ♥ Chesterrific

blog:twitter

Bed & Breakfast, Vineyards and Winery-Oh My!

My dear pretties! Can you believe I have never been to a wine tasting, a winery or anything related. My 31 years of life is def. missing something here, so when I seen this feature on Hilary's blog I said I must re-feature! I just love these adventures and need to really get my tush in gear!

These old rustic cob web catching displays just put me in a pretty place! Don't you love antiques. I'm only a wine lover if I mix it up with one of my famous concoctions.

A bed and breakfast is always something I've craved! This is Peggy's and it surely looks amazing.

Good food and company is always a pleasure! Charming comfort is a totally warming welcome. Feeling right at home.

How often do you get away to such great places?!

You can find more details and photos here, here and here! xoxo

Happy Sundae

This is so not right for me to post-it's totally sinful especially on a Sunday friends! 

Dulce de Leche & Chocolate Waffle Cone Ice Cream

Vanilla Ice Cream base by David Lebovitz

1 cup whole milk
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
5 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 waffle cones
1 1/2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tsp canola oil
1 can (13.5 oz.) dulce de leche – you’ll only use half

In a medium saucepan, heat whole milk, salt, and sugar until very warm. Remove from heat. Scrape out the seeds out of the vanilla bean with a small, sharp knife. Mix the seeds and the pod into the milk, cover, and let sit for 1 hour.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks. Reheat the milk mixture and gradually pour about 1/4 of it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture and set it over low to medium-low heat. Stir continuously until the mixture forms a custard until it is thick enough to coat a spatula or the back of a metal spoon.

Make a water bath by filling a large bowl with cold water and ice. Set a medium bowl into the water bath. Place a strainer in the top bowl and pour heavy cream through the strainer. Pour the egg mixture through the strainer and stir until it is cool (it should still be sitting over the water bath). Stir in vanilla extract. Remove the vanilla bean. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Pour the custard mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
While the ice cream is processing, break waffle cones into 3/4-inch pieces and lay on a piece of parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet. Combine chocolate it with canola oil in a microwave-proof bowl. Heat at 50% power until the chocolate is melted, stirring every 15 seconds. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the waffle cones and refrigerate until the chocolate is set.

Spoon dulce de leche in a small bowl and microwave until pourable.

Once the ice cream is finished processing, transfer it to a freezer-proof container. Gently mix in the chocolate-covered waffle pieces and the dulce de leche. Freeze until solid. Scoop and serve.
Makes about 1 quart.

Printable Recipe

Enjoy! Happy Sundae

Daily Inspiration

I hope you not only climb mountains, I hope you move them too! xoxo

{click the photo to go to the artwork}

Sounds of Laughter

Blog:Twitter

Wonder ♥ Forest

More From The Wonder Forest

shop//twitter//facebook

.....and this morning

Accidental Friendship

Before You Move on to this Lovely Feature allow me to

Explain the Title of this Post

I'll be completely honest. I wasn't in the market for new friends. I mean, this is the busiest time of my life and I have been secretly stalking your blogs without leaving comments or even responding to your comments here via email, returned comment love, etc....I'm just too busy to log into the damn account to leave a comment--yeah I suck! But I do really enjoy my friends and checking in with you often--even if you think I'm not, I am. Running FTLOB requires a lot of blog stalking where I stumbled upon Accidental Encounters. {if you like to be stalked, you'll be sure to get that accomplished by not only myself but thousands of bloggers}In either case, I fell in love with her and her sweet personality. I featured her Vintage Tea Party and keep stalking all her macaroon posts! Do you ever find friends accidentally? They're the best ones;D here she is---

//More Links//

blog:tumblr:twitter

Music in my ♥

Last week, I received this Ah-Mazing CD from my friend Chantilly. She has the sweetest voice and is so real in her lyrics! I love her, so I know you will too! She's just A-W-E-S-O-M-E! Have you heard her songs?

Be One of a Kind in the Garden

Be One of a Kind//Sponsor Love Feature

::::::::::::::::::::::::

BLOG+SHOP+TWITTER+FACEBOOK+DESIGNS
=
One of a Kind

Get 50% off Everything in the Garden of Eden Shop-Hurry, you don't want to Miss these Deals!!

a little Love with a Taste of T

-I work from 8pm to Midnight when everyone is sleeping.
-I use my ipod as a phone and rarely use my real cellphone. (Skype baby)
-I just went vegetarian!!

blog:twitter:facebook:photography

Stay Tuned for More Love from My Pretty Sponsors//Friends
Starting Today, I will no longer be taking paid sponsorship-My ads will be free or swapped {Contact Me for Further Details}Depending on the requests that do come in they will either stay on the sidebar or move to my pretties page. Thank you all for your sincere friendships. Have a nice day.

Paper Pads

I keep getting all kinds of paper supplies at whatever store I happen to be at. I love paper pads, journals, sticky notes, etc.. You can never have too much, right? I mean the girls and I doodle all the time. I just like looking at them too. They're nice and sweet! and you can leave little notes for each other.

{click the photos to go to the source}

So Hannah went to school today! She is so excited and was in very high spirits when meeting her teacher last week. {we finally found the 'right' teacher (long story)} And she's in a totally different mode this year! Let's hope it's all good to go. She wrote her teacher a lovely little note that said:

"Dear Mrs. D...I hope you have a nice first day of school, Love Hannah."

except her F in OF was backwards ;D

and she gave her a handmade key chain---too lovely for words!

Have your kids gone back to school and do y'all love to write notes back and forth?! Isn't it the best;D xoxo

8 Things: Maps and Globes

   

via

8 things I'm really loving is maps, globes, making words out of scrabble pieces and more maps, globes and all things made out of them. I have to purchase every little globe in Target, Thrift stores, etc. TJmaxx and Marshalls have the best unique household decor items ever! I can spend hours in there.

I mean you can even make a pinwheel out of a map;D How clever! or how about a coaster{which i'm insanely obsessed with too} click on the pics to go to the sources

A Grateful Heart Map----we all need to be reminded of the L-♥-V-E

Globe Ornaments and Pretty Jewelry

what about you. are you insanely in love with globes and maps, if not what are you in love with this friday♥

also linking up with:

Coffee Talk

Smart and Trendy Moms

Thanks Mail Carrier

Have a Super Fab Weekend

Who's that Girl: 10 things

i thought it would be fun to do a little something about moi since i've got all these changes going on and you're probably often confused! it's not intentional, i just have a really huge problem with change.

Ten Things You May or May Not Know About Victoria Jean

1.} I get fully engaged in puzzles, so much that my tush hurts for days!

2.} I recently had purple hair and it ruined the shit out of it. Never again will I use Splat. It's back to brown, gonna let it grow out and repair it to be oh, prettyful again.

3.} As I age (that sounds so bad).....I enjoy sex more. I don't know if it's because my kids are no longer babies or what but I gotta get it on. {TMI, oh well, I'm known for that!}

4.} I'm smoking. I know. Not so healthy but it helps me lose weight and it really does curb my appetite, get me going and I feel kinda {bad ass} while I'm puffing away!

5.} I have to steal my 12 year old daughters clothing, jewelry and even bras. She's got a better wardrobe than me. I guess that's the joys of having girls.

6.} I've neglected to paint my toenails for several weeks. They need attention stat.

7.} I've never really enjoyed the water because of my ears but I'm currently doing water aerobics a lot and it's helping my enormous varicose vein.

8.} I had a dream last night that Pauly D was all up in my beshizzle! Vinny had his arms around me and Pauly pulled me away. I must have it going on;D

9.}  I'm ready to move away from Florida. I say it all the time, so someone please come and rescue meh.

10.} I've always been wild but I'm really ready to explode. My internal affairs are itching to the extreme.

ta-ta for now...xoxo

New Babies

King Papa is a Busy Dude!

Midnight Golf

Many Nights, the girls and I sneak out! We go around the community, walk the boardwalk and listen to the fish jumping {they scare us in the dark} it might be a gator....Bryan won't take the girls on the gulf course because he said the other guys get mad if they are slow---whatever----we'll play our own golf then!

Daily Photo

I miss these little guys so much!

Coffee Anyone?!

I had to organize my little coffee cupboard because I've been getting these oh, so prettyful mugs lately! If we had a bigger house, I'd be sure to use all the large ones to stock my shelves. I can't wait to move to go on a mug spree! xo

btw: you're welcome to come have a cup {or two} {or three}

Fuddruckers Burger Joint

While in Orlando last week for Miss HaniBeans 7th birthday, we stopped to get what looked like some rad, de-O Burgers! except they weren't as good as they claimed. Not a prob because I love to sit in a booth and look at Elvis and Marilyn all day!

While we waited for our food, {Service was Great} we asked if they could sing to her and because we had already ordered her sundae told them not to worry about giving her a dessert but all the workers insisted on decorating a cookie for her. Ok, whateves!

Bryan and I kept ranting about how they didn't compare to 5 Guys. But it was fun and the girls played the machine where you win a stuffed animal; Mackenzie won her sister a little red something or another. She was standing there trying to win and the entire crew came over to sing to her. She was just staring in awe. And even though the worker was trying to give her cookie to another table, we enjoyed the first stop out of the 3.5 hour car ride.

We then headed to our hotel where we had an amazing view and could finally get ready to hit Old Town for some action. Stay Tuned!

Tip of the Day-Family Rules

We just got home! We are so tired. The hospital had to admit her to take blood. Good thing this nurse didn't poke her 15 times like the last one. Waiting for test results and chillaxin at home, reading books and we hope you had a nice weekend. Have a good week as well. And. Remember the family rules!!

xoxo

Puppets

While in Orlando, we spent the first night in Old Town. If you've never been, it's a carnival type of street walk where you can enjoy the night breeze and the delicious smell of funnel cakes. Hannah and Mackenzie stopped to do their own puppet show.

ABC Love

I have a ginormous, gigantic-Obsession with ABC art. I love my kids so much and today we spent the morning at the doctors. While both the girls are in good health, Hannah still has things that come up that worry me. If you've been a reader, you know about the many things that have gone on with her. From bone infections to being almost blind in one eye, from asthma to allergies, from hospital stays and surgeries---she's just my baby and although these things may sound like nothing compared to some things kids go through, it's rough to have it ongoing no matter what. She had some blood tests that came back not so good. Her thyroid is not working properly and her brain is going a million miles a minute to send the signals to make it function right. We have to get more blood tests on Monday and she'll probably see an Endocrinologist to take care of this health issue. As a mom, I just feel helpless---but nevertheless Blessed no matter how stressed I may be.

A.) Always hold your children, tell them you love them a billion times a day {too much is never enough}, wink at them, smile, whisper sweet nothings in their ears, sing to them, watch over them while they sleep and always protect them even if you feel like you cannot cure or treat them. Your arms around them will make them feel protected.

B.) Be the best you can be. No one is perfect, parents are far from it. And although I'm one of those parents, I go above and beyond to be the best mom I can be and that makes me prouder than I could have ever imagined. And I know that my purpose in life has been fulfilled.  

C.) Care. I used to think that every parent, every mother cared for her young because it was the natural thing to do but as I've grown and seen it in action, there are people that don't even care about their own children. That's not something that I can or ever will understand but I care. I care so much about my children that it's nearly impossible to describe. It's a feeling only a caring mother could understand. The bond, the emotion and inner being is what makes me human. It's what I was put here for and it makes me so happy to take care of my girls.

xoxo

Daily Inspiration

Vintage Poloroid Cameras

Whenever I think about taking photos with my camera, I wish I had a vintage one as seen in Her Best Move. Or just have them to display on a shelf like the one above {click the pic}. It's hard for me to find any local vintage shops which is why I absolutey love searching the web. I find Etsy to be my greatest source for vintage goods and I'm hoping to launch a vintage shop very soon.

I also found a handful of good ones on Ebay which is where I sell, so I'm trying to decide whether I should transform that store into vintage or just open a whole new shop.

do you own vintage cameras.....if so, do share;D

New Designs for your Prettiness!

Hey Pretties! I wanted to introduce you to my very pretty, creative friend Victoria---yes we Vic's are quite fabulous, eh? No?! Really she is the best. She designed my header and We Heart Shops banner too! She's so great, she included extras for me to swap every couple of months because we all know I love C-H-A-N-G-E!

Victoria is so truly inspiring, she has this inspirational e-course {click the pic above}for all of our pretties. She runs an amazing blog, shop and I just don't know how she does it but I can say she is pretty damn A-M-A-Z-I-N-G=Love her!

Please do visit her and connect with her for a new design--tell her I sent you! I'm still playing with colors and badges, so bare with me while I adjust this pretty blog, eh?!!!! xoxo have a beautiful day!