finally, i made valentine’s day treats for my darling nephews!
first, i made s’more packages for them. i created labels on craft paper that said, ‘everyday i love you s’more’. i had purchased hershey’s bars, peeps pink marshmallows hearts, and organic graham crackers for the fun contents inside.
i filled each bag with lip and heart sprinkles {fun element}, placed the ingredients inside, and sealed the bags with the labels. i then placed felt hearts on each label as final touches to the festive packages! ta-da…valentine’s day s’more treats. a yummy, festive, edible gift anyone would love!
[lovely tasty ingredients]
[voila! final product ♥]
[awww, everyday i love you s’more too!]
next treat? a box full of goodies! i purchased these precious boxes from the dollar section at target {love that area!}, found a few fun toys to fill the present up with, and stuffed the bottom of the box with soft pink tissue paper to add to the festive packaging. i love all the bright colors and fun patterns.
i filled the colored patterned glassine bags full of conversation hearts and wrapped each bag with twine to seal it shut. each box contained a fuzzy pom alien, a squeeze toy, tattoos {they are nutty about tattoos!}, silly putty, candies {nut free, of course}, and their bag of s’mores!
[aerial view!]
i had so much fun making these little gifts for the boys. it’s always a joy for me to have time to create and get crafty!
i’ll add a few more surprise trinkets and voila! valentine’s day gifts for r + b! yay!
i hope you are scheming up some great ideas for valentine’s day. i have a dozen more creative things i want to do! there’s never enough time in the day or week! whether it’s a yummy dinner recipe, a crafty gift, or a sweet treat surprise! happy day to creativity!
cupcakes. moist, yummy, delicious, sweet cupcakes! just your typical mix, festive liners, sprinkles, and trimmings.
i wanted the cupcakes to be trimmed with sweet fluffy frosting, fun heart sprinkles, and cute festive adornments! i truly desired to pipe the frosting {looks more professional, non?} but unfortunately, i did not have enough frosting to do so. boo. so i used a small spatula to spread the frosting on each cupcake instead. i sprinkled each cupcake with the most adorable heart sprinkles {they are so cute!} and topped off each one with a sugar candy heart envelope or a conversation heart! voila! my fun, sweet, festive, holiday cupcakes.
i couldn’t wait to devour them once i was done decorating!
have i mentioned that i loveland of nod?? yes, i did register there but i was in love with this store way before i became preggers.
it’s such a cute, whimsical, fun place.
***
we started out the morning with the hubs. he made banana pancakes topped with shaved chocolate and fresh, sweet bananas. we drenched the pancakes with vermont cinnamon maple syrup…yum! a big shout out to my dear friend olivia, who gave us this wonderful gift for christmas {along with a cook book that hc has used several times…delish recipes!}.
hc then left to go hang out with the bro-in-law, terry. they went to a cider fest at navy pier. so that left me and the kids to have our own fun for the day!
land of nod was offering their customers a chance to take valentine’s day photos with a professional photographer. how awesome! so, i packed up the kids around noon and headed out to the ‘burbs. the one thing that sucked?? it had just started to snow {boo}. that made for some heavy traffic out and i was already running behind {i forgot a crucial component to the bugaboo stroller and i had to turn around 🙁 }
anyhoo. we finally made our way to the store {it was quite pretty, though, with all of the snowfall…i have to find the beauty in the snow that we have been having!!!}. little olive was fast asleep when we got there…i didn’t want to take her out of the stroller {she was a tired peanut}, so grace and i took some photos together and the photographer took some pictures of scrunched face olive in her carseat.
[lol…she looked mad. rockin’ an 8o’s headband look]
after our pictures, the kids played together in the store. there was so much to look at. i was really loving their felt garlands. they had colored pennants, dots, stars, hearts, and clouds! the cloud garland was too darling to pass up, so i purchased one for olive’s room. a perfect addition to her cloud themed chambre.
[thuy just chillin’ at the kids table with her coffee]
[r being cute // photo by thuy]
[b being extra cute // photo by thuy]
we then shopped a bit at pottery barn kids, i had to pick up some gifts for some upcoming events {the next few months for us are going to be busy ones! birthdays, baby showers, vacations, oh my!}. i talked myself out of buying more valentine’s day trinkets {i was totally tempted. i mean, i can always find ways, ideas, or reasons to make or create anything crafty}. pbk has really fun decor but i’m dunzo for now.
after that, we went and grabbed lunch at cpk. the kids had your typical cheese pizza and plain pasta. i split a rustic pepperoni pizza with thuy and kim ordered quesadillas. as we sat there eating at cpk {they have huge windows surrounding the whole restaurant}, i could see that the snow was really coming down! it made me nervous to drive home because of the traffic we would face.
once lunch was done, we traipsed our way over to nordstrom to peruse their departments. i pit stopped at the women’s lounge to change and feed little o. nordstrom has such an awesome women’s lounge! i love their mother’s lounge…a cozy, comfortable place where you can feed the babes. while olive was feeding kim, thuy, and the kids went to west elm to shop around. the kids ended up decorating paper hearts for a good cause!
[the kids decorating hearts at west elm for st. jude’s hospital // photo by thuy]
i ended up going to my parent’s house to avoid the crazy traffic back to the city {i did not want to be sitting in a parking lot with the kids in tow} and thuy so kindly took grace, r + b to go see the lego movie, while kim headed out to finish up some things on her list.
[olive showing off her valentine outfit and her vday ‘beer’ belly // be still my heart…i love her so! // cherokee cardigan and pants, carter’s onesie…similar here]
i did dressed o up in a cute valentine’s day outfit for the so-called ‘sleep’ photos at lon! a soft, minty polka dotted onesie with a little mousey holding a heart balloon, a light pink cardigan, and heart printed pants. i also had her wear a flower headband. baby girl was not happy. she doesn’t like things on her head. but it was so adorbs though!
by late evening, we ended up all together, back at my parent’s house! kim came over after she did a few errands, thuy brought the kids back after the movie, and terry & rich came by after their escapades downtown. we then enjoyed the rest of our night as a family 🙂
valentine is a sweet holiday ♥. either you love or hate it…and i have never hated it. it’s not just about being in a relationship with a significant other {i’m gonna say it, but a lot of single people run with this idea about v-day, which makes it such a bitter holiday for some!} but it’s about love. we always have people around us that we love, so why not celebrate it?? don’t fall into the idea that it’s only about couples! use this day to express to others how much they mean to you and how much you care about them!
i wanted to get festive but not expend too much energy into it, ya know…with a little one, it’s a bit difficult to have spare time or even spare hands! so, first things first, i bought baby girl her first valentine’s day book! it’s called, ‘olive, my love‘. how sweet is that?! i absolutely love this series…it all started years ago, here’s a short story:
christmas 2000 {yes, that long ago}. i was shopping at oakbrook one evening, as i set foot into the nordstrom there…i was instantly delighted by their holiday decor!! i was in love! the strung lights, the little dog reindeer…what was this?! i wanted it all! i thought their decor was so darling and whimsical! i then inquired an employee about it, i wanted to know where i could buy the lights and all the fun decorations they had out, and i wanted to know more about the ‘other reindeer’. she was so stinkin’ cute! so there it was, the beginning of my obsession around ‘olive the other reindeer’ and any other book with her cute little character in it. 🙂
i decided to make a fun garland for our windows. very easy and plenty festive. i purchased lace doilies and crochet shaped flowers. i then rummaged through my craft bins and found my red twine. i strung the doily hearts right side up and upside down, every 3-4 hearts, i placed a crocheted flower. i just repeated it until i achieved the length i desired.
voila! so easy peasy!
i also made a ‘kiss me’ banner out of construction paper. i just free-hand drew the words out with pencil and cut out all the lettering and the heart. i then affixed it all to my red and white twine.
next up: a fun, bright garland!
i then made a valentine garland out of scalloped circles to add to the festive ambience in our place. using my valentine construction paper, my trusty hole punch {um, for some reason it took a lot of energy to hole punch! my palms hurt!}, and twine. ta-da! a fun, bright garland to lighten our moods! love how it looks!
next up? cupcakes! moist, yummy, delicious, sweet cupcakes!
olive and i had an afternoon delight filled with yummy eats and a little shopping.
we met up with jodi and jett at southport grocery. i love going there!
we were a bit worried about the space inside, because it’s quite a small shop/eatery; but everything worked out though! we were able to squeeze ourselves in and enjoy our time there. i love spending time with jodi and jett. he is sooo stinkin’ adorable. like i’ve said before…i love his noggin’! his big head and big chubby cheeks are so cute!
jod and i caught up and enjoyed our time together. we got up to date with the latest news and oohed and ahh’d over our babies.
olive was quite, quite cute on our ride over to wrigleyville. she was wide awake on our way out and the whole car ride there. she was never like that before! she was so intrigued by her environment, just bug eyed and looking around. it was so cute. i couldn’t get enough of her adorable face all curious looking and gazing at everything. she was awake all the way to the restaurant, once we got inside and seated, that is when she started to drift. about 10 minutes into us being seated, she zonked out. too cute.
[jett looking cute and getting creative on the table paper. already an artist!]
[selfie fun]
[sleepy olive. what a little peanut.]
[excited to eat!]
[baked oatmeal and bacon! it was sooooo good. what a {somewhat} healthy, sweet treat to start the day with!]
after brunch, we strolled over to anthropologie to shop around. i had to get a few gifts and just absolutely love that store! they have the cutest, most whimsical house ware items. my most favorite, favorite candle is called volcano…i’ve been buying it for years. i loved it when they offered it the mercury container, so pretty and very festive for the holidays too!
i also fell in love with this matte lipstick! such a pretty color…it’s called geranium from albeit. a bright, poppy, coral pink. it’s goes on smoothly and lasts a really long time! it totally brightens up the face!
{albeit matte crayon}
jod was shopping with me but i felt so bad dragging her ’round and ’round in circles trying to figure out what to buy! we finally hugged and parted ways and i kept circling the store! i finally decided on a few items…a couple of gifts for others and a couple things for myself 😉
it was quite an enjoyable afternoon, being able to relax with friends and my little one!
typical of any new mom…i can’t get enough of her adorable face!! i could just stare at her f.o.r.e.v.e.r. those eyes, chubby cheeks, her cute little chin…
her soft skin, her clean breath, her rosy cheeks, her fluffy hair, her big pouty lips, her well groomed eyebrows, her tiny little toes, her funny expressions, i could go on and on. kids are so stinkin’ cute, especially your own! 🙂 it takes all of my self control to not squeeze her so hard! so instead, i just shriek “i love you soooooo much!!!”, she probably already thinks i’m a crazy mom. oh, olive…be still my heart ♥.
it’s always fun to peruse the stores and web for fun valentine’s day goodies. valentine’s day comes at a perfect time in this dreary winter. it brings bright colors and fun goodies to our lives!
i loved valentine’s day as a kid. it was fun, exciting, and sweet! i loved, loved getting valentine’s day cards at school. it was fun collecting them and seeing how cute they all were. of course, it was a joy to decorate your own valentine’s day mailbox! finding the perfect empty shoe box and cutting out your own designs from the red, white, and pink construction paper, making it as pretty and lacy as possible! best part of valentine’s day at school?! having a party at the end of the day, eating home baked cookies that were brought in from a few classmate’s moms, and going home with a lot of sweet treats!
looking at all the cute valentine’s day decor had me reminiscing! below are a few cute, sweet items i found for the upcoming holiday!
little girl’s dress from etsy // pbk plates // pugs n kisses from etsy // vintage cupid decor from etsy // pbk valentine’s day mailbox
how adorbs is this dress? unfortunately, it doesn’t come in little baby sizes but i couldn’t help but crush on it a little bit! i want to buy this, for when olive gets a little bit older.
i love, love these vintage style plates from pottery barn kids. the designs are so whimsy and festive. so adorbs and perfect for a holiday table, topped with sweets!
these sweet treats are perfect for anyone on valentine’s day. yummy, cute decorated sugar cookies are always a great gift for anyone, like for myself 😉
a little vintage cupid would be perfect floating around the window, shooting his arrows at strangers, playing matchmaker! i found this on etsy, i’m such a sucker for vintage, chintzy looking decor {mixed in with modern pieces, of course, to balance out the look} for the holidays.
i am in love with this item! the pbk envelope is so absolutely darling! perfect for olive to receive little love notes from her admirers!
there you go! just a few favorite picks of the season!
hc and i were invited to kevin and lisa’s super bowl party.
i had attended their party before many, many years ago. so, i was very excited to be able to go again this year. we met up at the p’s and we all dropped the kiddies off. hc drove us all {as in my sis kim & my bro in law terry} to the party, which was a quick ride to addison. as soon as we got there, the over indulging began!
[double, double toil and trouble…matching shirts and cauldron bubble. apparently someone forgot to give hc the memo that we all were wearing plaid shirts!]
[greeted by renata, the cute and cuddly cat]
as soon as we walked in, we were offered drinks. why, yes of course! my sister and i decided to imbibe some delicious red wine {the boys reached for the beer}. kevin so graciously picked out a lovely bottle for us to drink!
[delicious wine with a great story behind the label, ardently told by kevin]
[enjoying the aroma and taste]
lisa and kevin had so much food! hey, it was the super bowl and over consumption is so american, non?
snacks, upon snacks did everyone graze on. there was guac and chips, dips, finger foods, sandwiches, bugles {yes, i said bugles}, bread, brownies, cookies, mints, candies, and so on! my appetizer of choice were two giant chocolate chip cookies. i couldn’t resist! it was home baked and looked so yummy and delicious. i downed one cookie and had to have another!
[i haven’t seen these since i was a kid! 😉 lol]
the game started and we continued to nibble {so much for watching what i eat to lose this pregnant weight!}. we were all waiting for the biggie food of the night…chili! kevin starts making his famous chili three days before the super bowl! he makes 3 huge stock pots of different kinds of chili. so stinkin’ good! he made a spicy chili, regular chili, and a vegetarian chili. there were also three types of cornbread that were brought by some guests. regular cornbread, hot chili cornbread, and bacon cornbread…wha, wha!
of course they had all the trimmings as well, tomatoes, diced onions, sour cream, shredded cheese, oh my! i tried the spicy {holy spicy!} chili and the vegetarian, both excellent eats! btw, i love cornbread…i couldn’t stop eating the cornbread! i ate it by themselves then crumpled a big muffin of cornbread all over my bowl o chili – excellent!
of the times i did pay attention to the tube, i absolutely loved the radio shack commercial!!!! it was hilarious! really? ‘the 80’s called and they want their store back’?! so freakin’ funny. there were quite a few commercials that were fabulous but this one really made me laugh out loud.
[go ahead, click on it!]
[i had to include this…love their cake topper // from etsy! something similar here. // they just got married – congrats to the beautiful couple!]
[super bowl shuffle]
[i absolutely love that terry is ‘trying’ to cross his eyes!]
unfortunately, the game was very boring. yes, boring. one, i’m not that into football and two, the seahawks just mowed, mowed over the broncos…so it wasn’t even exciting to watch. just painful.
on the bright side, hc and i took home tubs of chili for some tasty leftovers!!! woo hoo!
