Easter Tablescape!

My Easter tablescape is below!  We're all about bunnies and Easter eggs this year!  Here are some photos along with the shopping sources where I found some of the items. 

Egg Wreath: Walgreens for only $9.99!!!

 Placemats and Napkins: Homegoods.

Bunny salt and pepper shakers: Marshall's $3.99

Burlap baggies I use to hold the silverware: Michael's $2.39 with coupons!  {Plates I've have for years}

Burlap Bunny Ear napkin rings: Michael's $4.99 for a pack of four! 

Colorful candy Easter eggs: Target.  {Glasses were past down from my maternal grandma and I use them all the time!}

Hope you enjoyed our fun little table!  Have a great wkend!!

Lately :)

We've had a lot going on lately!  Here are some pics to recap last weekend with the fam and this week's fun too! 

Last Saturday morning, we visited the Georgia Aquarium!   We had such a good time and loved being together. 

When we got home Saturday afternoon, we got some decorations ready for Easter!  Brooks's room got a little bunny love, as did our entry way and living room. 

I made this wreath below for his bedroom door. Just some burlap and ribbon wrapped around a wire wreath frame. I got the wooden bunnies from Target and tied them onto the wreath with some burlap twine.  Easy breezy and it turned out pretty cute, I think!

We played outside a lot!  And found a walking trail close to our house.  Brooks waved at everyone that crossed our path. :)

Brooks had a blast at his St. Patty's Day party this week and this mama was so happy to be able to attend!!

He also got a fresh haircut and plenty of playtime with Abbey {aka "aabbaa"}! 

We played and played inside too and now we're so happy to have Daddy back from his work trip!!!!  

Up for this weekend...I'm so excited to get back to Pure Barre, clean the house, and have our yard freshly manicured for Spring. We'll be getting out the rest of our Easter decor too and spending time with some sweet friends! Happy Friday!  

Mason Jar Taco Salad

In an effort to drop some lbs and basically eat "cleaner" overall, I found a fun little mini-meal on a friend's Pinterest page that works great as a snack for hungry guys or a perfect lunch for the ladies ; )  Note: This is totally kid-friendly and Brooks approved!! 

I made these a few weeks ago and wanted to share.  Like most any recipe, I always tweak a bit here and there.  I'll share what I did and what I plan to add next time ;)

Original recipe found {here}


My version below!  This will yield 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup baked tortilla chips, broken
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, reduced-fat
• 1 head Romaine heart lettuce, chopped
• 1 cup halved grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup store bought salsa 
• Optional: Dollop of plain Greek yogurt or fat free sour cream

Directions:

• Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the turkey and the seasonings. I added about 2 tbsp water as well so the mixture wouldn't be too dry. Cook until turkey is completely done. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.
• Assemble the jars!  Layer the broken tortilla chips on the bottom, next add the cheese, then the lettuce, ground turkey and top with cherry tomatoes {I left the lettuce off Dylan's per his request}
• Close the jars tightly and refrigerate until ready to eat! When we were ready, I emptied out the entire jar into a salad bowl and topped each with about 1.5 tbsp of store bought salsa and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt for me and sour cream for the boys.  Stir around the salad to get a coating of the salsa throughout. 

Dylan's lettuce free version ; ) 

Next time, I'll be adding some black beans into the mix and making the actual dressing that the original recipe calls for.  

I think this would be a super cute idea for a daytime, outdoor fiesta! Just tie on a fork to the jar with a cute ribbon and you could eat right out of the jar!  Great for a picnic too! 

Chicago!

Two weekends ago, I joined my hubs in Chicago after he'd been there during the work week for training.  This was the first time I actually got on a plane and left Brooks!  I was a bit frazzled for a few days leading up to our trip in fear that I wouldn't be able to actually get on the plane and leave our baby toddler, I should say.  

After much prayer and talking to friends and family, leave I did.  I know it's super duper important to do things with just Dylan sans baby B every once in a while. My sweet mama and daddy kept Brooks for the weekend and I knew he was in great hands which was a big relief!  He just adores Grandma and Grandpa! They had a blast as did Dylan and I.  

Here are the spots we checked out while in Chi-town.  It was a short trip and I'd surely like to go back in the Spring or Summer. 

Our hotel, The Palomar, was my choice after doing research and finding that Gwyneth Paltrow frequents that hotel when she goes to Chicago.  Duh- so of course we'd stay there!  I just love her.  Consciously, that is.  ; )

Photos above via google images

Can you tell I'm excited?!

Our room was on the top floor with a cool city view!  The hotel also offers a wine tasting every night in the lobby....for FREE!  We met some great people there too which was fun! 

On Friday night we dined at RPM Italian, the restaurant owned by Giuliana and Bill Rancic.  It was FANTASTIC!!!  I highly recommend it and will no doubt go back to visit next time we go to Chicago.  Every single course was perfect.  It couldn't have been a better experience!

This was pretty funny below.  As we were served the pasta dish, one of our waiters cracked open an egg and mixed it in! We were a tad confused at first but it was DELISH!! Note: Dylan's funny facial expression. ; )

Then, Saturday, we slept in a little and I phoned the concierge to get the run down on what we should do in our short time there.  He gave some suggestions and we mapped out our route.  

This pic below is by the lobby fireplace where we had some coffee before leaving the hotel Saturday morning for our first adventure. They also had a hot chocolate bar set up which was super cute! To be so charming and high end, I was pleasantly surprised to see how kid-friendly this hotel was!

Our lunch spot Hub 51 was amazing!  I got this really yummy Tuna and Thai Basil sushi roll.  It was hands down the best sushi roll I've ever eaten.  And lemme tell ya, I'm hard to please with sushi rolls.  It was VERY good!!  Dylan got the chicken nachos and loved them as well!

We went to the SkyDeck {Sears aka Willis Tower}. Oh my goodness.  We got out on the ledge just barely to take some pics.  We both felt like we were going to faint but we had to take charge and get with the program.  There were 10 year old kids on the thing so, by gosh, we were getting on it too! 

View from 103 stories high!

Next up on our Chicago agenda was the famous Bean.  We ventured around and took some pics. Then, went over to a nearby Starbucks to fuel up before heading to shop on the Magnificent Mile!  We even picked up a Good Night Chicago book for Brooks as a souvenir!  We read Good Night Moon to him every night before bedtime now, so this seemed only fitting to bring back as his little gift.

Check out the icy water!  I've never worn so many layers of clothes in my life! 

After our calorie burning walk and shopping excursion, we stopped for an afternoon snack at Portillo's.  Mmmm good! 

Then, we headed back to the hotel to rest up, call to check on Brooks and get ready for the evening.  

We dined at Chicago Cut Steakhouse.  The view was super cool as the restaurant sits right on the water with huge floor to ceiling glass windows.  We I really hoped to see a celebrity but no luck.  Maybe next time! 

After dinner we went to The Redhead Piano Bar which we thought had dueling pianos but there was just one piano man. Still a little confused about that but it was fun, nonetheless!  You gotta be ready to wait in line though!  It's quite the popular joint.  The crowd sings along with the entertainment, which is really fun!

Then, we headed back home on Sunday to love on baby Brooks!!!  We had such a great, much needed mini vacay!  Of course, we missed this guy tons and couldn't wait to get back to kiss those sweet lil cheeks!!