In Honor of my Due Date: Quotes to Moms

I am posting ahead since I will hopefully have a newborn by today, my due date, October 30, 2012. In honor of this day, I wanted to post some quotes about moms and motherhood. To all of the women in my life... family and friends, I aspire to be as great of a mom as you all are and have taught me to be!

I will be taking the rest of the week off, but I'll be back next week with some more yummy posts... think zucchini tomato bruschetta and mini apple pies!

Etsy Shop Spotlight: For Such A Time Designs

I came across For Such A Time Designs Etsy shop while browsing one day and fell in love! I have always loved stamped metal, whether it be pendants, flatware, tags... you name it. But I fell upon a goldmine of hand stamped, repurposed flatware when I came across this shop! Look at how adorable her shop is! You can see by the large selection of items (169) you have lots to choose from!

There are amazing items in this store. The owner, Aly Nickerson, designs and makes all of the pieces herself. I LOVE that there are matching his and hers sets as well as the funny and clever sayings artfully stamped on each piece. I love so many it was hard to pick a favorite, but for me I think my favorite is this one:

ForSuchATimeDesigns

You better believe that baby is on my Christmas list! I adore cereal... I would eat it for all three meals of my day!

You can also find For Such A Time Designs on Facebook. Head on over and like her page!

Going Home To Roost- The Roost Tribe

I was soooo excited and flattered that Bonnie over at Going Home to Roost contacted me late last week regarding my grey fleck scallop boot cuffs. She is featuring them in her Holiday Gift Guide today!

The gift guide is for a community of creatives called "The Roost Tribe". Here you can receive lots of goodies and helpful information. Check out everything you'll get below when you join The Roost Tribe (I am a proud member!):

image source: Going Home To Roost

You get some REALLY great information through The Roost Tribe, as well as lots of little, ADORABLE, backgrounds, patterns etc.

PLUS, I will be offering Tribe members 10% off their purchase at Elizabeth Lou  & Company. Go join The Roost Tribe to get some great goodies, coupons from me- and other handmade sellers!!

Apple Cranberry Walnut Baked Oatmeal

This little recipe of mine was inspired by the Quaker Real Medleys Apple Walnut Oatmeal. 

I had purchased these when I was doing biometric screenings at work and was getting up at 3am and 4am and knew a CLIF bar wasn't going to cut it for a pregnant lady. So, I picked up these healthy little delights and LOVED them. I wanted to make little packets of my own, because these are quite expensive at almost $2.00 for one little container. Which, don't get me wrong, will definitely leave you feeling satisfied! But, I then decided to make a baked oatmeal version instead. 

Check out the recipe below!

Baby Bump & Nursery Update

I know, I know... my last post was baby related! I had planned on posting a recipe today, but I haven't posted a bump picture in while, and at this point, the picture I have will be almost a week old if I don't post it soon!

So, here it is: 38 weeks and 5 days (as of Saturday 10/20)

CRAVINGS: I have been craving sweets like crazy for about the last two to three weeeks. My weight had been staying pretty consistent, however, after staying home last week, I've gained about 1.5lbs! Not cool. This little girl needs to hurry up and get here before I continue to rack up the pounds I'll have to lose post baby! We hit up the Collegeville Farmer's Market to get some ICED by Betsy cupcakes I've been craving. I got one of each flavor... a half dozen. Kyle has only had one, and there is only one left. You do the math. Plus, I had an ice cream cookie sundae on Saturday night at dinner and Breyer's Reece's Ice Cream last night... Oy Vey!!

BUMP: This child is getting heavy!! I feel like I'm carrying around a ton of bricks in my midsection (and sometimes in my pelvis!). She has finally stopped moving quite as much as she had been (don't worry, her movement is still steady enough!) which is nice, since there is literally no more room for her to move. I have an appointment this Thursday and would love to hear some news that I've progressed, however, at this point, I'm thinking I'll probably have to be induced, which I didn't want. However, I also am super uncomfortable, so it is what it is!

NURSERY: The nursery is just about complete. There are only two things left to finish. Well, there are a few more than that, but I mean things that need to be finished shortly. First, is the hamper. I had this lovely idea that we could conceal the hamper in the closet, next to the changing table. However, that hasn't worked out quite as planned. So, now we're looking at just getting a trash can to use with the PUL liner I bought for her cloth diapers. Not quite as thrilled because it will have to sit out, but, at this point my hubby and I are out of ideas! We also need to figure out shoe racks. I should say... we need to get them. We are using IKEA spice racks, however, they have been sold out for months and they're not supposed to get them back in stock until the end of November, so that project will have to wait! Enjoy the little tour below!

My first week of maternity leave... a recap

I had been counting down the days to my maternity leave... literally about 160 days out from the date I was supposed to leave! Now that it's here, I don't know how much I like it! At first the week drug by slowly, but now that it's Friday, I can't believe how fast it's gone! I feel like I've accomplished nothing on my To-Do List... which grows by the day!

There are SOME things crossed off this list now that it's Friday (and some things added!)

Hear about my week below:

Stocking Stuffers Treasury

I can hardly believe this year has gone as fast as it has. It seems like just a couple of months ago I was posting about our possible fertility woes, and now in just a couple of weeks we'll be holding our little baby girl!

This is my most favorite time of year, fall is an absolutely gorgeous season and the excitement and tradition of the upcoming holidays is something I've always enjoyed and cherished.

In honor of the upcoming holidays (and Black Friday! YAY!) I have created an Etsy Treasury full of awesome, handmade stocking stuffers. Stockings are one of my favorite things to buy for during the holidays... but they can also be the most challenging! Hopefully this list will help you in your stocking stuffer search!

NEW Boot Cuff design

I had mentioned last week that I was working on a new pattern for boot cuffs. I have finally completed the pattern, and the cuffs. Check them out below and let me know what you think!

I wanted to try a more traditional looking cuff. A lot of the cuffs I've been making and that I offer in my Etsy Shop are a little more dressy and girly. I wanted a good old pair of boot cuffs for those cold nights in the mountains (daydreaming about the Poconos!). I used a combination of stitches for the body of the cuff and ended up with a ridge-like pattern. Hence the name Crochet Ridge Boot Cuffs.

Ah... traditional and cozy!

I love the detail of the stitches you can see in the above picture, as well as below. I've used a combination of double crochet and half double crochet stitches as well as some different techniques in stitches to get the ridge/line look of the body of the cuff.

These boot cuffs are available HERE, in just about any color you would like!

 

Eggplant Panini

This past week I decided to try a different sandwich for dinner, other than our normal staples. I found this recipe on foodgawker and had it saved in my favorites. Recently, we've been eating a lot more eggplant. These were delicious! I even had the leftovers cold for lunch and it was still delicious!

Eggplant Panini

Ingredients: 

• 1 large eggplant, about 12-14 oz
• Olive Oil
• French Baguette, cut into 1/4" pieces
• Fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
• Pesto 
• 1 Tomato, sliced thinly

Directions:
Slice the eggplant into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place the slices on a paper towel and season with salt; set aside about 15 minutes. This will help draw some of the moisture out of the eggplant. Pat the eggplant dry with paper towels.

Preheat the panini grill. Lightly drizzle olive oil over eggplant,  season with salt and pepper. When the grill is hot, grill eggplant about 7-8 minutes, turning once half way through. Set aside.

Slice the bread, diagonally, into 1/4" slices and place 1 slice of grilled eggplant, 1 slice of mozzarella, 1 teaspoon of pesto, and 1 slice of tomato on each sandwich. (I used a french baguette for my panini's which made them more of an appetizer size. We just had a few sandwiches each.)

Lightly spray the top of the bread with oil. Place on a panini press and close until the cheese melts and the bread is toasted. 

Enjoy!

New Ideas...

I'm working on a new boot cuff pattern this evening. It's a little more casual than the boot cuffs currently at Elizabeth and Lou, I can't wait to debut it later this week! I love coming up with my own designs, it's just as much fun as coming up with my clip designs!

This will be my last full week of work before maternity leave, my last day will be the 15th. I plan on spending my time off stocking up on inventory for the quickly upcoming Black Friday, since I will likely have a one month old a that point!!

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for some giveaways and promos for the holiday season including Elizabeth Lou and Company gift cards and gift wrap!

Hope everyone has a lovely week!

 

Tuxedo Pudding Cookies

For these little delectable delights, I used my most favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. For those of you who follow my blog, or know me, you know I have a bit of an obsession with Jell-O pudding in baked goods. I think it makes everything taste better- and I love the dense texture!

I decided to branch out of my normal chocolate chip pudding cookie recipe and try the chocolate Jell-O pudding. I have been in the mood for the sweetness of white chocolate, so I decided for this recipe I would use the chocolate Jell-O pudding as the base for the cookie and add white chocolate chips for some sweetness, and mini semi-sweet chips for a subtle hint of semi sweet.

Check out the recipe below!