Category: see

i know i’ve been bad at this blogging gig lately.  it’s been a crazy few weeks, but i hope to be back to regularly scheduled programing next week.  a few random thoughts for today.

we picked up a couple new chairs on our trip to ikea this past weekend, and beckett’s coloring perch got a sweet little upgrade.  i love the shapes of these chairs and that he can climb in and out of them on his own – though he still prefers the chairs at the kitchen table.

my mom has a green thumb, as evidenced here…

and here…

and a sneakity peek into what i got into tonight.  more to come on this little nugget soon.

what a weekend!  my brother and sister-in-law’s baby decided to make his appearance on friday, so we jumped in the car and headed west.  we never imagined we would make it to denver before the baby arrived.  my super-woman sister-in-law had kind of a marathon labor and delivery, and late on friday, they welcomed the handsome little emmett thomas.  he is healthy and perfect, and we are beyond blessed to add another boy to our family.

{westward bound – windmill farm in kansas}

{amazing clouds – we actually drove by a tornado forming in the distance – yikes!}

{the man of the hour – emmett – in all his perfection}

{b sported a bow-tie for the occasion – hey, you don’t meet a new cousin every day!}

{proud paw-paw}

{glowing grandma}

{funcle chad goofing with b}

{sweet family}

{3 generations}

{we couldn’t leave without hitting up this little place}

just a little eye candy for today.  hope you’re enjoying something sweet from your honey…or from yourself!  happy heart day!

 

 

i’ve been noticing a theme among some of my favorite pieces lately.  both old and new, these have all been in high rotation, and it seems i’ve ‘gone to the cats’.  i’m actually not much of a cat person (the house variety), but it appears i have a thing for the jungle version.

i found this recipe for three ingredient chicken (including the chicken!), and it was too darn easy not to give it a try.  the prep time is minimal, and the cooking time isn’t bad either.

honey mustard chicken

4 chicken boobs

4 T whole grain mustard  (i couldn’t find this at my grocery store, so i used stone ground and it was great)

4 T honey

put the chicken in a 9×13 pan.  mix together the mustard and honey, and pour it over the chicken.  there will be enough that it makes a little pool in the bottom of the pan.  bake at 400 for 25 -30 minutes, basting the chicken once halfway through.

{yum!}

now for the sweet potatoes.  you’ll actually want to get these ready first since they take longer in the oven.  peel your sweet potatoes and cube them.  try to make them similar sized, so they’ll cook at the same rate.  throw them on a pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, toss them with your hands, and into the oven they go.  bake for about 40 minutes at 400 (or 425 if you don’t have the chicken in the oven also).  you’ll want to toss them around about halfway through so you get more of the crispy sides – the best part!  this time, i threw some cauliflower on the pan too, and it turned out great.

{before}

{after}

i think we can call all of this a 40 minute meal.  add a salad and it’s super healthy too!

we made it through the bustling christmas season, and now it’s all over until next year – boo!  i really love the busy-ness and feelings that christmas brings, so i’m always sad to see it go.  i wish i could say it’s a quiet day around here, but we’re getting new floors, and it has been anything but quiet.  miller has been out back barking at the guys working inside (sorry neighbors!), and beckett got a short nap this morning, which he was less than thrilled about, not to mention the banging and scraping involved in the demo.  let’s just say i’ll be kind of happy when this week is over – we’ll have new floors, and we can finally relax!!  but i digress….

i certainly hope your christmas was the hap-hap-happiest since bing crosby danced with danny kaye (for those who have seen christmas vacation, you’ll know i left out a key word there, but i like to keep this place family friendly.  :) ).  our christmas was great.  my brother and his wife were in town (with a bun in the oven – yippee!), so our family was all together.  we were with my family christmas eve and christmas morning (we all stay at my parents’ house), and we headed north to jared’s family for christmas day happenings.  here are a few shots from our holidays…

{handmade stockings – a tradition started over 60 years ago}

{a moment of cuddling with uncle fun and aunt toys, as they like to be called}

{making the sign for the tree – so we can remember the year when we look back in 20}

{the one picture of the three of us where beckett isn’t a complete blur}

{a wee north face backpack – he’ll be the coolest kid in preschool}

{a tent from santa – yippee!}

i’ll preface these next few by saying that santa always brings us some silly stuff to wear.  this year entailed a lot of head gear.

{(most of ) the group in our get-ups}

{dancing with grammy}

{present opening with grandpa}

{one of about 5 pictures i’m in from the weekend}

{mugging with aunt heather}

{this may be my very favorite from the weekend – the patriarch of the brooner clan and the newest member, ryleigh}

it is rainy and in the 40s here in kansas city, and while that’s pretty warm for christmastime, i’m happily remembering our 7 sunny days in the cayman islands.  fair warning that you are about to experience an assault of pictures.

we rented a car one day, and headed east.  we wanted to get out of the more populated area of the island and see what there was to see.  the cayman islands are a british territory, so you drive on the left.  that said, i left the driving to jared.  that way, if something went wrong, i could just blame him.  just kidding, it would stress me out too much to be behind the wheel.

first stop, the queen elizabeth II botanic park.  it was really nice, though there weren’t as many flowers in bloom as we expected.  i think we were there in the off-season though.

this tree fell over during a hurricane, and just kept on growing.  it was giant.

also giant, were these plants.  jared is about 6 feet tall for a little perspective.

coming from a place where ‘deer crossing’ is the norm, this was pretty odd.  the blue iguana lives only in the cayman islands, and they have a habitat for them at the park.

next stop – rum point.  it’s a beach area with lots of chairs, a bar, a dock, and some hammocks.  that’s pretty much it, but it was a nice stop.  from 7 mile beach, where we were staying, to rum point is about 45 – 60 minutes depending on weather and traffic.  it’s not a huge island, and once you’re out of town, it’s a really easy drive.

we ate lunch at the only place at rum point, the wreck.

here i am enjoying a strongbow, something i discovered when i studied abroad in london.  it’s a cider beer and kind of sweet, so it became a fast favorite.  this is what you have to do when you drink one.

we spent the next day in george town.  to be perfectly honest, we weren’t that wowed by it, but if you’re shopping for fine jewelry or tchotchkes, george town is your place.  our last night, we took a sunset cruise, and it was the perfect ending to a lovely vacation.

thanks for hanging with me.  back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

first, i’ve got to tell you we loved the cayman islands.  it’s a different country, but doesn’t really feel like it.  there are so many americans and europeans, both vacationing and working there.  english is the language, and pretty much every place will take us dollars (but will give you change in cayman dollars), so no worries about exchanging money.  it’s super easy to get around – we took cabs, buses (which are minivans!), and even rented a car.  and we felt safe the entire time.  it’s not a destination where you have to stay on the hotel property or be scared for your life.  it gets two big thumbs up from us.

we arrived on grand cayman island on a thursday in the late afternoon.  we hit it off with our cabbie and got some recommendations – we always like to try something a little local yocal.  he brought us to the westin, where our room got upgraded – thank you very much front-desk-guy.  i think he thought jared was cute.  we didn’t care about the why – we were just happy to see this…

we spent the rest of that day getting our bearings and trying to plan what we wanted to do while we were there.  we woke up the next day bright and early and headed to the beach.  oh my goodness, that water.  seriously, how can it be so blue!?!

after a few hours by the ocean (even with loads of sunblock), we decided not to press our luck and to get out of the sun.  off we went to a brand new development called camana bay.  it’s a big outdoor shopping area with restaurants, a movie theatre, and retail shops.  there were only about 10 shops open, but it won’t be long before this is a booming area.  the restaurants along the water were really nice, and it sounds like there are more to come.  first stop was the observation tower.  beautiful shutters on the outside, and an unbelievable mosaic that ran up the entire five-story building.

there are a couple of hammocks in the area, of which we happily took advantage.

it was really windy – the petals on the top of my dress are going crazy here…

it appears we took advantage of all the seating there.  it was vacation after all!  i felt like a little kid in this gigantic chair.

we decided to kill some time so we wouldn’t eat dinner at 4.00 – hey, we had skipped lunch! – so we poked around a few of the shops.  bedside manor was a cute place with lots of linens and some unique little gifts.

next stop – books & books.  i don’t know what it is about a book store, but i could stay in one for hours.  this one didn’t disappoint, and we each left with a book – the help, which i mentioned earlier this week.  (i did forget to tell you that i saw the movie last weekend too.  it was really good, but the book (as usual) is better.  it’s just hard to squeeze all the details into a 2 hour movie.)

then it was off to michael’s genuine food & drink for our early dinner at 5.oo – oh boy, are we old.  we were the only ones in in the restaurant for like an hour.  they had these really cool light fixtures – like little planets that hung over each table.

the next few days were filled with the beach,

a birthday (thanks mom and dad for the late night birthday cake!),

and watching this guy run up and down the beach every day.  think he’s been out in the sun much?

are you still with me?  this is a long one, so kudos if you made it through.  more to come on the second half of our little vacay.

i’ve come across a few new (to me) blogs lately that i thought i’d share with you…because that’s caring.  i could spend hours and hours on some of these!  if only there were more hours in the day…or i just liked to sleep less.  do you have any new favorites?  do share!

a pair & a spare – diy fashion

garance dore – beautiful photography and other bits of interest

copycat crafts – diy pottery barn, west elm, anthropologie knock-offs

caitlin wilson design – i featured her fabrics a few weeks ago.  she’s got a great blog too!

note to self – fashionable tid bits

dear lillie – just plain cute; this gal has amazingly adorable daughters, and make sure you check out the cinderella party – i want one!

and just because i think it’s hilarious, i give you jared’s mini-me.  this is one of  j’s exact expressions, and i laugh every time i see this.