a lovely living

Archives

Where’s Marisa?

Hey all! Today you can actually catch me over at The Style Letters where I’m being featured on Maria’s Style Views! Maria is one of the 9 other winners of the Redbook Real Women Style Awards who I had the pleasure of meeting this past summer. She is a beautiful lady, inside and out, with a contagious laugh and stunning smile! I was flattered when she asked if I would guest post for her series this month. Hop on over where I’m discussing some of my cold weather picks that are guaranteed to take your outfit up a few notches! Spoiler, fur is certainly included!

Thestyleletters1

Snickerdoodle Monkey Bread

monkeybread

Monkey Bread is something I have enjoyed numerous times, yet I had never prepared it myself. Well, now that I have I’m certain it’s going to happen much more often in our home! It’s best enjoyed immediately out of the oven while it’s still warm and gooey and pairs perfectly with coffee or tea. It’s simple to prepare and can be prepped and stored in your refrigerator overnight until you’re ready to bake it in the morning. For those of you with family visiting over the upcoming holidays, this would be a welcomed addition to your breakfast spread. And if you don’t, well then please go ahead and indulge all on your own. I won’t tell ;) Oh, and one quick side note, make sure to put a cookie sheet under the bundt pan while in the oven. Mine decided to spill over while I wasn’t looking!

monkeybread

Snickerdoodle Monkey Bread via Mix and Match Mama:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon (separated)
2 (16.3 oz) cans refrigerated flaky layer biscuit dough, cut into quarters
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 small box (3.4 oz) of instant vanilla pudding mix, dry and not prepared

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a bundt pan with Pam (spray it well!).

In a small bowl, combine sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Dredge biscuit quarters in sugar mixture to coat. Layer in prepared pan.

(At this point, you could cover your pan and pop it in the fridge until the next morning.)

In a small saucepan, combine remaining tablespoon of cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and instant pudding mix. Cook over medium-high heat stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Boil one minute. Pour over layered biscuits.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Invert immediately onto a platter to serve.

Serve right away.

Out of Office…

Hey guys! Hopefully yesterday’s news can tide you over for a day. I took a quick trip with my husband to NYC and had every intention of finishing up a post for today, but now that my secret is out I can say, with your full understanding, that I was just too exhausted! In a few quick, rainy, hours I squeezed in a little shopping, got to see my sister-in-law pick out her wedding dress (ahh!), have dinner with family/friends and relax with my husband. I’ll see you tomorrow and leave you with a shot of the Empire State Building from last night.

NYC

tartan

Go ahead, call me crazy. Come early May we’ll be expending our family to five and Jack and I will officially be outnumbered! This wasn’t a complete shock, but regardless I’m not sure I was really ready for this. To be quite honest, I do not love being pregnant. At all. I envy the women who glow and feel fantastic as they carry their babes those 9+ months and then are saddened by the fact that their bump is suddenly gone. No, I would much rather skip some of the unpleasant side effects my body endures and just place that beautiful baby in my arms. And for those of you that have been pregnant more than once, you can surely relate to the way your body acts after that first pregnancy. I swear from the moment I found out I was pregnant my body jumped into action as if to say “oh here we go again, I know exactly what to do”. At 15 weeks with this child I look as I did at 20+ weeks with my first. Not one to enjoy squeezing into my regular clothes leaving some buttons undone, I’ve begun breaking out some maternity clothes (pants at least) which feel absolutely heavenly with room to breath. Since I wasn’t blogging during either of my other pregnancies, this will be a true test for me as I work through the upcoming months, but I’m going to do my best for you guys!

Just to catch you up to speed, I’m now into my second trimester and I’m looking forward to it. The first few months I have dealt with nausea from morning through night and my energy level dropped dramatically. I’m starting to feel a bit better during the day now and I don’t seem to need a daily nap anymore ;) Our baby is now the size of an apple and we plan on finding out the sex next month. My husband and I are not great at waiting and I am anxious to begin getting rid of some of the extra clothes I have been holding on to! I know life doesn’t always go my way, but as far as my plans are concerned this will likely be our last child. I’ll be savoring every moment once this baby arrives, but until then I’ll be praying each week passes quickly ;)

I know the outfit isn’t nearly as exciting as that news, but for those interested, read on. Although three-quarter length sleeves may not always seem practical, especially when it comes to a coat, boy do I love it regardless. This coat was a bargain Elie Tahari from TJMaxx last year (seen here, here, here and here) and I find it to be a refreshing change from my other wool coats. Plus, I always wear long sleeves underneath which completes the look of the outfit. One other note, I finally splurged on knee-high boots. Well, not technically a splurge when I got them on sale and was able to apply credit earned from my GapCard (yay!) but that’s my idea of a smart splurge. PS, check out the price now! I love the dramatic look they add to an outfit and since it’s not practical to be investing in much clothing at this point, shoes and boots are where my purchases will be ;)

tartan4

tartan5

tartan1

tartan7

tartan6

tartan3

tartan2

Details: Elie Tahari coat via TJMaxx (love this option, see others below) / JCrew shirt (similar) / Gap Maternity pants (similar non-maternity) / Dolce Vita boots (on sale!) / Cookie Lee necklace c/o / Michael Kors watch

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday! I’m not sure anything makes me realize how fast time flies as much as blogging does. No sooner do I finish one ‘Friday’ post and it seems I’m drafting another. And this time we’re nearly half way through November and closing in on Thanksgiving. Speaking of Thanksgiving, has anyone else been craving this meal like I have? Not to make you envious, but thanks to my family as well as my husband’s, I’ll be enjoying this wonderful meal on Thanksgiving as well as the day after. Gluttonous, I know. But back to the here and now, below you’ll find a bit of what went on during my week. I’m feeling motherly guilt for the lack of pictures of my son. That’s sadly what happens when he leaves me for school! I’ll catch up, I promise!

1) No need for dress-up clothes in this house. Our little lady has just about every look covered. She pulls off tulle and grunge way better than I could!

H54F11146

2) Many mugs of this have been consumed this past week. It’s nothing new, but I recently can’t get enough!

H54F11148

3) I was able to celebrate this beautiful Mama to be this past weekend. She’s one of my dearest friends from college and I could not be happier for her and her family to be. Becoming a mother for the first time is life changing and I’m overjoyed to see her go through this experience.

H54F11143

4) Madelyn got to enjoy a playdate with friends and when a bounce house is involved, everyone is happy!

H54F11144

5) After an official taste test today, I’ll be sharing this goodness with you next week. Until then, I’ll leave it up to your imagination ;)

H54F11147

Have a fantastic weekend!

Warm Layers

layering9

As the cold is rolling in, my layers have been adding up. You’ve recently seen me wearing my fur vest here and here, but my love of vests continues onto the sweater vest. Layering is often necessary but one way I avoid too much bulk is by using vests. They add warmth where needed without making you feel like you’re unable to move once you have everything on. I love the thickness of this vest that came from LOFT last year (don’t worry, I have other options for you below) and it was exactly what this outfit needed to keep the chill away.

layering4

layering6

layering1

layering2

layering5

layering3

layering8

Details: Gap shirt (similar) / LOFT vest (see options below) / Jeans (similar) / LOFT jacket / Madewell tote / Jeffrey Campbell booties (similar) / Rayban sunglasses

Toy Guide

Although we try not to overindulge our children, they have certainly ended up with their fair share of toys over the years. I can’t speak for the older ages yet, but for ages 0-5, I’m well aware of what their favorites have become. I put together 11 toys that have been played with regularly over the years and although I’ve arranged them from youngest to oldest, I can vouch that my youngest plays with the older toys just as much as my oldest continues to play with some of the ‘baby’ toys. So basically, these toys have been worth the investment. And even if you don’t have children this age of your own, chances are you you have nieces, nephews, grandchildren or friends that you’ll be buying for this Christmas. Hopefully this helps!

toy

 

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11

If you’re a parent (or a gift giver that wants to go one step beyond), please don’t forget to have your batteries on hand this season! We have certainly made that mistake before and it’s not a pretty sight since many of the above gifts require them. We tend to stock up on Duracell batteries in our home because I trust their dependency. So as your friendly reminder, don’t make the mistake of not having them on hand! You’ll thank me later ;)

*This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/Duracell but all thoughts remain my own.

Veggie Soup

veggsoup

In my never ending attempt at getting as many vegetables as possible into my children (and myself, who am I kidding), I’m always on the lookout for recipes to add to my collection. Soups, which are extremely popular in our home,  are one of the easiest ways for me to accomplish this. We make a lot of chili’s and minestrone soups which tend to be a bit more substantial with the addition of beans, but this light soup was a nice change of pace. I love the flavors and fragrance that come out of simmering homemade soups. Absolutely perfect on these chilly evenings!

Vegetable Soup via Cooking Classy:

Ingredients

2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 medium)
2 cups peeled and chopped carrots (about 4)
1 1/4 cups chopped celery (about 3)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
3 cups peeled and 1/2-inch thick diced potatoes (from about 3 medium)
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped frozen or fresh green beans
1 1/4 cups frozen or fresh corn
1 cup frozen or fresh peas

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute 3 – 4 minutes then add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer.

Pour in broth (if you want lesser ratio of broth use 3 cans then only 3/4 cup of the 4th can) and add tomatoes, potatoes, parsley, bay leaves, thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, then add green beans, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 – 30 minutes, then add corn and peas and cook 5 minutes longer.

Serve warm.

 

Bow + Fur Detail

nudefur2

While browsing through Target the other week, doing my best not to get sucked into the black hole of shopping, I happened upon this blouse. I loved the neutral color and the playful bow detail. I paired it here with my fur vest and LOFT pants which have both been on heavy rotation in my closet lately. I realize I  don’t have all that much more time to continue exposing my ankles, so I’m taking advantage of these pants while I still can.

nudefur8

nudefur5

nudefur3

nudefur6

nudefur7

nudefur1

nudefur4

Details: Mossimo blouse via Target / BB Dakota sweater vest (similar) / LOFT pants / Snakeskin pumps (similar)

 

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday! Are you all adjusted from the time change? I’m sure those of you without little ones adjusted quite easily and the rest of you are still waking up an hour early :) Thankfully it’s not as bad as when my two were infants, but my 2 yo has most certainly been up early in her crib every morning playing ‘babies’. I’m very grateful for the extra hour she gives us :)

Here’s a look at our week:

1) Totally loving Madelyn’s new beanie from Lemons and Lace. Check them out for boys and girls alike!

H54F117_1

2) Fire truck day at Jack’s school. We now have an official ‘family meeting spot’ outside of our building :)

H54F117_3

3) Voting day with her obligatory cookie afterwards.

H54F117_2

4) In case I wasn’t aware that Halloween was over it’s now been made very clear. No joke, this was all a part of yesterday’s mail delivery!

H54F117_4

5) Sorry for the overload, but this girl is by my side all day every day. She was watching PBS kids waiting for me to get ready to leave the house yesterday morning. She’s nuts and I’m crazy about her!

H54F117_5

Have a great weekend!

Older Newer