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    cute travel essentials for kids

    i meant to do to this post side by side with the other cute travel essentials post i did recently, but here we are!

    the majority of kids travel things are basically the opposite of “cute”, so i spent quite some time scouring the internet for these finds!Read More

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    our backyard redo– the plan

    i’m sure some people are going to be very bummed out to hear that we’re changing up our backyard, but i’m really excited to make it more suitable for our life now! i love the way it looks, but honestly we barely use the backyard besides to eat dinner when it’s warm out. 

    when we first designed our backyard, we didn’t have arlo. we put tons of cacti all over and it was a beautiful desert oasis. once we had arlo and he started toddling around, we decided to remove the cacti (which had gotten HUGE by then) and add softer plants everywhere.

    when we were in those initial design stages, i did consider adding a patch of grass for future children, but got lazy and just went ahead with a full yard of DG instead.

    but over the years, i’ve realized our backyard isn’t fun, like at all whatsoever, and it’s kind of sad! i want the backyard to be a place that arlo can run around and have fun in, and now that we’re expecting another one– and now that we have put our house hunting on hold, i decided this would be a good time to make it work better for us in this season of our lives! Read More

  • really really good french toast

    i don’t know what’s taken me so long to share my french toast recipe, because i’ve kinda perfected it over the last year or so! i used to keep the batter pretty simple but the more i played around and the more i started added a few extra special touches, the more it became EXTRA SPECIAL TASTING!

    my personal belief is that bread is very key — and croissant toast makes the ultimate french toast. if i don’t have any, i’ll use challah or sometimes banana bread when i’m feeling very ambitious (although it’s kinda sad to bake a whole loaf of banana bread and then use it up in an instant but it’s real gooooood)

    adapted from ina gartens challah french toast

    really really good french toast

    i've tweaked this french toast recipe over the years and now it tastes so special. the key is to use really good bread!
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Ingredients  

    • croissant toast
    • 5 eggs
    • ½ cup heavy cream
    • 1½ cup milk
    • 1 splash of orange or pineapple juice
    • 1 tb orange zest
    • 1 tb honey
    • 1 tb vanilla bean paste or extract
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    • 1 tsp cloves
    • 1 tsp nutmeg
    • ½ tsp salt

    Instructions 

    1. preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
    2. in a large shallow bowl, whisk all the ingredients together. for extra gooey french toast, soak as many slices in the egg mixture for 2-3 minutes, turning once.
    3. heat 2 tbsp butter in a large saute pan over medium heat.
    4. add the soaked bread and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. make sure not to flip until the first side is nicely browned.
    5. to keep warm, place the cooked french toast on a sheet pan.
    6. i love to serve with warm maple syrup and blueberries or caramelized bananas when i’m feeling extra ambitious. to make them, just slice up a banana, toss in sugar and cook in a pan until golden.

    Notes

    i usually wing it and don’t really measure the ingredients out, but i like the egg to milk/cream ratio to be pretty creamy versus yellow/eggy. 

  • pretty everything : melamine dishware

    i love everything non breakable not only because we have a kid, but mostly because i am just very clumsy lol. i find it really nice to just be able to transport our dinners outside easily without worrying about breaking anything and everything is lightweight too! 

    so i rounded up a bunch of beautiful outdoor melamine dinnerware along with acrylic non breakable cups for all your al fresco summer meals!

    Read More

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    my TCC journey, we’re actually pregnant wow

    well, an update i’ve wanted to share for years now– i’m 12w along with our rainbow babe.

    i’m still having a hard time getting comfortable with the idea that this time could be for real, but this is the furthest we’ve gotten, so i’m trying to be optimistic! it’s very hard! Read More

  • my fave things this month

    another month is wrapping up!? so another month of some favorites i want to share with you! Read More

  • our 4½ year olds favorite ipad apps

    i’ve been asked so many times for arlos favorite ipad games, so first i’ll warn you that there are a LOT of games listed here– because we’ve downloaded many and he likes many (this is what gid does for a living so he’s passionate, i had him help me write this post too!)Read More

  • fudgy chewy salty brownies

    ORIGINALLY POSTED MARCH 2017

    if you follow me on instagram stories, you know i have been baking a lot of brownies during my pregnancy — and after a lot of recipe testing, i have totally found my favorite one for life.

    i am obsessed with these — i really like fudgy brownies more than gid, who prefers the cakier kind, so i give him all the edges and he’s happy. these are so fudgy, so chewy, so rich — and i upped the amount of salt from the original recipe to give them a little extra saltiness which i love.

    when you see how much butter and sugar goes in, you’ll see they’re the opposite of healthy — but like, in a good way.

    adapted from all recipes

    fudgy chewy salty brownies

    best brownies ever!! these are so fudgy, so chewy, so rich and have just the right amount of saltiness
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Ingredients  

    • 1 cup butter melted
    • 3 cups white sugar
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 4 eggs
    • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 1 tablespoon salt (you can use less if you prefer a less salty brownie)

    Instructions 

    1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.
    2. combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.
    3. sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a separate bowl. gradually stir flour mixture into the egg mixture until blended. spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.
    4. bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean(ish), about 32-36 minutes. remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

    would love to know if you try these and love them like we do.

    ps. link for the striped tray

  • printable 2022 oscar ballot

    so i have barely seen ANY of the movies this year and have very little interest in even watching the oscars probably, but i got like 3 messages from people saying they use my ballots every year so the guilt got to me — here it is, your 2022 printable ballot!Read More

  • 15 unique things to have your kids art printed on

    there are so many ways to get your kids art printed nowadays — once i went down the loophole i started finding so many things that i wanted to print for grandparent (and parent) (and even the kid himself) gifts!!! so i rounded up 15 of my favorites. i love all of these!! Read More