How to Trap a Leprechaun {Easy Leprechaun Bait}

How to Trap a Leprechaun

Step 1:  Hire a Leprechaun Consultant.

The Giving Tree

Eggplant Raviolini Soup with Mozzarella Focaccia Biscuits

As I've mentioned, Nathan and I went to Europe on our honeymoon.  We spent the first week of that vacation in Southern Italy.  We had our own little cabin, with these amazing wood shutters that let us sleep until 11.  Then we would get up, and lazily walk through the cobble stone streets of the local town, picking out what we wanted to eat for lunch.  Then we would spend the afternoon soaking up the sun while laying on the beach, and going for swims in the crystal clear water when we got too hot.

As I've also mentioned, my grandparents were from Southern Italy.  My grandmother lived there until she was twelve, and my grandfather lived there until he was seventeen.  They spent the beginning of their lives in beautiful Southern Italy before moving to . . . Wisconsin.

Wisconsin.

Where it is winter 11 months out of the year and where dreams of warm beaches and crystal clear swimming water goes to die.

It's against my nature to live here people.  Fifty percent of my blood line is from the tropical Mediterranean.

It's Friday! Cheers!! {This is Me February}

It's Friday!  Cheers!!

Let's recap the week, shall we?  Do you want the Highlight Reel?

St. Patrick's Day Printable

I had planned on writing you this great post about how rough it is being short.  I would have been witty and delightful.

Alas, then my afternoon happened.

My son nearly broke his arm riding his scooter in the house (don't judge) and my daughter screamed her way through dinner and bedtime.  Only to have her brother follow suit when it came time for him to go to bed.

So all the wit and delight have been sucked out of me.

None the less.  I have a printable for you. (Click here for the pdf.)

Enjoy!

{Where's my wine . . . . ?}

Doorway Castle

{Please only use the design for the Doorway Castle for personal, not commercial, use.}

I have a confession:  I think Disney might have ruined my life.  I even wrote a whole paper on it in college.

Did you ever notice how all the princess movies (and I'm talking the old school princess movies, not those new fangled ones where the girl gets a bad ass weapon, like a bow and arrow) involve a princess who needs saving, most often from a crotchety old woman who is bitter with the world because her bottom half is an octopus, or she's lost her beauty, or the two children she managed to give birth to are giant bumbling idiots?

The princess usually has a special relationship with daddy (who I'm sure is great and all, but did he get up in the middle of the night with her??), and is rescued by a prince who everytime he smiles you are blinded by the glare coming off his perfect teeth.  Royalty must have crazy good dental insurance.

So am I really to blame for thinking that a prince would come and rescue me too?  (Though I'm not exactly sure what I really needed rescuing from . . . . )

And sure, Nathan's great.  But he seems to have misplaced my tiara, this sure as hell ain't no castle, and he did not bring with him an awesome dental plan.

Sigh.

All of this is a prelude to tell you about the dilemma I feel whenever buying gifts for my sweet three year old niece, Mira.  When it comes to princesses, the girl goes CRA-CRA.  Which is reeeeeeeaaaalllly ironic, because her mom could not be further from a princess.  She is sweet, and eloquent, but she has taken care of herself since she was sixteen and put herself through medical school.  And my brother for sure isn't a prince who rescued her.  {Wow.  The men in my life are really taking a serious hit in this post.  Sorry guys.}  Maybe my sister-in-law is just one of the new fangled princesses, only replace the bow and arrow with stethoscope.

So what do you get a princess loving girl for Christmas when you yourself are a bonafide princess hater?

Black Apple Dolls

This past weekend we went to celebrate my sweet little niece's second birthday.

Thinking about Carina (who is exactly six months older than Quinn) turning two makes me want to crawl in a hole, plug my ears, and rock back in forth in denial that they they are all getting so big so quickly.

So that was the downside.

Are you ready for the super shallow upside?

My amazing fantastic sweet loveable funny wonderful sister-in-law bought cupcakes.  Not just cupcakes.  She bought the cupcakes.  Cupcakes from a local bakery that that are so delicious, I think I have actually had dreams about them.  Cupcakes that make me want to dance and sing.  Cupcakes that are so delicious, that when we were leaving their house, they insisted that I take the last one (because my brother and my sister in law are awesome like that), and as we were pulling out of their driveway and I was barely buckled (and I'm pretty sure the kids weren't buckled), I started stuffing my face with it.  Only to look up and see my sister in law in the window with the kids waving to us, cracking up.

Sigh.

As evidenced here, here, and here, I love making things for my nieces and nephews.  And this year for Carina's birthday I really wanted to sew her something.  (Have you noticed that my blog has been seriously sewing deprived lately??)  So I broke out my new machine and this awesomely simple doll pattern from the creative genius, Emily Martin.  The pattern is available for free here.

It's Friday! Cheers!! {Instagram & Randomness}

It's Friday!  Cheers!!

So am I the only one who feels like a hamster on a wheel??  Seriously.  I swear I finish one project only to realize that I have five more waiting for me.  And I'm sort of complaining, but sort of just realizing the obvious.  Anyone else??

Baby Registry Must Haves

I think it goes without saying that when it comes to having a baby, all you reeeeeaaaaally need are diapers, some clothing, and a safe place for the baby to sleep.  I think it also goes without saying, or it should, that not everyone is able to have a baby shower or buy all these brand new spanking items for their babies, and they raise perfectly healthy, perfectly wonderful little humans.

I was very fortunate that when I was pregnant with Gavin, my mom and some dear friends put together the most wonderful baby shower for me.  The guest list was long, and people were more generous than I ever anticipated.  So fortunate.

But when it came time to register for baby items, I just remember walking through the aisles of Babies R Us and feeling super overwhelmed.  There are approximately 700 types of thermometers.  And monitors.  And baby gates.  And every other do-dad you could ever want.  What do I need?????

So here is my list.*  Here are the things that I would most definitely have on my registry if I was handed that fun little scanner tomorrow.  Not all of these things are things I had when Gavin was a newborn, some of them I don't think even existed then, but they are all things that I have found very helpful over the course of having babies.

15 Minute Mini Calzones

I got the flu over the weekend.  I am both shocked and horrified at how quickly this flu derailed my weekend and my day to day functioning. {Dramatic much, Lisa?}

Give Your Valentine a Fortune {Like a HUGE Fortune}

Remember last year when I suggested that you give your Valentine a fortune?

Well this year, I'm in on a sweet giveaway (pun, 100% intended) so you can give your Valentine a SERIOUS fortune.

My First Sponsors! {Woo Hoo!}

Have you noticed that I have two new sponsors right on over there in my sidebar??

Orange Dreamsicle Martini

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today.  Thinking about the worry free days of childhood.

(Are you concerned?  A martini post that talks about my childhood?)

100 Day Party Ideas

100 rushed mornings.

100 "Get your shoes on NOW, Gavin!"

100 times of trying to beat the train.

I don't know about you, but to me it feels like a real accomplishment.

Are you in charge of planning a party to celebrate your kids getting 100 days smarter?  I am.

Want some ideas?  I thought so.

And, as always, please visit the sites themselves if you'd like to pin the ideas.

Nutella Ganache Dip

One of the great blessings of my life has been the traveling I have been able to do.  I have gone to six countries outside of the United States, and done countless traveling within the US.

The trip to end all trips though?  My honeymoon.

Nathan and I went to Europe on a three week vacation that included a week in Southern Italy laying on the beaches and visiting the city where my grandmother was born, a few day stint in Rome where we saw SO MUCH so fast, and a week in London where we fell in love with the city and contemplated moving there.

Such an amazing trip.

And honestly, if I hadn't already known that I had married the perfect man, that trip would have cemented it for me.  Three weeks with a tight budget and no set in stone plans in foreign countries has the potential to be disastrous.

But our honeymoon was perfect.

At least 92% of the perfection of our honeymoon can be attributed to my amazing new husband.  His go with the flow attitude has served us very well in life, and that certainly was true when we arrived in 90 degree Rome carrying heavy loads on our backs, no place to go, feeling disgusting from the train, and I was 100% certain that I had caught some life threatening illness on the train and I needed a shower and a private toilet IMMEDIATELY.

Or when we rented a car in London so we could drive to Oxford, and Nathan quickly adapted to driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road with a stick!  All the while I gazed out the window at the countryside and snapped pictures.

Or when I had a meltdown outside the Tower of London about changing my last name, and Nathan just calmly reassured me, made me feel at ease, and helped us carry on with our day.

(Seriously.  Did I marry an amazing man, or what?)

So if 92% of the perfection of the European Honeymoon was Nathan, what, you ask, was the other 8%?

It's Friday! Cheers!! {Humor Me.}

It's Friday!  Cheers!!

It's Friday.  Eh.

I'm feeling a little ho hum this Friday.  The glass I'm raising is half full, and honestly, I'm having trouble lifting it to a full cheers.

But rather than wallow in a self indulgent pity filled Whine & Tears post, I will aim to make you laugh.

As I mentioned last week, in a past life I was a Social Worker.  And oh man.  The stories I could tell you.  Some of which would make you laugh.  Very. Very hard.  But I'm working on my continuing education (30 hours every two years doesn't seem like a lot until you wait until the last month to cram them all in), and you know . . . HIPPA.  And boundaries.  And ethics.  And what not.

But in one of the courses I took recently, the instructor told us that she was going to show us a picture of two dolphins jumping out of water.  And the more differences you see in the two pictures, the higher the level of stress you are feeling.

So how stressed are you??