Put Your Hands Up!!! || A Cops & Robbers themed 5th Birthday Party

A few weeks ago, Lincoln turned five. FIVE!! Five seems so old to me!

We celebrated his birthday with friends and family at a nearby park with a Cops and Robbers themed birthday party. It was easy to put together thanks to some great finds at Etsy and the party store and even easier clean up thanks to not having it at our house!

At five years old, Lincoln has grown up so much and is the very best five year old I know. He's kind, inquisitive, extremely sensitive and is determined to be the best big brother he can be. He loves his family and friends fiercely and has a very distinct definition of right and wrong. He's strong-willed and stubborn, but always willing to share with his friends and little brother.

He gets easily frustrated when he can't do something and sometimes his self-confidence wavers, but I hope that he knows he can learn and do anything he puts his mind to with a little bit of patience and perseverance.

Because he is a young 5 year old (summer birthday!), we're spending one year in Pre-K before moving on to Kindergarten and I can't see what this year will bring for our little guy. His mind is incredible, he can put complex legos together, really seems to "get" numbers, even doing simple addition and subtraction already, but he struggles a bit with letters and the alphabet. I'm confident this extra year of Pre-K will help boost his confidence before he starts school next fall and can't wait to watch him grow!

Photos from our big boy's 5th birthday party are below!

Nutella Buttercream Frosting

i made the mistake (on purpose ;0p) of purchasing nutella from costco a few weeks ago. and when i finally realized that there was no way i was going to be able to stop myself from continuing to dip a spoon into the jar over and over and over again, i knew i needed to start getting creative and use those jars up.

i started by making homemade nutella filled croissants and sent a bunch home with my mom. they were super easy to make and only took about 20 minutes to bake. you simply buy a few sheets of puff pastry, roll out the dough and cut it into triangles, spread some nutella on the rolled out dough and then roll them up into croissants. swipe an egg wash over them and pop them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until they're golden brown. they were good, but nothing to write home about.

and then i started perusing pinterest, which is dangerous enough by itself, but if you type into the search bar "nutella recipes," life as you know it is over. so many crazy, amazing, delicious, fattening recipes to try!!!!

i settled on the nutella buttercream frosting because, well, it's my birthday next week, and cupcakes are always a good idea. so, i baked up a batch of confetti cupcakes (i used a box which i almost never do) and then whipped up a batch of the nutella buttercream. mind blown. or as my husband said after eating one and then two and then three: "those aren't going to last long." (lay off my birthday cupcakes husband! ;0p)

this frosting is so freaking good. i honestly don't think i'll make any other kind again. everything goes with nutella right?

Nutella Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup nutella
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 cups powdered sugar

in a medium size bowl, combine butter, nutella, vanilla and about 1 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar. mix well. sample and continue to add about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time until you reach the desired consistency and taste. i think i ended up using about 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.

Little Man's "Sock Monkey" Themed Birthday Party!

i mentioned in lincoln's last monthly update that we threw a little party for our little man's big day. i'm excited to share pictures of the party here today! instead of doing a "cake smash" photo shoot, i thought it would be more fun to just have photos of the party (including the cake smash) and so here they are! (All photos from Jennifer DeBarros Photography).

Happy Blogiversary!!!!

i just realized that today is the second anniversary of this little blog here. happy birthday blog!!!

it's been such a fun little hobby for me and has gone from being a little experimental food blog to an ongoing journal of me, that guy i like, and our little adventures.

so to celebrate blogging for two whole years, i'm off to buy some NON-ALCOHOLIC WINE!!!!! (it made this preggo lady super happy to discover that they actually made non-alcoholic wine).

have a wonderful sunday!

One Sassy 60th

we are back from spokane and a weekend of lots of holiday fun! not only did we get to celebrate the thanksgiving holiday with our family, i had also been secretly planning my mom's surprise 60th birthday party with my dad and siblings....and we pulled it off!

below are a few photos from the party!

happy happy birthday mom!!

The Big 3-0!

last monday i turned 30. at first i was a little...wait, this can't be happening, but then i got over my mini meltdown, which consisted of a lot of: why don't i own a house? i'm supposed to have kids by now! i was going to be way more well-travelled at this age! and a host of other woulda, coulda, shoulda's that, at the end of the day, don't really matter all that much.

turning 30 was a little scarier than i thought it would be. maybe i hyped it up too much. who knows? in the end, it was pretty perfect. husband took me to an awesome dinner at blue hour (one of my  must-go-to restaurants from this post), followed by the best ice cream ever at salt and straw and then this past weekend, we went out and got my birthday present!

which, i have been boasting about ever since. i got a big kid car. my first car that wasn't just a base model, but was outfitted with fancy schmanzy things like leather seats, and butt warmers and a sun roof. i still am in a little bit of shock and husband is laughing at the grin that just won't seem to wipe itself of my face. needless to say...i had to share pictures of my new baby. 

isn't she pretty?!?!! 

i think so. (p.s. presents like this make turning 30 not so bad after all ;0)) 

30 Days of...

i'm approaching 30. woah. how did that happen? i swear yesterday was my 21st birthday and i was flying off to nyc to ring it in "party style" with my girlfriends.

but in actuality, it's been almost 10 years. i'm approaching the big 3-0. i was a little scared of this at first. i mean, i haven't accomplished nearly enough "things" yet. have you?

but then i celebrated one of my dear girlfriends turning 30. there wasn't a huge party, or a fancy trip. although there was some bridge jumping (i mean that's what 30 year olds do....defy gravity, jump of high bridges, live on the edge). it was good friends, some old some new, gathered together at the lake, enjoying each other's company, talking, laughing, drinking, eating...(lots and lots of eating), and a delicious meal, illuminated by sparkling lights, and it was...well, perfect. it made me happy. i'm pretty sure it made her happy too.

so instead of being "scared" of turning 30. i'm going to embrace it. how? well starting now (there are exactly 67 days until i turn 30), and through out the 365 days of being 30, i'm going to do choose to do "30" days of something. something that will make me happier. something that will make healthier.

i'm choosing to embrace 30 to it's fullest, and well, to be frank, while i may not be able to commit myself to 365 days of one thing, i can probably regularly commit to 30 days of something. 30 days of yoga. 30 days of replacing coffee with tea, 30 days of photos, 30 days of not eating out. you get the idea.

(when your 30 you need two desserts to hold all the candles...genius!)

and instead of being scare of 30, i'm actually excited for it. bring it on. your 30s are so much cooler than your 20s.

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I have a secret to share. 

I love cupcakes. Like, really really really love cupcakes. 

I loved cupcakes before it was cool to love cupcakes. 

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes...The Best Thing I Ever Ate

These are truly the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.

It was my dad’s birthday this past weekend, and I was searching for a creative new treat to bring to his Big Birthday BBQ Bash (say that 5 times fast – ha!). I turned, once again to Smitten Kitchen. She has yet to steer me wrong. I loved everything about what these cupcakes were. They’re Irish. My dad’s Irish. They have beer. My dad LOVES beer. They even have whiskey. What guy doesn’t like whiskey? They sounded like the perfect birthday treat!

What I hadn’t anticipated was that they would be so mouthwatering delicious. They truly were the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire life! And I don’t like beer or whiskey! (I know I can’t believe I’m part Irish, either!).

I veered off slightly from the recipe used on Smitten Kitchen, but not by much. I used an Irish Death Stout, instead of Guinness, Bushmills Irish Whiskey, instead of Jameson’s, and for the frosting, I used a White Chocolate Bailey’s Irish Cream, instead of your basic Irish Cream. They were so good and the only unfortunate thing is that they were all gone by Monday morning.

Luckily for me, I have another birthday BBQ to attend next week and guess what I’ll be bringing…

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

1 cup stout (I used an Irish Death)


1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter


3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 


2 cups all purpose flour


2 cups sugar


1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda


3/4 teaspoon salt


2 large eggs


2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling 

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey 

Baileys Frosting 

3 to 4 cups confections sugar


1 stick butter

3-4 tablespoons Baileys 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. 

Divide batter among cupcake liners, filling them 2/3 to 3/4 of the way. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack completely.

For the filling: 

Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. Fill the cupcakes. 

Make the frosting:

Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes.  Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. Add the baileys and combine. 

Ice and decorate the cupcakes.