why we've abandoned the drive thru window

towards the end of the year last year i had this genius, well maybe more of a light bulb moment. and its not even really a light bulb more. more of a wham to the face when i started playing around with our new budgeting feature on our banking app. we were spending on average $300-$400 a month on eating out. yes! you read that right. and to be honest, it wasn't going to one of those black tie kind of places either. it includes every kind of dining establishment that can swipe that card. eesh. i about lost my mind.  that's two car payments y'all if you're playing it right.  like what the what?!

2017.

december 31 snuck up on me. hardcore. like i was preparing myself for the end of year, but somehow, well i say somehow, but it snuck up on me, yet again. it always done. i think its because i find myself in a christmas hangover for quite a few days after all the festivities have basically ended. does anyone else experience that christmas (holiday) hangover feeling?  it can be pretty gnarly. like i can easily stay inside like a social recluse & not feel the least bit bad about it. and then bam!, new year!

homemade poopourri spray

i'm one of those types of people who loves my home to smell good. whether its spic-n-span clean (yeah right!) or a complete tornado, i like it to smell good. and i've been on the hunt for something that smells good. all the time. and i've been through the gammit of home smelling products. plug ins off the grocery store aisle, candles, scentsy, room sprays, the list goes on. and then the essential oil realm really started happening on both my facebook & pinterest feeds. 

christmas on main

before damon & i purchased our home where we live now, we lived quite a few years in grapevine. and every once in a while, i find myself reminiscing about apartment living sans child. the luxury of no lawn mowing is pretty much what i loved the most about it. we were also pretty close to everything, which was great in its own aspects, but living out between two sets of railroad tracks does have its perks of being pretty quiet. your body learns to tune the trains out. but then again, we learned to tune out the airplanes since our apartment was in a direct path for the major international airport that we just lived north of. but i certainly don't miss the high rent fees, no major remodeling & stomping feet of the upstairs tenants.

faux vinyl signs

santa claus arrived early for me this year. and by early, im sure it was november when he came sailing up to my doorstep with my glorious christmas gift. and if you know me, i love chrismas, so getting a christmas present early, makes that season start even earlier for me. what did i get you ask? how do you not know, because on social media, i raved for days about it. i got a silhouette cameo v2 & i have been in love ever since; learning all the possibilities that this machine is capable of. i already have extremely high hopes for benjamin's birthday party. santa may have created a small little monster inside of me.

abstract tote bags

i wear many hats. most of us do. i am a caregiver. i am cook. i am a launder. i am a chauffeur. i am landscaper (to a certain degree). i am a diyer. i am a blogger. i mean i could go on for days.  but there's this one hat that is newly acquired. i am a MOPS creative coordinator for our local chapter. is it called a chapter? i'm not sure, but that's what i am referring to it as.

i joined MOPS in the 2014-2015 school year, because i needed an outlet. i needed somewhere to mingle and fellowship with other moms & just basically get that much needed me time that stay at home moms crave on the regular. plus hot breakfast, crafting & opportunities for you and your child to make lasting friendships? um yes please!

my gift guide: preschool edition

i woke up this week thinking, "december already?" i'm not complaining by any stretch, because december is one of my favorite months of the year, but it seriously feels like it was halloween yesterday.  anyone else feel that way?

life has been terribly hectic lately (maybe its just me), but that's why the blog has been on the back burner.  i've had things to say, but whenever i find myself with a free moment, i find myself sitting down to enjoy a nice quiet moment or tending to my farm on family farm. yes yes, i've been sucked into the farming game app.

with the holidays quickly arriving, i find myself ooohing and ahhing at all the sparkles & new items coming out, with the exception of that darn hatchimal. not happening in this house yall.  we had a chewbacca furby once & it drove me crazy, so maybe ben will never know about this hatching animal.

benjamin is the typical child who anything he sees quickly shouts "add that to my list mama!" so currently our christmas wishlist is about 10 miles long and growing as we speak.  but now that he finally understands the idea of christmas, it totally warms my heart everytime he sees christmas lights, hears his favorite christmas song (frosty the snowman) or sees the huge giant snowman inflatable at the car dealership.

this year we started straying for typical toys that he will forget about in a few weeks, and more towards the imagination items that allow for continuous enjoyment & creativity.

here some of the must have items that i've placed on the preschool christmas list this year:

magnaformers: seriously!! are these not the coolest building blocks ever. magnets hold them in place and you can basically build anything you can dream of. i think i may want a set of these for myself, but chances are they would end up in benjamin's possession anyway..

melissa & doug: my first magnetic calendar: this may not be at the top of his list, it is mine. we've been working on time (in terms of days) with benjamin and i think this calendar is so cute & perfect to allow him to understand tomorrow, today & yesterday. plus he's alwayyyys informing us what the weather is doing outside, so yeah, he needs this item stat...

                 
play doh ice cream castle: many people probably think HECK NO to play doh, but our house, i'm like whatever about it. its not my favorite, but with wood & tile floors, it easily vacuums up, so i don't mind it.. plus benjamin's imagination with play doh is so fun to watch.  he's always creating at least one ice cream item, so this item has been on his list for awhile. he may even watch countless youtube kid app videos about this item.  do you have the youtube kids app? we love it!

my first science kit: discover science & how things work with this introductory science kit.  geared towards children 4+, this kit focuses on STEM principles. let's start experimenting!

strider balance bike: get your little bike ready with a balance bike. practice balance on a bike with no wheels before jumping up to a 2 wheeler.  seat adjusts to multiple heights, so your child can grow with it until they are ready for a "big kid" bicycle.

you can find all of these items from our gift guide here (amazon affiliate):
magnaformers: https://goo.gl/cbhdgz
m&d: my first magnetic calendar: https://goo.gl/NHegdK
play doh ice cream castle: https://goo.gl/AIHheBmy 
my first science kit: https://goo.gl/fidPYT
strider balance bike: https://goo.gl/4uRmAj

only 21 shopping days left until christmas!

oh the places you'll go - my travel bucket list (so far)

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as far back as i can remember, which some days isn't very far, i always have had the list of places that i love traveling to & then places that are "must visit before i die" places. and some of them have fallen off that list over the years because i have either a.) visited them or b.) they just don't appeal to me anymore.  the latter happens very rarely, but i know it has happened a time or two.  

something about fall & changing colors, plus all the holidays coming up, stirs up those travel all over the world feelings inside & it has me adding and wishing and checking out all those travel sites, because well, who doesn't just because, in case there's a great deal out there.

here are some of the places on my travel bucket list currently:

montana/wyoming: this is on both husband's and i's travel lists. and i'm not partial to time of year to visit, but i'm pretty sure they get lots of snow (which is fine with me) but for airplane reasoning, maybe a late summer, spring travel time would be ideal. hubs wants to go on a hunt and all that manly stuff while there, but i'm totally ok driving the roads looking at trees and rivers & hanging out at the "lodge" enjoying all the scenery.

new england: can i just take a week long tour of this area? seriously, not even kidding. maybe even two weeks. in the fall. all the small towns, fall colors, leaves, b&bs.. like what i am waiting for. maybe this hasn't helped my situation any, but new england has always been at the top of my travel list. 

ireland: well europe in general has been on my list for quite some time, but with all the current political/war garbage happening, traveling overseas has been not a priority of mine. but ireland (and all that green!) has always given me the feels when i see images in movies & tv shows.  like that time that was it kaitlin (??) from the bachelorette went to ireland with her remaining men - that place is so dreamy. and all those small towns - i think is my main reason for europe. all the same towns and marketplaces and little cities of castles and homes and old buildings. days and days of wandering could happen here. easily. i'm a sucker for small towns. again its that gilmore thing i think.

japan: i've always been intrigued by the japanese culture. all the lights of their cities, their food (well most of it) & they have some pretty amazing scenery too. this one is so far down on my bucket list, but its always been there. maybe i'll just live through anyone who visits and enjoy looking at travel books.  this apply to asia in general. hong kong is on the list too, but its far fetched enough that i just enjoy seeing travel book photos. hah.

seattle: the fish market has always been on my list (well maybe since the year they did the real world in seattle, circa 1998) & the needle. plus right there by all the water of the pacific ocean. and whale watching has always been on my bucket lists. not many reasons to visit seattle particularly, but its there.

and a few more places on that list: alaska, georgia (savannah to be more specific), and the Caribbean (all those islands), plus hawaii (mainly because of this) 

while this list will take some time to complete, i'm determined to check most of these off.  what items are on your travel bucket list? 

little letters

a cool front decided to make it's way through our area last night & i am really hoping, crossing my fingers & praying that these cooler temperatures stick around until spring.  i'm definitely a cool weather girl & always dread the summer months... i become a hermit around may. not even kidding.

dear hobby lobby,
if you could really restock your cotton stems that would be fantastic. i've been dying to get some for decoration making and well you have been out. and i really don't want to order online and pay the ridiculous shipping prices because well i'm a cheapo.

dear ups,
my christmas present is on your truck & is supposed to be here monday..  please drive quicker, i'm dying here. well not really i'm just really excited about it.

dear zoo,
get used to seeing us. now that its cooling off, i'll probably be there at least once a week. and we are definitely excited about the expansions.. but one question, where did the warthogs and cheetahs go in the mean time?

dear sonic,
thank you for your 99 cent large drinks before 10 am and your half price happy hour.. i dont know whats better, the cranberry limeade or the grape limeade. i'm currently addicted to both.

dear pinterest, husband, home depot, bob villa,
with my christmas gift coming, i'm rearranging my craft room (aka the guest quarters). updating it, organizing it better (for the jillionith time) and making it all swoon worthy (hopefully)! please be patient with me. give me great ideas, wisdom, skills & everything else i need to pull this off.  before thanksgiving.  yeah. 4 weeks. if  you follow me on social media (hit up my sidebar!) or have my email, i'll take any picture suggestions you have.

happy pre friday!

Snacking with Gerber

as a stay at home mom (MOPS mom), i try to fill out schedule with a few play date outings a month. this is basically for both of our sanity levels. plus it gives me a reason to put myself together in the mornings rather than frumping my life away in leggings (holla!), sports bras & messy buns for the sake of being comfortable. all you other moms with me?

but part of this too, is because then i can sit with the other moms, drinking our caffienated mom drinks, talking about mom crap & watching our children act like somewhat civilized members of society. but dont let that fool you, because once those hunger pains hit, so do the Jekyll & Hyde switches and those once, so cute, precious, two legged lovebugs become vicious monsters who follow absolutely no instructions are completely inconsolable until they get something in their stomaches. which is why i do my absolute best to make sure my bag is packed full of snacks before heading out the door.

walmart makes it terribly easy to make sure we are always fully stocked on snacks, whether we are on the go or staying in for the day to complete mama's never ending to-do lists. and lucky for us, our local walmart is just a hop & skip from our driveaway.

once i heard about  lil' beanies by Gerber, I knew I had to give them a try. Benjamin exclaimed that they looked like chips, and started munching as soon as we could get them opened.  they come in two delicious flavors, original & white cheddar & broccoli.  

and while benjamin was excited about them looking like chips, i was not feeling an ounce of mom guilt about him eating  these. not only do lil' beanies taste good, they are good for you as well. made from actual beans (navy beans to be exact), they provide 2 grams of protein & 1 gram of fiber per serving. they also provide 10% daily value of vitamin e per serving, are non-gmo (!!!) and contain no artificial flavors, colors or preservatves.  plus no messy fingers in the end; can i get an amen?

next time you're at your local walmart, be sure to head down the toddler snacking aisle, and throw a couple of gerber's lil' beanies in your cart for your next playdate, field trip or general snacking session. also be sure to take advantage of their savings offer that you can find on  ibotta!

corn dog muffins

when it comes to normal, ben usually parallels your typical 3 year old boy in everyway. with the exception of two things. potty trainin, which hasnt happened in this house just yet (thank the lord for pull ups going up to 5t) and eating habits.

we got a great eater for a child. he very rarely complains about what we're eating at meals & usually gobbles it down like i haven't fed him in a few days. he eats from sun up to sun down & it doesn't matter where we might be, he's always starving.

until it comes to your typical kid foods.  mashed potatoes? you can forget it! mac and cheese? its touch and go. scrambled eggs? yeah heck no? hot dogs? oh please, save your trouble for someone else. even this child rarely eats french fries as a side dish like typical children. while i could imagine all my dreams coming true with endless french fries at places like chick-fil-a, ben eats a few and then hes done.

and while this should elate me as a mother (it does, i promise,) it makes mealtimes & parties sometimes difficult because yeah hes the weird kid who would rather have a cheeseburger than a hot dog.  challenge accepted! and by that i mean, i was determined to find a way that he could enjoy them on the rare occasions when, well, that's what's on the menu.

corn dog muffins:

1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 egss
1 cup buttermilk (no buttermilk? make your own!)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
all-beef hot dogs, cut into 1" pieces (our favorite are oscar mayer selects angus all beef or hebrew national hot dogs)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease mini muffin pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

Mix together sugar and melted butter. Add in eggs. Stir in the buttermilk. in a seperate bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda & salt.

Add half the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. Add remainder of dry and mix well.

Spoon a tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup.

Then place a hot dog piece into each cup.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until cornbread is slightly golden brown.

Cool for a couple minutes before removing from pan and serving.  Enjoy with ketchup, mustard or another favorite condiment.

Yield approx 40 muffins.  Also reheats great for leftovers.

tools used for this recipe below: (amazon affiliates)

mini muffin pan: https://goo.gl/bTbEyD 

pyrex 8 cup measuring cup: https://goo.gl/5s3pwV

a day at the zoo

over the weekend, we visited on of ben's favorite places on earth, the zoo. anytime we go on an adventure to a new city, we try to make it a point to visit their zoo. he usually demands to seem the rhinos. but this time around, it was different. elephants. and more elephants. with a few giraffes thrown in totally satisfied him.

we used to have a membership which we let expire, but while we visited, we decided it was a worthy investment to renew our memberships again since its a great day activity for ben and i during the week. picnic lunches & a day full of animals. plus the fact that we can gain early admission in the summer months before it gets too hot totally seals the deal for me. 

here's some photos of our fun morning:

penguins are one of my favorite parts of the zoo - they also always have me wanting to watch mr. popper's penguins when i get home.

fun fact: the galapagos penguin is the only species that ventures north of the equator in the wild?

we're already looking forward to dressing up in costumes for boo at the zoo in a few short weeks + another 12 months of zoo visits.  

harvest pendant banner

i think one of my favorite times of year is when the seasons change from summer to autumn & i can drag out all my pumpkiny things & leaves & scarecrows. because it literally is just the beginning of all the wonderfulness that i look forward to every year.  ask damon, he knows just how excited i get when its finally appropriate for me to decorate for the cooler seasons, months & holidays.

quick & easy hair ties

I don't know about you, but i am one of those people who can't keep up with hair ties to save my life. and having a cat who is a kleptomaniac doesn't help my situation either. i've been making these for some time now because their so easy & inexpensive. so now i have a plethora of them stashed away for those days when i reach into my bathroom drawer and its sad and empty of all those hair ties that i had just purchased days before.  plus these guys don't eat your hair like those elastic goody-goody kind.

where i've been sorta + a southern staple

it's a funny thing, this blogging business.. whenever i don't blog for awhile, i get all the feels and miss blogging tremendously. and i tell myself to get back to it, make a schedule and start posting regularly. then life happens, i get sidetracked and my blog goes untouched for months. and i see/read all these blogs that have some kind of direction & well mine tends to be a place for my scattered thoughts, favorite things & life happenings...that's probably more of what i am at a standstill. it's what to write that people want to actually read & keep coming back for.

crockpot pulled pork sandwiches

while many people out there still find being a stay at home mom as something glorious, there's days i can agree with them. not having to wear a bra to work is basically all i've got. because i mean my boss screams this horrible high pitched squeal that would make a deaf person's ears bleed. & here recently we've decided that getting up wayyyyyy before anything cool is happening in the world. unless you consider starbucks or walmart a happening place at 6am.

and while i had planned to make taco salads for dinner yesterday, life took over when i opened the fridge and realized, holy crap, i have two pork roasts just sitting in there, waiting to be eaten. well cooked then eaten.  so at that exact moment (well after realizing i needed to cook it before my hamburger buns molded), dinner had been redecided to pulled pork sandwiches. and if i get off on any wild tangents please forgive me....its been a cup of coffee & sweet tea & dr pepper kind of day.

i stumbled across the idea while walking through winco looking for silk almondmilk coffee creamer a few months ago & while the lady heard me talking to myself looking for the creamer we got onto the conversation of pork roasts after she heard me previously talking to my mom on the phone about all the things i could do with a pork roast. still with me? or did i lose anyone back at silk almondmilk coffee creamer? which by the way, they do not carry at this moment. sad day, it really is, because then thats another stop which yeahhhhhhh....the generous winco employee (should have gotten her name!) introduced me to winco's pulled pork seasoning over in the bulk department, which i'm pretty sure is my favorite department of that place.  so some seasoning, a pork roast, buns and few other items & dinner was a go!

pulled pork sandwichs - crockpot style 

1 - 3 pound (or so) pork roast
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 ounces pulled pork seasoning - (bulk department with all the other seasonings)
Hawaiian hambuger buns (any bun is fine, but they were mighty tasty on these)
BBQ sauce, optional
Sliced Pickles, optional

Place pork roast in crockpot.

Mix together brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar & seasoning in a small bowl.  Pour oven pork roast.

Cook on low for 7 hours.  Shred roast with forks one hour prior to eating. Continue cooking in sauce for another hour.

Serve on bun with BBQ sauce & pickles if desired.

& want to keep it crazy budget friendly, serve that on sandwich bread & save yourself the cost of buns..  i got TWO pork roasts from winco for $5 and some change.. #winning one roast fixed enough for 6 sandwiches for dinner last night (we were hungry, what can i say?!), 2 sandwiches for hubs lunch today & then another small container for my lunch probably tomorrow. like it doesn't get better than that.

here's to more winco winning y'all. you can also find their recipe here.

why i live for gilmore girls - part 1

at this point, not many people are surprised by my extreme (& almost obsessive), alright, alright, obsessive love for the little town of stars hollow & all of their fascinating, diverse residents. but its no secret.

now that i can access them on netflix (getting my monies worth there!) i've watched it continuously more times that i can count, but there's no shame in my gg game. & with the reboot only a few months away (november 25! get your couches ready), i feel like i can breathe a sigh of relief & maybe, just maybe, gg will reboot on a good note... one that ASP would be proud of & not that crappy season 7 that i have lived through many, many times, only wishing for a different ending.. also with this reboot, i feel like its a good time to share some of the reasons why gg has such a special place in my heart.. & why i keep going back for more.

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1. stars hollow always has a way of making me love & wish for year round fall & winter seasons. everytime i watch gg, i find myself yearning for autumn & leaves & leggings & warm cups of coffee & scarves & well you get the idea. does anyone else ever watch something & it illicit a feeling of a season? or is it just me? maybe its just Connecticut. and the snow. oh the snow.  "i smell snow." can texas for once just get a really good real snow? i'm just saying. then i'll get all gilmore-y & talk about smelling snow & snuggling up & watch movies, because we know a horse drawn sleigh isnt going to happen.

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2. small town life. that is all. i've always lived in a big city, where you're lucky if you know, let alone talk to your neighbors. but stars hollow is different. from miss patty to kirk to babette, everyone knows each other. & watches out for one another. while many think privacy would be non existent in a city like that, its okay with me. i would happily manage. the ability to walk to the store or the diner always appeals to me.  theres also something about the thanksgiving episode where the girls are buying flowers from the market off the sidewalk. like seriously, i need that i my life.

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3. luke's diner. i think this may be a top reason for many people that desire small time life. a tried & true diner.  somewhere where you know the guy or gal who runs the place & they know you. they know what you like, dont like & things are simple. nothing on the menu thats over the top. & i mean hello, they have a counter. that you can eat at. or a table that looks out onto the sqaure so you dont miss any of the small town encounters. & while we're on food, i'd be totally ok with the soda shoppe too. i mean girl needs her candy. plus a diner who has a danish day is the place for me.

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4. those festivals. at some point the series they talk about how many festivals that stars hollows has. was it one per month? something like that anyway.  festivals always bring a sense of community and fellowship plus who doesnt love an excuse for a giant turkey leg? one of my favorite episodes "hay bale maze" and particularly because of the festival.  and the way that taylor ends up with a huge case of allergies because he was determined to overtake the square with hay. karma, am i right? plus its the turning point for loralei & luke.
                               
like i said above, these are a few reasons why i keep gilmore girls in my "need to watch" queue on netflix. i'll share more reasons why the closer we get to that revival date. whats your reasoning for being "insert favorite tv show here" addict...

fellow gg fans: make sure you're following this instagram account.. their teasers are the best.

peanut butter balls

here lately i've made it my mission to make something sweet to keep in the house so we aren't tempted to go out for a quick treat - frugal mom at it again.  and luckily i haven't heard any complaints on this.

whether its cookies or brownies, i've put a few minutes aside to keep something around to stifle off those sweet tooth's.  this weeke i'm hooping to make some mini vanilla bundt cakes, but with our little family weekend trip coming up, it may or may not happen. who knows, maybe they'll end up being a road trip treat.

my brother's wife and kids introduced me to the heavenly treat in the photos a few times before, but my little sweet tooth recently had a hankering again for these.. i mean its only been a couple of weeks since i have had one.  and before you convince yourself that they are too complicated to make, just keep reading, because they're the total opposite of that..

peanut butter balls:

• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened (i liteally just scooped margarine straight from the container for this & they turned out perfect... impatient much???!
• chocolate chips, for dipping

Stir together powdered sugar, peanut butter & butter/margarine together until thoroughly combined.

Shape peanut butter mixture into balls, placing them onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  This gets messy, so prepare your hands for it.   I made my balls varying sizes, so Ben could have a little one & still think hes getting a lot.

Place cookie sheet in freezer or refrigerator for about 30 minutes so they are good & hard - makes the dipping process much easier.

Once balls are chilled, put chocolate chip into a microwave safe bowl for melting.  Microwave for 30 seconds and stir, repeating until chocolate is melted.

Drop one ball at a time into the chocolate & using a fork coat the ball.  Remove the ball with the fork (letting excess chocolate drip off) & place back on cookie sheet.  While the chocolate is still wet, you can decorate with sprinkles, crushed peanuts, etc if you'd like.  Repeat dipping process for all the balls.

Store in refrigerator until serving.. Enjoy.

a trip to magnolia

back a few weeks ago, we made a little day trip 2 hours south to waco for some exploration - it also happened to be hubs birthday.  he had been wanting to visit the texas sports hall of fame, so thats how our day began & it was much larger than we had expected. before venturing inside, while waiting to meet up with his sister and her husband, we ventured around in a historic cemetery - typically we dont wander around in cemeteries but it the historic(ness) of this one just drew us in.

my boys, my life.  

after the hall of fame visit, we ventured to spice village - which holy mackerel, if i had been toddler free, i could have spent hours in there.  no photos from this or lunch, but i highly recommend visiting if youre in the the area and looking for some air conditioning or just love browsing/shopping. 

since husband is so gracious & knows i had been dying to go visit magnolia, he begrudgingly said ok, even though it was his day & a billion degrees outside.

if you plan on venturing out to magnolia, be sure to prepare for heat & parking.  we parked on the street which was free, but local businesses and churches charge up to $10 to use their lot - also pay attention to those towing zones as they have them around out there.

i probably could spend a small fortune in magnolia, like any other person that was in there, but their storefront gave me so many ideas for things that i want to accomplish for our home.  i did get a couple shirts & a super darling enameled steel coffee mug, because well, you can never have enough coffee mugs.

hopefully once it cools off some (like december) we can venture back and really take advantage of all the outdoorsy stuff that they have. we did get a popsicle from steel city & ben swang and ran for a bit before we loaded back up & headed home.  

they do have food trucks so you can easily make a day of magnolia. just saying. or maybe just i could.

**also theres a really neat shop (like magnolia style) just south of magnolia called the findery - they also provide a map of their favorite shops in waco & well i want to conquer that list.  girls weekend anyone? lol

crispy, yet chewy sugar cookies

   

i know monday was the summer solstice & all, but yesterday felt like the longest day ever..  maybe it was because our new little four legged family member thinks rising at 630 is a good idea. 630 isnt such a bad thing, unless threenager is awake. then it just makes for a long day in general.

i know for dinner what we would be having, but my sweet tooth lately has been screaming & cookies seemed totally appropriate. we made a yellow cake last week & im pretty sure we just scarfed it down, so i know cookies will yield the same effect, plus it saves me from having to go the store bought route or make a pass through the drive thru mid week for something sweet - since im all about saving those precious dollars for something more important.  i didnt have any brown sugar so i knew sugar cookies were basically my only option (shout out to deborah who told me how to make brown sugar from molasses & white sugar! you're my hero currently)

you'll need:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
• 1 egg
•  2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• granulated sugar, for rolling

steps:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.  line cookie sheet with baking mat or parchment paper.
2. cream together butter & sugar in mixing bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes
3. add in egg & stir until well combined. 
4. add in flour. salt & vanilla - ball of dough will form.
5. scoop out ball of dough using a dough scooper - if you don't have one a spoon is fine.
6. roll into ball and roll through sugar.
7. space cookies a couple inches apart on cookie sheet.
8. bake for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

yields approximately 3 dozen cookies this size.

cool & enjoy!

we gobbled those baked chicken tacos rather quickly last night, so no finished product photos, but i'll share what i have soon.  these definitely found their way into our regular rotation.. speaking of, i have filling leftovers and i haven't had lunch yet.  peace!