Elleinad Spir

Stacking Rings

May 17, 2012 By Danielle 6 Comments

I feel in love with these rings months ago when my friend Amanda got them as a gift from her mom. I asked RBB if it would be ok to order my own anniversary gift (11 years!!) and ordered a set for myself. I absolutely love them.

They are from Leslie Freeman Jewelry on Etsy. I cannot recommend her site enough. You need to check it out. So so many pretty things…

for your ears…

Silver Dot Earrings – $18

for your neck…

fluorite,tourmaline,ruby and citrine, necklace on silver – $68

for your wrist…

Leather and bead bracelet, featuring Snake skin Jasper beads - $45

Anyway…just wanted to share some pretty. I hope you will check out her shop!

Filed Under: favorites

Coca Cola Cake

May 16, 2012 By Danielle 6 Comments

I am pretty sure Coca Cola Cake originated during the war when sugar was hard to come by…but this recipe uses both sugar and coke, so who knows. What I do know is that it is soooooo good. The cake part is pretty light and almost milk chocolatey and the frosting is rich and perfect.

1 c       Coca-Cola
½ c   buttermilk
1 c     butter – soft
1 ¾ c    sugar
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp   vanilla
2 c    flour
¼ c   cocoa
1 tsp   baking soda
1 ½ c   miniature marshmallows

Combine coca-cola and buttermilk.

Beat butter on low until creamy. Add sugar and beat until blended. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on low until blended.

Combine flour, cocoa and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternating with cola mixture – beginning and ending with flour. Beat until just blended. Stir in marshmallows. Pour batter into greased and floured 13×9 inch pan and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cool slightly – but frost while sill warm.

Frosting:
1 c   butter
1/3 c   coca-cola
3 tbs   cocoa
1 16oz pkg powdered sugar
1 tbs vanilla
½ cup copped pecans

Bring 1st 3 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Take off the heat, then whisk in vanilla, powdered sugar and nuts. Pour over warm cake.

Filed Under: Baking

hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog

May 15, 2012 By Danielle 8 Comments

I am usually from the Alton Brown school of thought on kitchen tools. They must multitask. Single taskers are kind of annoying. Well…that was my thought. Then this weekend I saw this….

The Dog Dicer. I’m not going to lie, I still cut Bonham’s hot dogs like this. I don’t have to anymore. He is old enough to eat them whole. But he likes them cut up. He is a creature of habit and wants them the way he has always had them. I have to say that if I had seen this item years ago I would have snatched it up. I won’t buy it today because I am hopeful our cutting days are numbered. But if you have a kiddo getting ready to start on finger foods…buy this! And please, if anyone is thinking about leaving a comment on how bad for you hot dogs are…save it. He eats Hebrew National Brand so they are at least good hot dogs, and it is one of the few meats he will eat. So it is what it is. Deal with it.

Filed Under: Food

bits of my week…

May 14, 2012 By Danielle 6 Comments

I had lots of comments and e-mails about the white jean cropped pants I posted a while back. They are very comfy and I love them. They are Lucky Brand from Langston’s…and they now have red too. The red aren’t jean material, more pant material – but still good!

Well, really just bits of Sat night. I went to a preview party for Flint OKC with Kelly. It was perfection. We sat and talked and every few minutes someone came by and gave us a tasting sized portion of something yummy and/or a new cocktail to try.

Jalapeno Hush Puppie on Sweet Chili Sauce.

S’mores (the chocolate was IN the marshmallow. Wow.)

A vodka, raspberry, ginger beer concoction that tasted like a sweet tart, in a good way.

The Spa – vodka, cucumber and lemon. Very crisp and clean.

A ginger beer, Stella, vodka something. Also very yummy.

We also sampled a Hibiscus cocktail with champagne, duck confetti tacos, crab dip, shrimp in bloody mary sauce, donut holes and the best chicken finger EVER in a peanut sauce. Those things were incredibly good. Really everything was, and the space was beautiful. I will for sure be back.

Filed Under: Bits of my weekend

Friday Links

May 11, 2012 By Danielle 3 Comments

GGC had me in tears with this post. “I don’t need him to be my baby, just my son.”

Cup of Jo posted this great video clip.

Wait….they make temporary tattoo printer paper? I’m so in. Thanks Jordan.

A huge Thank You to everyone who offered to send a postcard to Bonham. If you are interested in joining the project, please do!

Ceramic Solo cups? Love.

and over at Engage OKC…three great jean reviews: Pineapple Lily, Kaleigh & Me and My Shortloffs all reviewing jeans from Langston’s.

Filed Under: Blogs

hush, hush, shy, shy, eye to eye

May 10, 2012 By Danielle 2 Comments

Bonham is an incredibly outgoing kid. He makes friends easily and can converse with adults…when he wants to. He has selective shyness. It drives me crazy. He is shy when someone directly asks him a question. Not all the time, just when he feels like it. It confuses people. One day he chats up a storm with them, the next day they ask him something and he hides behind my leg. What’s the deal? I try not to push him. It is ok to be shy, but it isn’t ok to be rude. I am trying to find the line that allows him to be shy but still maintains respect and common courtesy. Seriously, where did my parenting manual go!??!?! Where is the chapter on Shyness 101.

It doesn’t surprise me that he has some shyness. And I guess it is even somewhat predictable that it is situational and off/on shyness. Most people don’t see me as shy, but I am. I fear cocktail parties and mixers. I go to events and meet no one because I am bad at putting myself out there. Yet I help organize event and want to go to them in theory. And I am able to communicate well on Facebook and Twitter. I just get nervous in person. So I guess I also need Shyness for Adults 101.

RBB, by the way, doesn’t have a shy bone in his body. He can adapt to any situation and make friends with everyone there.

This picture has nothing to do with this post, but is adorable. This was the first time Holly hung out in Bonham’s bed. I always wonder why she doesn’t – his room is really sunny and warm in afternoon/evening…but she never has…until now. He’s clearly pretty pleased with her presence.

Filed Under: Random thoughts

black bean-garbanzo “fake meat”

May 9, 2012 By Danielle 7 Comments

I didn’t really set out to make fake meat, it just kind of happened. I wanted falafel for dinner. I had already collected all the stuff for my sauce – yogurt, lemon, tomatoes, cucumber and red onion. And I found some 55 calorie tortillas to use as my wraps. But I couldn’t find any falafel mix. Then I looked for frozen black bean burgers figuring I would just have one of those, but no dice. The store was out (really? out?? My store needs help!) Anyway, I had made these chick pea patties before, so I figured I would just wing it.

garbanzo beans, black beans, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper.

I mashed this up. Then I considered adding an egg and making a patty – but I wasn’t feeling it. So instead I went rouge and pan fried the mash. It didn’t really fry up the way I thought it might, but it heated through and did crisp up a bit on the edges.

I added some avocado for some healthy fat and called it a day. And you know what? It was good. And filling! I think this “fake meat” would also work with lettuce, salsa and sour cream as a veggie taco.

So there you go. Accidental fake meat.

Filed Under: Cooking

where are you!?!??!

May 8, 2012 By Danielle 24 Comments

Bonham loves looking at maps and seeing where things are, where he has been, where he will go one day. So I had an idea….what if you guys helped me out!??! What if all my blog friends sent Bonham a post card…how cool would that be?!?! I am going to buy a big map and lots of little stickers. Each time he gets a card we can mark what city it came from. And I can maybe punch a hole in each post card and put them on a ring so he can keep them all. I am in love with this idea. So what say you internet peeps? Are you willing to help make a boy very happy? I hope so since I already ordered the map. Leave me a comment if you want to help out and I will send you my mailing address.