Swoon Worthy

I'm not sure how the weather is where you are, but it is bitterly cold here this weekend... like negative degrees with the windchill cold, so as you can imagine, we have really big plans to stay in, snuggle up, and do a whole lot of nothing.

Seeing as it is both Valentine's Day weekend, and super blustery around these parts, a lot of what I'm swooning over this week involves things that are festive and cozy.

Here's what  I'm loving lately...

1.  We whipped up a batch of the yummy snack mix, pictured above, for the weekend... no rhyme, reason, or measurements involved here.  We just threw a bunch of festive stuff into a big bowl.  Our mix included Valentine's Day m&m's, milk chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, Golden Grahams cereal, and pink Goldfish crackers.  Some other items that would work are pretzel sticks, cheerios, popcorn, Swedish fish... whatever you like!

2.  Since all I can think about is staying warm right now, these mittens have me swooning hard, and they cost next to nothing if you use the code EXTRA40 to save an additional 40% off of the sale price!

3.  Soup is definitely on the menu today!

4.  These are hands down my favorite warm socks to layer with a pair of boots.

5.  Banana bread... in the crock pot... yes please!

6.  Now that we are on the home stretch, I am dreaming of snuggling with baby number three while he's all swaddled up in a blanket from this adorable company.

7.  Someday it will be warm again, and when it is, I totally want to rock these ballet flats.

8.  This pizza has become a Valentine's Day tradition around here.

9.  I'm hoping to curl up with another good book this weekend.

10.  Frigid temps are rough on skin... this balm is amazing in so many ways!

I hope wherever you are, you stay warm, and have a great weekend!

Valentine's Day Treats

We really like to celebrate holidays around here, particularly when it comes to indulging in treats, so naturally we've been whipping up a few of our favorites this week, and thought I would share the how-to/recipes.

Heart shaped Rice Krispie treats seemed like a good and festive idea, even though Max informed me that "hearts are for girls, not boys!", when I asked him if he wanted to help me make them.  True to form, he had zero issue with eating them.

Also, this super easy fruit dip has been on heavy rotation around here lately... #pregnancycravings. We like to pair ours with strawberries, but feel free to go wild and try it with pineapple, bananas, apples, whatever you wish!

Heart Shaped Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients

1 10 oz bag of marshmallows (or 4 cups of mini marshmallows)

1/4 cup of butter

6 cups of Rice Krispie cereal

4 drops of red food coloring

Valentine's sprinkles (optional)

Instructions

We followed the standard, on the box, recipe for these, and melted the butter and marshmallows in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring often.  Once melted, we added the 4 drops of red food coloring.  In a large bowl, for fun, we added 1/4 cup of festive sprinkles to the 6 cups of cereal, and then mixed in the pink marshmallow/butter mixture.  Then we poured the entire bowl into a greased 9x13 baking dish, where we allowed the "treats" to cool for about 5 minutes.

Once cooled, we flipped the "treats" onto some parchment paper, and added some additional sprinkles on top, gently pressing them into the "treats".  Then, we used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out heart shaped treats!

2 Ingredient Fruit Dip

Ingredients

1 8 oz container of strawberry flavored cream cheese

1 7 oz container of marshmallow fluff

Fruit of your choice

Instructions

Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature.  In a large bowl, mix cream cheese and marshmallow fluff together until combined.  Chill, and serve with the fruit of your choice.

Hope you guys enjoy these fun and easy recipes!

Valentine's Day | Target Style

I Love You Garland

Love Pillow | Heart Marquis Light | Felt Heart Wreath

Heart Jars | Love Doormat | XO Marquis Light

You guys all know that my love for Target runs deep, like borderline obsession deep.  You have also probably figured out by now that I am a total holiday fanatic.

My post-Christmas blues were cured pretty much instantly when I set foot in Target and laid eyes on their Dollar Spot Valentine's Day collection.  I wish that I could link all of the super cheap adorable finds that I snagged from there, but I could only find a few online.  We snagged one of those heart topped jars, and filled it with conversation hearts immediately, and the "I Love You" garland was the perfect addition to our mantle.

I wanted to share some more of my favorite discoveries, in terms of Valentine's Day decor, from everyone's favorite store!

Love is in the air my friends!

Valentine's Day Treats

With Valentine's Day being just a few days away, we are full-on taking advantage of the holiday that makes it socially acceptable to indulge in heart-shaped everything, and to turn chocolate into the star ingredient in nearly all of our favorite recipes.

We enjoyed these easy-to-make heart shaped mini pizzas for lunch today, and it had me reflecting on last year's Valentine's Day post, and what we were enjoying a year ago at this time.  So... I thought I would share the how-to for these pizza's, along with some of the treat ideas I'm loving from Pinterest and some my favorite creative bloggers.  Another holiday themed "round up" if you will. 

For these pizzas, we used Pillsbury Pizza Crust, but feel free to use your favorite dough.  Using a large heart-shaped cookie cutter, I cut as many mini pizzas as I could from the dough.  The directions on the package advise you to pre-bake the dough, but going on the assumption that these hearts were much smaller than a full-sized pizza crust, and would likely cook faster, I opted not to do that.

Instead, I arranged all of my hearts on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart, and topped with our favorite jarred sauce, and shredded cheese. Then I baked them at 400 degrees until the cheese was slightly brown and bubbly, about 10-12 minutes (this may vary depending on your oven and the size of your hearts).

That's it, super easy, super fast, and definitely toddler friendly.  Max kept repeating, "look mama, a heart!", before gobbling one up!

Here are some of my other favorite ideas/recipes for Valentine's Day Treats...

Pink Heart Krispie Treats | Valentine's Popcorn

Nutella & Strawberry Tarts | Cookie Cups

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

What are some of your favorite recipes and treats for Valentine's Day?  Traditions?

I think we'll be having a nice cozy night at home by the fire with the kids, super romantic I know, but to be honest I'm not big on dealing with crowded restaurants and lengthy wait times.  Mike usually cooks me dinner for the occasion, and I'm thinking we might indulge in some chocolate fondue for dessert, or perhaps a heart-themed s'more buffet! We'll see.

-J

Valentine's Day Favorites

Seeing as Valentine's Day is just a few weeks away, I thought I would share some of my favorite love inspired finds... You know, if you happen to be looking for a gift for your little one, your significant other, or you just so happen to want to treat yourself!

heart socks | heart baby peplum top | candle

book | dining set | bodywash | boy's heart breaker shirt

men's boxers | girl's tights | hair clips | iphone case