a little girl time

I love weekends spent with girls, even the busy ones! This past Saturday, my mom and moh/bff/Sarah came with me to help me find the perfect wedding dress. My mom and I had been to a few places, but finally found a good selection of dresses with exactly what I was look for: lots of beautiful lace at the lovely Lillian Lottie in Old Town Scottsdale! It was so fun and there are about six amazing dresses we found. Lots to be decided but at least it was a productive dress session.

Sunday, I met up with Sarah for coffee and then we made our way over to Anthem for Michelle's surprise birthday party (she was really surprised, yay!). We gabbed and munched on pizza, and took turns holding Miss Camdyn. We've known each other forever (Sarah since freshman year, Michelle since middle school and Megan since our early elementary days) and it's sometimes strange to see how grown up we are. It's just a reminder of how quickly the years go by and the importance of making the most of every moment. 

 

Sarah, me + Cami, Michelle & Megan

Camdyn fell asleep on Megan and then I stole her for some cuddle time :) 

~ Love ~

birthday weekend

I turned the big 2-8 yesterday. But I don't mind getting older when I feel so lucky and blessed to be surrounded by my amazing fiance, friends and family. Friday morning, my coworkers surprised me with my fave Starbucks coffee, cookies, a cupcake and other goodies. Then a few of them took me lunch at Christopher's which was delish. If you haven't been, it's a must try. I had only been for happy hour before, but their food is exceptional. Dave and I topped off the day with a fun dinner at the new Del Frisco's Grille at the Esplande. I love that restaurant week always falls on my bday! The night before, Dave took me to the Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean concert for my early bday present. We had a great time (after we finally got there) and realized it was our very first concert together!

Today, the celebration continued. My family took me to lunch at my favorite Mexican food place - Macayos (because I'm obsessed with their baja sauce). I got the best cards ever and my parents gave me my favorite shade of old fashioned roses, plus a perfect Kate Spade picture frame for Dave and I. Can't wait to have a wedding photo to put in the new frame!

 concert time, d's eyes + iphone flashes = bad combo

am birthday goodies from my awesome pr coworkers

loved my smoked salmon blt at christopher's and topped it off with dessert. 

 del frisco's 

 family lunch

 my fave roses and a beautiful kate spade frame from my parents

love

let them eat cake

A few days before we left on our European vacation, we celebrated Dave's 34th birthday! We celebrated early with his family with a barbecue and I brought the dessert - Whipped Cream Cake. It was a hit and so easy to make. My mom has been making it for years! The  next day we celebrated on his real birthday, just him and me. We went to dinner at Sidedoor and had our favorite $2 Pastrami Sliders and drinks. A birthday on a budget but still fun!

Here's the Whipped Cream Cake recipe from my mom's Joy of Baking cookbook with a few changes: 

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

*Sift 2 cups of cake flour before measuring

*Resift twice with 2 3/4 teaspoons double-acting baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt

*Whip until stiff 1 cup whipping cream

*Fold 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar into the cream and add 1/2 cup water and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla gradually, stirring gently until smooth

*Whip 3 egg whites until stiff but not dry

*Combine the cream and the egg whites. Fold the sifted ingredients into the cream mixture, about 1/2 at a time. Bake in a bundt pan for 25-30 minutes.

*For the frosting, I just use the basic butter-cream frosting on the back of the powdered sugar bag. You'll have extra frosting which always great for dipping graham crackers in. Yum.

That's it, super simple and delish!

mom's bday

The long weekend has been a great time catching up with girlfriends and my family. My mom's birthday was earlier in the week while they were at their cabin, so yesterday, I was cooking up a storm making my mom the annual tradition of German Chocolate Cake. I decided to make brunch as well and it just so happens, that Cupcakes and Cashmere recently did a post on Pancetta and Caramelized Onion Quiche that looked amazing, so I tried it out. Everyone loved it so I'll definitely be making it again (my dad ate three slices!). Highly recommend it and it really is easy!

Cooking up the frosting - my fave part of the cake

Frosting is done!

Pancetta and Caramelized Onion Quiche

Brunch time!