H&M Maternity...who knew?

I can't believe that I am just finding out now that H&M has maternity clothes, but I am so glad I did. I picked up a bunch of cute things today and can't wait for them to arrive next week. Oh, and I discovered they have a whole line of Home stuff!!  Check out what I got:

Is that a mask you're wearing?

I just tried my new L'Oreal Paris Detox & Brighten Pure-Clay Mask and I am in LOVE!  This pregnancy has made my skin feel and look terrible, definitely no glow here.  So I went looking for a mask to try and this one was recommended to me.  Not only does it smell like the best spa product, which totally relaxed me, but I could tell it was working as soon as I put it on my face.  They say to use it three times a week, so I will give an update after a few weeks.  For now, I'm sold.

Oh and I wasn't as miserable as the picture seems, the mask firmed up so I couldn't smile :)

Renovations

We are so excited to be doing some necessary renovations on our house. With a new baby on the horizon, we needed an extra space that will be an office/music room. Excited to share the progress as this project moves along!

Beignets!!

The We decided to head out early this morning to try Mr. A's Beignets, a yummy food truck in downtown Apex. It was such a delicious experience. The beignets were hot and perfectly sweet, along with the cafe au lait it was a match made in heaven!

Home Sweet Home

We finally bought a house!!!  After much searching, we have found the perfect house to start our family story in.  We are so excited and have been busy at work painting, cleaning and slowly moving our things in. 

I hope to document some of our projects as they happen.  For now, can't wait to make it Home Sweet Home!!!

love is in the air

In the past I have had a negative feeling about Valentine's Day.  Why should we only celebrate love once a year???  Let's look at it as though we will celebrate love today just a little more than the other days...that way I can feel better about partaking in something I don't really agree with :)

This morning, I made heart shaped pancakes and heart shaped bacon for my "big Valentine"!  My "little Valentine" had a special bottle made with love, no pancakes for him just yet.

 

 



Old Fashioned Pancakes (from Allrecipes.com)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 Tblspn. sugar
1 1/4 cups milk**
1 egg
3 Tblspn. butter, melted

Whisk ingredients together until smooth.  Add more milk to thin if necessary.  Heat a griddle or frying pan over med-high heat.  Butter pan and scoop pancakes into center of heart shaped cookie cutter.  Once they are set, golden brown and ready to flip over, remove cookie cutter and flip.  Once lightly golden on the other side remove from pan and serve with butter and syrup!

I only had one big heart cookie cutter, so made regular round pancakes and just put the heart pancake on top.

**I ended up adding extra milk to the batter as I made the pancakes because it kept thickening up. 
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Heart Shaped Bacon (As seen on Pinterest)

1 pkg. bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut bacon slices in half and fold to create hearts.  Place on baking sheet and cook until browned - approximately 15 minutes.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Carbonara

For some reason I have been craving spaghetti carbonara.  Thankfully, my sister-in-law's boyfriend is an amazing chef and made it for me a few weeks ago when we saw him at Christmas.  It totally satisfied my craving...for a few days.  It came back with a vengeance this week and I was at a loss.  It felt like the walk of shame when I texted him to teach me how to make it.  He was very gracious and sent me step by step instructions.  It was delish and so easy to make, which is probably a very bad thing because I have a feeling this is a craving that's here to stay!!

 

 

Pasta Carbonara

 

Ingredients:

6 oz. pancetta, diced

1 shallot, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup white wine
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
1 lb. spaghetti or bucatini

In a large sauté pan,  cook the pancetta over medium heat until golden brown.  Add the shallot and garlic and sauté until soft.  Add white wine to deglaze pan.  Lower heat and cook until wine has reduced by about 80%.  In the meantime, boil water and cook pasta until al dente.  Once wine has reduced and pasta is cooked add it to the pancetta mixture.  Be sure to save some of the pasta cooking water as you may need it to thin out the sauce a bit.  Remove pan from heat and add the cheese.  Stir to begin melting the cheese.  Add the egg yolks and toss to blend into pasta.  Cheese and yolks should form a creamy sauce - I added a little pasta cooking water at a time to get it to the desired consistency.  Add salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.  So easy and delicious - buon appetito!