neige.

in continuation of my festive perspective, i came across this lovely children & baby clothing company, neige (french for snow)! grosgrain is having a giveaway, so i went to check out what they had instock ... much to my enjoyment, they have adorable clothes! check it out!

such a cute little coat!

the full-length view of this dress is darling, with the matching cardigan? ... love it.
these girls just look too cute all dressed up together to pass up ...

snow white.

it's that time of year where my favorite color is everywhere! everywhere i go, i'm finding goody after decadent goody in that lovely winter white that i can only wish i had hanging in my closet. looking outside this morning to see snow on the ground didn't help my obsession any! here's a conglomeration of what i would love to be wearing today ...

winter white by JenDownard featuring Missoni accessories

Items in this set:
Jessica - Cami - Claire Pettibone - Boutique, $73
J.Crew - City-fit Super 150s glen plaid trouser, $275
Christian Louboutin Titi 120 Panama straw pumps, $725
Missoni Crochet-knit Lurex shawl, $665
Eugenia Kim Cate crochet beret, $175

serena's cookie exchange!

there's something wonderful about the holidays, and it involves ... butter. lots of it! oh, and sugar, too! these lovely little things are my dad's favorite. my grandma used to let me help cut them out and frost them before she packed em' up to take to my uncle's for christmas eve. make sure to double the batch, or you'll just end up making more later on. these flaky little morsels are impossible to refuse!

always start with a little something before you bake (grandma always did, i'm just following suit). this time, I chose a shot of Butterscotch Liquor ... a wonderful choice I might add.

swedish cremes.

ingredients:

cookies—

see steps below.

• 1 C butter

• 2 C flour

• 1/3 C cream

frosting—

mix together below ingredients with a hand mixer and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

• 1/4 C butter

• 3/4 C powdered sugar

• 1 egg yolk

step one—preheat oven to 350 degrees.

step two—cut butter and flour together, add cream and mix together until well blended.

step three—chill dough, roll out thin (1/8"-ish), and cut out with a biscuit cutter (or whatever cutout you'd like).

step four—prick holes in the top of each cookie with a fork to prevent bubbling and sprinkle with sanding sugar. bake 5-8 minutes.

step five—cool entirely on a wire rack, and put two cookies together with frosting in the center.

voila! swedish cremes á la Gooney.

puppies.

I have two children. And apparently, while I was under the impression that I only have one husband, this might not be entirely true ... according to my dog, at least.

We have two puppies at home, Kuma & Jessi. And both are crazy. I woke up this morning at about 2:30 a.m. and heard the baby crying. Luke got up to feed him, so naturally, I fell back asleep. I woke back up about an hour later thinking that my husband was lying next to me. Nope ... it was Kuma, the little guy pictured below. He's fairly new to sleeping in our room and unlike Jessi, he hasn't quite figured out the fact that the bed isn't actually his. And it seems that since Luke tends to fall asleep on Brennan's floor after feeding him in the middle of the night, Kuma thinks that means I'm lonely.

All the while, Jessi (see picture below), glares at him with her, "How dare you think you're more important than I am" stare, until I shove him off the bed with all my might—obviously, at 2:30 a.m., I don't have much brute strength. But the second I get him off the bed ... Jessi attempts to take his place. It's a vicious (and exhausting!) cycle.
Oh puppies, aren't they such fun? :) They're a lot like kids—it's a good thing they're cute or no one would have them!

taylor corinne.

you have your whole life to grow up. don't spend it hurrying up and waiting. that big world will be waiting as long as it takes you to get there, so make every minute count. laugh until your tummy hurts. cry until your eyes are dry. yell until your voice is gone. run as fast as you can. play as long as you can. dance like a crazy-person. sing at the top of your lungs. love even when you don't think you can. forgive for things you never thought you could. be nice ... especially when you don't want to. always say thank you. write every moment down. love yourself no matter what anyone else thinks.

anything you set your mind to, you can do. just make sure you enjoy the road to get there.

brrrrrr ...

So, the tree's finally up ... I'll post final result pictures of it in all its glory here in the next few days. But just getting the tree home turned out to be quite the event. Usually, we head out to Sandpoint, ID to chop down a tree out in the middle of the woods, but neither of us really wanted to haul the kids in the car this weekend .... soooo, we headed to good ol' Greenbluff to find a tree farm.

We ended up at Huckaba's Tree Farm, which looked like it would be the perfect place to find our tree. It was clear & sunny, Brennan was asleep, Taylor was ready to find her tree ... and then I opened the truck door to get this show on the road. I think my hair froze! And not only was it only 19 degrees outside, it was windy as all get out! We're talking hurricane-style winds. Like, on that movie, The Day After Tomorrow, where Jake Gyllenhall's stuck in the library watching everything freeze instantly around him ... it was JUST like that (or just how I imagined it would happen in real life).

, who says, "I'll go. You guys just stay here." Now, i'm not normally such a wuss (although Luke might disagree), but there was no way the kids (they're a good excuse) were going to make it 5 minutes outside in that weather. So, while the baby slept, and T and I took pictures of ourselves, Luke slaved away finding that perfect tree. He was such a good sport and didn't even comment when Taylor yelled at him that she was cold when he opened the truck door to get in. Poor guy.

All in all, we have a lovely tree, and Luke's fingers didn't even get frostbite—not that you can see anyway. :)

Look at that happy-camper.

Taylor kisses are the BEST.

Amazing what the truck heater can do for the morale after being out in 19 degree weather for 2.5 seconds.

Warning: Do not read if you're hungry!

Tomato Street is one of my family's favorite places to eat. They're amazingly kid-friendly (complete with butcher papered tables to color on, play-dough, and pasta necklaces for each kid!) and the food is A-MAZING. Not to mention, you don't get seated way in the back of the restaurant just because you walk in with anyone under the age of 12, (like another highly famous Italian restaurant chain located in CDA and up Downtown—with me, people?). But, the nearest Tomato Street to us is either Coeur d'Alene or way up North ... and I'm pretty lazy—especially when it involves packing up the family to go eat. So, instead, we've taken our favorite appetizer, La Carne Bolla's, and made our own! Here's the jiist of what they are: Homemade meatballs, mozzarella, and provolone cheese all rolled up in honey-sweetened pizza dough and baked. Served with Alfredo for dipping. Yeah, you're drooling now, aren't you? I am. It might be because I'm absolutely starving already, but really, these are SO good! And really easy! Step One—Make (or buy) meatballs with Italian Seasoning, garlic, onion, pepper, and any other spices you might want to add. Step Two—Buy (or make) pizza dough. The kind in the tubes by Pillsbury™ work perfectly. Just knead in a teeny bit of honey (optional, but it makes them taste oh so yummy), and roll out into a big rectangle about 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut into as many 3" X 3" squares as you need. Please note: You may need 2 tubes of pizza dough depending on how many meatballs you have! Step Three—Grate a bunch of mozzarella or provolone cheese (or both and mix together) and sprinkle as much (or as little) as you'd like onto each square. Then, place a meatball on each one. Step Four—Roll up each square, and pinch any of the ends together so none of the meatballs are showing through. These can be as pretty, or as messy as you'd like ... but the more cheese you can keep inside the dough, the better! Step Five—Place onto one or two greased baking sheets, and brush with garlic olive oil—garlic optional, unless you're in my house! Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until each ball of dough is a lovely brownish-gold color. Step Six—When there's only about 10 minutes left on the oven timer, heat up a jar of Alfredo sauce (I guess if you were super-neato, you could make your own Alfredo ... but I'm not that neato) on the stove to dip the Bollas into! Enjoy! Please let me know if you love these as much as I do! You WILL be stuffed after eating these!