Pottery Barn Party

With this beautiful weather, it's been hard for me to not think about summer parties. Take a look at these great pics below. Pottery Barn has me covered!

Okay, who's ready for a BBQ?

Chocolate Cake and Raspberry Filling = YUM!

Ready for some "ooooh's" & "ahhhh's"? This cake is delicious and super easy to make. Just a few homemade touches made this cake extra special. I baked two devil's food cakes (from the box), giving me four cake layers. Then, I made delicious raspberry filling to put between the layers.

Here's the recipe that I used for the filling:

1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Use a wire sieve to remove the raspberry seeds. Once the filling has cooled completely, spread on to cake.

Use any leftover filling to top ice cream . . . or waffles in the morning. Yum!

I topped the cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

The cake was so yummy looking that I used it as a centerpiece for our dining table.

This cake was so delicious, I could have eaten the whole thing myself. What's your favorite kind of cake? Do your prefer cupcakes? Or would you give up cake altogether for a delicious slice of pie?

Homemade Topiaries

Everyone knows that I can't set foot inside of a craft store wthout being inspired to start a new project. This time, I couldn't resist creating my own topiaries. On March 20th, Spring will finally be here and this weather is definitely feeling Spring-like. Why not create a cheerful topiary to celebrate the start of Spring? I'll show you how I did it.

Here's everything you'll need. I found the adorable pots on clearance for half off, which means that I bought them for $3.49 a piece! I bought ready-made moss balls, some craft moss, and a foam block to place inside my pots. Yup, I just bought one block and cut it in half. And of course, I found the sticks in our yard.

First, I cut the foam block in half and pressed one in each of my two pots. Then, I stuck one end of the stick in the moss ball and the other end in the foam block. If yours is a bit wobbly, just use a hot glue gun to secure it.


Once your glue dries, cover the foam block with some craft moss.

That's it!! How easy was that?!

What are you doing in your house to celebrate Spring?

Let there be light (in our front yard)!

I haven't been blogging much lately, but that just means that I've been busy working on projects to blog about!

With the warm weather approaching, we are focusing much of our attention on our front and back yards. The lights that line the walkway to our porch have taken quite the beating.

Have a look:

I decided that they could use some sprucing up, so I took them apart and gave them a good scrubbing with some CLR. Then, I gave them a nice new coat of black spray paint.

MUCH better!

What projects are you working on to prepare your home for the warm weather?

Yup, that's me up there!

For the past few months, I have been on billboards across California. Now, I'm on the back cover of Via magazine! While I don't yet have a scan of the magazine, take a look at the mini version of the billboard.

I tell ya, it's strange to drive past a billboard of yourself on the freeway. And it's even stranger to see yourself on the back cover of a magazine that you've read for as long as you can remember! My radio ads have been playing for the past several months. When they first started playing, my family would call or text me every time they heard one. It was so nice to hear from everyone!

This has all been part of a new AAA marketing campaign that I have been honored to take part in. We've saved all of the photos to someday share with our children. How fun it will be to say, "Look what mommy did!".

St. Patrick's Day Recipe

How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Do you enjoy a green beer? We sure do!

If you're planning a special Irish dinner, check out our Irish Soda Bread recipe by clicking below.

SodaBread