american flag cake

you might have noticed by now that there are two things that i am a huge fan of - cake and america.  when i saw this cake over at cup of jo, i was estatic!  it is the best possible combination of the two. 

i am going to avalon this weekend with my family to celebrate the 4th and i just might need to add this cake to my to-do list!  i can't think of a better way to honor the best country's birthday than to eat a cake designed like the best flag in history...what do you think??

i am guessing my cake won't look nearly as good on the first try, but wish me luck anyways!

all images from glorious treats

tgif

tgif!  what's everyone have planned for the weekend?? it's supposed to be a fairly beautiful weekend, weather-wise, at least in philadelphia.  highs in the low 80s, lows in the low 60s and mostly sunny both days with only a 10% chance of rain each day.  it sounds like the perfect weekend to get outside and do something!  go for a hike or bike ride, day trip to the beach... or attend a phillies game!  they're back in town after playing away games for the past week. 

we're doing something really fun on saturday with a small group of our girl friends... a massive tailgate at the phillies stadium!  i found out about the tailgate from crossing broad, a philly blog that i read daily.  and let's just say that it didn't take much convincing to get alanna and the girls on board for a four hour, $10 all you can eat and drink tailgate for our favorite team.  it's the second such tailgate of the season, and they're expecting more than 250 people.  it sounds like a great way to spend a saturday afternoon and i hope that we meet lots of new friends who are phillies fans like us.  we won't actually be attending the game - trying to keep things cheap here! - but we will likely head to mcfadden's at the stadium to watch the game on tv with a good crowd.  if you want to join in on the fun, there are still ticketss available for the tailgate - here.

if you're in the philadelphia area and looking for something to do, the 22nd annual manayunk arts festival is also this weekend.  according to manayunk's website, "over the course of two days, artists from as many as 22 states bring the culture of arts and crafts to collectors, buyers and designers."  the restaurants, vendors and shops on main street host the event, offering delicious food and beverage options to add to the experience. 

whatever you end up doing this weekend, we hope you have a safe and enjoyable time as always :)

pizookies...the world's greatest invention

these amazing deep-dish chocolate chip cookies have been blowing up the blog world.  when i first spotted them on cup of jo, i had a  pavlovian reaction and despite having just eaten lunch, i was suddenly hungry and my mouth was watering for a bite of these cookies.

these "pizookies" are baked into the ceramic ramekin, just like a deep-dish pizza (thus the clever name of a pizookie)...don't they seem like the perfect twist on a chocolate chip cookie and a sundae? 

aren't they amazing?  i think that i am going to add them to my to-do list this weekend...who cares about looking good in a bikini when you can have these? 

 

 

 

 

please put that spoon in my hand right now

.

all images via white on rice couple

another hollywood home for sale

last month, i blogged about my excitement over the house from home alone being for sale.  but today, i found out that another hollywood movie home is for sale, and this time i'm even more excited! 

photo via uk dail mail

it's the house from the father of the bride movies!!  father of the bride and father of the bride part ii are two of my absolute favorite movies.  i've probably seen them both hundreds of times and it never gets old.  i always loved the relationship that george banks (played by steve martin) had with his daughter, annie (played by kimberly williams-paisley), and diane keaton is one of my favorite actresses of all time.  the movies were hilarious, emotional, and total classics.  i've watched the movies with friends, and with my dad, and i can't wait to someday watch it with my own kids. 

the other great part about this house is that it's in beautiful, sunny california in the suburbs of los angeles.  you know how much alanna and i love california! 

the 4,397 square foot, five bedroom, four bathroom home was built in 1925 and is listed for $1.35 million.  but! it's been on the market for 49 days so there may be some negotiating room in there.  it also has a huge yard, three fireplaces, and a solarium. 

now, please excuse me while i go pick the money tree in my back yard....

mad freakin' beats

my sister shared this print by marc john with me a while ago.  every time i look at it it makes me laugh...and think that if i had a sense of rhythm, i too would play mad freaking beats. 

do you have any exciting plans this weekend?  jessy and i are getting some things together today for a small celebration for one of our best friend's birthday (happy birthday ainsmo, i hope it is filled with lots of goldfish!) and then tomorrow i am going to visit my sister in nyc.  there is a food truck rally on sunday, so i am trying to save up my appetite for that. it is pretty much going to be the highlight of my month.  mostly, i am excited to just be outside and spend some time with my sister! 

happy friday dudes/dudettes.  i hope your weekend is filled with some mad beats. 

win a trip to paris!

have you ever dreamt of winning a free trip to the city of lights?  i know for sure that i have!  so when i found out that one of my favorite blogs oh happy day was giving away a SEVEN night trip to paris, my heart did a little dance and i got excited to just enter...i can't imagine how excited i would be if i actually win!

you can enter for a chance to win this amazing giveaway right here, just make sure you enter before monday night when the contest ends.  good luck and happy dreaming! i am wishing for some nutella crepes by the eiffel tower as i type...



image and all details for the contest from oh happy day

lies i might have told you...my favorite store latico

last week i was hardcore swooning over these notebooks from linda and harriet and claiming that i was going to get the blue stripes and anchor notebook.  i am going to have to admit that i lied to you.  why would i do such a thing might you ask?  well it was extremely unintentional as i made a few purchases this weekend that will have to put those notebooks on the back burner.  (or potential birthday presents...hint hint mom!)

i was just so excited about one of my purchases that i just had to share.  i got it yesterday when i took a much needed vacation day down to baltimore to visit two of my besties (and probably our two most loyal sweet snippet readers).  we visited this store which was so wonderful it deserves it's own post which i will put up later this week, full of awesome pictures. 


at this store i found the ultimate leather bag.  i have been looking for a nice brown leather bag for a while.  when i found this bag by latico, i got more excited than a 12 year old girl at a justin bieber concert (only hopefully with less squealing).   latico is a new jersey based company that makes all of their bags in the garden state. 

i got this beauty - the sydney.  it is the perfect shape and makes me feel just a little hipster while still altogether very preppy (who would've thought that is even possible??) you can't see it in this picture but the top flops over to make it the perfect size cross-body bag as well.  pretty awesome!!

but here are a few of my other faves from their store.  the quality of the bag and the leather is phenomenal, i definitely recommend you check them out!

so you can add latico to one of jersey's great productions, right along side the boss, avalon, and definitely not the jersey shore.

a late night helper

when i found this app over on blue strawberry, i sat for a minute thinking of all the times it would have been helpful to have this...such as the majority of freshman and sophomore year of college.  but now that i am older and wiser, i might not need the app every weekend, but i do appreciate it's value. 

i also could see this coming in helpful after bad break-ups.  not that i have ever said anything i regret via text message though...

skinnygirl margarita

good morning, and happy monday!  how was everyone's weekend? 

i've been wanting to try bethenny frankel's skinnygirl margarita for quite some time now, and this weekend i finally got around to picking up a bottle.  i love bethenny, so it pains me to say this, but i have to be honest with you: i didn't really like it.  it wavered back and forth between being too strong and then not having much flavor at all.  i ended up adding a few squeezes of a lime which definitely helped in the flavor department, but overall i'm not sure i would buy it again. 




image via bethenny.com

the other disappointment was that it's really not all that "skinny".  a 4 oz. serving has 100 calories, which sounds great on paper but really no one drinks just 4 oz.  so you can have a 12 oz. light beer for about 100 calories, or 12 oz. of the skinnygirl margarita, but it will cost you 300 calories.  yikes!  the only way it's truly skinny is if you're a person who loves to drink margaritas and has them often.  considering the average margarita has about 550 calories, you would end up drinking "skinny" by switching to bethenny's brand.  and you are saving about 15 calories per ounce compared to other pre-mixed bottled margaritas.  but since i'm not a heavy margarita drinker, i think i'll stick to my vodka sodas ;)

it's strange because this stuff is literally flying off the shelves in stores all over the country.  so clearly i'm in the minority here.  but there are rumors of here bottling other skinnygirl cocktails like mojitos and cosmopolitans, so i'd be willing to try those if/when they are avaialble. 

if you've ever tried the bottled skinnygirl margarita, did you like it?  we'd love to hear what you think! 

adorable notepads

as you might be able to tell from this blog, i love all things nautical.  show me an anchor, some navy stripes, or a little sailboat and i will swoon over it for hours.  when one of my favorite stationary designer, linda and harriet, sent out an email this week announcing a new line of notepads are for sale on her site, i got a little excited. but then when i went to her website to check them out and they were all nautical themed, i got estatic.  they are so cute, i just had to share!

 

which is your favorite?  i think i am going to be picking up the anchor and blue striped ones myself.

happy friday!

happy friday loves!  i am so excited for it to be the weekend and get a chance to relax and spend time with friends.  i am planning on having a relatively low-key weekend which i am looking forward to after a busy few weeks.  my friend is playing in an all day concert tomorrow and the weather looks perfect to be outside all day (and i am really hoping i can finally get a real tan that doesn't fade after 2 days).  then on sunday i am going to see the phillies beat the cubs with my dad! we haven't had some father/daughter bonding in a while, so i can't wait to go to the park with him.

don't you wish you were there right now? photo taken by my super talented friend heather over at tyro foto

something i am really looking forward to this weekend though is making these fudge popsicles from smitten kitchen.  don't they look so delicious?  and they seem relatively easy to make...i will report back on monday though.  i have a feeling i might be regretting saying that!

 

what about you kiddos?  any exciting plans this weekend?  we would love to hear!

sweet prints for your kitchen

these adorable prints from anek's shop on etsy make me smile.  i bet i would want to spend my whole day in the kitchen if i had this print.  well that is sadly probably an exaggeration but maybe i would be motivated to do more than pour my bowl of lucky charms.  

i am guessing that i love this store because the artist is from croatia...have you ever been there before?  i went a few years ago and fell in love with split.  i would move there in a heartbeat for sure. 



i have a painting of this exact view in my room.  it brings back such good memories. 



s'mores

happy monday!  how was everyone's weekend? 

saturday night, alanna and i, along with a few of our other friends, joined our neighbors for an outdoor party.  the weather was beautiful that night - the perfect temperature - and it was great company.  in my mind, those are the two things that can make any night fun: great weather and great company.  the only thing i would add is great food...and we had that as well!  our neighbors have a fire pit so we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.  i can't remember the last time i made s'mores, but i wish i did it more often because they're delicious!  and it's fun to make, too, especially with a good crowd like we had. 

here's a picture from that night.  i apologize for the quality.. it's an iphone photo and the dark and smoke from the fire make it more difficult to see.  but you can still get the idea!

summer salad

with the weather in the 90s every day this week, i have been craving lighter foods like water ice, watermelon...even salad.  and when i spotted this delicious looking salad over at hither and thither i realized i would have to stop at the grocery store today for some ricotta so i can make it for lunch tomorrow.  i will let you know how it goes, but i doubt it will be anything less than delicious.

i will probably stop at the grocery store after i get my hair to look just like this...

i fully expect to have paparazzi waiting for when i leave the salon, because my hair dresser will be able to make me look just like reese, right?? i mean miracles do happen...