Wouldn't it be Lovely...

Another Etsy find! I could really spend all day looking through all the interesting and amazing things people can create! I having always thought it would be neat to have my very own cards, but being a mostly stay-at-home mom I really have no reason to have them except, well, they are really pretty! You can make me really jealous and buy them here.

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE...

I found this picture on a really fun blog, and just thought you might want to drool over it too!

New Toy(s)

I talked the hubby into a new Canon SLR camera... Then a bigger, faster memory card. Now photoshop. Next on the list, classes on how to use it all!

Again the blog surfing came in handy, I found... jessicasprague.com, not only is it a really fun site to browse through but, she has both a photography class as well as a photo editing class ONLINE. From the reviews it seems well worth the money. 

The two that stood out to me are:

{Oh Shoot! Beginning Digital SLR Photography $126}

&

{Photo Editing: Good-to Great Workflow $49}

Favorite Things: The Daily Blog Hop

For Example: 

From Here...

To Here...

{Love this one}

Then to Here...

{Where I just have to mention I found this lovely idea}

And from there to Here... 

..... Here...

{FROLIC!}

And Finally to Here...

Link lists are great, but some of my best blog finds come from reading the comments, and following a persons comment to their blog!

Mother's Day Dinner

This year I decided that I needed to put all the time spent looking at amazing event spreads to use and create one of my own. Not that mine even compares to some like this and this. 

I used the same napkin as in the holder (made from a stampin up stamp) as a place mat. It actually worked out a lot better than expected! The MENU: Fruit kabobs, Pasta Salad, Hamburgers, Corn on the Cobb, Potato Salad, Pink lemonade AND......

For Desert a yummy frozen treat was even tastier than I could have hoped for. The recipe is one from the Kraft Food Magazine.

Strawberry Whipped Sensation

Prep: 20 min

-4 cups fresh strawberries

-1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

-1/4 cup lemon juice

-1, 8oz tub of whipped cream

-8 Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies

-1 Tbsp. butter melted

STEP 1: Shape foil over 8 x 4" loaf pan. Line inside of pan with foil with ends extending over sides of pan.

STEP 2: Mash 2 cups of strawberries in large bowl. Stir in condensed milk and juice.

STEP 3: Stir 2 cups of the whipped topping into strawberry mixture. Pour into prepared pan.

STEP 4: Finely chop oreos. Combine cookies and butter. Spoon over whipped topping mixture in pan. 

Step 5: Cover cookie mixture with ends of foil and gently press cookie mixture into whipped topping mixture. Freeze 6 hours or until firm.

Step 6: Invert desert onto serving plate when ready to serve; remove pan and foil. Spread remaining whipped topping onto top and sides of desert.

Step 7: Slice remaining 2 cups strawberries; arrange on desert. Store leftovers in freezer.

Makes 12 Servings

Find more yummy and EASY recipes at kraftfoods.com

I had both my amazing mom and mom in law over, so I wanted to find a gift that I could give them both and that they would both be able to enjoy. Anything from Williams Sonoma is a pretty much a safe bet. 

Acutely Cherished 2.0

A new blog is born! When I first stated to blog, right after my daugher was born in 2007, I posted mainly about her and our day to day life. A travel log. I recently ran across a blog were she asked people to leave comments with their favorite quotes. One in particular stood out.... “Life is not about finding yourself but creating yourself.” This blog is part of that goal. I’ll post on things that are inspiring me, from learning to cook and sew, to fun craft projects, helpful or fun websites, tips and ideas I stumble across. Still, of course, some updates on my baby girl, who isn’t such a baby any more!