Easter Mimosa Bar

I can't believe that it's almost April.  Has this year flown by or what?!?  In exactly 26 days my little girl turns 2!  OMG, I can't even think about how big she's getting.  Before I dive into full blown party planning, I've get to get another little event all set up... Easter!

Do you have Easter Brunch, Lunch or Dinner?

In my family we always have an Easter dinner, however since everyone gets to my house around lunch time, I had to have something for them to snack on.... and drink :)

Welcome to the Easter Mimosa Bar!

I'm not gonna lie,  I love mimosa's.  They are such a treat, since I usually only have them when we're out to breakfast {which isn't very often} or on a holiday.  So when I came across this "mimosa bar how to" {by Kojo-designs} I knew I had to have a mimosa bar of my own!

I made Orange Juice, Strawberry Lemonade & Rhubarb Strawberry Juice.  The mixers were so delicious, you could have drank them without any Champagne!   I handmade all the mixers {recipes here} however, to save a lot of time, you can just pick any pre-made juice mixes from the store.

I don't know about you, but I love putting fruit in my Mimosa's.  So the night before I froze some Raspberries, Blueberries and cut up Strawberries, and served them in these cute little jars.  They were the perfect addition :)

Now that everyone was settled in with their drink, it was time to fill their bellies!

I didn't want anything too filling {since I was slaving away in the kitchen cooking a fabulous Easter dinner}, but I wanted it really tasty.  Some of it was homemade, some store bought, all delicious!

Mini Feta Puffs 

{Carmelized Onion Feta Puffs} from Trader Joes.  If you haven't had them, get in your car, drive to the store and buy some now!  
You will fall in love.

Glazed Meatballs

with a Jelly & Chili glaze {recipe here}

Spinach Dip

My Aunt-in-law makes this for every event and we all LOVE it!  One day I'll ask her for the recipe......

Caprese Bites

Mini mozzarella balls, mini heirloom tomatoes (or grape tomatoes) & Basil.  
Sprinkle with Salt & pepper then drizzle some olive oil & balsamic vinegar over the top.    

and of course the Easter table wouldn't be complete without Deviled Eggs!

Gosh, I'm getting hungry just looking at all this yummy food!

I love how versatile this Mimosa bar is, you can have this bar at any holiday, birthday party, bridal shower or even a baby shower.  Remember how I said that my little girl's birthday was right before Easter?  Well at the time, I was 38 weeks pregnant while hosting this Champagne Bar... can you say torture!?!?!?!

Luckily, a pretty Champagne glass filled with Sparkling Cider and Strawberry Lemonade {my personal favorite} and I completely almost forgot that I wasn't actually drinking Champagne.

HAPPY EASTER!
(to see where I've linked up - click here!!)

 

 

 

More Easter Ideas:

Spring Decor & Easter Bunny Sign

{free} Easter Printable

Easter Onesie - Boy 

Easter Onesie Girl

Jelly Bean Flowers & Candy filled Eggs

 Happy Easter Banner

 Egg {Pom Pom} Egg

 Spring Flower Wreath

 

Pintastic Friday #6 {Painting}

Welcome to Pintastic Friday!! 

For those of you here for the 1st time, here is a little recap...   I share a few of my favorite pins each week and then pick one to make.  Last week I selected a few favorites and the "goal" is to share my completed pin with you the next this week. So here is the big question... did I actually complete anything?    {drum-roll please....... } 

YES!

I've mentioned my sweet tooth a few times, so last week my theme was cookies {yum!}  In case you missed Thursday's post - here is the yummy recipe I made.  Cookies + M&M's = happy family

Perfect mini M&M Cookies

{Recipe HERE}

Who doesn't love M&M's in their cookies?  My whole family went crazy for these yummy {and very colorful} cookies.  Thanks Picky Palate for the amazing recipe!

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My kids love crafting {they must take after their momma}.   When it comes to picking a craft, painting is always at the top of their list.  Seeing how messy painting can be, I try to keep it an outside only activity.  Now since the weather is nicer and the sun is shining longer, I thought it was time to bring out the paints!

 

Kids Painting - Name Art

source unknown

Rainbow Painted Toast

By Things to Share & Remember

Paint in a Bag

By Pinteresting Life of Noah

Creating with Crayola  - Initial Art

By Artsy Creations

Painted Mat in Frame

Source Unknown

I think my kids are going to love this weeks crafts!!

HAPPY CRAFTING!
(to see where I've linked up - click here!!)

Perfect Mini M&M Cookies

Do you ever have those days when you look at your kids and realize that they aren't so little anymore?  That somehow overnight they magically aged?  When I tell others this, they tell me I'm crazy, since "my kids are still babies".  The thing is, they aren't babies anymore.  My Rugrat turns 2 next month and my Munchkin is 3.5 going on 16.

Now I know they aren't big kids but they sure aren't babies anymore.  They talk back, roll their eyes and tell me "No Momma!" way too much.  Babies don't do that.  They are turning into amazing little girls full of personality and in the past week or so it hit me.  They are growing up.

Okay, time to stop whining about my babies getting big.  One thing I love about them being "big girls" is how much they LOVE to be good helpers in the kitchen.  Baking cookies has now become a team effort which makes the whole process much more fun!

These cookies were from one of the Pintastic recipes I posted last week and they were delicious!

Do you know the reason these are "perfect" mini M&M cookies?  Their "perfect" shape.  I make cookies all the time and they rarely come out so uniform and well, perfect.  Until I came across this recipe by Picky Palate. 

There is a secret!  In order to get perfectly fluffy and chewy cookies every time, you add 3TBsp of instant vanilla pudding powder to the dough.  That's it!  Can you believe how simple {but effective} that is?!

Onto the recipe:

1. Mix the butter & sugars 
2. Add egg & vanilla, Mix
3. Add Flour, Salt, Baking Soda & Vanilla Powder
4. Mix until combined

Time to add the best part!  Mini chips & Mini M&M's

I might have snacked on a few....

Another tip I picked up was to use a small ice cream scoop {or in my case, a large melon baller} to scoop the dough.  That way they are all consistent in size and will cook evenly.

After scooping, I left them exactly like this for baking {I did not push or flatten}.  

This is how they looked after coming out of the oven.

Perfect!

They were delicous!

Cookies + M&M's = happy family

Head over to Picky Palate to get the full recipe!  

HAPPY BAKING!
(to see where I've linked up - click here!!)

Camping, Glamis & Sand Dunes

This past weekend my husband went camping and it got me thinking about all the people out there who love to camp and then all those people who want nothing to do with it.  Do you like to camp?  Or do you think campers are crazy?

I'm one of those people who wasn't always crazy about camping, but I didn't hate it.  I just tried to focus on the fun parts... drinking around the campfire & s'mores {hehe}

I think camping gets a bad rap, because there are so many ways to camp.  From a tent on the dirt {with no bathrooms in sight} to staying in a 500k trailer at a "resort" campground and then everything in between.  I think anyone can go camping and HAVE FUN as long as you go with the right people {the fun kind} and do a little prep before hand.

My hubby goes camping riding camping... well he rides while camping and camps to go riding, every other month or so.  We {me and the kids} don't tend to go since they are usually guy trips.  I like going, but someone has to stay with the kids.... always a mom first. So last month I was so excited to finally go camping again!

I was excited to get away for the kid-free weekend, to have some aloneish time with the hubbs and relax around the campfire {with a beer and a s'more}.

We drove out to the Glamis Sand Dunes and it was a blast.  My sisters boyfriend brought his trailer, beer and sweets and I brought the food, lots of it!  It was such great weather {for all you east coasters in the snow... this was us in January}.

Glamis is basically endless sand, so at night the only light comes from campfires, laterns and the stars.  That was my favorite part.  Sitting around the campfire, retelling stories of our past, drinking beers, making s'mores and enjoying each others company.

Sitting under the stars is the best

I'm still learning to shoot in manual mode... love how different the same pictures look after tweaking  a few things!

Our first full day there was filled with lots of riding and relaxing.

Oops, they caught me taking photos

The whole reason we went camping was for this guys birthday!

Remember how I told you we were surrounded by sand?

I'm serious, it was sand, trailers, sand, sand more sand, oh yea and..... 

 

Ice Cream!  It takes me back to the days of chocolate malts with little wooden spoons.

As much fun as riding was, I fell in love with the sunset.

Beautiful right???

Time for dinner, drinks and most importantly s'mores {did I mention that I love s'mores?} 

The next day was just as gorgeous 

Normally my hubby drives the Razor but I really really love driving it!  {I think it freaks him out, since I like to go fast}. While the boys were hanging out at the campsite, my sister and I decided to head out for a ride. {do you like the hot pink goggles? cuz I do!}

We were both laughing the whole time. SO FUN!

My the time we got back, it was time to pack up and head out... but not before another beautiful sunset

My sis had to get an Instagram pic in.

She's being doing that peace sign in pics since she was 10 years old.  I guess some things never change.

I wish I would have taken a few pics while we were riding... next time for sure. 

HAPPY TRAVELS!
(to see where I've linked up - click here!!)