During the holidays, I always search for Italian-inspired recipes to try, as a way to connect to my heritage. Last year, it was Italian wedding cookies and Florentine lace cookies. This year, it’s homemade chocolate peppermint biscotti.I’ve never made biscotti before, and honestly, I was intimidated. It seems like it must be difficult to make,…
For me, Thanksgiving dinner is really about the sides. The turkey gets all the hype, but I could not care less about the bird (even though my hubby has a magical ability to make it really tasty). I’m a side dish gal all the way. As a kid, I would fill my plate with mashed…
My husband and I don’t eat very much candy. Our kids don’t eat much candy either — not just because we limit it, but mostly because they don’t like it. Crazy, right? This lack of candy-eating means that trick-or-treating yields a ton of leftover Halloween candy that we don’t really want around the house. Are…
For the long 4th of July weekend, we considered a road trip to escape the heat to Sedona or Flagstaff, but then we remembered that Gigi starts crying about 30 minutes into any car ride. Scratch that idea. We decided to spend the long weekend at home. Since Lexus let us borrow the 2015 NX…
How are you celebrating this 4th of July? We’re planning a pretty low-key long weekend at home with trips to the local splash pads and a few dips in our pool. We will definitely throw some burgers or brats on the grill and make some yummy side dishes, but I want to make some fun…
My daughter turns one next month. So, I’ve been digging around on Pinterest, looking for cute first birthday ideas. I found so many cute baby girl birthday themes, it was hard to narrow them down. What I did find—a lot of pink. Don’t get me wrong, I love pink, but it was refreshing to find…
For me, the day after Thanksgiving isn’t just about scoring deals at the mall, it’s about getting out the Christmas decorations. I tend to put up the tree first because it just makes me happy. There’s just something about staring at the white lights and back-lit ornaments that gives me pure joy. So much joy in…
Last week, our friends at Toyota invited us to the Phoenix Zoo to get a preview of ZooLights, and also check out a few of their new cars for 2015. During the day, Jade put a ton of miles on a sporty 2015 Camry. The kids and I joined him later to see ZooLights, pretty much…
As a kid, my Thanksgiving plate was basically white — turkey breast, mashed potatoes, and a dinner roll. It’s not that my family didn’t have more choices on the table, it’s that my midwestern palate just never got very developed. I never ate the cranberries, the gravy or the stuffing. Being the baby of the…
With Thanksgiving only a little over a week away, most of us are planning what dish we’re going to bring or who’s going to host this year. I’m sure the last thing on your mind is what you’re going to wear to your Thanksgiving dinner. Rightly, you are thinking about the food and the people….
Halloween is just a week away. I searched Pinterest to find totally fun Halloween desserts that I think both kids and adults would love. There are so many cute desserts out there. I’m always so impressed with other bloggers’ creativity and craftsmanship when it comes to fun desserts. Some of the recipes I chose are…
School’s out for the summer! With graduation ceremonies wrapping up, it officially feels like summer is here. Let’s celebrate the start of summer with these must-try summer sangria recipes. To me, summer means laid-back days, lots of grilling out and trips to the lake or beach. I’m not a huge drinker, but if I’m going to…
What are you getting your mom this Mother’s Day? In case you are looking for unique gifts, I’ve come up with ten Etsy Mother’s Day gift ideas. For a lot of people, Mother’s Day means buying flowers and a card. As a child, I always preferred making my mom’s cards. I remember making a few…
I wanted to share these wonderful Cinco De Mayo margarita recipes because, during my coming of age in Green Bay, this wonderful holiday passed us by, which is a darn shame. “So, May 5th is a holiday about drinking?” I asked my friends when I first moved to Phoenix in 2004. I’d never heard of…
In the U.S. the Super Bowl is practically a national holiday, and food takes center stage. Nothing reminds me more of watching the ‘big game’ than some peanuts and beer. I’ve never seasoned my own nuts before, so I thought it was something worth trying. I didn’t realize just how easy it is and I…