Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes

Let me just brag for a moment…Texas is having an AMAZING winter this year (and now I’m sure I just jinxed it). In fact, I’m currently enjoying the sunshine and 65 degree weather as I write this (I’m pushing my luck at this point, I just know it). I think my favorite part about it so far are the abundance of bright, springy flowers in the shops around here. Bushels of bright yellow calla lilies can be seen everywhere! Perhaps this is the normal time of year for it but for some reason it just feels like this is the first time I’m thinking “yay!” versus the typical, “ok, you’re getting ahead of yourself spring.” Maybe it’s the calla lilies, maybe it’s the sunshine, but at this point in time all I can thing about is getting out from the heavy dark chocolate lava cakes and making springy, fluffy, bright desserts.

Strawberry Hearts

I know it’s not quite strawberry season just yet but nothing can stop Valentine’s Day from covering fruit in chocolate to convince everyone they’re getting a healthy goodie right? See …it’s not me…it’s that tricky Hallmark holiday, Valentine’s Day. Regardless, Trader Joe’s has my strawberries and I had an idea I just HAD to try. And now I just HAVE to share it with yall! I present to you…drumroll please…strawberry hearts!

A Very Girly First Birthday Party

It happened. We raised a child without killing ourselves or said child for a whole year. Actually – I think we did surprisingly well 🙂 And that’s cause for celebration. If you’ve been keeping up with me from the beginning here you’ll know we didn’t find out if we were having a girl or boy (see this post or this one if you want more details on gender-neutral baby world things) and we loved every moment of our beautiful surprise. That being said, I didn’t have any super girly or super boyish baby prep festivities. So for this little girl’s first birthday I decided to make up for it – the theme would be all things GIRLY. Bring on the pink, sparkle, flowers & frill!

Mouthwatering Tropical Desserts!

And here it is folks, the last of the tropical pool party posts (if you missed the previous post – check out the savory food here!). Don’t worry, it’s made a little sweeter by being filled with my tasty treats! This dessert table was all about the fruity goodness including Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes & Sugar Cookie Fruit Pizzas (GREAT to do with the kiddos!). Of course no dessert table is complete without chocolate in my mind so I tried out this AMAZING recipe by The Pioneer Woman – she’s one of my favs – for Knock You Naked Brownies (I did not name them…blame it on Pioneer Woman). And just when I thought my dessert list was complete I came across the most adorable Sand Dollar Sugar Cookies and couldn’t pass them up. Make one, make all I can’t pick a favorite!

Must try tropical party recipes

Alright guys, the long-awaited recipes from our oh-so-yummy tropical pool party! With the tropical theme I knew I wanted kabobs and then wanted to compliment with a pool party must – burgers! These Aloha burgers are TO DIE FOR. Seriously, I’ve already made a second batch to freeze so we can pull them out when we get a hankering. And instead of fries I went for our favorites: sweet potato stackers & parmesan roasted cauliflower. Come on yall – it’s summer time so get to grilling!

Tropical Pool Party: Decorations

Confession: I’ve been meaning to throw a pool party for two years. No lie. My husband and I have seriously been talking about doing it for that long. And finally, we planned to throw a beginning of summer pool party for May 30 about two months ago. I literally sent the eVite out about six weeks in advance so that we would actually do it. And it was such a blast!

C is for Carnival!

Have I mentioned lately that everyone is getting married and having babies? AND I LOVE IT! Seriously, two of life’s most life changing events you’ll ever go through: getting married and having a child. Experiencing these in your life is one thing…having the privilege to watch your friends walk this path too, almost at the same time, is just magical. And of course the fact that it all calls for parties is pretty great too!