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homemade island cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup of sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 large bananas)

1 tsp of baking soda

2 cups of flour

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup of shredded coconut

chocolate glaze or 1 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1. preheat the oven to 350F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

2. in a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. let sit for 2 minutes. the baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which in turn will give the cookies their lift and rise.

3. mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. mix together the flour, salt, and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture and mix until just combined.

4. fold into the batter the coconut (and chocolate chips if you are using them). Drop in dollops onto a greased cookie sheet. bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. let cool on wire racks. if you are using glaze, then wait until the cookies are cooled before glazing.

makes about 30 cookies.

mixed emotions

i know it wasn't easy to part with this lovely mixer, but my amazing sister-in-law passed this down to me. after unloading it from my car and onto my kitchen counter, it was obvious to me why she had such an emotional attachment to it. and so begins my love affair with my kitchen aide. i can not thank you enough bitsy! check out these cookies that me and the boy made....they are delicious!

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. my new mixer! if it were possible to have a love affair with an appliance, this would be a sweet romance! made some delicious island cookies with the boy. you can take a peak at me new vintage mixer and get the recipe here.

2. the beach. it's been almost silly how much time we have been spending at the beach lately, but it's the boys favorite thing to do these days....and who am i to complain about that.

3. florida summer afternoon showers. they make the best nap times...for the boy and for myself. unfortunately they also lead to a lack of productivity!

4. finally starting on a project for my cousin, his wife, and their soon to be baby girl. i have been wanting to make this for a very very very long time, and i am so excited that i finally have a reason! can't wait to share this project with you!

5. whipped up some quick little gifts for the boy and his best buddy, violet.

6. finally getting through the stack of thanks you cards from the boys birthday party. i am not always the best at getting thank you's in the mail in an appropriate time manner, but when you have such cute stationary it's hard to not want to get them out as quickly as possible.

7. we got to spend a ton of time with violet and her awesome mommy these past 2 weeks, but it was bitter sweet, because now we are not going to see them again for quite sometime. we sure love you two ladies, and can't wait to see you again soon.

8. the boys quickly increasing vocabulary. it boggles my mind how he seems to talk more like a person and less like a baby every day. he has so many funny little sayings, and he's never afraid to try to repeat long complicated sentences. it makes me laugh so hard that he can pronounce tons of dinosaur names perfectly, but always mis-pronouces the word pretzels (he always calls them freckles). it's also such a crazy reflection of myself. you learn very quickly the quirky things that you say too much. on of the boys first "adult words" was: seriously....and i have over used that word my entire life. i have also caught him on more than one occasion using profanities to express his emotions....shit, that's my fault too.

9. costco and kung fu. the hubs has been working way too much lately. and by way too much, i mean like an ungodly amount. well he managed to sneak away a few hours early yesterday to take me and the boy on a costco date (when i know what he really intended was to catch up on some sleep). then he even let me watch some late night kung fu.....man that hubs must really love me.

10. sunday funday. don't know what the day has in store for us, but it's a holiday weekend. the hubs has the next 48 hours off of work....hopefully. and there will be explosives involved.

our august...

got to see my two favorite travelers this past weekend....check it out!

the mote aquarium

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. the boys best little lady friend is back in town! we spent the whole week hanging at the beach and water park with v and her mommy! so happy to have our friends back.

2. the cutest little puppet show at the lake worth library.

3. taco tuesday at tijuana flats. yummy.

4. fixed up those bracelets. don't forget to check them out and leave a comment for your chance to win.

5. sock monkey surgery.

6. road trip to longboat key....my favorite beach in florida. the hubs family had a little beach weekend getaway...it was amazing, even if it did rain most of the trip.

7. florida thunder storms. not only did we really need the rain, but there isn't much better to falling asleep to a beautiful lightening storm over the ocean.

8. the mote aquarium. if you are ever in sarasota, you should check out this amazing aquarium. the boys face was just light up the whole time we were there.

9. my new kitchenaid mixer! well new to me anyway. my sister-in-law is an amazing cake artist. with demands growing for her beautiful and delicious cakes, she needed a bigger mixer, so that meant it was time to retire he 30+ year old mixer to me. i have dreamed about a vintage white mixer for years and years. it is beautiful and i can't stop staring at it.

10. thrift store shopping in a new city. we went to an amazing estate sale in a retirement community...wait until you see the cutie pie dress that i added to my collection.

before & after

the boys sock-y was falling apart. he was hanging on by a literal thread. after a little arm, neck, and ear surgery he's doing just fine and back to being loved.

the trumble project

just wanted to share a project that i had been working on for a while. this was a gift that the hubs and i made for his mom's birthday. the top picture is of the hubs father and the bottom is a reproduction that we did of the hubs and the boy. it's crazy to see all 4 generations of trumbles.

DIY: s-hook bracelets & giveaway

CONGRATS! Jen...you are the winner!

email me you address and i will send you your bracelet!

thanks for playing everyone...and keep reading for more handmade giveaways!

so i mentioned the other day that i am a bit obsessed with honestly wtf and her amazing DIY's. well i have had these two headbands in my "needs repair" box for quite sometime, and thought that they would be the perfect recycling project. they were never really great headbands anyway, so why not make them into something new. so borrowing some ideas from here, this is what i came up with:

i disassembled the two headbands. it was kind of ironic how difficult this first step was considering how easily they both broke in the first place. after taking them apart and discarding the excess materials. (side note: i did not throw away the elastic, i never throw away good elastic, it can always be reused, and in this case it's the perfect set up for two future headbands)

so you will need a hot glue gun, jewelry pliers, an s-hook, and some finishing ribbon.

using your pliers, close each end of the the s-hook a bit, but not all the way. glue each end of the braided leather down so that there is a loop for the s-hook to slide through. i glued one end directly to the s-hook for stability. then simply wrap and glue the ribbon around the overlapped leather. this step is not only to help finish the ends, but also to add some extra support. and then you are done. it's really so easy.

and what everyone wants to know about...THE GIVEAWAY!

ok so here is the deal...leave a comment below and on June 30th at 9pm a winner will be chosen at random. the lucky winner will receive the champagne s-hook bracelet pictured above. good luck and thanks for reading!

pretty little things

thought i would give you a peak at a few of my new favorite pretty little things.

i am a collector of many things, and just to clear it up with the hubs - collecting is not hoarding. hehe. i come from a long line of collectors. my great grandfather collected coins and stones. my grandfather has the most extensive stamp collection i have ever seen. my grandmother collected fabric. i could go on and on but you get the point. well a few years ago, i was in my favorite {thrift/vintage/crap/hoarding} store of all time. and one of the the crazy old rednecks that ran the place was talking to another customer about amethyst bottles. i was drawn in instantly. and the next thing i knew i was standing there as if i was in line to be taught the ways of the bottle collector. from that moment on i was hooked. even now, years later i marvel at every amethyst bottle i find. this particular addition to my collection was a gift from one of the kindest people i know. jessica was with me through the early stages of my {obsession/collection}. she listened for hours as i would go on and on about these pre-industrial revolution beauties. where ever we went we were on the search for that glimmer of purple glass. it's so nice and amazing to me that friends like this exist. even though we now live far away, and she's on a travelers budget, her search still continues. now i can say that i have this bottle, which was found by one of my best friends in the cutest little shop in new haven, ct.

while we are on the subject of {presents/bottle obsessions}. mary has been on a creative spree...see her latest creation here. this lady sure knows how to make some beautiful treasures out of beach vacation memories. mary has been making these hand painted bottle and adorning them with shells. i can't get over the color and simplicity of this bottle. it is so perfect and so beautiful. maybe if we all ask nicely she would do a guest DIY for us?!?!?! mary!?!?!? please?!?!?

i mentioned a couple of weeks ago the impromptu trip to the gulf coast to visit with the family and celebrate with my sister. well this is the picture that my grandmother passed along to me that has become my new favorite picture from my childhood. this is me and my great grandfather, my childhood best friend. the house where the hubs and i live now reminds me constantly of the house that my great grandparents lived in when i was a kid. so it's nice to not only feel surrounded by them, but to also see them everyday.

joys of parenting: boy things

i was quickly reminded today of the rhyme: boys are made of snails and puppy dog tails.

in a morning full of 2 year old melt downs, peace was found outside. there really is very little that taking a few minutes outside can not fix. the problem is that the weather is hot, sticky, and humid beyond any sort of comfortable level. so as the boy ran in circles in the backyard i hid in the minimal amount of shade provided by the side of the house. and then pure mindless joy was discovered by the boy. he sat there and picked every snail that was in reach off the side of the house. one by one they were plucked from their safe spot on the wall, inspected, talked to, and then placed into a pail.

up until this point i was totally cool with the snail gut covered fingers and pail full of bugs. i feel like i need to add a disclaimer here....i have nothing against bugs, worms, slugs, snails ect....as long as the are outside my house!

then the pail came inside. i instantly let out and inner yelp. the hubs told him to bring them inside. so i was faced with a moral dilemma. while i was completely freaked out, i didn't want to contradict what the hubs already said was ok. so we reached a compromise. the snails could stay, but they had to stay on the counter. this way i could make sure none of them escaped or were set free. i kept having these horror movie visions of waking up in the morning to millions of snails crawling up the walls inside the house. it took a lot of will power to not throw them out back immediately.

so they stayed on the counter for a while. and as soon as the boys interest shifted over to his trains i set my slimy friends free.

the boy and i each learned important lessons today. the boy learned that inner peace can be found in snail collecting and i learned that the snails are not going to take over my house and attack.....at least no within 20 minutes.

20 days of praise: day 19

thank you for...

loving us.

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. splash parks. it's been super hot and 1000% (yeah that's right i said 1000%) humidity. the only way to keep cool is to be able to run through the sprinklers. thank god for splash parks.

2. found a great new blog with the hippest DIYs. i can't wait to go buy some hex nuts to try this one.

3. celebrating a full day of family fun on the boys birthday. we went to the dr, don't worry...no shots on the birthday...that would be cruel. we hit up some story time, and then went to out to lunch. after a much needed group nap we went to the boys favorite water park and topped the whole day off with "steggy" brownies.

4. robots: the movie. and my netti pot. these allergies are kicking the butts of everyone in the house. even the dog. the only thing we can all agree on is snuggling and watching movies.

5. my first new ballet class. i have graduated from the senior citizens class (plus the class ended... until october... when all the snowbirds comeback). my local dance school offers an adult ballet class and by adult they mean two 17 yr olds, an 18 yr old, and me. i went from one end of the age spectrum to the other. but this class....i can't tell you how much i love this class. i was pushed to my limits and discovered beautiful lines. i can't wait until tomorrow night for my next class.

6. a quick trip to crash my sister beach vacation. my sister paige (who you can see here and here) was taking a post graduation girls beach condo getaway. when she told me that she was going to be just an hour north of me i had to drop everything to go see her. so me and the boy crashed the party and hung out with her and all her fantastic friends for a few hours. it was so great to see her.

7. getting to see some good old friends. we had an amazing weekend hanging out on the porch, swimming in the ocean, and listening to rock and roll. what a much need synergy session.

8. father's day realizations. i spent so much of my life blaming my dad for making me the way that i was, and now that i am that "way" i couldn't thank him enough. all of the life lessons are finally making sense. i understand the importance of building a strong character. i get it. thank you.

9. speaking of great dad's, can't forget the hubs. today is it, day 20. the 20 days of praise ends today. but my gratitude will never end for this man. he works harder than anyone i know, and still finds time to take care of me and the boy. we are very lucky to have such a wonderful father, friend, and husband. i love you damion, and all the little things you do.

10. new blog friends. just can't get enough of jessica sutton and all the wonderful things she does! check out her newest endeavor, directory-B.

20 days of praise: day 18

thank you for...

not even flinching when i try to feed you things like

grilled eggplant and pesto quinoa.

20 days of praise: day 17

thank you for...

your love of all things custom.

20 days of praise: day 16

thank you for...

getting excited about bee keepers with me.

20 days of praise: day 15

thank you for...

your silly face.

20 days of praise: day 14

thank you for...

your love of toys.

DIY: tissue paper "2"

this tutorial is super easy and can be used for so many different projects. i first made last years christmas center piece with this same technique. for that wreath i used pages from a book and added glittered birds for some sparkle.

this time i used the same concept to make a piece for the front door to celebrate the boy turning 2. here it is:

step 1:

you will need a cardboard cut out of what ever shape you please, watered down glue and paint brush, tissue paper squares, and a pencil

step 2:

twist paper around the blunt end of the pencil

step 3:

paint a small section of glue and begin to stick the paper down using moderate spacing. continue this process until the entire shape is covered to your liking.

20 days of praise: day 13

thank you for...

enjoying getting sucked into computer land as much as i do.

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. got a "how to" up for you guys. this one is super easy and such a great blank canvas to really put your own spin on....the possibilities are endless.

2. jane, an old family friend, is a close follower of the blog. she's known me since i was a kid, as a matter of fact i used to babysit her two boys. love those kids. anyway she posted this on my facebook the other day:

Jane Nordstrom said... You inspire me everyday....

You have a gift and a heart of no one I have ever known...

You cherish from your heart!

i have to say that is one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. it honestly leaves me speachless.

3. putting exciting packages in the mail. check out what's inside here and here.

4. a healthy house. the hubs was sick all week, but he's finally feeling better. thank goodness.

5. a fantastic visit with with my mother in law, and finally giving her a birthday gift that has been in the works for quite some time.

6. making party decor for the boys 2nd birthday party. check out the tutorial coming soon.

7. the boys dino disco dance party. all of his favorite ladies were there....that boy, he's a stud. we got to hang out with all of my favorite lake worth ladies and their amazing familes.

8. taking my mom out on the town. we had a blast drinking snakebites and playing banana-grams....i am going to need this game.

9. long talks about life with my mom.

10. feeling lots of love from my family and friends this week. a lot of wonderful news has been coming my way, karma is not a bitch...karma is my biatch.

what a RAWRing good time

the boys birthday party was a great success! he loved the playlist, the dino pizzas were a hit, and fun was had by all. i was having so much fun i didn't take nearly as many pictures as i wanted but here it is.... the boys dino disco!