{weekend notes}

Posted in Adventure, Bay Bakes, California, Celebrity News, Cooking, Cool spots, family, foodie, friday, friends, hiking, home, Kid Food, kids, mom & me, Spring, weekend by xoxostacyb

It’s Monday friends! Did anyone else notice that there are ONLY 12 days of school left? You guys, summer is almost here! This weekend felt like summer. The sun was shinning. We spent as much time as possible outdoors. Family time. Spent time with friends. Good rosé. Delicious dinners.

Intentions for the Week:

Last weeks intentions: {weekend notes}

Highlights from the weekend…….

Celebrating GG’s 93rd Birthday //

She told me that with 3 new grand-grand babies on the way, come December she will have 21 great-grands. That’s pretty damn impressive. This photo below is just a handful of them ♥

GG + baby Daniel

GG + her homegirl Dot. GG’s mean-muggin.

Kid table

Cousins. Missing two. Can you believe that between us, there are 21 kids? Crazy!

The Royal Wedding //

Anyone else get up at the butt-crack of dawn to watch the royal wedding? I had to. Then when right back to sleep. Woke up with Bay and watched it all over again.

So gorgeous. I do think her dress was a little understated and was kind of swallowing her. But dress #2 made up for it.

Bay Bakes //

Bay made the best oatmeal peanut butter cookies. Recipe coming this week!

Skinny, Skinny Margs //

While I made margs…Ha!

Babysitter Bay //

We had a special visitor for a couple of hours. Bay is officially babysitting.

Pool platter //

Snacks for a pool date with my Mom + her homegirl.

I can get used to days like this!

Ended up hanging out with these chicks, not once, but twice this weekend. We laughed a lot.

Skinny, Skinny Margs round 2

Pool date #2 //

Bay’s turn to have friends over for a pool date

Charcuterie (kiddie) platter #2

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14May2018

{weekend notes}

Posted in Bay Bakes, Community, Cooking, family, Food, foodie, friday, friends, Holiday Whore, Holidays, Outfit Details, Recipe, Spring, weekend by xoxostacyb

Perfect Spring weather. Flowery bouquets. Sweet words written in cards. Bubbly mimosas. These are a few of my favorite things about Mother’s Day. But truth is, the main attraction is my Mother, My best friend. The most incredible, selfless women that I know. She taught me EVERYTHING! I am forever grateful for her endless love + encouragement + support + friendship! Gracias, Madre!

I hope you all you Mama’s enjoyed yesterday. Got showered with extra love. And had an extra big glass of rosé to celebrate ♥

Intentions for the Week:

~~Tie Dye napkins~~ – can’t wait to show you!
~~Work on 4-H record book~~ – She’s almost done!
~~Celebrate GG’s 93rd Birthday ♥~~ – Always a good time
~~Plan a hike for the weekend~~ – Hiked Pena Adobe, one of our faves
~~Tackle returns~~ – Such a pain in the ass, happy it’s done!
Make TJ’s cauliflower gnocchi
Try out a pigtail knot braid on Bay
~~Catch up on my DVR~~ – Hangovers help with this task
Craft some kind of cute key chain for the pool key
~~Make a kiddy charcuterie platter~~ – Made two in one day
~~Hangout at home!~~ – We hardly left the house all weekend. It was glorious!

Last weeks Intentions: {weekend notes}

Highlights from the weekend…..

Kicking off the weekend //

Thursday night dinner + chard with Nikki. She made us her ahi tuna tacos. You guys, there were so damn good. Topped with her homemade spicy aioli + pickled cabbage.

Over-served myself on the chard….ha!

Thanks for a fun night Nikki!

Friday night drive //

We set out to watch the sunset at the Top of the world in Vacaville. Not sure we ever found it. The drive was beautiful though.

And we watched the sunset.

And we found pizza + chard, so I’d say it was a pretty successful Friday night ♥

The great debate //

Toilet paper roll positioning. I honestly don’t even think twice about it. But, I do typically place a new roll to feed from the bottom. According to the poll, there were just a handful of others, including my sister that do it this way…lol. I died laughing over all the DM’s and responses. We clearly do it all wrong…lol. I think the poll ended up something like Top – 94% // Bottom – 6%!

Strawberry + Baby daisy cake //

Thank you for all the love on my cake.

Lots of DM’s asking if I’d share the recipe.

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19Apr2018

{double chocolate banana bread}

Posted in Bay Bakes, Cooking, Food, foodie, Kid Food, Recipe by xoxostacyb

Hey friends! Nothing is a bigger buzz kill then going about your morning like it’s Friday. Then realizing it’s only Thursday. FML! I never do that. Switched my carpool day and I think it totally threw me off. I even said Happy Friday to my co-workers when I walked in the office…Haha.

This morning I hit the pavement with my homegirl Sarah P. It was so nice to be outdoors at the butt-crack of dawn, for a change. I was thinking, damn, I’ve been in a really good mood all week. Then it hit me. It’s because I’ve worked out each morning. I’m telling you, that shit is good for not only the body, but for the mind + the soul. For every-damn-thing. I REALLY need to stay on this workout everyday thing.

Anyway, since I had some extra time this morning, I whipped up something sweet for my girl. She’s got the sweet tooth in the house. We had nasty bananas. And I hate throwing them out, knowing I could make something delicious. Bay looovveeesss chocolate. So, I googled it. Found so many recipes. Combined about 4 different recipes to use ingredients I had on hand. And you guys…..

The Double Chocolate Banana Bread came out fucking magical! (sorry Mom)

Always thought this was a weird combo, but I promise you…it works!

So much better than I imagined. I used only brown sugar, which keeps baked good super moist. I mean, there were lots of other ingredients too, but typically when I use brown sugar, I also use regular sugar as well. Not needed this time.

I reserved half of the chocolate chips to sprinkle over the top. They didn’t fully melt, so when you take a bite…OMG, it’s like soft little clouds of rich chocolate. I die!

Are you over listing to me go on and on? Me too!

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29Mar2018

{easter lunchbox + bunny ear cupcakes}

Posted in Bay Bakes, Crafting, diy, Food, foodie, Holiday Whore, Holidays, Kid Food, kids, mom & me, Recipe, Spring by xoxostacyb

It’s Thursday! You know what that means to this girl? I get to chug wine and drop the F bomb again in just three short days! Lent will be over and my sugar cleanse comes to an end. Can I get a big ol WHOOP WHOOP!!!

Perfect timing for Spring Break…lol! Thanks to Destiny, I grabbed the BEST bottle of chard I’ve ever seen. It’s called “hard chard”….I mean, it was kinda made for my girl Nikki + I!

Going to bust it open and possibly drink it from the bottle on Easter ~~afternoon~~….morning! And I’m not planning on sharing either.

In other news, it hit me last week…..

This is my last Easter Lunchbox. Excuse me while I wipe away the tears.

Pretty sure Bay’s not going to be rockin the bento box with a bunny shaped sando to Middle School.

You guys, this is proof that not everything I try is a hit. There are so many recipes + ideas + products I try that are a total FLOP! So I chuck them. But I thought I’d share some evidence.

I decided to try something different. How about a bunny quesadilla?

Sent this to Cory and he said “don’t quit your day job” and “looks like a cat” LOL!

Bay hid her chuckles. Probably because she knew I was hiding my last Easter lunchbox tears.

I may just have to start embarrassing my nephews and sending them with my crazy Holiday themed lunches. Joe would probably DIE!

So I went with the tried and true Easter egg lunch. I blogged about this back in 2016 here: {easter lunchbox love}

ANYONE can dupicate this. All you have to do is gather your kiddos fave snacks. The smaller the better.

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26Mar2018

{weekend notes}

Posted in Adventure, Bay Bakes, California, Cool spots, family, friends, Holiday Whore, Holidays, kids, ootd, Outfit Details, Products, Spring, travel, weekend by xoxostacyb

Hello friends! It’s Monday and I woke up feeling it today. I even made it to 5am Kaia, which hasn’t happened on a Monday in a long, long time. The saying “A weekend well spent, brings a week of content” is so true! There is just something about sitting on a beach with your people that is so incredibly relaxing. Oh and I almost forgot, a marg in hand. That helps a little too!

Hope you had a good one. Here’s to the last week of March. The temps are slowly but surly rising and I can smell Spring. You can’t wipe the smile of this girls face!

Intentions for the week:

~~Dye Easter Eggs. Remember the year I forgot and the Easter Bunny hid white eggs?~~
~~Pack an Easter Lunchbox~~
~~Sign Bay up for Dynamix summer camp~~
~~Send back all the ugly things I ordered last week~~
~~Design an Easter Crudite board~~
~~Share the PERFECT one-piece bathing suit~~
Upgrade the blog (so nerve-racking)
~~Pre-blog for Spring Break since I’ll be MIA~~
Finalize San Diego plans
~~Last but certainly not least, kill it at the gym ALL week~~

Last weeks Intentions: {weekend notes}

Highlights from the weekend……

Bay Bakes. Easter cupcakes. I’ll be sharing her cute bunny ear cupcakes later this week. Super cute for an Easter kid dessert.

New product. I love anything by Kristin Ess. Her products smell so yummy. I have her shampoo + condition duo and dig them both. Stay tuned on the Rose Gold Temporary Tent review.

Packing for the beach

shorts // tee // slides // band ana // bag // hat

Stinson Beach

We hit the road for our annual Stinson Beach trip. I just love it here and don’t think I’ll ever stop coming back. Two hour drive and you arrive in the quaint town of Stinson beach. It’s a windy drive along HWY 1. When you pull into town this is your view. Miles of beach. Dreamy!

Stinson Beach 2017

Stinson Beach 2016

We always stay at the Sandpiper.

We stayed in the Cottage. With my sister and her family. 4 adults + 4 kids. We could have even squeeze a couple more. The largest room they offer. A 2 bedroom/1 bath. Full kitchen. Gas fireplace. Sleeps 8 peeps. It’s perfect.

Obsessed with the beachy vibe + decor.

I want a cowhide rug more and more every time I stay here.

Bays favorite is the dutch door. She asks if we can get one for our house every year 🙂

Isn’t the kitchen so cute? Comes stocked with all the kitchen necessities.

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21Feb2018

{peanut butter + brown butter rice krispie treats}

Posted in Bay Bakes, Cooking, Food, foodie, Kid Food, kids, Kitchen, Recipe by xoxostacyb

Let’s do a little Bay update. It’s been a while….

A couple of weeks ago, Bay decided to switch to English horse riding lessons. After riding western since she was 4 years old. Bitter sweet. I loved watching her ride at the Junior Rodeo roping + pole bending. But, she’s convinced that English is what she’s passionate about. I think all those years of watching The Saddle Club got to her 🙂

Bay worked her first horse show last weekend at Stallion Station. She still cannot stop talking about it. Bay will be riding in the next horse show and I’m pretty sure she’s daydreaming about it right this very second. Her love for horses is one of my favorite things. As she’s grown, it’s never faded once. After the show, her riding trainer gave her + Ruby (Bay’s bestie) a horse necklace, which she hasn’t taken off. Even to sleep.

We talk about middle school daily. All the things that will change. What friends will be at the school. What kind of backpack do middle schoolers rock? Can I take zero period? All the electives. Leadership! All the lunch options. It’s mind-blowing for an 11-year-old girl. I remember middle school being a huge change with EVERYTHING. Nervous + crazy excited for my girl to experience it all.

Bay is wearing rubber bands on her braces. Is that how you say it? She’s to wear them for 22 hours a day. Basically only taking them off at meals and teeth brushing. They are kinda tucked in the back so you really can’t see them. Which makes me forget she has them. Until she digs her fingers in her mouth to pop them off at each meal…lol. Then lay them on her plate. Makes me wanna gag. But, I’m so proud of the fact, I don’t EVER have to remind her about them. She’s never forgotten them. Man, she’s becoming so responsible.

Last month I convinced Bay to chop her hair off with me. That sounds funny. We didn’t chop our hair off..lol. Allison, our hair queen, chopped our hair off. I promised that I wouldn’t bother her to cut her hair, other than a trim here and there, till summertime. DEAL! It’s so dang cute, except Bay instantly looks so much older with shoulder length hair.

Bay gave up YouTube for lent. This is a BIG deal for a tween, let me tell you. She’s been doing great! No slip ups yet, but it’s only been 1 week. Me, on the other hand, I’ve been terrible. Getting better little by little. The F bomb struggle is real!

She’s still such a mama’s girl and I absolutely LOVE that. I really hope she stays this way forever!!!

And last, Bay is still whipping up sweet creations all.the.time.

So, today, I’m going to share a new one. Peanut butter + brown butter rice krispie treats.

Say that 5 times fast…lol!

Bay found this while searching the internet for something to satisfy her sweet tooth with ingredients we had on hand. This recipe is from Joy The Baker.

Which is one of my personal baking idols. Her creativity in the kitchen is crazy inspiring.

These rice krispie treats have been recreated 3 times in our house. THREE TIMES!!

So, so good!

Here’s what you’ll need:

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14Feb2018

{valentine’s day #ootd + bay’s cookie recipe}

Posted in Bay Bakes, Cooking, diy, fashion, Food, foodie, Holiday Whore, Holidays, jcrew addict, kid style, kids, mom & me, ootd by xoxostacyb

I had too! Happy Valentine’s Day friends! I hope you started your day off with some kind of sweet heart-shaped treat. I had and egg and avocado..lol. Totally didn’t plan a V-day breakfast for Bay. To be honest it slipped my mind. Who am I? I stuck a couple Eggo waffles in the toaster. Used a heart cookie cutter. Whipped cream + sprinkles + a cherry on top (Bay doesn’t do cherries BTW). She loved it anyway! I did have a super cute lunch with heart pepperoni planned, but Lent screwed up that idea. So we went with heart quesadillas instead.

Speaking of lent…..

What are you guys giving up?

Bay + I are still undecided. Decisions, decisions!

Bay suggested coffee…LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! She’s so funny!

But you know what I did plan, wayyy in advance for Valentine’s Day? Our #ootd’s

You gotta have a cute outfit for the Holiday, right?