Halloween

So along with everything about Fall, I love everything about Halloween. I love the costumes and the decorations and the candy, especially the candy.  I also love being an Aunt! Even though I've only seen Gracie one time, I know we are in for the long haul together :) I always had the best aunts growing up. The ones that did the cool things with you.... The one that took you toliet papering when you were 12...the one that took you for rides in her jeep with the top down and the one that let you eat Cookie Crisp no matter what time of day and blast Billy Jean on the record player. So, needless to say, I want to be that aunt (don't worry Daniel and Katrina, we won't tell you when we toliet paper)

I feel like I'm getting too old to dress up for Halloween, and unfortunatlely, wayyyyy too old to trick or treat.But I do love Halloween things. So I thought how can I make being an Aunt and Halloween go hand in hand? I decided to make Gracie a Halloween basket.

The basket

So since I am such a reader, I want to inspire Gracie to read...what better way to get her library collection going than with her own copy of Harry Potter! My goal is to give her a book for each holiday, a good mix of old classics and new classics!

I bought this pumpkin from Hobby Lobby and used a white paint marker to paint the G on it. It rubbed off really easily when I first did it, but I'm hoping that after sitting for a while, it will be more permanent!

I made a card from scrapbook paper. I just cut a scrapbook paper to be card size and then glued some spiders on the front

On the inside, more scrapbook embellishments!

I got the Onesie from A Children's Place and thought it would be too cute!



Who is this 'Aunt Kala' woman and why did I get stuck with her?

I'm sure this was Gracie's face when Daniel and Katrina told her that Aunt Kala sent her a Halloween basket. I just can't get over how cute she is! Its okay readers, you can be jealous that I have the cutest niece!

I want to make a basket for every holiday so any suggestions are welcome! There's a lot of holidays in the year!

See you soon Gracie!

Love,

"Aunt" K





Cook Kala

I learned to cook when I was 16. I worked at a bookstore and the ladies felt bad for me that my mom never cooked (Sorry, P) so they taught me how to make Seasoned Salt Chicken and Shrimp Stirfry. When I went to college, it was hard to cook in the dorm, but I still tried.

When I was 19 and I moved into my own apartment, I started really cooking! I love trying new recipes and then adding or changing ingredients to make it unique to me! I received so many recipes from the wedding, that I decided I was going to pull a Julie and Julia and make them all (yes, even the grilled quail but it will probably be last!)

I'm about half way done and I've made everything from hummus, to taco soup and chicken and all those yummy desserts!

Here are some pictures of my time in the kitchen!

I added a little parmesean to my hummus and served it with pita chips, melba toast, strawberries and celery

I used 2 round 9" pans for my spice cake

And I made my own cream cheese frosting for it

Then I sprinkled cinnamon on top and served!

The first pound cake I've ever made that turned out successful

I would love to take a cooking class to learn more about cooking with spices and I would love to take a class to learn how to use the knife set I got as a wedding present, but we'll see :)

Love,
K

A Black and White Affair

 I've always love the concept of black and white parties. I thought the theme for a wedding shower would be perfect...everyone in black and the bride in white. So when we were brainstorming ideas for Little Jessica's bridal shower, I drew inspiration from here and our theme was born.

**Side Note: I grew up in the same neighborhood with two Jessicas. To prevent confusion, we called one Big Jessica and the other one Little Jessica.  That is how I will refer to them. In no way is Big Jessica "big"...she's just older!**

The first thing we had to do was get the invitations. My mom picked the invitations up from La Ti Da in Suwanee. She was going to print them herself so all we had to do was come up with the invitaiton wording! Thanks to my best rhyming friend Kristi, we were able to come up with a poem! Naturally, I blacked out the important details but the poem goes like this:

Michael popped the question and Jessica said yes.

Now we're having a bridal shower

so please be our guest

You wear all black, the bride will wear white

Come help us celebrate their magical night

Next came the food menu. Shanna is an amazing cook, making mushrooms, dips, and brownies and my mom makes the best chicken salad. We were definitely not lacking on the food. Big Jessica decorated our table so cute.

Our gorgeous table

Delicious chicken salad! My mom makes the best

Black plates with black and white napkins with a T on them

Fruit cups...I layered the dip that I found here on the bottom and the fruit on the top. It really is the best recipe...only 3 ingredients (cream cheese, jar of marshmellow cream and 1 cup of powdered sugar)

We set up the kitchen table with the cake and water infused with oranges and lemons. The cake goes right along with our black and white theme and is from Publix. It was delicious!

We also served Punch, Blackberry Lemonade, and Blackberry Peach Martinis

Blackberry Lemonade and Blackberry Peach Martinis
I left the lemonade without any alcohol for the people that didn't want to drink. For the Peach Martinis, I used Skinny Girl Peach Margarita mixed and added blackberries on toothpicks!

Big Jessica  had some awesome games that we played! And overall the shower went pretty good. Little Jessica flew in just for the day from North Carolina, so we were glad she was there.

As many of you may remember, we hosted a baby shower for Big Jessica a couple months ago. At the time, we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. But back in June, Jessica and Ryan had a sweet little girl named Ella. Now there is 7 of us and I can't wait to spend more time celebrating special occasions together!

This weekend, my friend of 24 years marries her high school sweetheart. I couldn't be more excited for Jessica and Michael and wish them a long and happy marriage. I can't wait to be there to celebrate their special day!

Love,
K