New Sprouts and Cupcakes!

Two of my favorite things. As Erik and I were working 'round the house this weekend, I came across these little ones poking their way up through the mulch. My hostas. I love seeing the return of my winter sleepers in the spring. They are so green and vibrant and determined to get out, and that's exactly how I feel!

We took Sunday off from house work. Erik went golfing and I went to have dinner with my family. This Sunday's family dinner took place on the ol' Square at Marietta Pizza. The best place to get a huge, thick, and crispy slice of Sicilian Pizza. It was amazing. Afterwards the fam came over to our place for desserts. I filled the house with the sweet smell of cupcakes earlier in the day. We sat and indulged in our treats and watched a little America's Funniest Home Videos, a family tradition several years in the making. It was a great weekend.

© The Simple Wife

Simple Treats

My sweet tooth often drives my every move. It determines where I eat (do they have a dessert menu here?), how long until bedtime (an hour before means ice cream), and even when to do errands (is Cold Stone still open...). So if I can control or muffle it in anyway then I feel better and am more productive. I was in a salty/sweet mood on Sunday when I remembered that I had some pretzels in the pantry along with some white chocolate and I do own a microwave. The rest is delicious history...

(In case you don't get it by the pics, Step 1 have chocolate and pretzels. Step 2 melt said chocolate in microwave. Step 3 put pretzels in chocolate. Step 4 Inhale as to not have to share. )

© The Simple Wife

The Sweetness Has Arrived

Easter Time. It means lots of chicks, ducks, and bunnies everywhere you look. Why did those things ever become associated with the holiday anyway? Who knows, but my favorite place to be during the Easter holidays is the candy aisles! Yes, I know St. Patty's hasn't even come yet, but the grand marketing geniuses have already gotten the sweet stuff out! There are endless varieties of the sweet stuff and I am a slave to it. As I was doing my regular weekly shopping at Target I saw the pastels hues and ran to them. I was happily greeted by my favorite little friends:

Starburst jellybeans are by far the best jellies. You can actually taste the juiciness like the original candy!

Russell Stover's Filled Eggs are the best when it comes to Chocolate. Raspberry and Dark chocolate= best combo to known to man!

Then there is the Holy Grail of Easter Candies (bad pun, sorry) The amazing, delicious, and undeniably tasty Cadbury Egg. Really, you can't get any better.

Yes, I know, I have a problem when it comes to candy, but I'm ok with that. I have dealt with it and I accept it. And I am definitely going to continue the habit and embrace it full on! If you are interested in finding out the dirt on how bad these delicious goodies are for you- which I'm not cause it won't make me stop indulging in them- you can check out the facts here.

* All images courtesy of candyaddict.com

© The Simple Wife

Worlds Apart

Today was a drastic change on the weather scale from last week. Last Sunday-aka 7 days ago, it was looking like this:

{ Yikes }

And today Erik and I were able to have a yummy breakfast on the back porch:

{ delicious }

Georgia weather is bizarre to say the least, but when it's pretty, it's real pretty. I had a productive day today. It started bad- forgetting to turn our clocks ahead, but then got better when Erik's tee time for golf was moved back, meaning more lazy time together. I baked some yummy muffins for a late breakfast that was set in the sun on our porch. I adorned my muffins with strawberries, Erik tried sausage, and we washed them down with OJ- a great Sunday morning treat. It was a nice and chill weekend, lots of time spent with Erik which is always great. Now for the busy week ahead...

© The Simple Wife

Neighbor Goodies

Cookies are one thing that my family does well. So this past Sunday I went to Mom's to get her expertise on making our traditional Pumpkin cookies- delicious chocolate chip pumpkin cookies with brown sugar icing!!! You may remember them from my Thanksgiving post:

 I have tried to make them once before but it didn't go so well, so I needed her on hand to help out, since she knows the recipe by heart. After 120 cookies were made I assembled goodie baskets for our 2 favorite neighbors. I used my monogram tags again: one for the Grahams, and one for the Hasteys. I hope they enjoyed them as much as I ALWAYS do. Thank goodness for Christmas baking!

© The SimpleWife

Told You So.

{ Shape.com }

See sometimes I do know what I'm talking about. I told you that Fiber One Yogurt was delicious and good for you and Shape Magazine agrees. They raided the pantry and fridge and gave out their Best Snack Awards and the yogurt landed a spot on the Creamy List. The Mag's snack picks had to meet the following criteria:

• Have 200 calories or less per serving
  
• Contain 0 grams of artery-clogging trans fat and be low in saturated fat
  
• Have no more than 400 milligrams of sodium (we made an exception for the soup, as it could be a mini meal)
  
• Offer nutritional extras, like portion-controlled packs, whole grains, or additional vitamins and minerals.
  

For a full list of the winners 8uin the Sweet, Savory, Creamy, Crunchy, and Salty categories visit Shape here.

© The Simple Wife

The List

Something, always something brewing To Do! I have a list that is my mission to complete before or during the Thanksgiving break. Here is my wish list:

1. FINISH staining the deck- I have to get a second can of stain, I ran out yesterday.
2. Update/Refresh landscaping for the cold months- shift a couple of shrubs and plant annuals, then refresh mulch.
3. Work on the painting for the master bath.
4. Find a delicious receipe for dinner when Katie and Cj come over for dinner while visiting from Omaha.
5. Find a suitable and cheap organization plan for our master closet

We'll see if I can get all of this done by Thanksgiving day. Then "Black Friday" is reserved for Christmas card writing and decorating!!

Saturday Mornings on the Square

I LIVE for Saturday mornings. They are the best time of the week. You get to sleep in with no alarm clock, and my husband and I get to have breakfast together- even if it is at 11a. We love going to eat at one of two places on the Marietta Square: Sugar Cakes or Three Bears Cafe. Sugar Cakes is a wonderful french bistro headed by a former Ritz Carlton pastry chef. They have yummy pastries and delicious quiches. I recommend the Continental Breakfast- choice of 2 pastries, fruit and OJ. Three Bears has a unique menu. Lots of organic, "granola"type food- excellent for vegetarians. I LOVE the french toast and the raspberry, white chocolate scone.

This Saturday we went to Three Bears with our little furry one. We sat and enjoyed the sunshine and the Creative Loafing Crossword. A perfect way to start the day!

Oh Great Icing Goodness!

My good friend Lydia and her husband moved about a month ago and invited us to a house-warming BBQ at their new place. Being the one with the biggest sweet tooth ever I volunteered to bring goodies for dessert along with one of the most loved dips ever! I made hot Buffalo chicken dip-it is essentially supposed to taste like a hot wing in dip form. Hot sauce, chicken, ranch, cream cheese and a bubbling cheesy top layer make this dip irresistible for any hot wing fan! But my favorite thing to make is sweets! I made my now famous peanut butter sandwich cookies, and vanilla cupcakes with white and chocolate frosting. I was feeling frisky so I tried my hand at pastry decorating tips for the first time- I'm not to shabby...I'm still inching my way to Martha's status, still a long road to go!

YUMMY!!!