The Weekend in Review... wrapped up blessings.

The past two weekend have basically been two day blessings all wrapped up and smashed between ridiculously full weeks. And guys- It's been wonderful. 

Last weekend was spent catching up with some of my dearest friends. we spent most our time cracking up and smooshing these adorable cheeks. Yikes. She is the death. of. me.

This weekend was no different... My handsome cousin graduated from the first level of Navy Seal boot camp (hip hip hooray!) and his girlfriend and my aunt and uncle came up for the graduation. It was so fun to have family in town. Most of our time was spent walking around, eating way too much and drinking even more coffee. Love.

I tell you, with such an insane schedule these days, it's such a blessing to have these little wrapped up weekends. 

Hope yours was just as lovely!

Happy Monday! 

(Only 5 more days until we get to unwrap the next one!)

Hans-ah-ah

Scenes from our family weeking in florida...

 This weekend we went to Florida for our brother Phil's wedding.

We spent time lounging about...

 Catching up on our reading...

 Soaking up the glorious sunshine!

 Taking loooong lunches and chatting the afternoon away...

 Celebrating our Mama's birthday! {Hooray!!}

 Getting all dressed up to celebrate

 Getting lost at the intersection of Palm Valley and Palm Valley on the way to celebrate.

Really Florida? Really??

 Making it just in time to walk down the aisle before the stunning bride.

 Watching the sweetest "I Dos" ever.

And dancing the night away.

It was so great to celebrate with out brother and his incredibly stunning new bride.

Ah Florida. You surprised us California kids.

You really did.

Cheers,

Hansie

The Weekend in Review.

It was celebratory for sure.

What better way to celebrate two fabulous birthdays than with yummy Korean BBQ and loads of frosting?

Happy birthday beautiful E and baby "Habs"!

Happy Monday,

Hansie

The Weekend in Review.

This weekend was so busy I need about 2 days straight of napping to recover.

Alot happened... a LOT.

And all I really remember is that there were Santas everywhere...

Crazy right?

Ho ho ho,

Saint Nick.

Tofurkey: A thanksgiving weekend in review

few were as enthused about the tofurkey as I was

the weird point of dad's thanksgiving speech when he whips out his ipad to show us an ipod commercial,
we were all summarily confused

Abe the babe and dan the man on dish duty

trimming the tree

looking at lots of old photos

I loved this thanksgiving break. Getting to spend a whole week with the flim-flam is always a wonderful treat. Not only do I get some quality time with my siblings and parents, I get some quality time with my mother's ebay room. It is a glorious monstrosity full of untold treasures.

I'll have to tell you about it some time.

The weirdest thing always happens when I come home though. 

I become immediately sleepy.

A conservative estimate of how much I sleep in a given 24 hour period at my parents house

would have to be between 15-18 hours. The other 6-9 hours are spent refueling and perusing everyone's closets (I can't help it, the sweater is always woolier in the other armoire).

luh-

racha

p.s. visit our shop, EttaGrace and use the discount code "CYBERMONDAY" for 15% off today!

Weekend in Review: Miniature Apple Pies Recipe.

I've come to the conclusion that everything tastes infinity times better if it's miniature.

I've also come to the conclusion that I should never use the wrong tools to core an apple.

It's tough stuff with a steak knife.

Do you think Julia Childs ever cut a finger or two in the kitchen? Probably not.

Anywho,
This weekend was full of loads of wonderfulness.
Hubs and I kicked it all off with a little party with some of our sweet friends from church.

In an effort to be fun & festive I decided I'd try my hand at miniature apple pies.
They were a BIG hit and suprah ca-ute.
I'm convinced if your food is cute, it'll taste extra good.
I'm sure there are lots of holes in this theory, but it held true Friday.

Introducing the easiest Miniature Apple Pie recipe ever invented. For realz.

Ingredients:
*5-6 apples (I used McIntosh because they have a really bright flavor)
*2 sheets of puff pastry
*1 teaspoon cinnamon
*1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons of butter

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 400 and grease muffin tin.
*Roll both sheets of puff pastry out and cut into circles twice the size of your muffin tin holes.
*Place puff pastry in each muffin hole and then cover and refrigerate.
*Peel apples and dice.
*Mix diced apples, cinnamon, brown sugar and butter in sauce pan and heat on low, stirring constantly for 4-5 minutes or until apples begin to soften.
*Fill puff pastry with apple mixture and cover with remaining puff pastry.
*Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top.

*Finally, serve to all your drooling guests!

mini pies & big hugs,
Hansie.

P.S. Stay tuned this week for fun clothes, heaps of thankfulness, a tutorial and sweet deals!
We've got an etsy gift guide round up
and special BLACK FRIDAY shopping deals for EttaGrace readers only!!!
Hooray!!!

The Weekend in Review... Aloha.

So... I spent the weekend in Hawaii...

turtle cove

Mostly because I'm 30 and I do what I want.

pineapple fields on the way to north shore

Or really, because I have a pretty cool boss that allows me to travel to some pretty amazing spots.

double rainbow anyone?

While I was there I got to spend a day on Sunset Beach...
also ended up spending the night with aloe vera, but c'est la vie!
One of my very favorite places in the whole world...
*sigh*
Hawaii, you dirty dog you... Get me every time.

kind of a perfect weekend.

Aloha,
Hansie

I get "8 Mile" syndrome sometimes...

And it happened again this weekend...

There was a time, when the Hubs and I were still dating 

where I was training for a marathon with Si-Fri....

Hubs was not called "Hubs" at this point... he was "Freddo",

and Freddo was still in "let's-impress-the-cute-girl" mode...

It was a lot of fun, and I definitely used it to my advantage.

One Saturday morning in particular, Si-Fri and I had an 8 mile run to do for our training...

We invited Freddo to join us.

Even though he'd only ever run a couple miles he knew he had to join us...

The run was tough, but Freddo pushed through...

And after we finished I was overcome with all these "ooshey-gooshey" feelings for him. 

He was such a stud. To be able to barrel through 8 miles without training.

Ugh! Stud. Muffin. For. Realz.

Si-Fri joked that I had come down with "8 Mile" syndrome...

Well, it happened again this weekend... 

A group of us ran a half marathon,

and I got "8 Mile"... Bad.
I just can't help the romantical ooshey-ness that oozes from me!

Sometimes it's just booming love and pride that overwhelms me!

After pushing yourself for 13.1 miles and seeing people you love accomplish something so big...

Ugh, it makes my heart burst with pride.

Oh "8 Mile"... you get me every time.

Gushing,
Hansie