Workin on my dreams...

It's a rainy, trying to snow spring kinda day...crazy huh, but it's a perfect day for me to do a little workin...on my dreams that is!  and you?  (as you can tell I'm dreaming of those flipflop days :)   

Pineapple Spring Cake!

This recipe is easy and delicious and its one of my Mom's classic go to cakes that everyone loves! Normally my Mom makes this with a pound cake but this time I tried it with a strawberry cake and it was Delish!!This cake is so light and fluffy, I think that's one of the reasons why everyone likes it so much. 


Just follow this easy-peasy recipe and you will make people very happy!

1lb can of crushed pineapple (Mom says tidbits and chunk pineapple too thick) 
3 3/4 oz instant french vanilla pudding mix
2 cups whipping cream
1 large angel food cake or strawberry cake
strawberries 

Stir together undrained pineapple & pudding mix:  allow to stand about 5 minutes or until slightly thick.

Whip cream until stiff: 

Fold into pineapple mixture

Cut cake into 2 or 3 equal layers, fill and frost with the pineapple/whipped cream mixture.

Chill atleast one hour, top with strawberries.  Nyla did the decorating on our cake, I love how she put lots of strawberries everywhere. This cake taste incredible cold. (we've been eating it non-stop since we made it and theres just a little left.) 

Oh, and there's usually a little leftover pineapple "icing' for little fingers to lick and dip your extra strawberries in.

Big Love Ya Mom and thanks for this perfect, spring-time recipe!



For other spring time party ideas click here




I'm partying with these cool blogs, join me!

Easter Pretty...

 Spring has sprung and boy are we happy around here!  Nyla got her first wedgy heels and she has a smile that is too the moon!  She looks so pretty in her Easter, springtime dress.  I just love seeing her little arms and legs, they've been so covered up all winter.

Nyla loves to decorate and these are her little chicks that she has put around the house.  Don't you just love their sweet little faces?

Wow, what a difference sun and warmth makes...I'm just beaming with springtime and the thought of wearing cute sandals myself! 
I'm sending everyone love and springtime hugs! We made it!!

easiest DIY Necklace ever!

I found this DIY  Neon Necklace here! For the complete Tutorial click here  and I just had to share it with you!!  It's about the easiest thing I've ever made! 

I couldn't believe I already had the supplies (well 3 things), You can buy this meshy stuff at the craft store in the yarn section, it comes in sheets, a variety of colors and it's super cheap!   

I made mine a little smaller than the tutorial (mainly because I made one for Nyla too and she's little), & since I had the color I wanted I didn't have to spray paint the sheets, but spray painting is a great option if you can't find the color you want.  This was so easy and I just had to make other fun shapes. 

Set the Scene with your Screen...

So, the other day I was roaming around in the hardware store and of course I grabbed a bunch of those paint cards, not really sure what you call them but the big ones with the interior displays.  I always take them even if I'm not planning on painting right away; I just love all the colors and ideas.

As I was driving home, I came up with this idea... I decided to give my screen door a little bit of fun.

I cut up some of our photographs that I had laying around, cut the words off the paint chips, Nyla added some "word bubbles" and the laughs began.  It's kinda like an new version of paper dolls.  I just stuck everything together with painters tape so that we could move the pieces around.

Our slider door has a frame in it so I decided to put some pictures on the screen door and some inside on the glass, this kinda gives it a shadow box feel.

I'm having a good chuckle from this; everytime the pictures get moved around I laugh more! Although, I am very thankful that all this furniture climbing is well just...not for real!  

Pictures came from these really fun days... 
Farm Fun,Graffiti Photo Shoot, Mother's Day craft - easy and Nyla's alien, candy-land, circus theme birthday party (which I did not post about but should because it was a blast!) 




Doesn't this picture make you want to say, 
 "TA-DA!"

This is a free, easy way to enjoy your memories and keep the silliness going.  I hope you have a really fun day! I'm off to hmm... take a snooze.  xxxxoooo Michelle

Join the fun with me at:

Surfer Mag in my bathroom..

I just love Surfer and Surfing magazine!  I know when my husband gets his mags each month, he is totally absorbed for atleast an hour, a bomb could go off and he wouldn't even look up.  Which, by the way sometimes works in my favor.  Usually he will slide it over and say read this... I do and am always touched by the heartfelt, raw,honest all-inspiring articles.

I love these magazines for other reasons besides the hour of my husband's total absorption, like the beautiful, dreamy photographs that encourage me to daydream to these far away places.  and that's why I have them on my bathroom towel rack instead of a "show" towel that never gets used.  I mean how could you not get whisked away in those amazing blues of mountainous waves?  The magazine on the left is encouraging me to face my fears instead of giving into them.

Plus Surfer/Surfing mag just make great backdrops for my silly stories. Check them out here Yummy Ceviche' Recipe and here Treasure chest.  Do you have a surprising, perfect fit mag?

Influenza came by...

You know that enemy, "flu".  Well they came knockin' at our door and didn't leave until now! Except we've been calling it "Influenza" because Nyla learned that in school.  

It started out as a bonus day, my husband got home a day early from his fishing trip so we went out to eat.  By 8:30 that night I thought I had food poisoning! YUK, well when that didn't go away I realized I had the flu.  The thing is I took a Karate class (pretty impressive huh?) that day so by night time my legs were so sore that crawling to the bathroom was about as best as I could do!  Nyla and Andy were snoozing away and missed this scene. Anyway, as the days went on, any grooming seemed to become a distant memory.

The things I thought about during my families 6 day ordeal. 

•  Is this why people decide they want dreadlocks (after 4 days with serious bedhead)
• After watching endless, mindless TV and seeing about a million weight loss commercials I thought, Look at me, I've been on the Influenza diet!
• I'm amazed how a family of 3 can use so many glasses
• I prayed a bunch
• I gave a bunch of REIKI, I really don't talk about it that much except on that little tab up top but I really know REIKI works.  (I give REIKI to Nyla every night, on this night we were soo stuffed up as soon as I started giving Nyla REIKI she instantly could breathe and then within minutes I could too)
• Out of all the special request drinks in my refrigerator: Gatorade, Blueberry Juice, Sprite, Gingerale, Apple cider, Vitamin Water, Cranberry Juice, Pink Lemonade - Water, Ice cold water tasted the best and even that was just a tiny little sip
• Our dogs, even though they were longing to play, stayed by our sides and snuggled the whole time
• I'm not a nurse, nor could I ever in my life be one
• For a fleeting moment as I looked into my husbands sick eyes, I was really worried and my selfishness went out the window and my love for him grew immensely.
• If I won the lottery during those days, I realized I still would be sick, and couldn't drive around in a limo.  Actually in my crazy, fevered mind at one point I thought I did win :)
• Nyla said, "Mommy are you almost through with your 26 hour nap?"
• This can't last forever!
• During my 4th day into this, Andy said, "why don't we go for a drive", so we did and I was in the same clothes that I had been in for 4 days with my dreadlock hair and pasty face but by the end of our drive, Andy started to feel sick and that's when we thought we all have to go into the grocery store.  So, of course Andy sees 5 people he hasn't seen in years and none of them had met me before! Figures huh!

Since I don't have any pictures of this event, I thought I would show pictures of our furry guys on a day when they were the ones getting pampered.

 When its all said and done, I'm looking at this whole crappy time as a kinda "spring cleaning" for my body.  hmmm... 

Droopy Sock glam...

It drives my husband crazy that I don't like to wear socks in the winter time! (I do wear socks outside, its just around the house and if my feet are freezing I will throw a pair on).  But, I'm a Florida girl turned Jersey girl and I can't help it, I love being barefoot!  I just gotta have "free toes"! My high school days I would just keep my shoes in the car to throw on right before school, until one day my mom cleaned out my car and oops no shoes, so I just had to skip that day. (sorry Mom, if your reading this but I turned out fab right?)

Anyway, So this morning as I was walking around in my brand new droopy de-glam socks, I just couldn't take it!  I saw my kitchen scissors and got busy.

Does anyone else wear these blah things?

Then WOW, I could feel the freedom from each cut.  My toesies are way happier but eek... I need a pedicure pronto!

You might say buy those with the toes already cut out their so cute...I have and to be honest that's just too much pressure.  

This was all done on the fly and on my feet (actually kinda in a crazy state of droopy sock constriction) and if I had any idea at all how to sew I'm sure I could really do something blingy but whew the relief!  

"Free toes" at last! :)