Weekend and Easter Happenings

It finally feels like Spring here and I think a lot of that is because of Easter. And because of the warmer albeit moderately rainy weather.

I love Spring - it makes me feel motivated to get things done around the house, pick more colorful clothes from my closet, and just feels like a fresh start.

EH seems to feel the same - he's been working in the yard trying to conquer some weeds before the grass comes in. So on Saturday, we ventured to Cantrell Gardens.

Here were some of my favorites from walking around.

 I've been talking about this Chocolate Mint for days now - I think I need this in my yard.

I'm a sucker for succulents!

Easter Sunday we met one side of the family for lunch. I love Easter - great food, spending time with family, and fun Easter dresses. EH and I even made little baskets for our nieces - though I think it was more for me than them!

After coming home Sunday afternoon, it was fun to see what had blossomed in our back yard! 

Hopefully the weather is warming up and flowers are blooming near you! If it weren't for the pollen, I would say this is my favorite time of year! (Though I think I say that about every time of year!)

Hoppy Hoppy Easter!

I love Easter weekends - especially because my office lets us out for Good Friday. Since Engineer Husband had to work still, the Mooser and I decided to sleep in (just a little bit), then get a move on with our spring cleaning. I just love the feeling of a house that is clean from top to bottom!

After a Friday night Game of Thrones marathon (we're trying to catch up - almost done with season 2!), we woke up Saturday to get ready to head to EH's hometown for Easter Dinner at my SIL's. To prepare, I made my go-to salad and also tested my baking skills by baking some cupcakes. 

Terrible picture but you can spot my cupcakes and also the salad we brought in the large wooden bowl.

For the salad, I throw together-

Baby spring greens

Almond slices

Dried cranberries (or craisins? I had to ask EH what they were called and we're both clueless)

Bacon Bits (Best when you actually cook bacon but I cheated and used the pre-ready kind)

Feta cheese

And the dressing-

Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil

Dijon Mustard

Honey

Salt & Pepper

And voila! Easy salad that you can easily swap out ingredients for to keep as a side, or even add grilled chicken for a main dish. I make this salad all the time and it is always a big hit.

Next were the cupcakes! And y'all. I had such big plans for these cupcakes. I was going to make two different flavors from scratch totaling to 48 cupcakes (for 10 people, what was I thinking?) but on Saturday morning it was just too easy to lounge aroud the house still. Plus EH put on Frozen so I kept getting distracted. Let it go! Let it goooooo!

Anyways! So boxed cake cupcakes came to the rescue! But they were double fudge, so maybe that makes up for it. I'm not a big dessert person myself but EH gave me the thumbs up. 

The cupcake decor was just a can of green frosting, bright blue bunny peeps on top of some, and Starburst jelly beans arranged on the others. My green icing skills are a little hit or miss, but they were pretty cute when all lined up!

The weather here is officially warm, which brings the beautiful blossoms everywhere but also the abundance of pollen. Nothing a Claritin a day can't help, atleast!

Though our Easter this year was a little different than our usual Church-Sunday brunch with ham type affair, I still enjoyed every minute of it. 

Now my focus has shifted to getting ready for our Gatsby-themed party this upcoming weekend. I've got the dress and the shoes and I can't wait to start playing around to pull the whole look together. Look forward to details on that!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you and yours had a wonderful, HOPPY Easter!