Halloween {the weekend}

Halloween kind of snuck up on me after spending a week in NYC. 

But not to worry. Between exhaustion from best friends in the city, an impromptu night with Carrie, and you know work and stuff. Not to worry. I was able to pull together a costume in time for Friday night festivities.

I spent both Friday and Saturday night dressed up as a 1950s housewife. Fighting off Katniss Everdeen, Naked Old Guy and countless other characters.

Cheryl hosted her annual party. She was a peacock. And it was awesome.

Elaine was a koala...her pouch was quite handy for carrying cupcake wine. Her boyfriend was the tree. Most creative couples costume award.

Double rainbows, koala + tree, hunted by Katniss. Nora doesn't do costumes. But we were glad she was there.

And then this crew of a housewife, rockstar, Katniss + Nora went to Velvet Taco for a lil snack. Where we ran into Owen Wilson. Like the real life one, not in costume. He and Katniss had quite the conversation...about Dallas private schools? Not awkward at all.

Then it was Saturday night costume repeat at Stan's. 

When the Tepper's throw a party, they never disappoint. 

Also, I was attacked by Old Naked Guy. (aka Dub Daggett)

And Liz was a pink crayon!

...............................................................

Oh. And nephew Baby Luke was all of the below. 

His mom couldn't make up her mind. 

And then he was worn out. 

Presumably from his mother playing dress up with him.

Sorry he hijacked my bloggy. 

But not really sorry. Because he's so cute I can't help it. 

Mother's Day at the Ballpark

{note: i did not confuse my parental celebration days. i am aware that yesterday was Father's Day, not Mother's Day. i am also a very behind blogger. so. today you get Mother's Day.}

Last Christmas, Uncle Jay got the whole Johnson family tickets to go see a Ranger game in May. A game that so happened to fall on Mother's Day Sunday.

Totally ok with us. We like baseball. And the Johnson's. And our mother's.

I know there was a lot of funny happening throughout the evening. But I cannot remember all of it. I just remember my sister warning between giggles - "be careful what you say...it will end up on Lauren's blog!"

But I mean, they should know these things by now though, right? :)

It was also Lil Les' first "almost-a-mommy" day. So I got her these baby proof Kendra Scott earrings. No dangles. Just sparkles. 

It was a lovely Texas afternoon for a ball game. And the Rangers pretty much murdered the Los Angeles Angels. 

Some Johnson's...

And the Marcom's. With their ice cream...

"See? It's true! People are nicer to you when you are pregnant. She definitely loaded mine up with more scoops." 


Les spent the game grabbing my hand to feel her belly. (please note that this "feel that?!" game is both creepy and magical at the same time. seriously.) From his game-time activity, think it's safe to say Baby M will be a baseball superstar like his daddy. High expectations, you know.

:)

Happy Mother's Day from the Ballpark in Arlington
Love!

Egg Hunting + Easter Experiments

Easter weekend with the fam... 

Look how cute this one is with his Easter basket! This is my cousin Ashley's little boy, Colton. He's very sporty. Swings his bat left handed, runs his "bases" like a champ. And he was very good at hunting his Easter eggs at his Nana's house. :)

And because this makes me laugh...these fools below are my Dad and his youngest brother. (Can't see the resemblance, can you?) They're not helping or hunting. Juuuust watching. Suppose they know their place.

Sunday lunch at my parent's house was inspired by the Pioneer Woman. Now that I have introduced Mom and Dad to the ohsofantastic PW via Saturday mornings on Food Network, seems they are now big fans as well. We wanted to try out a few recipes on Easter, nothing fancy.

And then it was mentioned to an aunt, and then another, and then our silly lil themed lunch turned into something a bit bigger. Leslee's in-laws joined too. It was quite the affair.

Mom and I were just slightly concerned that we would mess up PW's fail-proof recipes. Lucky for us, all turned out perfectly. Lunch was delightful. Family was full. Jesus was celebrated. Hearts were happy.

My Green Bean Casserole. Made with real bacon. And freshly blanched green beans. Yum.

Mom's Potatoes au Gratin. Super cheesy, super tasty. And also yum.

And our personal favorite?
Flat Apple Pie. A joint effort. With pretty perfect crust. Easy caramel sauce. And a little Blue Bell ice cream on the side. More please?

Pioneer Woman Easter was a great success.

And from now on - themed family get-togethers?
Feel like south-of-the-border Sunday is probably appropriate.

Green.

They told me St. Patty's weekend in Dallas was not to be missed. I mean, I've done St. Patty's celebrating in New York City friends, I'm no stranger to the craziness of this holiday. But hey, let's see what this is all about.

I stuck around, made some plans to tag along with Linds and Colin and their friends for the festivities. Which turned out started at 8:15am. Ouch. These guys don't mess around.

I wore a green dress. Green nail polish. Green Kendra Scott earrings. And my cowboy boots. Duh.

Greenville Avenue was all shut down in preparation for the parade and block party. We camped out at Stan's among lots and lots of green-clad St Patty's celebrators. Koozies were necessary. 

Colin and Linds. Very green.

We call this, the green slurpee. Yum. Just a taste before hitting the road - ok, maybe just walking a few blocks - to our next party location.

We met some horses along the way. They were not dressed in green. But we thought they should have been.

I must share the following photo shoot. 

Jessyca and Lindsey. And the kilted man. Lindsey was very sure she knew him from somewhere...

House party. Green beer. Green jello. Puppies. It was a good day.

I'm also not 100% sure where this lei came from. But it is now hanging in my cubie at work. Just a lil green reminder of my very green holiday. 

Love these girls!

Oh and another happy St. Patty's treat?? THIS gal was in town from South Carolina to celebrate her big 3-0 birthday. I met up with sorority sis Deborah, her husband FJ and their friends for some cookie cake and one more green beer. 

All that equals...

One. Long. (and very green!) Day.

St. Patty's Dallas style. 

Success!

Some Holiday Baking

I did a lil baking this holiday season. 

What can I say? I'm very domestic these days. 

I was invited to a cookie exchange party a few weeks ago - what's that? Never heard of a cookie exchange? Neither had I. Turns out, there's not much to it really. Just bake a few dozen yummy cookies and be prepared to share your recipe with the other gals!

I decided to whip up some of Miss Betsy's gingersnaps for the occasion. While I hadn't tried them before, I'm usually a big fan of all Miss Betsy's recipes. And I had special plans for these snaps.

They were super simple and quick. And I added a toffee twist! By dipping the snaps in melty chocolate, then coating in crumbled up Heath bars. I can't take full credit for that creativity - thanks for the suggestion mom!

After a few hours of baking, cooling, dipping and coating, I ended up with a Christmasy bowl filled with delightfully professional(ish) gingersnaps!

They turned out to be quite tasty treats and were a success at the Cookie Exchange. New friend and blogger Michele, wrote a cute post about the party here - complete with photos of all 12 cookies for sampling AND the milk / cocoa bar. I mean, what's a cookie party without some milk?

Here's the recipe! 

Gingersnaps by Miss Betsy

¾ cup Crisco shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

½ cup molasses

Cream together in mixer

ADD

2 ¼ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Cream some more

Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour or longer, covered. 

Roll dough into balls the size of a walnut, place on greased cookie sheet. 

Bake in preheated oven at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

For an easy chocolatey twist:

Melt semi-sweet chocolate, dip an edge of a snap, coat in Heath bar crumbles

Lay on wax paper to cool.

Makes 4 dozen.

Oh! And since we were in the baking mood, mom and I took a shot at some peppermint white chocolate fudge. It was good in theory. And it might look festive and delicious here, but looks are deceiving. Don't be fooled. This was a massive fudgey fail. Eeeek!

I suppose I'll just stick with cookies. :)