Wednesday is Spaghetti Day

I don't think I actually made this on Wednesday but my mom was just asking me about the book, "Wednesday is Spaghetti Day" so I figured I would title my post that. I've talked many times on my blog how I love Italian food and Brian does not. We instituted "Italian Sunday" at our house but that died after about 5 weeks. 

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Slow Cooker Chicken al Pastor Tacos

If you read my NYC FOOD blog post, you know that the Chicken al Pastor tacos at Oxomoco were Brian's favorite bite of our whole trip. Which got me thinking-- should we try to make these or just leave it alone and not make horrible tacos and squash the wonder memories of yum. Obviously I went with the first option or we wouldn't be here. 

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Perfect Little Weekend

This weekend was seriously the best. We had such a great time. I ended up doing something I'm totally against and said I would never do.... we decorated the house for Christmas. I do have a couple reasons for this. 1. Thanksgiving is late this year. 2. We're out of town this week, I go to Boston the next, when the heck would I get it done?! 3. KIDS!!! And ultimately the kids won. Kate is at the age where she realizes what is going on and I wanted her to be able to enjoy the Christmas joy for as long as possible. AND Brian came home Friday and said, "hey, let's go get our tree tomorrow." So that kind of helped. 

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Emmy Durl - Month 6

Emily you are six months! Six whole perfect, precious months with our sweet, adorable, perfect little girl. I don't know how we got so lucky to have such a wonderful, chill baby but we do. And you are the perfect piece to our little family of four. Half of a year with you has been the absolute best. And it's so perfect how the months just keep getting sweeter. 

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NYC Trip - The Food

When we started talking about taking a trip, we both decided that we wanted a more chill trip where we could go to some really nice restaurants, eat good food and not feel like we were "tourists." So naturally, we landed on New York City! And Brian immediately started planning where we would eat. Since food was such a large part of this trip, Brian and I decided it would be best to divide up my posts by food and non-food :) So here... eat your heart out!! 

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Halloween Treats for School

I'll admit-- I really do love making little creative treats for Kate's class. And now that Emily is also going to school, I'm sure I'll be making some for her friends soon. Luckily I can recycle all my old tricks for her ;) 

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Halloween + Fall Fun Week

I'm almost a whole month behind posting about Halloween. Better late than never! The girls had a fun halloween and fall fun week at school. Kate is way more into holidays this year which is so fun.

 

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Emily - Month 5

First of all, these months are confusing! Emmie just turned 5 months old on the 22nd but I'm making my "Month 5" post. I've written this down to check myself a millon times but I feel like I'm ahead. Whatever, she's precious so let's talk about Em. She's growing so big and so fast! I can see all the little things she's learning each day. She's dying to sit up! And she's grabbing everything in sight. She's so fun and so easy going! She proves that a little more each month. 

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Fried Chicken + Champagne. Yeah, I said that.

Did you know that fried chicken and champagne pair well together? No? Me either. Brian read this somewhere, I think during all his research on what to serve with what. He tends to research a lot of things and I always reap the benefits! 

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Fabulous Fall Weekends

I love this time of the year! It's seriously the best. This post is a little late but we had a jam-packed fall weekend a couple weeks ago. We started out at the most perfect fall birthday party for one of Kate's friends. 

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Emily - 4 Months

Hello precious baby! Four months have flown by and we have loved watching you grow and start to develop your personality this month. You are constantly smiling and I can't get enough. Could literally eat you up. 

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Weekend Shenanigans

I can't tell you how much I love this picture of the girls! We always go out to eat on Friday nights. It's always been our thing. We've been taking a break and ordering take-out or delivery since Emily was born. But this Friday we actually decided to cook. I was cooking dinner and hear laughter, Brian tells me to look and I turn around to this! 

Kate is allll about Emily wearing sunglasses. And I think they look so funny yet adorable. With the addition of the fire hat.. priceless! I'm so glad my phone was near :) sweet, sweet babes!! 

Table for Two - IKEA Hack

One solid year ago I ordered this IKEA table for Kate. I intended to paint it and make it adorable. But ya know, life happened and it sat unpainted but put together for months! Kate had lots of fun with it, standing in the chairs, climbing underneath it to hide and eating many, many meals here. 

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It's Kate's Birthday!

Kate got really excited about her birthday and it was so much fun. Actually-- she's still really excited about her birthday! She insists on looking at pictures of "Kate's birthday" like all the time. It's so fun to watch our baby grow and learn so much! 

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Sunday with the Girls

I guess we need to update the Sunday post! Now we have two sweet girlies! And they are so precious. Sunday's are so sweet. Although pictures are a little hard to come by-- big sister isn't quite sure how to sit still! :) Hope you have a wonderful Sunday! XOXO

Emily - 3 Months

Happy three full months of our precious Emmie girl! Or as Kate says, Emmie durl. Which melts my heart every. single. time. These two girls make life so sweet. 

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Kate's Big Girl Room

I feel like I have been working on this room for ages! I guess since we found out that I was pregnant with Emily. Which has almost been a year ago. Wow! But anyway-- it's done! F. I. N. I. S. H. E. D. and I love it! And I'm about 99.9% sure that Kate loves it too! 

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Vinegar Chicken - Trust Me.

When Brian told me that he was cooking "Vinegar Chicken" I was a little worried. It sounds funny and doesn't really make you want to eat it. But I trusted him because he's never lead me astray.. and I am SO GLAD I did. This was delish. So. Good. 

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Emily's Nursery

When I found out that we were having another girl, I immediately started dreaming up what her room would look like. Who are we kidding? Even before we found out, I was planning boy and girl options. I love decorating rooms in our home and even more than that- I love dreaming about decorating rooms! 

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Emily - Month 2

Oh my sweet Emmie-girl! You are growing up so fast and you are so, so sweet. You are the most precious little girl and we love you so much! You've changed so much during the past month and it's so fun watching you grow. 

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DIY Toddler Floor Bed

Hello! So I did something really fun when I was 32 weeks pregnant. I built a floor bed for my little girl. With help from my dad, we built the most adorable bed that Kate loves! And I'm super proud of us! 

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Emily - 1 Month

Emily, or "Emmie" as she's referred to by her big sister, is one month old! The month seems like it flew by and also seemed like it creeped by. Regardless, this little lady has brough so much to our lives and she's so super sweet. When she's not screaming her head off! 

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Smoothie Bowl

While browsing recipes a couple weeks ago, I saved a couple for smoothies. I've never been much of a smoothie fan, I prefer to eat my calories, but now that I don't really have time to sit down and eat, this appealed to me. 

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Homemade Pickles

For the last few years, our friends Laura and Stephen have been making the most incredible pickles. They grow their own cucumbers and then make pickles! We are always begging to take some home when we visit. They are crisp and delish, exactly what you want in a pickle. They even started making some hot ones which Brian loves. 

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4th of July

Happy 4th of July! Nothing says summer like bright red toddler cheeks and popsicles. Right?! Our 4th started off by attending the July 4th parade at Kate's school. Her class made these t-shirts to wear and Kate's little pigtail braids were adorable. 

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Greek Chicken - Sheet Pan Recipe

I have really come to love Skinnytaste's sheet pan meals. They are usually pretty quick, easy and use minimal kitchen ish! The one above has been a favorite in our house for a few years. Especially when you work full time and have two young kids to take care of! 

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Kate Strikes a Pose

Kate has never really let me take pictures of her. It's like she sees the camera and runs away or turns her head or rips out her bow. You know, something to make taking pictures very difficult. In the past 6 months they have been really hard to take. She never looks at the camera.. much less smiles. 

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Emily Rhea Johnston

We had another baby! Surprise! Our sweet Emily Rhea was born on May 22nd-- she actually came one day before planned and threw me for a bit of a loop. 

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He is Risen!

Happy REALLY LATE Easter!! I've been missing from my blog for a really long time. Looks like my last post was in late March. And here I am.. in JULY back! 

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Sunday with Kate

It's been so long since I've posted a Sunday with Kate. Mainly because she won't sit still long enough for a picture. Which... she really didn't in these. But I just can't resist to post but she's just so stinkin adorable. 

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Toddler Food - Fruit + Veggie Mini Pancakes

In my latest installment of Everything-Kate-Eats-Is-A-Carb... I bring you fruit + veggie(ish) mini pancakes. Like so many of my other recipes this color, these were super easy and quick to make. And they get a YUMMMMMY from Kate. 

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Spring Porch Refresh

I am totally on board with this whole layered doormat trend. As soon as I saw a picture online, I knew I had to find the perfect mat for our front porch. I actually got an email from Target the day after saying they had 25% off outdoor rugs.. and BAM! 

I tried taking a picture to send to my mom and my sweet little helper jumped int he frame. Armed with both bibs that HAD to come with us in the car. And she matched :) So sweet. 

Happy Everything Mat, Black/White Rug

Italian Sunday - Veal Picatta

We're still going strong on our newly enacted Italian Sunday! Except this particular week we actually fixed this meal on Saturday. 

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Italian Sunday-- Spicy Sausage Rigatoni

Yummy yummy yummmiiiee! As Kate would say. We had this last Sunday and it was so delish. It was seriously, so good. Brian can really put on a show when he wants to and this particular night, he had my cooking ego so inflated ;) 

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Vietnamese Grilled Lemongrass Pork

 It's no secret around here that we are big fans of Lemongrass Chicken. We've had it a handful of times and love it every single time! A few weeks ago, while watching Top Chef, Brian mentioned trying lemongrass pork. Cue searching for a recipe! 

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Homemade Oatmeal + Fruit

Ya'll.. this is my new favorite thing. I love oats but I haven't been able to eat oatmeal for a long time. I'm not sure why, maybe it's just the kind of instant oatmeal that we've been buying? Brian eats 2 packets a morning, like clockwork. Since we've been together. I don't know how!! 

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Italian Sunday - Beef Ragu with Pappardelle

I'll be the first to admit that my photography skills aren't great. I also don't know that Italian dishes always photograph the best. Now that we've got that out of the way, here I am with another "Italian Sunday" recipe. Since we've done this for 3 weeks now... I guess it really is a thing! 

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Avocado Toast with Blistered Tomatoes

I've blogged about our love for avocado toast before, so when I saw this recipe. I knew we had to try it. I've been super careful with eggs since I've been pregnant so I thought this might be a new way to incorporate it back into our brunch routine. Plus... jazz it up a notch! 

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Apple + Whole Wheat Toddler Mini Muffins

Hello! And welcome-- today I have another toddler recipe for you. I actually stumbled upon this one when I woke up last Saturday AM. It popped up in an email from Pinterest, "inspired by your pins." I love how everything I do sends me emails based on my browsing history. But I'm glad I clicked on this one! Usually I just swipe and delete. 

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Southern Sunday Fried Chicken

Brian has become quite the fan of making fried chicken. We've come to an agreement that he's allowed to take this on, IF it's within one week of our house keepers next visit :) Cause let's be honest.. this makes a mess!! The first time we ever did it... and I'm saying WE... I watched. HE burned a hot oil hole in the kitchen rug. It scared me to death and I'm so glad it wasn't his leg. Let's just say...we move the kitchen rug out of the way these days. And he's basically a pro now ;) 

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Carb lovers UNITE!

Hello! I have so many good, new recipes to share over the next week or so. And I'm super excited about the one today. I love bread. I'm one of those, "never-met-a-card-I-didn't-love" people. So when we eat Italian, bread is always on the menu. And since we've enacted "Italian Sunday," lots of bread is on the menu! 

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Italian Beef Bolognese

It appears that "Italian Sunday" is becoming a thing around our house. We just so happened to have another Italian dish this past Sunday and we both loved it! Cue a super fast google of delish Italian recipes..... 

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DIY Wall Mount Bookshelf + Free Plans

So... a couple weekends ago, I built a bookshelf for Kate's new room. I'll start off by saying, I don't think I really thought it through before it just happened. I looked high and low for the perfect shelving for her room. 

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Birthday Gift - Special Keepsake

I love a good reason to make a handmade gift. I made a flip book for Brian on our 1st (paper) Anniversary called, "100 Reasons Why I Love You!" It was made from index cards and random photos and bound together with string. Wasn't my proudest project but the sentiment was the goal. 

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Kate's Kitchen - IKEA Hack

Y'all. I can not say enough good things about this kitchen. It's been so fun for ME and Kate :). I honestly can't believe it's taken me this long to blog this adorable little thing. It was actually a birthday gift for our girl back in September! I bought it about a month before so I would have plenty of time to renovate it and get it looking precious! 

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Valentine's Day Treats

Happy Valentine's Day! I started working -slash that- thinking about treats for Kate's class well in advance. I had a plan but in true Alex fashion, I waited til the very last minute to put these guys together. But I'm in love with the end result. :)

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Gnocchi With Pomodoro Sauce

I really hate to make you jealous by posting this picture first-- okay, actually I do want to make you jealous. That's WHY I'm posting this awesomeness that we had for dinner over the weekend. I've made this once before but loosely followed the recipe. This time, I followed every (almost) single bit and the outcome was so amazing. 

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Toddler Food - Spinach Pesto "Pizzas"

I might have mentioned in a post a few days ago how frustrating making lunches for Kate has been. I actually kind of enjoy the meal planning and preparation, it's the watching her refuse the labor of love that is the trying part. 

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Christmas Cards, Lights & Garland

I LOVE receiving all our friends Christmas cards. It one of my favorite things to come home to each evening during the holiday season. I've always struggled with a good way to display them during the month of December.

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Baby ISH- 4th Installment

1. Wooden Rocking Chair  |  2. Anti-slip Moccasins  |   3.  My 1st Purse  |  4. Melissa & Doug Cookie Set  

  5. Green Toys Tea Set  |  6. Little Books for Little Hands  |  7. Soft Veggie Set  |  8. Stacking Rings  |  9. Take Along Tunes  

 10. Soft Fruit Set  |  11. Play Kitchen 

I haven't done one of these in a while. If you've been following along at all, you know these are so fun for me to put together! I figured a new one for my ONE YEAR OLD (plus some!)

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