Friday Faves {no. 30}

Oh heeeey. I haven't done a friday faves in a while and I've been loving lots of things lately so here it goes...

1. Kyle and I are hooked on Duck Dynasty. I'm sure I'm the last one to start watching this but I was skeptical at first. I thought it was going to be a show Kyle thought was funny and I found boring. But seriously it's hi.larious. Kyle and I die laughing every episode.

2. Kyle bought me on of these bad boys a month ago and I might have already eaten 3 more. They are SO good.

3. I'm a flats kinda girl but I'm also a midget. Seriously short. So I feel like this summer I need to invest in some wedges. I'm absolutely loving these from Nordstrom.

4. We need a new chandelier above the table and I love this one from Restoration Hardware. Don't think I can talk Kyle into the $5000 dollar price tag though...

I'm hoping I can get some of my big projects out of the way this weekend {or maybe just started} ;) Here's to a productive weekend everybody!

My #SocialPower Issues

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Social Power for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I first heard about Social Power I thought it was a good idea but I was slightly confused. After watching the video and checking out the website, it's a really cool concept! First you log on and create a profile. Then either peruse the issues your peers have submitted, or add in an issue you think needs to be resolved. It should be an issue that affects you and those around you. Also, it should be something that could potentially have a resolution. It was interesting/entertaining to read people issues they have set up. Once your issue has 1,000 supporters it becomes an innitiative and can be resolved. Such a great idea that can make a difference! Although most of the issues are funny or random things, it's such an interesting concept.

You can watch the video here or on the Social Power website:

The issue I created was "I wish there was a charity you can donate clothing/household items that go straight to families in need". Everytime I donate my clothes to  Goodwill I think about how many families could benefit from my donations without having to buy them. I know there are so many families out there that need new clothes for their babies and I would love for my donations to go straight to them. 

You should definitely go check out Social Power, and while you are there support my issue!

 

5 Family Travel Tips to Keep You Sane

I'm excited to have Kendra Thornton today guest posting here at Sugar Baby Boutique. She is a mother of 3 who, before becoming a full time mom was the Orbits director of communications. She has been to 28 countries on 6 continents and has been quoted in the news about seasonal travel trends and destinations over the United States. Kendra is here today to share her tips about traveling 

this summer with our families. We'll be traveling quite a bit this summer and I know I will be using these tips as we plan for our vacations!

5 Family Travel Tips to Keep You Sane

As a child, I remember how much fun I had taking a trips with my family. Now as a mother, I try and prepare so my vacations with my own children are just as seamless as I remembered my very own vacations being. So, I have picked up five tips from our family trips that have made a big difference.

1. Prepare Hygiene Travel Kits

Kids are messy! Preparing a travel kit with some hand sanitizer, sanitary wipes, and facemasks will 

help minimize risk of exposure to illness while on vacation.  I have found many travel size products to reduce the space needed for the kit. I loved this idea so much I always keep a hand sanitizer hooked to my purse!

2. Travel Organizer Activity

Keeping my family involved in packing has also proved to be helpful. Before our last trip, we had the kids pick out a couple of their favorite toys and stuffed animals to bring along. Using canvas shoe bags for these items keeps them organized. This idea is fun because the kids choose and pack their favorite things.

3. Pack Healthy Snacks

This tip can be for any traveler. Pack some healthy snack food, especially if traveling by plane or train. By packing snacks, we control the nutrition our kids receive and save money from purchasing overpriced snacks.

4. Eat A Full, Healthy Breakfast

I wish I could make this happen everyday. But, I have found this is worth the extra effort while on vacation, especially when planning on spending the day at theme parks. Starting the day with a full stomach helps the parents maintain some energy while chasing after their kids, and also saves the wallet from at least one expensive meal inside the park. Many Orlando hotels offer those great complimentary breakfasts where kids can even eat for free!

5. Allow for a Day of Rest At Home

Vacations are supposed to be fun and relaxing, but I have heard many people say that they need to take another vacation to recuperate. Our vacation plans include a day at home prior to returning to work and school. This helps everyone unpack and get some rest before returning to routine.

The important thing to remember is too much preparation can be a culprit of stress. By remembering just a few handy tips, I have been able to enjoy my vacation knowing my children are happy and healthy.

Thanks Kendra!!

Lily Love

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of iBulb for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I absolutely love lilies. They are definitely one of my very favorite flowers. I don't think I dislike any flower but if I had to choose a favorite it would be lillies or peonies. Both beautiful.  In fact, I had lilies in my bridal bouquet because I love them so much. Here is the best picture I could find of my bouquet on our wedding day. I still love it and am so glad I did such a bright cheery bouquet! My best friend took this picture and as I look back am so glad I have good friends around me that support me always. How's that for a random tangent?

I feel like they are so pretty, and unique, and they brighten up any floral arrangement. Having fresh flowers around the house is like a dream come true. It helps freshen up your home in an instant. It creates such a homey and inviting feeling to a home that can only be achieved through a floral arrangement sitting on the table. I just picked up an old brass pitcher from a local flea market and I feel like I need a bunch of lilies to put in it. That would make today perfect. Hint hint to the husband... There are so many different ways you can style lilies and they can go with modern, traditional and all styles of a home. Here are some of my favorite arrangements...

I love love these perfect little vases. And with a little lillie in each, these make adorable table decor.

This whole set up is beautful and the pop of pink is fabulous.

I absolutley love all the color in this arrangement but even more love it with that pretty white vase. Also as  a side note, I just found a cute/weird little bird statue at target that I can't wait to find a spot for in my home! Plus it was on clearance for $4. Love it.

What are your favorite flowers?? And what is your favorite way to display them?

Crème Brulee Recipe

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law and it quickly became a favorite with my husband and I. Who knew crème brulee would be so simple to make??
Start out with your cream. Heat it until it reaches a rapid simmer. Remove from heat.
I use my kitchenaid to whisk together the egg yolks and suger until well blended and starts to lighten in color.

Add the cream, little by little, stirring continually.

Pour into ramekins.
Place your ramekins in a baking dish and fill the pan halfway full of water. The water should go about halfway up each ramekin.

Bake. Then carefully remove and let them cool on a cooling rack. Cover, and cool in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

When ready to serve, pull out of the fridge and top with sugar mixture.

Torch it until the sugar is carmelized.


Top with your favorite berries and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup vanilla sugar
• 6 large egg yolks
• 2 quarts hot water
• Sugar and Brown Sugar mixture for over top

Sugar Mixture

-1 cup brown sugar

-1cup sugar

Whisk sugars together and spread out on a pan. Bake at 400 deg for about 5 min or until dried out. Roll over with a rolling pin to crush the sugar until very fine. Store in a ziploc bag or airtight container.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the cream and vanilla in a sauce pan... heat until it reaches a rapid simmer and remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan (I use a glass casserole dish). Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes (Mine takes closer to 1 hour). Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan/glass dish and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. When I refridgerate, I cover each individually with saran wrap to keep them moist. Just before serving pour sugar mixture over top of the custard and torch with a kitchen torch until brown.

$5 Dress up Station

I found this old thrifted quilt rack the other day and knew it was destined to organize the girls dress ups. They have been driving me nuts lately with the dress ups. They are so hard to organize. So, when I found this for $5 I couldn’t pass it up! I decided to use up some of our old pink paint, took out the two bottom racks and gave this a new purpose. The girls love that they can hang up clothes like their mama and I love that there’s a place for them!

Found any fun projects lately??

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

These, I swear, will be your new favorite taco recipe. Seriously anyone that eats them are hooked. The chicken recipe is the same as this delicious recipe. We always start the chicken marinating the night before. That way I get one step out of the way ahead of time. Here are the recipes up front and then we’ll go through the steps. Nice and easy but a lot of steps. Try and make most ahead of time and you won’t feel like you’re spending all day in the kitchen ;)

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

Cilantro Lime Chicken Marinade (for 4 chicken breasts)
-3/4 c vegtable oil
-Juice and zest of 2 limes
-2 cloves garlic -2 tsp sugar
-1/2 tsp salt -1/4 tsp black pepper
-1/2 C finely chopped cilantro
*I put everything in blender and have it mix and chop it. Grill it right before you’re ready to serve the tacos

Pico De Gallo (Makes 2 Cups)

2 cups diced tomatoes

1/2 cups finely diced onion

2 TBS minced jalapeno chilies

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

2 TBS lime juice

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Salt to taste

Cilantro Jalapeno Mayonnaise (Makes about 2 1/4 c)

1 3/4 c mayonnaise

2 TBL water

2 TBL distilled white vinegar

1 rinsed and stemmed fresh jalepeno chili with seeds removed

1 garlic clove

1/2 c lightly packed fresh cilantro

1/4 tsp pepper

Salt to taste

**We top the tacos with the sauce, chicken, shredded cabbage, & pico in a fried tortilla shell**

1. Mix up your: oil, cilantro, lime juice/zest, sugar, & salt/pepper in the blender. Pour over raw chicken and let marinate. {I usually do overnight but you can just do a couple of hours before serving if you need to}

Here it is all grilled up. Yum.
2. Now we make up the pico. Dice up your jalepeno, tomato, onion, minced garlic, some lime juice & cilantro. Salt & Pepper to taste.

3. The Jalepeno Cilantro cream sauce. Dice your jalepeno & cilantro. Mix it into your mayo/vinegar mixture. Add some salt & pepper. And maybe a dash of lime if you have some extra.

4. Fry up your corn tortillas. I like the white corn but you can use yellow too!

5. All done and time to enjoy! Assemble your tacos. First spread your sauce, layer some chicken, CABBAGE (trust me on this), and your pico.

LuminMinerals Makeup!!

Sam from Healthy With Sam is here to guest post and I couldn't be more pleased. Her blog is so inpiring and she has a pretty amazing new line of mineral makeup that I can't WAIT to try! I just ordered some and am so excited. She has some beautiful colors available.

I am so excited to be on sugar baby boutique today.  Camille is so talented and I wish I had some of her crafting talent.  My name is Sam and I blog over at healthy with sam.  I like to write about anything and everything that has to do with health from food to fitness to beauty.  I recently started making my own mineral makeup and love it!  It has been so much fun.  Ever since I started wearing mineral makeup I have noticed that my skin has not broken out as much and I feel a lot better not wearing all the chemicals that can be in regular makeup products. Some of the benefits of mineral makeup

• It does not have any preservatives, chemical dyes, or fragrance
• A lot of makeup helps cover up skin imperfections, but it can clog the pores and make a skin condition worse.  Mineral makeup is much better because it is oil free and is made of natural minerals .
• Mineral makeup does not clog the skin or support the growth of bacteria, this is helpful for people with acne prone skin.
• Mineral makeup contains zinc oxide and titanium oxide, which are sunscreens that help protect the skin against UVA and UVB rays.
• It is beter for people to use mineral makeup who have sensitive skin and may have allergies to certain makeup

Here are some of the eyeshadow colors from my shop Right now  I have 24 eyeshadows, 1 bronzer, 2 blushes, and 3 foundations. I'm always adding more colors and trying out new things. I am working on adding a lot more foundation colors and sample packs to my shop so you make sure you order the right color for your skin type.

golden amber

blue frost

dark brown matte

black matte

maroon matte

ivory

pink frosting

silver night

amber glaze

(this is my favorite! It is pretty similar to the mac eyeshadow, all that glitters)

To see more pictures of my makeup you can go to healthy with sam

I sell my makeup on etsy, but if you live locally (Mesa/Gilbert AZ) I can take off shipping cost and you can pick up your makeup from me.

Be sure to visit my blog for a chance to win a free eyeshadow.  I will be doing a giveaway next week!