Happily Ever Mock

Flower Girl

Our family welcomed a new member this weekend. My Dad married the love of his life. Linda, his new bride, is just about the sweetest woman I have ever met, and is such a blessing to our family. Hallie was the flower girl, and did such a great job throwing flowers down the aisle!  She looked darling and had so much fun!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the very special day.

                                                                            The Happy Couple

                                                      The cutest Little Flower Girl you ever did see

                                                      She totally posed like this on her own

                                                                 Her Beautiful hairdo

                                                                All the Grand kids

                                                                       Our Beautiful Family

                                                             Hallie and her cousin Brayden

                                                                            My Sweet Girl

                                                                         Just a Couple More

                                                     Cant Get Enough of her sweet face

Hallie is going to be a pro Flower Girl by the end of the year! She has already booked another gig for November, and just can’t wait! And if you are in need of any “Flower Girl Tips”- The best advice I can give is to let them practice.  Hallie walked down a pretend aisle at our house for months throwing fake flower petals, and she nailed it!

A Rainy Day Playlist

Spring in Texas means plenty of rain! Hallie really enjoys getting out her umbrella and jumping in puddles on a rainy day.  My favorite thing to do however, is curl up with a cup of coffee with an awesome rainy day playlist.  So, here are some of our favorite rainy day tunes.

Hallie’s favorite by far is Prince’s Purple Rain.  Though I am not the biggest Prince Fan (I know!) I love hearing her sing this song!  Of course I had to add some Glee love to the list! Absolutely love this mashup!

What do you like doing on rainy days?

Eat Like a Gilmore Unofficial Cookbook Take 2

Where my Gilmore Girls fans at? Have you heard of the  Eat Like a Gilmore Unofficial Cookbook?  This cookbook is my favorite and my most used to date.  All of the recipes are delicious, and each one reflects a meal eaten in the show.  I love that there are a variety of recipes for both beginner and expert chefs like Sookie.  Each recipe fits into one of these 4 categories: Luke’s Diner, Town Favorites, Emily’s House, and Sookie’s Kitchen.  Luke’s Chili and Sookie’s Caramel Marshmallow Chocolate Chunk cookies are favorites around here! And if you have ever wondered how to replicate Luke’s Santa burger, don’t hesitate and grab the book now!

While there are many great recipes in this cookbook, it definitely left me wanting more! Evidently I wasn’t the only one who craved more, because author Kristi Carlson has a second cookbook in the works.  The new cookbook will include everything from Broccoli Tarts to Pop Tarts!  Carlson has promised to incorporate Lorelai and Rory’s love for Pizza and Chinese food as well as all of those recipes us fans have been requesting! Not to mention an entire chapter dedicated to pie!

Because Kristi loves her fans, and the town of Stars Hollow as much as we do, she created a Kickstarter Campaign to get the project started! The book will include at least 60 recipes from the show along with a throwback to the episode that made it famous!

Kristi is looking for $15,000 in funding for Eat Like a Gilmore 2nd Unofficial Cookbook and offering some great incentives for the generous backers such as:

  • Recipe Request
  • Cookbook Pre-order
  • Signed Cookbook
  • Hand Written Recipe Card
  • Cookbook Gift Set
  • Design Artwork for the Cookbook
  • Writing the blurb for one of the recipes

If you are a fan of the show, you are in for a treat! Let’s help Kristi take us all back to Stars Hollow for another amazing cookbook so we can all Eat like a Gilmore.

Oy with the Poodles already, what are you waiting for? Jump on over to Kristi’s kickstarter to donate!

Caprese Chicken Recipe

For those of you that follow me on Instagram you know that I made a seriously delicious Caprese Chicken last night. (Check my stories) I polled my audience and it was clear you needed this recipe in your life, so here we go:

Ingredients:

  • 4 Chicken breasts butterflied (or pounded thin)
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Ranch Seasoning Packet
  • Olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 3 diced Roma tomatoes
  • Fresh Mozzarella slices (about 8)
  • 8 fresh basil leaves thinly sliced
  • Balsamic vinegar

Steps:

  1. Once your Chicken is butterflied or pounded thin. Salt and pepper both sides.
  2. Mix ranch packet with a little olive oil so it creates a sauce and spread on the chicken.
  3. Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
  4. Cook chicken covered for about 6 minutes on each side until browned.
  5. Remove chicken and keep warm
  6. Add garlic to pan (with more olive oil if necessary) and cook until browned (about a minute) while scraping chicken bits stuck to pan
  7. Add in tomatoes and cook for about 3 minutes.
  8. Bring chicken back to pan and top with mozzarella.  Cover and let melt.
  9. Once mozzarella is fully melted.  Top with tomatoes and basil.  Drizzle Balsamic and serve

You could serve with pasta or fresh veggies. We did Brussels sprouts, and it was so good!! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did! It was a hit for the whole family! Don’t forget to pin it to Pinterest!

Currently March

Seriously friends, how is March already half over?! This month has been crazy! Busy with Hallie on Spring Break, the store’s official opening, and 2 weddings, including my Dad’s at the end of the month. Hallie is the Flower Girl and we just can’t wait! Here is everything else we have been up to:

Reading:

Oh hey, it’s time for a shameless plug! I have been reading a ton of awesome posts on the Dallas Moms Blog.  One of which, yes I actually wrote! It’s my first one and I am beyond excited to be a contributor for them each month! This post is all about Candy Alternatives for your Child’s Easter Basket. Check it out!

Watching:

Christopher and I started watching The Good Place, it’s hilarious! What do you guys think?  I am also trying to catch The Voice this season.  I’ve missed some here and there, but I think it’s going to be a great season! LOVE Kelly Clarkson…not just because she has an awesome name! On that note, while trying to watch one night this week, this happened: (Hallie was playing with a Minnie Mouse watch that played the Hotdog song)
Hallie: Mom, say “Play” and I will make it sing. Me: No, honey, Mommy is trying to hear this. Hallie: (Whining for several minutes) Me: Hallie stop whining.  And if you aren’t going to play with your ponies, please pick them up. Hallie: (HUGE SMILE as she presses the watch) You said PLAY!!! Touche child!

Eating:

These Spinach Enchiladas are LIFE during Lent.  I found them on Pinterest! PS, don’t forget to follow us on Pinterest!

Image by: twopeasandtheirpod.com

Working on:

I just started party planning for Hal’s 4th Birthday! How is this possible?! We are also in the process of decluttering. With my Dad getting married he is selling his house and has been giving us some of my childhood things. Including beanie babies….remember when we thought those were going to be worth something? Any suggestions on what to do with them now?

Looking Forward to:

Watching the store grow! Christopher is doing just awesome! Big things are coming this year! I can feel it!

Loving for Mommy:

It’s Sandal weather in Texas! And I am digging these!

Loving for Hallie:

Hallie is in love with everything Rainbow lately, so we are definitely going to have to nab these sandals for her. What are you up to? I want to hear!

Blog Takeover With MAMA Jots

Hello Happily Ever Mock readers!

I’m Steph, and today I’m delighted and honored to guest post for Kelly! She asked me six questions to let you know a little bit about who I am and why we’re connected as “Mom Instagram friends.”

I first connected with Kelly back in November 2017 when I was just about to launch my own Mom blog. She was literally one of my first followers! And, very quickly, she became a friend. Kelly is truly one of the most supportive and genuine Instagram mom’s I’ve ever met. So, I’m thrilled to be on here with all of you!

1) Why did you start your motherhood blog?

When I first started the MAMA Jots, my goal was to meet other moms while pursuing my interest in photography. Soon after launching, I realized that I wanted to create a safe corner of the Internet for genuine, loving, modern, and creative moms to connect and grow. I’m so new to the Mom blog world,  though I’ve done a lot of research and connected with a great group of women, which I’m really grateful today that I took the leap! I truly love getting to know everyone, and I look forward to seeing where things go. I plan to keep our supportive community going for a long time.

2) What’s your favorite mommy hack?

Buying red clothes in December for Christmas and then reusing them again in February

for Valentine’s Day.

3) If money were no object how would you spend a kid free day?

With my husband! We like to find a good brunch deal or head in to town and spend the day exploring the city. Pre-baby, that’s all we did: wining and dinning in the big city or hopping a ferry to a cute and quaint town to wine taste. Those are my kind of adventures.

4) What’s one meal you could eat everyday?

Anything created with the ingredients and spices of “Mexico” in mind. Burritos? Fajitas? Tostadas? I’ll eat it all, anytime of the day!

5) What’s a TV show you wish was still airing new episodes?

Friends. Even after watching all ten seasons multiple times, I will never get enough of Friends in my life.

6) Who are four people you’d want to invite to a dinner party?

1. Oprah Winfrey (her wisdom and perspective)

2. Ellen Degeneres (her humor)

3. Mary (Mother of Jesus to talk about motherhood)

4. My Grandma (a great conversationalist and witty persona)

Whew, that was fun!

I’d love to connect with you again and hopefully get to know a lot of you through my own blog at mamajots.com or over on Instagram @mama.jots. There, you will see all the wild adventures of my daughter Abby (21) months and a few DIY projects, as well. Every caption on Instagram shares my motherhood insights and stories as we venture ahead.

Thanks again Happily Ever Mock readers and Kelly for having me this week! To read Kelly’s answers to my questions, head on over to mamajots.com

– Steph

Toddler Easter Dresses In Every Color

Over the weekend we attended our first Easter event of the season.  I started writing as a contributor for the Dallas Moms Blog, and we put on an awesome Easter Egg Hunt at Texas Discovery Gardens.  Once we left the event, it got me thinking that I hadn’t even started looking at Easter dresses yet! So today, I scoped out the internet for some contenders! So, I bring you Toddler Easter Dresses in every color!

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I absolutely love the plaid dress, and if I can convince Hallie to wear it, it’s definitely in the lead! Doesn’t it look like an Easter Egg! However the eyelet pink one is darling as well!  I just can’t choose. What are your favorites? As much as I love all of these, you know that my opinion doesn’t really matter! Anyone else have a 3 year old with the biggest opinion on their wardrobe ever?

Have you already purchased your kid’s Easter best? Where are you buying your girl’s Easter dresses this year?  Tell me in the comments if there are any other shops I need to know about!

Valentine Photos 2018

Before I share this years Valentine photos, Let me throw it back a bit to Hallie’s last few!

                                                                 9 months

                                                                        Almost 2

                                                                     Almost 3

And here we are now, at almost four! I can’t believe how big my little Valentine is getting!

My funny Valentine is full of sweet and sass! She was really such a doll though! All day she said she had a special Valentine planned for Daddy and I. When we got home, she dressed up in a ballet costume and asked me to turn on “Shake it Off”.  When I did, she performed the cutest little dance routine! My heart could explode with all the love I have for her!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentines Day!

Last Minute Valentine Gifts From Target

Listen up men, because this post is for you! We all know there are some of you that knock it out of the park on Valentines Day.  Then, there are those of you that are scrambling last minute to buy cards, flowers and picked over chocolates.  You know which one you are! So if you are the latter, keep on reading because I got you covered! Here are 6 ideas your wife/girlfriend will love! They are thoughtful, AND better yet, they are all from Target!

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  1. A beautiful Magnolia Vase- This says, I listen to you when you talk all about shiplap and understand your love for Chip and Joanna. Extra points if you fill this vase with your gal’s favorite flowers!
  2. Wine Decanter and Glass Set- If your wife had a long day chasing after kids, she will love you for this one! Bring home a nice bottle of red, and let the romantic night begin….after you get the kids off to bed that is.
  3. Love Coupons- The gift that keeps on giving! Let your wife trade in these coupons for date nights, housework exemption and more!
  4. Keepsake box- A sweet little box for your Love’s jewelry or keepsakes.  You could write her a romantic note and tuck it inside.  Or if you want to go an extra step you can sneak in some beautiful earrings.
  5.  This adorable Infinity pillow will tell your sweetheart that you are in it for the long haul! Trust me, pillows are the grown up equivalent of buying her a teddy bear!
  6. Last, set the mood with this delicious smelling candle. It’s a romantic gesture, that will not go unnoticed!

Hopefully this will be a helpful gift guide for you last minute men! You can thank me, with any of these gifts as well!

A Few of My Favorite Things- February

It’s the month of love, and what better way to celebrate than sharing some of the products I love?  These are a few of my favorite things for February! 

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Please don’t judge the fact that half of these items come from Thelma Dean.  I just can’t get over how good this shop is! Founder Jess Oakes created a shop so practical for Moms! All the pieces are flattering, affordable and adorable.  Many of the items are nursing friendly and they are all functional for busy Moms on the go, chasing after our kids! The joggers especially are so comfortable, and I never want to take them off! And when I say affordable, I mean it! Shout out to Jess for creating this amazing shop for Moms everywhere!

Also, can we take a minute to praise the Freshly Picked diaper bag? I can’t stop creeping on it online, and the only thing holding me back from snagging one, is deciding on the color! Three new colors for Spring just released a few weeks ago! I’m totally smitten with the navy..and the birch! I can’t decide, so opinions please!

I am giving a quick shout out to the Oh Sugar collection from Cover Girl! The lipstick, that feels and acts like a balm, but is color lasting! In other news, check out that price! Also those Toms, are love!

What are your favorite things this month? Because we all know I need to shop more! Ha!