you know those people who can instantly make a day fun and happy? that’s what these two do for me.

i have the opportunity of teaching the four year olds at my church on sunday with keri.  it is always the best part of my weekend. i love hearing their crazy stories and feeling their endless energy. one of our darling students will be going to another church and will no longer be able to attend our class on sunday. she is the light of our class. she is everyones friend. she makes me instantly happy with her whispered secrets and contagious smile.
keri and i decided to take her to ice cream as a little send off on saturday. she requested bubblegum flavor so off we went to baskin robbins.  i love this little one and am so happy i was able to teach her and feel of her love.

isn’t she darling? some kids have old souls and i think she may be one of them. she can connect with people of all ages. we are three peas in a pod (three can happen sometimes right?).

and then there is my darling friend keri that i thank the heavens for. we are so much alike but different. i cherish the days of christmas party planning and co teaching. you may remember she was the friend who got me to participate in our church’s talent show. every girl needs a keri as her friend.

so saturday was filled with christmas lights, target runs and a girls afternoon with the two best.

for sunday we decided to host an afternoon of games + brunch with three other couples.
can you tell i love hosting? i love the planning that goes into it with the menu and decor. i love opening our home and creating memories. i love strengthening friendships.

and i swear i always forget to take a picture of the yummy food. i guess i am just too excited to start eating! i decided to try two new recipes (one paula deen and one ina) this time around and think one was a hit.  can you guess which one?

yes, ina. always ina. the paula recipe was pretty good but for some reason it has the entree served cold and i think i would have preferred it hot.

oh and can you believe those flowers up there are made from coffee filters? my sister and her husband made them for me for my birthday a couple years ago and i use them all the time. so pretty and a little less fuss than real flowers. and with us leaving for the holiday, i didn’t want flowers to die while we were gone.

all in all it was a great weekend with great friends and one amazing husband. i love this time of my life. i am soaking up every moment because you never know when things could change (i feel like our lives are ever-changing).

okay i think it is completely official that we belong in silicon valley.
but let’s not get ahead of ourselves on why just yet. let’s talk about what a lovely november  weekend we had.

saturday morning i woke up with a craving for waffles and pancakes and french toast oh my.
finally settled on french toast since i had a honey wheat baguette to use. but to make it just a little fancier (and more fattening) , we decided to replace milk for heavy whipping cream and add a couple of tablespoons of honey to the batter. it was heavenly. the baguette style bread + heavy whipping cream is the wow factor. do you guys have any secrets to spicing up french toast?

oh and don’t be fooled, those lovely blooms were not arranged by me (i wish). i actually coordinated an event at work and we had left over centerpieces so i took a couple home to freshen up my dinning room. i would strongly suggest karen of huckleberry designs for all your flower needs in the bay area. she was a doll and so artistic. she also worked really well within my budget.
she inspired me to perhaps take a flower design class. it is so amazing what great florists can throw together with a drop of a hat and i would love to learn at least a couple tricks of the trade.

okay, so you obviously are thinking how on earth are they silicon vallians? most people around the world adore flowers and eat french toast. but that is not why.

after breakfast, we headed to the chevy dealer to test drive the spark. we have been researching electric cars for a couple weeks because of the great leasing deals you can get and my commute to work is really wearing on me (i am talking 15 miles = 1 hour and that is ridiculous.)
we test drove the leaf last week and enjoyed it a lot more than we ever thought we would. in order to make a sound decision, we had to look at the competitors and so we happened upon the chevy dealership this sunny saturday morning.
you guys this sounds a bit crazy because we have two functioning cars and b swore he would never lease a car in his life but we fell in love and are now proud owners of a 2015 chevy spark.
and seriously proud.
it is like a clown car in size and adorably funny looking (similar to a pug puppy in my mind) but it is quick and fully electric! i will have to go into more detail of the benefits of an electric car in another post but after weeks of debating we are completely happy with our decision (and carpool lane here i come).

and if you aren’t from silicon valley than the reason this is so huge is i would say about 40% of silicon valley residents drive gas efficient (volts, prius, fiat, smart car) or electric cars. going green is pushed pretty heavy in california.
and we are now a walking stereotype of silicon valley.

and there is no better way to celebrate our new purchase than with in-n-out and pedicures.

how was your weekend?

this weekend we settled into our new place.

our two days consisted of many trips to target and costco for various needed items (christmas lights of course being one of them ha) and hosting our first dinner party!  it is starting to feel like home and i really love that feeling.

saturday morning started off with an early morning donut run to stan’s donut shop in santa clara (less than 2 miles from our home which could be dangerous). it was actually my first time going to stan’s and it won’t be my last. the line was a bit long for 8am on saturday but it was worth it! we tried old fashion, buttermilk and sprinkles. they each tasted so fresh. i loved watching the baker prepare the donuts to be cooked.

what is your favorite donut flavor?

i have been in a complete baking mood as of late and decided to make these pumpkin cookies. and although mine did not turn out as pretty as hers they were just as delicious. b is pretty particular about his cookies and he kept on coming back to them so i know it was a recipe to save for future use. we ended up giving away most of the cookies to our neighbors as a way to introduce ourselves and not gain 5 pounds ha. warning lots of butter and shortening in these babies!

then sunday morning i was craving these pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes. emily of cupcakes and cashmere has never steered me wrong with a recipe before and this time was no exception. the pancakes were heavy and rich. i couldn’t eat more than two but i enjoyed every bite. b said it was like eating cookies for breakfast in pancake form.

so i totally forgot to take a picture with all the amazing food on the table but wanted to document our first dinner party in some way. there are still some items i need in my kitchen to be the perfect host (like charger plates and more of one type of place mat) but that will all come in due time.
it was the first time i got to use my table runner from the oh joy christmas collection and i think it may be a staple for all dinners in the next coming months. i love the neutrality of the piece but paired with the right decor can look holiday-esque.

it was a lovely evening full of laughs, pumpkin cornbread and homemade jeni’s ice cream.

yes, pumpkin cornbread. made from the box a la trader joe’s. you just add eggs, milk and oil and you have yourself some delicious pumpkin cornbread. it does not have a strong pumpkin flavor – the spices are what really sets this apart from your traditional cornbread. i usually make cornbread by scratch but i just had to try this trader joe’s creation and it was a gem. everyone was asking me for the recipe so i had to spill the beans. it had more of a cake like consistency than corn bread but it was wonderful. no butter or honey needed.

how was your weekend?