Spring break-- finally!

This spring break certainly won't be without the obligatory "reclining time" -- but I'd like to make the most of this wonderful little week by finally getting to do all the mundane things I never have time for...

You'll notice no mention of "eat at a {insert fabulous restaurant}" or "weekend away to {insert fabulous location}." We're staycationing it up this year in effort to stockpile funds for a future Casa Willi. Saving like a miser has its good days and bad days!  

Happy spring break to all the teachers out there-- and good luck in the home stretch once school's back in!

2.

Thank you for the ridiculously exciting, refreshing, crazy, loving, bizarre, PERFECT past two years. 

I'm a very lucky girl ♥

Love Day Overload

Happy Valentine's Day!

DIY gifting

Two of my very favorite people, Mr. and Mrs. M, are new homeowners and I am completely uninspired when it comes to housewarming gifts. Sadly, plants and booze are my go-to gifts. 

For this occasion, a bottle of vino or a succulent just weren't up to snuff. Sometimes, the best way to say "yay!" is with a little homespun goodness, so I grabbed my camera and the dog and we were off on a walk to find some significant digits. 

The neighborhood was a serious disappointment when it came to sevens, so I had to take matters into my own hands... 

                                                                                                

Address plate...

Parking strip...

It's a little weird walking around, taking photos of other people's things. I expected someone to come out of their house and start squawking at me {part of the reason I brought the Teeb along}. Here's the finished project:

(please forgive the wonky iPhone photo)

Mr. and Mrs. M-- I hope your new home gives you years of happiness and memories-- and I can't wait to completely overstay my welcome! ♥♥

Banana bread brown sugar pancakes

Another Pinterest recipe success!

Brown sugar banana bread pancakes with vanilla glaze. Ridiculously delicious. 

I started with the recipe here. I made some substitutions out of necessity... 

• oat flour instead of whole wheat flour {the Mister is gluten-free}
• 2 bananas instead of 3 bananas {thats all I had}
• cream instead of milk {milk decided to check out early. blechh}
• this glaze instead of the vanilla maple {I loathe syrup} 

These pancakes are the real deal, and oh so easy to make. I'm tinkering with the idea of turning them into  cupcakes. The batter is fluffy yet dense {which doesn't make all that much sense, but I don't know how else to explain it}. It reminds me of the little pieces of heaven from Baked and Wired. Mmm... pardon me while I drool a little. 

If you're a pancake lover and/or banana bread lover, these are a must. Get going!

Better late than never.

I've finally started reading Harry Potter.

I'm currently on 'Order of the Phoenix' and I'm captivated-- although I had to take a little break before reading it because the fourth book scared the crap out of me. {Yeah, I know}

So far, my favorite was 'Prisoner of Azkaban'. I'm not sure why, but I think it was all the backstory and character development.

As much as I would love for the other Willi to read them along with me, I've had to settle for watching the movies together once I've finished the latest book. I'm actually glad I've started them now that all the books and films are out, because I don't think I could've handled having to wait for the next release. 

All my HP readers out there-- which is your favorite?

A-hunting we will go

We're a Christmas tree-choppin' family. It hasn't always been that way-- Amwilli grew up with "forever" trees, and my family usually picked ours up from a tree lot. It's nice to have this tradition to share with each other...  

...and the Teeb. 

This is our fourth year and she still gets pretty darn excited when we pull up to Gaver Tree Farm. There's a lot of whining and pacing (which isn't too cute and we always spend the first couple minutes trying to chill her out). We think she can smell the other dogs, but who really knows for sure? 

Our journey starts at the hastily written, yet charming white board sign. Our go-to is usually the good ole Douglas Fir-- firm and unprickly needles, perfect for all sorts of ornaments.

It's a sea of trees! Decisions, decisions. 

Could this be the one? Nope. Too bare on the top. 

Ohh... this one had a little surprise: a bird's nest. For some reason we decided that was the piece of criteria that put it over the top. 

It didn't take long for that sucker to fall... and guess who had her little eyes trained on the guy holding the saw?

Tree meets cart. 

I foolishly decided to get a little piece of the stump to start a set of DIY ornaments I spied on Pinterest (they should really just call it "Obsession," but maybe Calvin Klein has the trademark on that). Anyhoo-- my foray into lumberjacking didn't go so well, but I got my piece, so I'm happy. 

And away we go... well, away he goes...

At some point, the mister thought it'd be a great idea for the pooch to get out some of that energy by helping to pull the cart. Genius! Next year, we're bringing her harness (don't worry, he's still doing most of the work). 

On the way back to the car, I made a new friend. 

After a stop at the shake machine to get all the dead/loose needles off, and a quick bailing, we were set.

Who doesn't love a big, strong man?

She's got no complaints! 

Stay tuned for decorations... Happy December!