puffed pancake recipe.

for those who asked for the puffed pancake recipe from this post last week, here it is! i thought i had shared it before on the blog but after searching my archives i realized i'd only left the recipe in the comment section of a post a few years ago. it's the simplest thing to make on this planet... i grew up eating them on the weekends with my family, and now josh and i eat them more than we'd like to admit!

puffed pancakes:

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup flour

dash of salt

dash of cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

preheat oven to 425 degrees.

whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.

while the oven is preheating, melt the butter in a pie pan or 9 inch square pan.

pour the batter into the hot melted buttered pan.

bake 10-12 minutes (or until the pancake is firm and has puffed around the edges).

the pancake will shrink down a bit after coming out of the oven (that's ok.) serve right away with lemon juice, powdered sugar, maple syrup, or fruit.

enjoy!

rockstar giveaway!

today we have some great goodies for you from a few of our sponsors!

the first up is a free pair of prescription glasses of your choice from bonlook! below are a few of my favorite frames, but you can check out all of the options here. also, get $10 off all frames with the code BLTAZA10!

next up is a free pair of shoes of your choice from our sponsor, blowfish! i'm really loving their spring collection which you can check out here.

and last but not least, one reader will win an autographed copy of jack and white's new cd, winter! the singer-songwriters behind the new album are brooke white and jack matranga and trust me, it is good! you can listen to a few of the songs here on iTunes!

in order to enter, please visit each of our sponsors above, then come back here and let us know what you'd love to win! the winners will be drawn at random and announced next friday, march 2nd.

good luck!

ps. our style mint giveaway winners from last week are announced here!

a 25 week baby bump!

a 25 week baby bump!

every morning i wake up to a slightly bigger belly. sleeping through the night has gotten interesting. and doing things like bending over to tie shoes and what not. and we can't forget my three hundred trips to the bathroom every night. those are really fun. but there are also those blessed little kicks and jabs throughout the day, and a baby that is letting mama still eat burgers and fries without wanting to vomit, so we're still happy over here.

eleanor has begun to take note that mama's body is changing... she likes to poke at my outy belly button now and giggle to herself. good news is, we've finally gotten her to stop hitting it. that was a strange couple of days. it's like she knows. ;) now she's learned if she rubs mama's tummy gently we'll applaud, so naturally, she's been rubbing my tummy nonstop.

cannot wait for june!

life lately, according to my iphone pictures.

...and a few from josh's iPhone, too.

xo

eleanor goes to the zoo!

the weather was just beautiful today so eleanor and i decided to head to the national zoo! we spotted a panda and a very friendly gorilla but most of the animals must have been taking naps or something, because they were scarce. we still had a great time, though. eleanor is finally at an age where she loves animals so we're looking forward to many trips back this spring and summer. hopefully papa will be able to join us on a few, too. we missed him today.

past trips to the national zoo here and here.

**music in video by arcade fire.

a little update.

hello!

hope your weekend was great! and your monday.... and tuesday. ;)

eleanor has started walking...finally! we still have a ways to go but she loves to stand and dance all on her own and is finally putting a few steps in there, too. we are very proud. there has been a lot of cheering and clapping going on around these parts lately. sometimes, cheering and clapping for 60 seconds straight! this new phase has got to be the greatest.

josh somehow talked me into going off of candy, desserts and soda with him for a month. a month!! in the moment it sounded like a fun challenge to take on together and oh so doable, but then suddenly there is key lime pie on every menu i see, a forgotten stash of dove chocolates in my car, and a whole lotta ice cream sandwiches staring me in the face every time i open the freezer door. but our bodies are going to feel so good soon, right? RIGHT?!

there is so much more i want to blog right now but i need to upload photos from my camera and that seems really daunting at the moment. so i am going to bed instead. have a wonderful night! xo

rockstar giveaway (closed)

today we have a giveaway for you from our sponsor, stylemint! if you aren't already familiar with the new brand, stylemint is an exclusive member only site with new t shirt styles to choose from every month designed by mary-kate olsen and ashley olsen. i've been living in this red and white striped broadway t shirt from stylmint all week. i'm in love!

stylemint is offering 10 lucky readers a t shirt of their choice! there are so many options, go here to see them all.

to enter, please visit stylemint and sign up if you aren't already a member (it's completely free and takes only a minute.) then come back here and comment below telling us which t shirt is your favorite...

our 10 winners will be drawn at random and announced friday, february 24th. good luck!

ps. if you aren't a winner, don't fret! stylemint is offering 25% off your first t shirt for new members this month! just enter the promo code: ROCKSTAR.

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update :: 2/24: congrats to our winners below!

please email me to claim your t shirt! rockstardiaries@gmail.com

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a "stay in your sweat pants and slippers all day" kind of day.

i've been fighting a mean cold all week. yesterday was my most nauseous day of pregnancy so far, and pretty sure i feel 41 weeks pregnant as of late... (only 24 weeks. despite having experienced this all once before, this second pregnancy is no piece of cake.)

eleanor and i didn't leave the house once yesterday. we declared it a "stay in your sweat pants and slippers all day" kind of day. we made ourselves a tasty puffed pancake around 3pm for "mommy's breakfast" and pretty much just read books, watched a lot of hulu, and cuddled in bed most of the day.

a few things that helped me get through yesterday...

what's left of the pretty flowers kingsley did not eat

which josh got me for valentines day .

a puffed pancake in the middle of the afternoon

with lots and lots and lots of powdered sugar.

this cute little face playing peek-a-boo in the nursery with me.

wearing slippers all day long.

...and lots of san pellegrino, tea, and tissues

within arms reach on my nightstand.

i'm already feeling a lot better today, although still feeling pretty pregnant. but i suppose that feeling is here to stay until june... ;) hope you and i both have a wonderful weekend! xo

happy valentine's day!

hope you had a wonderful valentine's day!

we started our morning off with lots of sweet kisses and hugs from eleanor (she has recently figured out how to give us 'squeeze' hugs and we are eating them up!) i woke up to a new tea kettle in my kitchen this morning (i've been needing and wanting a new one for a while now) and pretty flowers were delivered this afternoon from my love (kingsley kindly ate half of them before i even saw them. that's what i get for letting him out into the front yard to go potty without actually looking at my front stoop.) tonight, josh and i tried out casa nonna for dinner and fell in love with their cavatelli.

despite eleanor going potty during her bath today (so much fun for mommy to clean up, let me tell you!), getting a parking ticket even though the parking meter was broken (i swear those meter maids will be the end of me) and shattering a glass cup all over my kitchen this morning, today hasn't been so bad. i like valentine's day.

xoxo

a weekend in the city...

we spent last friday and saturday in new york city as a family. we had meetings most of the weekend there, so we didn't get to see friends or do a whole lot, but we did shoot some video together when we weren't in meetings.

we really love that city. don't worry, dc, we love you, too. but gosh, i think new york stole both of our hearts individually when we each moved there for school as little 18 year olds. so many memories made there in the years that followed. i can't believe this spring marks 3 years since we moved! time flies... it really does.

ps. the prettiest little snowstorm happened on saturday morning while we were walking through the west village. it was so beautiful. i want to walk through it again.

**music in video by the black keys.

life lately, according to my iphone pictures.

i'm pretty sure this last one with eleanor's kissy face covered in granola is my new favorite photo of her. reminds me of this one, which she hasn't graced us with in a while, but we die over every single time.

have a great weekend!

xo

my baby girl. not so much a baby anymore.

back in december when we were in utah we got to see my dear candice who was also visiting utah (you know her from this awesome tutorial she did over the holidays. she also took this fun photo of me back in the day when we both lived in nyc.) anyway, she snapped a few photos of eleanor when we got together and here are a couple of my favorites. you can't tell from these photos, but candice is a miracle worker because eleanor was not having the best morning... she just wanted to be held and left alone (thanks to west coast time difference and nap schedules thrown off). thank you again, candice!

music for eleanor, check ups, and getting ready for june!

this child can't seem to get enough music in her life. always wanting to play the piano, bob her head up and down to music and dance. a car drove by our home the other day with rap music so loud we could hear it inside and eleanor immediately stopped what she was doing and began shaking her little body to the beat. i hope she always has a love for music and movement. it's such a wonderful part of life.

eleanor had her one year check up today with her pediatrician. that one year check up also came with 4 shots and blood drawn. i felt so mean holding her down and listening to her scream. i don't think anything hurts as much as hearing your own child cry and not being able to do anything about it. i'm just really glad that part of today is over.

after that torturous appointment, i tried to find a playground in d.c. with a swing set for eleanor to play on since i felt so terrible. none of the playgrounds by us have swings. and while i appreciate the playground slide, the swings are where it's at! but i had no luck finding swings. so we just went down the slide a million times instead. (do any of you in d.c. know of a playground with swings? and why aren't they at every playground? am i missing something?)

josh had to work late tonight so i made dessert crepes for myself for dinner. then i walked up the stairs holding eleanor and felt so short winded after climbing to the top. i'm really out of shape. i need to do better and maybe stop eating things like dessert crepes for dinner.

this little baby inside me is moving all the time now. feeling those little kicks has to be the greatest part of pregnancy. i'm getting so excited to meet this new little babe. some days i can't believe in just a few months i'll be a mother of two (especially when so many like to chime in and remind me how difficult it's going to be and how i have no idea). they are right, i don't have any idea because i have never had two children before and yes, i'm scared, too. when people start telling me what i'm in for having another baby when eleanor will only be 16 months old, i'm reminded of all those ladies who loved sharing their horror birth stories with me while i was pregnant with eleanor. it's like, really? why are you telling me that? why do we love to focus on the awful parts? maybe i'm just really naive but after spending an entire year with eleanor now, i know what joy i'm in for with this second baby. i know what my heart is going to feel like when i see that smiling face looking up at me come june and all the days after june that we get to spend together. and i know what love is going to fill every corner of our home day after day with a new baby living here. i know what all that feels like and i can't wait to feel it times 2. so i'm up for the challenges that come with having two babies. and we'll figure it out. i know we'll figure it out...

a birthday party, for eleanor.

on saturday we had a little birthday party for eleanor. since valentines day is right around the corner, we went with that theme. i gave myself a very little budget for her party as i realized early on how easily i could get carried away with everything. ;) i made homemade valentine invitations and decorations and kept the menu to some baked treats, fruit kabobs and a little spring salad. my sister bekah came into town for the weekend and saved the day with all her mad kitchen skills. she was such a big help and having an extra set of hands is how this all happened. we're trying to convince her to move in with us for the summer...or permanently. ;)

we got lucky and had some of our favorite people in our home saturday. friends from the district, the dc area, even a few of my closet friends from college came down for the day from new york city. we're really thankful for all the love our friends have shown eleanor over the past year. to be honest, we felt their love for her before she even arrived. as she's growing older, i hope she feels it, too. so thank you, friends, for making this year extra special for our family. it was wonderful to spend afternoon with you celebrating our little girl.

happy birthday, once more, baby girl.

we love you.

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