Friday Things
1. Joseph is moving and grooving and taking one or two its-bitsy baby steps without holding on to anything, but he hasn’t taken off quite yet… I think he’s still a little unsure, but he keeps trying! His birthday is Tuesday (WHAT?!), and we’re having his party tomorrow! I’m sure that I’ll inundate you with photos and memories next week :)
2. Speaking of birthdays, we showered Einstein with lots of love and attention and treats yesterday :)  In less than four weeks, we have Einstein’s birthday, Joseph’s, my husband’s and my father-in-law’s… it’s party central over here!
3. We finally, FINALLY got some snow this week! It was a few inches but it snowed for the better part of the day and was just so pretty. The day felt incredibly cozy; I loved looking out the window and watching the snow fall.
4. Did you get Powerball fever last week? We definitely sat around and talked about what we would do with a billion dollars, because hey, someone has to win eventually! How unfathomable is that number?! A BILLION dollars. My number one priority (after giving money to family) was to buy a huge piece of land and put a house somewhere on it. I didn’t have any crazy ideas, actually… What would you do with that much money??
5. Thinking about a garden for this summer? I love all of these four-square-feet garden ideas… they each have a theme, which is pretty awesome.
6. I love Billy Joel, so I’m totally digging these videos with Jimmy Fallon from The Tonight Show:
7. I had a Kind bar for the very first time a couple of weeks ago when I met up with a friend at Starbucks. It was SO GOOD, and then I came across this recipe for homemade kindness bars – loving all of the possible flavor combinations and they’re so easy!
8. Have you heard about putting butter in coffee? Has anyone tried it? Tell me your thoughts!
9. 23 Life-Changing Ways to Make Mac n’ Cheese <– Yes, please!
10. TGIF! The birthday boy wishes you an awesome weekend!
I have heard of the butter in coffee thing. Though I’ve never tried it, I am certainly intrigued! Here is a link to The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for it, which is where I first learned of the idea: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/crazy-coffee. Also, we have a friend who works for KIND bars and is constantly giving us boxes of the granola bars and bags of their granola (side note: their protein fruit and nut granola is SO tasty and a great quick breakfast option). Love!
Happy Birthday to Joseph, Einstein and all the birthday folks! Embrace all reasons for celebration!!! My mother and grandmother used to dunk their buttered Italian bread in their coffee and loved it! I can’t get beyond the visual of the “oil cloud” left on the top of my coffee but my brother tells me it’s a taste that can’t be beat. I’d be interested in hearing what you think of it. A billion dollars would give me a lot of room to be a blessing to those I love and those I love but have never met. Imagine being able to improve the lives of children in an orphanage or help homeless families regain their footing, learn new job skills and help themselves back to a good quality of life. And helping animals! Oh my! I hope those folks who did win do well with this new wealth.
I love butter but no butter in coffee for me, I’d rather have it with a muffin on the side. Love butter in hot buttered rum though! If I won the lottery, I’d give most to charity (animals) but I’d make sure they were using the majority of it for the work rather than admin costs. I would give money to friends who need it, buy a house where I want to live and go on some holidays including a Caribbean cruise and one to the Greek islands. And I’d get a lot more animals i.e. cats! Weather here is crazy, one minute it’s high 30s Celsius, few hours later 15 C and one minute pouring, next sunny…this is Australia! Happy birthday to Joseph and happy party season to all of you.
Somebody got their first haircut!
I have tried 1T. butter and 1 T. coconut oil in my coffee (12 oz. very strong and very hot), blended briefly in my Vitamix. It’s really good! Be sure it’s unsalted butter (grass-fed preferred). Happy Birthday Joseph!!
Bulletproof Coffee makes a great breakfast for me sometimes.
I read you can “kick it up a notch” with the addition of a free range organic egg, which i buy locally. I buzz it with 12 oz. hot coffee, the 1 TBSP.coconut oil, and the 1 TBSP.butter in my Vitamix until it is steamy foamy and hot, about 2-3 minutes. The egg is cooked during this time, so is safe to eat. The Bulletproof Coffee feels like a treat on a low carb diet and provides sources of healthy fat.
My oldest son (now 38!) took his first steps ON his first birthday – his overachieving little brother was fully walking by the time he was 8 months old! They do it in their own sweet time! But once they take off, get ready – you have to stay one step behind the little fellers!
I’m so jealous of your snow! Here in Arkansas it’s 63 today! BUT – a cold front is coming!!!!
I LOVE Billy Joel, too! I saw that first one on with him and Jimmy at the piano when it aired on tv – can’t wait to watch the other one!
Here’s what WE would do with the money. First off, get rid of our vehicles and 2 brand new ones – nothing flashy – probably a Toyota for me and a GMC Truck for my hubby. Next – pay off our house. That’s our only bill. Set up accounts for the grands to go to college and have money that they can get to when they turn 35. Give money to our kids, our siblings and a select group of friends. Give a couple of local animal shelters lots of supplies, donate to a couple of local women’s shelters. Bank and invest the rest!
Enjoy your birthdays – I know you will! Have a great weekend!
Happy Birthday to Joseph! He and I share a birthday, and we will be celebrating three other family birthdays between the 19th and 30th. Birthday central here as well. Love your site. Hoping to find some great cakes and alternative treats for all of our get togehters.
Hi Emily, Happy birthday to you!!
Our house tried the butter in coffee. We did the Bulletproof coffee for a weekend, which is meant to be in place of your morning meal and it also included coconut oil. My husband loved it and it really did give him ‘bulletproof’ energy until about 4 pm. I wouldn’t try it though….
Love Joseph’s pants! I think that he and my 8 month old look so similar. He is adorable. Love the weekly photos. Curious what your birthday party theme will be!
I haven’t tried peanut butter in my coffee, but coffee/chocolate/peanut butter is one of my favorite flavor combinations. My ideal ice cream sundae: coffee ice cream with peanut butter swirled in and chocolate syrup or hot fudge on top. Along those same lines, lately I’ve been tossing around trying to make a homemade peanut butter with those flavors. I’m thinking of using your peanut butter method and adding in chocolate chips. Just can’t decide which would be better to add to get the coffee flavor: coffee extract or instant espresso powder? Maybe I’ll try small batches of both…
Happy Birthday to Joseph, Einstein and the rest of the January birthday crew ? Have a fun time tomorrow ?????
Not sure what I would’ve done if I had one the Powerball. I know I would’ve helped Animal Shelters for sure #1 on my list!
I heard that putting butter in your coffee is supposed to be good for you but I never tried it. I guess I’m just so used to putting it on my toast not so much coffee.
Have a wonderful day today as well as tomorrow. ?????
Hi Michelle and happy Friday! Happy birthday to Einstein, Joseph and all the rest of everyone there for the January birthdays! We have only one January birthday and I always thought that was a little difficult given the fact that in January I am still recuperating from all the Christmas spending, then I have more spending to do :). Joseph is getting so big and so cute! I love his haircut, he looks so adorable! I had a bit of a plan if I would have won the Powerball. My plan was to pay off mine and my kids mortgages and then buy everyone a new house, put a nice nest egg away for retirement, put money in an account for my grandchildren, help my brothers and the rest of my family out financially, give money to Children’s cancer research, for diabetes, etc and then find folks who are really in need of help and help them out anonymously. I forgot to add, RETIRE and then volunteer and spend extra time with my grandchildren. Oh and travel! Oh boy, the list goes on….:) Have a great weekend and enjoy the parties!
Like you I would have taken care of family and then bought a house or two – one for winter and one for summer with the lotto winnings. Joseph is just so adorable! Did he get a haircut recently? I hope he has a great party tomorrow (I’m sure he’ll have tons of fun and get lots of kisses!). You are definitely party center but it sounds like fun – it’s kind of nice to get them done that way – ours are pretty much bunch up during the summer. I have not tried butter in coffee but I have heard about it – just not daring enough…lol
Hi Maria, He hasn’t gotten a hair cut in a few weeks; my husband trims it up every now and then when it starts to look a little unruly :)
I’ve not heard of putting butter in your coffee, but I have heard of putting coconut oil in it as a way of getting in that good-for-you fat. I have done that in both coffee and tea. It adds a nice flavor to a cup of coffee; in tea, I didn’t notice it so much. Does putting butter in your coffee work on the same premise a adding the coconut oil? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Joseph! So much fun for all of you this weekend!
Hi Michelle, I’m not sure, to be honest!
A billion dollars is a crazy amount of money. It’s actually good a free people one. That is a lot of responsibility to be thrust on one person. I can’t thing of anything creative I would done with the money. Save it, give some to charity, and I would have gotten on a private plane to somewhere warm and sunny.
Our January was sort of the same. It’s mom’s birthday, then it was nana’s birthday, my ex’s birthday, my birthday, then the ‘rents anniversary. Now it’s step dad, mom, and my birthdays. January has always been packed for us.