weekend cake baking.

my sweet momma is flying in this morning from NH

for a long weekend visit.

i'm so excited to show her around this new home that we have here.

i would like nothing more than surprise her with a freshly

baked cake that we can devour with dinner tonight.

wouldn't that be a nice surprise?

one of my favorite things to do when i lived with mom was bake a 2-layer cake

from scratch, frost it with homemade butter cream

and plop in onto of one of our pretty cake platters.

momma would carve out slices and deliver them to her co-workers

and, of course, we feasted upon it for guilty night-time snacks.

so, what cake to bake today?

a chocolate cake with coconut? lemon cake and lemon butter cream?

something else? . . . too many possibilities!!!

{via}

when a vegetarian cooks NON-vegetarian.

last night i cooked my mr. wonderful a treat.

oh boy, ladies and gents, i cooked chicken for dinner!

it wasn't fancy or complicated

{let's get real, nothing i cook ever really is}

but my man said it did his belly good.

hearing that just made my little wife heart so happy.

what we ate: sauteed asparagus, basil and cheese mashed potatoes

and sweet orange slices.

what he ate {too}: chicken baked in a spicy rub that i almost made up myself.

i share this to 1./ prove i can cook poultry even though i don't eat it!

{i am always worried it's overcooked but i think i've

become decent at dry-chicken prevention.}

and 2./ tell you how amazing basil is in mashed potatoes!

i know i'm a young cook and all, so maybe you've already discovered this;

but i'm telling you it takes your creamy mash to a whole new level.

if you haven't already, you must try try try!

singing hymns with the symphony.

well, hello there, sweets. i hope you had a marvelous weekend.

things have been a little bit nutty around these parts

but we had a nice break from the hamster wheel on sunday evening.

john bought us tickets to the nashville symphony community hymn sing a while ago-

dressing up and going out for a night together was just what we needed.

in case you've never experienced the community hymn sing

{i hadn't}, it's exactly like going to the actual symphony

except they perform all your favorite hymns with a full choir

and some really terrific guest artists {michael w. smith, to name one}.

john and i were definitely in the youngest age group there

but we had a blast singing along with the q-tip club.

it was actually quite moving at times-

lots of teary eyes and goosebumps singing all those

lovely songs that hold so much spiritual and historical meaning to us.

the mr. and i finished the night chattering about how we want to make

the hymn sing something we look forward to each year.

our salvage outing.

we took the scooter to the park and ate a picnic in the grass the other day . . .

we've had a long stretch of gorgeous weather and we've made the most of it!

after our relaxing meal, we rode out to southeastern salvage to investigate

and what a treasure trove we discovered!

the cutest $4 area rug came home with us for our kitchen.

we found lots of other lovely things that i could easily imagine in our home

including some nice butcher block countertops that i have

no reason in the least to own.

salvage makes me excited for yard sale-ing season!

date with the munchies.

i swear, the husband and i eat healthfully- we really do.

but every now and then we crave a guilty snack . . .

perhaps sonic for a husband and wife date?

sometimes there is nothing like salty french fries with ketchup

and a chocolatey milkshake for dinner.

here we are . . . just eating in the car . . . a husband and wife

who wanted to skip the vegetables for a night.

SUCRÉ.

i'm a little behind the 8 ball in posting this . . .

i used to be a huge eisley fan, so when one of my favorite bloggers wrote

about her collaboration on this project, i heard the voice and became oh-so-happy.

aren't the strings in this song so very lovely?

thank you, sweet husband.

john worked until the wee hours of sunday morning

and was up again only a few short hours later to get to band practice before church service.

when i finally stumbled out of bed to get myself ready to meet him at church,

three lovely roses were waiting for me in the morning sunshine.

a cheerful gift from my kind, hard-working husband.

the return of spring.

last week the sun finally came out, the clouds parted and nashville seemed

to wake up from it's sleepy winter slumber.

it felt like everyone in town burst out of their doors with smiles

on their faces and flip flops on their feet . . .

john and i hopped onto the scooter and made our way to one

of our favorite parks for a long stroll.

{making a sour face while posing for mr. wonderful.}

{doesn't our parthenon remind you of downtown abbey?!}

i'm discovering the upside to living in the south is this lovely sun

and breezy weather . . . love! love! love!

wantlisted: new swimwear.

nothing exciting happened this weekend-

we were busy working every and it didn't leave much time for husband and wife adventures.

at night, after we were home and in a calm state, i found these . . .

who cares if i just moved to a landlocked state?

this has got to happen.

vintage.

you know when you look through old photographs

and the memories just flood back?

i had one of those moments a few nights ago.

i will never again wish for the days of skype dates or

long weekend visits every other month . . .

but wow, those days with my love were pretty sweet.

happy weekend, lovelies!

new wall art.

we needed something fresh to look at here at the nashville branch of the wallace family,

so we tried a new inspirational phrase last week.

i think we're taking to it nicely.

i mean, really- how much fun is it to write on the walls????

chic//cheap designs for your wednesday.

i'm going to be completely honest here- sometimes i read magazine articles

or posts {even on my favorite blogs} and think,

"is no one else on a budget except me???!!!"

i drool over the lovely pieces that decorate pinterest and blogs,

but i've faced facts that mr. wonderful and i aren't yet at the point when we

can plunk down a couple grand to furnish and decorate our little home

{although, i do dream of that day}.

thinking about all of this has inspired me to hunt for

chic//cheap design alternatives and here are a few i've recently discovered.

herman miller eames molded plywood lounge chair // target bandelier arm chair

west elm emmerson dining table // world market brooklyn dining table

de'longhi KMIX 5 cup coffee maker // cuisinart brew central 12 cup coffee maker

design within reach girard pillow // erin dollar stacked triangle pillow via etsy

i'd love to hear your feedback on this one . . . are husband and i

the only ones who feel this way?

whatcha think of these comparisons and

would you like to see more posts like this?