My Coral and Jade Birthday

First, I am so overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and well wishes for me on my birthday this year.  My phone was "blowing up" all over the place with facebook notifications, text messages, tweets, etc.  If nothing else, social media, you know how to make a girl feel special!

I really did feel special this weekend.  I got to find some "me" time and spend the morning with some lovely ladies from my church doing Holy Yoga.  It was great exercise, worship, and socialization, all things that I get way too little of regularly!

That's me on the green mat!

Afterwards, I go to go home, enjoy a long hot shower while the girls naps overlapped (thanks little ladies!) and then B took me out to celebrate.  In the last couple of years, it's been harder and harder for us to stay out, never mind get out, and usually we are home by 9:00pm.  Lame!  We were determined not to fall victim again this year!

We started off by going to Henninger's in Fells Point.  It's a few blocks away from the hub-bub of Fells, but on this night it was a bit more subdued since there was a playoff football game going on that pulled people away from fancy dinners.  We were the only people in the restaurant section and we enjoyed our meal at a leisurely pace.  The food was great and the atmosphere was true to Baltimore in its quirkiness, mixing up elephants with UFOs in their decor.

In an effort to prolong our excursion, we went to a different location for dessert.  Truly, in Baltimore, this is the only place to go for dessert on your birthday, Vaccaro's in Little Italy.  I ordered the Franciscan from the specials menu and was awarded with a dinner sized plate of Hazelnut Cake, coffee gelatto, and a glob of whipped cream that could stand alone as dessert.  I maybe had 4-5 bites, was totally stuffed, and took the rest home.  My apologies to my friends on the "Whole30" diet who were forced to see this picture and be reminded of what you're missing.  

Enough cake to feed the whole city!

Then we started to falter.  What do we do now?  We considered our options and settled on checking out Patrick's Irish Whiskey and Cappuchino bar just a few blocks from our house.  We've driven past this establishment for 7 years now without ever going in and figured it was about time.  I am so glad we did!  I had had sufficient caffeine and alcohol already (one drink limits for both!), so I had water while B enjoyed a pint off the tap.  

Smile for the camera kids!

The bartender introduced himself as Tommy and was friendly and inviting, despite our meager imbibing.  We were the youngest people by at least 20 years, which on my 35th birthday, felt pretty good to be considered a young'un.  The best part was the live Irish fold singer who knew my two favorite songs, Fields of Athenry and Whiskey in the Jar (apparently based on the Dread Pirate Roberts, marrying another favorite topic of mine).  It was a great ending to my celebration!  

Dinner Napkin Pillows

First, I'd just like to thank everyone who has been checking up on us and praying for us.  K is feeling much better and we're getting back to normal around here.  Since K took a solid nap today, I figured I'd share what I did with naptime (I'll just shower later, haha!).

I've been wanting to bring in more color to my living room recently.  Over and over, you hear that pillows are the best way to update a space on a budget.  Even so, I don't think that $100+ for new pillows is very budget friendly.  So, when I saw these dinner napkins on clearance at Target, I was thrilled!

So, for less than $6, I was able to make four pillow cases!  I love this color green and I'm a huge fan of the lattice/scroll prints I've been seeing a lot of lately.  There's plenty of tutorials out there, I'm sure, to use dinner napkins to make pillow cases.  Here's how I did it:

First, my least favorite step, was to iron each napkin.  Then, with wrong sides together, I sewed around three sides and about two or three inches in on the fourth side.

Next, I sewed some Velcro into the opening on the fourth side.  Having little ones around, I want to be able to remove these covers and wash them if necessary.

Finally, I stuffed my couch pillows in, closed the Velcro and that was it!  In less than an hour, I have a newly updated living room!

Here are some before and after pictures:

 Looks so much more fun and cheery right? 

These new pillows pull together the green curtains and the green from the Pack 'N Play.  haha!

Even Druha likes the new pillows. :)

BTW, I gave in a while back and signed up for Twitter.  I'm completely hooked now!  Follow me: @melissawhayes

So Blessed

Sometimes I get really down about being away from family and the friends I've had since childhood.  This is especially true around holidays, birthdays, and let's face it, the birth of my children.  I long to share all these experiences with them by my side.

However, I cannot express how incredibly thankful and grateful I am for the people God has placed in our lives here in MD.  With K's arrival (and previously with T's arrival), we have been showered with love by so many.  The way our lives have been blessed is amazing!  Thanks to our friend Colleen, a meal schedule was established and our friends have been feeding us so well!  Just look at a couple of these yummy meals!

Delicious cheese enchiladas!

Veggie burritos, courtesy of Heather from Pladnation!

And not just dinners, but yummy desserts, healthy fruits and salads, special treats from Vacaro's, and my favorite bagel/cream cheese combination from Panera!  Having the visitors has been great too!

So while I may be a little more homesick than usual, I am so thankful for all of our friends here in MD, for them taking time out of their lives to love us and help us adjust to being a family of four.

And, above all else, I am so blessed to have these people in my life: