February Photos

*I did not make this cake. I realized I needed to make this clear when I showed Steve my post and he exclaimed, "When did you make that?!"

It's the last day of February! I have always loved this month. Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays (even though I sort of dislike similar days like New Years and 4th of July). Many of my closest friends and family members have birthdays in and around February, and with each day, the mornings get a tiny bit brighter, the days a little bit longer. Inspired by another blogger's Friday Phone Dump series, I thought I'd post my favorite February photos.

We celebrated our dear friend Mckenzie's birthday with a beautiful brunch on February 4th.



I love her. And so does her man. :)

The rest of the month's photos came mostly from my new phone. I love how easy it is to capture life's moments.

There have been some stressful times this month, but looking back at these photos serves as a reminder that life is really really great. I'm very blessed.

A Nacho Libre Valentine's

My Valentine's Day gift for Steve this year was one of his all-time favorite movies, Nacho Libre. Oh you've never heard of it? Or maybe you have, but you're still wondering how it could be someone's favorite movie? I sort of did too. But Steve often walks around the house quoting the movie, impersonating Jack Black, and I have to admit, it's kind of grown on me.

So when I started thinking about what to do for Valentine's Day, a Nacho Libre themed dinner seemed perfect. There was also a bit of an "xo" theme too, inspired by this quotable scene from the movie.

For decorations, I found some cheap mini red lights and punched them through some cardboard to make a glowing "XO" sign. Other than that, I collected a few air plants, succulents, candles, punched some glittery confetti, and printed some of Steve's favorite quotes to place around the table.

In the movie Nacho asks Chancho if he can borrow some sweats to make a wrestling uniform. So, of course, we wore sweats to dinner.

The menu was pretty simple: jalapeño and lime marinated kale tostadas (I've made this a bunch lately) and cornbread. No, cornbread didn't really go with the meal at all, except that I had to incorporate one of Steve's favorite quotes somehow.

The best part was Steve's surprise when he walked into the kitchen (he had been working in the living room and had no idea I was setting it all up). After dinner we watched the movie and ate chili dark chocolate. I'm already thinking about other movies that would make good themed dinners. Any ideas? What's your favorite movie?

In the City

For my mid-winter vacation, my mom and I traveled to New York City to visit my sister, Robin. We've done this girls trip before, but this time Robin and her husband Josh became our city guides (they moved to Manhattan in September). Highlights included: seeing Robin and Josh's apartment, meeting up with Josh's parents, eating great food, taking a city bus tour, catching a comedy show (Chris Rock was an unexpected guest!), eating great food, celebrating my mom's birthday, and...eating great food.

An extra special surprise was meeting up with our friends, Chris and Joey. Joey lives in Queens, and Chris was in town from Rhode Island for the day. As my mom said afterwards, "Good friends are so important." I totally agree.

Our last day in New York was my mom's birthday. I'm so lucky to have someone so generous and fun in my life. She is a wonderful mom and friend.

Robin was probably my favorite subject to photograph throughout the trip. She's such a city girl now. ;) Can't wait until our next girls vacation!

10 on 10: February