Five on Friday!

Happy Friday! It's been a good but busy week and I couldn't be more thrilled for the weekend ahead. Matt and I have lots of chores on the books this weekend like trimming bushes, cleaning our deck and patio, scrubbing outdoor furniture down and all sorts of other fun house projects to get ready for Caroline's party next weekend. Let's hope that the 100% chance of rain forecasted for tomorrow is a joke so our guests don't all walk away with green bottoms next weekend.

Also, a little announcement - starting in May (which is next week!) I will be taking a summer break from the Five on Friday link-up and will also be blogging less frequently. As the days of a family of 3 quickly count down I want to make sure I'm spending extra time with my people this summer! Don't worry, I'll still be popping in with important updates (liiiiiike, Caroline's birthday party, our family beach vacation, my growing belly and of course the highlight of the summer - the birth of Thomas). But outside of those things I don't want to feel committed to the blog during this season. You can always keep up with me on instagram though!

Okay, on to the (last) five for awhile...

- ONE - It's Teacher Appreciation Week! To make sure Caroline's teachers felt extra loved I wanted to bring them a little something, so I bagged up some store bought sugar cookies, added a quick printable and finished the goodie bags off with a ribbon. Super easy and cost me all of $6 for 3 teachers. Oh, and they loved it.

 - TWO - Last weekend Matt and I attended a gorgeous wedding at my favorite venue in Charlotte, The VanLandingham Estate. I've been sitting on a blowout gift card since last September and finally cashed it in for the event. I honestly cannot remember the last time I broke away for some "me time", not because I don't have the time but because I really hate being away from Matt and the muffin during our weekends. We pretty much do everything as a family of 3 on the weekends from oil changes to grocery store trips. Anyway, my blowout pampering session was probably the most relaxing 30 minutes I've had in months! And it lasted for days and looked quite good in my opinion...(THANKS MOM)!

- THREE - I've been dropping off meals to a handful of new mamas the past few weeks. In addition to the dinner for the night, I like to sneak in a second homemade frozen meal for them to slide into their freezer for after their meal train slows down. I remember a few girlfriends doing this for me and it was the nicest surprise ever! For my freezer meals I broke out my cute Carolina Charm recipe cards that my friend McKinsey had made for me last year for my birthday. How adorable are these?!

- FOUR - I have no clue how this happened but last Sunday I woke up and saw my instagram feed flooded with reminders about Lilly for Target. I hopped on the mobile website (which is terrible, by the way) and somehow was able to score a little something for me and a little something for Caroline. I couldn't believe it seeing how there were probably 2345394623423 Lilly lovers ahead of me that morning emptying out the online inventory. Anyway, these types of tunics rarely fit my petite frame (usually way too long or blousy) but I'm hopeful. If it doesn't fit I guess I'll just throw it on ebay for $350. Kidding. I'll return it to Target and make some lucky lady's day.

 - FIVE - I cannot even begin to tell y'all how dang excited I am for next weekend! My sister and Ryan are flying in and my parents are driving up (dad still can't be in airports) for Caroline's birthday party. Since our last trip home was abruptly cancelled due to the flu, I haven't seen my parents since CHRISTMAS which was 5 months ago!!!! I absolutely cannot wait for everyone to arrive...and then put them to work on tissue paper pom poms for Caroline's party - ha! But seriously, the last time my parents were able to come to Charlotte Caroline was this tiny...

Wanna join Darci, April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...

1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).

2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 

3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!

Caramelized Onion & Prosciutto Pizza

I mentioned yesterday that for Supper Club our hostess Lisa made the most amazing Caramelized Onion & Prosciutto Pizza pizza ever. Since Thursday I had been dreaming about having this pizza again so over the weekend I grabbed all of the ingredients at the grocery store and whipped this up on Sunday night. As expected, it was a hit around here.

Since I try to keep dinners pretty simple these days I purchased a pre-made pizza crust, a bag of mozzarella cheese, a few slices of prosciutto from the deli counter and a red onion. This meal took all of about 20 minutes to prepare and 12 of those minutes were pure bake time. So easy, so delicious - a huge win.

Caramelized Onion & Prosciutto Pizza

By The Pioneer Woman 

 

Ingredients

1 whole Pizza Crust
Olive Oil, For Drizzling
1 whole Large Red Onion, Halved And Thinly Sliced
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
Kosher Salt To Taste
Parmesan Cheese, Grated
10 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Thinly Sliced
8 slices Prosciutto (more To Taste)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions and brown sugar and toss/stir for several minutes, or until onions are brown and cooked. Set aside.

Roll out pizza dough to a rectangular shape. Drizzle on olive oil, sprinkle on a little salt, followed by a little Parmesan.

Lay slices of mozzarella evenly over the top of the crust. Arrange caramelized onions over the top of the mozzarella. Randomly lay slices of prosciutto over the onions.

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the lower half of the oven, or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and cut into squares. Serve immediately.

Supper Club Surprise Sprinkle!

It takes a lot to surprise me. Any signs of mischievous planning and I am on to you. So it totally blew my mind that my girlfriends were able to pull off a complete surprise last week by throwing me a little sprinkle for Thomas at our monthly Supper Club.

I'm not normally late but this particular night I decided to help Matt get Caroline ready for bed since Supper Club was being hosted at my friend Lisa's house who happens to live just a few blocks away in my neighborhood. Well, getting Caroline to bed took longer than I expected and I arrived fashionably semi-flustered and 15 minutes late. I hustled up the driveway, through the front door and made my way straight to the living room. When I entered the room the girls all screamed "SURPRISE!" in unison and I immediately thought I had just missed some good news that was being discussed. I was absolutely confused (hello, pregnancy/mommy-brain) and asked "Surprise what!?! What did I miss?" The girls laughed and pointed behind me. In my haste to join the party I had passed right by paper poms poms, cake, presents and a cute banner - for Thomas!!! I think it took a full minute for it to sink in that I was standing in the middle of my "Thomas the Train" themed baby sprinkle! 

And...a very confused/surprised mommy...

The cake that Lisa had made was unbelievable. The monogram, the train, the many delicious layers of funfetti filling - swoon! It couldn't have been more perfect (or tasty)! 

A closer look at the scrumptious details...

For dinner Lisa made a huge salad and 3 different kinds of homemade pizza - cheese, roasted veggie and caramelized onion & prosciutto! Everyone tried each one and agreed that the caramelized onion and prosciutto pizza was award-winning and immediately needed the recipe. You can find the recipe by The Pioneer Woman (here)...and you should make it ASAP!!

Lisa's tablescape was stunning.

 Love, love, love the place settings.

After dinner we had dessert - cake, of course!

As everyone ate cake I opened gifts. I hit jackpot on Kissy Kissy outfits and so many other cute items! Thomas officially has some clothes to wear now.

One of my favorite shower touches was the signed Thomas the Train book. Inside the front cover each girl wrote a little note to Thomas.

The fabulous friends who made this wonderful night happen!

One more!

What an awesome surprise this evening was!   Random side story: the last time a group of my friends successfully surprised me was 4 years ago when I was thrown a Surprise Honeymoon Shower! Check out that post (here)!

Five on Friday!

It feels so GOOD to have a healthy, happy family again! Thank you all for the well wishes. We have a great weekend ahead - a wedding and a bridal shower!

- ONE - Last night was our monthly Supper Club and my girlfriends totally surprised me with a baby shower! It literally took me like 2 minutes after everyone screamed "surprise!" to realize it was my shower. I am so thankful to call these girls friends and loaded up on tons of sweet, soft boy clothes! Full post coming soon. In the meantime, here is the delicious funfetti cake!

- TWO - I am on the hunt for healthy snacks to pack for the work day. My sister recommended roasted chickpeas so I made a batch earlier this week and loved them. Since I pack 34534523 snacks for work each day I am always on the hunt for something new. What are your favorite healthy go to snacks?

- THREE - A few weeks ago you all gave me some great high chair recommendations (here). Thank you! We ended up with the Ikea Antilop Highchair and are pretty happy with it. It is SO easy to clean (no fabric, no crevices, etc.), I love the clean look, it doesn't have a foot rest so Caroline can't stand up and was ONLY $20. The only drawback is the tray isn't easy to remove so I have to wait until Caroline is out of the chair to remove it. We almost went with the Boon Flair Highchair (our runner up and highly recommended by many of you) but decided to save $200 since the pedestal base is a magnet for collecting massive amounts of Charlie's hair, especially since we slide the chair around from room to room.

- FOUR - Every year I get excited for herb season and end up buying way too many plants that end up dying. The only herb that ever prevails is my mint and it usually ends up strangling all of my other herbs within a month. So this year I kept things simple and decided on ONE herb - basil. It's sitting in my kitchen and I love it.

- FIVE - Let's just stop at four today, okay? Happy weekend, friends! 

Wanna join Darci, April, Natasha and I on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...

1.) Write your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).

2.) Share the logo on your blog and link back. 

3.) Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!