a Gawkerverse of other awesome gawker sites!

Pretty much they are like curated pinterest boards with specific topics,

aka eye candy for the visual person.

wedding gawker:

craft gawker:

and last but not least...

dwelling gawker:

I was also happy to find this in the mail:

I was reading Bennett a book when he said "I'll be right back", 

then he ran into his room and came out like this:

Thursday was a random snow day.

We got about 3 or 4 inches!

Scout was jealous that he couldn't go play in it:

then we warmed up with some mac 'n cheese:

in the afternoon I made these dark chocolate toffee cookies with sea salt:

for dinner I made these quinoa veggie mexi bowls:

B drew a picture of a boat:

spotted dragon fruit while we were out grocery shopping on Friday:

B got his strawberry milk when we were done for being a great little shopper:

this conversation took place:

For date night Chris and I went to see Hunger Games just to see what all the hype was about. Neither of us knew anything about the books other than people were crazy for them. Apparently it's a "teen flick" and it had just opened the night before. We were lucky to even get tickets. I'll say that it wasn't a bad movie, but a very strange plot for kids to be getting so excited over (killing eachother? really?). 

Am I missing something?

Sunday, Chris played at church and we also started taking down some doors to 

paint them and put on the new hardware:

B and I went over to play with Lauren and Fern.

He pretty much loves her:

Our little playdate ended with some delicious froyo at Yogurtland:

and B played keys at church Sunday night:

pinned  via.

So I didn't have this problem with my dishes, but my white porcelain sink had it's fair share of scratches from pots/pans/cookie sheets. It also had a lot of staining due to Mr. Barista's grounds and other various foods (who knew cucumber peels stained so much). 

You're probably just picturing a disgustingly dirty sink...trust me, I cleaned it but nothing ever got it to actually look clean.

That is until I tried this little trick.

Run (don't walk) to the nearest store to grab some of this magical powder.

It will change your life!

pinned via.

I've had a giant bronzing powder that got dropped somehow and it still had a ton left so I felt bad throwing it away. I would make a huge mess each time I used it, so when I came across this little tip I had to try it.It's super messy and I had to use more than "a few drops" of rubbing alcohol to get it to the correct paste-like consistency, but it totally worked! *

 I was skeptical that the rubbing alchohol would dry enough to be unnoticable, but I just left it open overnight which seemed to help dry it out completely. Also, since you're using rubbing alcohol, it kills all of the germs on your fingers that you'd otherwise be introducing into the makeup. I'd still be sure to make sure your hands are pretty clean before starting though!

*  a suggestion I saw after I fixed, mine was to lay a wet paper towel over the top to help you shape it easier and more smoothly would have been really helpful!

Instead of searching for a can to pour your leftover grease into, just grab some foil and line a bowl with it. Pour your grease into it, and once it has hardened just roll it up into a ball and throw it in the garbage.

I think this may be my favorite little trick I've found because it's so darn simple and easy!

pinned via.

This guy is a professional photographer and uses a business card with some slits cut into it when he's in a pinch. I've used this when I'm trying to take a picture inside and the light isn't quite right with or without a flash. I don't bother measuring out the correct size or making slits. Any small piece of white paper will do, just hold it about an inch in front of the flash!

I tried this one out yesterday when I was painting the trim in the nursery and it worked like a charm. A giant rubber band is needed for a normal sized paint can and be careful not to flick paint everywhere when you are taking the rubber band off!

Ok I lied, I like this simple tip just as much as the foil one because once again it's so easy! 

We've had the same marshmallows in our brown sugar container for about 9 months and they have kept it at a perfect moisure level. Our marshmallows were a little dried out when I first put them in there but they totally moistened up and are happy to keep the brown sugar moist in return.

 A true symbiotic relationship!

pinned via.

It always seems like my green onions go bad before I have a chance to use them, or I don't need the whole bunch and the unused portion goes to waste. Not anymore! I just made sure that I had a clean water bottle and I chopped up the onions when they were still super fresh. Now I can pour out as much/little as my recipe calls for and I just grab a new bunch at the store when I'm out. Super simple!

Have you guys tried any tips or tricks you've found on Pinterest?

Please share!

PS: I got fed up with the annoying/hard to navigate new blogger interface, and went back to the old one.

Does anyone else find the new "improved" one way more difficult to use?

 By the way, have you guys tried these yet?:

(I normally don't buy cereal like this but since we are big peanut butter fans I had to grab it, and was pleasantly surprised with how tasty it is! It doesn't have as much sugar as I thought it would, though it still has more than other cereals I buy. It's a treat and we are milking it for all it's worth!)

 Speaking of sugar, I don't mind ending a long day with a little dessert.

I found a recipe for chocolate lava cakes for two.

It was amazing and was the perfect amount with a little vanilla ice cream on the side.

(I added some dark chocolate chips into the center of the cakes before I put them in the oven to make sure they got nice and gooey. Worked like a charm!)

 Friday morning B jumped on the bed like usual:

 He did a lot of coloring:

 played with trains and blocks:

 and I made my first key lime pie:

I used this crust recipe since I wanted a super thick crust, and I used this filling recipe.

It turned out way better than I thought it would, though I forgot to spray the pie dish first, so we lost a lot of valuable crust!

Friday marked 5 years since my step-dad* passed away and the pie was in honor of him,

 since it was his favorite. 

(*I really don't like that term, he was more of a dad to me and raised me with my mom since I was 4) 

We had my mom and brother and sister over for the evening to just hang out, eat good food and be together. It was a good night.

 Saturday was the last of the nursery construction days!

While B and I were out of the hosuse, I bought little brother's first diapers...so teeny:

 B was so pooped Saturday night that he fell asleep mid book:

(we give him 2 big stacks of books at night and it really helps to keep him in bed and it just so happens to make him sleepy as well. Every once in a while we will hear him run to his bookshelf to get more books but he runs right back to bed and even covers himself back up.)

 Oh and here is the nursery progress...

We now have a door and molding, both of which need to be painted.

We'll tackle that this week. We moved some of the furniture in and I'm loving how it's turning out!

I'm seriously so thankful for Chris' bro and dad and their construction abilities!

 The shelves give us SO much more storage than we had before!

 and they even finished off the edges!:

 Sunday morning we took a belly picture:

(I'm almost 34 weeks but I'm not taking them weekly anymore)

I'm getting large and so is the baby apparently.

I'm running out of clothes and interesting outfits, but luckily my plan has been working!

and Chris made German pancakes for breakfast:

 and B discovered a love for James Taylor:

(I don't even know how many times he put the One Man Band live dvd in this weekend, 

though I can't say I mind! This kid is going to be a musician for sure.)

and we have been enjoying this book:

(my sister got it for B...instead of saying goodnight to the cow jumping over the moon, 

they say goodnight to ipods, mp3s and HDTV. Pretty funny/true/sad.) 

And that was our weekend.

Happy Monday Friends!

I love what B is doing in this one:

I look like a total dork swinging in the background of this but I love the guys in it:

love this one:

(my belly is already so much bigger now)

Seriously, if anyone in the Portland area is looking for a photographer that is amazing AND really reasonably priced contact Abi here. I can't wait for her to come take newborn pictures in about seven weeks...eeep!