Virtual Running Date No. 48: Still here, and Spring made an appearance too!

Good morning, Crushers!

If this were a virtual running date, er walking for me, I would tell you, "Yes, I'm still here. Yes, I'm still pregnant. Yes, we feel as ready as possible. No, I'm not sleeping for more than a few hours at a time. Yes, we're excited." I think that covers most of the questions... Oh! "How am I feeling? Round. I'm feeling round."

Just in case you ever need to know what NOT to say to a pregnant person, here is a fairly comprehensive list.

Anyway, I'm happy to say that although the baby has not arrived yet, spring has started to show itself. We had a gorgeous weekend filled with family time. Here is a photo recap of the weekend:

The Wisconsin Badgers have made it to the Final Four!
Here's a picture of the bump in team colors. Future fan!

All of the snow is finally gone from our backyard!
There is a bit yet on the north side of the house, but that's OK.

I found these two awesomely ridiculous ceramic snails with pots on their heads
hidden among the brush. Steve raked the whole yard!

We tried out our Ergo Baby Carrier with our nephew Dylan.

 

He fell asleep in two minutes in the carrier. Look at that little nose!

On Sunday night Steve grilled outside in shorts and a t-shirt.
The first burgers of spring taste so good!

 I hope spring is springing around you, and that you're able to enjoy some nice weather. We are predicted to have a "wintry mix" later this week, but I'm pretending that it's not going to happen. Let's hope the weather stays nice for everyone!

Virtual Running Date No. 44: Ready for Spring and a tip for dredging chicken

Hello!

If we were on a virtual running date, I would tell you that I'm ready for spring. This past weekend, we decided that we are done with winter. Just done. And this is coming from two people who get REALLY excited about snow. You know how cold it was when I woke up this morning? NEGATIVE 3 degrees F. That's cold people.

Currently, it's a whopping 16 degrees F, but the windchill makes it feel like about 5 degrees F. Can we get a 30 please?! It's too cold to run comfortably. Or at least without a lot of layers. Brrr...

Anyway, I decided to "shop my house" a la Kari Anne at Thistlewood Farms for some springy decorations. Remember how I made that St. Patrick's Day wreath last year? Well, I could not find the grape vine wreath that I used last year for anything. I know it made it to the new house, but I'm not sure where. Since it's been so cold, our Christmas wreath still looks pretty green. So I decided to dress that up. I just tore off the pine cones and big red bow and added a few shamrocks. See?

Ridiculous? Yes.
Do I feel like I'm extending the life of my wreath? Yes.
Win-win.

I also decided to take down all the red and white and gold on our mantle from Christmas/winter decorations and lighten things up with some of my grandma's milk glass and tea cups that I inherited.

It's amazing what some fresh white, pink and blue glassware will do for your psyche and mantle!

If this were a virtual running date, I'd tell you that we also figured that we need to put together more baby stuff since our kiddo is due to arrive sometime in the next 5-6 weeks. YES, I said weeks. Yes, that's slightly alarming, but mostly awesome. We're ready to meet our new person, but we're also totally content to wait a few more weeks.

From left: car seat to be installed, pack-n-play, seat/rocker and
hand-me-down stroller that needs to be cleaned up in the background.

We're ready. Heh. Or at least we look ready!

One last thing I'd tell you if we were on a running date? I have been watching a lot of America's Test Kitchen lately. Good old Christopher Kimball and Julia Collin Davison were talking about how to make a really great Chicken Parmesan without it getting soggy or rubbery. They also skipped a step of the flour-egg-flour (bread crumbs/whatever) dredging that you normally do when breading chicken. Instead they whisked egg and flour together for the first step, and then dipped it in the bread crumbs. Um, hello! This is way easier! Plus, it cooked nice and even.

I would show you a photo of that, but mommy-to-be got hungry before she could take a photo. Oops! If you want, head over to America's Test Kitchen and read the recipe. It's so good.

Note: Only the current season's recipes are available online. If you are reading this a few years from now, you'll have to pay to see it. Or you could just trust me and know that it works!

Non-Kitchen Crush: Crafty people

Hey crushers,

I'm always inspired by crafty people who can build/sew/stencil/paint/stamp and all sorts of things. Not every project turns out the way it's supposed to, but I always wanted to know how something worked so I gave it a good try anyway. When I was little, I was so inspired by reading all of the "Little House" books, I begged my mom to teach me to sew. As a home economics teacher, my mom is a whiz in everything crafty, and we whipped up a lovely little dress. It was adorable!

I still love to sew and many friends have asked me to hem pants for them or fix buttons, rips and tears. I even made a quilt for my nephew when he was born. I'm not sure how much he used it, but I hope his mom and dad enjoyed it!

The back side is a fuzzy chenille and the white patches
that say "I love Mommy" and "I love Daddy" are flannel for some interesting texture differences.

Close-up of a corner of the blanket

I've made a few stenciled key/necklace hangers for friends lately, but I've really been enjoying decorating the house for the holidays and seasons. As you saw before with our Christmas tree and the St. Patrick's Day wreath, I have been going to town on these crafts! Here is the wreath I made for Spring inspired by one of my very crafty co-workers (who's sister-in-law happened to inspire the slow cooker breakfast bake for tailgating).

The vine wreath should be familiar!
I took off the St. Patrick's Day shamrocks and added rosettes.

Here is an up-close look at the rosettes.
The white/green/blue fabric was leftover from the quilt above!

 In order to keep reusing the wreath, I tied some strips of fabric on the wreath and then secured the rosettes with safety pins. They hang nicely and they're so bright and cheerful! This will be on our door for a while until Memorial Day comes around. Then I've got another one planned!

Questions:
What do you do to decorate for the seasons?
Have any other ideas for me to try?
Want to more crafts or just get back to food?

Let me know in the comments!