Last night, my friend Katie and I had the pleasure of throwing a baby shower for one of our dear friends Brittany. She is due with a girl 4 weeks before me. It was really fun for Katie and I to be able to have fun with all the pink girly stuff since I'm having a boy and Katie just had a boy 2 months ago.
 I spent the day baking the treats for the shower and also the bread for the soup. These three recipes are tried and true pins that I have loved and will continue to use over and over. See this post for the cookie recipe. Here for the Texas Sheet Cake and here for the amazing (and very easy) artisan bread. I swear by these recipes. I would run, not walk to pin these recipes. Winners.
 Katie used the Cricut to make this cute sign. The Cricut is so easy to use and becomes addicting after you figure out how to use it!
 For the food, Katie made tomato basil soup, also a BIG hit, artisan bread, fresh strawberry lemonade, chocolate dipped strawberries and pretzels and the goodies I showed earlier.
 Katie found the idea for the cute puff balls on pinterest here and had the idea to make it into a cute little garland to hang. The best part? We got the tissue at the dollar store and they really didn't take all that long to make.
 More puff balls!

I was in charge of favors, the best part? All from the dollar store! Katie found some awesome nail polishes ($1 each) and I got the files (4 for $1), Jolly Rancher Pops (whole bag for $1) and bags (pack of 30 for $1) at Honks.

And here we are with the guest(s) of honor.

Here's my 2 cents about the dollar store...or I guess maybe its at least worth a dollar ;o). Think twice before you buy things at the regular store before you check the dollar store.

I wandered in to Honks on Tuesday to look for some things for the shower and found out that the first Tuesday of every month is 88 cent Tuesday at Honks. As I went down the aisles, I found TONS of painting supplies for a house painting project we had coming up: I got trays, roller covers, tape, drop cloths, brushes, scrapers, masks, school supplies for my sister, shower items including game stuff, tissue paper, bags, favor stuff, cleaning supplies and a few other goodies for only $36! (That's more than 40 items) Can you believe it?!

You would be surprised what you can find at the dollar store and how much money you can save. Sure, I value the opinion that there are some things you just need to pay full-price for, but for a lot of the little things, the dollar store is just the ticket. My two favorites are Honks and Family Dollar.

Today I'm baking all day for a baby shower, listening to the rain, oh and I ate pie and pumpkin cookies for breakfast. Shhhh don't tell. I have been waiting all summer for fall to come and it finally feels that way! I have been obsessed with peaches my whole pregnancy and I am in prego heaven with them being in season now.

We have had a long, bumpy road house hunting, moving, job changes, etc etc this summer and we have had so much help from loved ones so I decided to bake pies yesterday for those that helped.

 I went a little overboard at Allred Orchards. Its on University Avenue for those of you Utah County-ers and I frequent it from about August through November for all my fruit and veggie needs. You should all check it out. I got apples, nectarines and peaches. (Oh and that box was twice as full before I made the pies.) I'm going to have to come up with some more recipes to use all this fruit!

And now, for one of my new FAVORITE pins. I have a hard time with pies. We all know that about me. But I'm always willing to try again. My mom pinned this Paula Deen frozen peach pie filling recipe and I had to try it.
 In the process. (Hint: it makes 6-8 pies worth of filling so plan accordingly, this roast pan was the only thing that would fit all my filling!)

*Please note that a while back I made the decision that I don't do homemade pie crust. I buy the refrigerated kind from the store and it works like a charm, take it from me.
 On the way to deliver! I sprinkled a little brown sugar on top.

The whole process didn't take very long and was nice because I could make a whole bunch at once and on top of that, she give brilliant instructions on how to freeze the filling easily so you can literally throw a pie together at a moment's notice.

When I made it, it made enough filling for about 6 pies (I like to load the filling in.) AND it wasn't watery after it set after baking. I was thrilled.

*I omitted the extra half stick of butter she suggests PER PIE before baking and it still turned out great. I didn't think that was necessary. Especially with me eating it 3 meals a day...;o)

In other news, I've been feeling very inspired as of late with the changing of the seasons and a little more time on my hands now that I'm not working.
 Not only did I get to spend some time with this little one, but she became my model too! haha I made this turban hat for a friend and had to try it on to make sure it fit of course.
 Being twinners with my new best girlfriend.
 Excited to start wearing my infinity scarves and to make lots more. One of my favorite items in my shop!
And finally! I think all this rain and baking is cause for celebration so I'm having a long weekend sale. From now through Saturday, use code FALL20 at checkout in my Etsy shop and receive 20% off everything in my shop! Now is the time to stock up on your warm fall/winter accessories and get baby gifts galore! (I know lots of people having babies soon, I bet you do too!) There is a link to my shop in the side bar of this blog, go check it out!!

Enjoy!

I mentioned yesterday that my sister is turning 30 tomorrow. A few months ago, she gave herself a challenge. Lose 30 pounds by age 30. Go here to see how she went from this:

 To this!
Katie gives 30 tips on weight loss the healthy way. I think once I get this baby out I'm going to need some of those pointers!

My sister got diagnosed with Celiacs Disease a couple years ago and since then, our family has been dabbling a bit in the GF world. I am still struggling a bit to remember that some things (like condensed soups) have gluten in them, but we are all getting better. Katie is turning the big 3-0 on Tuesday and since we have birthing class that evening, we did a dinner and cake for her tonight instead.

 Here she is with my GF semi-homemade creation.
 So, she requested a cake with strawberry filling. I decided to look around, find some ideas and make up my own masterpiece. Here's what I did:

-Bake a BETTY CROCKER gluten free yellow cake mix (Betty Crocker is the best GF mix, according to many sources.) according to directions.
-Let cake cool and slice in half horizontally.
-Cream Cheese icing:
(I have looked high and low for a good cream cheese icing recipe that does not have a gluey or runny consistency, still haven't found it. This pin claimed that it was the best and....it wasn't. Tasted GREAT, but not the consistency I would have liked.)
       Calls for:
8 oz cold cream cheese
4 T Butter (softened)
1 T sour cream
2 t vanilla
2 c powdered sugar
(When you figure out the mystery to the runny cream cheese frosting PLEASE let me know!!!)

-For the filling: Mix about 1/2 c cool whip with 1/2 c frosting and 1 cup or more sliced fresh strawberries.
-Place filling on bottom layer, cover with top layer, frost, decorate and EAT! It was easy but still tasted awesome.
 This cake was gooooood. Even those of us who are not gluten intolerant had to have seconds.

If I have learned anything about GF baking, its that more often than not, the mixes work WAY better than trying to do it from scratch and they taste better too!

And on a side note: I have been making a lot of these lately....