Ssshhh...

I'm about to get my 300th sale on Etsy. The person who purchases my 300th sale will receive a special gift in their package. Ssshhh...

(Congrats to Etsy buyer juliealt who purchased my 300th item. There will be a nice surprise in your package).

Cranberry. Orange. Scones.

Need I say more? I LOVE scones! Not just for breakfast but for any time of the day. So I found this recipe from my friend Mary's blog and the ONLY thing I did different is that I added 1/4 cup of dried cranberries (Craisins). Cranberries and orange are two of my favorite combos. Yum. Try it. It's really simple and if you make the dough the night before, just put it in your refrigerator (do not freeze it) and it's ready for breakfast tomorrow. And I know that it's tempting to make the glaze with boxed orange juice but I made it freshly squeezed and it is heaven!

Newbies.

Meet my sweet little niece Haley Mae. The sweetest preemie in the world. Born at 27 weeks, she was born with a BIG attitude and stayed strong and stubborn in the NICU that they FINALLY kicked her out at 37 weeks gestational. Now she is home with mommy and daddy and has already made sure that THEY know who runs the roost! Welcome home sweet Haley - your cousins and I can't wait to see you!

Speaking of newbies, check these two new darlings in my shop:

Sweet Sunflower Hair Clip

Pastel Hydrangeas Bouquet Headband

Sunday Dinner - week 3

This is an all time favorite. But I am picky and I love cheese so this recipe calls for a lot of it! It is totally up to you how much you want to put in but if you decide to stick with the recipe - I guarantee you won't be sorry!

Meatball Lasagna

Lasagna Noodles:

1. Cook 11 pieces of lasagna noodles according to package directions. You can leave it a little al dente for the baking process. Set aside. You only need 9 but just in case a noodle or two break or fall apart, you will have extra.

For the meatballs:

1 lb pork, beef, veal ground meat combo

1 egg

1/4 cup parmesan flavor bread crumbs (or plain)

1/4 cup shredded or powdered parmesan cheese

sprinkling of salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix all the ingredients together by hand and form into 1 inch balls

3. Place meatballs on an aluminum foil wrapped cookie tray

4. Bake in oven until light brown (around 15-20 minutes)

For the ricotta filling:

15 oz tub of part skim or whole milk ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup shredded Italian cheese

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

1 tsp. parsley

sprinkling of salt and pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together in mixer with paddle attachment on low.

2. Set aside.

For the sauce:

32 oz jar (or 1 jar and a half) REALLY GOOD MARINARA SAUCE - I highly recommend RAO'S

1/3 bar cream cheese

2 tsp. sugar

1. Heat sauce on medium heat.

2. Stir in cream cheese and sugar.

3. When cheese melts, add the meatballs. Cover and let simmer on medium low to low heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Putting the layers together:

1. In a 9 x 13 pan, line the bottom with sauce (no meatballs).

2. Place 3 pieces of lasagna noodles side by side. Top with meatballs and sauce. Add dollops of ricotta cheese. Sprinkle with Italian cheese and parmesan.

3. Repeat step #2 again.

4. For final layer, place the last 3 pieces of lasagna layers and top only with the sauce. Generously sprinkle with the cheeses.

5. Cover the tray with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Take off foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese topping is bubbly (but not burned!).

MilkyMilk and the Buttermilk Bakeshop

Sounds yummy and scrumptious? You bet it is! My new friend Mary, fellow Etsy Seller and Blogger is the mastermind behind all this deliciousness! She bakes the most delicious goodies and has this awesome blog called Milky Milk where I recently found (and tried) the most decadent recipe for banana bread! Check out these yummies from her shop at Etsy called ButterMilkBakeshop:

Maker Mark's Bourbon Brownies $7.50

Table for Two $29.50

Beer's Best Friend Cookie $7.00

Lemon Sable Cookies $8.00

Homemade Oreo Cookies $10.00

Chunky Monkey Whoopee Pies $9.00

XL Sugar and Chocolate Cookies $12.00

Mary has agreed to host a giveaway for August! Hooray! And as Mary would say, "Yummy good!" So stay tuned everybody! I promise that this one will be as good as it's going to taste!!!

Getting settled (sneak peeks of the house).

We are slowly and surely settling in the new house. I promised pics before so here they are. I owe you a few rooms but it's raining today so the pics are not coming out great. I will post the rest soon! For those who missed the "before" pics of the house, click here.

Formal living room

Family room

Family room (don't you just love our beaten up furniture by the kids?)

Formal dining room

Formal dining room (that chandelier was restored - it was given to us by a friend and we love the way it turned out!)

Master Bedroom

Entry way and stairs to the upper level (my hubby put together those gallery frames)

Sunday Dinner - week 2

I know that it's not quite Sunday yet but I just made this delicious soup and boy was I happy with the way it turned out. If you are a big soup and corn fan, you will LOVE this! I altered this recipe ever so slightly but the result is amazing!

Sweet Corn Soup with Italian Cheeses

5-6 ears of corn with kernels cut off the cobs

1 cup diced bacon (uncooked)

1 large yellow onion, diced

3 cloves minced garlic

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup shredded italian cheese mix

1/4 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

1. In soup pot, cook the bacon until crispy. Transfer and let cool on a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.

2. In same pot with the bacon fat, saute onions until soft and transparent. Add garlic and red pepper flakes.

3. Add corn kernels and cook until kernels are softened.

4. Add 7 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes on medium-low heat.

5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

6. Add in half of the cooked bacon

6. In small batches, puree the corn mixture then return to pot.

7. Add in the cream and cheeses.

8. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

9. Garnish with more bacon bits and cheese when serving.

*it makes a big batch of soup so freeze some in freezer safe zip-lock bags

WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!

The winner of the $35 merchandise credit to my shop is:

#33 lil miss' mama!!!

Congratulations to you! Thank you everybody for making this such a fun giveaway!

Etsy Treasury

I am proud to share this Etsy treasury list that features my Happy Flower Headbands! They've been in the treasury before but I was just too computer un-savvy to figure out how to save the screen. I finally had to print it out and scan and voila!

Stay tuned for my next post and first ever tutorial!

Sunday Dinner - week 1

I decided to set aside a special day for some yummy dinner recipes. Sundays are my favorite. When I was little, we used to go to my Lolo's (grandfather in Filipino) house for Sunday dinners. So here it is. The first Sunday Dinner recipe lineup. Williams Sonoma has a similar baked recipe here and they used rigatoni instead of bowtie. This recipe below is my version.

Bowtie Pasta with Sausage, Broccoli Rabe and Carrots

Medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

olive oil

1 pound sweet italian sausage with casing removed

1 - 28 oz can whole tomatoes

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 cup light cream or 1/3 bar of cream cheese

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 stalk broccoli rabe or broccolini, diced

2 large pieces of carrots, diced

1 box bowtie pasta

1. Saute garlic and onion in olive oil

2. Crumble sausage and add to saute mix

3. When sausage is cooked (brown), add can of tomatoes. Mash tomatoes gently.

4. Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes.

5. Cook pasta according to directions

6. Add light cream or cream cheese to the sausage/tomato mixture

7. Add sugar for a little sweetness.

8. Add the carrots. Simmer for 10 minutes.

9. Add the broccoli rabe. Simmer for another 10 or until broccoli is cooked.

10. Serve over the pasta while pasta is hot. Mix in the parmesan cheese until the pasta is coated all over.

Want some dessert? I just found this yummy recipe from Mary's Blog, Milky Milk. This is her photo and her recipe but I am DEFINITELY trying it out.

Ready...Set...GIVEAWAY!

This contest is closed.

I love that summer is in full swing so I thought, why not have a little blog fun? I just added this summer inspired bouquet headband in my shop - can't you just see your little girl wearing it? Would you like to own one? How about some other items from my shop? Yes? Well, now you can! I am giving away a $35 merchandise credit to ANYTHING in my shop to one lucky winner!

So here are the ways you can make an entry (up to three per person):

1. Visit my shop and come back to my blog to comment on your favorite item

2. Follow my blog. Leave me a comment when you do

3. Bonus for my Facebook Friends: leave a comment when this blog posting appears on Facebook then come back to my blog and let me know that you did it

The winner will be chosen next Friday, June 17, 2009 via Random.com

Good luck everybody!

Love, Luci.

I Just LOVE Love, Luci!!!

Meet Kari and her adorable little girl Luci. Kari was a customer of mine from Etsy turned into one of my stockists. She just put up her own website and etsy store filled with the most adorable and beautiful handmade items. Just look at these gorgeous dresses!

Her model on the right is wearing one of my Happy Flower Headbands!

Playdress, $30

Skirt Set, $45

The Party Dress, $40

This Feliz Dress is my personal favorite!

For more info on her adorable handmade items, please visit her online and her new shop on Etsy.

Happy Yummy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to all my family and friends! Enjoy the fireworks and all the BBQ's!

And no, this isn't my cake - it was just too yummilicious that I had to post it. You can find the recipe here. And for a more simple, ice cream sandwich version, click here.

Cuteness.

The Cutest, Happiest Picture

I am an amateur photographer. My Nikon D40 and I still have yet to become the best of friends. I try hard to come up with really good photos of my items but sometimes, it just doesn't work out - so frustrating. That being said, whenever I come across REALLY good photography, I just drool! So jealous. Yesterday, one of my good customers really came through for me. She sent me a link to a picture of her girls wearing my Happy Flower Headbands and I just about died! The pics are so cool! They were taken my Blue Lily Photography and they have the most beautiful pictures on their archives. Please check out their site.

The Cutest Workshop

My blogger friend Julie posted a link to this awesome studio. I nearly died - again!!! If my workspace was even half as cool as that, I can only imagine all the cute stuff that would come out of it. Oh how I wish...I was that organized. That creative. That cool. Sigh. Oh and by the way, Jenny B, the blog's author, is THAT cool. Just check out her blog and see for yourself.

The cutest, girliest things EVER!

If you have a girl, you would understand. My husband will hate me for about 10 seconds. These are some of the things that I got our girls and some coming in the mail soon. Oh well, he is guaranteed to forget how mad he is from all this cuteness. Also, more cute stuff is coming to my shop soon. Stay tuned.