Bonjour Katrina

I've loved working with Anne at Pinecones and Needles. She is so passionate about this little {fabulous} shop she has created- and has only been open for about a year!  As soon as you walk into the store you're immediately overcome with peace and joy.  The lighting is bright, the air is wafting with gentle and natural aroma-therapy, and there's often French music quietly playing while you browse the shelves of delightful toys and art crafts.  Pinecones and Needles carries an array of unique European toys, and they do walk-in crafts everyday for adults and children. I want to buy up everything for the little darlings in my life. This store is truly a gem in the Boston area.

We all need a little black dress.  Not much to note this week.  Still tired, but I think that's because of the toddler- not the baby bump.  We've transitioned to a toddler bed this week (*sniff sniff*). Just a reminder that my days as a mama of 1 kiddo are limited and I need give that little darling all the undivided attention I can. Happy fall, everyone!

Neither of us were really surprised because this pregnancy has been so different compared with my first.  But at the same time it's still sinking in for me.  A girl!? Wow! Ahh!

We get together with friends every Wednesday night and decided to tell them our happy news with a happy dessert. I used Betty Crocker cake mixes (because...ain't nobody got time for scratch). I fancied up the white cake mix with the recipe below, and used THIS recipe for the frosting and filling.

White Almond Cupcakes

• 1 package white cake mix
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fill cupcake pan with liners.
2. Stir together the white cake mix, flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until well mixed. Pour in the water, sour cream, vegetable oil, almond extract, and egg whites. Beat in a stand mixer until all the ingredients are well mixed.
3. Scoop the batter into cupcake liners, and bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (15-20 min). Allow to cool before frosting.

We started out Columbus Day going to my son's music class and then headed straight to Kittery, Maine. We weren't sure what we were going to do once we got there, but we knew we wanted good coffee. After a quick search on Yelp, we decided to go to Lil's Cafe because they serve Tandem coffee (one our favorite's).






After enjoying a cup of coffee and one (or three) of their cruller's, we headed over to a park in Portsmouth, NH- just over the bridge.