My friend Michelle and I hosted a "Favorite Things Party" at her house last week. This is a party where you get together with a bunch of friends and everyone shares their favorite things and recipes from the previous year. It's a lot of fun and a great excuse for a girls' night. I got the idea from my cousins when we had Favorite Things party with them a couple years ago. I thought it would be fun to post my list from this year's party.
Dacia’s Favorite Things
Bigoven.com Find recipes and an awesome way to figure out what you can do with any random ingredients you have in your pantry or fridge. It also has a free app for the iPhone/iPod touch.
Coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com (thank you Cathy!) All about photography, photo-editing (Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and LightRoom), and adventures as a stay-at-home mom. She makes free actions. An action is a series of programmed steps commonly used in editing to get a certain effect. For example, you can use an action to create a soft vanilla B&W, a bright color pop, create and load a storyboard, or retouch a portrait. Almost all of her actions run in Photoshop Elements. And most of her actions are adjustable so you can get your own unique look.
Cozi.com (thank you Lacy!) Manage your busy family life with a shared online calendar, shopping and to do lists, a family journal, and more. You can even have reminders sent to your phone via text message. It’s a cure for “mom brain”!
LDS library iPod touch/iPhone app Ever feel like you have way too many things to take to church before you even get to your scriptures and lesson manuals? Just use this app and your scriptures, hymnal, and lesson manual are ready to go!
Total Baby iPod touch/iPhone app I wanted to track Griffith’s feeds, naps, etc. but I could never seem to complete a whole day’s worth of entries. This app tracks everything! It can track more than one child too. And, you can email all the data to yourself and make a spreadsheet if you are so inclined.
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby and The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems The only thing that has worked with my son Griffith. Love it. And the author is British so she’s always saying “mum” instead of mom and calling the reader luv. I like this book because while she doesn't advocate crying it out, she does teach about helping your baby sleep on his own and getting him on a good routine so he knows what to expect. She also helps figure out how to understand your baby. The first book is helpful if you are starting from day one with your baby, the second book is great if you are starting late like I did. She also covers introducing solids and the toddler years. See www.babywhisperer.com
Mother Mother Folk/indie pop band. Found them randomly looking for music about being a mother. This band is nothing about being a mom, but it is quirky and fun.
Ra Ra Riot Indie pop band. Learned about them from my little sis who is always up on all the new music that isn’t lame. Love them.
V An American science fiction television series on ABC. A re-imagining of the 1983 miniseries created by Kenneth Johnson, the new series chronicles the arrival on Earth of a technologically advanced alien species who ostensibly come in peace, but actually have sinister motives. I’m not huge into Sci-fi, but I love this. And, so far only 4 episodes have been aired so you’re not too far behind to catch up!
Banana Boat Summer Color Self-Tanning Mist I’ve tried so many self-tanning products and this is by far the most affordable way to get a natural looking glow. It dries really fast (I can get dressed 5 minutes or less after using it), isn’t oily, and doesn’t smell bad. Tip: Don’t just spray it on and let it set. Rub it in or it doesn’t work as well. You kind of have to use it as a lotion even though it’s a spray. I do spray a light mist over my feet and that looks more natural than rubbing it on. But you must rub it on your legs.
Burt’s Bees Naturally Nourishing Milk & Honey Body Lotion Smooth, creamy, 98.3% natural, smells good, leaves your skin soft and glowing (not shiny).
Lula’s chocolates Locally made chocolates that are to die for. You can buy them at Whole Foods at the Del Monte Center or Clementine’s Kitchen out at Ryan Ranch or you can order them online. Visit www.lulas.com for more info and for more locations.
Sock Monkeys!
The best gift that I’ve found is homemade sock monkeys. I’ve been making them for pretty much everyone I know who had a baby last year. Everyone loves them and they are fun, easy and inexpensive to make. Minor sewing skills required. You can make them with a machine or sew by hand if you don’t have a machine. I’ve done both. I’m giving you each a pair of socks to make a sock monkey and I’ll put the instructions in a note on my Facebook page. You can also find instructions at web-goddess.org, which is where I found the instructions I use. I brought a pair of cute knee high socks to give to everyone at the party so that they could go home and make their own sock monkeys. The instructions can be found here. Here are some pictures of the monkeys I’ve made.
Dacia’s favorite hors d’ oeuvres recipe
Bacon-wrapped Teriyaki Chicken
3-4 chicken breasts cut into strips
Teriyaki marinade
½ package bacon
Aluminum foil
Marinade chicken in teriyaki marinade for a few hours. Put aluminum foil over a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 375. Remove chicken from marinade and wrap each piece of chicken in one strip of bacon. Place bacon wrapped chicken pieces on foil. Cover with another layer of foil. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, then uncover and broil both sides 10-15 minutes or until bacon is cooked and chicken is done. Enjoy!
