sandy mom's birthday.

celebrating birthdays are a wonderful thing. and that is exactly what we (daniel and i) did this weekend. we celebrated mrs. sandy chesnut. she is a dear, through and through.
the birthday celebration started friday afternoon with a fif-tea birthday tea party with her sisters, friends + family. becky and i had so much fun preparing all of the little touches for the tea, and adding all of the touches sandy would have done for us. the tea was a blast with yummy treats, soothing tea and lots of laughs.
the party continued on saturday afternoon with a family party at the house. it involved josh's game creation "mom charades-inary"--the Special 50th birthday edition. the two teams came up with sayings or actions that describe mom. a fun time. we also presented a book that we created for her with notes from everyone--expressing our love and adoration of her. she found the gift to be really touching. i actually created the felt book cover and provided pictures below.
it was an overall great celebration for a great person. :) happy birthday sandy mom!

wishing and hoping.

one of my favorite things to look at online is furniture. if i could have all of the thnings i dream about...our apartment would be on the verge of being considered for the "hoarders" show (one of our favorites--that we feel guilty watching and enjoying). but regardless, a girl can dream can't she?



this restoration hardware desk has me drooling. can you believe that it is actually one of their "child desks"? and half the price of their "adult desks"? awesome!

this bed is from restoration hardware, too. i just know that our bedding would look amazing on this bed. not to mention we need to upgrade to a queen size bed. :)

this chair caught the eye of my husband about 1year+ ago. and he's been talking about it ever since! of course, it's close to 2K, otherwise we would probably have 1, no 7, of them around the house. we get to thank anthropologie for this one :)

i think two of these chairs would suit our dining room table perfectly. intermixed with the two wooden chairs we have--i think it captures the flea market feel we like to embrace. just waiting for these puppies to go on the sale tab of crate and barrel.

it's fun thinking about decorating your home. funner when you can afford the "nicer pieces" that you want to accent with. :)

from the kitchen of katie chesnut.

at the recipe party that i blogged about yesterday, i shared two recipes with my friends: chicken and vegetable casserole crunch and Gramma's Banana Pudding. i've provided the recipe below for my Gramma's Banana Pudding. share and indulge :)

Gramma's Banana Pudding-this recipe is dear to my heart, because whenever i visited Gramma and Grampa, or it was my birthday, Gramma would make this for me! it's my favorite treat! about 10 years ago, she shared the recipe with me, and i've kept it close to my heart since then, and still have the paper she put it on! below is the recipe--Enjoy!
What you need:

2 instant vanilla pudding boxes+6 cups of cold milk

1 8oz. sour cream

1 8 oz. cool whip

1 box of vanilla wafers

4 bananas


What to do:

-layer bottom of bowl with wafers, and dot with banana slices


-prepare instant vanilla pudding and milk

-add sour cream and cool whip

-pour half of mix over wafers

-add another layer of vanilla wafers, dotted with bananas

-pour the rest of the mix over layer of cookies

-add remaining wafers and bananas in your choice of design to top of pudding

-serve chilled and enjoy with friends and family!

PREP TIME: 15 minutes

i love my Gramma!

first annual seal beach recipe party.

ever since the wedding, i've had an itch to plan something, anything actually. and katie b. has been wanting to do a recipe party-since forever. so we combined ideas and creativity and threw a really fun, yummy food party! so i've decided to post a blog with all the little details, tips and tricks we learned about planning a recipe party.

invitations: for the invites, we did actual recipe cards. i found them at michaels craft store in the dollar section. i love a great value. to fill out the invite, we put "instructions" for the perfect recipe party--well you can see in the picture below :)

games: since our girlfriends aren't very "gamey" we decided to non-activity games. we chose to do: "cutest apron competition" and asked every attendee to come in their cutest apron-which DeEtt won! we did "best recipe"-obviously. and we did a "how many" buttons game (which ended up being quite the task to count all 1,493 buttons. sorry again to my husband daniel who i nominated to count all of those--oops).
recipe cards:all of the girls invited were asked to bring a copy of their recipe for the other girls--so that we could make the recipe, too! one girl hand-wrote recipe cards for every girl. one girl stamped her recipe for everyone, and the rest of us just did the ol' computer print out :)

prizes: we splurged a little bit and got gifts for all of the winners of the games. which when the girls saw the prizes, said: katie, you set the standards high. which is kinda fun! but little do they know (until they read this) that i got all the prizes at ross!which means=money saved! love that!



drinks: the great thing about having a recipe party is that it means the girls all bring food (their recipe), so all we really had to provide was drinks and eating utensils, plates, etc. so i went to Trader Joes and got some fancy looking drinks, threw some lemons and water in a pitcher, and since we have limited space, i set up a drink station on our bookshelf.



recipes: now the part you're all waiting for--the food!i know you're just dying to know what food was made, well don't worry, i'll show-and-tell you!






one recipe that is not shown, but were delicious, are the yummy peanut butter cookies. but they all look great, right?! all so good-and the girls had a tough time voting for best recipe, but the winner was the chocolate yumminess in the little white ramekin that you see above. thanks to maddie for making that! we had such a fun time planning-can't wait for the next part-ay!

summer reading.

i love the opportunities i get to sit down with a good book and read. which isn't as frequent as i would like--but nevertheless i love it. always have. one issue i have with books is: even if the book is terrible, i can't not finish it. once i start it, i have to finish. even as painful or daunting as it may be.
this summer i've been able to power through a few books. so i thought i would give you a little synopsis on each of them.

Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger: a good girl book. talks about motivation for success and relationships. it was an easy read--and i enjoyed it.

Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane: this book is about sisters (obvi). however, this book shared different "tense" relationships between sisters. something i couldn't relate to--but kinda made me sad for the main character. only because i know how important my sisters are to me.

Mathilda Savitch by Victor Lodato: I'm not gonna lie, i only bought this book because of the cover. however, i should have read the back cover before i took it home. it was kinda "off" and weird. it wasn't a "happy" book--in any sense of the word. moving on.

Whiter than Snow by Sandra Dallas: LOVED this book. not a book i would have chose for myself--it was referred to me by my mother in law. the first chapter was a little hard to get through, but i couldn't put it down after chapter two. it was great, i would lend it to a friend in a heartbeat.

hope you found interest in one of the books above, and i hope you have time to sit down with a good book :)

xoxo

blog them.

it is so hard for me to enjoy being on the computer when i get home from work. which is really the only opportunity when i get to blog. but when i'm not blogging, i like to follow my friend's blogs.

http://closetintheattic.blogspot.com -- this blog belongs to my dear sister maggie. she has a great sense of style and loves to be creative. i really enjoy looking at what she's working on!

http://beckystimeout.blogspot.com/ -- this blog belongs to my sister-in-law becky. she's a new mommy to Carter Grant Moffett, and she's learning the world of blogging. it's fun to anticipate her updates and picures about her new adventure.

http://tylerbranchphoto.com/ -- this blog/site belongs to dear friend/neighbor Tyler (and his wife, Katie). Daniel and i couldn't ask for better friends! it's been awesome watching tyler and katie grow their budding photography business!

http://www.danielchesnut.com/blog/ -- this blog belongs to my awesome hubbie, daniel. i love seeing his new videos and projects. his perseverance and motivation is such a good example to me! love!

http://daveallygarvin.tumblr.com/ -- dear friends and fellow newlyweds Dave and Ally Garvin have set off to Uganda (in the first 6 months of marriage) to work with/for some organizations based out of Orange County, 31 bits and Krochet Kids. It's awesome to read their stories and adventures, and how God is working in their lives. such a great example of trusting in God.

i love writing about people that mean so much to me. i hope that you take the time to read these blogs and pray for these people.

xoxo

Staycation.

pool time? check. Croquet? check. Quelf? check. Delicious Food? check.
a glimpse of stay-cation in San Diego at The Chesnut House.

in honor of the Chesnut siblings--we are on staycation for the fourth of July, and the sibling birthday week. By sibling birthday week I mean that Becky's birthday is the 1st, Daniel and Josh's birthday is 3rd, and Nate's is the 5th.
What a relaxing time spent with family! With all of the babies in the house it sets such a fun dynamic! And of course, to keep everyone occupied we are spending many hours playing the wii fit!
mmm...and i can't help but mention the delicious food! ooo i think dinner's ready: tri-tip, mashed potatoes, green beans and salad.i could live the stay-cation life.

yes please.

i can't help but like things. things that are sometimes out of my price range. i know they are. therefore i don't buy them, but i surely enjoy looking at them. so i thought you may want to look at the same things i like to look at. this watch is amazing. i'm not a fan of watches. never have been really. but this watch is an exception.
what a cute house. i tend to peruse sites that have houses for sales. and i always love walking through open houses on the weekends. but a house like this would be ideal for me!

what a cute bed--minus the comforter. i would ideally like a bed like this one day. sooner than later.


daniel and i both have a semi-sick obsession with everything Anthropologie. what a fabulous store--with prices that make me faint. but the two above are chairs from that store. the green one daniel wants, the other one i want. but in all fairness, we probably won't get either.

it's fun dreaming about these things. one day.

xoxo

connected.

i have a facebook, a twitter, a myspace and a blog. a myspace you ask? yes, i have had one since the beginning. i tweet? i merely read other people's tweets because i am lousy at posting my own. i facebook? yes, i am curious what other people are doing in their lives. i blog? on the rare occasion i feel like people might care what i'm thinking.

but really, all of the things i follow, comment and "like" are doing me no good. there are so many other things that i should be spending time doing. one thing in particular that i'm so glad i've been taking the time to do is my daily devotional time.

connecting with God, and his Word should be the most important thing. not what people are doing tonight, or how much time people are going to the gym.

i feel guilty. my time learning more about the "world", and material things, the things that will fade away, are taking away from the time i could be spending with God. but i can only blame myself. i should only really be using these media outlets as a way to spread the Word and truth.

i pray that my priorities get straightened. that i can give myself fully to God and his plan. that i can think of myself less, and think about others more. that i can become a tool for God's wonderful plan. that i get more connected to the things that matter.

one month ago.

this time last month (may 1) daniel and i were celebrating our wedding day! what a joyous day! so much fun! well, in recognition of being married for one month, we went out to dinner, to one of our favorite places. this restuarant never (and i mean never) fails us. it's located in long beach..on the verge of being in a sketchy neighborhood, connected to an irish pub. don't judge. it's owned by a couple, who have this restuarant, as well as a catering business. there is an indoor and outdoor sitting area, therefore it is pet friendly, actually, on the menu's there are pictures of pets. so, i'm sure you can bring your pooch. we prefer the indoor section (at night) and the outdoor (during the day). the menu consists of soups, salads, burgers and pizza. normal menu? yes. good food? great food! now, that menu isn't very impressive, it's the "Specials" menu that is phenomonal. it changes every day (whatever mood the chef, the wife, is in). and this menu doesn't dissappoint. the one host/server/friendly guy, the husband, always has a smile on his face, and makes everyone feel welcome.
this night, in particular, i was anxious to see the specials menu, hoping to find something that really stuck out. nothing did, so i asked for a special favor. i requested: chicken, mashed potatoes, and veggies. he recommended a vegetarian gravy, i said on the side. daniel always asks the husband what he will be taking home tonight. such an awesome way to find out what the best thing on the specials menu is. tonight daniel's choice was: grilled ahi with a special glaze, on top of mashed potatoes and veggies.


we were so happy we chose to eat here tonight. as much as i would love to share the location and name of this restuarant, daniel and i enjoy how much of a secret it is. maybe one day you will be lucky enough to eat dinner with us there. just maybe.

just some things.

i had so much fun planning my wedding. i combed through multiple different blogs for inspiration, and then put my taste and budget into the mix. i thought it would be fun to share some of the images i referenced to create my wedding centerpieces, and share things i plan on doing in the near future.



i thought this was darling. i have some extra yarn laying around and have tons of buttons from the wedding.



i thought this was a great idea! so simple! find extra jars (i have tons), obtain some scrap fabric and ribbon, and "WA-LAH" you have a great gift for someone, once filled with flowers from the local flower shop, of course!



fruit+kabobs=YES PLEASE! Such a fun, summer party appetizer or dessert. my group of friends in Seal Beach get together every sunday night for a bar-be-que. most of the time, the hosting couple provides the meat, and everyone else brings an appetizer. this will be one of the treats i bring :)

xoxo

the not-so extreme makeover.

i'm a bargain shopper through and through. and when i find a deal, i change my mind about ten times before i decide to buy it. well, lately, daniel and i have been wanting to get a new tv stand. we shopped at crate and barrel, pottery barn, and antique stores. and we couldn't quite find that perfect item. today on my lunch break, that all changed. i was walking through the local tj maxx-homegoods store, and find a gem. we had found something here before, but decided against it because of its price. well, today i didn't want to change my mind. i courteously called my husband (after snapping a picture on my phone and emailing it to him) and asked what he thought. he liked it. i liked it. and i liked something else too. and as stated earlier, i changed my mind roughly ten times, and decided to take this baby home! it fit in my car perfectly, pretty meant to be if you ask me. and took it home. at first it didn't feel right(you'll see why). i think it's merely getting used to. but who knows. we kept the receipt, and will keep it in prime condition. and if we don't like it by Friday, we have a new errand on our list.
here is the "before" livingroom conditions:

here is the "after" newly-improved livingroom conditions:

changes: new television stand, new couch-side table.
feedback: greatly appreciated.

xoxo

dedicated to gramma.

if you should know anything about me, it is that i adore my grandparents. joe and luci shepard have touched my life. i spent many a day at their house while growing up. spring breaks, summer days, and the annual disneyland trip. whenever i visited, my gramma always made our favorite foods: Macaroni and Cheese, Fresh Salads, Fruit Salads, Gramma's Stew and BBQ Beef Sandwiches! Well tonight's dinner was right from Gramma's summer day menu.

i enjoyed dinner. brought back memories. it was fun to share this meal with my husband. now i have to just my hands on gramma's stew recipe...

xoxo

update much?

wow. i'm pretty pathetic at this whole blogging thing. being consistent i mean. how on earth do i expect people to read my blog if i'm lousy at updating? let me clue you in. in november i got engaged. this month i got married. yep, for the most part that's been the biggest things going on in my life. here is proof i got engaged.
here is proof i got married.




needless to say, being married has been great. it's been so fun getting to know my best friend and husband more. and not having to leave every night. even though it took me a few days to get used to that.
some other things i've been enjoying: cooking, decorating (and re-decorating) and living next to all of my best friends.
the things i plan on doing with my blog: at least posting one day a week--if not more. sharing my recipes/dinner extravaganzas. sharing my decorating projects. sharing my interests. thrilling, i know. get excited!

xoxo