always be thankful...

via here

playing catch up...

Wow. Where did the time go? It's been months since last time I posted on this blog. I have to admit, life is getting busier for me now with so many things going on, for what feels like, at once! Audrey and I are doing well. It's very warm in Florida this time of the year but we're enjoying it. The pups are doing well. They are still silly and playful as always. The house is good.

My paper goods/packaging shop has been doing very well. Below you see some of the lovely things that my shop carries. The shop is getting busier and busier everyday. I am very excited. I try to keep it fresh by introducing new items. Speaking of new items, there will be lots of new ones listed before end of this week :)
Visit my shop on Etsy and tell me that you find out about it via  my blog and I will give you a 15% off discount for your purchase :)

homemade version of starbucks very berry coffee cake

I am not much of a coffee drinker but I am a fan of Starbucks' coffee cakes. Couple weeks ago I decided I want to make my own Starbucks Very Berry Coffee cake. I searched online for the copycat recipe; found several and after reviewing them I decided to give one a try.

It is divine!
I have made it three times so far. The last time I made it using Blueberries only and didn't even put the crumb topping, cake still came out super  delicious!!
Yum. Yum. Yum.

Here is the recipe*:

Very Berry Coffee Cake

Makes 12 servings

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups fresh berries (frozen or thawed berries may be substituted)

Crumb topping:

3 tablespoons softened butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch square pan with solid shortening.2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixture until light. Add eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, lemon zest and sour cream or yogurt and mix well. Alternately, add flour mixture and the milk to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Spread half of the batter evenly into prepared pan and smooth the top. Spread berries (well drained) on top of batter. Cover berries with the remaining batter and spread the top evenly with a spatula (some of the berries will show through).3. For crumb topping: Combine all ingredients and use fingers to mix and form crumbs. Spread crumbs on top of cake and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and cake is golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cake tastes best if refrigerated overnight before serving. Serve at room temperature.

*original recipe from here.

sweet vintage typewriter

I have a love affair with vintage things.....
I live in a super old house that is filled with vintage furnitures and little things. Makes me wonder if I was born in the wrong era. So, the typewriter above is one of my vintage typewriters collection. I have...(counting!) 4. Two of them are cursive letter typewriters.
The one pictured above is the oldest I own. It is  made by Smith and Corona. Not sure the exact age but I got it from a local person thru craigslist about a year ago. It works great too---considering the age.

Looking at my old typewriters makes me wonder sometimes. Questions often run through my head: who originally owned the machine...were they excited getting the typewriter....what did they use it for....what type of letters did they write...did they ever type a love letter with it...were they a writer....did they teach their children how to use it....

I remember the day I showed Audrey my typewriters collection. She looked through the keys and she started typing. I watched how she tried to figure out how the thing worked. To this day, she still loves playing/typing on my vintage typewriters. I cannot wait to teach her how to use it properly one day soon......

my forever baby girl....

Audrey is getting bigger. She is turning 3 next weekend on the 19th. I can't believe my little girl is almost 3!! Where did the time go?

pretty packaging supplies....

I have just recently started a small packaging shop online. It's such a fun shop. I enjoy shopping supplies for my shop. What you see above are some of the pretty packaging supplies you can find at my shop. You will find twines, tape ribbons, envelopes, heart stickers, twist ties, pretty goodie baggies, washi tapes, other packaging twines, and many more....

Such fun little shop. I love it!

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

I have been craving to make homemade Blueberry pancakes and Audrey happens to love (I mean, LOVE!!) Blueberries. So when I saw big juicy Blueberries at my local grocery store, I grabbed 2 pints to make pancakes. I found a recipe that looked tasty from the food network site, so I decided to give it a try. The result was super delicious Blueberry pancakes!!! They were fairly easy to make too! I got about 8 pancakes from the recipe. Looks like I am going to have Blueberry pancake for breakfast for few days :)

Audrey and I enjoyed eating these pancakes very much. I added some fresh Blueberries on the side. Yum!! Definitely better than making pancakes using the boxed pancake mix!

Ok so here is the recipe*:

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes  

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
1 cup Blueberries (I use fresh ones)

In a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat the eggs with the buttermilk and melted butter. Combine the dry and the wet ingredients into a lumpy batter, being careful not to over mix, see note.

Heat some butter in a skillet over medium heat. Spoon 1/3 cup of batter into the skillet and sprinkle the top with some of the blueberries. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and maple syrup.

Note: Over mixed batter will result in flat, heavy pancakes.

*Original recipe can be found here.