Morgan Lane's Success

I have had my Etsy shop {Morgan Lane Boutique} open for just 3 weeks and the sales have flooded in! I want to thank all of you who have made purchases for yourself, your little one, or have purchased items from my shop to give as a gift. Thank you not only for your support but for also spreading the word. Some of my buyers have let me know that were referred by a blog reader...so thank you again so much for supporting my new endeavor!! You guys are so awesome!!

I have added many new pretty little pieces to my shop, along with hairbows especially made for Christmas {and have moved Thanksgiving bows to the clearance section; go here to grab one for just $3.99 - $4.99!}. Here are just some of the Christmas lovelies that I have created that are for sale in my Etsy shop:

There are also hair bows without the felt backing:

And newly added to my inventory are GA Tech & GA Bulldog hairbows!!!

You can go here to see all of the designs that I have created so far.

This week I will start working on hairbows for Valentines Day!!

As a reminder, I also do custom orders {I've been having fun with those!} and if there is a bow that you see in my shop's "sold" section that you would like duplicated, let me know and if I have enough fabric I will recreate it for you! : )

On an unrelated sidenote, I am so behind on putting up Ilah's 10 month post. 11 months is quickly approaching; I hope to have it up this week!!

Brazillian Lemonade Recipe

There's a Brazillian restaurant in Atlanta called Fogo de Chao that my husband and I just love going to. They have a divine drink there that we always get...their Brazillian lemonade. We talk about that lemonade long after we've left the restaurant! IT'S SO GOOD! After dining at Fogo de Chao last weekend, I browsed the internet to see if I could find a copycat recipe and sure enough I did! I made it a few days before Thanksgiving to see if the recipe would truly deliver the same taste and...oh yes it did!! Now we don't have to wait until dining at Fogo de Chao to have their yummy Brazillian lemonade.

I served up a few pitchers of it on Thanksgiving Day and many of you have asked me for the recipe so here it is!....

Original Recipe Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 limes
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup of ice

* If you want to make a pitcher of this lemonade, triple the ingredients {first see if your blender can hold the triple quantity amount; ours does}. Also, I don't quite use an entire 1/2 cup of sugar since it will make the lemonade very, very, VERY sweet. But that's your call! You may want more, you may want less.

Directions:

1.Wash limes thoroughly. Cut off the ends and slice into eight wedges. Place limes in a blender with the sugar, sweetened condensed milk, water, and ice.
2.Blend in an electric blender, pulsing 5 times. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove rinds. Serve over ice.

Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving Calories: 152 Total Fat: 1.3g Cholesterol: 5mg

Yes, lots of sugar...lots of calories! Just one glass of this lemonade and it will probably give you your fix : )

Enjoy!!!

P.S. - For those of you who have asked for my banana bread recipe, I posted it here a long time ago. Scroll to the bottom of the post for it : )

Our Wonderful Thanksgiving {Recapping the Day!}

In my post previous to this one, I was in high gear preparing for Thanksgiving Day. I started preparations Wednesday morning - putting decor in place, setting the table, labeling my dishes with sticky notes as to what food goes where {to make things smoother on the "day of", organization is key!}...but in actuality, my preparations for Thanksgiving started back in September {remember this post?} when I first began drafting the menu. I know, I know. Way early. But I was excited for Thanksgiving this year - that we had a beautiful blessing named Ilah at our table, and that as a fairly newly married woman, and now a mother, that I was overseeing Thanksgiving day for our family - in our home. For so many years I had dreamed of being a wife and a mother, looking forward to creating beautiful holidays for my family. And now, there I was. Doing it. God is amazing. He has brought so many of my prayers to fruition.

I had hoped that Thanksgiving day would truly be a wonderful one - that aside from delicious food, that our home would be filled with warmth, love, and laughter...the day was all of that and so much more. It was truly a beautiful day!

Onto the pictures!!....

I knew I wanted a pretty little tablescape but I wasn't really sure what I was going to create. I had no real vision for how I wanted to beautify our table - I just knew that I wanted to. On a whim, this is what I came up with on Wednesday afternoon....

I bought some very inexpensive things "here and there" over the past few months {the glittery pumpkins, the yellow salad plates, the chocolate brown chargers, the table runner, the table cloth, and the flowers} and along with some of the things that we already had {the white dinner plates, the vases, the ribbon to wrap around them, the votives, and the large hurricane candle}, I blended the old with the new. Ultimately, it all created a warm inviting tablescape.

I wrapped the stems of the silverware in chocolate brown satin ribbon and attached a glittery pretty little piece to it, which were the guest favors {a Christmas ornament!}.

The place settings at the head of the table had a pumpkin, and a favor, in a contrasting color.

ONTO THE FOOD!!....

Our Menu:

• Turkey
• Gravy
• Stuffing
• Corn
• Sweet Mashed Potatoes
• Roasted Potatoes
• Green Beans
• Stuffed Zuchinni
• Rolls
• Not pictured: Plantains & Rice

Desserts:

• Banana Bread
• Oatmeal Cranberry Chip Cookies
• Apple Crisp {w/vanilla ice-cream}
• Mini Pecan Pies {w/whipped cream}
• No pumpkin pie? Nope. No one, including me, likes it!

In case you're wondering, everything was made from scratch except the rolls. We love Kings Hawaiian rolls : )

I tell ya, timing is everything when cooking a large meal!! I made all my desserts the night before Thanksgiving and before I went to bed, I drafted the order for which things would go in, and out, of the oven on Thanksgiving morning/afternoon.

This garland matches the wreath on our front door. I just LOVE it. Surprisingly, I found the wreath, and the garland at the same store - one year later!

I was so nervous about cooking that bird! It really is quite a process {from thawing it out to seasoning it, to watching it while it cooks to make sure it's not drying out}; I think the first go around you always question if you are doing everything right. The turkey is THE biggest part of the Thanksgiving meal. If it's ruined...what's the back-up? Frozen chicken pot pies??!! Well, that wouldn't have worked because there aren't any in our freezer! Ha!! Thankfully, my husband took full reign and did his thing on that Turkey!! I just handed him the spices - he did all the rest!!

We had an abundant amount of food....leftovers galore!!

My mini pecan pies!! I lined the dessert platter with embellished scrapbook paper....

Having never made a pecan pie in my life {or any pie for that matter}, I was nervous about making them for the first time on Thanksgiving. They came out even better than I had hoped!! Ahh...they were SO good!!!!

With a dollop of ice-cream, or whipped cream...take your pick!!

I set up a separate area in the kitchen for drinks....

I served sweet tea, water, and we whipped up our new favorite drink...Brazillian lemonade!! It was a HIT!!!


I tied ribbons around each of the glass pitchers to fancy them up a bit....


This little girl chowed down on some turkey and sweet potatoes and loved it!!!....







After dinner, Ilah went for a little walk with her puppy Ruffea to walk off the meal! Ha!!....


We ended the night with a fun game of Taboo! Love that game!


After our guests left for the evening, I got right to cleaning so that the next day I could begin transforming our home into Christmas! In keeping up with the same tradition that I was raised with, Christmas trees go up the day after Thanksgiving! Ilah's was first! My mom stayed over the night of Thanksgiving and helped me decorate Ilah's tree. I loved sharing that moment with my mom. Ilah's tree looks soooo cute {pictures to come!}.

Are any of you doing a recap of your Thanksgiving Day? Let me know...I'd love to visit your blog and see how wonderful your day was too! : )

Prepping for Thanksgiving

I am taking a break between baking mini pecans pies and prepping my stuffed zuchinni to do a quick blog post. Thank goodness that Mr. Wonderful was home today from work! It's been a looong day for both of us - he helped out so much with Ilah while I prepped our home for tomorrow's Thanksgiving celebration. The table is set, special touches are in place, goodies have made their way in and out of the oven, and Ilah's cute little dress has been ironed {I made a matching bow for it tonight}. I know that little girl cannot wait to dig her little hands into some yummy Thanksgiving food! The aroma of Thanksgiving has filled our home since sunrise and we all can't wait until tomorrow's gathering.

This is the very first Thanksgiving that we are having together as a family of 3 - our very first Thanksgiving in our home - the first Thanksgiving that I have cooked nearly everything by myself - the very first Thanksgiving that I have ever hosted {technically, "we" - my husband did chop up the sweet potatoes and season the turkey! Gotta give credit where it's due. *wink*.}.

I've been looking forward to this day with excitement as if I'm initiating myself into "the club" - joining ranks with the elite women, wives, and moms who toil endlessly for hours {heck, days, weeks, months} to make Thanksgiving day just perfect. Do I get a badge or something once all the dishes are in the sink, bellys are full, and the guests have left? If not, I'm stopping everything now! ; )

While I wish I could go soak in the tub {my feet are throbbing}, that won't happen for another few hours, if at all tonight. I am so blessed to have an amazing husband - and not just because he is always telling me to put my feet up for a foot rub! ; ) It's nearly 11:30 p.m. and I've been going non-stop all day. Literally. I only took a quick break to scarf down some lunch around 1 p.m. Let me tell you....it takes days to prep for hosting a large gathering. There is no way that I could have done all that I have done over the last few days on the "day of". No way.

My husbands family will be coming over tomorrow, along with some of their friends, and of course, my mother will be here too. Undoubtedly, Ilah will steal the show and no one but me will notice that I lined the dessert platter with embellished paper or that I scoured the internet for days looking for the best pecan pie recipe. But alas, we will all be gathered together, sharing in love and laughter - and the day will be one to remember...forever.

Wishing you all many joyful moments as you celebrate the beauty of Thanksgiving.

Home Tour Week: The Breakfast Area/Sun Room/Sitting Room

This week Ilah and I have been on the go, go go!! We have been out of the house way more than we have been inside of it. While although I really wanted to get my home tour post up last night {after a very busy day} I chose to cozy up in bed after the little one was asleep and flip through the new issues of my magazine subscriptions. Trust me when I tell you that those hours of relaxation were much needed!

To allow myself some breathing room in getting my home tour posts up, I'm going to change "Home Tour Mondays" to "Home Tour Week" where on any given day, a room in our house will be shown until the tour is finished.

With all that said, this week I am highlighting our breakfast nook/sunroom/seating area. Take your pick what you think it should be called! Actually, it has turned into Ilah's play area. The area doesn't look this clean during the day - just in the morning and at night when all the toys have been put away! And yes, I put them away every night. Why? Because I just love a clean house.

We kept this space an open area when we found out we were expecting a baby. We wanted this area off of the living room to be a play space, but we also wanted to decorate it nicely and have the space be multi-functional. We purposely didn't put any barstools in front of the high counter for a long time because they would pose a hazard for a little one to bump their head on the metal base as they are learning to crawl/walk - and that has happened one time...at my moms house. We figured that along with our dining room that sits six people, and the two barstools that we have in front of our kitchen island, that was ample seating. Obviously Ilah is older now and therefore those days of panic [when she was a wee one] are behind us, so we just bought these....

Did you notice that my curtains don't touch the floor? Not the look I was going for! But it had to be that way because the moulding around this corner window didn't have enough room between it and the wall so we had to install the hardware above the window frame instead of next to it...

Oh well. What are you gonna' do? My curtains go above my base boards. So what. It's not the end of the world, right? But it bugs me. So I will have them lengthened ; )

Fake plants really do add a nice touch to a space.....

Above the door leading out to the patio...

The two pictures in this space....

This table had the perfect look, and was the perfect size, to go between the two chairs....

See that clock above? It opens up....

The pillows on the chairs....

Next to the chair on the right are two covered boxes. One of them holds Ilah's small handheld toys, and the other holds diapers, wipes, and diaper disposal saks {you know, for the "smelly" ones!}....


Speaking of our chairs. I just LOVE them. Here's a close up of them....

Yes, we DO sit in them! : )

My husband installed this light in this space. We also have the same one in our entry way. We picked them out and purchased them from Lowes.


And last but not least - the berber rug. Love it! We also got it at Lowe's.

That concludes the tour of the breakfast area/sunroom/sitting area/Ilah's play space!

Next week...the Dining Room!

Mr. Wonderful just brought me home some red velvet cake from the Cheesecake Factory so it's time to cozy up once again, with a fork in hand, in a pair of pants with an elastic waist!

Hope you all have a great evening!

Previous Home Tour Posts: The Entry Way, The Kitchen, The Living Room.