One of my most favorite things about what I do is that I get to meet other fun, creative women. The fabulous Emily at Jones Design Company is one of them. This winter, I’ve partnered up with her to start offering some lindsay letters prints exclusively in her shop. Click here to read more and to purchase the limited edition print below. Hope you enjoy! xo, linds
I was looking for something today and as I was sorting through my files I found some photos I’d put together for Erin & Jason’s wedding. I can’t believe I never posted it! I think I was waiting until I photographed her invitation. However, I think it’s time and this wedding is exactly what this January day needs. {I’m responsible for the quirky food plaques in some of the photos below, as well as the damask fans}. I have to get back to business, but let me just say that Erin is one of the sweetest women I’ve ever ever met. From the moment she walked through my door I knew I HAD to do her wedding and I had to make her be my friend. Done and done. Erin & Jason–your wedding was as radient and joyous as you are. I wish you all the happiness in the world, and was so privileged to be a part of your wedding. xo, linds
[photographs by Paul Johnson Photography. More here: Southern Weddings]
I bought a head (is that what you call it?) of broccoli last week, with much healthier, loftier, intentions for it. However, there it sat for a week. Lonely, refrigerated. It’s days numbered. So, since it’s still all snowy here and since we have a very minimal grocery budget left, I decided to make one of my favorite soups for lunch. This is seriously the easiest, least expensive thing. And it’s delicious. Make this soup once and it will be a family favorite forever. I’m almost embarrassed to post the recipe since it’s so easy and probably so bad for you. Who cares. There’s plenty of other meals for you to be healthy.
Easiest Ever Broccoli Cheese Soup From My Mom’s Church Cookbook From 1987
Makes about 4 big bowls
- 2 cans Campbell’s Cream of Celery Soup
- 1 Jar Cheese Whiz (yes, seriously).
- 1 “head” of fresh broccoli (the original recipe calls for frozen, but then you can’t control the quality or the occasional woody bit of stalk you’ll run in to when you use the frozen kind)
- Half & half
The directions from the cookbook go like this: combine all ingredients and heat.
My Directions:
1. Fill soup pot with a shallow amount of water. Bring to a boil.
2. As you’re waiting for water to boil, use a kitchen scissors to cut little broccoli florets directly into the water. You can make the pieces as large or as small as you like. I like small little trees with an occasional large one here and there.
3. Boil the heck out of the broccoli. I’m not sure how long. As long as it took me to change Eva, get Riley fresh water, and change into sweat pants. You just want the broccoli to be tender and kind of falling apart.
4. Turn off heat, put lid on soup pot, and use lid to drain most of the water out of the pot. For me, I keep about an inch of the bright green broccoli water in the pot.
5. Put soup pot back on stove and turn heat to medium. Pour in soup and Cheese Whiz and stir until well incorporated. Once it’s mixed well, add half and half until your soup reaches your desired thickness. I used probably just over a cup. (Tip: when you’re reheating the soup, you can add a little more half and half or milk to stretch it a little further).
Optional add ins: I add about 1/8 tsp black pepper and garlic powder. I also top with shredded cheese because, why not? I’ve also added shredded rotisserie chicken to make it more like a meal. Shredded carrots are also nice.
Serve with bread and enjoy. Stay cozy! xo, linds
The snow is falling and I’m still in my pj’s in an empty, quiet house–a trio of things that haven’t happened since last winter! Thanks to my super-helpful mother-in-law, who offered to take the babe while I take a few hours to get my life together, I am finally able to stop in to say hello. Finally! What a season this has been! On November 15th–2 and a half weeks early–D and I welcomed little miss Eva Love into our lives. I had no idea I could love something this much. I’m 30 years old as of Christmas Eve, and never in my life thus far have I experienced anything like motherhood. Eva is amazing. If it’s possible, I fall more in love with her every day. Watching her {and my patience} grow is such a testament that we have a Creator I can’t even believe it. I am so grateful for this beautiful, healthy, precious little Love. And for a wonderful husband to raise her with. {And, for an amazing group of super supportive and grace-filled friends and family}.
Just after Eva was born, I got right back to work at Heartland. {That’s what I get for having a baby just before Christmas!} No but seriously, I love and am so proud to be a part of the Christmas season at church. The whole month of December seems a little blurry still, but as far as I can tell we all made it. My friend Laura says that in a baby’s first 3 months of life, as long as everyone is fed and alive, you’re doing great. Perfect. That, I think, I can manage.
I am so excited to begin this next year. I am slowly getting back in the swing of things, day by day deciding what new projects I can take on. If your email is one of the hundred that I need to get back to, I apologize. I’m doing the best I can in between feedings! I’m also going to be updating my site {I promise this time!} with new samples of work and proper pricing information so check back for that. In the meantime, I’m excited to be doing some more collaborating with the lovely Emily at Jones Design Company. {Valentines print coming your way soon!} And very hopefully, I’ll get back to blogging more routinely as well. {I, too, got tired of seeing “apple dip” every time I looked at my site!}
I hope this post finds you cozy, and healthy, and well. Thanks so much, as always, for your support and compliments and prayers. Keep checking back! xo, linds
I have been really really into apples lately. Yum. They’re the most low-maintenance fruit in my opinion. My favoirte, by far. Usually I reserve this dip for fall parties and apple season, but I was in the mood for both apples and dessert yesterday, so I made it. And it’s good. And now I’m going to share the recipe with you. You’re welcome. My friend Patti first made this dip for me years ago, I begged for the recipe and it’s been one of my favorites ever since. I bring it to parties and women want the recipe and kids shove their faces in it. It’s a crowd pleaser, I promise. I’m sure there are lots of versions of this recipe… I’ve simplified the directions a bit {of course}. Here they are!
Apple Dip
1 8oz block of cream cheese, softened a bit {this last time I tried the low fat. Eh, it was fine. I’d stick with regular. I mean, you’re making a dip that’s sugar and cheese so really, now is not the time to cut caloric corners}.
3/4 Cup white sugar
1/4 Cup light brown sugar
1 capful of vanilla extract
a handful of salted cocktail peanuts {I buy the little single serving snack size you can get by the check out or in the snack aisle… costs less than a dollar}.
Directions:
Put softened cream cheese in a bowl. In a 1 cup measuring cup, fill it 3/4 full with white sugar and top off with brown sugar. Don’t be stingy. Heap it up a little. Don’t stress about measuring. Pour in one capful of vanilla extract. Stir wildly with a spoon. Some recipes say you can beat it with an electric mixer, but in my opinion, who wants to dirty another dish? Once you’re done stirring until everything is well incorporated, stir in the peanuts. {If you or a loved one has a peanut allergy, it’s totally fine to skip this part. Tastes even more like cookie dough with out it. Oh, that makes me think you could probably even add mini chocolate chips. Heck, if you’re going to do that I would probably just skip the apple and just eat it with a spoon…}. Serve with cut up apple pieces. Enjoy! xo, linds
Hello! I just got back from a wonderful, super relaxing vacation. We were very blessed to be able to spend some family time together for a week at a friend’s place in Kentucky while they were out of town. The house was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and I fell more in love with my husband, his family, and a goldendoodle named Bubba. This vacation was exactly what the doctor ordered, and we all were so appreciative of the blessing of this amazing place to stay.
I have so many new things to share with you that I’m not exactly sure where to start! But I’m glad to be back. Back home, back to blogging, back to weddings, and back to feeling a little more normal than last trimester. xo, linds
p.s. my blog looks yucky right now. I don’t have margin to fix it just yet, so bare with me for a bit. Just wanted to assure you that those changes weren’t intentional. ;o)
SO MANY THANKS to all of you for your prayers and sweet congratulations on the baby-to-be! Seriously, I so appreciate it!!! I know there is no such thing as a “typical” pregnancy, but as of today, I officially feel like I’m fulfilling every pregnancy stereotype there is. {Aside from the fact that I can barely think about ginger ale or saltines without getting sick. Yuck!} Anyway, right on schedule, the nesting instinct hit me like a ton of bricks today. Immediately, I was at once overcome with the intense desire to:
- completely redo our bedroom
- move
- buy acrylic furniture
- paint a few bedrooms {especially one wall deep turquoise}
- start a “nursery” sticky note with links to things that inspire me
- go antiquing and thrift storing…
- ..and stop by Target on the way to buy a few dresses that disguise everything on the front of my body that is growing before my eyes…
Because most of these things aren’t realistic… or in the budget… I decided the most practical thing for my “I have to do it–and do it now!” self would be to do a little spring sprucing around lindsay letters. So, I wanted to give you a heads up that if you check in and my site and it looks a little wonky, I’m sorry. Please excuse the mess and know that if something looks totally out of whack, it’s not my intention and I’ll fix it soon. All the more reason for you to check back! ;o) xo, linds
I recently created lots of these little cuties to assist {along with glitter and branches} in adorning terrariums for a wedding shower. Client photo of the cards in action soon? I hope so! xo, linds
Remember this post? I created some custom invitations for a lovely baby shower. A couple weeks ago, I was thrilled to see that Shauna posted about it on her blog. What fun! {You can see some of the little food cards I made in the photos below, taken by her friend Melody Martinez}. Doesn’t everything look DELICIOUS?! Shauna’s the writer, so I’ll send you to her post about the shower so you can read all about the shower and the yummy spread! Sweet! xo, linds
Remember 6ish years ago when we were all watching our beloved Carrie play dress up in Paris–and wondering aloud to our girlfriends during the commercial breaks why she could spend so much money on dresses and shoes, but didn’t find the margin to touch up her roots? {We were perplexed, but it didn’t matter. She looked fabulous anyway. Of course}
Well, as I’ve noticed with most of the fashion on that show, the ladies of Sex and the City were definitely a handful of years ahead of the fashion forecast for the rest of the world. {Well, for the midwest farmer’s daughters, anyway}. Of course, now the ombré hair trend is popping up everywhere I look for fashion inspiration. And I LOVE it. LOOOVE it. But here’s the question–is it too much?
Since this whole hair episode of mine, you obviously know I have no fear of change. However, I have a running joke with some of my friends that where I live is not quite ready for some of the audacious offerings of an on-trend lifestyle. {2 of the last 3 times I wore a Ban.do to run errands, I got asked if I was in a play or in costume. Seriously}. However, bits of ombré keep popping up in my life {like you, Miss Brooklyn!} and I’m thinking you know what? I love it. And since when has Rockford not being ready ever stopped me before? Never. {Well… sometimes}… I’m going in for a consultation tomorrow so we’ll see what happens! {By the way, it’s good to see you again!} xo, linds
p.s. The photographs of Carrie are from HBO. If you’d like to watch any of the Paris episodes, you can do so here.
Update: I DID IT!!! Paula at thexperience salon & spa is a-mazing! She did an excellent job–I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!! {Thanks so much for all your cute comments and emails}. Here are a few {really crummy quality, sorry} photos of how it turned out. Thanks, Paula! I LOVE it!!
