We spent Greta’s first birthday with just the three of us and celebrated with all of Greta’s favorite foods. Craig and I threw up some streamers and balloons, including my lovely balloon wall. Kind of dumb, but I dug the bright colors.
Greta really seemed to enjoy her play kitchen and played with it all day. Each time she took a nap we would put everything back and then when she woke up she would take everything back out again.
At each meal we had Greta’s favorite foods (so far as we can tell):
Breakfast: French toast
Lunch: Salami sandwiches
Dinner: Roast chicken with garlic, lemon, and new potatoes & garlic soy broccoli
Plus, there was the cake.
Rainbow cake (halved) here, with buttercream frosting instead.
I make this face when I eat cake too.
Craig’s work has a lot of employees with kids and apparently, it is quite common for their partners to come in with the birthday child and cupcakes. So of course Il Duce demanded I do the same.
These were really super good. Very moist. Craig’s officemate remarked that it was the best cupcake he ever had and that the chocolate shavings on top were “the icing on top of the icing.”
(I learned that you get better chocolate curls with a veggie peeler than with a grater.)
Thank you, Martha. Chocolate cupcake recipe here and buttercream icing here (I tinted mine with food coloring because I could).
We had a really lovely weekend of not doing much. We discovered this online game Word Whomp and pretty much played it all day. Craig and I make a good team! I also woke up this morning to an email from my Mom (who asked that she not be referred to as mother) telling me that my nephew was born last night. James Theodore is 7 pounds, 1 ounce and 19.5 inches! Being so far away stinks and I am consoling myself by repeatedly looking at my brother’s Facebook profile.
On to the menu!
Monday: Spaghetti with red sauce + baked sweet potato + salad
Tuesday: Leftover cheese quiche with prosciutto
Wednesday: Red lentil soup with greens + crusty bread
Thursday: Basil fried rice with ground pork and veggies
Friday: Pizza Night
Saturday: not sure yet- depends on what goes on sale this week
Sunday: Craig’s dinner
You can read more menu plans here.
I am not sure where this week went. Anyway, here are my 365 photos.
The birthday girl, enjoying her birthday cake.
One years old and suddenly she has enough table manners to not throw her plate across the room until the end of the meal.
Gorgeous day so we spent some of it on the balcony. I’m looking forward to getting a table and chairs for it. Also, flower and herb boxes!
Gorgeous sky. I am glad I forgot to take my photo until the end of the day.
That’s right, spring is on it’s way!
Totally weaned. Someone just needs to share that info with my boobs.
Craig is at a work retreat in the mountains of Switzerland. Someone is jealous.
*Project 365: a photo a day for one year. It’s number twenty six on my Mighty Life List, as inspired by Maggie at Mighty Girl.
So, I’m a little backed up with sharing my 365 photos, huh? Part of that time was because I couldn’t get them off of my camera thanks to a cat who likes to chew wires but the rest of that time is because I am lazy. To catch up, I am putting three weeks into one post. Oh boy!
It’s fun to push things around in a wagon.
We made meatloaf. It was ok. Greta thought it was excellent.
I cleaned my office this day with the hopes of soon sewing. I have yet to do that though :(
Her favorite game- removing things from my wallet.
For coleslaw.
This our teeny fridge. It works for us though since we only buy enough food for a few days.
She pretty much constantly pulls these books out. I have yet to let go of my OCD need to restack them by height EVERY time.
I walk through this underground graffiti/mural tunnel every time I go to the grocery store.
Rosemary butter cookies.
I like this one because you can see how her mouth exploded with teeth.
I found this heart at a nearby playground.
She constantly pushes this away from the wall. It drives me bonkers. Craig is buying a bracket to screw to the wall soon.
Around Old Town.
Oscar. I always bug Craig by asking if he thinks are duvet cover is green with white stripes or white with green.
Greta has started hugging and being cuddly with her doll and stuffed animals. It’s pretty cute. Also, every photo this week is of her since it’s her BIRTHDAY WEEK.
In front of the bakery, hence the drool.
Someone is almost totally weaned off of the boob.
Not much to say about this, other than HOLY CUTE.
Same for this one.
On our balcony. I pretend she is waving to the horses.
Since we have installed the babygate, this sits in the hallway. Where someone cannot destroy the DVDs.
*Project 365: a photo a day for one year. It’s number twenty six on my Mighty Life List, as inspired by Maggie at Mighty Girl.
Oh man, little Greta toes at about 6.5 months.
I’ve been a bad blogger but am now attempting to get back into the swing of things. I missed last week’s Menu Monday and am behind on posting my 365 photos. Sorry dear readers (i.e. my mom, best friend, and husband)!
Ok, so here we go!
Monday: Spicy Braised Beef with Lime over rice (How to Cook Everything
Tuesday: Tortellinis with Red Sauce, Baked Sweet Potatoes, and bread
Wednesday: Rice Noodles with Chilies, Pork, & Basil (How to Cook Everything
Thursday: Leftovers (Craig away at work related ski retreat- not fair!)
Friday: Pizza Night (Still no Craig, so this will be one I pick up at the Migros)
Saturday: Spinach Quiche
Sunday: Craig’s dinner
You can see more menu plans here.
Happy Birthday, baby girl. You are seriously the best.
{Greta, 5 days old)
If you missed the past hundred or so times I mentioned that my Greta is about to turn 1, then let me repeat myself: GRETA IS ABOUT TO TURN 1.
Of course, we are far away from our family and friends so on the big day, we are choosing to celebrate with some simple decorations, a cake, and all of Greta’s favorite foods.
That still hasn’t stopped me from spending entire nap times looking at photos of beautifully styled and photographed parties on various blogs and Pinterest. And, even though it will be just the three of us, I have to have a theme (I love a theme). I found some colorful streamers and balloons at the store here, so I landed on Rainbow. Mostly so I could make this cake:
photo by Nicole Gerulat via One Charming Party.
Now, I have decided to restrain myself and not make all 8 layers of this cake. I will probably do 4. (By the way, if you google “rainbow party” something much more sinister involving teenagers pops up.)
I also have to make some cupcakes to bring into Craig’s work. I am digging the look of these- I ordered some Japanese washi tape to do something similar.
photo from Call Me Cupcake.
Of course, these are awesome too:
Anybody know the original source to these cupcakes? Found via Pinterest.
As for decor, I am a big fan of streamers, bunting, or garland.
I love these:
From Oh Happy Day.
I also love this:
from Martha Stewart.
These look fun to make (plus the whole party looks AMAZING):
From Juicy Bits.
And of course, what would a party be, without cute paper straws?
From Shop Sweet Lulu.
I still haven’t made it to the shop to replace my memory card reader, so I have not been able to upload new photos. This is one from Greta back in October, at 7 months old. As we approach her 1 year birthday, it is fun to look back and see how different she looks in such a short span of time. It is completely bananas.
Last week’s menu got tweaked a bit. First, I couldn’t find the pearl barley in our Swiss grocery stores so we settled for a dinner of salmon instead (poor us!) and then we had so much pulled pork left that we ate it on Saturday as well instead of the spinach quiche. The pulled pork was delightful as always- I’ll be sharing the recipe once I can get the pictures off of my memory card.
This week should be pretty easy and we have many of the ingredients already on hand.
Monday: We’re going to a housewarming party, so most likely we will have a quick meal of tortellinis plus veggie plus bread
Tuesday: Veggie and chicken fried rice
Wednesday: Bacon cheeseburgers with sweet potato fries
Thursday: Ham plus mashed potatoes plus whatever veggie is on sale
Friday: Pizza Night! (salami and onion?)
Saturday: Spaghetti with Meat sauce plus a salad
Sunday: Craig’s dinner
For more menu inspiration, check out this site.
