Lil G's Photoshoot and a Giveaway!

As you know lil G turned 2 this week...

And last Friday we got one of those FREAK 70 degree and sunny days in the middle of February.  We took full advantage of the beautiful weather and did a outdoor photo shoot at a local park with our friend Ashley from Ashley Sorbello Photography!  Don't you just LOVE those unexpected great weather days in the middle of the winter?  Don't worry it was snowing 2 days later... that's living in the northeast for you!

Ashley captured some GREAT pictures of my lil man for his 2nd birthday...

Ashley is amazing to work with and she is so talented.  You have to LOVE documenting the personality and the innocence of a child in a photograph you will have forever...

 And how she can capture the LOVE of an engaged couple...

She also does weddings...here is our friend Jamie's wedding she shot earlier this year...beautiful!

Ashley Sorbello Photography is having a SPRING SALE and offering 15% off photo packages if you book before March 12th!!  So contact her today...you won't be disappointed!

And here's the best part...

She is giving away a FREE MINI PHOTO SESSION* to one of my readers!  It's a $125 value, which includes a one hour photo session PLUS 5 of your favorite images on a DVD 

How can you win?

5 ways to ENTER
(Enter one comment for each entry you complete)

Leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite place to do a photo shoot-

You don't have to have a blog to enter. If you aren't a blogger, just enter a comment and then where it says "comment as" scroll down near the bottom and click on anonymous. However, if you do that, make sure to leave your e-mail address so we can contact you if you are the winner. If we draw the name of someone who doesn't leave any identifying information we will simply draw a new name. Make sure to check back here on the blog to collect your prize!

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Click FOLLOW in the right tool bar and enter your email address and a password.  You can sign in using a Google, Yahoo, or Twitter account you have already created or you can select create a new Google account and start one using your current email address and a password.  Leave a comment to let me know you are a new follower!  And if you already are a follower leave a messge to tell me that too!

LIKE Ashley Sorbello Photography on Facebook-

Click HERE and LIKE her FB page.  Then leave her a comment saying that you are visiting from Tizzi Lish.  Come back and leave a separate comment here saying you did!

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Spread the word-
Post this giveaway with a link to this page on your faceboook, twitter, or blog, then come back here and leave the link or a comment letting us know that you did!

*The photo session can take place at a location of your choosing in the western south jersey or Philadelphia area, all sessions booked outside that area are subject to an additional travel fee.  Session must be scheduled for a date between now and Sunday, May 1st.

Contest ends Friday, March 11th at midnight! 



30 Minute Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Last week we all got home late and I was scrambling for something quick to make with chicken.  We whipped up this quick chicken noodle and vegetable soup.  I know quick and soup are not usually used in the same sentence and I too usually cook my soups for hours (therefore they have to be cooked on the weekend).  But here is a recipe that is quick enough for any week night you need the warmth of soup. 

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large parsnip, peeled and diced
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can corn
1 bag egg noodles (I used extra thin)
olive oil
salt and pepper
chicken bouillon granules
fresh parsley
1 48 oz can chicken broth
4 cups water

Saute chopped chicken in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pan on medium heat until brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Chop and add carrot, celery, onion, and parsnip to the pan.  Saute about 5 more minutes on medium high stirring occasionally.  Add 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking until vegetables start to soften, about 5 more minutes.  It will look like this...

Add diced tomatoes, corn, chicken broth, and water.  Cook for about 10 minutes on high until everything comes to a rolling boil.  Add 1 package egg noodles, stir, cover and cook for 5 more minutes. 

Garnish with fresh parsley and that's it...chicken vegetable soup in a hurry that tastes like it's been cooking for hours...I promise :)  I know there are a million versions of chicken soup, but this was my "use what I got" version!

Lil Monkey's Birthday Bash!

Our little boy is TWO today!!  We spent this past weekend celebrating his birthday with family and friends.  We decided to have a small party this year, but even just our families involves quite a few people and a lot of little ones.  I just LOVE planning the details of a party, but because of the winter weather and limited space in our house we decided to have it at Monkey Town.  The kids loved being able to run and play...and that's really what it's all about! 

Even though it was at a children's play place, I still was able to add some party details to make it unique and special.  And since we were having the party at Monkey Town...we went with the monkey theme throughout the party.

Monkey Town provided invites, but I decided to make them a little more personal by adding a picture collage of our little monkey in his monkey costume from Halloween that read "Monkey See...Monkey Do!  Garret is turning 2!" and added envelope seals that read "Let's Go Bananas" I downloaded from Paper Glitter.

I used the same "Let's Go Bananas" circle tags throughout the party decorations.  Here I layered it on burlap and ribbon to decorate this glass jar I filled with banana candy! 

And here on these glass jars that were filled with Monkey lollipops.

I made this burlap birthday banner (which was hard to get a good picture of...no windows inside the party room) using brown burlap, ribbon, scrap book paper, and some mod podge. 

My hope was that this banner made the standard party room feel more personalized.

Each child of little G's cousins and friends took home a personalized monkey cup and take out container of "monkey munch" (chocolate Cheerios, chocolate chips, banana chips, and coconut).

But my favorite detail of the party were these monkey cupcakes my hubby and I made.  Banana cupcakes, with homemade chocolate fudge icing!!  Aren't they adorable!  And they were a hit with the kids too!

I asked our party host to shape them into a number 2...she did a great job (all of the staff there were so pleasant and extremely accommodating)!

Our little monkey had a GREAT 2nd birthday and my husband and I were able to relax and have a great time too!

If you are interested in visiting Monkey Town with your kids they are offering my local readers, $15.00 OFF a weekend party package or $3.00 OFF admission to open play time.  Offer expires 4/30/11.

Kitchen Labels

If you read one of my first posts on my blog, one of my goals for this year was to get organized.  My family spends so much time in our kitchen.  It's the first place people see when they enter from the back door, we gather there in the mornings before work and after work to eat dinner, my son likes to color at his table and play with cars on the floor, my husband and I work on our lap tops...the list could go on and on.  Needless to say because we use it that much, it also gathers clutter and stuff...so I have some great projects coming up in the kitchen!

Today I wanted to show you how I quickly spiced up my kitchen canisters...

THE BEFORE...Canisters I have had for a few years, that match my dinnerware (which are Pfaltzgraff Cappuccino).

I added these custom labels I ordered from Say it On The Wall that say Flour, Sugar, Brown Sugar, and Harlee's Treats.  Aren't they great!  And now my boring canisters look like this...

And this week Say It On The Wall is going to offer all of my readers 30% off any kitchen related product!  Just use promo code TIZZI30.  But hurry because the offer expires Monday, February 28th 2011!!

Look at the organization it brings to this pantry.  You can even choose the size, font, and color of the labels.  They are only $2.50 per label or $17.50 for a set of 10.  And don't forget to enter TIZZI30 for an extra 30% off!

I can't wait to show you my next project with Say It On The Wall! 

It's for the kitchen too, so stay tuned!

Giving my Big Boy a Big Boy Bedroom

I have bitter sweet feelings about my lil man's 2nd birthday next week.  I LOVE that he is talking non-stop (just like his mommy), constantly on the go, and he'll copy just about anything you show him how to do, BUT all this means my baby...is not much of a baby anymore. 

This weekend we spent some more time on our bedroom makeover (I promise it's coming soon....but now I have another project in mind I want to finish) and we also decided to give little G's room a few changes and make it less baby....more BIG BOY! 

I will show you his whole room next week (because these "little" projects never take just one day).  I wanted to start by showing you a project I finished last night, that I am in LOVE with...and little G thinks it's pretty neat too!

Lil G's room is painted light green and his baby stuff was light green, brown and baby blue.  We decided to add some pops of bright colors to transform the room, without repainting and starting over.  And some cars and trucks of course since that is what he LOVES right now.  I started with some some fun print card stock in primary colors. 

I picked up this white picture ledge shelf and these colored frames at Ikea this weekend!  Don't you just love Ikea, especially their children's stuff?!  The front protection on the frames is made from durable plastic that makes it safe for kids!  I framed the card stock and used vinyl I cut on my Cricket machine to make the numbers 1,2,3 and the green car.  The vinyl I placed on the outside of the frame, that way I could either change the card stock in the back or change the vinyl on the front of the frame to change the look without completely changing the project.

My son loves to draw and create things right now, so I thought I would give him somewhere to display his artwork that he could enjoy.  And what better touch can you add to a kids room then to make it their own with something they created themselves!  I attached some bright green ribbon along the base of the ledge with white thumb tacks.

 

Then punched some circles out of my leftover card stock and attached them to the front of these clothes pins with some hot glue.  Cute little artwork clips!

And the finished product...

We already had the shelf with his name letters on it, so we just added this shelf under it.  My husband was a little afraid about him being able to reach it, but he still has a ways to go for that and everything is very kid friendly!

And with some of his artwork :) 

Can't wait to show you the rest but we have a very busy birthday weekend ahead of us!

Sushi and Slippers

Last weekend we spent some time with some great friends in Maryland...

and we had a Sushi and Slippers Party!

Shawn and Adam were wonderful hosts and made all of the sushi homemade that night!!  And let me tell you it was amazing!! 

My sister-in-law, Megan made these awesome Japanese beer labels for the Miller Lite and of course there was Sapporo too!

 

The ladies enjoyed these Japanese Slipper Martinis

Japanese Slipper Martinis - our version

(makes a small pitcher or about 4 martinis)

• 1 cup Midori melon liqueur
• 1 cup Triple Sec orange liqueur
• 1 cup Vodka
• 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup Sprite or Lemon Lime Soda
• honeydew melon scooped into balls for garnish

And did I mention the delicious sushi...

We enjoyed California rolls, volcano rolls, spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, and more! They use a Zojirushi Japanese rice cooker to make the special sticky rice.  Wegmans and some grocery stores now carry a lot of the ingredients need to create your own sushi night at home.  And many cities now have Asian Markets.    

We ended the night with these sweets and played a friendly game of poker! 

Domo means "thanks" in Japanese and I made this plate as a thank you gift for our gracious hosts!

What a wonderful party idea and a great night with amazing friends!