Christmas Pure & Simple {nativity}

The girls over at Eighteen 25 have done it again!

This really IS the Reason for the Season, right?

To celebrate the Birthday of Jesus.

I have wanted a nativity forever! My Mother has an all white set that she (claims) made in ceramics back in 1978! I hope one day to get my hands on it! Until then I think this is a fantab idea. It is simple. It is lovely! I am going to try and recreate a version on this. Thanks so much to the lovely ladies at Eighteen 25

Pop on over to Eighteen 25

and see how they crafted this beautiful ART!

xoxo, Mama Bird

Don’t forget to enter my current giveaway for a DRESS!!!

Jen Cooks {Crockpot Wednesday}

Jen is at it again!! A yummy crockpot recipe that is easy and different!! I LOVE the idea of wrapping the chops in their own little package and I am always looking for a “new” way to prepare pork chops, this is a great idea. Would be lovely for a dinner party as well. Thanks Jen!!

4 pork chops

1 jar of apricot jam

salt & pepper

2 granny smith apples

1 cup brandy

Place each pork chop on a sheet of tinfoil; add salt, pepper, spoonful of jam, 4 slices of apples,  wrap package up leaving one end open, pour Brandy in. (Apx 1/4 to  1/3 cup) seal other end. place in crockpot and cook on low 8 hours.

pretty fab.

xoxo. Mama Bird

Don’t forget to enter to win a FANTAB Party Dress from Shabby Apple  ENTER HERE!!!

 

Party Dress {Giveaway!}

Just in time for the holidays the great  women’s dress designers at Shabby Apple have contacted yours truly to host a Holiday Dress Giveaway!! Woo- wee!! I am so excited I LOVE them all!! In honor of the season I am picking:

Bacciami  (red)     &         Tiber (black)

This adorable dress is perfect for a Holiday party, dinner with friends, whatever!! I think it is so cute!! It can go casual with tall boots of more dressy with heels. YOU DECIDE!! Pop on over to Shabby Apple and check out all the great womens dresses, skirts and accessories they have to offer!!

HOW TO ENTER:

1. REQUIRED you MUST like Shabby Apple’s Facebook Page 

EXTRA ENTRIES:

(leave a separate comment for each!)

2. Follow Mama Bird’s Nest blog

3. Like MY Facebook page

4. Follow me on Twitter

5. Share on any of your blogs, fb, twitter etc and you get 2 extra entries for each!!

Contest starts NOW and will end on Sunday, December 4th at midnight and winner will be announced on Monday morning. Good Luck and PLEASE share with your friends!!

xoxo. Mama Bird

Mama B’s Roasted Sweet Potato Green Salad

Mama B (Beasley) is the sweetest Gran to my favorite 2 yr old twins, Jake & Maggie, Mama B is also great cook and she was telling me about this amazing salad that I thought would be a great addition to our Thanksgiving meal! I love roasted sweet potatoes so I made a smaller portion for dinner last night and it was FANTAB!! Hubs gobbled it up and so did I!!

Salad:
1 head Romaine lettuce ( I used 2 of the Romaine Hearts)
1 c. blue cheese crumbles
1 c. pecan pieces (I lightly toasted these in the microwave 30 sec at a time)
1 c. dried cranberries
1 med. to small red onion thinly sliced
3 large. sweet potatoes

Dressing:

3 T apple cider vinegar
1 c. oil (I used extra light
1 1/2 t. Dijon mustard

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1 inch pieces. Toss sweet potato chunks in mixture of oil, garlic and salt. (I put the chunks into a plastic bag, just drizzled some oil in, threw in 2 cloves sliced garlic and massaged it all together.) Roast in a 400 oven for 30min or so Potatoes should be golden brown in color. Cool.

Chop romaine lettuce into 1 inch pieces and place in bowl or platter. Layer onion, blue cheese, cranberries, and pecan pieces. Top with sweet potato chunks. Toss salad with desired amount of vinaigrette dressing right before serving. (You have to eyeball how much dressing - when I doubled the recipe about ¾ cup of dressing worked perfect!!

Thanks Mama Beasley for sharing!!

xoxo. Mama Bird

Caruso's Fine Dining {review}

Caruso’s Fine Dining in Mooresville, NC is FANTAB!!! Big J and Ka-Ka took Hubs and I out for an amazing diner last night to celebrate Hubs new job { he’s been there like 6 mos now, but hey! we are all busy} Caruso’s was so worth the wait!

I was a bit shocked when we pulled up to a strip mall, but boy was I surprised when we walked in to see chandeliers, white linens, beautiful rugs, a great looking bar and wait staff that knows the ins and outs of every dish!

I started off with a wedge salad (if you know me you know I love wedge!) fresh gorgonzola, crisp lettuce great! Dad had the Arugula Salad, if you LOVE pepper you will love this. The Lemon olive oil dressing was delicate and pungent at the same time. I loved it!

For my entrée Ka Ka and I split the Chilean Sea Bass, polenta encrusted with a lemon caper berry sauce. It was so moist, cooked to perfection I could have licked the plate clean. Hands down best fish I have had in ages!

Hubs had the pork chop special, a pounded bone in shop that was crusted and had that yummy peppery Arugula Salad on top. Dad had a Grouper special that was in a tomato broth with capers and black olives. It had a twist that was excellent and screamed fresh, healthy lovely!

For desert we shared the Crème Brule is was perfect in every way!

Caruso’s was perfect they have a great wine list and I loved everything about my meal {and everyone else's} Mama Bird would highly recommend to anyone in the Mooresville/Lake Norman area.

Sweet Potato & Pear Gratin

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! I LOVE to EAT and of course LOVE to cook!! Here is a great side dish that is simple enough to do any night of the week, but is yummy enough to add to your Thanksgiving Menu!

2 sweet potatoes, sliced thin

3 firm pears
3 Tb butter
2 tsp fresh ginger
1/3 c maple syrup
2 tsp lemon zest
1 Tb lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt

Boil potatoes 20-25 mins until tender/firm, drain & cool; melt butter, add ginger, stir in syrup, zest, juice & salt. In a greased dish alternate layers of potato & pear. Bake 15 min at 350 pour butter mix over top and bake additional 15 mins until golden.

30 Days of Thankful {memories}

I wanted to do the 30 Days of Thankful for the month of November, unfortunately, I was a little overwhelmed and didn’t quit get to it in the beginning. SO, that being said I will just start NOW!!

Today I am THANKFUL for memories.

Memories leave impressions on your heart and in your soul that form who you are. I choose to always try and remember the best parts of people and what they have given to me.

I LOVE that I can be standing in Ross and the song Return of the Mack comes on and I instantly want to call BFF L to tell her “it’s ON” and them we reminisce about all the “crazy” things we did, who we were dating, where we were and what we wore!!!

I love that I can drive by the Golden arches on 127 and still see PD Fowler and all the cars parked in a circle trying to make our game plan for a Friday night. Where is the party? Who’s driving? Who will be there? Can you imagine the trouble we could have gotten into had we had cell phones???? OMG

I love that the smell of certain perfumes will always and forever remind me of certain friends.

Thank you God for all the wonderful memories and all the amazing friends that are attached to those memories. I am truly blessed.

xoxo. Mama Bird

 

 

Tadpole and Lily {my boy is a model…}

STITCH BY STITCH, TWIST BY TWIST

TADPOLE AND LILY

ANNOUNCES THEIR NEW BOYS COLLECTION

and MY BOY is a MODEL!!

Tadpole and Lily paired up with Anders Ruff and Becca Bond Photography  for their new collection.

Anders Ruff , the amazing, designed adorable party printables for the photo shoot that included paper mustaches, matching banners, straw pendants, popcorn cups and so many other cute things. The collection is available in their Etsy shop. A carnival/circus themed party is perfect to throw anytime of the year!

Remember Jack’s Carnival Party? These are the women that made all the amazing printables for his BIG day!!

Jack loved being with all the pretty girls!

The beautifully, talented, Becca Bond Photography was absolutely amazing to work with! She took the most fabulous photos and the models just loved her. If you are local to the Charlotte area, you must contact her!
And for the main event: Tadpole and Lily, the children’s accessory company is not only introducing bow ties and neck ties for boys of all ages, but their new color collection for little girls. The Collections can be seen in select children’s boutiques in Charlotte, NC. The collections will also be available on Tadpole and Lily ’s NEWLY UPDATED website!!

 
Think I will have to get the Anders Ruff girls send me a mustache to put in j’s stocking! He loved it!

The boys collection brings design that echoes the season with fun colors and
textures that are sure to match your child’s clothes and any activity. This season’s bow tie and neck tie collection offers fabric patterns in plaid, stripes, polka dots, buffalo checks and paisley.
The three boy’s ties aren’t just a formed bow or knot; they are adjustable for size and bow. Each tie is hand cut and carefully sewn one at a time. The boy’s collection retails at $20 each.

The little girls Collection features new colors that just match perfectly to the boy’s ties. What a perfect accessory for a family photo shoot, wedding or party.
Learn more about Tadpole and Lily at www.tadpoleandlily.com.

The creators of Tadpole and Lily, Alex & Clair!

Are they not fun?

Any of you girls out there preggers? Check out Clair’s store The Bump Maternity I SOOOO wish  I knew them when I was pregnant!!

xoxo, Mama Bird 

aka newly crowned stage mom! My boy is a model!!  Maybe a reality show is in our future?!

Bahahah!

Fingerprints….. everywhere!

Oh my goodness, if your house is anything like mine, you have fingerprints everywhere! On the mirrors, windows, doors, coffee pot, refrigerator, I could go on and on. The other day I was so excited to find a package on my front stoop from the good people at Stanley Home Products. They must know how OCD I am and they  sent me a bottle of their new Grim Guard Foaming (I love foam!) Glass Cleaner.

This stuff ROCKS!!!

I have tried everything, and I do mean everything on my fridge (stainless steal) and this works better than anything I have tried! I LOVED the foam so much that I cleaned the front of every picture, every piece of glass in the entire house! It doesn’t drip, it smells good and works great!! YOU MUST TRY IT!!! You can shop online HERE!!

I didn’t receive any compensation for this review other than a complimentary bottle from Stanley Home Products to try!!  THANKS Stanley!!

Mama Bird