do you Wu?

Have you heard of the new line of clothing and some accessories, Jason Wu for Target? I will admit that I was way out of this loop- I've heard of him, but that's about it! I didn't know about this line for Target until the morning of the release when it was all over twitter! Apparently people were lining up hours before the stores opened, and then it was a madhouse when you got inside! Shoving people aside and ripping clothing from them. Then I read about people selling things on ebay for many times more than it cost. Oy.

I looked online, and many of them items were really cute, things I would wear. I didn't love everything, but that's to be expected, of course! I figured I'd see the collection eventually, so I wasn't too concerned about it, ha. Over the weekend, I had to go to Target to return something, and caught sight of a few of the items! They didn't have too much left, but I saw this dress in my size, and grabbed it! It's really quite cute, and will look great with red shoes, natch ;)

What about you? Did you know about the Jason Wu for Target collection and did you find any pieces to add to your closet? Would you line up hours before the store opening?

red velvet cheeseball!

This past weekend, I attended a baby shower for a good friend. She's expecting her first baby, a boy, in April. Her mother is over the moon about becoming a grandmother for the first time, and is doubly excited, because not only is my friend having a baby in April, her younger sister recently announced that she's expecting a baby too, in August! So exciting.

As always when going to an event, I asked if I could bring anything and when told yes, I found this recipe (pinterest...natch!) for a red velvet cheeseball and it seemed to be just perfect. Who doesn't like red velvet? Not this girl!

This is an easy thing to whip up and trust me, your friends will be beyond impressed. I loosely followed this recipe.

Red velvet cheeseball

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups red velvet cake mix, dry
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in the red velvet cake mix, the brown sugar and the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and combined.

Turn the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap.

Wrap up into a ball and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Put the chocolate chips on a plate or in a shallow dish. Remove the cheese ball from the refrigerator and unwrap. Roll in the chocolate chips. (This might get messy!)

Place on a serving plate and serve with cookies or graham crackers.

My notes-

Believe it or not, but I don't own a stand mixer, so I used a hand mixer. Also, I didn't read the directions well apparently, because I added the entire package of red velvet cake mix before realizing I was only supposed to use about half of it! It was VERY dry, and I managed to break my hand mixer. Yes, you read that correctly. Something in the moter snapped. Whooops.

I added a bit of vanilla in order to make it easier to blend! I do love vanilla anyway, and was rather generous there, adding several tablespoons! Also, I left in in the fridge overnight, and it was rock solid when I took it out the next morning, but an hour or so on the counter softened it up for the rolling in the chocolate chips.

I served it with vanilla wafers and graham crackers and it was well loved by everyone there! This is definitely something that I will make again and again!

I've also posted this to Scarlet Threads blog!

What is your go-to dish to bring to a shower?

I was a winner!

I recently came across a really marvelous company called Baby Be Blessed. They are a doll ministry- each doll comes with a scripture on its tummy. Their mission and deepest desire is for each child to come to know, understand and live for Jesus Christ.

Each doll can be personalized to your liking; it can be a boy or a girl, pick the hair color, you can pick its dress, pick a scripture verse and they also have animals, like lambs and bunnies!

They have a blog where they do a giveaway each Friday.

Well, a few Fridays, I won this little lovie!

This little pink lambie has 1 Corinthians 13:8 on her tummy-

love never fails

So true, and such a good reminder to children everywhere.

I was so pleased to win, and I've decided that I will send her to one of my World Vision babies, either Boikokobetso in South Africa or Majlinda in Albania- I just can't decide who to send her to! I suppose this means that I should buy a second, right? :)

Many thanks to Valerie for introducing me to this lovely company, and also, for alerting me to my big win that day! She saw the blog post before I did, and sent me an email!

Have you won any great giveaways lately? Should I host another giveaway sometime soon?

a random bit

Just some random thoughts, in the bullet-point form.

• I still have not started watching Downton Abbey. I need to get on this, since everyone and their mother is raving and raving.

• I am not enough of a fashionista to know who Jason Wu is or realize the big deal behind his recent design for Target, though when I looked at them, there are some very cute things.

• I did my taxes on my birthday and had my return the week later. It's now mostly gone, having paid bills and a few other things. I'm okay with it though, since bill paying is the responsible, though less fun thing to do.

• I found a channel that has reruns of Family Ties and I am obsessed. Alex P. Keaton forever!

• Have you seen the perfume by Harvey Prince called Ageless? It's gorgeous, and I treated myself to a bottle with the above-mentioned tax refund.

• I'm going to Atlanta this weekend for work, and have never been there before. One thing that I want to see is the Margaret Mitchell House!

• I've sort of been watching this season of The Bachelor and Ben is seriously dull. I've read the spoilers about who supposedly wins, but won't say here. Ben is the worst Bachelor ever, me thinks. The only thing that he has going for him is the winery!

• Sometimes I buy foreign fashion and home decor magazines even though I can't read them. I love the pictures and find them so inspiring. I love British mags, and especially British crafty mags, and yes, I can read those ;) Is this odd of me?

• I really want to see the movie The Vow. Rachel McAdams is adorable and the movie looks so sweet. It comes out this week!

• I took a Valentine making class at Paper Source last week and need to post photos about it...it was so much fun!

• I had so much cake and cupcakes during birthday week, it was a bit ridiculous.

• I want Kelly Ripa to be my best friend.

• As a result of birthday week, I need to lose about 400 lbs. Perhaps Weight Watchers is in my future?

• Or, as I am a Nintendo Brand Ambassador, I will be hosting a February Workout Challenge! Do you have a Wii Fit and want to take part from your house? Let me know!

What are you randomly thinking about today???

baby quilt- a February finish!

Did you watch the Super Bowl last night? As a native of New England, I suppose I should cheer for the Patriots, but I'm not the biggest football fan out there. Steve and I watched, but I will admit, we were both more invested in the commercials! I loved the M&Ms and the Doritos, and the polar bears with the Coca-Cola. So fun.

I was tweeting during the game (are you following me @lexilooo?), drinking prosecco, and at the same time, I finished a baby quilt! This is a quilt that I began several months ago with the DC Modern Quilt Guild, as we did a charity event. We made a number of baby quilts and then donated them to a local organization that helps low income mothers with their new babies. At that time, I was a bit overwhelmed and overextended, and didn't finish this one in time to donate, so I donated another quilt that hadn't found a home yet. Now that this one is finished, I need to find it a home too!

I do love the idea of charity quilting, and really want to do more, as I get a bit better with each quilt that I finish. I'm still not always comfortable with the things that I do, and I feel as though I am very cautious with my quilting, but that isn't a bad thing, right? There are so many great organizations out there to support mothers and babies, and I want to find one that I really love and support them by sending them quilts. Four quilts a year seems like a good starting point, I think...so in the next eleven months, I need to finish three more baby quilts and then I will donate them. If I do more than four, even better!

Right now, I am working on another baby quilt, though this one has a home. A friend of mine is expecting her first, a boy, in April, and her shower is in two weeks! I am out of town this coming weekend, on a work trip to Atlanta, so I need to finish it quickly! I really love the fabric that I am using, and of course, will post pictures when I finish!

What about you? Have you made anything recently? Did you watch the Super Bowl? What commercial was your favorite? Who was your team?