Dia Del Mama!

Ahhhh…yesterday was Mother’s Day…the one day where I don’t feel guilty calling ALL the shots and taking a little time to sit back and take a moment to appreciate being a Mother, but also take a brief break and just BE.

My Mom was here to celebrate, of course, and we started celebrating early with our favorite neighbors on Saturday evening since we wouldn’t see them on Sunday. I made crock pot carnitas and a new dessert pizza with Nutella, bananas and strawberries! I do believe it was a hit. Super easy with the help of Trader Joe’s pizza dough…I just rolled it out, pricked with a fork, brushed with about 2T melted butter and baked as directed ~ I think 450* for 20 minutes. Then I dusted it with powdered sugar once it came out and let it cool a bit:

Then I spread Nutella over it, added sliced bananas and strawberries and finished it off with another dusting of powdered sugar. Cut it in slices as you would a “normal” pizza and serve it up!

The recipe was inspired by one of Giada’s which you can find here.

Sunday morning was greeted with some mimosas:

with our favorite, Wilson Creek Almond Champagne.

We drove into Beverly Hills for my long-awaited reunion with “Bobbie” from Capriotti’s. It was just as I remembered…all the tastes of Thanksgiving on a roll! Couple with some kettle cooked sea salt & vinegar and BBQ chips and you can’t go wrong.

My Mom and I shared so we still had plenty of room for cupcakes!

It was a toss up between Crumbs & Sprinkles, but Crumbs won this time:

We decided on Fluffernutter, Boston Cream, Vanilla/Vanilla with sprinkles (always MY fave) and Candy which the kids chose and was covered in mini M&M’s.

The cupcakes are ridiculously HUGE. They have a $30 cupcake that could serve a small village!

This is what $14.20 worth of cupcakes looks like:

The cupcakes were so good they deserved their own chair…no, we brought this old chair of my Gam’s along because I wanted to try to get some of the kids outside at a park using this special chair as a prop. It was as if Gam (my Mom’s mama) was there celebrating Mother’s Day with us!

Here I am sitting on the park bench indulging in some cupcake love:

NO shame in my game!

The ‘cakes were delish…I only have one complaint, though. They predominantly use cream cheese frosting and I am a buttercream girl through and through. I’m anxious to see what Sprinkles has to offer! Will keep you posted.

Gramma K and the kiddos played on a ginormous tree:

A few of the chair pics:

It was a gorgeous day. I just sat on the bench in the breeze watching the kids play and Jay snap pictures. I looked at the amazing homes lining the Beverly Hills park and thought “What if…?” How would it be to live on one of the breathtaking tree-lined streets off Santa Monica Blvd. with a Rolls parked in the driveway. A private chef. A live-in maid. A nanny. You know, all the things that come along with the 90210 zip code.

Yes, it would be a nice life, but it wouldn’t be MY life. I HAVE the life I envisioned I wanted as an adult. A sweet, understanding, supportive husband and two energetic, funny, curious, happy, healthy, and at times frustrating pip squeaks. All the 9o210 stuff doesn’t matter when you have what I have.

So, back to Santa Clarita we went. Jay made lumpia and we had leftover Chinese food for dinner followed by Golden Spoon!

See, I don’t ask for much. Just about 30 minutes to sit back, watch my family run and play in front of me, nibble on some cupcakes and remind myself that being a Mom is the best gift ~ a gift that I am so proud of.

{Cute matching jammies from Auntie Bucky}

Everyday is Mother’s Day to me, and I LOVE IT!