MOTHER'S DAY

This year I hosted a Mother's Day brunch for my mom and grandmother at our house. This is something I would love make into a tradition, eventually with our future kids as well. 

I knew I wanted a very Spring theme - especially since I finished our garden this year. Friday during lunch I headed to my favorite place to get fresh cut flowers... Trader Joe's. Seriously, you won't find a better selection or prices than good ole TJ's. 

I grabbed some blue hyacinths, white and purple tulips for the table. I hadn't even realized these were the exact same color of tulips I have around our front tree. I obviously gravitate towards these colors.

Once I got home I trimmed the bottoms of the tulips and divided them all up into separate glass vases. I knew I wanted some varying heights, so I went out into our yard and snipped a few blooms for a smaller vase.

I know - I have an obsession with purples and blues in my yard. I always wanted a cutting garden since I love fresh flowers in the house and it feels good to finally have one!

I filled a few wine glasses with water and fresh cut lilacs my mom had brought me on Saturday and set them around the table as well. Those porcelain votive holders are from West Elm and I love love love them! 

The table smelled so good with the lilacs and hyacinths! I made a simple sangria using Moscato and flavored San Pellegrino with fresh berries. For brunch I made a french toast casserole and hash brown quiche. 

And for dessert I made lemon blackberry cupcakes with a blackberry icing. I love using TJ's vanilla bean baking mix as a base and then added the juice from a lemon with some of it's zest and I added a few blackberries to the batter. The icing was a standard recipe (1 part powdered sugar, 1 part butter, 2 tablespoons of milk and 1/2 cup of blackberry jam.)

My mom got both me and my grandmother a hanging basket - she's the best. I'm planning on hanging ours on our back deck. 

After brunch and walking around the garden we were off to the nursery garden! I've been planting flowers that remind me of people I love, and as long as I can remember her and my grandfather always had gorgeous roses blooming in their garden. Roses are the perfect reminder of them. 

While we were strolling the aisle my grandmother spotted a purple rose (my favorite color) and after smelling it (it smells like lemons) we knew it had to come home with us. We also picked out a white english (they almost look like peonies) climbing rose to plant next to it. I can't wait for them both to be in full bloom and bring in cuttings for the house. 

It was a perfect day and I can't wait to make this a tradition! 

Blueberry Lemonade Cake

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day weekend! Mine flew by since it was jam packed with lots of family events. But first, I need to share this moist blueberry lemonade cake recipe. It is a light dessert for the summer that is extra lemon-y and delicious! I made two of these this weekend for my and CL's mom. It was a crowd favorite and I got the recipe from a girl at work... there were ZERO leftovers!

Blueberry Lemonade Cake with a Lemon Glaze

1 package of moist lemon cake mix

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup fresh/frozen blueberries (I used frozen)

2 large or 3 small lemons

1 package of sugar free lemon jello

1 cup boiling water

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Combine the cake mix, eggs and vegetable oil in a large bowl and mix until combined. Add your package of sugar free lemon jello and boiling water together and mix until dissolved. Add to your cake batter and mix for 3-5 minutes until smooth and all is incorporated. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your bundt pan (important) with cooking spray and dust with flour (also important). Add in cake batter and top with blueberries, bake for 50-55 minutes. Combine juice of lemons and powdered sugar. Remove baked cake from oven and poke the top with a fork, drizzle over the glaze and let sit. Remove from the mold once the glaze has sank in and serve (chilled is best).

I filled the center of my mom's cake with fresh strawberries and served with brunch. It was so good and I was impressed with how easy this cake was to make! Definitely one of my go-to cakes for the summer!

Speaking of brunch! I made a whole spread for my mom, sister, CL and myself. 

 

strawberries and banana fruit salad

mexican potato fritatta

blueberry muffins

bacon and hash browns

Alyssa, being the wonder woman she is, sent me a link of healthy brunch ideas on my facebook page and I chose the Mexican fritatta sans the cheese (lactose free). You can see the recipe here. I think mine looks a lot better than the fitness magazine photo!

CL and I hand painted flower pots and filled them with herbs and veggies for our moms.

oregano, stevia and roma tomatoes!

CL's mom gets to pick a special outing each year for Mother's Day and this year she chose the adventure challenge at the Terrapin Adventures. It was so much fun and I have the weak arms, bruises and confidence from facing my fears to prove it!

If you want to view some of our videos and hear the most awkward screams (me) you can check it out at the Chic Meets Healthy youtube page!

I had a fabulous Sunday hanging out with my mom and grandmother! It's nice to have days to celebrate the amazing and strong women in our lives! I'm so thankful to have so many that influence me on a day to day basis.

What plants are you growing? My mom bought me two strawberry plants yesterday (yes, on Mother's Day) and I have basil and cilantro! I need another tomato plant but I'm afraid it will take over like last year.

that was one tomato plant!!