Courtney, Author at A Life From Scratch.

Mother’s Day: jewelry picks.

April 17, 2015 / By Courtney / 29 Comments

Alright everyone, a very special day is coming up! That’s right, May 10th is Mother’s Day. So, ladies mark your calendars for your own mothers, and if you want to give a (subtle) hint to your man, simply forward him this post because how fun, beautiful, and meaningful are these gifts? Use your kid’s initials – heck, use your own. No judging here.

1. A great piece to add to. I actually have an L, B, and M in #3 paired with this darling little heart. I get so many compliments on it!

2. A fun twist on the classic ID bracelet. Love this one, and you can have it say whatever you want.

3. When it comes to initial charms in my opinion, these are simply the best. All my sisters-in-law and our cousin rock these in various initials. Love them!

4. Love the old fashioned nod on this piece. Men, massive bonus if you add a photo inside. My heart would melt.

5. I’m thinking this would make for a fun initial piece for mom. And it’s a steal at $66.00.

6. My friend Kelly rocks this one in silver with her kids’ initials and it looks oh so chic on her.

7. A great brand offering endless options for layering, Alex & Ani knows how it’s done right.

8. For the guy who likes to go all out – this is stunning.

9. And last but not least, how fun is this statement ring? It’s offered in a variety of colors, but something about the aqua and gold combo was so striking.

Does anything here catch your eye…or heart?

*The fine print: this post contains affiliate links which means that if you use these links to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. Of course, you are not obligated to use these links to make your purchase but please know that when you do, it supports my blog and for that I thank you.

Homemade biscotti.

April 15, 2015 / By Courtney / 24 Comments

Honestly, who makes homemade biscotti?

Well, my Italian neighbor and friend does. A lot. Intimidating, right? I thought so too. Until she broke down the recipe for me. Minimal ingredients, no scary dough rolling, man – these aren’t as high maintenance as one would think.

The best part about them? Through B’s terrible year and a half of teething, we would stroll down a few blocks towards Annette’s home for a bit of relief which came from her darling dog, her fun toys, and these incredible biscottis. Think the. best. teething. biscuit you could give your toddler to gnaw on. B worked away at them and was, for that particular moment, incredibly happy.

Thank you Annette for sharing your grandmother’s recipe, and for the dozens you have given B over the years. I was oh so happy to recently make them for a dear friends shower who is marrying a true Tuscan Italian.

I know. Lucky ducks all around, right?

Homemade Biscotti

2015-04-09 14:42:19

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Ingredients

4 eggs
1 stick and a quarter stick of butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp anise
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cups sugar

Instructions

Mix together all ingredients until a dough forms. Roll into balls about the size of golf balls and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
When done, slice each ball in half while still warm. Bake on each side for about 4-6 minutes, depending on your desired crispiness.

Adapted from Annette's Grandmother

A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Social Print Studio Giveaway…!

April 13, 2015 / By Courtney / 29 Comments

It’s about time for a giveaway around here, don’t you think?

I knew I had my heart set on a photo wall in our new family room but to be honest, I was a bit tired of the whole gallery look. I was ready for something with more punch, but I still wanted to show treasured family memories from over the years.

After hours and hours obsessively searching Pinterest, I knew I stumbled upon my answer. How amazing are these family posters? Talk about a statement. They come in two sizes, and you can share 50, 128, or 200 photos on each one depending on how large you’d like the photos to be. I went with 50 so they were easier to view.

After that, the process couldn’t be easier. Simply tie in your Instagram account with Social Print Studio and bam – all your photos are ready to be placed exactly where you want them. Or use their ‘randomizer’ like I did. Took me all of 5 minutes. Don’t have an Instagram account? Don’t fret – you can use photos outside of Instagram.

Oh and the customer service is killer. Any questions I emailed were responded to within hours and once I placed my order, my posters were on my doorstep within a week. So fast!

One tip: when you order, be sure you’re ready to actually place it. I left my options in my cart for awhile, but their servers don’t hold your photo data more than 8-12 hours. So, make your beautiful poster and order ASAP!

So, what’s in it for YOU? Well, We’ve teamed up with the darling Social Print Studio to offer you one large 20X38 poster free of charge! Yippee. You can pick your orientation (landscape or portrait) and how many photos you’d like to include. Simply enter by following the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below. There’s one mandatory entry and several optional entries! Remember, the more you enter, the greater you chances to win! Score.

Just be sure to get entered by next Sunday night, April 19, at 11:59pm EST. We’ll randomly select a winner whose name will be announced Monday morning on the ALFS Facebook page. Make sure you’re following me there so you don’t miss out!

Good luck to you friends and thank you, Social Print Studio, for sponsoring this great giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway rules: No purchase necessary. Giveaway is open to US residents only, except where prohibited by law. Giveaway will run from April 13 through April 19, 2015 at 11:59pm EST. A single winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter (powered by Random.org) and notified via email. Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize; failure to do so will result in forfeiture of the prize. Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest do not sponsor, administer, or endorse this promotion. Participants must read and agree to Rafflecopter’s Privacy Policy before entering and participating in this promotion. By entering this giveaway, entrants give their consent for their email address to be added to the ALFS newsletter list.

C’s picks – week of April 12th

April 12, 2015 / By Courtney / 2 Comments

Alright, alight. Now this is some spring weather I can wrap my mind around. 60’s and 70’s, even stormy, is so much better than 40’s and 50’s. Let’s go full into spring mode with our food this week. Light, fresh – think of peas and asparagus as the stars. And some grilling, of course. Let’s do this!

On Sunday (happy birthday to my sister Talia!) we must grill. And you know what? Sometimes you just. need. a. burger. I can’t wait to try these apple cheddar turkey burgers. Swoon. Sweet potatoes on the side.

I’ve been meaning to try this grilled huli huli chicken recipe. Let’s get it going with some brown rice and grilled balsamic asparagus on Monday night.

Tuesday looks to be a good night for a lighter bowl of pasta. How beautiful does this one (from my neighbor!) look? Love the fresh peas. And hey, shhhh about the greek yogurt. Don’t tell M!

We’ll be on the baseball field Wednesday night, so we’ll come home to pop these already prepped hot dog melts in the oven for an oh so festive dinner. Go A’s!!!

After the hot dogs (wrapped in bacon – yikes), let’s go lighter for Thursday, shall we? This one ought to do the trick.

And that brings us to Friday. I’m dreaming of a family date night out on a patio. Let’s hope the weather cooperates.

What are you feeding your family this week? I’d love for you to share your menu plan with me in a comment below! And hey, stay tuned to ALFS because tomorrow we are partnering up with the darling Social Print Studio for a fantastic giveaway – yippee!

Motherhood: on teething.

April 10, 2015 / By Courtney / 24 Comments

Teething. I still shudder at the thought.

It wasn’t always like this. L breezed through it all and I didn’t know how good I had it. A kid who just had teeth appear. It’s an amazing thing.

Then I had B. And things were a bit different.

So different that I often found myself in the pediatrician’s office, many times (sorry insurance) demanding that something must be wrong with him. He screamed non-stop. He wanted to be held; I would hold him, and he screamed wanting to get down. I would put him down; he would scream wanting to be held. He was up 5-6 times a night. His poor bottom – the rashes were unexplainable. And yet he checked out ‘fine’, over and over again.

I would tell my pediatrician about his swollen gums and he would chuckle, “Oh, some kids get slightly irritable but you can’t blame it all on teething.” And the killer “I don’t recommend Motrin for teething.”

Oh. Well, B probably consumed more Motrin in those 18 months of teething that L has in his entire life. Sorry not sorry.

See, every. single. tooth. was a 3-4 week painful ordeal. I would check his gums 10,000 times a day. Did it poke through? At times it had. And yet then disappear again, like it was taunting me. And the night wakings were awful; nothing would help. Motrin would only take a slight edge off. The rashes would get worse by the day. His little system just could not handle all the extra saliva.

You know what fixed it all? His teeth breaking through. I’d have my happy chubby little guy back. Things would be grand for a few weeks. Smiles, sleep. Zzzzzzzz. And then… it would creep back again. Time for another set of chompers to unleash their terror on our little family.

It’s no wonder when B cut his last 2 year molar (right at age 2, he was a bit fast with teething), M and I celebrated with the best bottle of champagne we could afford. B’s teething took a toll on all of us. We’d fight because we were tired. We’d get impatient with B (is it really that bad????). We’d be short with L. None of it was good. But we made it through. And he’s been sleeping and (generally) happy ever since.

I wanted to write this for any other moms out there that might be dealing with this and are quickly dismissed by a pediatrician or a search on Google. In our case, teething was real. It caused a bad runny nose, a horrible rash, multiple night wakings, and extreme crankiness. Here are a few tips that helped, and some that didn’t:

Popsicles. On the worst days, I’d give them to him all day. He loves these and the ‘no sugar added’ made me feel like a better mom. Score.
Motrin took a little edge off but it was no miracle.
At the slightest sign of a rash, I immediately switched to damp paper towels instead of wipes. They were much more gentle.
Get as much fresh air on the little booty as humanly possible. I realize this is a hard one. There were many winter days I sat alone in my basement just letting him run wild naked.
Aveeno oatmeal baths. It’s the only time he would be happy. Obviously, I bought them in bulk.
NO juice. The acidity makes the rash worse.
We used two diaper creams. One for prevention and one for healing. The preventative one goes on all the time. The healing one would go on top of the preventative one at the first sign of a rash.
Give yourself a break. Even if it’s to wander through Target for 30 minutes or take a quick walk. Leave the teething monster with someone – anyone – and get the heck out.
On the really bad days B would wake up around 4:30AM to begin the day. I would then lay with him to get him back to sleep. At first I thought I was starting a bad habit but he needed the comfort and sleep, and as soon as the tooth popped through he went back to sleeping happily in his crib alone.
Wine. A lot of wine.
And the best tip I can give you? M would give the ice cubes out of his scotch to B on the really bad days. I’m actually not joking.

I hope a tip or two can help you, should you have a little teething one of your own. Just remember, like any bad stage, it does pass. It can be hard to know that when you’re in the thick of it but B and I are living proof of making it through those 20 little baby teeth.

Do you have any teething tips to share? Leave them in a comment below.

*The fine print: this post contains affiliate links which means that if you use one of these links to make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Of course, you are not obligated to use these links to make your purchase but please know that when you do, it helps to support my blog and for that I thank you.