tasty tuesday//iced banana cookies

Last Friday, I was in the baking mood and had some bananas that were nice and brown and perfect for baking so I decided to try a new recipe!  A few months back I found this recipe and since I have a serious love affair with bananas  I knew we would be a good match!  The hubby definitely dug them and said it was like a yummy mini banana bread! They are the perfect little moist ball of deliciousness, so if you love banana bread, write this baby down! You will love it!! 

Banana Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

2 large ripe bananas, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Beat butter and sugars.  Mix in the sour cream, bananas, vanilla, and egg.  Add the remaining ingredients.  

Use a cookie sheet line with parchment paper (I just sprayed the pan instead of using parchment paper).  Using a small scoop, drop dough onto paper.

 Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. 

I decided to add my own little twist to the cookies that the original recipe didn't call for.  I thought these would great with a little icing on them and I was right, they were!  I made the icing using the simple icing recipe of powdered sugar, vanilla, milk, and melted butter.  Just mix them together and it will look like this.

When the cookies have slightly cooled, simply drizzle the icing over them and let the cool.  They add this nice little glaze to it that is just perfect!  

You can barely see the glaze in this picture since this is right after I drizzled them, but as they dry you it adds  little white glaze to it, that's just perfect! I hope you enjoy it, we loved them!

**I'm linking this post  at Sweet As Sugar Cookies & The Sweet Details,  swing by there for other amazing recipes!!**

my big bro is turning 4-0!

This past weekend my family and I threw my brother Paul a SURPRISE 40^th Birthday party!  I cannot believe that my big bro is celebrating this big milestone in his life, that’s so crazy! Time just seems to fly by that’s for sure, it seems impossible that he could be 40!  After months of planning this party was definitely a huge blast and it was fun to get together with my family and plan this special event for my brother. It was so fun to see his face because he truly wasn’t expecting this in the slightest!

We decided to host a luncheon a Buca di Beppo (delish!) to celebrate with our whole family, as well as his closest friends.  My Grandma and Aunt even flew in to surprise my brother on this big day.  I think that was really the greatest surprise for him that they would come out this way to be here to celebrate in person! It was such a fun day celebrating with family and friends while enjoying a super delicious meal.  Even though we had a BIG hiccup with our reservation, it all ended up working out perfectly and I am so glad that we were able to bless my brother with this fun party, I know he really appreciated it.

My sister Pam and I did a lot of the planning and we kind of ran into problem with how to personalize the party since it was being held at a restaurant.  We really wanted to showcase pictures of my brother throughout his life, but being in a restaurant poses some challenges!  We thought about doing a display board, but it just didn’t seem like a good idea.  So yours truly came up with the PERFECT idea!!  What we did (and by we I mean me) did was create a guest book/scrapbook for him to have as keepsake.  I wish I would have taken a better picture of some of the pages, because it turned out SUPER cute.  For the book, I scanned copies of pictures of him throughout his life and made reprints (since my Mom wants the originals) and then put together a scrapbook of all the pictures.  Mixed in the pages I added slots of decorative paper for guests to sign at the party with their birthday wishes.  It added such a fun, personal touch to the book!  Also, since we have a lot of family that live out of state, as well as some of his friends that live out of state and those who couldn’t be at the party due to other obligations, I decided to email them in advance asking for them to send me a birthday greeting via email that I could print off and add into the book for my brother to have.  I got a lot of responses back and it was really fun to have my brother read those wishes and greetings from friends he hadn’t touched base with in a while. 

Overall, it was such a fun celebration and I am so glad that it went off without a hitch!  So big bro, HAPPY HAPPY 40^TH BIRTHDAY! I love you so much and I hope this year is the BEST of your life!

Here are some pics of the fun we had!

If you wanna see more fun, check out my YouTube channel.  I uploaded the video footage from the big day!

louis, louis, oh baby!

Okay, so I know I have been a HORRIBLE blogger lately! I keep getting ready to do a post, and then lazy pants out and don't get around to it! LOL! Horrible I know, but that's how life is sometimes.  Anyways, I had a very exciting thing happen last night that compelled me to blog and hence here I am. 

Wanna hint about what it is???  

Oh yah, it's that awesome! After months, and months, and months, and months (okay you get the point) of saving I finally got to splurge last night and buy myself a beautiful Louis Vuitton bag!  I have been dreaming of a Louis for ever and ever, and I cannot believe I finally have one! EKK!!!  

Okay, I am lame, but I had to take a picture after my big purchase wouldn't you?! Haha :) I love my little Louis baby and I totally freaked out when I got home and got to unpack it all! (Again, so lame!)

And drumroll please....here is the little beauty all unpacked and home! LOL!

Aww, I love it! I seriously am in heaven! All the months of dreaming and waiting for it was so worth it, it's so gorgeous! 

Yay! So that's what has been going on in my life lately! I am sorry if this is such a lame post but I just am so excited I just had to share it! I promise I will have more exciting blogs in the near future! :)

twenty-four {{birthday recap}}

I really want to thank all of you lovelies for the birthday wishes on my last post! You guys are too sweet!  I had a GREAT birthday, I really couldn't have asked for a better day!  

The husband and I both had the day off from work and we had a whole day of fun planned! He started the day off by spoiling me rotten! I must admit he is pretty good at that!  I had a few lovely packages waiting for me when I woke up. 

Can you tell which one he wrapped himself?  LOL! :)  He is kind of hopeless in that department, so when I saw the beautifully wrapped package on the right, I knew he couldn't have done it himself, and I was right.  He had it gift wrapped! What a cutie!  So, here's the lovely little things he got me! :)

A book to add to my collection, and season 1 of Tori & Dean (love them!) and the BEST of all....

COACH SNEAKS! AHHH!! Aren't they gorgeous?! I am in LOVE! :)

We started off our fun day together with some bowling (yes, we are that geeky) and I actually wasn't trailing horrible far behind him!  It MUST have been my birthday!

After bowling, we had lunch at Benihana which is my absolute fav! It was SO very good and I even got a special little birthday treat! 

After stuffing ourselves full, we ventured over to Barnes & Noble and my hubby couldn't resist getting me another gift (again, he spoiled me rotten).  I found this amazing book to add to my coffee table book collection.  It's such a fun book and totally me since I have a major sweet tooth! 

But the birthday fun didn't stop there! The hubby brought me to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, and it was SO yummy, definitely one of our favorite spots.  I even got a little crazy and took a shot....of lemons that is.  (You didn't think I was serious now did you!?!)

Friday night was my birthday night with my favorite girlies! We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (YUM!)   They seriously have the BEST food ever and it's more than one person could ever possibly eat!

My girls are the best and they totally got me the BEST gifts ever.  Can you find the theme? :) 

Yes, the theme is JUSTIN BIEBER! I must confess, I love him! He's stinking adorable.  I love that they got me a book and the card is Justin BEAVER, LOL!! Hahaha, so great! :)  

And of course, we had to finish the dinner off with cheesecake.  I opted for the chocolate chip cookie dough and it was heavenly good.  They even put a candle on it and wrote Happy Birthday on the plate! 

We finished off the night with going to see Soul Surfer (major tear jerker!).  I had such a fun night with my girls celebrating the big 2-4!

and FINALLY, I finished off the birthday celebrations on Saturday celebrating with my hubby's family.  My sister-in-law Shaynah's birthday is 10 days after mine, so we usually have a joint celebration for our birthdays.  We had dinner at this adorable malt shop called Snuffy's and then went back to her house for cake.  My nephew of course had to help with bowling out the candles! :)

So, there you have it! It was definitely the most fun birthday celebration and a great way to kick off turning twenty-four! 

{{P.S. You need to swing by my sister-in-law's amazing fashion blog, Layered Black.  They are hosting a  GREAT giveaway and you don't want to miss out!!}}

what i'm loving wednesday

Well, it's been a rough start to the week here in the Dodge household.  Sunday night, I got really sick and was up all night hugging it out with my "friend" the toilet bowl (sorry for the not-so-lovely visual there).  I ended up staying home from work on Monday, and was feeling a lot better after resting up all day.  Then on Monday night, it was the hubby's turn to pay a visit to my "friend". :(  So he took a sick day on Tuesday, what a bummer couple days it's been in this house! We are thinking that we got food poisoning. I absolutely HATE when that happen, it's the worst! It certainly was not how either of us planned this week.  I am thankful that it seems like the worst of it is now behind us.  I just hate being sick!!!

Anyways, I had such a fun time last week linking up to What I'm Loving Wednesday over at This Kind of Love that I decided to join the party again this week!!!  So here we go!!!

No. 1) I'm officially addicted to Pinterest!! I absolutely LOVE it!

 I saw a friend mention Pinterest on a Facebook page a couple weeks back and it looked interesting so I decided to request an account and I am SO happy that I did! I love it! It's basically a place to put together all your favorite things.  Not the best explanation I know but it's so fun and you should check it out! Here's the link to my boards to give you a feel for it! http://pinterest.com/kimmydodge/

No. 2) Femme Fatale-Britney Spears

So, I am a HUGE Britney fan and the hubby decided to get this for me as an early birthday present!! I love, love, love it and it hasn't left my CD player/iPod since I got it.  I am loving the more dance vibe of this album. I am horrific dancer, but it's fun to put it on and dance around while the husband laughs at me.

No. 3) The Brady 6

So, if you spend even like 30 seconds around me, you know I am a obsessive HUGE Tom Brady fan!!! I honestly didn't think that I could love him even more, and then I watched this documentary and I totally admire him even more.  It's amazing how great of an athlete he truly is!  Having to overcome all the things that he did, and be as phenomenal of an athlete as he is, is pretty remarkable! And he is pretty to look at, well maybe not in the above pic (Tom, I love you, but your GOTTA cut that hair)!

P.S. I don't think it's coincidence that this documentary aired the week of my birthday. ESPN knew I was in need of a Brady fix! 

No.4) It's my BIRTHDAY tomorrow!!

(Think someone will show up at my door with a load of gifts like this? Nah, me either! :)

I think it's pretty self explanatory why I would LOVE this, but this birthday will be even better since the hubs and I am both taking 4 day weekends.  Tomorrow we are spending the whole day together, doing whatever I want (gosh I love birthdays) and I am so excited!  I cannot believe that I am turning 24, where has the time gone??? I can't wait to celebrate with the hubs, friends, and family.  I have a whole weekend of events planned and I can't wait for it!  

In honor of turning 24, here's some embarrassing/fun memory filled pics to share with you!

My big family! Love that I'm the baby of the family (if you can't tell!)

Aww my 4th birthday, seems like yesterday! LOL! :) 

I was the chunkiest baby ever, 9 lbs, 10 oz. Hello TURKEY! :)

I'm considering bringing back the Snoopy/Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs combo for my bday this year.  Seems like it worked well for me back in the day! :) 

Do you remember password journals?! I thought they were epically awesome back in the day! LOL! I love the annoyed look on my face! 

Hope you all have a fun week! Make sure to swing by and check out what others are digging on this Wednesday!!