birthday Archives - Dine and Dish

Birthday Reflections – This is 45

Kristen — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 15:46:36 +0000

Today, October 5th, is my 45th Birthday, and as I often do, I’m sharing reflections of my past year.

I woke up this morning, the morning of my 45th birthday, with a terrible RA flare up. Every inch of my body ached. In addition, I’ve been playing tennis almost every night for the past couple of months and for the past few weeks have had a horrible case of tennis elbow. Seriously – I can’t even squeeze toothpaste or turn the keys in my ignition without searing pain. Getting older is a lesson in patience and acceptance, isn’t it? (Happy birthday to me – I ordered a tennis elbow brace last night at 10pm that will be delivered for free today by Amazon. What a time to be alive!)…

The post Birthday Reflections – This is 45 appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Dear Friend, Leah Turned 9 (Sheet Pan Fruit Pizza)

Kristen — Thu, 24 May 2018 02:56:09 +0000

Dear friend,

We celebrated a birthday last week. Leah, our youngest, turned 9! Ella was just a few months old when I started Dine & Dish, but Leah wasn’t even born. Many of you were there when we found out I was pregnant with a girl, she was born and I made this cute video, and all the other milestones since then. It’s weird to think Dine & Dish is older than my youngest baby, and by quite a few years! It’s been such an honor to have you watch my little family grow up….

The post Dear Friend, Leah Turned 9 (Sheet Pan Fruit Pizza) appeared first on Dine and Dish.

A Friend for All

Kristen — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 21:35:13 +0000

As of last week, when Kelly turned 13, I officially have 2 teenagers in the house! Everyone tells me that teenagers are tough…but so far my experience has been uniquely positive and I sure hope it stays that way!…

The post A Friend for All appeared first on Dine and Dish.

It’s Time to Show Up

Kristen — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 15:44:25 +0000

I was sitting at my kitchen table on a Sunday morning, reading the newspaper and drinking my coffee. It was a quiet morning, the kind I absolutely love. I felt happy and loved, but overshadowing this feeling was a simmering feeling of discontent. I couldn’t put my finger on where that feeling was coming from, because on the surface everything seemed perfectly fine.

A few minutes passed and I decided to pick up my phone and check Facebook. The first thing I noticed was a status update from my best childhood friend, Julie. She currently lives in Georgia, but I noticed that her update said she was driving home to visit her parents in our hometown. Our hometown of Altamont, KS was 2 1/2 hours from my house. I hadn’t been back since my high school reunion many years prior.

As I was sitting there, a sudden feeling washed over me…one I couldn’t ignore. I needed to go home, and I needed to visit Julie. My week ahead was a busy one, but I knew I had to find time to make the trip home, even if it was for just a quick lunch and hello. …

The post It’s Time to Show Up appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Rustic Italian Spongecake with Creamy Cheesecake Filling

Kristen — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 14:17:37 +0000

A light and airy Italian Spongecake filled with a Creamy Cheesecake Filling, created in partnership with PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese.

Not only are we celebrating Easter this weekend, we are celebrating Nick’s grandmas 90th birthday!! I’m so excited to get together with his family, including all his aunts, uncles and cousins (and they are Irish Catholic, so that means there will be a ton of people there) to celebrate this wonderful woman! I really love his grandma…and we know how lucky we are to still have her in our lives! 90 is definitely worth having a big, huge celebration, don’t you think?…

The post Rustic Italian Spongecake with Creamy Cheesecake Filling appeared first on Dine and Dish.

A Look at the Next 365 Days {Recipe: Country Oatmeal Bread}

Kristen — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 15:33:57 +0000

I grew up in a home where bread with stuff in it was the norm. Hearty whole grain bread with oatmeal, nuts, wheat bits and more… the more stuff baked inside the bread, the better. I not so affectionately called it old people bread. Oh, how I longed for soft, tender pieces of white Wonder bread. It rarely happened… at our house my parents loved old people bread so that’s what we all got.

Fast forward to today… I can’t get enough of old people bread. I love real butter slathered on a slice of whole grain bread or thick oatmeal bread…or “oldmeal” bread….

The post A Look at the Next 365 Days {Recipe: Country Oatmeal Bread} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Project 365 2012 – Weeks 18 & 19 – A Photo a Day Journey

Kristen — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:19:48 +0000

We’re half way through May, already, and I have 2 weeks of Project 365 photos to share with you since I didn’t post last week. We had a week of celebrations, outside fun and for me, magazine deadlines galore. I tried to take out my DSLR as much as possible, but some days had to rely on my iPhone for pictures. Here is our week 18 & 19 of 2012 in photos.

Sunday, April 29: – When I flew home from New York my luggage decided to take a detour to Nashville. I was feeling very lucky when it decided to return home, finally, the next evening! (Taken with my iPhone)

Monday, April 30th: I started this book on the flight back from NYC. I ended up finishing it today (5-13) and will tell you about it soon!

Tuesday, May 1st: The 1st day of May was exactly as it should be… a gorgeous day of outside play. Here, Ella is showing me her super talented hula hoop skills.

Wednesday, May 2nd: Sometimes my favorite food pictures are the accidental ones… the ones after I start cleaning up from a shoot. That’s what happened when I made homemade pita bread and started cleaning up. I turned around and just really liked the light on the crumpled up parchment paper.

Thursday, May 3rd: Just a quick picture of the girls before the older two went off to school for the day.

Friday, May 4th: I had an extremely challenging afternoon with Leah and was trying to get out of the house to run some errands. The problem was, she did not want to put on clothes. After an hour long struggle, I went back upstairs to grab her dress. When I came back downstairs, this is what I found. Needless to say, the errands didn’t get finished that day. (Taken with my iPhone)

Saturday, May 5th: I took Jacob and Kelly out to see if we could capture the Super Moon tonight.We went to Shawnee Mission Park and joined several other people, all around, doing the same thing!

Sunday, May 6th: For the Picture Black & White class with Tracey Clark – shapes.

Monday, May 7th: It rained all day today. This evening, the reflection of the sunset on the street outside our house caught my eye.

Tuesday, May 8th: Ella got to be my model this week for Yum Food & Fun for Kids Magazine. This is one of the outtakes from that photo shoot.

Wednesday, May 9th: One of my favorite breakfasts… coffee and fruit with yogurt.

Thursday, May 10th: Took all four kids to the dentist today. I have serious dentist anxiety so hate even being there, but they did such a great job! No fear at all.

Friday, May 11th: Leah turned 3 today! I still can’t believe that my baby is three. She was very excited!

Saturday, May 12th: Today was my 20 year high school reunion! The current principal gave us a tour of the high school, which has changed so much. This is the hallway of my recurring dreams – one where I forget my locker combination and cannot get my locker open all year. The other is that I walk this hall every day and don’t realize until the last day of school that I never went to Algebra or Geometry class. (Taken with my iPhone)

That’s it for weeks 18 & 19! I hope you all have had a great start to May. Thanks for stopping by.

Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The post Project 365 2012 – Weeks 18 & 19 – A Photo a Day Journey appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Happiness Report #14 – Birthdays, Blogs & More!

Kristen — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:38:07 +0000

I just realized I haven’t done a Happiness Report since the first part of September. Eeeks! Well I have a lot to be happy for right now, so I’m going to share some of that with you!

My first baby girl is celebrating her 8th birthday today! Kelly really is one of those kids who is so sweet and loving. I nickname her “second mama” because she has such a loving and nurturing nature about her. I am so proud to be her mom! Her one request for her birthday was an Easy-Bake Oven. The Easy-Bake Oven was my favorite toy growing up so I was excited to get her one! We are going to have loads of fun with her new toy….

The post Happiness Report #14 – Birthdays, Blogs & More! appeared first on Dine and Dish.