The Shield...

Yes!  We had another amazing Campillo/Dowell Football bash this past weekend.  This time, it was hosted at our place and I took some great pictures of great friends and a great time! Just thought I would share down below.

Oh - and PS:  I am going to just say this about the Monday Night Football game where the Packer's interception was somehow ruled a touchdown for the Seattle Seahawks.  Now - I am one of the biggest NFL football fans you will ever meet - not to mention one of the biggest Packer fans out there.  I am disgusted at what happened on Monday night.  I know and the majority of the NFL watching fans know what the right call was- I hope that the NFL realizes what happened here and deep in their hearts know the truth.  This is America's sport - don't ruin it with issues like what happened Monday night.  We, the Packer fans, might be able to forgive, but we will never forget.  FOREVER PACKER FAN - GO PACK GO!

Go Pack Go!

xoxo Sarah

The Perfect First Birthday...

My friend Katie (she blogs HERE) and her husband Mark just celebrated an amazing first birthday party for their daughter Nina.  I just have to share some of the creative ideas and fun pictures from that day.

First off, she had games set up for the kids at the birthday (Nina's cousins) and they all got bubbles for gifts - so creative!  Secondly, she had a lemonade bar - genius!  Thirdly, she had a macaroni and cheese bar  food - perfect!  What little girl wouldn't want any of these things for her birthday!  It was just perfect!  Katie and Mark should be so proud!  We love them so much and are so happy to see their family doing so well and happy - that is all we want for our friends and family!

Have fun taking a look at the pictures below - I know we had fun taking them.

Added bonus from this birthday party - I was able to see my friend Kayla, her husband John, and their new darling baby girl, Nora.  Nina and Nora - how more perfect could two eventual best friends be!

Auntie Sarah loved hanging out with Nina this day - what a special treat!  What beautiful family and beautiful friends - Life's pretty great huh??

Happy 1st Birthday Nina - we love you!

xoxo Auntie Sarah (and Uncle Zachary)

Harvest Food and Wine Festival

I know it's Fall when the leaves are turning and cold air is coming.  But I also know it's Fall when....it's time for the Harvest Food and Wine Festival in Cedarburg.  I love this festival - the wine, the food, the art - everything about it.  Similar to the Strawberry Festival but for Fall.  I have gone to this many years with family, friends, and Zachary.  The main attraction is the Cedar Creek Winery at the heart of downtown.  They have a great Cranberry Blush wine that is delicious!  Well take a look below - I was able to go two times in one day - in the morning with my mom and sister and later in the afternoon with my friends Ang and Lauren.  Take a look at the most amazing Wisconsin Cheese Curds you will ever have - make sure your mouth waters over those!

If you are interested in attending the Harvest Food and Wine Festival next year - click HERE to follow Cedarburg's festival events throughout the year.

Also - Click HERE for the link to the Cedar Creek Winery - I'm positive you won't be disappointed with anything that comes out of there!

I had my cranberry wine earlier with my mom, so Ang, Lo and I got sangria (bottom right)!  Love this weekend!

Happy Fall!

xoxo Sarah

Library Time!

Hey All!

Once again - sorry for the lack of posts this week!  I promise we have been having some great fun lately!

Ok so I have been reading a lot lately - I wanted to update you on three books I finished:

1) First is The Litigators by John Grisham.  I remember growing up and seeing my mom constantly read John Grisham novels.  I remember seeing The Client as a movie and loving it - so I thought I would love this book.  Unfortunately, it wasn't my favorite - I thought there would be more intense mystery but it didn't really do it for me.  It was more about political wrong doing rather than like murder mystery.  If you like drama stories about lawyers - than this is your book to read!

2) Second, I finally read Tina Fey's Bossypants  It's Tina Fey.  Enough said.  It's hilarious.  I also loved how she actually went into how she became Sarah Palin on SNL - since you know - I was Sarah Palin for Halloween back in 2008.

3) Lastly, I read the next book in the Lizzy and Diesel series by Janet Evanovich - Wicked Business,  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series.  I wrote about the first book HERE.  This one is about the deadly sin of Lust - it is so good!  It makes me want to live in Salem and be a baker and want to be magical.  Seriously guys, this is such a fun easy cheeky read!  I love it and highly suggest this series!

Ok - now working on reading some new books from some new authors!!!

Happy reading!
xoxo Sarah

Dark Chocolate, Pistachio and Sea Salt Cookies

So I came across this recipe a few weeks ago and was like OMG I have GOT to make these!  They sounded amazing! 

So for our football party last weekend, I decided to bring them to the party.  

What can get any better than Dark Chocolate + Pistachio and on top of that sea salt. If you didn't know - salt enhances the taste of chocolate - or anything.  When we were in Michigan, we had this salted caramel ice cream that was unbelievable.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it right now...

BUT anywho - back to the cookies - these cookies were sooo yummy!  The only thing different from the recipe that I did was I used regular natural sea salt - not smoked.  I don't have a smoker or a wood burning grill so I had to use the non-smoked sea salt.  If you know of a place where you can find that at the grocery store, let me know - I looked and couldn't find them!  

I got the recipe off of the Joy the Baker blog. Click HERE for the recipe. 

The salt is on there - I promise!

Yeah for adding salt to baking!

xoxo Sarah

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls...

Hey guys!

Sorry I have been MIA this week - I have been super busy with work.

So remember I said I made cinnamon rolls for Zachary's birthday from scratch and I didn't think I had the picture...well!  I hunted on my phone and found that lost picture!  Yeah!!!  So I thought I would share.  These are super super easy to make and a great little breakfast treat!  I got the recipe from one of my fav food blogs Brown Eyed Baker.  Click HERE for the recipe.

So yummy - fresh out of the oven!

Happy Baking!

xoxo Sarah

How do you pick what cheesecake to make!?

Zachary loves cheesecake.  So for his birthday - I was going to make cheesecake for sure.  But what kind!? That is the question.  So I went to my friend Pam (she blogs HERE) - the cheesecake guru- and asked her what is the best cheesecake she makes.  She gave me the recipes to her Tiramasu Cheesecake (HERE) and to her Turtle Cheesecake (HERE).  Although these look amazing and I wanted to try them - I still have not perfected the normal NY style cheesecake - SO, I thought I would just go with that.  But, Pam does give great advice in how baking a cheesecake like with a water bath - thanks Pam for the advice and suggestions, once I am as good as you, I will for sure be tackling these two cheesecakes!

So I decided to go to Bakerella - another baking guru who's blog I like to read.  She has a TON of baking options - very crafty and talented lady!  I went to her simple cheesecake recipe HERE.  I tried to make a water bath and add that technique to her recipe like Pam told me to, but I didn't have a big enough baking dish to fit my spring-foam pan in.  The cheesecake turned out as best as it could be - I think I over did it a little and it cracked, but at least this time, it didn't sink in the middle!  

I'm getting there!  If you guys have any tips at all about baking cheesecake, I would love to know!!  See below the cake I made for Zachary!  

Bakerella's cheesecake - I served it with a few raspberries on the side!

Happy Cheesecake Baking!

xoxo Sarah

Let's Get Ready to RUMBLE!!!

Ok so football has officially begun.  I will keep this short and sweet as my team did not win this past Sunday, and I am still bummed about it!

So the Campillo/Dowell football parties have started up again and we are loving every second of it!  Although I might be in Bears country and married a Bears fan, I will still wear my green and gold loud and proud!  Yes, we might have lost this past Sunday - but I am hoping that was just first week jitters!  The real test comes this Thursday when the real rivalry happens - Packers vs. Bears.  So let's get ready to rumble!!!!

Campillo/Dowell first football party of the year hosted by the lovely Dowell family!!!

Let's Go PACKERS!

xoxo Sarah

A Little Birthday Fun...

This past Saturday was my husband Zachary's birthday!  We decided to celebrate with good friends and had a wonderful day!

Saturday morning, I woke up and made Zachary breakfast.  I decided to make from scratch cinnamon rolls. I tried to take a picture on my phone because the outcome looked awesome and tasted great!!! But - for some reason the pictures didn't save.  But I got the recipe from Brown Eyed Baker.  If you would like the recipe, click HERE.  These rolls plus some breakfast sausage and scrambled eggs - the perfect breakfast for Zachary's birthday!  During the day, we watched some great college football and cleaned.

Later in the evening, our friends came over and we went out to dinner at the Two Brother's Roundhouse Brewery Restaurant.  Zach and his friends love this brewery and I have grown to like it as well.  They have some great blonde beers as well as a gluten-free beer (Prairie Path) that is really great!  We had a great time at dinner, and then we came back to our place to have some drinks and dessert ( I will post about the dessert later!)

Take a look at the little fun time we had with great friends, great food, great drinks to celebrate Zach's birthday.  We are very lucky to have friends and family all over that love us and want to celebrate fun things like this with us!

Zachary, Andy, Conor, Morgan, and myself celebrating Zachary's birthday!

One of the great things about this place is how great the food is.  Have you guys ever heard of marrow?  Like actually eating bone marrow?  I have heard about it on fancy TV cooking shows before like Top Chef or Chopped but I have never really seen it or tasted it.  Supposedly, it's supposed to be unbelievable.  And I have to say - I tried it in the appetizer we got which was called Marrow Toast.  I have to say it is pretty good - and I will usually try (usually being the key word here) everything at least once, so I tried it.  Take a look below at this appetizer - unreal!

I swear - it's good!

Anywho - hope you are all having a great start to the week!  Yeah for fall beginning - I love it!

Happy Monday!

xoxo Sarah

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to Zachary, my husband, love of my life...Happy Birthday to you!

Just a silly picture of Zachary and his sister Clare!

Love you babes - Happy Birthday!

xoxo Sarah

Fish Shanty Town...

Leeland, MI.  One of the most unique little towns you will ever see.  Why you ask?  Because it still has fish-shanties and fishing boats that don't exist anymore in it!  All these old little shacks are now built into stores and eateries for the public to share and enjoy.  What's great about it is just the amazing character this little section brings to this whole town.

And what evens adds more character to it as well, are the large fishing boats that come in and out of it from Lake Michigan - bringing in the catch for the day.  It's so cool and interesting and was definitely one of my favorite parts of vacation!

Enjoying Leeland!

Yeah for places with character!

xoxo Sarah

Tea of the Week!

Hey guys!  So this Tea of the Week post is actually about a store that we went to in Glen Arbor called "Great Lakes Tea and Spice."  

Zachary and I spent a half an hour in this store while I smelled and tasted teas all over.  And I have to say, that out of all the amazing teas that we tried, their best is most definitely their classic Iced Tea.  

I really recommend going to this website and ordering their teas - any of them.  And of course, they have their decaf or non-caffeine teas as well!

Happy Tea Shopping!

xoxo Sarah  

#9 Best Restaurant in the World...

According to Mario Batali that is!

I guess in Michigan, famous chef, Mario Batali, likes to rent a house in Traverse City.  Before, we left, I saw an article on foxnews.com about Mario Batali's favorite restaurants around the world.  Lo and behold, two of them were in Traverse City - just a mere 20 miles from Glen Arbor.  So I told my mother-in-law we needed to go!  Also I thought it was special because Zach's grandma got us his lasagna baking dish for a wedding shower gift!  So we had to go right!?  Well we did...and you would not believe this place.

It is called Frenchies Famous.  Here is an article from urbanspoon.com about it: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/307/1499236/restaurant/Frenchies-Famous-Traverse-City

Just this small, cozy little deli stop that serves breakfast and lunch inside their little restaurant or on their back patio.  Owned by a married couple, this place is a MUST GO TO when you travel to Traverse City.  The sandwiches are amazing.  And such a variety, even though the menu isn't huge.  They have a little garden in the backyard.  It is so fun and so awesome!  Having seen this place, makes me have a greater appreciation for Mario Batali as well because this isn't some fancy Michelin star restaurant.  This is simple good food and good people running it.  Yeah for Frenchies - one of Traverse City's hidden treasures!

Nana, the girls and I in front of Frenchies, Nana and the girls, their sign, and their little garden!

Yeah for fun different and great restaurant finds!

xoxo Sarah

Table Pour Deux, S'il Vous Plaît!

 Zachary and I were lucky enough to get a date night when we were in Michigan.  We decided to go tot eh most adorable French bistro I have ever seen.  Now I love French food and French culture.  One of Zachary's and my favorite restaurants in Chicago is Kiki's Bistro - we highly suggest this and recommend this restaurant to anyone who is looking for a fun different great eatery in Chicago!

Ok - so the restaurant we went to is called La Becasse - seriously sooooooo good! La Becasse is French for "The Woocock" which I believe is a bird of some sort!  The escargot, or snails, were the largest we have ever seen.  I had the duck with a cherry chutney and Zachary had rack of lamb - which was fit for a king!  

Take a look at our awesome time we had!  

Nice Bordeaux Wine....

Out on the quaint patio in the back waiting for our escargot - ignore my lack of eye makeup - I had a sty lol!

Bon Apetit!

xoxo Sarah

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Yes...that is a Christmas song.  But I have to say, this is my most favorite time of the year.  Fall!  When Labor Day passes into September, and you can start to smell it in the air (Oh, and I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day - mine was spent in WI visiting my family!)

So why is Fall my favorite season?  Well, there are a lot of reasons.  Here are a few:

1) The Leaves

2) The Colors

3) PUMPKIN!

4) The cooking

5) My Wedding Anniversary is in October
6) Zach's Birthday is in September

7) My Birthday is in November

and last but not least...

8) It's Packers Season :)  FOOTBALL!

So get ready everyone for some amazing posts coming your way the next few months!  Here is a picture just to put you in the mood...

This was at Zach's first Packer game in November of 2007!

GO PACK GO!

xoxo Sarah