my birthday gratitude...xoxoxo

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. ~Henry Ward Beecher

thank you friends and family for all the love you have given me everyday up unto my birthday and so forth... my gratitude is a blossom turned bouquet. many kisses to you. xoxoxo serena

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imagination...

You see things; and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"
{George Bernard Shaw}

i am filling up my wardrobe of imagination. ordering all the goodies that i have put off. letting these little visions become reality. they have taken up space in my mind for way too many years. freeing myself from the boundaries that i have set. time to create. using what has been stored and flowing through my imagination.

i have a little task for you lovies... choose one thing that has floated around through your imagination and bring it to fruition. stop being your obstacle to your happiness. i made a list of things recently that i wanted to do for myself {we have all done this} and i have started marking them off. for once in my life i am marking them off without that perfect vision that i expected. as an artist we are never content with what we do anyways. and it has given me the freedom and energy to push me on to the next thing. i never really 'grasped' the 'just do it' saying. just like this blog, it will come together when it does and i am going to enjoy the journey. i can share {which makes me happy}. it is not perfect or complete. that is ok though. i did it. it has been on my 'do' prior lists for a long time. done! strike through! and it will be just the way i imagined, or not imagined as it continues to come together. but it is up and going and happy. another thing. i ordered new photos for my house {it has been a few years since i have changed them or added to them, typical photog}. i just opened random month folders and whatever stood out first i added to the cart. no rhyme or reason. i started doing more crafts. not major ones, but ones that make me and the girlies happy. we have missed doing them and it always gives me a burst of energy. listen to me lovies, i am your inner voice today... make something happen. just one thing that you have wanted to do. you don't need all the pieces to be there. just do it. use your imagination. and then i want to see or hear about it. pretty please? <3

photograph by me. please don't takey. thankyou.

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kai & lila

needed to follow up a boring recipe with a cute girl & her puppy. happy weekend <3

a poem kai wrote today at school*

music is my soul.
lyrics are my life.
notes are my heart.
rhythm is the beat.
this is why i live.
{kbb} 2.5.10

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this is how we bake here... word.

so. i thought that i would share some goodies here. i may even find the stamina to share our weekly menus that i concoct. i have a love of finding new recipes to keep the monotony of cooking dinner entertaining for myself. i will also share what my music selection is playing at the time. i tend to really enjoy the cure & a hell's belle to kick off the start of it. and i always have my reliable delila catching scraps for me. i am all about not cleaning up as much as i can {notice the oatmeal & flour on the floor in the second photo?}. as you will find in my photos. i have no rhyme or reason and they will not be the usual pretty put together cooking photos that you find on your favorite blogs. i am going to show you the reality of how i cook it up here at the boggs house with the bogglettes. i appreciate all the great bloggers that do set it up and make it look pretty though. they are the ones that encourage me to make most of these awesome dishes. and we usually take a recipe and make it to our liking. this one is for beachcomber cookies. nom nom nom.

we changed a few things on the beachcomber recipe. this is what we did...

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon table salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 sticks unsalted butter (1/2 pound), room temperature
* 1 cups packed light brown sugar
* 3/4 cup organic sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups old-fashioned oats
* 1 cup milk chocolate chips
* 3/4 cup toasted flaked unsweetened coconut
* 3/4 butterscotch chips

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and arrange a rack in the middle. Place flour, baking powder salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl and whisk to combine; set aside.

Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat over medium speed until mixture resembles wet sand and is airy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, letting each fully incorporate before adding the next. Add vanilla extract. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture in 2 parts, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and mix until evenly combined.

Using a 2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets, spaced about 1-inch apart. Bake until cookies are puffed, set, and tops and undersides are golden brown, rotating sheets halfway through, about 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool on sheets 2 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

these are worth the baking. nom's up!

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a day in the life...

shon walked into the downstairs bathroom and called me over. "come look at this babe." of course i immediately had all three of our girls following me. you see... i am looking forward to the salt & pepper look coming his way. it is going to look good on him. like a lot. leaning into the mirror he started showing me the progression as they watched and commented. a little later in the day this was found on our chalkboard wall in the kitchen... eesh. little do they understand. they did that to him. he is going to have to let them out of the house one day. not an easy task for a daddy to do with his baby girls. and the closer miss m gets to that age. the more salt & peppery it gets.

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