What's Cooking, Good Looking?

First, for all of your sweet comments on my photo in the last post - thank you! However, in the interest of KEEPING IT REAL, I must advise that the photo was NOT taken immediately after Alexandra's birth. Oh, no, no, no, no, no - that was taken the day FOLLOWING her birth, after I had the opportunity to take a shower, put on a pretty gown/bathrobe, and fix my face so I wouldn't be shamed in front of visitors. No, dear readers, I looked far different immediately after Alexandra's birth - while I must confess that I wore a full face of makeup and had my hair fixed when I went in that morning at 6am for my induction (hey, there's a lot of photo opportunities!), needless to say all of that had gone to hell in a hand basket by the time of her birth at almost 9pm. Just wanted to set the record straight!

I will be posting pictures of Alexandra's birthday party soon - I'm presently waiting on some pics from my sister, as busy momma that I am, I failed to take any photos of the decorations and the cake pops (yes, I made them, fool that I am!). In the meantime, I wanted to share with you some pics of Alexandra's present from Ryan and I...


I knew I wanted to get her a retro-style kitchen, but the one I initially spotted at Pottery Barn Kids was ridiculously overpriced ($700 for a kid's kitchen?!?!). So you can imagine my great joy when I found this little beauty on Amazon for a fraction of the price. It's so well made and very sturdy. I love all of the little features on it.

We filled the fridge and pantry with all kinds of goodies:


Warmed up some comfort food on the stovetop:


Slid a pan of adorable iced-cookies into the oven:


There's even room for her tea set, sandwiches and sweet treats:


I was a little nervous as to whether Alexandra would like it - there's a play kitchen at daycare but I don't think she has ever shown the slightest interest in it. So you can imagine my great relief when this ended up being a huge hit! The kids at the birthday party loved playing with it:


And the birthday girl has enjoyed it ever since, making us little treats and telling us the names of all of the different goodies stored within the kitchen's nooks and crannies!


I'm not going to lie to you, this kitchen is even fun for the adults! As Ryan's mom and I were cleaning up after the party on Saturday night, we took great care to separate the fruit and vegetables, and placing the "cold" items in the freezer and all other items in the pantry. (I imagine that as the days progress, I'll eventually get to the point that I'm just shoving all of the food, pots, pans and plates into any open space I can find). This kitchen has caused me flashbacks to our own childhood version of the kitchen - the Easy Bake Oven.


How is that for a blast from the past?!