I can’t believe I almost missed the big party! Welcome to Domestic Chicky - I am an Apron loving, blog designing, cupcake craving fan of Martha. I chase after 2 nutty little boys, and try to keep a clean house despite having a chronic internet addiction . If you get a chance, visit some of my friends over on the sidebar - you find a lot of creative, funny, thoughtful women, and maybe a few you’re already familiar with!

Wait, don’t go away yet! I have goodies to win!

I have the most fun treat to try! If you go to My Fruit Roll-ups, You can make customized Fruit Roll-ups! How fun is that? They would make great party favors, team treats, lunch treats, or even stocking stuffers! (ok, it’s a LITTLE early to order them for Christmas, but it never hurts to think about right? )

I am giving away one free order of Customized Fruit Roll-ups (a $29.95 value!) to one randomly drawn comment below. Please tell me something fun you would do with customized fruit rollups!!

Since I got to the party a bit late, I will keep this giveaway open until Monday Morning at 9am PST. Good Luck!!

I remember visiting my Grandmother when I was in high school, and she had these pretty magazines on her coffee table - Country Magazine - with the prettiest pictures, and the dreamiest country farms. Having grown up in Kansas, she probably enjoyed seeing photographs that reminded her of back home, and I know she LOVED searching for the needle hidden in every issue.
Fast forward to today, and that little magazine has expanded into I don’t know how many different ones, but my favorites are the cooking magazines, specifically Taste of Home. Yes, I know, some of the recipes are artery-clogging and diet unfriendly, but I love that most of the recipes use ingredients I already have…They have an online website that has most of the magazines recipes too - not only do I get the magazines, I also order the books. I try to make one new recipe every week, and it seems I use these or the quarterly Kraft Magazine most often.

Do you subscribe to any cooking magazines? I also LOVE Cook’s Illustrated, but it seems like an awful lot of $ for not much more than a brochure . My Aunt used to have all her Sunset magazines on her coffee table, but I never got into that one much…

Here’s the recipe I used last night, and served with grilled Chicken and veggies - oh, and I used regular shredded cheddar cheese instead of Velveeta

Creamy Hash Brown Casserole

1 package (32 ounces) frozen Southern-style hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 pound process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3/4 cup butter, melted, divided
3 tablespoons chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 cups cornflakes, slightly crushed
Fresh savory, optional

My oldest is now registered for kindergarten…

I have such mixed feelings about it - I am excited for him because HE is so excited, but at the same time my heart is breaking a little bit because, well…he won’t be ALL mine anymore. Because of the issues both boys had when they were born, we had to keep them isolated the first couple of years, to make sure they didn’t end up BACK in the hospital. Which meant no preschool, limited playground visits and playdates, and even the rarest of the rare, a babysitter. So yeah, the idea of letting him go by himself, even for just a couple of hours (our kindergarten is half day) is killing me. I do plan on volunteering in his class once in awhile, but what it really boils down to, is that for a couple of hours a day, 5 days a week, I won’t be in control of his every moment…I know. It’s my hangup, and something I have to deal with, but so many ”what-if’s” keep popping into my head - what if the teacher doesn’t get his goofy personality? What if the other kids don’t like him? - and so on…He’s a bit of a hyper puppy personality at first, but once he gets used to things he settles down (a bit). What if he misses his Mommy?  

I admit, part of me wants to keep him home, but a big part of me knows I have to let go, even just a bit, even if a chunk of my heart breaks off and goes with him everyday. I just don’t wanna…

One of the nicest women on the internet (except for YOU of course!) is having her FIFTH baby boy next week, and we’re having a party!!!

Alli - Mrs Fussypants is having her little boy next week, and the contributors at Blissfully Domestic are throwing her a shower, and the best part is that YOU could get gifts as well! Check out Blissfully Domestic every day this week for great Baby advice, tributes to our favorite mama, maternity and baby fashions, and a few great giveaways!

Laura, one of my fellow MommyBloggers from the Sony event is giving away an adorable Autism Awareness Bracelet!  Just go over to here to enter:

Ugh! Why is it I can come up with brilliant posts when I am unable to get to the computer - but the closer I get to it, the brilliance fades to mediocre, which then fades into…nothing. I got nothing.

I have been filling my head with inspiration and brilliance at other blogs though. Funny, clever, creative…I remember those words - they may not have been describing me, but I remember them! So while you are waiting for my to pull my whatever out of my whosit, please visit these amazing ladies and check back on me in a day or so - I feel the vapors coming on…

A Feathered Nest

Bobbi & Mike

The Leftover Queen

Bakerella

Daily Relish

Fitarella

Enjoy!!

Thanks for all of your entries - I am going to post all of your suggestions later, but I wanted to post the winner first so we can get to foofing! I wish I had the time (and the full bank account) to give you all pretty sites, but I will offer 50% off to anyone who entered the giveaway and books me this week to do their site - which means a basic blogger package will be $37.50,  and the deluxe blogger package will be $47.50. (This is for blogger.com sites only )

Ok, onto the winner - the winner, drawn by random number generator, made the following comment:

giabella designs Said:

My favorite cupcake or dream cupcake would be pina colada. Anything with coconut makes me happy!

Congratulations! Please email me at domesticchicky(at) gmail.com and we will get started with your makeover!

Thanks again to all who entered - you all came up with some really great cupcake ideas! And for the record, my favorite is old fashioned yellow cake and out-of-the can chocolate frosting - I love making all the fancy ones, but I am pretty basic when it comes to eating them…lol

I took a bit of what I learned from Me Ra, and a bit of Pioneer Woman’s Photoshop actions, and I got this…

Hehe…mean mommy.

Welcome to Bloggy Giveaways at Domestic Chicky! This time around I am giving away a free blogger design (a $175 value!) to one lucky winner. This giveaway will include:

One Custom Header
Color co-ordination (background, fonts, etc…)
Co-ordinating sidebar buttons 
(Categories, Archives, Links, and 2 of your choice)
Matching 125×125 button
One add-on (post signature, 3 additional sidebar buttons, matching etsy package)

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post with your favorite cupcake flavor or dream cupcake flavor…in case you couldn’t tell from the header, I LOVE cupcakes, and I am always looking for new inspiration!

You can also check out some of my work over HERE (I am in the process of creating a new site for my design stuff-maybe next year??LOL)

You may enter this giveaway until Sunday April 27th at 6pm PST, and I will draw the winner at random Monday April 28th. Thanks and Good Luck!

Don’t for get to check out the other great giveaways at the Bloggy Giveaways page!