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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Etsy animal roundup

Howdy loves, so remember when I was talking about Pinterest and my obsessive love for it? Ya, well same goes for Etsy. You feel me? I've been currently working on Miles' woodland themed birthday party so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite animals found on Etsy. Here ya go! 
 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Christmas stuff

Oh, Pinterest! You cheeky little devil, you! I could (do) spend hours on there getting lost in a holiday haze, as I'm sure you could. Check out a few of my favorite gift wrapping and home decorating links to get you in the Christmas spirit...as if you need help with that! 
Rachels tree skirts are the coolest!
Awesome directory for diy gift wrap
Make your own pom pom ornaments.
Gingerbread ornaments too!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

So I'm a little behind...

 I'm a little behind on our Thanksgiving photos but my in-laws have been in town for the past four days so we have been enjoying extra family time around here.
 teeth.chattering.cold!
Just a little ol' baby tree for us this year. I like it a lot though!
 It's a race to see who can knock the tree down faster, the cat or the kid...

Friday, November 23, 2012

Friday and a guest post

Hey friends! How was your holiday? I hope everyone stuffed their bellies with turkey and enjoyed good company because we sure did and it was awesome! I cooked my very first holiday meal by myself (success!) and took it easy most of the day with my fellas. We played at the park, took big fat naps and listened to records. This was Miles' first Thanksgiving and it was an extra special one indeed.
Say Hi to my friend Emily from A Denver Home Companion and check out my DIY guest post I did today!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thanks!

Thank goodness for these folks! I am one lucky gal to have such a beautiful family.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Hanging with my pal



 Oh, this little fella is growing in leaps lately. He is this close from walking and is taking baby steps everyday. He says "Mamama, MOM" and has just started to say "Da Dada!" He is an excellent eater and loves him some sweet potatoes.

Monday, November 19, 2012

balancing shmalancing

Today was a doozy. Actually, this whole week I've been pretty emotional and annoying. Yup, annoying. Let me begin by saying that most days I hold everything together pretty well. I have a great routine with Miles in the morning and he is awesome about getting two naps in by two in the afternoon. I get the chores done around the house. Dishes are first and the rest follows. I often run errands in the mid afternoon and try my best to be home by the time Steve gets off work. He is wonderful about playing with Miles as soon as he's home so that I can catch up on unfinished projects. We prepare dinner and watch a flick and chat about our day while Miles hangs all over us. This is how we generally spend our time and I love it. We play and laugh and do chores and thrift shop and eat and on most days keep a great balance of being a patient and fun mother, a helpful and attentive wife and a caring and strong woman. Most days. But some days are really hard keeping it all together for my family and myself and it feels lousy. Being a stay at home mom with a house and a husband has added huge responsibility this past year to both our lives. I love my life and am so grateful to be with Miles full time but there are days that everything hits me like a ton of bricks and I feel completely overwhelmed. Steve said to me the other day that he rarely sees me relax. And he's totally right, I don't. I take care of my tiny person 24 hours a day, pay bills, clean our home, make sure we have food in the fridge and on the table, worry about the $42 in my bank account when I have a school loan going through in days, plan a birthday party, search high and low for merchandise for my mall space, all while hoping to god that the noise in my car isn't expensive... I need to work on shutting my brain off sometimes and take a chill pill. Right now Miles is going through a major growing spurt where he is learning and growing like crazy but also has become extra needy and fussy. He is such an excellent baby that when he does throw fits I don't really know how to manage it without getting overwhelmed. It's super hard not having family near for support (and a break) and so Steve naturally deals with the butt end of my crumby day.
My husband works his ass off for us six days a week. He is tired and underpaid and never complains. I see in his face how over worked he is and it breaks my heart because I know he would kill to be home more. He is the person who makes it possible for me to be a stay at home mom. He is the reason why I get to run errands and put food on our table. He provides the funds to pay our bills and have a wonderful home. I have to remind myself when that annoying voice in my head starts bitching, that I am so thankful and blessed to have such a hard working partner who would do anything for our families happiness.
 Today was just one of those hard days. Miles was all over the place and had an especially hard time going to sleep tonight and I was having a difficult time holding it together for the both of us. Tomorrow will be a good day and most days are. That's just how it goes. Finding a balance of taking care of your home and family without feeling swallowed up. Six days a week I can do it but once in a while I feel the weight of my responsibility and its hard to keep my cool...I'm human.
Do you know what saved me from going cray cray tonight? Picking Steve up from work with a sleeping baby in my backseat, dropping them off at home and going to Starbucks and the grocery store by myself. I talked to my dad for a half an hour while shopping and by the time I came home I was okay. Like, all the crap that I dealt with earlier was dissolved by a little me time and caffeine. Sometimes that's honestly all you need to feel normal again. 

Friday, November 16, 2012

Crickets

Well hi! It's sure been a little quiet around here but next week I promise to be back to my regular blogging. This has been a busy week. Tons of home improvement while my mom was in town. Lots of thrift shopping and to-do list checking. A little Christmas shopping. And a mega amount of party planning for my kiddos first birthday. FIRST BIRTHDAY! Jeepers, what a year we have had! A great one indeed! Oh, and I forget to tell you that Miles modeling interview was fan-freaking-tastic and they are signing him to their agency! I can't wait for what this next chapter holds for us. Anyways, I have an awesome diy planned for next week plus some other fun posts but in the meantime check out some cool links.
Great gift wrapping ideas.
Love these family photo tips.
Christmas gift lifesaver.
I can't wait to see this when it's finished.
Ooh, I adore Rachels living space.
Awesome home.
Saw this on A Cup Of Jo and had to share.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Hi, Hello!

 Well hello friends! My mom has been visiting us this past week and so Ive had little to no time for blogging, pinning, instagraming... and I got to say its been pretty damn cool. I took these photos of me and Mr. Grumps a few weeks ago and while I'm still caught up in the excitement of family in town, I figured I would do a short and sweet pop in post to say 'Hello!' and show off our silly mugs. Things will be back to normal by the end of the week but we are sure going to be missing my mama by then. Some exciting news is that Miles has a meeting with a pretty big modeling agency here in Portland today! Wish us luck! I'm super excited/nervous but I know he will ham it up for them.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Mama pajama

Yay, my mama is visiting! About to head out to the airport to pick her up. We are over the moon with excitement!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Oh, this kid!

 Last week I received a fun package for Miles in the mail from the lovely clothing company Joules. A striped bib, tartan trousers and a pair of tractor wellies all for my boy to enjoy! Yesterday, Miles and I walked to our neighborhood park and enjoyed playing on the swing set (his fave!)and climbing on the jungle gym on the most glorious Autumn day. He wore his new bib and wellies out on our adventure and got plenty of use out of both. The past few weeks we have been dealing with an off and on runny/boogie nose and I cant tell you enough how awesome this bib is. The soft cotton material is easy on his nose and mouth but super stylish and fun so he can wear it while we're out. We also love, love, love his sweetie pie trousers and I can't wait for him to grow into them! I am a big fan of mixing patterns and colors so Joules clothing was naturally right up our alley plus the major bonus was how soft and cozy their fabrics are on my boys skin. Not to mention, I'm a sucker for stripes so you know they had me there.
 I had to include this one. That's the face of pure joy!
Be sure to check out these cool tweed winter boots and all the other goodies Joules offers.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

A happy birthday!

 I celebrated my 25th birthday with my honeys on Friday and boy, is my heart full of thankfulness!
Steve skipped work so we sort of milled around the house until noon and then ate big fat cheeseburgers and bread pudding. After our bellies were full we went to a couple antique shops in the neighborhood and finished our day with pictures from the photo booth which is always fun. That evening per my request we made grilled cheeses, drank wine and watched Wes Anderson flicks. That was my sweet day.
 Those are some sleepy baby eyes.
 Special gifts from my dear.
As you know I collect old photos so I was super happy to add this little lad to the collection. a

Friday, November 2, 2012

Thinking about space.

While both my guys sleep, I am taking full advantage of a quiet home, two free hands and extra energy. For the past few weeks I have been thinking about my antique mall space and the changes I would like to do for the new year. My space is small so I use old wooden crates stacked on one another to display my shoes, boots and bags and I have one large shelving system for the knick knacks. I recently took all of the adult clothes out and am currently adding a childrens section to the booth. The only problem is that the clothing rack I'm using right now is far to bulky and impractical for my new plans so I have been on the hunt for a new display/shelving/rack combination to recreate. While on the search for inspiration I came across the most perfect display. This is it and we can make it! It's definitely going to be a project that takes time and because I'm in no real rush I can tweak a few of the details to make it work for the space. One thing I would make different is extend one of the middle shelves across the whole rack to utilize the space better because obviously kiddo clothes are much shorter. It's absolutely perfect and I can't wait to start measuring, sketching and gathering materials. These are a few other great displays I came across on my hunt:

Thursday, November 1, 2012

tricks and treats

Hi guys, first Halloween was a success! I woke up kind of cranky and didn't really shake the grumps till later in the afternoon and by then Steve started to get in a funk too. I think he was a little let down that we didn't spend Miles' first Halloween with any of his buddies that have children. It wasn't for lack of trying, we just couldn't coordinate with anyone for some reason. Also, I realized that with him having only one day off a week it adds extra pressure to get as much family/errands/projects time in as possible which can drive anyone a little nuts. I need to cool it on the to-do lists and learn to relax a little more. Know what I mean? Anyways, by the time we took Miles around to our closest neighbors we were in much better moods and had fun sharing such a cool holiday memory with our son. You can win em' all and yesterday, fun holiday or not, was just not our best but by the end of the day we sucked it up and ended up having a really awesome time together.
On a side note, Miles said his first real, repetitive word this week, MAMA!! Holy smokes, it's the cutest thing ever. "Mamamama MAMA MAAAM" all day long. So cool! 
And hey, my birthday is in two hours, 25!! I am so thankful for this past year. So many exciting, important things have happened to us. I'm feeling extra blessed.


this and that


Cool studded jacket that I might just have to make for Miles.
Fun business cards!
Very cute DIYs 1 2 3
Music makers for your wee ones.
Fun wrapping paper!
These homes are right up my alley
I want to make Miles special board books for his first birthday.
Nina Simone is one of my all time jams. This is one of my faves.
Awesome costumes, awesome baby shower.
Can't wait for new Mad Men. Last season was too bizarre!
Jerry Seinfeld, you're the best!