don't forget!

If you think Chloe is just an adorable chub of cuteness, make sure to pop on over to San Diego's radio station Star941 to vote for Chloe! Just click on her picture to the right on this blog and it will lead you directly to her link! The winner gets $2000 (going into her college fund) and a date night out for the parents (much needed!)
So PLEASE, just take a minute out of your day to vote for our sweet 'ems.

Smelebrity Spirit Day

Yesterday was Celebrity day at Smencils. I dressed like Kat Von D. and James was Rivers from Weezer.
It was a fun day. Hope this picture makes you laugh! I would love for you all to guess who everyone is dressing up as. Some of my guesses were pretty off. haha.
 

Spirit Days!

So our office has a fun month every summer where we dress up once a week for "spirit days". Last week we had nerd day. You can't tell, but I was wearing a bright red bow tie and everything.

This week dress up day : Celebrity. James and I are tyring to figure out who we can be without spending any money. I orginally wanted to be Taylor Swift. I would wear a long blonde curly wig with a borrowed prom dress and a guitar. However, since we are not spending money, I can't get a wig. So that means I have to be someone with dark hair and (unless I cover them up) tattoos. That only leaves 1 person in mind: Kat Von D.
James has agreed to tat me up with sharpies (I've done it before it only last a day or two an washes off) and then I have to try to find some clothes in closet that will work. Can any of you give me some ideas of what to wear??? (I promise to post picture of this weeks dress up!)

Embarrassing Moments

So my blog friend Deanna posted about embarrassing moments. Man oh man have I got a story for you.

While at the Saturday Market in Portland, I was walking along with James and his mom looking at all the neat homemade stuff they had. I stuck my hand out to grab James's hand because I know, since I am easily distracted, that I get lost pretty easy.  James kept moving his hand away and “fighting” my hand off, so I decided to just reach my hand in his pocket so I wouldn’t lose him. James was still fighting me and finally I look over to see why he wouldn’t just hold my hand only to find my hand is in some stranger’s pocket! Not only that, but he was holding HIS girlfriends with his other hand and they are both just looking at me in shock! All the while, James and his mom watch the entire thing from 10 feet behind me, letting me go on “molesting” this stranger and laughing their heads off. I was completely mortified! Every time I saw the couple throughout the rest of the market I avoided them like the plague. James still laughs about it to this day. 

 What is YOUR most embarrassing moment? I LOVE hearing about others who get just as mortified as me! Post it on your blog and comment the link or just share it in the comments. I can't wait to hear the stories that I am sure will make my tummy hurt from laughing so much!

Go To Style?

So lately I have been trying to sleep in to the very last moment to make sure I can catch as much zzz as possible. Seriously, baby girl has got me up every night at 5 am. With this happening, I don't give myself much time to get ready. Sadly, I feel like I have just been resorting to my usual go to staples, not really caring about what I am wearing and not really putting as much effort into the way I look (well, except my hair. I still try and curl it as much as possible). For me, my go to style has been what I wore during my breastfeeding days: skinny jeans, a black tank top and a cardi. Although, now it is getting so hot that I don't really want to wear the cardigan, but its the only color I actually put on. (that is why you do not see any "what I was wearing" post lately)

I also have just gotten rid of half my closet (more like just sitting in trash bags in our bedroom until I have the time to sell it). With half  of my wardrobe gone I feel even more in a rut. James promised that if I were to sell the clothes I don't want or just don't fit into anymore that I could use ALL of that money to purchase more items that  I have been wanting/needing. The problem I had was I was getting tons of clothes that were cute, but made cheaply and they wouldn't last long. Now I am realizing that it's not the quantity of clothes, but the quality. Which leads me to a totally different question: How do you feel about people selling their gently used clothing on their blogs? I am seriously thinking of doing this as our 2 local buffalo exchanges are full to the max right now so they haven't been accepting very much.




Anyone else in a style rut lately? What are your go to style staples when your in a rush? Any tips for getting pretty that is fast and easy? 

Easy Sewing Projects?

So I have had a sewing machine for 2 years. I even have this awesome sewing book that my mother in law gave me (she is a sewing queen!). However, I really don't have all that much time to learn how to sew. And reading books on it doesn't really do it for me. I need to actually just DO it. Practice, practice, practice. So I am trying to find easy sewing projects to learn from.
I have already made  bow ties for onsies and head bows and flowers that I put on headbands for Chloe and myself. You can view my post about them here.

I am also going to be making a pillowcase dress for Chloe here very soon. She has two that her memaw made her and even though one is too short now, she uses it as a top all the time. I love them, they are super cute and easy to put on her and they seem to last a lot longer than most of the clothes in her closet (some of them she hasn't even gotten to try on yet and we know have to box them up!)


Does anyone else have any fun and easy sewing projects that I can learn from? I know I can always turn to YouTube, that's where I learned how to knit! What were some of your first patterns or projects that you attempted when learning to sew?

The Love Dare

So I have been reading the book The Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick. It's a 40-day challenge for husbands and wives to understand and practice unconditional love. It gives you 40 dares to really apply what it means to be a selfish, sinful human trying to love someone unselfishly. Within the first 3 days I was hit hard with the way I show love to my husband. The book calls for something as "simple" as showing your spouse patience in very practical ways that many times you wouldn't think of. I am only on day 12 and I absolutely LOVE this book. It really has been making me more humble and appreciative of the amazing gift my husband is to me.

The principles of the book are based on Scripture, which is super important to me. I will be trying to update you more on how the love dare is going, I feel some days (like buying a random gift for your spouse that they have been eying for a while) is not as hard as others (giving into a conflict you and your spouse are having and letting him "win", even if you feel he is totally wrong. So you can show you spouse that your love is more important than trivial things that are not worth fighting over). 




The best thing yet, this book has shown me not only how to better love my husband, but how to better love God and His people. I use the daily dare to do something for my spouse, but when applicable, I also do the dare for someone in my office, or my neighbor or someone I randomly come in contact with. It really is helping me to show His love in very practical ways. I love how basic and to the point this book is.



I really wanted to read the book secretly so that James didn't know and eventually see if he noticed a difference in the way our relationship has been growing/changing, however, we have absolutely NO alone time to ourselves so there was really no way in hiding it. Although, I did decide not to share so much what I read and what the dares are, but sometimes I do tell him what I have been learning. I really feel like I am growing!


Has anyone else read or plan to read The Love Dare? How did it go? What where you experiences? Did anyone see FIREPROOF, the movie the book is from? I thought the movie was kinda cheesy, but I did like the basic principle of working for your marriage and not giving up, no matter how hard it is.

cake pops

I know cake pops are every where right now.  To be honest, I don't really care for them all that much. I am not a fan of chocolate and not a fan of "wet" cake. I know it's not wet or raw cake, but crumbled cake mixed with the frosting doesn't taste good to me. Maybe it's because I don't really like frosting either?  I do think they are ridiculously cute to look at though.

via

Anyway, I just heard about Babycakes cake pops maker from Baby Gizmo. You can read Holly's review of the cake pop maker here. This maker creates perfectly round cake balls or donut holes. The inside is more like real cake and I can dip them in white chocolate, which I actually like, then decorate with fun sprinkles. To top it off, it takes a significantly less amount of time to make them then the "real" cake pops that you see popping up everywhere. You mean I can actually make something cute, fun and yummy without spending hours in the kitchen? Yes please!

via Babycakes

So now, I am at the Babycakes website and realize that the cake maker is only $25! serisouly? It also comes with a cooling rack to put the sticks in when done decorating. And it comes with a recipe booklet. I think that is a great investment for all the cute cake pops I can make for parties. And I can't wait to make these as treats for birthday presents! They are just so darn cute. I think this may be another treat I make for the guest at  Chloe's first birthday!

via Babycakes

via Babycakes

1st Birthday Ideas?

I am a big party planner and I start planning parties wayyy in advance. I feel like I am falling behind with Chloe's 1st birthday only 4 months away! Most of our family is coming to be here for that weekend (it helps that it is also Thanksgiving weekend). I can't wait to celebrate this special day with all the family!

My sister has already mentioned she wants to make themed cupcakes. (hmm... maybe a cupcake themed party?)

I was thinking it would be so much easier to go with a couple colors and center everything around that. Like a very happy YELLOW birthday party. I am a sucker for yellow, one of my fave colors. It's so happy and cheerful. And it's not your typical pink girl party. Plus, that candy bar looks DELISH and so pretty with the ruffle streamers.

via The Sweetest Occasion Blog

I know I want to include tons of hand made fabric flag banners. Sheri from Young House Love had made one for her daughters birthday here. And better yet, I could even make cake bunting with this tutorial from The Sweetest Occasion found here.

via The Sweetest Occasion

and I can make invites that have printed pennant banners like this:

via Jack & Izzy Blog

I definitely want to have a little candy/treat/dessert bar with cute little things like cake pops and chocolate dipped pretzels and marshmallows.  I could definitely make these on my own, I feel they would be super easy to make. Just decorate with sprinkles and a bow to match the colors of the party.

via Maddycakes Muse Blog

I cant wait to get started on planning! Anyone have any ideas or tricks of the trade for throwing a big birthday party on a tight budget? I would love to here your suggestions!

Family Time

A couple of weeks ago, we went up to visit my parents and take some family photos. We went up early and stayed Friday night. My mom made her delicious tacos and we just hung out and relaxed. Chloe played with our HUGE family dogs and rolled/army crawled all around the house. My step dad  usually acts all hard and tough, but as soon as he holds Chloe he becomes a softy, like a big ol' teddy bear.  My sisters and significant others came up Saturday to hang out. We walked around Old Town Temecula and it was adorable! I would love to go back there when we have more time and it's not so hot. It was so much fun just hanging out with my family and doing something outside together. Chloe had a blast hanging out with all her auties and her grandparents. She was a very happy baby the entire trip and mostly slept for the car ride.
 
My mom wanted us to wear white, gray and purple. So I decided to make a quick purple tutu on the 1 1/2 hour car ride up to see them. I like how it turned out. When Chloe starts walking I think I will making many more of these!

Auntie Ginney

re-creation of our first picture together (I wish we could find the original picture, it does look just like it)

Auntie Tiff

Daddy

Grandma

 

Chloe is so happy here!