The countdown to 2014 begins.

This picture describes motherhood to a "t," Drool headed for my face, but somehow we're both smiling. I used to be a control freak. I liked to have every detail of my life scheduled out and I lived for deadlines. Deadlines for papers to be written, for appointments to be attended, for things to be done in a day. I'd have it all written down in a pretty little planner. I'd check things off my list as I'd go & at night when I'd lay down to sleep I'd think of all that was accomplished & I'd sleep sound. Well motherhood was a life change I hadn't anticipated and I was sent for a spin like I'd never experienced. I've had to learn to let go, accept that I cannot control everything, to embrace unpredictability (that has been a tough one), and I've had to accept that schedules are no longer concrete but tentative (although my pretty little planner got to stick around--I can't let it all go to pot!). I've learned to pack for all scenarios and to laugh when drool lands directly in my eye--natural eye drops anyone? I'll have to have this picture framed and use it as a reminder to keep on smiling. There's an old Nat King Cole song my mom used to sing to me when I was a little girl. She'd sing "When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by... If you smile through your pain and sorrow, smile and maybe tomorrow, you'll see the sun come shining through for you, if you just smile..." I find myself humming it to Luca as I rock him to sleep at night, but more so it's for me. It's a piece of my mom & that brings me comfort. 

If there's one lesson I'm taking with me into 2014 it is to never take anything too seriously. Life is fleeting & fragile, and one day when I'm looking back on it all I don't want to think "I wish I'd have had more fun." Nope. I want to be present in the moment. I don't want to spend today tied up in yesterday or tomorrow. You're supposed to say things you want rather than what you don't, so in that case, I want to be here now. I'm still new at this mom gig, but everyday I'm loving it more and more. It's the best title I've ever taken on, and he's the best thing that has ever happened to me. 

The word I've chosen to bring with me into 2014 is "Resilient." I'm bringing with me resilient and all that word encompasses--strong, tough, quick to recover, flexible, pliable, durable, and so on. I've braved a thousand storms, and here I am. I need to remember that I am stronger than I know, my abilities are greater than I give myself credit for, and my choices mold my realities. I have no regrets in life, only lessons. When I look back on situations I can't change, I take in the words of the great Maya Angelou and remember that if I would have known better, I'd have done better. And now that I know better, I do better. This year I'm betting on me, cause if I don't, who else will? If I continue making up excuses for why I can't do this or that, I will never become the person I want to be. So this year and from now on, I'm all in. I'm taking a risk, but I think it's a good one, cause with all bets on me the odds can only be in my favor. So with only two more days left in this year, let's make them count, cause you'd better believe 2014 will be my year.

xx

Perks: Letters from the Universe

A few years ago my mother-in-law let me in on one of the most cool and exciting things that lead me down a path I had never anticipated before. I've shared it with a few people now, but feel obligated to share it with everyone, including you, that's just how life changing it was. It's called TUT, which stands for "Totally Unique Thoughts." Now if you've seen the movie "The Secret" you understand the law of attraction and the theory that thoughts are things, if you haven't seen the movie, drop what you're doing, sign on to netflix and watch "The Secret" ASAP because you're missing out on something huge! I promise you it will be worth your time. 

Anyhow, this association "TUT," has the most awesome feature in which the universe sends you daily notes via email. This is what you will want to sign up for. At first I was skeptical, so I signed up to have the emails sent to me two days a week, and within a month I made sure I was signed up to receive the notes daily. Upon signing up I typed in two personal goals which at the time seemed preposterous, but I kid you not, both of my goals have since come true, and everyday I look forward to what words the Universe has to offer me. These letters help wake me up in a good mood, are always encouraging & give words that can always relate to something going on in my life. 

Here's a couple of the notes I received recently:

So marvelous, right?! I just love them!

If you want to receive them too, all you have to do is go here, I promise you there is no spam or crazy advertisements involved, and if you aren't into it, that's cool too, no hard feelings, no pressure, to each their own. If you do however decide to get in touch with the Universe, please give me your feedback, I really hope you enjoy the daily letters as much as I do :) Life Perks that are serendipitous, my absolute favorite. Bon voyage!

Mission:Demoliton

Here it is! Our home sweet home! So much work is being put into our new home it's absolutely insane, and it is all happening at such a fast pace! I'm so excited! I can't wait to share our first home tour with you. Luca will have his very own nursery and so much space to roll around (His current mode of locomotion is rolling), Miles has space to build a garden and a life-sized tipi, I will finally have enough space to entertain and cook (I've been pinning like crazy over here) & I need to baby proof this place ASAP because by the time we move in we may very well have a crawler on our hands! A word of advice to anyone out there wishing to renovate your home, whatever you do, don't begin a project right before Christmas. As if the Christmas season wasn't hectic enough already, you add in meetings with a contractor and they in turn start talking walls being torn down and the word "gutting" is being tossed about freely, I'm just hoping we'll be in by February 1st... 

I know what you're thinking, "yeah right." Me too. But I'm trying to think positively, throwing it out there that the universe is on my side and we'll be bundled up fireside in our new place before we know it. Cheers to that! Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

Our Christmas in a Nutshell

Happy day after Christmas! We hope you had a wonderful holiday filled with the best of everything! I am so thankful for all of you who continue to read my blog & I truly mean it, it means the world to me & your comments you share always touch my heart! What started out as an "I'm not sure if I'll make it to next tuesday with this" kinda thing turned out to be an amazing journey that I will always cherish and be able to read over and over, years & years from now. I cannot believe we are already approaching bringing in a new year! So again, Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for us!

This year for Christmas we did a bunch of house hopping, and Luca's first Christmas turned out to be just how I had imagined it, magical. Here is our Christmas in a few snapshots:

xx

These are a few of my favorite things...

Here's a breakdown of things that are making my holidays a bit brighter:

1. This cold and dry weather we are having has my hands & knuckles turning into a cracked & painful mess. The best remedy I've found yet is Aveda hand relief cream with a few droplets of Aveda beautifying composition mixed in. The beautifying composition is one of my favorite items of all time. I first started using it as a belly balm when I was pregnant with Luca and didn't get a single stretch mark! Then I found out you can use it in your hair, mixed with lotion, in your bath, etc. It's so versatile & a little goes a long way, so you can stretch out your bottle to last you months!

2. Starbucks' vanilla cream. It's like white hot chocolate. It is so good but it's pretty sweet, so I usually just go with a tall & that satisfies my sweet tooth. Notice they spelt my name wrong, grrr this always happens to me! Also notice my adorable christmas lights hanging on my dash, love them. Found those at the dollar tree! Ah I love a bargain!

3. A mini impromptu photo shoot Lu and I had. You can never have enough photos, ever. I've learned throughout the years to love taking photos because even if you don't think you look so great, ten years from now you'll see that picture and think "damn, I was looking pretty good then!" Plus, I want Luca to have tons of photos to look back on as he grows up. It all happens in the blink of an eye & I want to capture it all! 

4. The keys to our new house! We finally got them, and my oh my do we have our work cut out for us! But it is totally exciting. I can't wait to document that whole journey on here. Im hoping to be in by the end of January, we shall see...

5. The Eivor throw blanket from Ikea. Its basic black and white stripes and will go great in my new house. I just recently got the lappljung ruta pillow from there and it will compliment it perfectly! 

6. The Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn. I can't wait for us to take Luca strolling through to see all the pretty lights. Every year the mission inn goes all out with their light and decoration display. They have an ice skating rink, a  couple of reindeer, and best of all Gingerbread house hot chocolate! As you walk through it always smells of cinnamon, evergreen, and funnel cakes, just as Christmas should!

I can't believe Christmas is already next week! I better get to my wrapping. (*cough*cough* I mean, I hope Santa has his gifts all wrapped and ready!) Weird to think I'm Santa now! Can't say I'm not honored, been working on that title for a long time now ;) 

Though it's been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you <333

Tis' the season to be Pretzel Dipping

This week I went to town hand-dipping pretzels in chocolate. These make for great little gifts and everyone appreciates something homemade. I can't wait for next year when Luca will be able to participate in all the fun holiday baking and activities. Right now he just drools.

 Luca sat and watched me & together we listened to Frank Sinatra's Christmas album. We also cranked the heater up while one by one I dipped & ate sprinkled each pretzel. It was super fun and messy & I'm still finding sprinkles in my hair, on the floor, in Luca's diaper, they are everywhere...

 I packaged them in pretty cellophane and tied them off with a bow. Now to find each one of them a home. Somehow I know this will be the easy part ;)

If you want to try out the recipe for yourself it goes something like this:

-Grab a bag of of white chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips and poor the whole bag into a bowl

-Microwave for 75 seconds and stir until completely melted (microwave for an additional 15 seconds if necessary)

-Take a coffee filter and poor a crap load of sprinkles into it

-Take each pretzel and dip into chocolate 

-Dip chocolate covered pretzel into sprinkles 

-Set pretzels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for about 10 minutes

-Package and enjoy!

I know this face looks like I slipped a few chocolate morsels into Luca's oatmeal, but I promise I didn't, he was just happy he didn't have to help clean up the mess or hear me sing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" one more time. The kid has no idea how good he has it.

That's all for now folks, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. I just love the holidays.

xo

DIY Zinc Antrhopologie Letters

photo source: Antrhopologie.com

A while back I found these zinc letters from Anthropologie and thought they would make a great wall decoration for above Luca's crib. The problem is they run $18 a piece, and I (okay, my pocketbook) couldn't justify spending so much on something I may get tired of in the future. So what did I do? I did it myself! Don't get me wrong, I love Anthropologie and I love a good splurge, but this was something I knew wasn't worth the price.

My friends are always laughing at me because whenever I see something I like, I always claim I can make it myself, and 9 times out of 10 I can. This scenario was one of the nine and I was extremely happy with the end result. They look nearly identical to the real deal! And the best part...I got the zinc letters I so wanted and the entire project cost me less than the price of ONE of Anthropologie's letters. Plus, living in California, it's probably much safer that the letters are made of cardboard instead of metal in case of an earthquake (wow, am I a mom or what?).

I know there are a ton of tutorials online as to how to make these and they are virtually all the same with the exception of some suggesting you use paper towels to blotch on the pearl paint for a more rustic look. I personally like the brush look better. 

So if your like me, and want a quick and easy DIY project that comes out looking fancy like you spent tons of time on it but really only spent 30 minutes from start to finish, here's the tutorial:

Supplies:

Paper Mache letters from Hobby Lobby 

Folk Art Acrylic Paint in 'Pure Black' from JoAnn's

Folk Art Acrylic Metallic Paint in 'Pearl White' from JoAnn's

2 Sponge brushes

Lay out newspaper over your work area so you don't get paint everywhere. Begin with the black paint. Use one of your sponge brushes and paint each letter entirely with one light coat of paint. The black acrylic paint dries really quickly on the cardboard, which is really great. This allows you to get right to the metallic coat. 

When you're finished painting the letters with the black paint, take your second sponge brush and begin painting with the pearl paint. Use long brush strokes in all directions and don't worry too much about the black paint being exposed or it being totally perfect, this will give the letters that worn metal look.

Lastly, allow your letters to dry for about an hour before hanging. I used a standard drill to make small holes in the back to allow me to use nails to hang them. You don't have to hang them either, they look just as nice standing on their own, or lying flat on a coffee table. The decorating options are endless. And for the cheap price per letter, you can stagger them all throughout your house! I know I'm planning on it ;)

Months Three and Four

1: ExerSaucer Safari Jumper | 2: Happy Bellies Baby Oatmeal | 3: Sassy Ring o' Links | 4: Mam Teether | 5: Ba Bottle Holder  

 6: Boppy Pillow | 7: Sleep Sack

We officially have a four month old on our hands! Where has the time gone?? I skipped out on doing a three month favorite post because not much had changed since I posted our two month faves, but now were in a whole new realm of baby toys. Right after that three month mark it's as if you have an entirely new baby. They coo & interact & smile & laugh...it's the best thing in the whole world. 

Luca just started on baby oatmeal by spoon and he loves it! He's slowly getting the hang of it, but simply put it's really messy :) Our pediatrician recommended oatmeal over rice cereal because it is more fiberful. I told him it wouldn't matter what we put in Luca's mouth because he'll eat whatever! This baby loves to eat and I'm happy about it because a fed baby is a happy baby & Luca is one happy kid!

Happy December and Cyber Monday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know we did. And we ate wayyy too much, but that's a yearly tradition. I definitely didn't go out for black Friday, which has never has made any sense to me--we spend all day Thanksgiving reflecting on how thankful we are for what we already have and then come Friday trample people trying to get ten dollars off an iPod. I did indulge on some cyber Monday deals though. A few of my favorites are H&M for 40% off entire purchase & free shipping, Anthropologie for free shipping on your entire purchase, INK 361 for 35% off everything or spend $100 get $45 dollars off, and Crate&Barrel for 15% off everything & free shipping. I managed to scratch a couple of Christmas gifts off the list and then Luca and I took a nap, and that right there my friends was the real success. 

Yesterday we took family pictures for our Christmas cards. All of the photos came out SO cute, I wish we could send them all out! Luca is usually all smiles, but once you put a camera in front of him he gets completely camera shy. We did manage to get a couple half-smiles and that was good enough for me! Wishing you all a very happy first week of December, and an even more joyful holiday season! Bring on the mistle toe & eggnog! Oh, and yes, I cut all my hair off, it was time for a change :)

Behold, The Boppy!

Here is a picture of the Minky boppy cover I made myself. I'd never sewn a zipper before so this was new territory for me, but all in all I survived and I love the way it came out! The boppy is seriously one of the most useful things Luca has. We use it for feeding, for propping, for face to face time, tummy time, you name it. This pillow goes everywhere with us. Miles even uses it as a giant pillow for himself (think super sized airplane neck pillow). The cover that came on it is cute, but it's made from some pretty rough material. I shopped around for a minky cover online but they were all kinda overpriced, so I took matters into my own hands and sewed my own. I love the feeling of accomplishment you get from doing things yourself. You know what they say, "chop your own wood and it will warm you twice..."  welp, they were right.