Prepping for Paradise

In two weeks (!!!) I will be heading to Gulf Shores, AL with three of my best friends. We are renting a beach house, Palm Paradise. We have literally been counting down since about day 55.

I've been shopping bit by bit for a little over a month. I have sun dresses, swimsuits, flipflops, hats, sunglasses, sunscreen...I even bought a pair of shorts!

I am getting my check list ready, those of you who know me are saying a collective "duh". Here is what I am planning on bringing:

• Sundresses (4)
• Shorts (one pair of neon yellow, and I am hoping to find a pair of navy ones too)
• Tank tops (assorted colors)
• Cardigans (again, duh)
• Swimsuits (2)
• Swimsuit cover (2)
• Flipflops (3)
• Sunhats (2)
• Sunglasses (2)
• Glasses/Contacts/Solution
• Sunscreen
• Aloe (just in case)
• Chapstick
• Phone
• Phone charger
• Towel
• Beach mat
• Toiletries/Makeup
• Pillows
• Books*
• Movies
• Music

I am sure my "real" list will be much longer. I will be packing several books too, I haven't decided which ones yet. Suggestions are accepted!

Just a Few Birthday Pics

A turned three on Sunday, and we had her party on Saturday. We invited her entire class from school, plus friends. All told there were almost 20 two-four year olds there!!

The theme was Pixies and Pirates.  We had the party at the park near our home and borrowed the bounce house from a friend. We provided the ez-ups, tables, and chairs (with my Mom's help). I found the pirate favors at Party City and all the pixie items came from Halo Heaven. We grilled hot dogs and served cupcakes from Target. I made ranch dip, served with cucumbers, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and carrots. We had water, lemon aide, and cool aide. Pretty low key, overall.

We also had a bubble station. I set out wands and bowls. We also had a bubble machine. That was very popular!

Obviously, these are not "stylized" professional photos. I took all of these photos with my I-Phone. The original idea for this party came from browsing party blogs. BUT, when you look at those blogs, it is clear that the people throwing those parties are either professionals or very wealthy. I am neither of those things, so this is a very real world version!

20 Questions With A, Age 3.

1. What is your favorite color? Silver 
2. What is your favorite toy?  My new jumpoline!
3. What is your favorite fruit? Blackberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Yo Gabba Gabba
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Macaroni and Cheese 
6. What is your favorite outfit? A dress.
7. What is your favorite game? Matching game
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit
9. What is your favorite animal? Giraffe
10. What is your favorite song? Old McDonald
11. What is your favorite book? Wocket in my Pocket
12. Who is your best friend? Emma
13. What is your favorite cereal? Fruities (????)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Jump
15. What is your favorite drink? Water (I think this might be a fib!)
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  "A" Pillow
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Sausage
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Cupcakes
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor

My beautiful daughter is three today. I can not believe how fast she has grown from this:

To this:

Happy Birthday A!!!

I Think I Had a Point....

Like so many things in my life, I have totally dropped the ball on my Jillian Michael's workouts. It started innocently enough, we went to Albany for Easter, and I left the video at home. Those 3 days off turned into 30 days off. Oops!

It is kind of a habit with me, starting things, then letting them fade away. I am still watching my calories and I have been to the gym a few times, but I know I should do more. Instead, I spend too much time looking at clothes for A on Ebay.

This is what I do. I go from one obsession to another, until I lose interest. First it was Pinterest, then working out, now Ebay. Sheesh. I am lame.

Anyway, moving on from my failures.

I am gearing up for a beach vacation with three of my best friends. I could not be more excited for this (much needed) trip! We have rented a beach house near Gulf Shores. Now, I know, no one really thinks Alabama when they think beach, but given the sizes of our collective wallets, it fit perfectly. I am planning on doing as little as possible. Beach, sleep, beach. While I am gone, J and A are going to see his family. They have a full week planned, so I am pretty confident I won't be missed.

I did take two weekends to find two swimsuits. I almost had a mental breakdown the first weekend. Why in the world is swimsuit shopping so horrible? It is like companies hate us or something. I had a lot better time this weekend though. Part of the problem, I guess, is that I initially went to a smaller mall. The larger mall had a much better selection. I was able to find two cute swimsuits for what I feel is a decent amount of money.

This was a completely random post. I mostly wrote this so that I didn't go two weeks without updating, thereby relegating my blog to another lost interest item in my life. By this time next weekend I will be a 29 year-old with a 3 year old. So there will probably be a "real" post! Enjoy Mother's Day. Take your mom, wife, daughter, self somewhere nice!

Baseball and Sickness

This past Saturday my little family and I had a great day. J's work has a lot of employee incentives, one of which is the opportunity to have four tickets to a  Rough Riders game. The tickets themselves are great seats, right behind home plate, include all you can eat and drink, a tour of the ballpark, a backpack filled with goodies, and a picture on the field! J entered this year and last, and both years he has won.

A during 2011's game.

The three of us, 2011's game.

This year we decided to invite my mom and step-dad to go with us. We had a very full Saturday planned. A has ballet on Saturdays from 9:15-10:00, our town has an arts/jazz fest the last weekend in April, and I needed to get invites and decorations for A's upcoming birthday party. After ballet, J, A, and I went to the Arts and Jazz fest and enjoyed the music, booths, and food. We headed home around 1:00, right as my mom and C arrived. A went down for a nap at 1:30, and Mom and I headed back to town for the party supplies. While we were out, C and J took naps as well. I wasn't feeling great, but I chalked it up to allergies.

We arrived home at 4:30, basically just in time to get ready to leave for the game. In a weird twist, Mom, C, and J ended up in blue, while A and I wore red.

Is this kid ready for some baseball or what?

Our tickets asked us to arrive at 6:00, we didn't quite make that, but we were close. At 6:15 we were following our tour guide around the stadium. We got to go up to the announcer's booth and see the radio and call people. Then we got to go down onto the field. We even got to sit in the home teams dugout!

We then walked through the bullpen and back to our seats. We stopped at the "Teddy Express" (the all you can eat line that went with our seats) and picked up some dinner. One of my favorite things about the Rough Rider's ballpark is that it is sponsored by Dr. Pepper. This means you can get DP to drink there! So many places are Coke sponsored, it is a nice change of pace for a DP fiend like me.

Our seats were excellent. Maybe 15 rows back right behind home plate. I made the comment that we never get to sit this close when we go to Ranger's games! That is one of many pluses to going to minor league games.

The three of us, 2012.

The game was a rough one, the center fielder, Engel Beltre, had four outstanding diving plays. He was worth the cost alone! (Yes it was free, but you get the point.)

About the 6th inning I was feeling really lousy. I told J, and we decided to leave at the 7th. By the time we got home, I was feeling worse. A felt very warm to me as well. I took A's temperature first. 99. I took my temperature next. 100. Opps.

We both took a dose of medicine and went to bed. I guess our long day wore both of us out!

Pinterest to Reality--Dress Up Wardrobe

Today, after garage selling all morning, I decided to tackle this little diy project. 

Pinterest Inspiration

You see, we have a little storage problem. A has more dress up clothes than any one little girl might need. I have no issue with her having all these items, my issue is the fact that they are often all over my house! She has tutus, feather boas, heels, bracelets, earrings, tiaras, purses, hats, costumes, and dresses. Oh the dresses! Today we attempted to pick up her room. I cleaned out a few of her bins, made one for shoes, one for accessories, and one for bags. This still left a giant tub of costumes, tutus, and dresses.

Yes, this is really what her dress up bin looked like! A total mess. It is a wonder she ever found anything to play with at all.

Enter Pinterest, per usual! I found the inspiration picture quite a while ago, but could never find an active link on how to actually create this. I hemmed and hawed for a while, asking J and my step-dad to build me something from scratch. Then, today it hit me. Why create something new, when  I could simply use a dresser I already had. After A was born, we quickly realized we needed more than just a dresser or two. So, we bought two dressers, a book case, and two large plastic stacked drawer dressers. We kept the plastic ones in her closet. Today, because of our decision to have a garage sale and clean out all the older baby clothes/items, I realized the green dressers would be empty. I had a perfect solution to my storage needs!

First, we cleared out the white dresser (4 drawer) that used to hold her pants, skirts, shorts, play clothes, and pjs. Now these items are in the two green dressers (3 drawers a piece), which means everything has its own drawer which I love. After wiping down the white dresser, I got to work.

Before.

Step 1: Remove the drawers.

I used a pair of pliers to pull out the little thing (technical term??) that held the drawer into place.

Obviously I had a great assistant!

Step 2: Remove the things (again with the technical terms) that held the drawers in place. I used a phillips head screw driver, super simple.

See? No more brackety things.

Step 3: Paint the inside.

I chose Hibiscus.

I would say this is a bit darker than the real color. I painted the inside of the bottom drawer too. Now, a word, I am already having some issues with chipping. I know this is because of the formica-like material that the dresser is made from, and I also know there are ways to avoid this. The chipping is not bad, but when I slid the drawer back in, I bumped the inside walls, and it left two small chips. Also, when I inserted the rod, it chipped. I touched those spots up, and now you can not tell. I did not sand or prime. Your results may be better if you do.

Step 4: Insert a shower curtain rod.

I measured the inside distance, then at Lowe's bought the smallest size shower curtain rod I could find. I followed the directions on the rod.

Step 5: Hang up your play clothes!

After!

A has not actually seen the finished product yet. She fell asleep in our bed tonight. I can not wait to see her excitement tomorrow morning!

Now, this is not big enough to hold everything. We still have a tub full or tutus and a few costumes. I do think I can fit a few more pieces in this wardrobe though! I am also toying with adding an A to the top in the same hot pink paint.

Hope you enjoyed my tutorial/walk through on how to turn an old dresser into a dress up wardrobe. If you have questions, email me, or leave a comment below!

The 90's

I have been reading a website, A House of Lies, and the author has a series where he is rating the most 90's movie of all time. Every single movie he has review has been one I loved. Ace Ventura, Clueless, Hackers, Encino Man, Speed, Mallrats, and so many more. I know a lot of people love the 80's. I get it, I do! The music and the movies are excellent, and it reminds me of being young. However, my real favorite decade has to be the 90's!

I think part of that comes from having been a tween-teenager during that time. In 1990 I was 7, and in 1999 I was 16, so a lot of my formative years were during that 10 year span. Again, I love all things 80's, but I was too young to appreciate many of them when they were first introduced. My culture touchstones of the 80's were the cartoons, My Little Pony, He-Man, etc. The great movies like Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, even The Goonies, I did not experience until later in my life.

With the 90's, I was fully engaged in pop-culture. That is the great thing about tweens and teenagers, they are hyper aware of what is popular and what is now.

Some of the fashion was dodgy, but that is true of every decade! I love the skirt/knee high combo that Cher Horowitz made popular in Clueless. I also had Doc Martins and hiking boots.

The music was/is great. Some of it is totally crap of course, but again, the same can be said about the 80s, aughts, and so on.

One of my favorite 90's movies is The Saint. I love this movie for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it reminds me that Val Kilmer used to look like this

I mean, hot dog, that is a good looking man. Now, well he is less beautiful poet, and more someones dad.  You also can not forget how lovely Elizabeth Shue is in this movie. Aside from the beautiful cast, the movie itself is also good. Elizabeth Shue's character is a scientist on the verge of solving/creating cold fusion. Simon Templar (Kilmer) is a master thief who bases his identities on the names of the saints. I mean, that is a cool concept! I know I have admitted in the past that my taste in movies is questionable, but I will argue the merits of this movie with anyone!

Another favorite of mine is Can't Hardly Wait. Obviously these movies are on different ends of the spectrum. Can't Hardly Wait focuses on Ethan Embry's Preston who has been in love with Amanda (Jennifer Love Hewitt, as if it could be anyone else!) since the first day he saw her. Four years of high school go by, and Preston finally has him moment when Amanda gets dumped by her boyfriend on graduation day. The movie itself falls in to a lot of the 90's cliches, but go back and watch it again. You will be surprised at how many faces you recognize.

Anyway, I don't know what the point of this post really is, but I think we can all agree that Val Kilmer used to be super hot.