Green With Envy

Lately, I've been on a bag kick! I love accessories, I really love purses and bags. When we moved from Minnesota to Arizona last year I vowed to go through all my bags and get rid of a ton of them. And, I did. I kept only the ones I really loved and used, which was about six. 

But, now I'm on a green bag kick. I really want a green bag. I've decided one of these will make a really great birthday present from my Hubby or Parents. 

But I can't decided, they are all awesome in their own right. 

So here's where you come in, weigh in and let me know which one you like more than the rest. 

Here's the breakdown:

1. Shiraleah Harper Zip Satchel (Target)

2. Black & White Damask Tote w/ Apple Green Lining (Etsy)

3. Green Zebra Tote (World Market)

4. Lime Green & White Monogrammed Tote (Etsy)

Now that you've had a chance to take them all in, what do you think? Which is your fave?

images: Etsy, Target & World Market

Blog Roll Monday: Eighteen 25

It's that time again, Happy Monday Everyone! Blog Roll Monday is a weekly feature where I hi light one of the blogs I'm reading on my Blog Roll. To see a complete list check out the 'About Us' section of the blog! 

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Welcome to Eighteen 25

Eighteen 25 is a blog written by three sisters, it's full of really awesome craft and organization ideas. They especially have some really great ideas for kids crafts, and family ideas. I also am very fond of their FREE printables they make available to all their readers. 

Just this week, I downloaded a menu planner calendar for our family. 

They have a ton of really great and useful ideas. These sisters really know their stuff. 

Check out their blog this week and give them some LOVE, click on the picture below:

Emmy Awards Fashion Breakdown: Lovely Mamas

Last night I tried to watch the Emmy awards, I was able to catch the red carpet action but soon as the show was getting ready to begin my t.v. channel went black and it said, "lost signal!" Total bummer, that I didn't catch last night's show, but I caught all the red carpet arrivals.... and, let's be honest here seeing them step out in limos and seeing what their wearing is always my fave part. 

Here's a little breakdown of my faves last night, and they just all happen to be Mamas! Find a baby sitter for the night, these Mamas are hitting the town and looking fabulous, check'em out:

Julie Bowen turned out in this little navy number. I'm a sucker for any dress that does the one shoulder thing! She rocked those ruffles too! 

Brooke Burke & her Hubby David, I like Ms. Burke but I felt like she showed a little to much last night. She's smokin' hot mama of 4, but I like to keep to the rule show one asset at a time. She's showin' way to much here for me, but I do like the style of the dress. 

Mariska Hargitay, always classy, always elegant. Every time I see her at an awards show she just looks so put together and timeless. 

Heidi Klum, she worked it OUT! Crazy, beautiful Mom of 4 rocking this mini dress couldn't do any wrong last night. I swear she's some sorta super Mama! 

Kerri Russel, I loved her when she was a Mouseketeer, when she was Felicity, and I still love her now. Did you see her in the movie Extraordinary Measures? Brilliant. 

Milestones: Trying Rice Cereal

The doctor gave us the okay t go ahead and try rice cereal with Ava at her 4 month appointment, she's now five months old. Right after that appointment we moved, and trying rice cereal was the last thing on my mind. I've been avoiding it for the past few weeks because I wanted to video tape it and do it when Orion was here to witness it and take part in the occasion. 

This afternoon when Orion got home from work I decided now was as perfect time as any. So I mixed up the cereal, got the video camera out and had Orion tape the fun that was about to happen. 

She did pretty well. She at first made a really funny face, but then was grabbing for the spoon and very into it. Catch her full reaction in this video:

Even though she took pretty well to the whole experience, I'm not sure yet how much I'll encorporate this into our daily routine. Personally, I would just like to skip it and just wait till she can be on solids. It's a whole mess and more time consuming process I think. And, at this point she's getting all that she needs from nursing so I don't feel like she needs rice cereal as much. But, it was a good experience and fun to see her take on another stage like a champ! 

Truthfully, it makes me a little sad cause she's growing up way to fast. I want her to stay small forever. But, at the same time I'm in awe and just amazed at how much she's changed from the day we brought her home from the hospital. 

She's truly a blessing to us. 

{DIY} Our Version of Wainscoting

I really love the idea of adding wainscoting to your home as part of your decor. I think it instantly adds character and depth to your rooms. You've heard me talk about it before. Traditional wainscoting is comprised of using moldings to create dimension and depth. You can see examples of this here, and here. 

When working with a rental it's hard to add anything like this to your space because most rentals will not allow you to add moldings or board & batten to your walls and space. 

I really wanted to take this idea of wainscoting and figure out a way to add this same effect to our space. Since we're in a rental ourselves it took some extra brainstorming, but we finally came up with a really good idea involving paint! You all know how much I think paint can transform a room.

We took the same idea and used painters tape to make it all happen. 

Here's what our space looked like before: 

Here's what we did:

We measured off the area we wanted to mark off with painters tape. 

We drew straight lines with a level and then put the painters tape along those lines. 

After adding the tape and making sure it was all pressed down and sealed really well. We used Frog Painters Tape, cause we think it's the best of the best when it comes to painters tape. 

We then added the paint. 

Waited for it to dry, and then took the tape off while the paint was still slightly wet. 

Here's our finished look: 

We really love it, and how it all turned out. We've gotten many compliments since finishing this project! It's really added a lot to our cookie cutter apartment rental. It doesn't even feel like a rental anymore, it really feels like a home. 

What do you think?

Cost Break Down:

Paint $9.95 Olympic Flat Finish Paint in Camel

Tape $5.99 Frog Painters Tape

Be Creative Challenge
Week #31

A Day in August

Thursday, August 26th, 2010 
(this is a day in the life. today Orion had the day off, our days are not usually this busy. Next month I'll do a post on what life is really like while Daddy is at work.)


6:15 am I wake up to the sounds of Ava cooing from her bassinet. I walk over and this is what I see:

After nursing, and chilling in bed for a while till Daddy has to leave for his meeting we then get up.

By 7 am I'm getting her changed, dressed and ready for the day. I lay Ava on her play gym while I make breakfast and Orion heads out the door for his meeting. See you in a few hours Daddy!

After breakfast we play, and hang out together. We read books, cuddle, listen to music and just about every other thing you can think of that involves making her laugh and smile. 

By 10 am it's time for her morning nap. She goes down easily with her binky and some music. 

Next, it's time for me to get in a shower and get ready for the day. 

By 11 am I'm all done getting ready and I start to tackle the dishwasher and putting away all the dishes in the sink from the night before. 

During Ava's naps is usually when I check my emails, check Facebook, return phone calls, and other mindless things on the Internet. 

11:15 am she's still napping and it's time for me to sneak in my morning devos. I like to sit in her nursery (she naps in our room for now) it's peaceful there. I crank up some NCU Worship from back in the day and proceed to have my quiet time with God. 

By this time Ava is awake, I'm getting lunch ready she's playing on the floor rolling around like crazy. Today's lunch: spinach steak wrap, crackers & cheery lime aid. YUM!

12:45 pm it's time to nurse Ava again. I usually listen to a podcast during this time. Currently listening to High Point Church & Cross Point's pod casts. They are good. 

Time to head to the church staff meeting at Pastor's house. 

By, 3:45 pm we're back at home. And there's a package on my door step. A package from Diapers.com. I proceed to unpack it, and even though I know what's in it already I still get pretty giddy unpacking all my diapers and wipes. Thank you Diapers.com for your wonderful discount and free two day shipping! 

I look over from putting away diapers to find this: 

Not, sure what's going on here, sometimes you don't ask. We just move on with the day. 

Here's where it gets rough, and we get real here on the blog. 5 pm Orion and I had a meeting with our Pastor. It was long meeting (hence the halt in daily picture documenting) It lasted till 6:15 pm. It was a rough afternoon, I got a head ache started to feel like crap skipped out on Youth group tonight and took 800 mg of my drugs and called it a night. 

Made dinner for myself. It was just me and the babe, so it was an easy night.

Got Ava in her jammies, changed and ready for bed. 

We played a little bit, and read some more books. 

Then I rocked her a little bit, and I sang her some songs. And she was in bed by 8 pm. 

After getting her to bed, I changed myself into my jammies. Sat on the couch, watch an episode of Keepin' Up with The Kardashian's and waited for the Hubs to get home. 

9 pm Hubby walks in the door and we hash out the days happenings. Today was a rather full day, it's not usually this full nor exciting, or draining. It's usually just me and Ava, car less and here at home. But we'll save the boring stuff for another month! 

Till next time, night, night!!! 

I'm Linking Up to:

Mrs. B's A Day In August

Family Shoot

I've always had our family photos done by my friend Jessie. When it was just Orion & I it was really easy to get ourselves together and hang out with Jessie & her Hubby and knock out some photos in the mean time. 

Now, we're a family. 

We need pictures.

We moved away.

Jessie and I live 1300 miles away. 

Do you see a problem here?!?

So, even though I do photography I've never shot my own photos. I like getting them done by a photographer, I like worrying about what to wear and picking out the perfect outfit. I like the stress and anticipation it brings. It helps me to remember what my clients go through. And, I like taking a break from behind the camera and being able to be in front of it for once. 

Since money is not on my side and my dear friend doesn't live close anymore I decided that this year my self timer and I were going to become friends, good friends. 

Good enough friends for pictures with my two loves. 

We woke up late this morning, got ready and headed out the door before the Arizona sun got to harsh and hot for us. 

We stopped by Westgate to shoot pictures. Got twenty minutes into it before a security guard told us we couldn't shoot pictures in the shopping center. 

FAIL. EPIC. 

My first attempt at shooting my own family pictures resulted in a twenty minute shoot, where I only got pictures of my Husband and baby. 

But, they are sure cute. Take a look:

Another day we'll try for round two with Mommy in some shots! Stay tuned. 

Milestones: Foot In Mouth

It was only a matter of time before she finally was able to reach her feet and put them in her mouth. Over the past week and a half she's been really having fun with her feet, discovering them, and all they have to offer. 

It's a new and exciting world with feet. 

She tried to be a lady at the wedding, but her feet won over all. 

She was so darn cute trying to get'em through her shoe. 

There is new found fun on the activity mat once she found her foot. Sometimes, I can hear her sucking on her toes and I look over and sure enough she does have her foot in her mouth. 

Another stage, it's a lot of fun watching her make discoveries about her self. She's so content, her feet keep her busy for a long time. 

Watch Me Grow: 5 Months

Wow! Five months already?!! I can't believe we're almost half way through her first year. It's a little crazy, scary, but very exciting. This picture really captures who she is right now. Even though her little foot is blurry cause she was kicking it the entire time I was trying to take this picture, it's totally her. She's a mover, and a shaker, she doesn't like to be still. Her smile is so infectious, and she's so happy and truly content all the time. 

Can't wait to see what this next month brings us! 

Blog Roll Monday: Kelly's Korner

Blog Roll Monday, is a weekly feature where we hi-light one of the blogs on my blog roll. This is a chance for me to share some of the blogs I read, and why I love them. For a complete list of blogs I read see my profile page. 

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I feel like everyone in the blog world probably reads this blog I started reading Kelly's Korner within the last year. I found her blog when I was searching for blogs on infertility, and I came across her blog. Kelly and her Husband are proud parents to a little girl named Harper. They had years of infertility, testing and trying before finding out they were pregnant with their daughter. Her daughter is now almost two years old, and she just announced on her blog last week that she's expecting again! I can't wait to follow her journey with this new baby. 

Her blog was one of the firsts that I read, when I was looking for others who were facing or had made it through infertility. 

http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Her blog is filled with cute family memories, stories about her daughter, her Husband, her recipes are pretty to die for, and her love of AR football. I love reading her blog, it's such an inspiration! I hope you'll jump on over to Kelly's blog and take a read and get ready to add it to your list of must reads! 

Happy Monday! 

{DIY} No Sew Tutu

My little one was in a wedding this weekend. My good friend Jennie got married this past weekend, and months ago she asked if Ava could be in the wedding to and act as the flower girl. She wanted Ava to wear a fun tutu. I had the pleasure of carrying her down aisle with me. 

So I decided that I was going to try and attempt to make a tutu, and not use my sewing machines. Here's what I came up with: (this is a method, you can switch this up anyway you like to make it work for you.)

First, I got some tulle in coordinating colors for the wedding. 

Next, I needed to decide what I was going to use as the waist band. I took out some ribbon and an elastic headband. In the end I decided to use the already pre made elastic head band. You can pick these up in multi packs at Wal-Mart or Target in any color you want. 

Then, I needed to cut my tulle. I decided that two inch strips would be best for the size. I didn't want them to small since I wanted the tutu to be fuller. I cut the two pieces of tulle into 2 in. strips and set aside. 

I then put my headband over the back of my chair, stretching it out to make it easier for the tulle to be attached. 

I folded it in half and looped it through the headband. 

After I had it in place, I tied a small knot at the base of it to hold it in place so that it didn't come unraveled. 

Then I repeated this process, rotating every other color until I'd used all the strips of tulle. 

Here's what they look like all pretty in a row, you can start to see them look pretty together. 

Using the same method above, I added in some colorful ribbon that matched between every six strips of tulle. 

Here's finished product:

I also bought a glitter lollipop iron on transfer and adhered that to a white onesie to finish off the outfit. 

Then, I hired me some models, paid one in milk, and took pictures of them! Don't they look beautiful?!!?

It turned out pretty awesome! Ava looked adorable, and we got tons of compliments on her pretty tutu! I loved making this so much I think I might use it again for her first birthday party. 

This is also a sweet idea to make some of these for part favors to give out to little girls at a birthday party. They would also be a sweet addition to a fairy themed party. Oh, the ideas that I'm already brewing for that someday! 

They really don't take that long to make. Probably about 30 minutes start to finish, you could crank out a bunch in front of the t.v. watching your fave show! And, they are super inexpensive. I used coupons for the fabric, and already had the ribbon and headband elastic on had. So it only cost me $3 for the tulle. 

Happy Tutu making!

BC Challenge

Week #30

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