best day

4 years ago today.

1 year ago today.

April 12th is by far the best day of my life.

Love you two.

Steppin’ out Saturday: party on

Sometimes I still can’t believe I have a kid and husband of my own. I still feel like I’m 22, except better, I suppose. Anyway, this weekend was one of those weekends where I was reminded exactly how old I’m getting (in a good way). Our Friday and Saturday night plans consisted of birthday parties…for toddlers?! How did that happen?

On Friday night we celebrated Bec’s daughter’s 3rd Birthday with an ice cream party. It was so fun to see all of the little ones running around hopped up on sugar. Bec did a great job decorating, it looked so cute in there. And she made these delicious cookie dough balls (egg free), for anyone who loves cookie dough ice cream you’d understand how excited I was. I must get the recipe. And here’s a shout out to Steve for the cake.

These two love each other. Isla always watches what Nora’s doing in amazement.

BJ built the top for our kitchen table last week (did you know he was building us a kitchen table?). He spent the weekend sanding it and then it’s off to be painted and stained. I’m so excited to have a larger table. I see many more dinner parties in our future.

I found some cute new kicks for Isla at Value Village. They were only $.99 and with a little cleaning from a Magic Eraser they look brand new. They kind of remind me of the Bensimon shoes, so I thought I’d snag them, they’ll be fun for Spring.

We hit up Katheryn’s first birthday party (her mom and dad are in our small group) on Saturday night. There was a small ball pit which all the kids loved, but Isla hated, I mean hated. So, no ball pits at her birthday party.

I thought I’d link up with Steppin’ Out Saturday this week as I was pretty stoked about my $12 colored denim purchase and I remembered to take a quick photo. My top half looks a lot bigger than my bottom half. Must be the angle!

{top} H&M {jeans} Target {Shoes} Target

There was also a run, some jeans shopping (the new Gap colored jeans are absolutely adorable), and a very crabby kiddo by the time Sunday night came around. Hope you enjoy the randomness from my weekend!

our weekend: full hearts

We had a great weekend with lots of activity and lots of friends. I had to spend Monday recovering from it all.

I’ve started a little running group that meets on Saturday mornings, it’s pretty casual. This past weekend was our first run together and it was lots of fun. The weather has been amazing here in Washington, along with everywhere else it seems, and it was the perfect day for a run. If anyone is interested in joining our little group, let me know- the more the merrier!

After my Saturday morning run and a coffee date with a friend…(seriously, when was the last time I had a coffee date with a friend and didn’t bring my baby?!) Anyway, after coffee, two of my beloved friends came up from Seattle for a visit. We. Had. So. Much. Fun. I haven’t spent time with these girls in a while.

Megan and Caitlin with little I.

Baking Brownie Baked Alaskas. (here is a similar recipe.)

Megan did lots of the actual work in the kitchen. (that’s what you get when you work at Canlis)

While Cait provided lots of moral support.

We had lunch, walked around and looked at some shops, chatted, made dinner, split a bottle of wine and had great chats and giggles all along the way. They left around 10:00 that night and my heart was full. Thanks for coming girls!

On Sunday we went to a Super Bowl party with a bunch of friends. I love an excuse to get together, even if it is for a football game. Don’t get me wrong, I like to watch football, but I’m also happy to see the season end. There were lots of snacks (the Buffalo Chicken bites made an appearance), delicious beer (with a few homebrewers in the group that’s a given), one silly toddler and lots of cheering.

I love weekends full of friends. What did you guys do?

 

happy new year!

Ummm…does anyone know where the month of December went? Not to mention the first 5 days of January?! Well, none the less, here is my first blog post of 2012. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. We were blessed to spend a whole 8 days with some of my favorite people in Minnesota. We had a wonderful time celebrating the season with my family and friends that I’ve known from high school. We had a ton of fun, but are so glad to be home…especially after we took a 6:55 am flight on New Year’s Day.

Here we are ringing in the New Year at our hat themed New Year’s party.

Since it’s the time of year to be thinking about goals, I thought I’d give you guys a quick update and share some goals for 2012.

As many of you know I have moved on from my job at Steven Moore Designs. It’s amazing how having a child causes you to examine your life and readjust your priorities. It was a tough decision, but I’m looking forward to the new possibilities that await.

I’m putting together a little running group to train and then run Seattle’s Rock and Roll Half Marathon in June. I’m super excited to get back into running and I’m looking forward to running with these girls. I’m hoping our commitment to each other will keep us encouraged and accountable.

I am planning on spending more time on this little blog. I’m looking forward to posting more about entertaining, recipes, DIY projects and a little about my family too. I have lots of plans for re-dos, crafts, and sewing projects I’d like to do. Not to mention I will be planning a first birthday and 30th birthday party this year. Yay! I’m so excited!

Thanks for sticking with me these past 3 years, I’m so thankful for those of you who continue to read and encourage me in this little endeavor.

 

Steppin’ Out Saturday: Fun with BFFs

It was such a busy weekend around our house. My best friend since 8th grade came to visit us from San Francisco. We had lots of fun crafting, shopping in Seattle, hanging out with friends at a Thanksgiving dinner, Glee karaoke-ing and lots of wine drinking. Here are a few photos from our weekend.

After a day of shopping in Seattle we came home and made margherita pizza and played Glee Karaoke on the Wii.

Besties.

BJ and I during one of our Glee Karaoke “Defying Gravity” battles.

Angeli and I met in Home Ec when we were in 8th grade, so it was only fitting that we channeled our 8th grade selves and did a bit of sewing.

We made Angeli 12 napkins. They turned out super cute.
We also made friendship bracelets using this tutorial.

We had lunch at Zayda Buddy’s, a Minnesota pizza restaurant in Ballard, for lunch on Angeli’s way out of town. I’m not totally sure what Minnesota pizza is but I do know it is cut in squares instead of pie shaped pieces. Zayda Buddy’s has lots of Minnesota memorabilia and Midwest favorite foods including Tater Tot hot dish.

I have one more craft to share with you from this weekend, but I plan on doing a full DIY on it soon.

I am so lucky to have friends that will come and visit me and my crazy little family. I know Isla was able to serve as some good birth control, so consider that mission accomplished.

Thanks for hanging out Angeli, it was so fun to spend some time together!