help from an Interior designer

Just a couple of weeks after Dan & I moved into our home I got pregnant 

(I suppose we were celebrating home ownership extensively...bahaha sorry TMI)

 Well anyway, with early pregnancy fatigue and baby on the brain, I never really got the chance to sass up my livingroom and there is not much to it besides a couch, coffee table, lamp and now...well now it looks like Toys R Us threw up all over it.

 I love decorating and all that fun stuff, but it requires a lot of time that we don't have & and many trips to HomeGoods....which is a dangerous place for my wallet & my husbands sanity.

 I'm the kind of person who will take 45 minutes deciding what color dish rags to get while the Mr rolls his eyes and says "just pick one so we can get out of here" so clearly we need a little help in this department....and that's when Danny had an interior designer to come over.

 I told her I wanted the colors to be gray & yellow with some chevron accents...going for a contemporary look with a tad of vintage...open & clean look...and she gave us just that.

Our livingroom is very hard to work with because of its long rectangular shape and many...maybe too many windows leaving us with little options as far as placement of things so getting a professionals input was great

best part - she told us exactly where to get everything she picked out

Ah the entryway/foyer area
I cant wait to get started on it

 I am in LOVE with everything she came up with...though for practical reasons some things will have to be modified

Let the fun begin

:)

Celebrating our Anniversary

Since our anniversary fell on a Monday, we decided to celebrate on the Saturday before and go out to a nice dinner...leaving the baby with my sister- something we've only done about three times since shes been born...she usually goes everywhere we go and we like it that way :)

Whoever came up with restaurant week - deserves a pat on the back

Its a statewide affair that gives foodies like hubby & I a chance to explore very high end restaurants at a reasonable price - what a great idea! Its basically like a fancy food happy hour, the only hard part is choosing where to go from a verrry long list of top notch restaurants

we chose a place called "El Chorro" based on its amazing reviews and feature on Food Networks show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and let me tell you...it really was the best thing I ever ate.  Between the ambiance, food and my hot date ;) - it was a perfect evening!

 

the infamous sticky buns that I could have had 5 baskets of

eventhough we said NO PRESENTS Danny of course broke the rules 

He got me an infinity ring that he saw I pinned on Pintrest a while back. I have to give him huge props for being so clever and looking there for a gift idea...I pinned it under "things I love" so he knew he couldn't go wrong

what a guy.

crazy that this time last year we were getting married & now we have this little girl who completes our life even more.

Blessed. beyond. measure

One Year Anniversary

One year ago...

I was standing on a beach in the beautiful Cabo San Lucas 

making the best decision of my life

One year ago today....

I married my best friend.

Everyone says the first year of marriage is the hardest... truth be told, nothing with Danny is hard and I know I'm lucky to have it that way. This year has flown by, we've made so many memories and I look forward to many more as he makes everything worthwhile.

 

         

I love you babe,

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

many, many, many more to come.

Friday letters

Dear Arizona - whats with all the rain lately? I could have sworn I lived in the dessert

Dear Husband- sorry you had no clean socks for work this morning - I cant keep up with the laundry lately...bad wife.

Dear Interior Designer - we loved having you come over to help us, but now we are  about to be broke from all of your fantastic ideas 

Dear across the street neighbor - you are just so kind for giving us that play kitchen for Sienna that you could have easily sold on craigslist for a lot of money

Dear psycho people on Instagram - Stop stealing my photos and claiming them as your own, its creepy, rude and totally uncool.

Dear Sienna - I cant believe you throw fits already at 6 months old....we are in for a treat for your toddler years

Dear poor sucker who bought our couch - I'm so glad to have parted with it... sorry about Sienna having a poopsplotion on it...I left that part out.

Dear plane tickets - must you be so expensive? Id really like to see my family more often

Dear Mosquitoes - I hope you all get exterminated. I hate you with a passion especially for biting my baby on the forehead you nasty things!

cute & affordable

I've been asked several times where I get Sienna's clothes 

so lets talk about where & how I shop for her

I love a kid dressed to their cuteness potential, its fun especially having a girl

but doing it without breaking the bank gives me that extra satisfaction

I love scoring deals. 
 who doesn't?

So clearance racks are my best friend
My usual go to stores are Target, Old Navy,  TJ Maxx, H&M, baby Gap & Khols

sweet deal scored at H&M

-This is the key -

buy sizes ahead whenever there are sales

 whenever I'm in Target I check the clearance rack and stock up on bigger clothes for her.  Sure if something is super cute and I HAVE to have it, I'll get it but they grow so fast I'm lucky if she even repeats the same outfit 3 times.  

End of season sales are awesome

now that Fall is almost here, all summer stuff is on sale and sometimes $1.50 per item kinda sale. Brand NEW clothing cheaper than used thrift store stuff- you just cant beat that.

long sleeve onsie for $1.47

I got her these adorable Bermuda shorts for next summer

Original price $12.99

I paid $3.88 

If I ever run into forecasting/sizing issues for upcoming seasons, 

 I'd just take her short sleeved tops and put a white long sleeved onsie underneath making an adorable layered outfit,  wearable in chillier weather.

Which leads me to another theory about dressing my girl, 

ditching the mitchy matchy outfits - totally a personal thing I just really cant get past stripped pants with a busy floral top combo (Carters is guilty of this kind of look) though I love Carters, here is what I do...

Yes, I buy their mitchy matchy outfits- but as soon as I get home I separate them and forget they were ever together. I treat them as two completely different articles of clothing in her wardrobe...busy floral top will go with solid leggings and stripped pants with a solid top.

Another thing I keep in the back of my mind is - would I be embarrassed wearing this?

I know I know I realize they're children but I don't want her to look back and say " really mom? why the heck was I wearing that?" yes I know its silly of me to think about that.

overall, its totally possible to dress your kid real cute on a budget.

I rather the money that I would have spent if I didn't shop this way spent go elsewhere

my favorite little shopping pal ;)

6 months old

Dear Sienna,

I cant believe its been HALF a year since the doctor laid you in my arms

6 months since your Daddy & I fell in love with your squishy little face

yep that face right there

(you were mad I didn't let you touch the candle)

 I vividly rember organizing your clothes before you were born putting away your 6-9 month things thinking "its going to be SO long before she wears these" I blinked and you're 6 months old and here I am pulling out those clothes.

crazy I tell ya

 Here is what you're up to this month

you have the sweetest disposition, always so so happy,

 everyone who meets you is in awe of how smiley you are

you learned to sit up on your own in NY 
9/1/12 - 5.5 months

you said your first word on the same day

"dada" (totally not surprised, you're such a daddy's girl)

Something in the air in NY?

you ate your first solids - bananas, avocado, carrots

messy eater?

that would be an understatement

sometimes you use your food as finger paint, though its kinda cute

the amount of cleaning I have after is not so cute...but since you're really cute, I guess its OK...knock your socks out! :)

I dont know your stats yet

your appointment is on Wednesday 

but you're still a skinny minnie and Id guess you're no more than 14lbs

you adore Charlie, when ever you hear him (the sound his collar makes when he walks)

you get all excited and wave your arms

you take 2-3 naps a day, but you wake up 2-3 times a night

you sleep best in bed with us though we don't want to get you in that habit. Its very uncomfortable for mama who likes to spread her arms out or cuddle with Daddy. Cant do either with you in our bed

you grew some chub on your cheeks since last month

more for me to smooch :)

I kiss you allll day long

how can I not?

little miss kissablecheeks!

you love to make clicking sounds with your tongue at whoever you see hoping they do it right back at you, when they do...you give a big smile

I could talk about you all day long, but I think this post is getting way too long already! Happy HALF birthday my beautiful girl. I'm looking forward to what next month has in store I'm excited to take you to a pumpkin patch!

We love you
more than words can say

Secrets

"let me tell you a secret little baby,

 I am the boss around here don't you forget it" - Charlie

beer, boots & boo boo

Just a few random thoughts for the day...

I love pumpkin ♥ everything
especially beer
last Fall I was pregnant and couldn't enjoy any
so this year -I'm going to enjoy every sip just a little more

speaking of Fall,

I'm on a quest to find the perfect pair of brown boots
I'm super short so its been hard finding ones that aren't awkwardly high on my leg
I welcome anyone's suggestions as to brands and where to look :)
I love the boots below, but they probably would look like hooker boots on me...going way over my knees. Being short sucks sometimes

Anyone watch "Here comes honey boo boo"?

Its so ridiculous and I don't know why I watch it but I cant stop.

 I love that fact that despite everything, they're happy being who they are

Link-up

1. Tell us your favorite baby names? Aside from your own babies, if you have some :)

Girls: Ava, Geneva, Sienna- of course

Boy - Hudson, Sawyer

2. Show me your "dream" nursery {can be your baby's nursery or one that you love}

this is Siennas

for a boy I'd love this look...even our boy name is there ;)

its so unique and boyish I love it

3. How many children would you like to have? How far apart?
We would like to have 3 not too far apart

2-3 years ideally

4. Tell us what you think the importance of parenting is?

everything about parenting is important,

 but a priority to us is making sure that our children grow up with good manners, respect for themselves and others, good values and morals

5. Show us your favorite newborn photo

couple of hours old

6.  Tell us some things you promise to never do as a parent {and if you are a parent, did you stick to it}

I told myself....
Id try my hardest to stick to breast feeding so my baby would never need formula
 ( 6 months and going strong)

 Id never let our child sleep in bed with us (gave into that one)

mini van mom? me? NEVER
well, we are in the process of looking for a new BIGGER car

Id never let baby stuff take over my house
oh how wrong I was, my house looks like a daycare

while in NY - here is a story

Once upon a time....

a little lady named Joanna met a Prince Charming named Daniel over some Friendlys ice cream. She liked him.  a lot. and he liked her too. They went to Prom together and they inevitably found themselves in a teensy bit of young love. They begin dating and spend many nights cuddled up listening to Jack Johnson. 

Almost seven years later....

They return to that same spot they first met
 to the exact table where their first conversation took place

Sunday morning break

Hubby took the baby out for a few hours to give me a break and met up with a Daddy friend doing the same for his wife

I have a million things to do, my suitcase is still unpacked, I could really use some more sleep and the house needs some straightening out...but of course pintresting & blogging it is. I made myself a killer breakfast, that I actually got to eat sitting down for a  change...something that doesn't happen around here anymore. 

Its a great morning already.

chocolate crepe with

 melted nutella

 bananas & strawberries

Charlie is making me feel like chopped liver over here

He's been sitting in the window since Dan left

hubs just text me this

Sienna & her boy-friend

Time to crank up Pandora & work up some motivation to be productive

Happy Sunday Everyone!!

While in NY - bikini babe

♫ It was an itsy bitsy teeny weenie yellow polka dot bikini

that she wore for the first time today ♫

Daddy & the little diva who was holding onto her sunglasses ever so tightly 

 

The beach was cloudy that day, usually that would be a downer

but I actually thought it was perfect as I didn't have to put sunblock on the little miss (anytime I can skip the use of chemicals anywhere near or on my baby I'm a happy camper)