Things I'm ♥ing Friday!

1. These adorable polka dotted planters over at Positively Splendid! Such an adorable idea! I think I am going to do this project but in different colors, super excited!

2. Wrap bracelets! I love these pinks ones on etsy!

3. These carrot shaped pizzas for Easter! I basically love any holiday ideas that involve healthy options for kids! I think this idea is so cute!!!

4. H&M Kids! I love H&M but I especially love their kids department! It is really affordable, really cute, and also each time I go I notice more and more items made with organic cotton! I can't wait to pair that adorable striped tee with some cute little coral shorts that are on the way for Ava! Which made me realize I'm loving navy/white stripes right now in general because her tee also matches this maxi skirt I just got from Kohl's. I will try not to walk around matching. Lol.

5. Grilling weather. Enough said! I love veggies cooked on the grill!

Have a GREAT weekend everyone! ♥

Happy Birthday Miss Ava! ♥

I can hardly believe my baby is THREE today! When everyone says the time flies...they aren't kidding, it really has! I am so grateful we were blessed with such a sweet baby girl. I truly feel like Ava is the sweetest thing walking this planet Earth. The things she says truly bring a tear to my eye! I will try not to get sappy, I've had enough of that for the day, lol! Here are some quick photos!


such a beauty! ♥


Screaming and running around saying "YEY! WEEHOO!" because she was totally in L♥VE with the dress up storage project we completed as her birthday gift! Yes, that is what we have been working on lately! That and a little cute pink dress up chest that holds the dress up jewelry, feather boas, jewelry, etc :) It is SO precious!!



and of course no dress up storage is complete without being filled of pretty dresses!


Have a great week everyone! I am off to snuggle with my birthday girl and play some dress up! ;)

Being Busy!

Well, I'm sure you've all noticed less posts lately!  This is just the "time" of year where we get really busy! We had Ava's party last week, her actual birthday this week, and a Disneyland trip coming up very soon! Then we move onto Steve's birthday...and just summer in general, when our families tend to come out to visit, etc! So please excuse my less frequent posts! For the past couple years I powered through it all and still posted my photo a day, but at the start of this year, I decided I was not going to continue with it. Granted I will post when I can...but not necessarily each and every day anymore! After two years of it, I think I proved to myself that I 'can' do it, but I also proved that I take photos of....well, everything, and I don't necessarily need that challenge to keep me going, lol. I have just grown to love taking photos in general, so, I don't think that is every going to go away! :)

With that said, I wanted to share a quick photo of Ava helping make herself a smoothie this morning! An added perk of doing a frozen yogurt bar....is you get to freeze all the yummy fruit for smoothies after! :)

Have a great week everyone! I'm sure I'll be back with Ava's birthday photos later this week. We made her "main" gift, another project, which I can't wait to share with her & you guys too!  You'll see it sooooon! ♥

Ava's "Fairy Land" Birthday Party!

As our daughter, Ava, neared her 3rd birthday party she thankfully, did not leave the theme up to me. She was very certain that she wanted a fairy party! We all know this makes it easier on Mommy, so I was thrilled! Approximately one month before her party we began putting together all our ideas and slowly searching for things until they all fell together for her "magical" day.

 I knew that was just what I wanted the day to be for her, magical! I wanted to take her idea of fairies but make her feel as if she was part of their magical world. I am truly milking the stage that she is at and the innocence of her running around each day exclaiming "Look, Mommy--I'm FLYINGGG", because I know the day will come where she will sadly grow out of the magical land that she lives in today.

   

Mommy & Ava getting things all set up! :) 

This party was very special to me as quite a lot of it was a collaboration of my husband and I's DIY work. The "fairy door" in the center was built from wood by my husband, then I finished it off with a fresh coat of paint, a cute moss trim, and a little brass door knocker. The tiered cupcake stands, welcome sign, and vases were a few of our other projects completed for the party! Please message me for any further details as I did  not put up full tutorials!











 
One of my favorite details! The cupcakes!! You can find all the info below!



and cookies!


Angel Food Cake/Strawberry "Wands"



Our "Frozen Yogurt Bar"


Frozen Yogurt & Fruit is Ava's favorite "treat", so I knew this was an idea I wanted to incorporate! We used "waffle bowls" for a cute little touch!



Party Favors! Pixie Dust, Wings, Wands, Bracelets

and last but not least, magical fairy houses! Fairies live inside!


Some fairy friends! :)

 Credits: 

 -Cupcakes: Nadia's Cakes 

-Fondant Toppers on Cupcakes: Modern Luxe Events: You can find them here!
-Mushroom Cookies: Grandma ;) 

-Plates/Napkins: Cath Kidston 

-Ceramic Mushrooms: Michael's, painted pink with polka dots. 

-Fairy door, fairy welcome sign, wood vases, and cupcake towers all DIY projects. Feel free to message me if you would like additional information on them! 

-Pixie Dust Bottles/Magic Wand: Hobby Lobby 

-Table Cloth: just burlap fabric cut to size.

Weekend Snapshots: Date Night Edition! ♥

Thanks to some very lovely friends of ours, we were able to enjoy a date night out to celebrate our anniversary! You all know this does not happen very often for us! So we were so thankful and excited! You all know I like to get all dressed up on date night and was excited to wear a new dress or skirt...but, the weather decided to play a trick on me and I had to do a wardrobe change last minute! But that's okay because we had an awesome time anyway! We went to our favorite sushi spot!! Yum. ♥ While we waited I decided to document Steve and I's matching thumb scars. How random huh?! And his from working on a car and mine from cooking...how appropriate, for both of us! Oh and please excuse all my phone pics :) we devoured roll after roll and some regular sushi too. It was amazing as always! Then we rounded off the night by picking up some cupcakes for home and relaxed at a cute little coffee shop for the rest of the evening! Such a nice relaxing weekend, hope you all enjoyed yours too! ♥

Things I'm ♥ ing Friday!

1. Skinnytaste Coconut Shrimp! This is a big family favorite. I cannot get enough! They are so yummy and come out so crispy!!!

2. The Happy Home Blog: Painted Cork Pinboard! How adorable is this? It is on my to do list for this weekend. I actually go the stuff to do it like...weeks ago. But, with other projects it just hasn't happened yet! Soon though, can't wait! :)

3. Too Faced Primed & Poreless Bronze Tint! This is a product I've repurchased. Today actually! Which is a good sign that I love it! It is pricey but well worth it in my opinion! I love their original Primed & Poreless but I especially love the bronze tinted one! It has spf and with the tint I can wear it alone when I am just running out too!

4. Vanessa Mooney's Cheena Necklace! I have fallen in love with this brands jewelry lately, but this necklace is the latest one I am lusting over! I love the leopard print cording and think it would just be super cute for summer!

5. Havianas Toddler Tinkerbell Flip Flops! Precious! I ♥ my havianas and Ava does too. I think she would flip over these!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!! ♥

Our Ballerina Girl ♥

Cutest. Ballerina. Ever!

Lucky 7! ♥

The calendar reads March 13, 2012. Do you know what that means for my family?! Probably not. So, I'll tell you! :) Today marks SEVEN years of marriage to the love of my life! I can hardly believe it myself, the time has truly flown! I still remember the butterflies he gave my tummy at the little ole age of 15! We are high school sweethearts! Like any couple we have come a long way and I am truly proud of the couple we are today!

I don't think I could ever put into words how much I love this man of mine! But I am truly blessed to have him by my side! He really is my best friend. We talked tonight about all the great things that have come from our life together. We know that there are only greater things to come.

Years ago we gave each other the biggest, most beautiful gift. Our very own little family.  Nothing in this world could ever top that. Through it I have learned so much about myself and who I am. I could never thank them enough for making my world so clear and teaching me so much. I now know things I never knew, felt love I've never felt. And also connected even more deeply with my own parents...because now, it all just makes sense. ♥

With that being said, I realized I wanted to "publish" our "Meet the fam!" section. When I started this blog, my followers were my family and friends...there was no need for an introduction to be honest. But now as I get more followers and more questions I figured it only makes sense. I actually wrote this....awhile ago, but never published it. So, here it is! Meet the fam! I hope this fills you all in on a little more about my little family! ♥

A birthday is near! ♥

Alright, all caught up for now! Please excuse all my late updates for the next couple weeks. We are in full birthday mode and I am/will be a busy bee! Lots of projects to finish up, etc! I'll try to update along the way but can't make any promises! :) Hope you all have a great week!!! ♥

Weekend Snapshots!

Project colorsss!

A project is in the works! Well, a couple projects! Here's the colors! What will they be for?! Dun dun dunnn! You will see soon! :)

Things I'm ♥ ing Friday!

1. This Colorful Wooden Floor Mat! Ahhhhh I am just in love!!! Such a fun project!

2. Pistachios! I ♥ these as a nice snack! (Photo Credit)

3. This Monogram Throw! I love monogram and this is a bit more affordable than some of the others I have come across!

4. Essie " A Crewed Interest" such a pretty color! (Photo Credit)

5. Cute Minnie Play Mat! Ava loooooves her cars and I think she would love this too!

Have a great weekend everyone! ♥

Play. Date.

Proud Mommy Moment! ♥ & our giveaway winner!!!!

Ava rolling out her very first homemade tortilla! ♥ The first one she's made, not ate, because eating them is one of her favorite hobbies, lol.



and congratulations to Sarah H!!! You're our giveaway winner!!! :) I'll be contacting your for your info! Thanks everyone for entering!!!!

Fresh.

Seeing fresh food always just makes me smile. We do our best to cook with only fresh ingredients whenever we can! Can you guess what's on the menu for tonight?!

Ava's always an awesome helper! :) Today she learned to squeeze lemons, I was so proud! I think she knew how just from watching me, but it was cute nonetheless!


alright so on the menu for tonight is Chicken Gyros! If you like gyros these are really good! And also healthy! Lots of fresh ingredients, some chicken breast, & greek yogurt! Yum! Here's the recipe we used!!!

Looks amazing right?! I didn't take a photo after so I'm sharing hers! Photo &Recipe: Girl Who Ate Everything

Liebster? Huh?

Happy Monday! I'm just working on getting things ready for the week but I wanted to take a second to thank Laurie over at The Rookie Wife for awarding me with the Liebster award! You can go read more info about it over on her page, but I wanted to share the love for a minute and share with all of you FIVE blogs that I love looking at! The whole idea of this award is to spread word on blogs with 200 or less followers! After getting the award, you can share 5 yourself...and so on! Ok enough rambling! Here are the ones I chose! :)


1. My sis! Chelsea over at Chelsea Made Blog!! I already told you all about her, so I won't say much more! :)

2.  Leah at An American Werewolf in Sicily! Leah is an old friend of mine who now lives in Sicily, I love reading about their little adventures! And seriously...check out her photos. Who wouldn't love looking at those?! Leah and her hubby are both amazing behind the camera!

 3. My friend Ericka over at A Little Bit of Ericka in Your Life! Ericka started her blog (correct me if I'm wrong Ericka, lol!) when she started her Spread the Love Journey with Matrix! She is a licensed cosmetologist and she is working on getting some great reviews and tutorials up!

4.  Laurie can I re-award you? I hope so because I'm going to :) The Rookie Wife! She has all sorts of goodies over on her page, from DIYs to recipes, you'll find lots of great ideas there!

5. Andddd, Audra over at Once A Mom Always A Cook! Audra follows my blog and I simply found her that way and have been following her since!

Also Rebekka if you have your blog up and going please leave a comment, I'd love to include your link too! :) And if ANY of my lovely followers want your link included here, just go ahead and leave your link below!

Weekend Snapshots

That pretty much sums up our weekend. It was perfecttttt weather all weekend, sunny and high 70s! Amazing how happy just some nice weather can make you! So we spent a lot of the weekend enjoying the weather, doing some birthday shopping and some relaxing! I hope everyone else enjoyed their weekends too!

and, I just had to share these photos because these capture my sweet Lex so perfectly.

Seriously, you can just SEE the mischief in her eyes in the first pic... then after realizing you are looking she puts on her sweet little smile like "who me?! I'd never get in trouble" ;) ♥

Thanks Sis! ♥

My sister sent us an adorable box packed with all kinds of goodies we got today! She made Ava some adorable little leg warmers that I'll probably take some photos of at ballet soon, but she sent some surprises for them too! Looooook how adorable this play food is!!! We all know I am just as in love with play food as my girls are, so I was so excited to play with this cute little taco set!

Chelsea is an EXTREMELY talented crafter and makes all sorts of neat stuff, she is working on getting her own blog up and going, if you're interested you can find her here! http://www.chelseamadeblog.blogspot.com/

Things I'm ♥ ing Friday!

 1. Maxi Skirts! Especially this pink one from Express! I ordered it this week, hopefully I love it just as much once I try it on! :)

2. In honor of Dr Seuss's Birthday, I wanted to share our favorite Dr. Seuss book! Which, of course, you can't narrow it down to just one. So I chose our favorite collection of stories. This one is called Your Favorite Seuss: A Baker's Dozen by the One and Only Dr. Seuss. It has quiet a few of our favorites in it! :)

3. Mrs. Meyers Honeysuckle Counter Top Spray. Now I won't talk on behalf of the spray itself because I honestly haven't been using it that long and I normally don't use this line of products, but, I will say...that the scent is amazing! We're talking you will clean your counters just to smell it kind of amazing ;) Perfect scent for spring! I got ours on Amazon!

4. Multi Grain Peanut Butter Cheerios! Some of my friends were talking about these so I had to give them a try and I'm so glad I did! I don't really eat cereal for breakfast, but I do love having some for when I want a sweet snack and these are perfect for that!

5. ASOS's Pastel Bunting Bracelet! I just think this is adorable! I love the colors,  the little bunting detail, and the price! :)

Have a great weekend everyone! Don't forget to enter the giveaway if you haven't yet! ;) ♥