Friday Favorites.

Hooray for Friday and SUN and temperatures almost reaching 50 degrees today! It is super bowl weekend which I always enjoy. I am a football fan I typically enjoy college football more than the NFL but this is a big game and I love the commercials. I thought I would share some of my favorite things I saw on the internet this week. Since it is the super bowl and people typically like to shove there face with anything greasy ( me included ) my Husband requested that I cook a couple things for the two of us to enjoy. We are normally pretty health conscious eaters ( and I am trying to slim it down for the 30th) but this is a day we both agreed we can go a little crazy. Ive been making tons of stuff in the crockpot lately because it is so easy to throw in all the ingredients with the two kids. I thought that this chipotle chicken and corn chowder looked amazing. You can find the recipe here

While browsing Free People's website this morning I saw this awesome wide brimmed straw hat that would be perfect for the summer at the park the pool the beach.. all of it and it is a really great price! Go snag one there were only 10 left in stock when I purchased mine..RUN

The Honest Company is now selling some of their products at Buy Buy Baby! ( Go Jessica Alba ) I love their wipes and butt cream so I thought I would try out some of their household products too. The surface cleaner smells amazing! Randomly Costco sells their kids soap and shampoo in bulk which thrills my costco loving Husband.

Just purchased the cutest spring coat for Kael. As much as I love shopping for a little girl there is still something so fun about the hunt to find cute boy clothes. This jacket is from Cotton On kids which has some great stuff for the little gents in your life.

I saw this quote on Pinterest this week and I printed it out and taped it to my bathroom mirror. I love it and want to wake up every morning living it. Smile, Dream, Laugh, Blessed!! I hope you guys all have a great weekend!! 

Playroom Facelift

Why.is.it.so.cold. I woke up yesterday feeling happy that the temperatures have finally risen ( 40's not that high but still ) and was sure that the cold snap was finally gone. Well I was wrong I just got back from Target and both me and the kids were pissed that we had decided to leave the house today. SO SO cold. Onto why I went to target.. I am looking for this blouse that I saw my girl crush Lisa from one of my favorite blogs ( Lunchpailsandlipstick ) wearing and so far it seems that none of the Targets near me carry it.  We also needed some more pullups for Kael but honestly who am I kidding I went to Target for this blouse! I don't understand Fairfax Virginia Target why do you not carry this top!??

I have FINALLY FINALLY but the finishing touches on Kaels Big Boy room and will be taking pictures of it to share with you on here on the blog soon! I still have one more piece that I trying to find for Pippa's room before I share hers on here so while I am trying to find it I figured it was time to move onto the most thrown together space in the house which is our playroom. Since we will not be in this house much longer I can only do things to the space that we can take with us when we me move which for a playroom is fine. We have a perfectly fine sofa in there it just needs a cover over it because it is like a dingy beige at this point and it just depresses me when I am sitting down there with the kids so I found this one at Target ( clearly my go to store these days ) and think it will do just the trick brightening up the space 

I also ordered this rug from Rugsusa since they are having a 50 percent off sale ( come to think of it when are they NOT having a 50 percent off sale ) and got it for a really great price! I love that it is soft and great for little Miss Pippa to crawl around on.

We currently have a little bookshelf in there with the books falling all over the places and taking up floor space so I plan on getting two or three of the book ledges from IKEA to save some space and keep our books more organized. 

Here is what the Ribba Ledges from Ikea look like.

And then for some color I am going to mix a bunch of different pattern pillows and some fun throw blankets to make it warm and cozy. I am using this picture of Reese Witherspoons house in Elle Decor magazine for pattern mixing inspiration with a little more blue and a little less pink to make it more gender Neutral.

Thats all I have for you today! I am going to take some before and after pictures of the playroom so I will share my before pictures with you soon!! Have a great Tuesday and if you aren't already follow along with my on my pinterest and instagram!! 

Saturday Favorites

Its been a good Saturday! Kael had his first soccer practice, guys it was amazing but more on that later. I had a MUCH needed massage and topped it off with magazine reading and a latte at Barnes and noble one of my favorite things to do when I have some me time. Speaking of favorite I thought I would share with you some of my favorite things across the web this week. 

Ok this really isnt across the web but I had to share this with you guys. We got this heavy deedee sleep nest back in November right when it started to get really chilly here and at first I baulked at the price a little but my sister insisted that it was great and I am so glad we bought it. It keeps Pippa so warm and toasty and I swear something about the weight of it reminded her of being swaddled which helped her sleep well. It is now on the top of my favorite baby items.

Kael isn't in school yet so he doesn't have a place to give out valentines but wanted to do something for the Holiday so I found these adorable Valentines to send to the special people in his life (Grandparents) from rifle paper and co  

I am currently reading  this book Where'd You Go, Bernadette I had just finished a string of sort of sad reads and wanted something to pick me up a little and this is doing just the trick! It is quick witted and hilarious! 

le sigh - this kitchen is perfection if I could build one from the ground up I would take this picture as an example of what I wanted, the only thing that I would change out is the sink I would love a deep deep farm sink instead. A girl can dream right? 

I can not stop starring at this bedroom I found on pinterest. I love the different textures and the mix of patterns. It is by the awesome interior designer ( and one of my favorite bloggers) Amber Interiors. I love the idea of using a fun textile as a headboard. For my own bedroom I like calming colors and patterns because my life is so hectic but this would be awesome for a guest bedroom.

Im sure you guys have seen all over pinterest the adorable headbands with the feathers on the front from the etsy shop A Tiny Arrow. Pippa got one for Christmas from her Auntie and I can not wait to put it on her. I just saw that this shop is now making fabric bracelets for the little ones as well- SO adorable.

Thats all I have for you today! Do you have any things across the web that you are loving? Leave a comment let me know!! 

Art Smart...

You guys I didn't watch the Golden Globes. I wasn't sick I wasn't tired but I am obsessed with breaking bad. I didn't even watch Giuliana on the red carpet { which I never miss } that's how obsessed I am. I know I am late on the Breaking Bad train but I am so glad I got on! Judging from the blog universe I didn't miss much the dresses were kind of ehhhhh.  Wanna know something that is not eh? Rachel Castle art. I am usually not that into art but I find myself looking for stuff to fill my walls besides pictures of us and the kids. I first saw Rachel Castle on the awesome blog Amber Interiors and instantly fell in love.

You know I have to love a artist that makes a piece in honor of my girl Rachel Zoe

 I think this would be awesome in a mudroom of when you first walk into the house

 Does this not describe the house of a young family " CRAZY TOWN"

This would be darling in a playroom 

The tricky part is figuring out how these would work with the rest of my house. I love the fun vibrant colors but they do not really mesh well with the muted palette that I have going which is why I think they would work best in a playroom or a mudroom.

Speaking of Art  this company Sugarboo Designs makes AWESOME kids art and I am currently saving up to put this piece in Pippas room. I love the message so so much and feel It can grow with her as her room changes.

Meal Planning

Happy Monday! Kael and I experienced his first movie yesterday morning. I think I was more excited to take him than he was to go. We saw the movie Frozen and it was adorable lots of music which I love and apparently Kael does too because whenever they started a song he would have a huge smile on his face. It made for a perfect Sunday activity.  Do you guys meal plan? I started about a year ago and it has literally transformed how I grocery shop and made my life much much easier. I have not gotten to the point in my life where I love to cook, it is strictly done because we have to eat and for the sake of our sanity and budget we can not eat out all the time. My usually Sunday morning looks like this

I pull out my recipe books and a couple of my cookbooks and ALWAYS pinterest and pick a couple recipes and right down the ingredients on my Menu Planner. I used to print them out weekly but right before the Holidays found the one above at Anthropologie and immediately snatched it up. My favorite part is you are detach the grocery list from the weekly plan and take it to the grocery store with you! So simple.  This has helped me so much, when I am feeling frazzled and not sure how I am going to get dinner on the table I look to the menu and know what to make and I know that we have all the ingredients in the pantry. 

I just recently read on one of my favorite blogs Pawleys Island Posh a way to take this meal planning even further. She suggested taking small baskets and putting all your ingredients for each meal for the week in their own basket { aside from the perishable stuff }inside your pantry... GENIUS! While the meal planning makes the week MUCH easier on any random Wednesday you will see me rifling thru my pantry looking for the taco season packet I SWEAR I purchased { while Kael scatters the stuff from the pantry thru the house and Pippa whines to be picked up } 

My pantry could and will never be THIS organized because those apples would be thrown around the house in 5 seconds but this is what I am thinking on a much less organized smaller scale. Who knows when I will get around to doing this I can barely make up the street to get my eyebrows waked these days but it is definitely inspiring.

This makes me laugh so much, I am not the most organized person but I have been trying so hard with two kids to be better because nobody has anytime to be looking for stuff like keys and cellphones these days! So Martha I am trying really really trying but I will probably never ever fold a fitted sheet well. 

Dirty Thirty Slimdown Progress...

Monday is here again.. how does the weekend go so so fast?? We took down all of our Christmas decorations this weekend and I honestly say my little guy was crushed and kept repeating in the saddest voice " Christmas is over ". He is getting so so big and into everything he has mastered unfollowing and following people on my Instagram which is well not so cute so excuse me if you notice any unusual activity on there. I did my first workout post baby this weekend to start my dirty thirty slim down and I felt like a old old woman. I kinda depressed me because at one point in my life I was a collegiate athlete and now I am sucking wind at a Zumba class but get such is life. After I got over the initial shock of how bad of shape I was in I felt great about getting my first workout under my belt. I have also been trying to stick to this 30 day abs challenge before bed which always ends my day on a positive note. 

Obviously working out is great but most of losing weight is what you put into your mouth so I have been pinning healthy recipes like a mad woman. I am going to give this citrus chicken recipe a try tonight over some brown rice.

SO yea all of this kinda sucks and I wish I was still gobbling away at my sons goldfish and gummy snacks but I know in the end it will be worth it and I will feel so good. So maybe by summer I can look this good in a bathing suit BOWCHICAWAWA...after two kids she looks phenomenal.

Cheers to an Amazing 2014

Happy New Year!! We are back in the full swing of things today after having Husband J home for 10 days and well we are all kinda blue to see him go back to work but energized for the new year! 2013 was a great year for our family obviously welcoming our sweet Pippa was the highlight.  I am a huge fan of yearly goals, ever since I was a little kid my Dad would have us all write goals on New Years Day and post them in our room as a reminder for the whole year. I like to call them goals instead of resolutions because I feel that those are always kinda broken. My goals this year are pretty straight forward. The first and most important to me is to continue to strive to be a loving present Mother and Wife, after all that is my full time job. The second is to carve out more time for myself even if that means going and sitting to drink a coffee and read a magazine once a week for an hour. I know when I give myself the time I deserve I am a better happier Mother and Wife. The third is to focus my energy on people who lift me up and want to see me do well. Between the two kids Husband J my siblings and myself I don't have a ton of extra time to feed my friendships so this year I want to do a better job putting my energy into my true friendships. Lastly I want to keep up with the blog a little better, this goes along the same lines as doing stuff for myself. I truly enjoy writing this and hope I do a better job making it a priority. I hope you guys all had a great Christmas and New Year!!