Insta-Friday

Linking up with Life Rearranged for Insta-Friday

It's finally cooling off around here and actually is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

This is demonstrated by my newly 3 year old Baby Bear all bundled up on his way to the car in the morning. Gotta love the little faux Uggs.

 (and the apparent Pirate theme, wait... when is there NOT a pirate theme around here?)

We finally got the tree up and decorated (notice the pirate theme), Papa Bear is definitely a "get all the decorations up in one night" kinda guy, wheras I always have plans for other things I want to do and add to the decor that are in various stages of completion. But Nana is coming in a week, so I'd better get on that!

Papa Bear and Baby Bear get to put the star on top.

There is a street in our area  full of historic houses that transforms into "Christmas Tree Lane" every year with really spectacular decorations. We always go multiple times each season. We already went twice last weekend.

The house above is one of my two favorites on the street, the one below is a big hit each year. They build a big model train display in the front yard with tunnels, bridges, etc.

The boys watching the trains.

 

Baby Bear wanted to bring his skateboard on a walk to the grocery store.

On the way home he told me, "Mommy, you can just carry it for me." Thanks.

 

Giving Daddy kisses at dinner.

More Christmas lights. These are in the front yard at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Every day he tells me, "Grandma's house is SO Christmas".

Lucky

I am lucky for so many reasons...

I am lucky to have the most amazing little boy who brings me greater joy than I could have ever imagined.

I am lucky to live in Southern California close enough to make it worthwhile for us to be Annual Passholders at Disneyland.

I am lucky to have amazingly creative and talented friends.

This is the combination of these things:

Being blessed with amazing friends led me to Stephanie of Intuitive Images Photography. After only a few hours in the park together I am going to just start refering to her as one of my amazing and talented friends in hopes that she will hang out with me more often and take more pictures like these. ;)

But honestly, Stephanie is such a pro and I cannot recommend her enough. I was a huge fan before I even met her. She has a great eye and knows just how to capture a moment and bring it to life again in print. Her attention to detail, color, and lighting are spot on and she does it all while making you feel comfortable and at ease. (Even when you are dealing with a toddler on one of the busiest days I have ever seen at the Magic Kingdom!)

If you are anywhere near Orange County, do yourself a favor and book a session with her now!

PS: I totally paid Stephanie to hang out with me and take these pictures (and I'll do it again, too), and she only knows I'm writing about her because I asked if I could.  

Teal and Navy

Yesterday the Baby Bear was wearing this little hooded one-piece from Baby Gap.

I bought the 18-24 month knowing full well my little man wears a 2T. I can't help myself, I am smitten. Even though my husband makes fun of me, I can't help how much I love it on my Baby Bear (even though it barely covers his ankles and wrists).

I realized that what made me buy it and what makes me unable to put it in the "too small" bin is that the color combination is perfection to me, and the "feel" of it sums up what I crave design wise for our home. The soft brushed teal paired with the crisp navy stripes. The casual comfort of the one piece, perfect for throwing on after a day at the beach or pool. The slight nautical detail in the trimmed lettering.

As usual, I went to Pinterest with the intention of finding some inspiration pictures to go along with this "newfound" realization.

Turns out I already knew what I wanted...

Below are images that I found spread across my inspiration boards:

Grace's lovely kitchen



  

a little red accent never hurt anyone...

Apparently I already had a matching outfit picked out for myself too:

Now the fun part will be taking this inspiration and incorporating it into what we already have. Or maybe shopping for something else for the Baby Bear to wear home from the beach.


Note: These images are from my boards on Pinterest. I try to do my best to have my pins link back to the original image, so if you would like a source you can probably find it there.

Yummy Cookies

So, we had a pretty rainy weekend here. Baby Bear and I made some cookies on Sunday from a recipe I saw on The Pleated Poppy blog. I wouldn't bother re-writing the recipe, but hers was a tad confusing to me, so I will attempt to fix a couple things here. I think the cookie base is super yummy. The oats really add a heft to the cookies that keep them thick and I personally like the crunchiness that they maintain even the next day. You could experiment with many different yummy add-ins with this recipe. I went with some Dark Chocolate Chips for ours, and Guittard Mint and Semisweet Mini Chips for the ones I took to work (I wanted a little green for St. Patricks Day).

Here is my version of the recipe base:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup of oatmeal

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp  kosher salt

1 cup butter flavored crisco

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Chocolate Chips/Nuts/Candy - use your imaginaton!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, oatmeal, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside

Beat crisco, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large mixer until creamy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Approximately a cup at a time, add dry ingredients slowly with mixer on low.

Fold in chocolate/ white chocolate/ butterscotch chips/ etc by hand.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake for approx. 11 minutes or until the edges begin to brown.

Remove from oven and let cool for about a minute before moving to cooling rack.

These are delicious hot from the oven, and just as good later when stored in an airtight container. I doubled the recipe and even after making a bunch for work and some for us I had enough to freeze in portions to keep on hand to cook up when a craving hits! Give 'em a try.

Which season is this again??

We have been enjoying the strangest weather lately here on the West Coast. Last week we saw temps in the high 50's on a Wednesday, and the low 80's by the weekend. The forecast for the next three days looks like this:

Daylight Saving Time begins early Sunday morning (don't forget to reset your clocks before bed!) and that extra hour of daylight always makes me think of Summer, yet the first day of Spring isn't for another 11 days. So, technically it's still Winter around here. Yet it's almost 80 degrees... and I'm wearing flip flops.

But I didn't finally write another post after neglecting my blog for far too long to chat about the weather...

With the coming of Spring it seems we are experiencing another Baby Boom of sorts. Many of the Bloggers I follow are expecting little ones this year including Jeannett at Life Rearranged, the lovely Grace over at Grace Happens, Dana of House*tweaking fame, Kirsten at 6th Street Design School, and just this week Katie from Bower Power announced they are having baby #2! So excited for all of them!

With the anticipation of new babies comes another kind of anticipation too... one can only expect these ladies will put together some amazing nurseries. Grace has already posted some pictures of the beautiful space she is creating for her little girl.



From Grace Happens

One of my other favorite thing about expected babies is Baby Showers. A dear friend of ours is expecting a little boy at the end of this month, and we put together a "Dream Team" of gals to shower her with love, food, friends, and gifts recently. Here are a few details from the day.

My little so grown up Baby Bear mostly hung out with the men outside and played choo choos.

I was in charge of making the cupcakes. I made Chocolate with Mint Frosting, and Lemon with a Citrus Cream Cheese Frosting.

It was a beautiful day and memories were made that will last forever.