A Big Milestone

Now, this may not seem like a big milestone to most of you out there but I, on the other hand, am pumped to say that yesterday was the first time I was able to put Ava in some of her very first PIGTAILS. Oh man, let the fun begin! She, of course, ripped them out the second she saw her reflection (in the oven door, mind you) but still, at least I know it's possible!!! I'm going to have to get some of those really small rubber bands to put in there so it's harder for her to rip them out and so that the stay nice and snug for as long as possible. Of course in order for her to sit still, I let her dump all the other hair ties all over the floor. Eh, whatever works...for now!


More importantly, as far as milestones are concerned, AVA ATE CHICKEN. The girl LOVES HER SOME CHICKEN. Aahh, the joy I find in knowing that she's finally starting to branch out. CHICKEN, people. CHICKEN!

Hmmm, what else. Lately Ava's been obsessed with a couple things. Counting, everything. The steps she takes, the toys she has, the pages in her books... I mean, if it can be counted, she's all over it. We're all the way up to 11! The second thing she's all about it colors. I'd like to say she's one of those kiddos that says, "yay-ohh" instead of "yellow". But, no, friends. She's very articulate with her l's and it comes out oh-so-delicately, "yellow". It's still pretty darn cute if you ask me. We like to go through our ring stack and proudly exclaim each colors respective name. "Boo, Geen, YELLOW, Orge, Red". Rinse and repeat....repeat, repeat, REPEAT. I also really love watching her put her "ba-bee" into the bumbo and she makes her way over to the Elmo kitchen, fixes the baby a snack, and then feeds her. SO COOL. She LOVES the "Mar-Mer", better known to us as a "Farmer" and all his little buddies. Other than that she's still climbing, running, splashing, hopping, skipping, jumping...she's on the go! Where's Da??? Mommy's tired!!! But, overall, I think my favorite thing she does now is when she carries her shopping basket around like a purse and just prances around the toy room. (Hmmm, where did she learn that???) :) My little own mini-me. Evidently I've been shopping with Ava quite a bit lately because when we get to the check out she says, "Money"! Ha! Yup, time for the money.

Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. Lots of two word sentences when she's asking me for something, or, better known as ordering me around. BOSSY!!! :) She loves to get my attention by yelling, "mommy! watch!" or telling me "there it is" and "what's this?". I seriously can't take it how quickly this is happening. The best is when she looks at her picture and says, "Aaah-Vaaa" for "Ava".

(Just Because... A New Bathing Suit!!!! Man, I love Target.)

For those of you that follow me in FB you know that about 12 hours after Curt let for Utah and Nevada Ava decided to have a nightmare of a virus. Ugh. I'm not sure I'm even ready to talk about it. I called the nurse hotline THREE TIMES in 4 days and went to two doctors appointments. A part of me thinks that this was a reaction to her MMR vaccination that she had a week prior and we just had some trouble recovering for that. She ended up getting some blood work done (nightmare!) and a urinalysis (via catheter, mind you) which was quite the experience to say the least. It was a long week and although I'm still waiting on some lab results, the initial tests showed that she had one small abnormality which implied she had some sort of a viral bug. Whatever it is, I'm glad it's made it's exit. Good riddance!

I've been on a roll lately in regards to crossing things off our "to-do" list for our house. I've made some pretty big/important purchases over the last week or so in hopes of getting some things done and in place by the time Curt gets home. I just ordered a TON of prints from our TLohse sessions and I'm going to have them framed and matted to hang on the walls. Sure, we could hang some "decorative" things on the walls, which I will, but I'm more interested in getting some pictures up of our family! This is finally OUR HOME and I want to do everything I can to make it feel that way. Sure, we may move every three years but there's no reason for us not to make ourselves comfortable in the interim.


Here's a little preview of somethin' I did in the kitchen. Obviously these are the top of our cabinets and I have to say, the angle of this shot isn't that great, but I bought a bunch of stuff from HOMEGOODS (love that place...) and Michael's to try and spice up the kitchen. I love the cathedral ceiling but without anything up on the cabinets, it was lookin' a little sad. If you can't already tell, my decorating style is VERY traditional. I'm all about the dark wood, wrought iron, tans, chocolate browns... You catch my drift. I plan on finishing things up here in a few weeks so I'll be sure to post some pictures of the whole house when we're done. Almost there!!!

I'm excited to have Curt back home in a few days! We miss the Da, big time! I'm happy to say that most big trips on the horizon involve the entire family and it's all about the weddings this year! Both Curt's brother and sister are engaged and we're just so thrilled to be a part everything.

Well, I'm sure I can find something to work on in the house right now and I have about a million and one errands to run so I'll leave you with this. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone out there who helped me with Relay for Life! We're doing our walk this weekend so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and let you know how it turned out.

Nautical Inspiration

So, I'm completely consumed by all things nautical during the summer. I can't get enough of the stripes, the navy and the yellow, the extra attention to detail when simple things like a belt are replaced by a rope, and even when the one pant button becomes replaced with a sailor inspired look of 6 or 8 buttons instead. So, my hatred to summer temperatures aside, I can totally get on board with the fashion that comes with this change in season.

I'm completely obsessed with this Diane Von Furstenburg dress and if I were blessed with Jennifer Lopez and Kourtney Kardashian's bank account, I assure you it would be hangin' pretty in my closet right now.

A Closet Affair

I love my family, I love my friends, I'm thankful for what I have...

But, yes.

I also like the stuff.

So, here's the stuff I can't keep my eyes off of lately.

Tory Burch patent leather croc print revas. Love.


Jennifer Zeuner Initial Pendant Necklace.


Tom Ford Sunglasses - "Jennifer" style.


Hunter Rain Boots in that delicious red color.


Kate Spade Dress, which, by the way, is nowhere to be found. So summery, I love it.

Take Me To New England

As the warm days are coming at us at a more consistent pace, I keep finding myself daydreaming about the days when Curt and I will be making a decision to "retire" and move somewhere of our own choosing. I think most of you know that I'm a northern girl at heart and all but despise the heat and overbearing humidity that is in the south. I just wasn't raised in this kind of a climate and even if I were, I think I'd still prefer to be somewhere north of Pa.

Yep, that's right.

I know that nowhere is perfect, but in my mind, I keep imagining a house for Curt and I somewhere in, maybe, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, even Maine! I'd like to live somewhere close to the coast where you can enjoy a nice (warm, not hot!) summer, but I love the idea of having a brisk, cool fall day and snowy, cold winters. I just crave that kind of weather. And yes, when the summer does roll back around, it's never overbearing and humid with temperatures in the upper 90's and even 100's. I mean, really? 100 degrees? Where are we, the desert?

So, if I could be neighbors with Ina Garten, stroll the streets of Boston in the Fall, walk the beaches and sight see in Martha's vineyard on the weekends in the summer, I'd be one happy camper.

Welcome to my "Happy Place". I'm sure these pictures look like they fell out a JCrew catalog (pre Jenna Lyons, of course).

Now, where'd I put my ruby red slippers?

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home..."














PS: Like my JCrew advertisement? Ha! If they're selling a lifestyle I'm SOLD! Where do I sign?
PPS: It's going to be helpful if Curt and I decide to become multi-millionaires in order to build a house with the rooms featured above. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Tweet Tweet

I'm on board, and it's getting addicting. Problem is, there aren't too many of my "real" friends on there for me to tweet with...so c'mon, you know you wanna!

I'm at "moeq16" so if you're feeling like giving it a try, let me know! My tweets are "private" right now, but it's easy to just send a request. Or, if you're already there, let me know and I'll hunt you down myself! ;)

I kinda feel like it's really similar to facebook with the messaging back and forth as well as putting up random pictures here and there. The only difference is that it doesn't feel as invasive as FB. I can't really describe it, but I think I'll keep trying it out to see if it sticks.

Hope to see you there!

Tweet Tweet!!!

I Think...

...I Need This. JCrew has been a big, huge, fat, complete disappointment lately. Have you seen their fall look book? Probably not. It's about as ugly as it gets. They have some serious work to do and should start be getting rid of creative director, Jenna Lyons. She's altering a clothing line that has been spot on for years (to a specific demographic, of course). I miss the whites, preppy styles, cable knit sweaters, quality cashmere...oh, I could go on and one. I guess what I'm tryin' to say it, I miss the "old JCrew".

But, in the mean time, this pretty silk frock can make it's way into my home, as quickly as possible.

Things I'm Smiling About, Right Now.

1) Having my sweet little family all together again (for now...). Man, feels good to have Curt here in the house.


2) Ava growing up, lightening fast. I know, I know. Some people say they grow up so fast but for right now, I'm in complete awe watching her learn new things each day. I feel like what Curt and I are doing as parents is really having an impact on Ava. She's just so awesome, I love her to bits.


3) These sweet shoes my Mom bought for my birthday. Should be here any day now. Oh, the small things in life, like shoes, that really bring a big smile to my face.


4) Air Conditioning. Dude - it's crazy hot here in NC and me no likey. I'm one of the few people who hibernate in the SUMMER. Humidity and heat just put my in a bad mood.


5) This console table I'm trying to track down. Oh, how I love thee... I've been looking for a wrought iron console table ever since we moved into this house and I swear, this one is THE ONE.


6) My daily vitamin. I'm doing my best to eat a "well balanced" meal on most days, but sometimes I'm happy is just Ava eats. Ya know? I feel like every morning after I take my vitamin, I've done a little something good for my body. I honestly feel grumpy if I forget to pop one of those suckers...


7) Faux tanner. I'm 5 years sun free and it's been worth every minute. I'm avoiding premature aging of my skin AND lowering my risk for melanoma. (Umm, just the other day my friend Katie and I were out to lunch and she told me that someone close to her was diagnosed with melanoma and passed 3 months later. So, if that doesn't scare ya straight I'm not sure what will...) SPF 70! Do it!!! Oh, and my awesome daily vitamin has extra Vitamin D, holla!


8) Finally feeling like I'm ready to take on a new baby. Not prego, though!!!!! (Yet...)


9) Lots of family and friends are headed down for a visit in the upcoming months and I'm thrilled to have the company! Puts the pressure on to FINALLY have this house organized, decorated, and ready for entertaining!


10) ... To Be Continued ...