Lust List

Since we found out we were expecting, we put ourselves on a budget and as we have been getting closer and closer to the due date, our budget has been getting tighter and tighter in preparation of me taking off 3 months to care for our little one. Even though my spending has been on lock down that hasn't stopped me from lusting after a couple different things and the funny thing is even if I wasn't on lock down I couldn't afford half these things anyway hah!:

1.) Bare Escentuals Powder Foundation: I recently ran out of this and that makes me sad. I usually apply this over my liquid foundation to smooth everything out. It's wonderful.

2.) Misikko HANAair Hair Dryer: This beauty comes with a hefty price tag of $194.99 but i've been reading it's magical. I have so much hair and usually spend about 20-25 minutes drying my hair on the days I do wash it. Plus my old dryer is harsh on my strands. Drool.

3.) Clarisonic Mia: Ever since I was about 17 I started a skin care regime - nothing too crazy usually just moisturizing, trying not to go to bed without taking of my makeup and washing my face with an exfoliater in the morning. Well I want to take it to the next level and heard this Clarisonic Mia does wonders for your skin. At $108, it's not too bad. Maybe for my birthday!

4.) Frye 'Jane' Tall Pull-on Boot: Pioneer Woman has made it very obvious of her favorite boot. The Frye Jane Boot. I've always wanted a simple, classic looking boot to pull over a pair of jeans that was very versatile. I love the color and look so much but at a $297.95 - $327.95 tag, it aint happening anytime soon. Goodbye lover.

5.) Sephora Immediate Wrinkle Filler: I haven't tried this yet, but I've heard this product is ahhhmaaazziinnng. It really helps fill in gaps especially with concealer giving you a more polished finish look.

6.) A vacation: Hah! I have been fortunate enough to cross off two BIG destinations on my list of places to travel. Hawaii and Italy. But lately i've been really wanting to check out Paris. I am part French you know, oui oui! The culture, the clothes, the architecture, the people, the FOOD! How lovely would it be to get away and soak in all the culture. One can only dream!

7.) Bringing up Bebe: Going along with the french culture, I've been hearing wonderful things about this book Bringing up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman. It's about an American journalist who moves to France and is amazed at the differences in parenting between the french and Americans. I heard about it first in a blog than in people magazine and then again on another blog. It's a sign I think! I don't think it would break the bank to pick up a $13 copy, don't you?

8.) Kitchen Aid Hand-mixer: Believe it or not, I do not own one and would like one. The end.

9.) Tarina Tarantino Brush Set: I think every girl should invest in a nice brush set. I only have a couple cheapy one's that feel harsh and I'm not a big fan of. After much research, I read these beauties are a wonderful investment! And actually they aren't THAT much at $69.

So there you have it, my lust list. Ranging from $20-a couple thousand. Got a nice assortment of realistic things and not so realistic things. What's on your lust list?

Monday already?!

The weekends go by far too fast which bums me out. Lately the weekends have been so jam packed with the hustle and bustle of preparing for Baby. I am really trying to push through it because the sooner I get it done the sooner I can spend the next 5 weeks 6 days in peace!

Friday:

I got out of work a little early and Mike and I immediately left the house to go out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Bonefish in Novi. I got their Bang Bang shrimp and a bowl of their Corn and Crab chowder. So delish! We also tried their Chocolate Creme Brule - it was SO rich we couldnt finish it. After dinner we headed over to the theatre and saw The Vow. It was your typical sappy love story but let me tell you, it was SO fun to stare at Channing Tatum for the duration of the movie. After the movie we stepped outside to a full on blizzard! And I was still wearing my flats, FASHION FAIL! We drove 35 mph the whole ride home. Scary!

Saturday:

Saturday morning we slept in which was so wonderful. We lounged in bed reading, playing on our phones, cuddling. It was perfect. After lounging we grabbed a big bowl of cereal and played pinball on the xbox 360. Around 11:30 two of my co-workers came by so we could head out to the volunteering event we signed up for. It was for the Junior Achievement Jackson school district. We all raised money and bowled. I couldnt actually bowl since I am preggers but I had a lot of fun watching the fun. It was a crazy bowl meaning the first game was normal bowling and the second game was the crazy bowl where they team had to do a bunch of crazy things like get on all fours and toss their ball down using the palm of their hand or do a zumba line down. It was cute. After the event, we headed back home and I immedietly headed over to my parents house since I the bedding I picked out for baby v's room came in. I hung out there for a couple hours and headed home - LONG DAY!

Sunday:

Sunday was for getting things in order. I spent the day cleaning the house, washing and folding all of the babys clothes, doing our own laundry - 3 loads worth! Took a little nap, Mike put together the swing, we made dinner - baked chicken drumsticks and rice pilaf. As we were sitting down having dinner we hear a knock at the door. And since I am not a fan of strangers I was like we are NOT opening the door. But the knocking kept coming and so did the door bell. Finally Mike was like I'm just going to answer it! It was my in-laws! They dropped by since they were in the area to drop off a baby gift that was sent to their house and our valentines day cards/treats. We sat with them for about an hour - it was really nice! Afterwards I finished cleaning, putting away dishes, and folding more laundry until I collapsed on the couch.

It was such a fun and productive weekend. Glad I am still feeling well enough (energy wise) to get things accomplished. I am already feeling sluggish and not moving as fast. To be expected for 34 weeks, right?! This week is going to be busy at work so I am going to buckle down.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Your perfect day...

Source: flickr.com via Mariabot on Pinterest

I get so wrapped up in work and life and my every day to do's and responsibilities that I sometimes forget that that stuff is just a part of life - it's not everything. I got to thinking how nice it would be to schedule a day off and have a perfect day. Then I got to thinking, what would my perfect day look like?

I'd wake up around 8:00 to an already perfectly clean house.
I'd shower, get ready, my hair - would be perfection. Makeup - flawless
I'd go to Starbucks and grab myself my favorite drink - lately it's been a Vanilla Latte. I'd sit in Starbucks people watching as I savor my drink.
From there i'd go guilt free shopping. I'd buy what I wanted (nothing too crazy) some new makeup, maybe a new top, or how about a new pair of shoes. No guilt!
Afterwards I would get a manicure/pedicure - the works with a major scrub. Afterwards I would a full body massage and slip into a state of EXTREME relaxation.
Afterward that I would meet up with a friend for lunch, preferably somewhere outside to enjoy the weather and a glass of wine.
After lunch I would go see a movie, something heart warming and thought provoking.
After the movie I'd probably head home where I would sit outside with a fruity drink and enjoy the sun.
As dinner approached I would have a Deluca's pizza and bread sticks because on my perfect day there would be NO cooking.
After devouring the most perfect pizza I know, I would snuggle up on the couch surrounded by pillows and blankets and my little puppy in my lap.
I would be nice and toasty and warm where I'd sip on some tea and i'd catch up on my favorite shows.
Once 10:00 rolled around, I'd wash my face, get my PJ's on and read in bed till I fell fast asleep.

How glorious does that sound? What does your perfect day look like?

It's a Jungle Out There!

Yesterday, my mom threw us the most amazing baby shower I could have hoped for. She really outdid herself by making all the poms, hand painted a canvas drawing of our invite, came up with all the fun details down to the decorative chargers that sat underneath the favors. We had such a wonderful time talking baby talk, eating and of course keeping warm due to a little blizzard that decided to make it's way through. We got so many wonderful gifts for Vincent and I cant wait for him to arrive to put it all to good use. Here are a couple pictures of the wonderful day.

My handsome hubby!

My beautiful mom!

This jacket was my older brothers when he was a baby boy. My mom passed it on to her sister in law when she had her boys and yesterday, my aunt gave it back to me. It brought tears to my eyes.

Wishes for baby from everyone.

Friend, Erin who is due one week before me. :)

My favorites.

Favorite Beauty Products

Here are a couple of my favorite beauty products I have been using lately. Especially in the winter months number 3,4 and 5 are especially nice.

1.) Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes - I dont know about you, but I use to be terrible about taking off my makeup at the end of the day and would wake up looking like a freaky deeky raccoon in the morning. With these towelettes, I use one at the end of the day right before I got to bed and it takes off all my makeup while leaving my face feeling and smelling wonderful.

2.) Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash - I am so happy I stumbled upon this face wash! I use it every morning before I put on my makeup and it smells so good and it really has left my face feeling smooth and glowy.

3.) CoverGirl Lipslicks in Daring - This is by far my favorite lipstick/chapstick. My lips get really chapped (especially in the winter) and as much as I looove lipstick/glosses it just doesnt moisturize the way I want/need it too. These lipslicks not only moisturize my lips but give it a fun color as well. I cant tell you how many compliments I get when I wear this!

4.) Wen Pomegranate (Gluten Free) Cleansing Conditioner - Holy moly this stuff is amazing. My hair is notorious for being super dry and super itchy. One day as I was itching my head in a fury my mother in law introduced me to Wen products. She gave me a bottle to try and seriously, it works! It doesn't foam up like a shampoo and this is all you use. I use about 15 pumps for the amount of hair I have and I just massage it in reallllly good. Let it sit for about 2-4 minutes then rinse out. Immediately you can tell the difference in your hair. I give it one last pump before I'm done with my shower for extra smoothness.... smells divine as well.

5.) Wen Pomegranate Replenishing Mist - I use this stuff in my hair for extra volume or on my face for a quick pick me up and the smell, as you can imagine, is glorious! Or if I didn't wash my hair and I have my hair up in curlers for second day hair, i'll mist my hair while it's still in the rollers with the mist which leaves it smelling fresh and gives a little boost. Love!

6.) Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo - Dry shampoo is my BFF. I have so much hair that I just dont wash my hair everyday. I usually go every other day and this dry shampoo and I get along great. It's gentle on the scalp and really helps leaving hair looking brand spanking new and freshly washed while making styling just as easy.

Hoooooch!

Last weekend we celebrated my brother in law's 30th birthday with some bowling and arcade games. We had such a great time (even though I was unable to bowl) lots of drinks and laughs had. Hooch is his alter ego and he definitely came out to play after a few drinks/shots.

LOTS OF OWLING GOING ON

We went to Lucky Strike in Novi. I was shocked at how nice their bowling is, it's on the second floor, very classy and clean. From what everyone told me the lanes were pretty amazing too! We'll be back!

2011 in Review

This year has been one carazy year. Tons of fun stuff to reflect on, so lets take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

January - brought in the new year right.  Spent it with family and friends drinking, eating, dancing, singing.  It was perfection.  I find that over the years, going out and going crazy lost it’s appeal.  Staying in and bringing in 2011 at home felt right.

Went on photography adventure with my mom in downtown Birmingham

February – Mom and I with the help of my wonderful husband who drove us to Ohio and waited anywhere between 5-6 hours for us to get through all the lines where we met the Pioneer Woman and got her book signed.

I also started my new job as an HR manager.  SCARY!!!!!!!!!

March – Started making my own Ice Chai Latte’s – YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!

April – I talked about my favorite things

 

May – Mike and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary by keeping it low key.  We went out to lunch, saw a movie, had some ice cream and had dinner.  YAY!

My mom won tickets to the Oprah show’s very.last.show. no joke.  So we took the train down to Chicago and spent 3 days there sight seeing and having a wonderful time.

June – We got rained out in a big way.

July – Did some more with my photography, once again using Birmingham and Royal Oak as my muse

Treated myself to a lovely massage

Saw a Tiger Game with Mike and Family.

- Took our first pregnancy test and it came back positive!!!!

August – We celebrated a bunch of birthdays including

- My dad
- Mike
- My nephew

We also found out we were officially pregnant!!!!!!! Due in March!

September – Mike and I visited Washington DC and some friends.

October – Celebrated my birthday by visiting Saugatuck on the west side of the state with the Hubs.  We stayed at a very cute bed and breakfast, walked around the town, had a delicious lunch and bought a painting for our kitchen.  It was lovely!

 

November – Celebrated our 4th Thanksgiving with one another, Prepared for the holidays

Got a shellac manicure for the first time that lasted like 17 days.

 

December – Celebrated our 5th Christmas together, started putting the nursery together, paid off 2 credit cards (woot) Saved more money for baby fund, and ate a lot!

2011 was amazing.  No joke.  I am so grateful to God that he has blessed me and my family with goodness this year.  I traveled this year, I met new people, I tried new things, I failed at others, I saw a lot of movies, didn’t read nearly half as many books as I wanted, started a new job, found out we were pregnant, found out we were having a baby boy, kicked ass with our finances, and learned to love more and truly be grateful for all our blessing because life is good.  Looking forward to an amazing 2012

Groovin'

I feel like the last couple of months I have just been existing going through the motions of each day. Rarely doing anything for me and feeling anxious a lot. But I feel like the last couple of weeks I am slowly but surely coming back to life. I don't know why, maybe it's just something I go through from time to time. I'll go through a period where I am more anti-social than usual, no desire to go out, not investing in hobbies I enjoy (reading, taking pictures, exploring, going to see movies by myself, trying a new recipe) and than suddenly I begin to snap out of it (slowly) and I feel more like myself again. I haven't posted many updates about the baby because... i'm afraid (and superstitious) always learly of the evil eye (aka those who secretly dont wish you well) but im getting over that too. Because let's face it, it's a glorious thing... the good days the bad days.

It's odd that I am snapping out of it now, when the weather is changing because it's right around this time when it's really dark at 4:30 PM, the weather is getting freezing and most people begin their hibernating. I'm not complaining, because really, my mood is directly reflected to the weather. When it's cold, rainy and gray most days so am I... cold, rainy on the inside and gray. Oh well. So here is a quick update on things...

• I got a lot of Christmas shopping done too which makes me so happy because I seriously get the crazies when things aren't orderly and on time. So I crossed off a bunch of names on this years list. Amen.
• I got a Shellac manicure on 11/12/2011 and my manicure is STILL in tact (NO CHIPS) here is a pic but done mind my chunky fingers. This is day 17 so you can how much they've grown over the past two and half weeks but I'll tell you I'm impressed!

• I recently hung some pictures from our wedding ( a year and a half later, whoops) I really like how it turned out!

• I've been reading the Steve Jobs Biography and I am loving it! It's taking me a while to read it since I pick it up before I go to bed and I only manage to read a couple pages before my eyes cant take it anymore. Who knew he was kind of an ass!
  
• I haven't picked up my camera in a long time. Like a really long time people. Probably since my mom and I took our class over the summer. But this weekend I am rectifying that by taking doing a family photo session for my sister in law/brother in law and nephew this weekend. Hopefully the weather is good!
• I saw The Muppets last weekend. Loved it! Jason Segal is a dream boat.
• I am 23 weeks and 2 days pregnant! Baby boy is a little over 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound ( about the size of a large Mango!) I feel him move all the time and it's the greatest feeling in the world knowing he is in there growing and moving and happy. I already love him so much and can't wait to meet him. 17 more weeks to go!
  
• We are moving slowly on his nursery but it's coming along. We have it painted (need to do some touchups) and have some things bought for him. Need to get moving because he'll be here before we know it!
• I am seeing Wicked for the 2nd time next week. This play is so amazing and am looking forward to seeing it again especially with the people going with me. Mom and aunts - girls night out!

Fourth Thanksgiving

I can't believe this will be our 4th Thanksgiving together! How so much as changed over the last couple years. We'd eat two dinners to make sure we spent time at both families, we'd take two cars, we'd be completely and utterly exhausted but it would be completely and utterly worth it.

This year we are trying things a little bit different. Instead of eating two dinners we are going to have dinner at one family and dessert at the other. Hopefully this will eliminate the feel of having to be rolled around.

Next year will be even more different. Not only are we going to have to lug around our sweet little puppy, Mimi. But we will have a sweet little baby boy too! Who by this time next year will be 8 months :) Wow!

I am looking forward to spending time with family, eating amazing food, gorging myself with dessert and cappuccinos, and laying around enjoying the sounds of our families.

Hope you all enjoy your holiday! Gobble Gobble!

If you need a quick smile....

Enjoy

Found here

Life is Simple

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LOL!!!!!!

Laughter is contagious

Fall Bucket List

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It's my favorite season yo! AND it shall soon be my birthday month. Less than three weeks away! Hooray! I love fall. The cool air, the sun shinning, the starbucks pumpkin spice latte's and salted caramel mochas, the scarves, the boots the feeling of closing out another year and making the last couple months speacial. I want to make sure I make time to really enjoy the season so I have come up with a couple fall bucket list items I want to accomplish this season. Here they are, in no particular order:

1.) Go apple picking
2.) Make Leaf Art
3.) Go on a hayride
4.) Make homemade caramel apples
5.) Go to a pumpkin patch and pick out some pumpkins
6.) Carve pumpkins and cook seeds
7.) Make fall cookies (Hello, chocolate chip pumpkin cookies)
8.) Make a pie....from scratch!

Hope you all are enjoying this fall weather - if you get it! Michigan had a beautiful weekend with lots of sunshine and crisp breezes! Have a great rest of the day!

Back from Washington DC!!

Oh hey! What's up? Not too much over here. Can't believe we are already in the month of September and entering into one of my most favorite times of the year: Fall!!! Cider Mills, Pumpkin Spice Latte's, Leaves changing, SCARVES, crisp air, Halloween... it just doesn't get any better than that. I know we have a couple weeks till summer is "OFFICIALLY" over, but hey we can start lovin' up on our fall, can't we? I think we can. Plus, I would much rather leave this summer behind me (i'm not a big fan) I dont like the heat NOR the humidity, I don't like not having my shows, I don't like the constant GO GO GO (parties, graduations, bdays etc) sometimes it's good to chill... im a chill kind of person (well, most of the time)

Mike and I just got back from a fun vacation in Washington DC. We did a lot in the short 4 nights/5 days we were there but I still feel like we accomplished everything we wanted.

And on the last day we were able to get in for a last minute tour of The White House.  To be in there to walk those halls gave me chills.  Was it tiring? Yep.  Was it hotter than Hades? You bet! Was it a blasty blast? Uh huh!!!! Thanks to Matt and Lisa for having us