TGIF!!

I am so happy it's Friday!!!

This has been a short work week for me because we just got back from one of the best vacations ever!

But we still have some recuperating to do as mostly all of us got sick on the last day of our trip :(

The Liebster Award

The Liebster Award is a blogger to blogger, peer award, used to highlight up and coming, smaller, lesser known blogs that are less than 6 months old and have less than 200 followers. Liebster is an award that you accept with an intention of paying it forward. It means kindest, dearest, beloved, cute, and endearing in German.

Shannon at Crazy Beautiful nominated me with the Liebster award... Thanks Shannon!! I was supposed to do something like this before but completely slacked on it. 

WW: don't wake a sleeping baby!

So we hang out in the car until his nap is done!

Impromptu

Friday afternoon I got a text from hubby asking me if I was down for a little overnight road trip. A colleague of his had some spare rooms available at a ski lodge and wanted to know if we wanted to come hang out... I immediately started packing.

Saturday morning after breakfast, we loaded up the car and took a 2.5 hour drive to the ski resort.

Swimsuit Edition

Every.single.year I have qualms about a swimsuit. I mean by now, you would think I would just get over it...right?! Well, I may just have and RueLaLa is helping me do that.

How cute is this swimsuit??! It's the SPANX Whittle Waistline Twilight One-Piece Swimsuit and I think it's adorable!! Its not overtly sexy and just right for this momma hitting the pool this summer! And to top it off it comes with options straps! Score!!!!

Okay, so maybe I'm a tad bit too excited about this but let me tell you- I've been a long time SPANX lover with no shame in my game. And after having my little one I can definitely use some help looking good this summer. It boasts two-way stretch shaping power with a mesh liner that slims through the tummy, love handles, and back.... sign me up please! Then look at these other styles- I'm having a hard time choosing which one to get!

By now I'm sure you're wondering how much it costs and where you can get it right? First let's talk about price. This adorable swimwear is coming in at a whopping $79.90! I know, I know, it's still a tad pricey for barely there clothing but seriously guys... this is a steal! But at least it's not $100 and SPANX is a brand that I trust to hid this "mummy tummy" while I'm splashing around with my little guy. Seriously. the average retail price for this summer's SPANX line starts at $128 and goes up to $198 and that just the one pieces! So I'll take a 62% saving on this line any day! Andplusalso?!?! The swimsuits goes all the way up to size 16!

So here's the catch. Don't worry it's a small one. I'm sure by now you are familiar with the online quick sale boutiques, right? There is everything from ShoeDazzle and Just Fab for shoe lovers and Totsy for those with little ones. These boutiques offer tremendous savings but you must act fast. Often boutique stay open for 2-4 days which doesn't give you tons of time to mull it over. Luckily for me I've been mulling this swimsuit issue over for two years now and it ends here. You can sign up for RueLaLa here and and have access to these amazing items as well:

There's something for everyone from the traveler to the children. And I'm pretty sure my hubby will be upset that I missed the sale on the nice brown leather band Invicta watch! I know I'm kind of sad about the white band women's watch- it' super classy and has interchangeable bands!

Shoot! My little guy might just get his very first Audi! And the only Audi I'll ever buy him!

Hurry and sign up now- the SPANX boutique closes today!

Had to share

I've seen this photo before but it's recently pooped up in my facebook timeline...twice.

source

This is Licia Ronzulli. She's an European Member of Parliament (MEP) from Milan, Italy. She's also my shero.. This picture was taken on September 22, 2010. And the adorableness cradled in front of her... she's little Vittoria- 7 weeks old and helping her mommy vote on women's employment rights.

To her critics some of whom call it unprofessional- claiming that she may be unable to produce sufficient work with a screaming baby/toddler to look after. I say shut your pie hole. Something tells me that some of these people may not have children of their own and possibly don't even care about a good work/life balance.

Source

To Licia I say BRAVO!!! Thank you for taking advantage of Parliamentary rules allowing you to bring your daughter with you. Thank you for remaining professional while bringing this to the attention of others, Thank you for doing what is best for your family.

Source

I get that this may not be ideal for every mom at every work place and every family- but it is for hers and for that I commend her. This is not a platform for her political work, just one momma proud to see another momma doing what she does. So, this is my salute during Women's History month on International Women's day.

WW: Babies!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of spending time with these two little precious babes!!! It's stirring up that fevah!!

PSA: Cute kid

Can you please... pretty please with a cherry on top take a minute and like this photo on facebook?:

Is it not the most adorable way to ever eat a cupcake?? This little guy is in a cute kid contest at a bakery and he could use some of your votes! One like equals one vote. Here's the link:

We really appreciate your support!

Mind Right Monday: March

Is it me or does it seem like the year is moving by at the speed of light? It's already March... MARCH!! At first I said that I wasn't going to publish this if Dani didn't do her link-up but then I changed my mind. This monthly check-in is keeping me on track for my 30 before 30. So, it'll stick around at least until I'm 30 :)

Goals for this month:

- Make some additional progress on the little guy's baby books.
- 3 a week blog posts. I hate falling behind and losing information.
-Clean windows in Master Bedroom
-Get Easter outfits prior to the night before Easter. Last year it was bad.
- Safe travels. (more on this later).
- Make 4 new recipes and document it.
-Start a plan for a guest post. I was invited by a momtographer blogger to do a guest post and I am oh so excited!! Ebs invited me to do one and I failed miserably so I want to follow through with this.

I'm grateful for:

- My new job. I am hoping the income will give us more discretionary fun spending and help us reach a few financial goals a little faster. It may be time for me to have the full time hours talk soon.

- Haagen- Dazs pineapple coconut ice cream. I just finished off the last of my little pint container. However, I'm going to wait to re-up. I got some pounds to shed! And in researching pictures for this post I found out they have bananas foster...must.find.now!

- DVR. I've been catching up on the Real Husbands of Hollywood and it's just the laugh I need sometimes.

-The love of my parents. They did thee most amazing thing for us last months and I am soooo grateful.

-My husbands cooking skills. Wait until I tell you about my Valentine's Day!!!

source

Accountability:

- Go back to work. I did it. We survived. I'm grateful. My employer has been extremely generous and I have been working part-time. 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. And in my short three week employment tenure I must have changed my schedule once per week. These people are a godsend! The little guy still hates to see me walk out the door and it freaking breaks my heart. Twice I sat in my car and cried before putting on my big girl panties and high stepping it to work. His tears, his screams, his hurt- hurts me.

- Try 4 new recipes.  You know- I have no idea! I'm pretty sure I didn't do one per week or 4 overall though. I need to keep better track of this.

- Keep up my 3 a week schedule. Uh uh. I normally blog in the evening after baby goes to bed, but it seems like hubby had a crazy busy after work schedule this month, plus my parents came to visit for an extended weekend so I had zero time to write. I can;t even blame my new work schedule.

-Get more camera practice in. Yes!!! But I want more. I need more. I long for the days of warm weather where I can take my boy to the park, let him loose, and shoot in manual.

-Clean the window and mirrors in the guest bedroom. Yes. My parents were coming over y'all and small steps went out the window- fast! Company does it every time. Well, at least it whips me into shape.

-Make some additional progress on the little guy's baby books. Done! I finished, ordered, and received one more book.

Consistency is key. 4 out of 6 this month! My YTD percentage hasn't change at all. Maybe I need to shoot high this month.

30 before 30

Since I'm about almost 6 months away from my goal, I thought I would check in with my progress.

 

TRY 30 RECIPES

So far, I've completed 1 breakfast recipe. But I made it twice. The first time it was sooo good, we ended up eating some as dessert too. The second time I made it I split the recipe in half. Hubby requested that I add chocolate chips... so I did. The other half was the original recipe without modifications.... that's still sitting on the kitchen counter. The original recipe calls for peanut butter and I don't like peanut butter but I figured my son would. However what he doesn't like is leftovers. At some point I'll remake this and do it the way I did the first time. Top this with oatmeal and fresh fruit and it is to die for!

Baked Oatmeal



I've also done two cake recipes. The first was my take on Strawberry Cheesecake. The second was a Butter Pecan cake that I made for my mommy's birthday. She LOVES butter pecan ice cream so when I came across this I knew I had to make it for her birthday cake! And... it was a WIN!!

This is my slightly burnt, son couldn't wait to bite it, mickey mouse pancake.

You can stop making the pitiful face now.

This chocolate cobbler was tasty but I'm not sure if it will make another appearance. I've made it twice already and the first time was a complete bust. I forgot the last step before putting it in the oven and didn't really realize it until it was halfway done. So to redeem myself I made it again because the batter tasted divine. I'm not sure if I messed up again somehow or it was just too much effort but I wasn't wowed with the results. The second batch was gone in about 2 days but I'm not sure I was just that impressed... you know?

That brings my recipe count to 5. Plus there are additional recipes that I purposely left out because I plan to share them at a later date. I'm not at the 50% rate I was going for but it isn't too bad either. So I have a bit of catching up to do.

13/30

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READ 30 BOOKS

Does children's books count??

My son loves this book- he can even kind of count to 5 because of it. Otherwise, I'm completely slacking.

0/30.

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LOSE 30 POUNDS

I was on track with this. But since it's gotten cold outside (too cold to drag my son into the situation) I haven't been walking like I started out and therefore I am afraid to step back on the scale. I've been tracking my progress with pictures and figured this topic deserved its own post. I'll spare you the weight loss pictures and leave you with a workout picture:

8/30.
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PUMP MY OWN GAS

This is for the birds. I'm a Jersey Girl and I'm not about that self service life.



completed.

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COMPLETE DIY HEADBOARD

I haven't even stepped foot in the appropriate store for this. And now, our current home isn't really conducive to the bed having headboards. What's a girl to do???
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COMPLETE 30 PINTEREST PROJECTS

I went through all of my crap ton of pins and came up with this:

Source: lh5.ggpht.com via The Mrs. on Pinterest

Problem is- I made this as part of a Valentine's day gift for hubby last year. So it doesn't count...well does it?? My challenge my rules and I think I am going to only count things in between my 29th and 30th birthday...  I think. I came up with this idea last year sometime but I don't remember exactly when  So, maybe I should d=count things at the point this idea was conceived. Hmmm- the Jury is still out.

Then I took a moment to really peruse my pins- I mean seriously there are 866 of them. Plus 365 likes. That's a lot of perusing. But once I did it I cam across 5 more "projects" that i really did complete :) I'll save the round up for a complete post at a later date.

5.5/30.
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START NEW CAREER

Eh. My intention was to be able to find my passion and make it into a career. That passion still doesn't quite exist AND therefore it's not on its way to becoming a career. Bummer :( I did however start a new job in my previous career. While this isn't something to frown upon as I am very grateful for this opportunity- I feel like I am going to be "stuck" on this forever. I am good at what I do (if I must say so myself) but it doesn't hurt to be good at what you do and look forward to doing it everyday. I still hope to one day be passionate about something...even if it doesn't become a full fledged career.

0.5/1
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FINISH THE 'FIRST YEARS' BOOKS

This is going pretty well! the 'First Years' books is the complete documentation of my son's first year. In his first year of life, we saw much, did much, and accomplished much. I would start them as time went on but I find them so hard to finish. I mean how does one end a 'chapter' in a book. So far, I have ordered one more and looking to finish the next one in succession. I still plan on documenting after his first year- but I'm sure if it will be his personal documentation or for us as a family... maybe both. I know it's ambitious but whatever. Here is a crazy fun fact for you: I have a document that my family will have access to with all of my sensitive personal information on it. I created it in case of my untimely death they will be able to get my affairs in order without too much of a burden. The user name and passwords to all of my online photography account are included that document. Yes, it's that precious to me. This way any book, photo, or photo project can be obtained and replaced in case of loss or damage. I'd hate for my house to burn down (after I die) and my children would no longer have the memories from their childhood.

3/12
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GET 30 FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS

I need your help! I'm at 28. Just two more to reach my goal!!! If you don't already- please "like" my facebook page!

28/30.
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And before this day is done. I want to wish my great Uncle in heaven a Happy Birthday. He would ave been 93 today. I'm not one for posthumous birthday shout-outs but this one was laid on my heart.