A real Treat!

Everyone loves free!  Especially this time of year when your belt gets tighter and your bank account gets lower. 

Today and tomorrow only - create and send a totally personalized greeting card from Treat for FREE. Whether saying thanks for Thanksgiving, wishing a best friend a holiday birthday, or simply sharing the holiday cheer with a just because card, Treat lets you create a one-of-a-kind card that is sure to impress.

 

Code to use: TREATBLOGR

 

Remember - two days only (Monday, Nov. 19 and Tuesday, Nov. 20).  Now hurry over to treat.com!

 

 

Smells like the Holidays!

I can't believe how fast time is flying!!  In less than a month my sweet Anders is going to be one and before you know it Thanksgiving will be here and then Christmas and hopefully not my usual 10lb holiday weight gain.

We all know this is my absolute favorite time of year.  Pumpkin spice lattes, sweatshirts, warm house socks, chili in the crockpot...I think I just aged myself from 30 to 65 with that list but I am totally okay with it.

So as usual, I have already started planning my Holiday cards.  I must have them addressed and ready to send out the day after Thanksgiving so that mine is the first you receive in the mail!  I have actually come to admit and accept my Type A personality since turning 30.

So, I was scoping out Tiny Prints today and found the perfect card for the perfect, yet to be taken but I know it is going to turn out so awesome picture.  Now, of course I am not going to tell you about my amazing to be taken picture or the actual card that I will be using but this one was my second choice and super close to my favorite one.  Simple and classic.

 

 

If you haven't checked out Tiny Prints, then you must do so IMMEDIATELY.  Their cards are unique and extremely high quality!  And because I am a paper snob, I adore the paper and cardstock they use. 

 

What makes Tiny Prints even more awesome?  They are going to give one of you awesome readers $50 off your order (does not include shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos)! Sweet.   But if you can't wait to purchase your cards and you must do so right now, check out their current promos here:  http://www.tinyprints.com/promo/tiny-prints-coupon-codes-promotions.htm 

 

So what are the requirements of the giveaway?  Simple.

1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite part of the Holiday season

 

All entries must be received by October 29th. 

 

Disclosure: This is a sponsored blog post.  Tiny Prints has offered free product for my review however all thoughts and content are my own.

10 month letter to Anders

 

Oh my sweet Anders.  You have to be the sweetest little boy that ever lived.  Your smile could light up the block.  Everyday you change and your personality shows through a bit more.  You are cruisin', crawlin' and just generally getting into EVERYTHING. 

You love playing with your sister and when she has friends over, you are all up in her business.  I have a feeling this will last many more years.  You want so bad to do whatever she is doing.  You will get there buddy...just don't grow up too fast on me.

And food...oh goodness do you love food.  You are kind of over baby food and formula is just okay but real food, you go nuts for.  If we are eating and you aren't, you actually scream at us until we share.  It's adorably hilarious. 

You are so happy and so easy going, I can't wait to see how you grow.  One thing we all know is that you are going to be tough...you have to be growing up with Addison.  She loves to bother you but man does she adore you.  We constantly hear "no, my baby" and she tries to take care of whatever you need...feeding you, getting your paci, bringing you toys.   And she is happy to share whatever she has with her baby bro. 

Anders, you are the light of my life.  I love you with all of my heart!  I can't believe in just two months you will be a year old!

All my love,
Mom

In the 30s

I have had more than a week in my 30s now and so far, so good.  I had a fabulous evening with my girls - laughing and gossiping and dancing...

I have some super amazing, gorgeous friends, right?

And what lesson did I learn?  A night out, makes for a long morning when you have kids that wake up VERY early!  So during my very long Sunday, I thought about life in my 20s.  Here is a rundown of life events from my 20s:
- Got engaged
- Got married
- Moved 8 times
- Lived in 4 different states (2 of which we knew no one upon moving there)
- Held 9 different jobs (give me a break, this included undergrad jobs)
- Graduated twice (Bachelors Marketing, MBA)
- Four pregnancies
- Two amazing babies
- Bought two homes
- Lost an amazing uncle and two very sweet grandparents

Whew...and that's all I can think of right now.  Here's hoping that my 30s are a bit more calm.  My guess is that with my two munchkins that won't happen but maybe they will at least be more stable!

Back to life, back to reality...

I roll five deep.

So vacation is over but to sum it up, it was awesome.  I missed the nuggets desperately but wow it was fun to just chill out for a week.  Instead of one big brain dump, I will do a few posts with fun stories for you.

Our first stop on the cruise was in Progreso.  After walking around for about 30 minutes, I had decided the whole town was a shithole and I just wanted to go back to the boat and hang by the pool.  But then, an American named Buddy (also a total hustler) stopped us on the street and convinced us to come into his restaurant for lunch.

The girls with Buddy

His sales technique "I have the cleanest women's restrooms in all of Progreso".   Well...sign.me.up then.

We ended up hanging out at his place all day and having an absolute fantastic time.  We talked to locals, had twelve million vendors come to sell us items (and wow, when you purchase something, those folks spot a sucker and they descend like vultures), and laughed and talked for hours.  Also, pretty sure I had the best Mexican food ever served by the Mexican version of Aunt Jemima.

Aunt Jemima is in the window looking out onto her people.

However, when it came time to use the restroom, my heart broke a little.  The cleanest restrooms in Progreso are kept that way by what looked like a seven year old girl.  She carried buckets of water in to flush the toilets after you used it and did so in bare feet.  I realize this happens (and much worse) across the world every day but how sad that a child lives that life.  I can't even imagine.  We probably gave her more in tips for the day than we paid for the food.

30 Goals for 30

Since I am turning 30, I thought I would make 30 goals for the year:

1. Run at least 750 miles

2. Start keeping track of mileage because I currently don't
3. Run my first (and prob. last) full marathon (training for this should make #1 easy to accomplish)
4. Get to my goal weight (150 lbs)
5. Start planning my outfits on a daily basis instead of just throwing something on
6. Take a family walk at least once a week...even if it is only for 15 minutes
7. Truly enforce "no technology Thursday" in our house - the one night where there is no technology until after the kids are in bed - no phone, no facebook, no internet
8. Take a cooking class
9. Have a messy baking day with Addison's help
10. Stop comparing myself to other moms, colleagues, etc.
11. Learn to leave work at work
12. Read six books
13. Take a weeklong family vacation
14. Have professional family photos taken
15. Take a spur of the moment beach trip
16. Make time each week to catch up with family and friends (phone, email, skype, etc)
17. Cook a full dinner for the family at least twice a week
18. Start saving more
19. Buy a sewing machine
20. Learn to sew
21. Make a date night with Adrian once a week (even if it is simple as putting the laptop away and actually enjoying a movie together)
22. Learn how to edit my photos
23. Dejunk my closet
24. Throw a party just because
25. Perform at least one random act of kindness each month
26. Write at least one handwritten letter each month
27. Spend one on one time with Addison, Anders and Adrian at least once a month
28. Try one new thing each week - a new restaurant, a new exercise, anything
29. Go on a girls trip
30. Have fun!

It's going to be a busy year!! At least I have almost a month before I have to start.

Most Days...

Most days, I wonder how lucky I am to have two children as amazing as Addison and Anders.  Addison has such a personality...I can't even imagine how she is going to be when she is older. 

  

And my sweet baby Anders is always happy and smiling. 

 

I just wish that I could pause time so that I could enjoy each day more!  I can't believe how fast it is flying by.  Anders' first birthday will be here before I know it!  I feel like he was just born yesterday and has always been a part of our family at the same time. 

Packing for the cruise today, I found a pair of pajamas I bought when we lived in Chicago.  I paid like $80 for them from some specialty shop on Southport (a birthday present to myself) and wore them almost every night - just very nice pjs, nothing sexy:)  And it made me sit back and think for a minute.  Think about how different life was then.  We were so "busy" all of the time - going out with friends, attending events, catching all the games.  Looking back, I am so thrilled we had the experience, I met some of my very best friends and it was what I thought, the best years of my life.

But today, instead of super nice pajamas, I throw on a pair of sweatpants, a tanktop and climb in bed with my sweet little girl (who has decided her bed sucks and ours is awesome) and my wonderful husband who now is so much more to me.  And our days are filled with playing and laughing and tons of laundry:)

So while I am counting down the minutes to the cruise and a week of relaxation...I wouldn't change my everday for anything in the world.  Because these have to be the best years of our lives:)