Baby Shower in Missouri

My family threw a fantastic baby shower for me in Missouri this weekend. Anita, my sister-in-law, coordinated with my Mom to get it set up with all kinds of tasty goodness and invitations on both sides. Everyone went way beyond in the planning and it was gorgeous. Anita also acted in the role of waitress making sure everyone had everything they needed - she's much nicer than me. I would have self-service all over the ladies.

It was also our last road trip pre-baby delivery. I hadn't had any issues with swelling until the 6 hour drive from here to Springfield. By the end of the day I had definite cankles and it was seriously unattractive and generally unpleasant. No more long road trips until Sophy can ride along outside of the womb. She does seem especially displeased with road maintenance in southern Oklahoma so if someone could get on that it would be great.

Back to the shower. I clearly had a good time since these were the only photos I took. Luckily my sister-in-law, Sandi, is a fantastic photographer and she was all over it with the picture taking. I'll do more photos when she's gone through the 300 she took! It was mostly a family shower and a little mini-reunion for my husband's family and everyone was fabulous. They seemed to have a good time and awed appropriately with all the pinky goodness. This kid is set for a long time!

My plate of goodies

The sagging presents table! Everyone was incredibly generous and I'm a little teary at how happy everyone was to celebrate us and the baby.

I was in love with this mural on the wall at the tea room where we had the shower.

Little festive goodness in the form of vines, twinkling lights and chandelier.

The table that greeted the guests. My Mom had a fantastic idea of having folks address their thank you cards when the came in making it super easy to get those suckers in the mail. She also had everyone wrote a note on little onsies that were clothes pinned to the cake table with miniature pins. Super cute.

Gorgeous cake my Mom made. Dad had to do a little baby decapitation but it was totally worth it in the cuteness that resulted.


Now we're going to get started on washing all the baby clothes and seriously getting ready for her arrival including bag packing. Luckily we bought her outfit for coming home a few weeks ago so the big decisions are all done. :)

2012... the Mayans can suck it

I'm not all about the resolutions but a new year does seem like a good time to take stock of what's important to you. (At this point, I'm hoping to get it done prior to the end of January and that's looking ify.) What do I want for myself, for my family and for the future in general? So I'm starting my list and see how it goes.

1. Deliver a healthy and happy baby girl. Work out a routine that's good for all 3 of us (and the fur babies)to keep everyone fed, clean, sheltered, etc.

2. Do a better job of keeping connected with friends and family. These are all people I love and care about so I should let them know and do my part in continuing to maintain the relationships.

3. Spend more time in the kitchen and housekeeping in general. I'm not wanting to become a domestic goddess but I'd like to be more aware of what we're eating, keeping the house clean (especially with the new baby) and what we use to keep it clean for everyone's improved health.

4. A little more spinach reading to go along with all of my fiction. I've collected a fair amount of non-fiction that I'm always meaning to get to but I want to make an effort to actually work some in. I recognize this is a little crazy with a new baby but I live in hope.

5. De-clutter, de-clutter and then de-clutter some more. I want to clear out all of the old and make room for new in the house. Also, it keeps everyone a little more settled when the house is clean and relatively clutter free.

6. Making a priority of healthy eating and exercising. Post-baby I want to work hard to get back to the progress I was making in terms of maintaining my weight with steady loss and improved exercise. I never thought it would happen but I miss jogging on the treadmill. I'm pretty happy that I have not overly enjoyed my pregnancy (as Dr.Garner puts it when folks over indulge) and have gained a healthy and realistic amount of weight. I've added in a little more chocolate to my everyday meal plan but also more awareness of snacks and healthier eating which sort of offsets the additional dessert.

7. Optimistic and sunny are not words that are generally used to describe me but I'd like to be a little more positive in my approach to the world. I don't want to raise a cynical and jaded baby right from the start so it's kind of exciting to start looking at things from a new perspective.

8. Figure out what makes me happy and do more of that. Fairly straight forward once I decide what I really like vs what's just become a decent routine. Much to my husband's dismay reality TV may stay.

9. Better control on our finances including a real budget. We've already made some pretty good strides here but I see a few more cuts in our future. I watched one of Suze Orman's shows (limited options at 2am) where she told a couple they should pay for their child's college but don't let the child know this is an option. They have to work and show they're serious and at the end just pay off her student loans. I kind of love this approach and want to be in a position to do that.

10. Make more art. Any kind of art. I think this will be a great time to bond with the kiddo once she's old enough to hold a crayon. There were always craft projects in our house and makes you a little handy when you grow up and would love to have that with our daughter. I would also love to work in some art classes/retreat but will need to figure out how that works with the baby and the budget.

11. Budget in some serious travel plans for the family. We both love it and don't do enough but we definitely want to make it a priority and would love to do some RV trips to some national parks. These may be pre-planning for beyond 2012 but it makes me bizarrely happy to read travel books, maps and plan itineraries.

12. Remember to be grateful. No matter how bad the day gets, there is a lot for me to be thankful for everyday. Fantastic husband, baby on the way, great family and we both have good jobs with benefits, etc. It's easy to take it all for granted but I don't want to and I want to do more to give back since we've been seriously blessed.

I'm going to call it a day at a list of 12 since this post has dragged on for nearly a month and already feels crazy ambitious but this year is already pretty awesome as we're now seriously approaching delivery day.

I hope you guys are still working on your resolutions or just have amazing weekend plans!

Happy New Year

I'm most thankful for my husband and our baby (she'll be here soon!) in 2011 and in 2012. I hope 2011 was everything you wanted and 2012 brings you more!




... and without the mustache because the mustache is weird.

Happy New Year!

Reminder from the Universe

Saw this on Facebook this morning and promptly started to cry. This is more truth than I was prepared to handle at 7:45 this morning but appreciated the universe reminding me of the message.

Italian Charms, French Cut Steel Beads, Texas Studio.. oh my!

I previously blogged about my love of the Souvenir Necklace from Amy Hanna and I see my obsession continuing.

For Christmas, Suzanne stocked up charms for me from her trip to Italy (along with a gorgeous rosary). I opened the box and felt the bag and new there were serious goodies inside. I've got big plans for these charms



to make a serious connection with these beads.



I've also got some other vintage finds stockpiled that I've already got plans for with all of these goodies. Now, I just have to finish cleaning up my desk and the rest of the studio but this is the perfect motivation.

Merry Christmas!

I hope your holiday is filled with family, friends and tasty goodness!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve has been very festive and quiet at our house. We went on the hunt for good sales at Anthropologie - sketchy this year - then braved the mall that was shockingly empty to check out The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was fantastic and I got a little snow fix with all the Swedish winter scenes. Also, I want to totally re-do the house in lots of white and grey with a little pale blue just to mix it up. I'm hoping this passes before I take any action that will get me in serious trouble with the husband. While out and about we did a little scenic tour of the fancy neighborhoods and had tasty lunch goodness before heading home with treats from the new Dunkin Donuts in McKinney and settling in with a fire and the puppies.

Now, we're watching the 24 hours of A Christmas Story which we've never ever seen before except every year for 24 hours!

A little festiveness on the square shown here.



Reindeer display that I'm stealing next year from Anthropologie



Me out and about today going a little steampunk. I'm working on desensitizing myself from pictures since it's going to be all pictures all the time with baby. Also, I feel a little bad we didn't take more in utero shots sooner but Mommy was ralphing a lot and looked like death. Frankly, I've just found my make up drawer again in the last two weeks!



I hope everyone is having a fantastic Christmas Eve!

I blame Rachel Zoe

I've been watching lots of reruns of The Rachel Zoe Project since the clothes are really pretty, I like the trips to fashion week and the rest is beyond mindless. I've also been adding in a few new items to my wardrobe that are a little more daring than my usual style especially since there's no hiding an almost 8 month baby belly. A few of these new pieces have included sequins (shown here), more statement pieces of jewelry and a couple of leopard sweaters that I've loved and will definitely keep in rotation post-baby.

And now I'm mixing in this jacket. I've had my eye on a couple I've seen out in the intranets but I didn't want to pay $100 bucks or more for one. I went to Macy's yesterday checking out the sales and saw the jacket was 50% off and covered the belly (mostly). After all was said and done I only spent $45 (Macy's in store math is confusing but always comes out to much less than I expect to pay) and it's actually pretty toasty. They have it online but it's higher than I paid in the store and limited sizes so definitely check out the store if possible. I've got big plans for it with a shopping trip with a friend tomorrow and a fancy brunch on Sunday with a new dress I picked up at Ross (thanks to my friend Mark for pointing out the thriftiness available) for $10 bucks. I'm trying to seriously limit my spending on clothes I may not wear post baby.

It's been a fabulous vacation week and the weekend should be even better.

Souvenir Inspired Necklace

I made the necklace above after reading Souvenir from Heather Bullard and Amy Hanna's project. I stocked up on the french cut beads and have stockpiled the religious medals so I was set. I had to restring it twice since there was a bead clasp incident on the first one which was fortunate since I used a much thicker gray silk thread the second time.

This seems like a fantastic gift idea for next year. If I start now I'll be done by March!

Steampunk Style Charm Bracelet

Friday after work, my friend Randall and I decided to have a quick crafting session and I knew what I wanted to make immediately. I had seen a few charm necklaces out in the world the last few months and wanted one for myself. In paring down the studio I'd gathered bits and bobs perfect for my necklace and it was super easy to assemble once I sat down to do it. Here's the pre-version, upclose shots and then the finished version. I love it! It's exactly what I wanted and I have total vindication that my hoarding ways have paid off.

Date Night Outfit

I went with a version of glam rock a la Rachel Zoe for our big night out which was fantastic and tasty. All women 1/2 way through their 7th month should wear a sequined dress (leggings were a must since this dress is more of a tunic) and with my sparkly Toms I was ready to go. Also, this pic illustrates why I made a hair appt for Weds, seriously in need of a cut and color (checked 3 times with the doctor and it's still ok so I'm just going to break down and do it. It's been almost 10 months since my last color).

This week I'm off from work and have big plans but if I even get through half my list it will be a major accomplishment. I did get a few things done today: getting our small tree up and decorated, it's pretty festive for this year and I'm bracing myself since next year will be all out with the new baby, grocery shopping and some errands. Big things for tomorrow include cleaning the kitchen, getting a massage and maybe working in the studio.

Hope you guys are planning for an awesome countdown week to Christmas!

- Also, I really need to get new blinds for the window by our front door since Maya went nuts when she was younger and left at home while Abby went to the vet. Oy.

Quick Necklace Commissions

I had a few unexpected sales of some previously made jewelry that I was super excited to move. I had a friend ask for a couple of necklaces for around $15 each for teachers gifts - next year the baby and I are on it as teachers gifts for our niche - and I'm happy with how they turned out. Requests were 1) green in color and design and 2) purple and a little glam.




The green design uses all recycled material with rosary chain, old chain and key. The only new item is the clasp. The purple and glam was fun since larger quartz style seems to be in and coupons/discounts at Michael's had this one coming in right on budget with chain already in my cabinet. I'm hoping my friend, and the teachers, like them.

Now, I'm off to get ready for our Sunday night day night at the fancy steak house and then heading out to look at Christmas lights in the fancier neighborhoods. Tomorrow starts the official first day of my holiday vacation and I can't wait!

Happy Sunday!

Christmas Party 2011

Christmas party pictures from last night. I got to have fun and spend lots of time sitting which is fantastic at 7.5 months pregnant! The husband was super cute too.

Tasty food at a beautiful house of a friend means lots of fun with no work from us. :)

Journal Pages: Paris

Paris pages that I can't stop. I've already added some pink scallops to the postcard. It really was like spring time even though it was October (a few years ago) when we visited. So lovely. I need to convince the husband to give it another try.

Smash Journal

I've been obsessed with journals lately but lacked some motivation but my new Smash Journal has helped me jump start the pages. I love the prompts and working intuitively by just pulling out pieces laying around my files or desk. It was especially great after my fairly crappy day to just play.

First 2 full pages finished in the journal. 2 more in progress for later postings.