hello + MATERNITY PHOTOS

Yes, I have returned for the time being. Our little guy will be arriving on February 21st so I don't for a moment think that this return is permanent, but here I am. We haven't had a reliable computer with a sturdy internet connection for quite some time now, but tonight hubby presented me with my "push present." Have you heard of push presents? They are a present a husband gets a wife for birthing a baby. Mine is technically not a push present because I get to be sliced open rather than doing any pushing, but I don't think I want to call it a slice present. Oh yes, so what did he get me… a MacBook Pro! I was more than a little surprised. And more than slightly surprised. Pretty much totally surprised. Hello, wonderful husband man! I guess it's safe to say he loves me. The feeling is mutual. So here I am, on a fancy new laptop, able to blog again.

It seems like there should be a lot to fill you in on, but I can basically sum it up like this-- I have a 21 month year old running around like a crazy little midget and I am pregnant, so that has taken up about 80-85% of my energy for the last 9 months. I've thrifted here and there and missed sharing my finds with you, but I am sure I will thrift again and have new things to share. Right now I'm in the process of moving the gal out of her teeny nursery and into what will be the shared nursery. Just as it took me a year to decorate her nursery, I don't have plans to have decorations done anytime soon, but just having the furniture in there will be nice. And her little nursery will be turned into a small office/craft room. I realize I'm a little behind in the game being that I have less than 2 weeks until I have a newborn and I am just now swapping the rooms, but that's life!

So to start some catching up, I have to share the lovely maternity photos my dear friend April of April Christine Photography did for me. She also did my last set of maternity photos as well as Adelaide's newborn photos. I love her photography and there's nothing like having a friend be the one who you get to hang out with while she takes the photos. Here we are- a family of 3 soon to be a family of 4!

the PERFECT minted wedding invitations

When Minted contacted me to review Valentine's Day cards, I declined as I still haven't sent out the lovely Christmas cards they supplied me with (hi, I am the queen of late cards), but I recalled my soon-to-be-married sister-in-law's favorite wedding invitations were from Minted and they agreed to help her out.

After looking at wedding invitations on many sites, my SIL couldn't help but keep returning to the Banner and Branches Invitations. They match her wedding colors and theme perfectly and are invitations she'll love looking back on for years to come.

It isn't hard to find unique wedding invitations and save the dates from Minted that you'll love for life. I can look through their collections and find several I would rather have used for my wedding 5+ years ago than the boring ones I did use. But all of my wedding plan regrets are a story for another day. If you have a wedding coming up, check out their selection if you're sick of going through site after site of the same old traditional invites. Between all of the gorgeous fonts, graphics, and designs, you will definitely find something you love.


(FYI- These are my actual opinions about Minted stationary. I will never endorse a product I don't love.)

holiday cards from MINTED

It seems it was fate that minted.com contacted me to do a review of their new holiday cards collection. They must have known that I was thinking about holiday cards... and how I'm a procrastinator and likely wouldn't get them out on time... and how I'm sick of Costco's options.

I remember hearing of Minted somewhere in the blogosphere and once I checked out their website I was happy to find that their selection of cards are fresh and unique and created by independent designers. Minted.com holds design challenges where any designers/illustrators can submit their cards and then the Minted community chooses the best ones. The card selection ranges from their Christmas cards to baby announcements, wedding invitations and more. I even discovered that my sister-in-law's wedding invitations were from Minted and that my other sister-in-law's dream invitations are from Minted! So when you head on over there, check out cards for all of your upcoming occasions. I know I've been checking out the baby announcements.

As for the holiday cards, there are styles for every taste, but here are some of my personal favorites.

That last one just may be my pick for our holiday cards. I love the square photo shape and the design almost reminds me of a polaroid. Gotta get the mister's stamp of approval first though.

Go ahead and check Minted out to find your own holiday cards. To get 15% off your holiday purchase before 11/28/11 use the code READERS18!

a BOY?!

I am coming out of preggo hibernation to say hi and share our baby news. We are having a boy! What?! What do I do with a boy?? I don't have any brothers or close guy cousins so boy things are a foreign concept to my family, but I'm really excited none-the-less. I'm excited to see hubby with a son. He's already the sweetest dad ever with the little gal. I can't even imagine a mini him running around. Craziness. In less than 2 weeks I'll be in my 3rd trimester and that just sounds insane! February is right around the corner! The little man is kicking like a kook right now. I think that's him saying hi to you all.

The little man's first vintage outfit, from his Auntie Brigitte.

Little man clothes! Ah! And yay for 40% off GAP clearance sales!

Things consuming my brain right now are turning the guest room/office into a joint nursery for the kiddos, turning the gal's teeny room into an office/craft room, and Christmas shopping and crafting! Are you feeling the pressure yet? We're almost halfway done with shopping but I decided I'm going to craft a fair amount of presents this year so that's what my December will look like. How is Christmas prep going for you? Any handmade gifts in the works?

Well I just wanted to share our news. I have a few more posts in my brain that will hopefully make it onto the blog, but with this stunted piece of preggo brain, I make no promises. ;)

here we go AGAIN

Well friends, you may be thinking I have been abducted or that I have some bizarre form of amnesia where I forget I have a blog every once and a while. But no- I know my blog life is just sitting here untouched. It's just that.... I am pregnant! Again! I feel like I juuuuust did this. But this time I'm doing it with a crazy 15-month old running around taunting me. Okay- she's not taunting me, but some days she might as well be. So in my blog absence I have been resting, eating, being overly emotional and resting some more.

The lovely and funny Ashley over at The Domestic Wannabe invited me to do a Day In the Life post so if you're curious what a 1st trimester day with a toddler looks like, head on over! And if you're a mama, check out the rest of Ashley's blog too. Her little gal is adorable, her house is fabulous, and there's all sorts of mommy advice to read.

Here's to surviving life until this baby appears in February.... And to getting some pills to correct my blog amnesia! Cheers!

NIFTY THRIFTY: lake county edition

This last weekend our little family headed to Clear Lake with my parents and my sister's family. I will have photos and stories at some point, but for now, I am here to share my Lake County loot. On Saturday the men folk went fishing and us women folk took the opportunity to visit some yard sales. We followed every yard sale sign we could find and ended up at some interesting little sales. The $7 8 Fire King cups and saucers and $1 loaf pan came from the first sale that was the most normal of the bunch. Next we hit up a tiny neighborhood church's rummage sale where I picked up the vintage Pyrex pitcher for 50 cents. Then we followed 6 signs to a little, but very well publicized yard sale where I found the 4 trays for $3. On our way there we found a huge gorgeous, abandoned white hotel smack in the middle of the shady neighborhood. When we got to the sale, my sister asked the hotel's history and we were told it was once a hotel, then a Christian camp, then- said in hushed tones- a whore house where they brought whores in from San Francisco, and now they are fixing it up to be a culinary school. Ha! Quite the history for one beautiful building. The next sale we went to took us to the lower income side of the low income neighborhood we were already shopping in. A quiet older man with long fingernails watched as we picked through his things. It was there that I found the milk glass ash trays/candy bowls and a vintage Fisher Price chime ball, not pictured, for $5. The last sale we hit up appeared to be an eviction sale. Everything was hurriedly being thrown out of the house and the sale was manned by 3 girls under the age of 7 or 8. There were piles of things scattered everywhere and it was not intended to be the least bit organized. Their pit bull visited my mom while she was holding my little babe and it was some time after that that we decided to leave. I left empty-handed. All in all, I was happy with all of my Lake County treasures and very entertained by the whole experience. Lake County, you never disappoint.