81st anniversary

last night i was scouring the internet looking for clips of jon & kate plus 8. i know, i know but i have been a loyal fan from the beginning & randomly missed the season premiere last night. i was getting all down about everything that was popping up when the husbando asked me if i'd checked my email today.

true to form while at work he had sent me a link with a cute note about how this will be us in 78 years... meet the milfords. anita & frank are 100 & 101 respectively & have been married for 81 years today. their son (practically my grandparents age) attributes their years of wedded bliss to "simply being happy with each other". austin's favorite part was when they said they still kiss & cuddle every night. :) way to turn my frown upside down chief! kisses*

mexican butter. you complete me.

texas rocked! i left for a week of girl's time & sure made the best of it! jana bee & kathleener are some of my favorite people and we used to be roomies. JANA LYNN was the best mommy helper with the biggest smile about it and has the best attitude about things. KATHLEEN was our fumbled tour guide and her stories always always make me laugh. i could and did talk to these girls all hours of the night and miss being able to more often.

we got pedies, talked, sat by the pool, ate out every day, talked, slept in, picked out celebrity crushes, went to a chick flick, talked, met up with other old roommates (nicole & teresa) that were so fun to catch up with, made chocolate graduation caps, talked, cried at the grey's finale (not all of us...), played with our hair, chased down the texan wild bunnies, talked, & talked some more. eric & kathleen were awesome hosts! didn't stress us out about overtaking their adorable apartment with all our junk, fed us, had us meet their cute family, bbsat, & just let us relax & enjoy the company. i really love these girls. they will always be in my life. ~missed you AMBO!!! isn't that mission done already?!~

i love these two! with their dozens of headbands, squeaky convos, hand holding tub action, & the prettiest couple pairs of blue eyes ya ever did see.

i could not possibly have waited another second to meet sweet AVREE MELODY! she's just about the funnest little personality & these long gorgeous legs (that she gets from her long-legged mama; sorry ellery). we bonded & i could totally get her to crack up! she loves herself some kathryn & i'm sure is desparately missing me as we speak.

i know ellery isn't looking but she's not quite the photo-op happy baby that of course kathleen got. i still think that hat is super fly. it's newborn size but still has to be folded back due to ellery's rather petite noggin. :) austin missed his girls something fierce and we definitely missed him but i can't wait for next year! you're on my turf baby!

cause & effect

cause: left for texas for a week

effect: deader than dead plants

the nursery

*WARNING* i could talk about this room for days. if design bores you (or random details you never cared to know) feel free to skip this post. really. SERIOUSLY. it won't hurt my feelngs.


we went with a pale yellow on all the walls & then my mom & i painted BRIGHT shiny yellow bubbles all over the room. it's subtle but really FUN. her crib is HUGE & sturdy & wonderful! the bedding is my favorite with toile, polka dots, stripes, & the SOFTEST minky fabric in black & white. the glider was a matching phenomenon & i am in LOVE with it & use it multiple times a day. that was my parents gift to us for becoming parents. the picture is a canvas print of ellery on her blessing day.

simple ikea dresser with FUNKY anthro knobs that are my latest obsession. the lining is randomly yellow pin stripes, so i get excited every time i open her drawers! yay! the mackenzie-childs lamp was the big splurge in the room but it is SUBLIME! there's a jar full of black & white & yellow buttons next to it. the personalized growth chart hanging to the side is from a lady in our old stake. her daughter was one of my girl's camp girls & she helped her mom make the matching stool that fits perfectly & is ADORABLE! both have a little girl with a yellow outfit & bees swirling around her. sounds terrifying when i word it like that. :) she left it on my porch when i was expecting. such a cutie!

i painted the piggy bank @ petroglyph downtown los gatos with my mom & steph late last year & really like how it turned out. the eyelashes could have taken me DAYS i was so nervous. haha! the sheep was one of our first purchases for ellery while we were in england so she'll know she was with us & we thought TONS about her before she was here. he's holding a sign that says "cute as a 'bundt'on" from the bundt cake @ her cord party. the E frame is in a shadow box & is SUPER cute with ribbons & metal rivets & stamps & a GIANT paper clip & a bunch of fun paper. it says homegrown & sweet little baby. cheesey but i likey. it took my mom & me surprisingly HOURS. my most recent project is the parasol over the crib. i don't quite know where i come up with this stuff sometimes. my, you guessed it, mom & i haphazardly hung thick & thin GORGEOUS ribbons from a black paper parasol so it would drape like a may pole. i love that it hangs on an angle. ellery stares @ it & babbles @ it night & day.

we got the flower pic as a gift when we got married. it's mostly black & white but the flower does have a yellow TINT, obviously meant for this room. it reads "trust in the lord with all your heart". i got the circle mirrors @ target and placed them all over to play off the yellow bubbles on the walls. the baskets hold toys, books, diapers, & her hamper. INGENIOUS.

long, LONG, LOOONG story short i love her nursery. THANK YOU mamasita for ALL your help!!! & hopefully when kid #2 comes along, all i'll have to do is change the yellow out & vwalaa! whatcha think?

3rd of a year

look at those baby blues! ellery is 4 months old today! she's been here for 1/3 of a year! insane! love you jellybean!

she chatters like this ALL DAY LONG. we love it when she tells us her stories. she's full of 'em & it's seriously hilarious. of course we didn't end up seeing a movie. it's us.

$cha-ching$ revisited

we have tandum covered parking which means a's car is almost always parked behind mine. which means when he got broken into there was glass all over our parking slot. which means when my front tire fell flat, only a week after checking air levels, we were concerned. which means the glass i'd apparently run over ruined my tire. which means the punk that destroyed aust's car inadverently did some work on ike. which means in fixing tire #1, they found a nail in tire #2. which means we have done our part in stimulating the economy this week.

shameless plug

i found shabbyapple.com & am unabashedly obsessed.


i want every SINGLE dress this line can throw at me.


i don't have one.


sad.

the many faces of miss e

she makes us happy.

$cha-ching$

interesting week. finished up course one of my cake extravaganza & maybe just maybe i'm getting a little better. course two starts tuesday! wish me luck! moved david and kara into their new house. i think we all feel pretty invested considering the man hours we've put into 'buffing' the place. it's now a cute little home. my cousin dane and his fiance aimee were in town; we went to capitola & played at the beach with my madre. i seriously love capitola! bright row houses, kitschy boutiques, fun people, fun times.

then some not so fun times. austin and i wake up early every morning and he gets ready for work while i make him lunch. okay i probably miss two or three times a month, but i'm pretty good cause he puts in nine hour days and really the boy cannot stand to miss a meal. (sidenote: he is at an all time high weight! no one believes the # but kudos to me!) well tuesday morning i just couldn't do it. i was freezing my tail off and not hell or high water could have cajoled me out of that cozy bed. austin put another blanket on top of his whinny, frostbit wife and kissed me goodbye. five minutes pass. the front door flies open and chief tells me his car was broken into while on hold with the cops. okay. i'm up.

now this is a cautionary tale because we live in a seemingly safe gated community. :( well it was pretty banged up which was a bum deal. check this out: they sliced the soft top of his convertible open to presumably wiggle their way over the top of the seats. when my guess is a problem arose. few grown people can fit between the roof and headrests of a mazda miata. so they continued on, smashing the driver's window while crashing into the side view mirror, for good measure. there was glass everywhere and i can't help but ask why they didn't think this through. hows about you either ruin the top OR the window? please?! i'll pay you if you'll just stick to one. then it gets really good. they didn't take a thing! the nearly brand new stereo is untouched, ipod cable left alone, not a thing! what is that all about?! so whole new top, new window, new side view mirror, while we're at it let's fix that bump on the nose, you name it. $cha-ching$

the upside? austin got his lunch made before i woke up the bebe and we drove him to work...