*a challenge*

hi! just stopping in to say i hope you're having a great week so far. yay for summer!!

i hosted a super fun princess party for sadie and her little friends last friday that turned out so adorable! (for some reason i can't get the pics to upload--i'll keep working on that)

starting today i'm doing a 30 day challenge (along with my sis) to not buy anything for myself for the entire month of june!  i shop entirely too much, sometimes just for entertainment, and i have way more clothes than one person would ever need, so no shopping for me! for a month at least ;)

but we are going to florida in june, so susanne said shopping on vacation doesn't count. ha ha!

i will let you know how it goes..

the blog will probably be a little quiet this summer, because we've got so many fun things planned, and i don't want to spend time blogging about them, just want to enjoy the summer with my girl (and mike of course!)

a few new favorite things

just thought i would pop in with a few new things that i'm loving right now!

i wash my hands so many times a day that my manicures never last very long, but this diamond shine base/top coat by sally hansen is really helping to make my mani last longer.  and i love that it's a two in one product too :)  and this polish color by milani (i think it's tropical punch) is so cheerful and summery! and it looks really coral in the pic, but it's more of a hot pink..

and i did the buy two get one free deal at bath & body works this week and decided to try out the new malibu heat scent.  i really love it, although anything too overtly coconut is not my thing.  but the coconut scent isn't overpowering, so i'm really liking it.  i use the glowing body scrub in the shower for a refreshing and yummy smelling exfoliator, and the surf hair spray to get "beachy waves."

hope you're having a great weekend! i'm off to take care of my sweet sadie belle, who has an ear infection (again ;)

goldie and some shoe drama

we have a new member of the family. his name is goldie. yes, he's a betta and not a goldfish, and yes it's a he not a she.

nana and sadie went to petco today and got him, and sadie is over the moon thrilled with her new pet!

here are the two friends together tonight. she kind of enjoys tapping his bowl and watching him swim around frantically, and she thought he needed a graham cracker for a snack this afternoon, but he seems to a resilient fish, so i'm sure were fine ;)

 and in other news,  i had a mortifying shoe experience today.  i had finished tanning (yes i know it's bad for my skin but i'm leaving for florida in 4 weeks and refuse to be pale), and was putting my clothes and shoes on when my shoe broke. it was a pair of wedges with just one strap across the toes.  i tried and tried to stick the strap back into the sole of the shoe, but it was NOT working, so i had to walk out of the tanning place with ONE SHOE ON! how embarrassing, but not only that, i had other errands to run, so i had to walk across traffic to the nearest shoe store with one wedge on and the other foot bare.  besides the fact that i was so embarrassed about walking around with only one shoe, the pavement was burning the sole of my foot.  and i was talking to myself saying "this is so mortifying. my feet are burning." and turned around to see a girl walking behind me. so not only was i the crazy lady with one shoe, but i was the one shoe-d crazy lady who talks to herself!!

thankfully, i found a pair of metallic madden girl adorable sandals on clearance for $15.99, so it turned out to be a happy ending!

susanne and chris' anniversary

last night susanne, chris, and mckinlee came to mom's house so we could celebrate their 18th anniversary!  we had a taco dinner (chicken and beef), with beans, mexican rice, salsa, guacamole, fresh fruit, and cupcakes! it was absolutely delicious.

here are mck and i before dinner

 susanne and mom

 uncle nate and sadie belle-love this one!

 cheese!

 3 of us

 and 4 generations, so glad we got this picture, so special

 the anniversary family-they get more beautiful and handsome every year!

they got some great gifts which i didn't get pics of with my camera because i was taking pictures for susanne ;) but they got gift cards for their backyard, money, gc to dillard's for chris, and the gift horse for susanne (for pandora charms), and mck got some great stuff...meow perfume, gifts cards to beauty brands and target, a vera bradley beach towel, and other fun stuff!

 this was in our front yard this morning before our meeting...

don't they all look beautful?! mckinlee is growing up way too fast, she'll be 13 in a couple of weeks!

 this afternoon while sadie was napping, i went into michael's to get some things for the princess pool party i'm throwing later this month. fun!!

and i went to barnes & noble in search of a book about the paleo diet. i'm really interested in starting to eat this way, but wanted to do a little more research.  anybody out there familiar with it?

and i'm always in the mood for a summer book about the beach! have you read ten beach road? looks interesting!

happy sunday!

the spa and the park

yesterday my mom, kami, and i went on a little trip to the spa...we had been planning a spa day for a LONG time now, and i was so ready for it! we went to the amazing lake austin spa for some pampering. oh was it amazing!! the grounds were gorgeous, the food is all organic, locally grown, and healthy, and the treatments were so relaxing!

here is the view going in

 the 3 of us ready for our girls day

 this was the view heading out to the pool

 the indoor pool building and the outdoor patio for the restaurant

i had a southwestern turkey sandwich that was so delicious and a lentil salad with field greens. yum!

 kami and i had pedicures, then lunch, then all 3 of us had massages. my masseuse was a little odd, so i wasn't as relaxed as i normally am (she told me she thought i was 2 weeks pregnant because she's a little psychic-which i don't believe in!-and told me she was the "mean one" at the spa, meaning she made your muscles hurt! was i supposed to be afraid?! just weird. but that's austin for you right?! :)

after massages, we made our way to the beautiful pool, where i had the best nap under the cabana!

 this is the view looking toward the main building

 after napping, we got ready for dinner. we ended up going into downtown austin to truluck's. delicious food and the best singer/piano player in the bar area.

so much fun! i'm ready for our next girls' day!

 tonight after dinner, some friends met us at the park with their son, jayden, who is the cutest little boy ever.  sadie grabbed his hand!

 then turned around and said sweetly, "we're holding hands!" cute now, but ask me how i feel about in about 12 years! ;)

 they had so much fun, and it was great visiting with them all!

date night and a play date

hi! how was your weekend? ours was good! saturday morning we went for the first time to our downtown farmer's market...it was really fun! they had a band playing, a tent of fresh fruit crepes being  made, brick oven pizza, and a bunch of other fun stuff.  i was a little disappointed with the lack of fruits/veggies but maybe it's too early in the season.  we did pick up farm fresh eggs, local honey, goat's milk lavender soap, and some herbs, and a tomato plant.  i planned to take pictures and completely forgot my camera ;(

saturday night, mike and i had a date night while nana and sadie belle cooked their dinner and played.

here is sadie helping nana...she is so into helping cook right now. i love it!

 mike and i met my aunt and uncle at a restaurant in temple called pignetti's. here we are before leaving.

 family pic (including heart blankie-all of the sudden sadie is VERY attached to it!)

 aaron and peggy at dinner.  we had some delicious italian food...peggy got lasagna, aaron a ribeye steak, mike got chicken marsala, and i got the best pizza i've ever had...pepperoni, artichokes, red peppers, arugula, and mozzarella on thin crust. yum!!

 i love the restaurant sign. we will be going back i'm sure!

 and this morning kami and parker came over for a playdate...the girls played while we talked, then we headed to mcalister's for lunch.

 doesn't parker look just like her mama? so cute.

 and sadie belle was in the middle of saying "cheese" ha!

i'm off to do my daily bible reading and make turkey lasagna...

happy monday!

memorial 2012 and a trip to plano

it seems like i go longer and longer between blog posts now...life is just busy! which is good!

last thursday was our memorial celebration of jesus' death.  it is the most special day of the year for us as we remember the ransom sacrifice and what it means for mankind.

it was a beautiful celebration, but we do have a busy 2 year old so the night was a little wild for us (trying to keep sadie quiet during the talk when it was bedtime was quite interesting ;)

and trying to get her to smile for the camera just does not happen now!

 the gorgeous arrangement of flowers

 the bread and wine

 sadie was fascinated with the flowers

 yep...i feel like crying too, but i plastered on a fake smile!

 surprisingly good family pic (thanks brett!)

 sadie belle with caitlynn and joseph...they are so cute

 baby logan all dressed up

 kami and miss parker--she is just too much with the pearls :)

then on tuesday, we went to stay with susanne and mckinlee in plano...we had a great time talking, shopping, and eating (i think those are the 3 things i do best. ha!)

i loved this one of mck and sadie

 she is so grown up now and just beautiful

 mom and mck

 on wednesday we went to a beautiful outdoor mall called watters creek...great stores there!

 don't mom and susanne look coordinated in their outfits?!

 sadie belle with a piggy statue

 there was the prettiest park with a little creek and ducks...sadie didn't want to leave! i love this one of sadie and zizi

 and these two of mom and sadie are so cute!

 susanne picked up mckinlee from school early and we went to get some gelato...here are the fountains right by paciugo (the gelato shop)

 they have so many wonderful flavors there! i got coconut creme pie and mint choc. chip. yum!

we had a GREAT time! as always!