“A portrait of my baby boy, once a week, every week, in 2014.”
March 22, 2014: Grayson seems to have gone from being an infant to being a baby in the last week. He grabs and plays with toys, he sits in his Bumbo, and he continues to study the world with those big blue eyes.
Linking up with Jodi’s 52 Project
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Another celebrate series is here! This time we will be celebrating spring with a Terrarium Making Party. My friend Ari and I had this idea ions ago after taking an awesome class from Workshop. We are co-hosting this shindig in my backyard and I am already brimming with inspiration.
1. A welcome chalkboard sign.
2. A garden cocktail, maybe this beauty.
3. An invitation design featuring spring.
4. Beautiful polymer mushrooms.
6. Yummy beverages and pretty straws.
Can’t wait to start sketching the invitation. Check back next Friday to see its design and download the printable!
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“A portrait of my baby boy, once a week, every week, in 2014.”
March 12, 2014: It looks like my little guy loves being outside just as much as I do. We take long walks in Golden Gate Park with our dear friends Kristin and Shea. He wheels around, napping and then looking around wide eyed. Then napping again. When we get to the Beach Chalet he lays out and basks in the breeze on the lawn. New this month are giggles. When that sound bubbles out my heart is happy.
Linking up with Jodi’s 52 Project
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Dear baby boy,
You started this month off smiling a little and then a lot. You gurgle and giggle when your cheeks are tickled. We go back and forth, carrying on conversations of goos and gaas. You’ve found your fingers and occasionally try to fit your entire fist into your mouth. The changing table is your new stage, where you dance around, mid diaper change, pumping your arms and legs in unison. You’ve rolled over, more than once, and in front of multiple witnesses. We gerry-rigged a play area for you with two chairs and a broom stick. You loved swinging your new found arms at the hanging toys so much we caved and bought the real thing. That activity mat follows you around the house and even to off-site destinations. You have your mommy’s expressive forehead that often reveals your pensive nature. You examine the world with your wide-open eyes. You are more awake when you are awake and more asleep when you are asleep. You are still a cuddler. And you are oh-so-loved.
Love,
Your Mama
You can read Grayson’s 1 month letter here and his 2 month letter here.
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One thing I have decisively learned in having a baby is that you can never have too many burp cloths. I had splurged on a couple beauties when I was pregnant, loved them. I thought four would be a good number, you know, one per day. Ha. When I realized that I would need far more than four and that I would go broke buying the pretty ones, I decided simple diy burp cloths were where it was at.
MATERIALS: makes 14 burp cloths
SIMPLE STEPS: no sewing wizardry required
[1] Cut fabric and terry cloth into 9 by 18 inch pieces. The terry cloth is a little tricky because it has A LOT of stretch to it. Do the best you can. Perfect is not the goal. I found having a long straight edge to hold the terry cloth in place while I cut it helped. These cloths are a little on the smaller side, but it enables you to get the most bang for your buck on a half yard cut of fabric. I also prefer to have lots of smaller ones as opposed to a couple of big ones. Grayson pukes on half a big one and the whole thing is down for the count only half dirty. Two small ones is more practical.
[2 – 3] Place the wrong side of the terry and fabric together. Pin it. Sew, leaving a 1-2 inch gap so that you can turn the fabric right side out. HINT: To avoid any hassle with the stretch in the terry cloth, sew the burp cloth with the printed cotton side facing up.
[4 – 6] Turn the burp cloth right-side-out and prepare to top-stitch. Top stitching is awesome for 2 reasons: One, it means there is no careful hand-stitching to close the hole. Two, when you wash these over and over again, they don’t fall apart.
[7] Top stitch.
[8] Enjoy your beautiful new burp cloths.
I ended up spending around $45 for 14 burp cloths after splurging on the organic materials. Not bad for how much I love them. It is nice when the cloths that end up on your couch, floor, dining room table, crib, and kitchen are easy on the eyes.
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“A portrait of my baby boy, once a week, every week, in 2014.”
March 6, 2014: I love how these little fingers grasp my hands and hair.
Linking up with Jodi’s 52 Project
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The Oscars have come gone. Ellen made us laugh, actors and actresses braved the red carpet, and we had our little party. It was great to be hosting again after the arrival of our little one. I was excited about cooking and drinking and eating. I hold our bingo game solely responsible for my extra interest in the Oscar festivities this year. Mostly, it was just nice to see friends, enjoy good conversation, and get gussied up.
What set the mood you ask? Well I think it was the little gold flags in my chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and the Bravo banner that adorned the wall.
Oscar bingo may very well have made me an addict. There will very likely be Bingo again in the near future for something. Not sure what, but something. It made watching the awards that much more entertaining.
Instead of trying to find stickers or a stack of pens I got out a couple rolls of washi tape. Guests ripped off little pieces to mark their bingo boards. Practical, fun, and adorable.
The menu consisted mostly of small bites. The spread included: (1) mozzarella & baby tomato skewers, (2) a delish cheese plate utilizing the lovely diy you can find here, (3) roasted pineapple and sausage on a stick, and (4) toasts with roast beef, horseradish creme fraiche, and chives. So good. And this was only what I made. You should have seen the yummies others brought for the appetizer competition.
I would be remiss not to mention the impeccable wardrobe of my guests. They took red carpet casual to a whole new level. There was glittering gold, studded jackets, stunner shades, and more. I was impressed.
Such a blast. Looking forward to the next one!
See what I wore here.
Find the diy here.
Get the invitation here.
See the inspiration here.
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“A portrait of my baby boy, once a week, every week, in 2014.”
February 28, 2014: Grayson has found his hands. He takes great comfort in sticking his fingers in his mouth. It might just be me, but I think he is purposely batting at the toys that hang above him. It is incredible to watch this little one grow.
Linking up with Jodi’s 52 Project
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What to wear to an event is often a puzzle I am unsure how to solve. I love having something that makes me feel snazzy, but it isn’t in my natural wheel house the way diys and invite design are. Enter Kate from Undeniable Style. I am excited to be teaming up with her this year to select and style what I will wear to the parties I plan for my celebrate series. This month the challenge was what to wear to this weekend’s Oscar Party. She nailed it.
On the invitation I called it “red carpet casual.” A viewing party is the perfect event to have a little fun. You can be fancy and funky. There are no rules.
My motivation for working with Kate has to do with my search for my own personal style. When I was younger I was a hardcore tomboy. I lived in clothes that were easy to play sports in. As a result I didn’t start thinking about what I wore until I got older and even then I ran into some difficulty. In college, I was a jeans and sweatshirt kind of girl. Then, when I started my career as a teacher, I shopped for clothes that I thought a teacher would wear; clothes that would help parents take me seriously even though I was still in my early twenties. One day I woke up, looked in my closet, and realized that I didn’t have the clothes that I wanted. I had the clothes I thought I should have.
Now that I am a little older, I know myself better and have a better idea for what I want to wear, but I am stuck in old patterns. I have a hard time breaking out of the box that I so neatly packaged myself in. Working with Kate is amazing. Not only has she known me since I was born (we are only 4 months apart), but she also has incredible taste that I respect and trust. She is able to push me out of my comfort zone while remaining true to my personality. What does that mean? It means I bought I full length sequin skirt (that I am now obsessed with) and will be wearing it with a cotton t-shirt and combat boots. Love it.
Kate also has a knack for accessories, which I often forget about completely. She has me styled from head to toe.
The best part about finding clothes that you love is how good you feel in them. I couldn’t get over how beautiful I felt. We sat in a coffee shop reviewing the photographs from our shoot and I was grinning from ear to ear. I couldn’t believe how confident I was and how much fun I had getting all dressed up for the first time since having my baby boy.
Interested in getting this look? Be sure to stop by Kate’s blog for the details. If you would like help developing your personal style, finding an outfit for a specific occasion, or finding new ways to wear what you already own, check out Kate’s styling services. She is pretty incredible.
Don’t miss the rest of this Oscar Party series!
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I cannot express how excited I am to have Grayson’t nursery featured on Apartment Therapy! I have often turned to their blog for inspiration and am pumped that my design is now apart of that pool of beautiful rooms and ideas. Thank you Apartment Therapy! Stop by and check it out here along with the other beautiful designs they have featured.
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