this is thirty

A week has past since I celebrated my thirtieth birthday. It was a wonderful day. Waking up to receive a cake delivery from the man you love and your favorite girl is a great way to start a birthday. Presents in bed with both kids and cake for breakfast were the next treat of the morning.

It was my day off and my mother-in-law offered to take the kids so I had several hours free to do with as I pleased, a true luxury. It only seemed right to spend some time with my mom on my birthday because now that I'm a mother, I understand how special and significant birthdays really are, especially to the mother. We met for lunch at The Kitchen, a Wolfgang Puck concept that recently opened downtown. The food was delicious and I was so glad to have spent that time in such good company.

get a sister

I have Fridays off and last week Friday, Todd and I had made plans to meet for lunch and take the kids to visit ArtPrize. Wells had his four month checkup that day so we moseyed downtown afterwards and since we were running late, decided to just meet Todd at his office for lunch. He had lunch waiting for us in a conference room and to my complete surprise, my sister was waiting there, a bouquet of confetti-filled balloons in hand, when I opened the door.

My sweet sister flew in, all the way from Seattle, to help me celebrate my upcoming thirtieth. (Still upcoming...I'm squarely in my twenties, I swear.) The arrival of my sister was gift enough but she also made arrangements for a delicious dinner at Reserve with our parents and brought sweet and thoughtful birthday gifts.

adventure room: chairish mix 'n chic style challenge

If you like vintage items you have to check out Chairish. It's a marketplace for vintage items - everything from furniture to home goods, even jewelry. Members can buy and sell items through the site and it's a great source for finding unique pieces that make a room your own.

I was recently asked by Chairish to participate in their Mix 'n Chic Style Challenge by creating a style board with some of their shabby chic items. I love the idea of mixing pieces from different design niches: shabby chic with modern, vintage with new, high end with bargain finds. A healthy mixture of styles can take your vision for a space from good to great.

wells: month four

Today Wells is four months old. Handsome as ever and growing by the day. 

He went to the doctor yesterday and was deemed big and strong.

Being big and strong at four months old means you get the green light to start trying solid foods so we kicked it off with sweet potato yesterday afternoon.

That was very exciting! We tried again today and he seemed equally pleased.

His four month birthday was made even more exciting with a surprise visit from Tia Emily, all the way from Seattle! (A surprise that deserves its own post. Stay tuned.)

We're having so much fun and are so excited to watch our boy keep changing and growing. We love you, Wellsy!

finds: halloween picks for tots

Happy October, Everyone!

October might the most universally loved month of the year. The crisp air and promise of cozy sweaters and those pumpkin lattes that everyone is talking about just get people in a good mood.

Of course, in addition to all of the other fall fun, October always brings to mind Halloween so I thought we'd kick off the month with a roundup of some of my favorite Halloween finds for kids.

Books:

one / two / three

four / five

six / seven / eight

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin holds a special place in my heart - we read it hundreds of times last fall without getting tired of it. We always love Llama Llama and Little Blue Truck books and the Baby Lit series is awesome. We own Peek-A-Who? and I'm sure this Halloween version is just as fun.

For Girls:

one / two / three

That cat dress is so sweet and it has the cutest little cat tail on the back side. I wish it came in toddler sizes for Elia. Thankfully, the Boo pajamas do and she especially loves that the little stars glow in the dark. And that monster sweater, that puffy little monster is so charming!

For Boys:

one / two / three

Both pairs of pajamas are darling and could be worn by boys or girls. Wells will be rocking his Peek-A-Booo bodysuit this month for his first Halloween.

What are your favorite picks for Halloween?