I've been swooning over monogram necklaces lately, which is weird since I'm not usually a monogram girl. I think this stems from the difficulties that come with having a 2-word last name. Technically, my monogram is KVL, but I always think it looks weird without the "VW." So, I've come to the conclusion that I have the power to recreate my monogram. It's KVW.
Anyway, I lovelovelove the circular style monogram necklaces that are trending right now. As such, I decided this was to be my Mother's Day present. (See? I said Joey was a great shopper!) I found a jeweler to work on the design and this gem will be arriving soon!
First, let me say that I have always been a FIRM believer that fruit should keep its fresh and smelly nonsense out of the ice cream world. Chocolate, peanut butter and other candies only, thankyouverymuch. I also am not really a fan of Greek Yogurt (save the yummy commercials with John Stamos) and think it tastes particularly of raw sour cream. Ew.
However.
This ice cream ROCKED my world. It was gone in about 2 seconds flat. I strongly suggest you get some, like, now. Thank me later.
P.S. - The Greek Yogurt line also comes in Raspberry Fudge Chunk, Peanut Butter Banana, and Strawberry Shortcake. As soon as I find them and devour them, I will let you know.
Since I'm a big, big fan of hosting parties outside my home where others do all the prepping, decorating, cooking and aftermath clean up, we hosted Alex's 3rd birthday at the Detroit Zoo.
What a super fun day! When we walked into the room we were overwhelmed at how cool it was. I mean, seriously...what kid wouldn't want to party here?
Our party hostess, Miss Danielle, played super fun games with Alex and his friends.We danced and sang and hokey-pokeyed until we had no pokey left.
The cake was a personal favorite. Although provided by the Zoo, we brought along a special guest who just HAD to be on the cake. Alex was thrilled.
And cake? Better if eaten naked.
He had such a special day with all his friends and family. And after the "official" party was over we took some time to walk around the zoo and see the animals. The day was honestly perfect--one of those moments you want to bottle up and lock away in your heart for those rare days when your patience has reached a limit and you possibly can't count to three one more time. He was an angel.
If you'd like to peek at all the pictures from Sunday, click here!
Alex loves when I use the front camera on my phone so he can watch himself in the screen. Gets his vanity from his Momma, I'm sure. Here's some randomness from last night's dinner.
Also? I love when he's pointing and talking about the red dot. That's the record button on the screen of my phone, and since he could see himself on the screen, to him it looked like he was actually pushing it.
Back when I was first pregnant with the tWIPs, I stopped into Destination Maternity to pick up a couple camis I knew I would need eventually for work (hello, sale!). Anyway, if you've never shopped at a maternity store, you should know that when you check out they ask you all sorts of questions like your address, due date, mother's maiden name, social security number, favorite ice cream flavor, etc. I exaggerate a bit, but it is rather interrogational, no?
This information arms them to put you on all sorts of ridiculous mailing lists to receive coupons, samples and other useless mail throughout your 9 month incubation stage. Very tricksy, indeed.
Anyway, I had sort of completely forgotten about it until the other day when I arrived home.
When I arrived home and there was the congratulatory "one month from your due date" free can of Enfamil on my doorstep.
When I arrived home and was instantly filled with rage.
I've held my shit together pretty well considering the circumstances. When I wrote my initial blog post about the tWIPs I meant every single word I typed. Truly. I have honest to peaches had nothing but total and complete peace about this whole thing since the moment it happened. Sure, I was sad and heartbroken, but I knew deep down that whether or not I liked it or understood it, it was something that happened to me. For a reason. (A reason I will never understand, but that's out of my hands.) I made my peace with my Maker and carried on.
But back to the Enfamil.
Had others not been with me the moment my feet hit the doorstep, I can promise you one thing: I would have picked up that can and hurled it through the nearest window with all the strength of Thor. And then I probably would have found it, picked it back up, and jumped up and down on it until it was smashed to complete smithereens. And then I would have picked up the smithereens and flushed them down the toilet with a lighted match and some butane.
I think it's probably safe to say I never went through the "anger" stage of the grieving process back in September.
This morning, I drove to work by myself. I screamed the whole way there at the top of my lungs. I pounded on my steering wheel (only at the stoplights...I promise I was safe) and turned my music up really, really loud. I'm pretty sure anyone that passed me was certain I was driving myself to the loony bin.
I guess you never know what the single drop will be that overflows your cup of crazy. For me, it was a free can of Enfamil. The good news is that I think I've officially completed all the stages of grief. We're good.
"I am a true believer in that you don't truly appreciate your Mom for all she is until you become one yourself. I welcomed Alex into the world in 2009 and only then did my head & heart understand a Mother's relentless, never-ending, uncompromising love. I am a piece of her..truly the best of her...and for that I am thankful. I love you, Mom!"
Click here to vote for us in Vera Bradley's Facebook "Letters to Mom" contest!
P.S. - I was limited to 140 characters for my entry...but I could type for days about the admiration, respect & awe I have for my Mom. To use a Grey's Anatomy-ism, she's my "person."
In addition to the addition of the beautiful erosion tarps, our lot is now staked! We drove past on Saturday and were delighted to see all the orange and purple flags strewn about. It was cool to walk around and see where the house will actually sit on the lot. Hoping for the first dig this week!
You will note I am also holding Alex's lawnmower, because he wanted to make sure our lawn was "nice and cut" for the "constructions" to start their work.
Mandy over at Harper's Happenings does a link-up on Thursdays called "High on Thrifting." Considering that roughly 9 out of any 10 adventures to thrift and antique shops yield absolutely nothing for me, I've had very little to contribute to the cause.
HOWEVER.
A few weekends ago, Joey and I went to visit 2 of our favorite peeps in all the world, Jason and Sarah. (Yes, that Sarah.) They live in Grand Rapids, a place I could be convinced to move to in approximately 2.5 seconds. Moot point.
Anyhow, Sarah has the gift of shopping. For realsies. The girl can find anything. In any store. And it's probably also on clearance and the last one left or quite possibly ever made. And it fits perfectly and you already have shoes to go with it. She's a shopping savant.
She took us to this little gem of a store called Changing Thymes. Think antique store meets craft shop meets re-purposed furniture depot. Yes, heaven.
I found a number of delightful purchases, but here are my two most favoritest:
This little number used to be an old record player cabinet. In fact, still has the gold engraved plates in it and everything. I love it probably more than I should love any inanimate object. Plus, I love that someone already did the work of refinishing, painting and distressing it. Definitely worth paying a little more $$. And the color? Please. It will be so kickass in our new house.
These were SUCH a fun find--a bag of REALLY old wooden blocks! Sarah and I spent about 20 minutes on the floor of the store rearranging the letters to spell something...anything. I finally got our last name, and as if that weren't enough...there were enough letters leftover to spell HER last name (with a little creative use of 2 upside down U blocks). Only one block was left after we did that. Isn't that weird? I sort of love that there's a little piece of this set in each of our homes.
Head on over to the Haps and see what other treasures people are finding...and share yours!
