I Die

Can we just talk about this dress for a second? It's amazing. Seriously. And it's going along with the modest trend that I noticed at the Oscar's. I love it because usually when looking at red carpet gowns I'm looking at incredibly gorgeous gowns that I could never ever wear. Like I would ever have any place fancy enough to wear them to. That would never happen, but what girl doesn't dream right? This dress would actually work for me. Given I was famous, had a red carpet event to attend and a lot more money. Ahhhh it's a really good dream. Really good.

Monthly Photo Project: 3 Months Old

He just keeps getting cuter and cuter! 

Lacking

Check out my sons crazy eyes. He looks a little freaked out by his sister. Miss. S had those same big blue eyes when she was a baby

I've been stuck at home for the last few weeks. I'm ok. There is nothing wrong. It's a really long and slightly embarrassing story that I won't get into here. I'll just say that Denny has had the car (our other car was totaled recently) and we have been stuck here at home. At first the whole situation was fine. Now it's really starting to wear on me. I'm bored. I'm stir crazy. I'm lacking motivation, inspiration and energy. Hence the lack of posting the last few days. I have a couple things I want to post about but the whole no motivation thing is getting in the way. The last thing I want to do is blog when I'm not feeling inspired. At first it was great cause I had a couple projects I wanted to work on. Now that those are made I'm having a hard time thinking of other things to occupy my time. If the weather was a little cooler I think I would take the kids for a walk to the park and spend more time outside. Maybe the fresh air would invigorate me and give me a little more umph. But I don't do well in this heat and neither do tiny babies. So inside we have stayed. I'm starting to feel a little guilty with how much T.V. has been watched. I will say this though. Miss. S has been a good sport about this whole thing. Sure everyday she asks me if we can do anything but stay home, but she has been extra sweet. And the baby? Well he has gotten on an excellent schedule. Which means his night time sleep has been amazing. He's been waking up pretty consistently at 7:30am most days. So there are plus sides to all this. I'm just hoping that this week I'll be able to have the car a little more. We'll see. In the meantime I need you help. What do you do when you find yourself in a rut? Where do you find motivation? Inspiration? All my usuals are just not working. I need some good ideas!

Independence Day Round Up

Are you looking for some Fourth of July ideas? Well you came to the right place. I love the Fourth of July so much. Living in Texas makes it even more fantastic. People here are super patriotic which makes for a really fun fourth. Here are some things I've found that I'm loving for Independence Day.

Image Found Via Style Me Pretty

1. I would love to have a BBQ just so I could decorate like this. Big lights + Streamers = Magic
2. No round up would be complete without a great garland. This one is really cute.
3. Love these little bandana flags. OK the burger looks pretty good too.
4. I must make these strawberries. Yum!
5. These pillows combine several things I love. Silhouettes, houndstooth and typography. Amazing.
6. This is the most perfect patriotic breakfast. Looks delicious.
7. FREE Party printables! Oh how I love freebies!
8. Last but not least a adorable Americana inspired wreath. I'm kinda loving this one.

Mmmmmmm!!!!!

Sorry for the crappy iPhone photo. I was just way too excited about the dinner I just ate. Denny made crepes. Then he baked them with Swiss cheese, black forest ham and an egg. Top it off with coarse salt and pepper. Delicious. It's from the January issue of Every Day Food. We were surprised by how simple it is to make them. I always thought crepes were incredibly hard. They aren't. You can get that issue for free on the iPad and it includes videos and all kinds of extras. It's great! Anyway Make it. You will not be disappointed!

Oh and dessert wasn't half bad either. Crepes with nutella and bananas. Mmmmmm!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Simple Skirt Take Two

I'm calling this her "Polka Dot Party" skirt. I love it! I have decided that I might not ever purchase another shirt for her again. Why buy them when they are so easy to make? How easy? Easy enough that my 10 year old niece could make it. That's how easy. As you can see this time I went with the two-tiered simple skirt. It is just as easy as the single layer skirt. It didn't photograph very well but let me tell you it is pretty stinking cute. This is not the last you've seen of these skirts from me. I'm on a roll. And if you've been thinking about trying to make one these I say do it! You will love the end result.

The New Addition To The Collection

Here is this years masterpiece. There is a rainbow, some circles, there was a happy face until she thought it needed more pink, and one really wonky baby foot. He was really really squirmy so it didn't turn out like I had hoped, but oh well! That's all part of the fun. I think it is absolutely perfect!

Paperless Post

I sent my Dad an e-card for Father's Day. I'm pretty sure I was much more excited about it than he was. I wasn't expecting to not have a car all last week so I didn't get to mail anything off to him. So I sent him an e-card. And I was actually pretty excited about it. I have seen several posts on other blogs over the past month about Paperless Post. What I saw was pretty impressive. I mean really pretty and classy. So I was looking for an excuse to try it out. I know it sounds a little silly to get excited about an e-card but just look at these designs. They have so many to choose from and for all different occasions. It really is worth a look. I'm tempted to just do e-cards for the rest of the year. If I got one of these in my in box I might just do a little dance. Really.

My Favorite Tradition

I love celebrating Father's Day. Dad's work hard. They do so much and they deserve to feel special. Every year for Father's Day Miss. S has painted a special Father's Day painting for Denny. The first Father's Day she was only 9 months old so I helped out quite a bit. Each year she takes over a little more. This year she pretty much did the whole thing by herself. Well besides a little help from Mr. Z's foot (our son has some crazy feet!).

Out of any holiday tradition this is by far my favorite. S has so much fun painting with the "special" paints and she gets so excited to give Denny something she made with her own two hands. It is truly something special for everyone. Plus don't they look so cute all lined up like that? This years piece isn't in the above photo (Duh! Can't ruin the surprise!) but let me tell you she did a great job. She picked out everything from the canvas to the colors. It was so much fun!

Best Snack Ever!

Or breakfast or lunch. Pretty much whenever you want to eat it it's gonna be good. I love yogurt. So much! I mean good yogurt. Real yogurt. Not that yoplait crap they call yogurt but is basically a bag of skittles in yogurt clothing. I mean have you seen how much sugar is in that stuff? I think a lot of people make the assumption that if it's yogurt then it's automatically good for you. Not so my friends. I'm a pretty picky yogurt eater. I've experimented a little bit and I've found my three favorite yogurt brands.

First there's Fage Greek Style Yogurt. Thick creamy tart goodness. Get the plain and the add your own honey. Seriously good. Did you know that adding a tablespoon of local honey to your diet everyday can help with allergies? True story. Also this is a great healthy alternative to sour cream. Substitute it when ever you would normally use sour cream.

The second brand I like to give to Miss. S. I get her the individual cups of Stoneyfield. It's organic so you know they won't use any high fructose corn syrup to sweeten it. I've also heard that Stonyfield is the best to use as a starter for making your own yogurt. My Mom makes her own yogurt quite a bit and uses Stonyfield  as the starter. I feel good giving Miss. S Stonyfield. She likes it just as much as Go-Gurt and it is a much healthier alternative. The price is also fairly low.

The last one I just tried a week ago per my Mom's suggestion. The Greek God's Honey flavored yogurt. OK this is like a dessert. It is to die for. Toss a handful of fresh berries on the top and you're set. It is seriously a party in my mouth. I'm begging all of you to try it. It is definitely a special occasion treat (it's pretty high in calories, fats and sugars). Not an everyday snack, but so so yummy! You can feel kind of good eating though because it is made with milk, cream, pure cane sugar, honey, pectin & five live active cultures. Notice no high fructose corn syrup or anything you can not pronounce (well except the cultures).

All of these brands contain those ever so valuable live active cultures that everyone is talking about these days. They aid in digestion and boost your immune system.

So there you have my yogurt low down. Does anyone else love it as much as I do? Do you have any favorites?

If You Like It Then You Should've Put A Bird On It

I'd like to introduce you to the "Put A Bird On It" simple skirt. I decided I wasn't the only person in need of a new skirt. Miss. S definitely needed a new skirt (or two or three). When I saw this fabric on sale at Joann's I knew just what to do with it. I followed Dana's tutorial for a simple skirt. And that it was. Very simple. She timed herself making one and it only took her like 15 min. It took me about an hour. This marks several firsts for me. My first sewing project since the baby was born, my first skirt for S, and my first project (sewing or other) ever with a bird on it. It's kinda a right of passage among crafters right? The whole bird thing. Enough so that it inspired this super funny Portlandia video.
 
Makes me laugh every time. I got enough fabric to make 2 more skirts (different patterns of coarse). So I hope those will be done over the next couple days. It's hot out there! This girl needs more skirts!

                                          

The Cutest Top Chef Fan

We stopped by the Top Chef Tour today. They cut the line off for photos right before we got to the front but because my kid was so cute they couldn't refuse. I mean look at that face. How could they?

By the way don't you think Dale got robbed this last season? I don't think he should have won (I'm a Richard Blaise fan through and through) but he really should have been in the finale. Don't tell him that though. I think he's sick of hearing it.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Beauty Department

I know I may be a little late to the game on this one. But have you seen Lauren Conrad's new website. thebeautydepartment.com? It's pretty fantastic. What I love the most are the hair tutorials. I am hair challenged these days. It's either straight or in a pony tail. No style at all. Some of the looks seem pretty easy. Minimal effort for maximum style. So I may have to branch out. There are also great tutorials for make up. You should take a look!

Praise For Switched At Birth

Remember this post from back in February? Well this past Monday was Katie's big premier night for Switched at Birth. Of coarse if you keep up with me on Facebook then you already knew that. I was hoping to get this post up on Tuesday but that just wasn't in the cards for me. Anyway you probably already know that I have nothing but praise for the premier of Switched at Birth and I am overly proud of the performance by Katie! I guess the best compliment I can give was that within the first 10 or 15 minutes of the show I stopped watching because it was Katie and started watching because I really liked the show. I stopped seeing Katie up there on my T.V. set and I only saw Daphne. She really exceeded my expectations. I knew she was a good actress but it goes to show that with a good script, directing, cast, set and everything else that goes into a production like this a good actress can become a star. I am so excited to see what the rest of the season has in store for us.

Enough of my praise. What you should really know are the cold hard facts. Switched at Birth was the highest rated premier of all time for ABC Family pulling in 3.3 million viewers for the premier and 4.9 million viewers combined with the encore presentation immediately following the premier. It was the number one most watched cable T.V. show in it's time slot and number two for all Monday night. AMAZING!!! It has received rave reviews across the board. One review on examiner.com has this to say about Katie...

"Leclerc is the girl-next-door, the next Rachel McAdams, and from minute one you want to know more about her. She literally radiates on screen, and you can't help but get sucked up into her own brand of optimism; she is going to have a bright future; Switched at Birth is only the start!"

Like I said before... AMAZING!!! I know I'm a biased opinion, but these are professional critics that get paid for their opinions. There is no arguing with that. So if you didn't watch the premier you can find it on the Switched at Birth website and please tune in next Monday night at 9/8pm central. Check your local listings.

One more thing before I go. I've been asked by several people if Katie is deaf in real life. Her character Daphne on the show is deaf but in real life Katie is not. She is hard of hearing due to a condition called Meniere's Disease. She has been signing for as long as I have known her. Also my other sister-in-law Jody (Denny & Katie's older sister) teaches ASL in Salt Lake City and is actively involved in the deaf community there. She helped prepare Katie for this role and I think her instruction was invaluable to how the character was portrayed.

A Little Tip

Did I mention I received the skirt? It made it's first appearance at church this past week. It is pretty much exactly what I was looking for (I wish it was just a tad longer but it really doesn't bother me all that much). Don't you love it when you have a vision of what you want in your mind and you actually find it? I struggle with that sometimes.

I know it may seem a little silly that I actually photographed myself wearing my new ensemble, but let me tell you why. Denny always pokes a little fun at me when we do this because I'm always so awkward in front of the camera, but there really is a purpose. I learned this from working at a modeling agency (and from watching The Hills). You can learn a lot about how you look from taking a picture of yourself in what you wear. I should really do this more often actually. For example what I learned from this photo is that I wish I had a better necklace or even a scarf to wear with this. I think the belt was a great idea because it is hiding all my baby bulge around my midsection. I actually look like I have a waist. I also realized that I shouldn't be wearing ankle strap shoes of any kind until I get back in shape and have some sort of a tan. They make me look like I have cankles when I promise they aren't that bad. If you actually see yourself in a photo you can see the good points of an outfit and the bad. Then you can make small changes that will make you look even better. Do I think I look awful in this? NO, but if I changed a couple things I could look even better. Anyone who works in the fashion industry uses this trick. I promise you. I just thought I would pass it along.

***Update*** I just realized that I may come across as insecure or picking on myself in this post. That's not it at all. I'm actually very comfortable with the way I look especially since I just had a baby two months ago. The point I was trying to make is that you catch certain things in a photo that you wouldn't other wise notice. It helps you see what shapes and styles look best on your body type. We are all shaped differently. What looks great on one person may not look the same on you. It also can teach you how to accessorize a lot better. It's just a good tool to use to help you look your best and be comfortable in your own skin.

Catching Up

I have so much to catch up on. My parents came to town and disrupted my life in the best way possible. I have several things I've been meaning to post but haven't had the chance to. I'm working on getting my house and routine back to normal but I will be back really soon!

P.S. Does anyone else love the new blogger features as much as I do? The new mobile version and preview button are fantastic!

Checked Out

My parents are in town for a visit. That's why I've been neglecting the blog as of late. I'll be back later next week after they return to Utah. I'm just having too much fun with them to think about anything else right now. Until then check out this amazing birthday party I spotted over on Ohdeedoh.

Image Found on This Girl's Life

Despicable Three. So appropriate seeing as though three is the hardest age so far. It's pretty despicable. I love Miss. S with every ounce of my being but she definitely challenges me every chance she gets. I wish I could go back in time and throw this party for her.