{Valentine's Day Gift Guide} For Him

Only 8 more days until Valentine's Day :)

Craig and I don't normally buy each other anything, and if we do, it is a "shared" gift for the house. This year we're just exchanging cards & having a special dinner at home, after A goes to bed.

But if I were going to buy him something, these are some of the gifts I would consider!

Enjoy :)

tie / ipod dock / fleece / sweatshirt / boxers

{Valentine's Day Gift Guide} For Her

I'm back with Valentine's Day Gifts, for all the ladies in your life.
Enjoy!

scarf / pillow / calligraphy print / earrings / coin purse

{Valentine's Day Gift Guide} For the Littles

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We certainly did!

I really enjoyed the Superbowl this year, but I have to say the Budweiser commercial was my hands-down favorite of the night. Of course, I cried like a baby... but I loved it!

Here is my very first installment of gift guides: something I thought would be fun to do for the special occasions and holidays that occur during the year. I hope you like it!

I love giving A a little gift for each holiday - nothing crazy, but something appropriate to the occasion, and something he will enjoy in the coming months. Pajamas and books are always my go-to, and A seems to enjoy them :)

Here my Valentine's Day Gift Guide, for the Littles!

stripe sweater / stripe one-piece / panda pajamas / pirate pajamas / dinosaur book / dinosaur toy / charlie brown / stinky face

I'll be back with two more gift guides this week!

Happy Monday!

gReader

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but I do all of my blog reading in the mornings, while I take the train into the city. I have been using Google Reader for the last several years, and while it has served its purpose, I always wondered if there was something better. Google Reader drives me a little crazy - I find it disorganized, and I can't stand that I have to open a browser to comment on a blog.

On Wednesday, Leah posted a few questions to her readers, about how they read blogs, and Kathryn suggested gReader. I'm officially hooked.

gReader is a Google app, so all of your blogs are automatically loaded for you. But unlike Google Reader, you can comment directly in the app, rather than having to open a browser to comment.

Here are some screen shots form my phone, to help explain.

gReader Home Page

And just by clicking on the post you want to read, you are brought here.

'Blog' Page

The one and only thing I would change (so far), is the the name of the blog should be seen on the 'home screen'. In order to see the name of the blog, you need to click on the post.

I've only been using gReader for a day, but so far, I love it!

Happy Friday friends!
Check back next week for my Valentine's Day gift guides!

XO

{What I'm Reading}: January

What I'm Reading: January 2013

Mom's On Call - Toddler Book

Desperate for some advice on discipline, I chose to read Mom's On Call. Overall, I have to say this book was harsh, and that the opinions & advice are not for the faint of heart. There are certainly some suggestions that C & I appreciated, and embrace wholeheartedly. I mentioned it here, but Mom's On Call suggests positive reinforcement before bed (just as they are closing their eyes), as a way to convince your toddler to stay in their bed all night. I'm not sure if this was the one thing that changed A's sleep habits, but, we're still doing it every night. I thought the suggestions on 'confident face' were spot-on, and

The harshest part of the book for me, was their directive on your 'one and only job' at night... to never, under any circumstance, open the door to your child's room. EVER (OK, except for sickness... but how do you know your child has a fever in the middle of the night if you don't go in the room?) In fact, they suggest reversing the handle so that you can lock it from the outside, and go on to tell you how this is safe, especially in case of a fire (so that your child can't escape and roam the house in fear). Um... I don't really know where to start, but all I can say is that I'm not that mom. Maybe this works for some people, but it is not for us. Never responding to A's cries in the middle of the night? Ignoring that he is calling for me? I couldn't. It actually makes me a little sad to think there are other toddlers out there, who wake up in the middle of the night calling for their momma's, only to cry themselves back to sleep.

( and now this review is already much longer than I thought it would be... )

Gone Girl

Of course, I had to read Gone Girl. I was maybe the only person on earth who hadn't read it. Gone Girl lived up to every expectation I had for it, and more. Gillian Flynn is a gifted writer, and always kept you guessing with every page. The thought that she put into her characters, and their development throughout the book, was very impressive. I have to admit, I was a little confused by the ending. However, once I thought about it some more, it made sense, but still seemed abrupt to me. I would definitely read any of Flynn's other books, after reading this one.

Sweet Tooth

I am only 20% through Sweet Tooth, so I can't give a complete review. I will say, if you are reading and are at the very beginning... it gets better. Just be patient!


I would love to know: what are you reading?

On (not) Quitting

Sometimes I dream of what it would be like to just close my Etsy shop and stop writing this blog.

What would life be like if I didn’t read any home decorating blogs? Would I still love it just as much? {Probably}. Would I miss designing if I closed my Etsy shop, and just ordered my Christmas Cards through Minted like a normal person? Some days I'm really not sure.

Wednesday was one of those days where I wanted to quit it all.

I absolutely LOVE working with clients through Etsy, and designing something that they adore. What I don’t love? Working with my printers on the final product. On Wednesday, I was reminded why I ever hesitated opening my shop in the first place… because ultimately, I have little control over the finished product. One of my vendors completely took advantage of me, and it made me disgusted. She backed me into a corner, and I almost gave up because I was out of options. Thankfully, I found a commercial printer who is doing me a huge favor by running a small job on their large press, just to help me out. And do you know what the old printer said when I told her I was pulling the project from her? She wanted me to pay her for her time. That’s when I wanted to quit, and forget that there was ever a time I loved doing this.

And then, Cori posted Ava’s baby announcements.

 

And showed her readers how she framed them in Ava’s nursery.

via

And told all of her readers (there are A LOT of them) how much she loved what I designed for her. And I was, once again, reminded why I love doing this.

Cori’s post was exactly what I needed to hear read.

If you don't already read La Vie Petite, you should. Cori is maybe the cutest mom I've ever seen, and runs her own small business on top of being a mom to her 4 littles. She inspires me time and time again to get out of my leggings & sweatshirt and look presentable. Oh, and I'm very excited that we may be meeting for lunch in the next few weeks!

Happy Monday, friends!

 

Miscellany Monday

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Our weekend was kind of all over the place... in a good way!

• C and I spent this last week looking at preschool programs for A. After visiting 4, making many pro-con lists, and an hour long discussion, I think we've finally come to a decision. I know that this program will be great for our little guy, but thinking about saying goodbye to him during that first drop-off... my heart hurts just thinking about it.

• We spent a lot of this weekend baby-proofing. I'm amazed at what needs to be baby-proofed after 21 months. There's so much more that A can get into, and now that he's out of his crib, we had to re-proof his room. His dresser is now secured to the wall, and we also installed a gate in the playroom. Of course, A helped with both. He used his toy drill on the gate, and then helped find a stud with dad's stud-finder.

• I've been ready for some changes in our wall decor, and yesterday, C was able to move everything around. I was so proud of myself for "shopping the house", rather than going out and buying something new. I'll be sharing those changes soon!

• A few of you have asked how A is doing now that we've moved him onto a mattress. Honestly, he's doing great! He loves his new big boy bed, and sleeping has been getting better and better. I know that not every night & nap will be perfect, but we have made so much progress in the last 2 months. In fact, on Saturday night, he slept 10.5 straight hours. I took this picture not long after he woke up - happy baby!

• So happy that Kourtney & Kim Take Miami is back on. I had been missing my trashy reality T.V., and the Kardashians never disappoint.

Have a wonderful week!