when you can't ride the rides...

take lots of pictures

and that is exactly what I did today

on our first official day of vacation, in Disneyland

we made a point to get into Disneyland right after opening this morning

and the best part was,

everyone else was filing into California Adventure to visit the new Cars Land

and that was good news for the mr. and I

because while the lines were forming in the other park

we were able to walk onto every ride we wanted in Disneyland

and were very satisfied with what we got done in just a couple of hours

and yes, there are still quite a few rides that I cannot ride

and the husband has realized that going on those "big" rides by himself

aren't as fun without me [which was pretty cute when he admitted it]

but all in all

we are still having a blast and taking everything in

and enjoying little E's third trip to Disneyland so far

this little lady will definitely be a mickey fan like her fam

tomorrow, we will visit Disneyland in the evening

and I'm pretty excited about that

25 weeks

this week was exciting for me on the pregnancy front

I changed hospitals and will now be delivering with Sutter

and the particular hospital I've chosen is much for suited for my natural birth plan

and they also happen to have one of the lowest c-section rates in the nation

which makes me a happy camper

I met with one of the midwives in their practice

and had the best pre-natal visit I've had to date

no more, wait an hour, see the doctor for five minutes

instead, I waited five minutes, and talked with the midwife for an hour

just what this first time momma needs

while I was there my midwife also didn't agree with all the due date changing 

that I was getting before

she pointed out to me that after six weeks all babies are very different sizes

so changing my date because she was measuring bigger at 20 weeks

didn't seem to make sense to her

so, we are back to the date given at my eight week ultrasound

and if I've been keeping track, I think that puts me back at 25 weeks

moon deco

oh my

today I added a piece to my collection I was pretty sure was never going to happen

I have always loved the striking pattern on the Moon Deco promotional piece

however, these rare pieces are always SO expensive

online they range from $70-135

and in person, I have only seen one, and they wanted just over $100

now, most of my collection is thrifted

and my biggest splurges have been $20

however, when the husband spotted this mint Moon Deco at our favorite 

neighborhood mid-century collective

for $40 I knew that it was going to be mine

well, I did think on it for the night

crazy, I know

but I knew that the store, Scout Living, 

was closing in ten minutes from when we spotted it

and after "thinking on it" for the night, you better believe we were there 

as soon as the store opened

I mean, seriously, I can't handle my excitement right now

lately my collecting has really slowed down

and there are only a few pieces I'm really on the hunt for

now that I have my very own Moon Deco

I'm feeling overly satisfied

so, once again, thank you to the mr. for spotting this piece for me

I'm not sure what I would do without him

this baby bump seems to have me a tad off my Pyrex hunting game!

opposite schedules

this week the mr. and I have been experiencing very different schedules

I've been working overtime on my masters

which has meant early mornings and long days

and the husband has been going in late and closing up shop

so, I've been on my own in the evenings

and thankfully this doesn't happen too much because cooking for just me

doesn't really happen

because the mr. isn't there pretty much running the dinner show

so due to some rather large lunch study meals

my dinners have been consisting more of fruit, veggies, and frozen yogurt

tomorrow I'll be back to normal, promise

and tonight while I was walking the three blocks to the yogurt shop [so dangerous]

I stumbled onto a little street festival

I'm still not sure what exactly it was for, or who was sponsoring it

but there were lots of very large art displays of cardboard boxes turned into tunnels

bands playing & art for sale

all in all it was fun to walk through

but it would have been a little more fun if I wasn't solo

thankfully just a few more days until our vacation

and I kind of can't wait!

free, friendly, & fabulous for your photos

lately, I've been using something that I stumbled on a while back

for some time now I have moved on from doing all my photo editing in iPhoto

and have been using Photoshop actions instead

however, I'm not sure what it is, but I just haven't been happy with my editing

so I have started using PicMonkey instead for most of my photo editing

and the best part is it is a website that you can use

no need to make an account, or download anything to your computer

and it's free

here are some examples of PicMonkey edits:
[not sure how this adorable shoe shot got missed but it was just waiting to be edited]

not only do you have many filter options [tranquil & intrepid tend to be my favs]

you also can get a little funky by adding rounded corners and text as seen above

or do basic edits such as cropping and photo exposure adjustments

now they have some real cheesy features too that I haven't found very useful

but when it comes to wanting to do a quick edit on a photo, it surely gets the job done

and once you are done editing your photo, just save it anywhere on your computer 

then you start fresh with a new photo

hope you find this helpful, figured I would spread the awesomeness
give it a try yourself here

and while we are on the topic, do you have favorite places to edit digital photos?

I would love to hear what else is out there!

a little while back I got help from my friend

Jaymee Srp of the Design Hive and owner of the shop Retro Menagerie

thankfully I had her to help me get going on E's nursery walls

because I had ideas, but no real place to start

we made a plan, got what we needed, and executed all in one afternoon

just the way I like when getting things done

and yesterday I ordered the perfect mobile - I can't wait to get it

things are really starting to come together, and I couldn't be happier

nursery prints courtesy of Retro Menagerie

frames: Ikea

book ledges: Ikea

embroidery hoops & Fabric: Joann Fabrics

iron tree: Pottery Barn [gifted to me years ago]

"E" changing table lamp: vintage

owl nightlight: vintage

alphabet print: made by me, printed by Retro Menagerie

just trying to keep cool

this weekend I have class and with temperatures over 100 degrees

and the classroom air only getting so cool

let's just say I was pretty miserable all day

it is pretty bad when you realize that not only are your neighbors

sweetly fanning you

but your professor is too

so tonight the family and I spent some time swimming

and baking cupcakes for tomorrow

because in just two weeks from today

one of our great friends, and classmates

is getting married in beautiful Santa Cruz, CA

so tomorrow

 in the afternoon stretch, when you think you just can't handle any more curriculum talk

we will be taking a little sugar celebration break!

how we spent our day [anniversary style]

for our anniversary we debated on what exactly to do

we were thinking mini road trip

but then I decided that a day in the car didn't sound super exciting at 6 months pregnant

especially since we will be getting our car fix in soon

when traveling down to southern california for vacation here in a couple of weeks

so instead of the car, we decided to hit up some of our favorite antiquing spots

and well, let's just say that we had some success

I really must say that I cannot pick my favorite find from the day

I am SO in love with the vintage "E" sign we found for the changing table

I put in some new lighting yesterday and she is sure glowing pretty at night

and yes, the little lady's name starts with an "E" 

but we will leave it at that for the moment

and the kitchen cabinet, well, it's simply to die for

I am loving it in our kitchen, it is such the perfect fit

and because any anniversary isn't complete without some pyrex

I had to pick up this Friendship fridgie that the Mr. found for me

and considering it was priced like it was at a thrift store

it was surely coming home with me

could not think of any better way to spend celebrating four years of married life

24 weeks

yes, 24 weeks means two things:

#1 - we missed week 23, you would think I would have more time over the summer

to snap a quick shot, but apparently not

#2 - I'm now officially 6 months along, which seems pretty real

this last week brought some cooler weather, thankfully

and the mr. quickly learned that touching the air conditioning in the car

is no longer an option for him

it was too funny yesterday when I caught him almost turning the air off

and then quickly moved his hand away from the dial, smart man

little lewis is moving SO much these days

not only can I feel her, but the husband has too

not to mention if you are really observant, sometimes you can see her wiggling around

craziness is all I have to say about that

thankfully she is still not keeping me up at night, at least not yet

four years ago today [we got married]

it is pretty amazing how fast the years go by

it is hard for me to believe that we have already been mr. & mrs. for four years

I must admit that married life suits me pretty well

and I can't imagine my life being any different than it is right now

and this year feels even more special

because it is our last anniversary we celebrate just the two of us

I cannot wait to see what year five brings us, besides our daughter of course

so here's to many more road trips, adventures, and overall awesomeness

photo by Sarah Maren Photographers

a good reason to get together

in my family we love celebrating birthdays

as I've gotten older I realize that not everyone still celebrates "grown-up" birthdays

but now I just think that is silly

because no matter how many times you have gotten to celebrate another year

bottom line, you deserve a special day

and a birthday in my family is just a good reason to get together

1. meg is 23  2. flowers in mason jars, always  3. just another reason why I love target  4. the balcony, their new favorite place  5. unicorns & cat donuts  6. I think the cupcakes were a hit  7. good end to the day

meg is 23!

today my little sister turns 23

yesterday we celebrated with friends and family

but for now, I'm off to the city to take meg back home

so I'll just leave you with this

and yes, she is that fabulous.

keeping balance

yesterday I made some major progress in the nursery

with some help from a great friend, Jaymee from The Design Hive

I can't wait to share what we worked on soon

but here is just one of my favorite additions we added to the nursery

trying to keep balance in the nursery with new additions and still keeping to

our design style of mid-century modern is truly my focus

and adding this vintage nursery scale is just what I needed

ten on ten [july 2012]

it has officially been one year since my first ten on ten

and I must admit it is still something that I look forward to every month

and now to get a tad sappy

and to explain why my last photo may seem like deja vu to you

 if you have been reading long

I figured this month, being my one year anniversary of participating in this project

I would re-do one of my favorite images I have taken in the last year

and this time around, I have an additional reason to prove

that love is real

[july 2011]

check out my first year of ten on ten posts here

and as always, thanks to Rebekah from A Bit of Sunshine 

for creating this project

getting crafty

well my first nursery wall art project was pretty simple

and thanks to pinterest, inspiration has not been a problem at all

I have been seeing everywhere in nurseries embroidery hoops used with pretty textiles

so I decided to give it a shot

for now they are propped up on the little lady's dresser

but I'll figure out where exactly to hang them soon enough

also, I've been pretty busy the last two days

and things are quickly starting to look a lot more like a nursery

here's just a peek -

22 weeks

well this week's photo is a little late

and no, you're not missing week 21, the ultrasound tech took it away from me

my due date has been once again changed, now I'm looking closer to 23 weeks than 22

so I'm thinking the entire month of November is fair game for this little lady to arrive

and I'm alright with that

who knows, maybe she'll even come on her very first due date - halloween!

this week's photo has so many things that we love

my patriotic outfit I had to help me celebrate independence day

a very awesome VW bus that is always parked around the corner from our house

[the husband and I have a tad bit of envy for it]

and finally, our little lady

I can admit she's our favorite

stars & stripes and everything in between

yesterday the husband & I celebrated our independence day

and for the first time in a while

we didn't host a b.b.q at our house

but instead, upgraded to a yard with a pool and joined in with my family

and brought our friends too

I guess you could say we had our cake & ate it too

if you are stateside I hope you also enjoyed our wednesday celebration!

oh, and the cookie cake recipe was a hit - try it out for yourself here