Oh So Excited!

There's something to be said about waiting till something goes on sale....

Before Gemma was born, I obsessed over this drum table from Serena & Lily. It was WAY too expensive, at $395 to purchase, especially since I didn't know if I was having a boy or a girl.

But today, I went to their site to see if it was still available since they're having a friends and family 20% off sale........sadly it was gone. By chance, I decided to call and see if they would be getting any back in. The answer was no....but they DID have 2 left in stock! And they'd marked them down to wholesale cost - $225. Hurrah!!!

And with my $100 gift certificate from my dear friends for my bday..........

it's mine!

Oh lucky day.

PS: if you want to shop the Serena & Lily Friends and Family sale....it goes until 11/22, and you just enter code FRIENDS20 at checkout.

I'm a Barbie girl...are you?

One very exciting thing for me about having a little girl is that I get to share my LOVE of Barbies with her! I saved a few of my favorites from my childhood and I literally can't wait until Gemma is ready to play with them. I used to spend hours dressing and re-dressing my Barbies in the basement play room, and I remember my sister Amy would spend equal amounts of time playing with her My Little Ponies. It worked out well - my Barbies often took 'horsie rides' on Amy's ponies. Ha! Thinking back we had a great time....


Anyway, over the past few years I have rekindled my Barbie love, thanks in part to the Vintage Barbie Calendars that are now put out each year. They are sketched drawings of Barbies in various fabulous outfits, and I just LOVE THEM! They are SO fabulous that you can easily frame the drawings and hang them as wall art - in perhaps a little girls room, or any room that you deem 'shabby chic' I think. Last year my friend Melanie (of the ever popular Style Scout blog) and I were talking about these calendars - I think it was around Christmas time - and they were tough to find by that point - so if you like them, get on it!


They usually do 2 calendars - there is a more typical 16 month Vintage Barbie Calendar, in which you can actually write in birthdays and keep track of things, and then there is the Vintage Barbie Poster Wall Calendar, which to me is more for decoration in itself than actually being useful.....

16 Month Vintage Barbie 2011 Calendar

Here's a shot of the inside....

The 2011 Vintage Barbie Poster Wall Calendar

And this is what each individual page looks like on the Poster Wall Calendar - like I said - more for decoration.

Since it's holiday time, I must mention that these make GREAT girlfriend gifts - and at $13.99 & $21.99 respectively - they are a great price. Try www.calendars.com as well as www.amazon.com.

Happy Birthday Joe!

33 already!!!!!!

I know I have heard this before, from countless adults who have gone before me.....but I can't believe that we (my husband and I, our friends, etc) are 33. I mean, I feel 23! Which is the age that Joe and I met.....

So instead of putting up a hideous picture of us at age 23, I thought this was much cuter.

Joe at age 1. Looking good sweetie, hope today is great!

4 Months Already!

I just have to say......my baby girl is 4 months old today! I can't believe it....time has flown.

She's smiling, almost rolling over, babbling, and just overall the sweetest baby. I can't believe how much I forgot about how sweet they are at this age! And chunky - look at those scrumptious legs!



Happy 4 months, Gemma!

Pillow Time

Nope, not talking about sleep. I love a good decorative pillow. Since we're renting a house right now (bad time to sell ours up in Madison) in the Chicago area, I am trying to find ways to spice up our house without doing too much irreparable damage to the walls (i.e. painting!). One of the best ways I have found to do that is with....pillows!

I have a couple of adorable pillows I found at a cute home boutique up in Madison that I must share with you:

Cute right? They add a little color to our tan-colored couch and people always comment on them. You can find these two pillows and other cute ones HERE; the company (Chandler 4 Corners) is all about hand-hooked wool items (Christmas stockings, furniture, you name it!).


Browsing around their website, I also think these two would be SUPER cute in a little boys room...

Also cute in a little boys room - better yet a nursery? These ADORABLE letter pillows from Serena and Lily:

They'd also make a great baby gift - at only $58!

I'm sure you all will agree - Target always has a great deal on cute pillows..........here's a fab one:

Garden Party - $19.99

And the old standby, Pottery Barn. Except - save a little dough and check out Pottery Barn Teen! (http://www.pbteen.com/) For Gemma's future room, perhaps? Adorable.....

XOXO, $29

and I love this pillow - for it's message, and because it works in any kids' room!

Save the Whales, $29

Hope I've inspired you.......I think watching cute (but dorky, right?!) Nate Berkus' show has inspired me...

Double Delicious? I think so!

Did anyone see yesterday's Oprah? I did - because I have been DVR-ing (is that a word? probably not) every episode of Miss Oprah since this is her last season. Anyway, I am very glad I did because she had Jessica Seinfeld (who is so cute by the way, right?) on there promoting her new cookbook, Double Delicious.

I am a huge fan of Jessica's last cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, which is a compilation of yummy recipes that are deceptively healthy - and your kid will never know! She is all about pureeing veggies and 'hiding' them in foods that her kids already love, for example pureed cauliflower in mac and cheese, and pureed kale in spaghetti and meatballs. I have tried a number of these recipes and Griffin (and Joe!) love them.

Back to her newest book, Double Delicious, Jessica again took on the challenge of making 'delicious' things that all 3 of her kids would eat (two of whom are picky, like most kids!) that were also healthy, and even more importantly, quick and easy to make. I love how in the beginning of the book she details her 'kitchen cabinet,' meaning the people she's feeding and getting feedback from. You learn a little about each of her kids habits, and of course her husband Jerry's, as well as the Today show nutritionist, Joy Behar. Basically, through her introduction, the 'kitchen cabinet,' and then in the recipes you can really tell the time and thought processes were well done when it comes to feeding your family healthfully.

One recipe she featured yesterday on the show that I thought was a GREAT idea, is crock pot lasagna! For real! You literally just layer your lasagna into the crock pot and cook. So easy.....here's a link to the recipe:
http://www.oprah.com/food/Crock-Pot-Lasagna-Recipe

Finally, if you click here, all of Jessica's recipes are on Oprah.com. How nice is that? So you could try a few recipes out before you buy the book (which you should, OR, ask for it as a gift??)

And, on the Barnes and Noble website (http://www.bn.com/), the book is 45%off the cover price right now! So it's $15.94 ! Good deal. I think I'm off to make this purchase.........I know I could use a few fresh recipes - it's easy to get complacent in the kitchen when you're busy.

Jammie time

For those of you with kids, I am sure you will agree with me - nothing is better than finding great jammies (pajamas would be the proper term) for your kids. It's something they always need, and something they spend a lot of time in!


I am so excited to show you my newest find in pajama world - Petit Lem Signature. My Mom bought Gemma a pair of these when she was born, and they fit like a glove. My biggest pet peeve with baby jammies is when the feet don't really fit in the 'foot spot' indicated by the jammies. I know, pretty anal. But I feel like with some pairs I'm constantly fishing around to put Gemma's foot back in the right spot. As you might imagine, Petit Lem jammies don't have this problem!! They fit perfect and have a little elastic sewn around the back of the ankle so that your babies' foot stays put. Yep that rhymed. Look at me, I'm such a dork!


Those of you not familiar with the brand should DEFINITELY visit their website to look at their Fall/Winter collection. It's adorable. They carry pajamas from newborn all the way up to 14 yrs!! The other thing I like is that the boys collection is thoughtful and very boyish but not obnoxious. I find it SO HARD to find 'cute' boy things from some brands.........it all tends to look so grown up you know? They aren't boys for too long so I figure we may as well cash in on the cute while we can, right?


Here are some of my favorite jammies for babies:

And I can't get enough of these robes:

They have a great store-finder on their website as well, and online they are kind of everywhere.....just google petit lem and see what you come up with! I even found a few things on Amazon.com! Finally, I must say I wish I had better pics to show you of this adorable line - but their website doesn't allow you to use their pics......I got these off of their Facebook page.

Finally - as I'm always on the hunt for great jammies - anyone else have favorite brands they recommend??