[Thoughts on Thursday] Confessions.

...that I have a MAJOR sweet tooth. I MUCH prefer something sweet over something salty.

...that I'm 31 and have a HORRIBLE memory. Like seriously. If I don't write it down, I WILL forget it.

...that I used to HATE avocados. I don't know what I was thinking because they are DELICIOUS. And now, obviously, I love them.

...that I also used to hate peanut butter. But pair it with chocolate and call it a peanut butter cup and I was all about it!

...that I might or might not be eating watermelon straight from the tupperware container from the fridge right now.... mainly because I am too lazy to get a bowl and too lazy to get a fork.

...that I have a planner and still make a MILLION scrap paper and post it note notes. I swear I think of everything I need to do/want to do/ideas while I'm at work (and of course forgot my planner at home) or while I'm driving. Driving is the worst!

...that I used to be up, ready and out of the house by 6:55am every morning to be able to drop Mason off at school and get to work by 8am. Now that my work is so much closer to his school, we don't have to leave until 7:30am, which gives me tons of extra cuddling time (which I LOVE). But on those rare occasions that I need to stop by the post office (for work) on my way to dropping Mason off to school and we have to leave by 7:15am, I find it extremely difficult. It's only been 4 months and apparently I've forgotten how to get ready early.

...that like a year or so ago, we bought a giant pack of plastic cups (think red solo cups) from Costco. They were clear red, clear, and clear green... for Christmas. I think maybe we had a party and thought it was a good idea to get a bag of what was probably 500 cups (note to self : this is not college). We used all the clear ones and green ones first because I deemed them the "acceptable colors". Now we have red left and whenever I take a cup of orange juice or anything in the car with me and drink out of it, I immediately feel like I'm back in college and think people seeing me drink out of this red cup think I'm drinking something I shouldn't be in the car.

And there you have it! Can you relate to any of my confessions?

[Countdown to Halloween] Decorations.

Welcome to Week #3 of our Countdown to Halloween link up! Today I wanted to share our Halloween decorations with you. Normally I'm not a big Halloween decorator. I like to get some pumpkins and make a little display and then I usually call it a day. But this year... I decided to be a little more festive. Still nothing crazy, but more decorations than before.

I changed out the pictures in our gallery wall to be more Halloween (and Fall) themed. Some are from last year since they like to keep the art work up at school until after the holiday passes and some are from this year. That little paint chip is from this year and I thought it was pretty creative!

I also bought this cute garland at Michael's that I put together and hung on our TV stand (aka IKEA Expedit bookshelf).

Of course I couldn't go without buying some pumpkins. And a little Haunted House to build too.

And we definitely couldn't miss a holiday with such fun window clings!

Our house isn't the only place that decorated for Halloween. Mason's school went all out this year and decorated all the doors to the classrooms...which I love!

I love any holiday where I can decorate! Seth hates the clutter but I love the festiveness :)

Now, link up with us and show us what Halloween fun you've been having!

An InLinkz Link-up

FRI-YAY

You guys. This week has gone by insanely fast. It was Monday and then it was Thursday and now it's Friday. Ordinarily I wouldn't complain, but I had a ton of things I needed to do this week and I got approximately 2% of them done. Not good. We have a work event this weekend as well so I'm pretty much booked up all weekend too. Oh well. I can sleep when I'm 92, right?

Anyways, enough of my whining... here's my weekly five!

ONE.
FALL reusable Starbucks cup.



I went on a little fun girls weekend this past weekend to visit some friends in Sacramento and had the best time! One of my friends had this super cute reusable cup and I'd never seen it before. She said it cost $1 and it gets you a discount whenever you bring it in. I was pretty sold on that but to top it off, it is stinkin' adorable. I'm obsessed with the fall cups at Starbucks and knew I had to have this. We stopped on the way to the airport on my way home so I could pick one up. I've looked for them now that I'm home but I can only find the regular ones. Boo.


TWO. 
Picture Day.

Mason had picture day at school on Tuesday and I am SO excited to see how the pictures came out. When I picked him up, his teacher said he "cheesed" really well and the preschool director said he was a little ham. So I have high hopes!

I dressed him in this cute button down for picture day and when I tried to put the shirt on him, he acted like there were these foreign objects on his arms. Poor boy is going to be in for some culture shock when (if?) it ever gets cold and he has to wear... gasp! long pants AND long sleeves!

THREE.

Stitch Fix #1.

My first fix arrived earlier this week and to say I was excited would be an understatement. I blogged about all the items and what I kept and what I didn't here. Spoiler alert : I didn't keep anything, BUT I wasn't disappointed by the fix. The stylist nailed the styles themselves, just the sizes were a little problem. I've since learned that I can exchange sizes if I want and various people have given me tips and tricks to get the best fix possible, but if you have any advice for me, be sure to leave it in the comments!


FOUR.
Home prints/tees.

California state print // California shirt

I've seen this "home tees" floating around the internet recently and I have to admit, I kind of love them. Being born and raised in California myself (as well as Seth and now Mason), I'm kind of loving that California print. I also kind of love the tee shirt version as well and think Mason might be needing one!

As for #5... well I have to admit, I've got nothing, so instead.... Have a great weekend!!!

[Stitch Fix] Fix #1

You guys. My first Stitch Fix arrived in the mail yesterday and I COULD NOT have been more excited. I've been wanting to try the service for forever and when I got some gift cards for my birthday, I knew it was time to try!

In case you haven't heard of Stitch Fix, it's basically a personal shopping service. You fill out your online profile by answering some questions about likes/dislikes, style, sizing, etc and then can write a note about what you're interested in as well as link a Pinterest style board to help your stylist know what you're looking for and what you're style is. Then your personal stylist gathers some items that she thinks you'd like and sends them to you. You try them on in the comfort of your own home and decide what you do and don't want to keep and then you have three days to send back whatever you don't want. Easy peasy! The styling fee is $20 and if you send back all the items, you lose the $20. If you keep one (or more) items, they deduct the $20 styling fee from your total and you pay the difference. And if you keep all five items, they deduct the $20 from the total and you get a 25% discount on all the items. Pretty great! If you're interested in signing up, if you want to use my referral code then I'll get small credit to my account and would be forever grateful.

Now... on to my first fix! (I decided to include as much information as possible in case my stylist (hi Amy!) reads my blog and/or in case I could help other's with sizing and stuff for their potential future fixes)

Market & Spruce | Avah Knit Top | Size : M | $58.00

I loved the style of this top but hated the print. Well, hated the print on me. The more I look at it in pictures, the more I like it a little, but in person it was just too much for me. If you've been reading the blog for any amount of time, you'll notice that I wear very "quiet" colors and mostly plain things. I'd love to get a top with a print on it, but this one was too loud for me. I did love the way it fit like a dolman sleeve shirt, the sizing was perfect, and the sleeve length was great, but the print is what made up my mind.

Verdict : Returned.


Nakamol | Zelia Beaded Cord Bracelet | $44.00

I loved the style and the color of this bracelet. The way it tied was especially interesting and different from anything that I have now. Unfortunately I don't really wear jewelry enough to justify the cost. Had I wanted to keep the other four items, I probably would have kept this to get the discount, but since I didn't, back it went.

Verdict : Returned.


Pixley | Dido Mixed Print Knit Top | Size : M | $58.00


The pictures make the shirt look kind of purple-y but it was definitely a dark, navy blue. I really, really liked the style and the colors of the shirt and especially liked that it was different than anything I currently have in my closet. I've seen this style around, at places like Anthro, and I love it and was excited to get one to try in my fix. Unfortunately I found the shirt to be a little big and when I turned to the side, it looked like a parachute. I didn't think it was overly flattering from the front, though I do love the way it looks from the back. I tried it on with leggings in hopes that maybe it just looked bad with my jeans, but it was too short for leggings and I opted to try again with the jeans. I think if I had it in a size small, it would have been better.

Verdict : Returned.


Market & Spruce | Alan French Terry Asymmetrical Zip Cardigan | 
Size : M | $68.00


When I saw this in the box, I was excited. I've been eyeing and pinning styles like this for a jacket. I feel like the name cardigan is not accurate for this because when I think of cardigan, I think of a sweat-like material, (maybe that's just me?) but this was more of a stretchy, jacket material. When I un-zipped it, I liked the way it draped and it definitely reminded me of a sweater. But then I zipped it up and I hated it. The material was stretchy and not very flattering and the zipper was hard to zipper (like it would get stuck). Then there was the funny part that stuck out the bottom when I zipped it as well as the top part than hung in a way I didn't like. Overall, I like the color and like the idea of it, but I just didn't find it to be very flattering.

Verdict : Returned.


Just Black | Adorra Skinny Jeans | Size : 10 | $88.00

I was most excited about the jeans! In these pictures they look almost black, and they are very dark, but they are definitely a dark blue denim and not black. I've been having the hardest time jeans shopping for myself and in everyone else's fixes, they seem to get the perfect fitting jeans so I was excited for these. I've been wanting some skinny jeans and these fit the bill. The length was perfect and they easily fit in my boots when I tried them on. Only problem was... a little tight in the waist. Now I know they are stretchy but if they make you feel like major muffin top when you put them on, odds are good it won't stretch enough to make me feel comfortable later in the day. If it was one size up, I'd totally keep these. I wish you could keep but exchange sizes.

Verdict : Returned.


So, overall, I kept nothing. Boo. And I lost the $20 styling fee. BUT I don't consider this a loss! While I am sad that I kept nothing, I am very hopeful for my next fix (which I already scheduled for in two weeks!). The styles were almost spot on to things I'd like. The sizes fit pretty well. So I'd say my stylist did a great job for never having styled me or seen me in person before. This was all based on my style profile and my Pinterest boards. I tried to give as detailed of feedback as possible so hopefully my next fix will be ever better!

Do you agree with my choices? Would you have kept any of the items?

[Countdown to Halloween] Candy Corn Craft

Welcome to Week 2 of our Countdown to Halloween link up! Thank you all for sharing your Halloween fun with us last week!

This week I wanted to share a fun and easy craft with you. I had searched on Pinterest for a fun sensory craft for Mason and some friends to do last week for a playdate when I came across this easy craft. I did all the prep and then let the kids go to town... or that was the plan. We went over for the playdate, everything was fine, Mason was a little shy and then seemed tired. Seth was holding him while I talked to the other moms and then he had to use the bathroom so I held Mason and then all of a sudden... (I'll leave out the visual)... all over my poor friends chair and carpet. Needless to say we were embarassed, very apologetic, and we left without completing the craft. However, there were leftovers from the other kids and I thought Mason would still have fun so we did it a couple days later when he was feeling better.

Materials :
- 1 piece of black construction paper
- 1 piece of yellow construction paper
- 1 piece of orange construction paper
- 1 piece of white construction paper
- scissors
- glue
- white crayon

Instructions:
I feel silly even including instructions since this was SO easy!

First, I took the white crayon and the black construction paper and I drew a candy corn shape (a triangle with rounded sides) and then drew two lines inside to make three different areas.

Then I took each of the other colors of construction paper - orange, yellow, white - and cut them in to about 1 inch strips (I didn't measure) and then cut each strip into a few squares (so they were probably 1x1 squares when I was done). Then I divided up the colors in separate bowls and let Mason go to town.

He opted to put glue all over the candy corn to begin with... however, I wouldn't necessarily recommend that haha. I'd start with glue in the top portion first and then put down the papers and then move to the next section, but whatever your crafter wants will definitely work.

He opted to start in the middle with the yellow.

He then moved to the bottom portion and did the orange.

And then moved to the top and did the white. No matter the order, your candy corn will come out perfect!

See? Ta-da! The perfect candy corn craft addition to our wall of art. And if I'm being honest, he did most of this himself. It was fast and easy and held his attention for about 10 minutes, which is actually pretty good for my non-craft-lover kid. I had to help a little with the glue since all we had was liquid glue, but glue sticks would have worked just as well and probably been easier for him to do on his own.

Now, link up with us and show us what Halloween fun you've been having!

An InLinkz Link-up

Five on Friday

Hey-o Friday! I'm so happy to see you! Unlike last week, this week went by at record speed. I seriously can't believe it's already Friday but hey, I'm not complaining! In fact, this weekend mama is going on a little getaway to visit my friend in Northern California so the boys are on their own (good luck!). A little less than 8 hours of work, I'm home to finish packing, and then I'm on my way! But first, my weekly five.

ONE.
Fall food.



I FINALLY was able to find the Fall cups at Starbucks! (insert praise hand emoji!) We stopped by Starbucks on the way to a play date on Sunday and I literally almost didn't get a drink because when I walked in, I didn't see anyone with Fall cups. I seriously told Seth "I don't want a hot drink, it's not worth it if it's not in a Fall cup. I'll save my money" (no joke - sad, I know). Luckily they did have them though - just in tall and venti only - so I skipped the grande and ordered a tall - JUST to get the cup.
Now that you officially think I'm crazy, take a look at that baby. I know it's just a cup, but isn't it so pretty??? Seth didn't think so, but I'm hoping that's just the "man opinion" and you ladies will agree with me!



In addition to my Fall Starbucks cup addiction, I also might have a small addiction to holiday Oreos. So when I went to Target the other day for "just the essentials", these babies happened to fall into my basket as well. #oreosareessentials


TWO.
Essie nail polish and gel top coat.

Essie Bahama Mama and Essie Gel Top Coat

I FINALLY used my Essie gel top coat and I have to admit, I love it! It actually works super well and kept my nails from chipping for way longer than regular nail polish without it. I've now taken it off once and painted them twice (and even used it on my toe nails!) and I'll never go back. It was super easy to take off (just regular nail polish remover worked fine) and super easy to put on!


THREE.
Blog Market Blog.

I recently came across The Blog Market blog and I love it. The blog is new to me but so far from what I've been reading, they have great pointers, advice, and suggestions on all things blogging, small business, tutorials, inspiration, and resources. I especially love this post of theirs. With this blog, I strive to do all the things they mention in the post and I hope it comes through!


FOUR.
Stella and Dot trunk show.

In case you missed my post on Tuesday, I'm hosting a Stella and Dot trunk show to help raise money for breast cancer. You can see the post here or go straight to shop the trunk show here.

FIVE.
Snapchat.

As I mentioned yesterday, I finally did something that I said I'd NEVER do and I got Snapchat. And I have to admit... I kind of love it! I definitely don't think I'm interesting enough for people to want to see my snaps and in my videos, I think I sound like a robot, but I'm kind of addicted. I'm not sure I'm ready for the whole world to see my snaps, but if you have snapchat and would like to be friends, let me know in the comments and I'll see you my screen name (is that even what it's called? is that from instant messager?? lol #old)

And with that... have a GREAT weekend!

PS I'm excited to be the featured blogger for High Five for Friday today! Hop on over to Tif's blog : Bright on a Budget, Caitlin's blog : Coffee with Caitlin, Della's blog : Della Devoted, or Katie's blog : Cup of Tea to check it out and link up with us!

[Thoughts on Thursday] Confessions.

... that my fridge smells like coffee every time I open it. And I kind of love it. We recently went to Costco and bought a huge bag of whole bean coffee and then ground it in their little machine. We've been storing our coffee in the fridge (because I hear it keeps it fresher longer?) so every time I open the fridge door, I get a huge woosh of coffee smell.

...and an additional thing about that... I LOVE the smell of coffee brewing/coffee when I open my fridge door, but I don't necessarily need to drink it. I could just smell it.

...that I am SO paranoid about making sure I lock doors. Like whoa. I don't know where this paranoia came from, but I...
... always double check my house door to make sure it's closed AND locked when we leave the house
... always double checked the garage door to make sure it went down all the way before I drove off (when we used to have a garage at our old apartment)
... HATE being the last one to leave at work and always double, triple, quadruple check the door to make sure it's locked even though I KNOW I just locked it
... always had someone double check the front doors at the bookstore to make sure I locked them, even though I also checked them five seconds earlier.

... that I rarely, if ever, edit my photos, which is why they are definitely not photographer quality. Sometimes I throw them into PicTapGo (my recent discovery thanks to Erin - THANK YOU! ) before I post on IG, but most of the time I just make a photo collage and call it good. Why? 1. I don't really know how to edit photos and 2. I just don't have the time to spend editing. I WANT nice pictures, but I don't want to spend hours editing them because well, I just don't have that kind of time and I'm lazy. If someone could give me a crash course that doesn't involve it taking hours to edit, I'd love you forever.

...that I care way too much about what other people think. Sometimes I just need to know that I know what's best in certain situations and go with my gut.

...that I just got Snapchat and think I'm obsessed. I seriously was SO against it and then finally caved and am obsessed. Like I spent too much time on it yesterday, obsessed. And even though I spent far too long playing around on it yesterday, I still don't know how to use it.

...that I go over on data almost every month. We should probably up our data plan but I feel like since we got this plan soooooo long ago, it will probably cost more than the $10 overage fee that I incur... so I just pay the extra $10 every month.

And there you have it! Can you relate to any of my confessions?