lately [tidbits + pics]

I was recently reminded that I haven't blogged in three weeks (thanks KAYCIE). Life has been busy and hectic and fun and OMG SUMMER. So here's what we've been up to - in bullet point form, naturally.

- Our house is officially on the market! As exciting as it is to plan our future in a new home (details to come on that in another post - I don't want to jinx it), it's pretty overwhelming in a lot of ways. 

First of all, we have a TON of last minute projects to wrap up before we have showings... you know those little things you've been putting off for years... like un-cluttering the empty bedroom and repainting the outdoor stair rail? We've been busting our asses (meaning, Sean has been busting his ass) getting all this stuff done. 

Also, it's a little emotional to think about leaving this place and starting over somewhere else. This was our first home we owned together and we have a ton of memories here. But I'm so excited to start fresh in a home that ISN'T 60+ years old. So yeah, that shiz has been a little crazy. 

- Ronin loves the pool. Granted, we've only been a handful of times, but he loves the water and that makes me such a happy Mama. We spent a few hours at the pool on the 4th of July and it made me so excited to spend his first Independence Day doing something fun. We had a little cookout at our home to celebrate the 4th and sadly, I took zero photos. But trust me when I say we are certainly enjoying our summer so far!

water baby :)

- My Arbonne business has been such an eye opening experience, and I'm really enjoying everything I'm learning about network marketing, our products, and building leadership skills. I'm bound and determined to move up in rank by the end of the year, and it feels extremely empowering to have a goal like that in mind. 

- I have yet to take Ronin's 10 month photos and he'll be 11 months old next week. I also sent his birthday invitations out this week and I may or may not have cried in the parking lot of the post office. This kid is looking more and more like a little boy and less like a baby by the day, y'all. And I just can't. 

Ronin's birthday invite - designed it myself, blocked out the address for privacy reasons, duh.

-  I'm currently reading Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (author of the infamous Gone Girl), and I cannot put it down. It's been a long time since I was so into a book that I finished it in less than a week. We're reading it for our book club and it's going to be so hard to wait until August to discuss! 

- I'm thinking that we may have a slight intolerance to fruit going on with Ronin - either that, or I'm just giving him too much of it and he can't handle all of the fiber. He's been in disposables for about 10 days because he's been pooping SO MUCH, and he also had a nasty diaper rash that lasted for almost 4 days. It seems to be getting better (the poop frequency AND the rash) now that I've cut back on the fruit at meals, so let's hope that's all it was. 

I just talked about baby poop on my blog. I think I'm officially a mom blogger now? 

Happy Hump Day!

Friday loves

thirty-three teachers who got the last laugh. 

- false. I just laughed REALLY hard. 

loving the latest photos at Spilled Milk. 

cannot wait to get this baby pool for Ronin.

possibly the most hilarious IG feed of all time. 

John & Sherry (and Clara & Burger) moved again! 

- is it just me or does it seem like they moved into the second house like yesterday?

just bought this bathing suit and I lurve it. 

- so flattering and not the typical black, ruched one piece.  

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I'll be spending most of my weekend working on my new business venture, and I'll be spilling the beans early next week. so excited to share everything with you guys! :D

HAPPY WEEKEND, friends! 

Friday loves

new research shows that an infant's heart rate slows in just 3 seconds in his/her parent's embrace.

10 ways to spread the blog love.

most common beauty blunders.

this video - so cute, and so heartwarming. I hope this is how Ronin sees me.

these custom hand painted wooden dolls. I WANT. 

loving this colorful picnic blanket. we'll need one for our park trips this summer!

Veronica Roth released the title and cover for the third book in the Divergent trilogy. SO EXCITED.

a Hungarian theater group performs on Britain's Got Talent. - a MUST watch video. these folks are so incredibly talented. 

Happy Weekend! 

round up: summer style for mamas.

now that I'm down about 20lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight, I'm having a lot of fun shopping for summer clothes. I actually bought a pair of actual shorts (aka not bermuda shorts) for the first time a few weeks ago. it's fun to shop for clothes now that I like the way I look... for the most part. I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm feeling more confident than I have in a long time. 

I'm adding a lot of small patterns and stripes to my closet (nothing new there), along with some fun colors of the season: coral, mint, navy, yellow (of the neon and mustard variety), aqua, and orange. since I will be chasing around a mobile baby and dealing with Maryland humidity, I'm all about simplicity - printed tanks, colored shorts/jeans and comfortable dresses. 

dresses: one | two | three | four | five | six

swimwear: one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight

tops: one | two | three

bottoms: four | five | six


what summer trends are you loving this year?

baby Q: first birthday planning!

I am a planner. I am also very type A and sorta-kinda definitely OCD when it comes to being organized and having all my ducks in a row. therefore, I am already ankle deep in planning Ronin's first birthday party. 

I decided a few months ago that our favorite bedtime song, "You Are My Sunshine," would be the theme of his first birthday party. naturally, I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration and found a few other parties with ideas similar to mine. 

I love the bubbles + pinwheels for favors. so cute for the kiddos, and budget friendly too! 

this food table display is beautiful - the banner, the jars of candy, and the striped straws. perfect! I will be make a lot of the party paper goods myself - the banners, decor, favor packaging, etc. 

poms and garland. need I say more?

white smash cake + cupcakes for the guests. and I absolutely adore the cupcake wrapper, which I'm sure I could DIY with scrapbook paper. also from this party: 12 months of baby photos displayed as decor. 

a simple invite. yes please. 

an end of August birthday definitely calls for homemade popsicles. 

I'm so excited to really get started with the planning. I may or may not have (hint: I have) already designed the invitations. I'll most likely just print them at home, as long as we have printer ink, ha! I'm hoping to get them out by mid-July so that people have time to make plans. I'm thinking that the menu will just be mostly BBQ type food - burgers, hot dogs, coleslaw, etc. plus a bitchin' dessert table. can't wait to see it all come together!

Friday loves

a PSA regarding citronella oil & kids. - A MUST-READ for all parents of young children. 

a cute child fashion blog. psst. they have a shop too.

Aubrey Plaza on Ellen. - I want to be friends with her. she's so awkward and hilarious.

the dresses at Old Navy right now are amazing. I want one of each. seriously.

something hilarious: the reviews of this banana slicer.

a link to a link to all of IROCKSOWHAT's free downloads. 

(confession? there are 3 of these in Ronin's nursery.)

two words: bandanna bibs. 

HAPPY WEEKEND, friends! 

we have a busy one coming up. I finally built our raised garden bed today, so 

I'll be planting an abundance of fruits and veggies tomorrow. 

I'm co-hosting a baby shower on Saturday (cannot wait to share the details!) 

for my friend Jen, and Sunday will be spent doing stuff around the house. 

I hope you all enjoy your weekend! 

round up: summer style for baby boys.

I started stocking up on Ronin's summer wardrobe before he was even born. I couldn't help but picture my little seal decked out in khaki shorts, little tanks, and one piece rompers. now that the weather is finally starting to warm up on the East Coast, I'm adding even more summer staples to his closet. 

I love to pick out styles that I would wear myself - in fact, I may have chosen a few of these items based on the idea of matching outfits with me, haha. I have a neon yellow striped shirt that I can''t wait to throw on while dressing him in the first romper. 

I've also been eyeing up some swimwear for pool days with our BFF and the beach trip we're planning for late summer. so here's a peek at what I'm loving this season... a few of which I've picked up for my dude. 

one : two : three : four : five : six

one : two : three : four : five : six : seven : eight

one : two : three : four : five : six : seven : eight : nine

am I the only one who LOVES dressing a little boy? don't get me wrong, I definitely swoon at the little dresses every time I peruse through Target. but honestly, I prefer skulls and sharks over pink bows any day. who says dressing a boy isn't fun? not this mama!

baby Q bump watch - week 37 [FULL TERM!]

I have yet to take a bump photo today since I've been in bed with a headache for a few hours. I'll take one tomorrow. for now, here are two from last week:

heading out for a pool day with my BFF - 36 weeks, 2 days.

from Saturday - 36 weeks, 4 days.

how far along? 

37 weeks - full term! :D 

how big is the baby? 

he is about the size of a winter melon (The Bump) or a stalk of swiss chard (Baby Center) - meaning he's weighing in at over 6lbs and measuring a bit over 19 inches long. at 37 weeks, he is considered full term, meaning he's developed his most crucial functions; if he were to be born today, his lungs would likely be mature enough to full adjust to life outside the womb.

total weight gain: 

26lbs as of last Friday.

sleep: 

mostly sucky. 

best moment of the week: 

got lots of stuff done over the weekend, which I mentioned in this post. 

Sean & I also went out and celebrated our 3rd anniversary (okay, I just sobbed like a baby while watching that slideshow from our wedding. holy hormones.) over the weekend. we went to Mike's Crabhouse and enjoyed some Maryland Blue Crabs. I may or may not have treated myself to a sip of his Sam Adam's Summer Ale, too. ;)

we had an ultrasound at our appointment on Friday, which is always awesome. his hand was in front of his face (jerk), but we confirmed that he IS indeed head down. my OB said I'm measuring right on time, which is great to hear as well. oh, and since Sean was able to come to my appointment with me, I had him record Ronin's heartbeat on his phone so I can listen to it whenever I want. 

food cravings: 

this week, it's a toss up between fresh fruit and sweet carbs. I've been indulging in donuts, muffins, and bagels with strawberry preserves. yum!

food aversions: 

nothing really.

symptoms: 

believe it or not, for being so close to delivering, I feel pretty good. thanks to a prescription from my OB, the headaches have mostly subsided (with the exception of the bastard headache I have today). physical therapy is working wonders for my achy pelvis and Zantac has eliminated my heartburn (for the most part). my discomfort mainly just comes from being so large, haha. I find it difficult to get comfortable at night, and walking with this big ol belly is awkward, to say the least. 

gender sex: 

BOY! :D 

most looking forward to: 

just making more preparations (I have daily to-do lists) and enjoying my last few weeks of pre-motherhood. I'm taking lots of naps and soaking up my alone time while it lasts. I have to say, I'm really going to miss being pregnant. I love feeling Ronin move inside my belly and although I am more than ready to meet his cute face, I know that the end of pregnancy will leave me feeling bittersweet.

what I miss right now: 

I was really pining for an over easy egg this morning.

next appointment: 

Thursday morning.

life lately (according to Instagram & other cell phone pics)

a handmade beanie from my talented Aunt, for Ronin... it has a matching blanket too. 

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we make Bear act out keyboard cat.

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watermelon & sweet corn = summer love.

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organizing baby shower goodies. talk about spoiled!

also? nesting FTW.

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she thinks those gifts are for her.

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I finally hung the map art that I talked about doing way back when (originally inspired from here).
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post-physical therapy bump.
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this was my baby doll for breastfeeding class.
I did not want that thing anywhere near my boobs.
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so, there's a little sneak peak into what's been going on lately.
you can follow me on Instagram by clicking that little icon to the right!
have a great weekend, readers! 

SHAAAARKS.

I realized yesterday that I never uploaded pictures from our Myrtle Beach vacation... from August. it might have something to do with the fact that I only took about 130 pictures, and they were only taken on one day... the day we went to the Ripley's Aquarium.

I don't know why, but I was not in the picture taking mood while we were on vacation. I wanted to relax completely without worrying about documenting every single experience... even though visiting the aquarium was about the most exciting thing we did. the rest of the time was spent ocean or pool side, which was A-okay with me!

I'm a sucker for anything animal related, and although we didn't make our usual trip to Alligator Adventure, the aquarium was a pretty substantial substitution. 

if we make it back to Myrtle Beach next year, we will definitely be taking a repeat trip to Ripley's Aquarium. and I might try to swim with the sharks. we'll see how it plays out. 

Happy Wednesday!

come on, Irene

I know, I know.
it's Eileen. 
I can't help it... it's stuck in my head and it just so happened to work with our lovely little hurricane.




so, here's my recap on that nasty bitch that hit the east coast over the weekend.


first, let me make this clear: I was scared. I've never experienced a hurricane before, and even though Irene was set to be a mere CAT 1, my mind immediately reverted to the tales of Isabel, which hit in 2003 (which, by the way, was lessened to a tropical storm by the time it hit Maryland, yet still completely flooded Baltimore and Annapolis and caused more then $800 million in damages) and left my town under water.


now... if I didn't own a home a mile away from the Chesapeake Bay, there's a good chance I wouldn't have been worried. if I didn't live on a peninsula, I probably would have brushed it off as "just a little rain and wind." but the fact of the matter is that I DO live on a peninsula in the Bay, and there is only one way in and out of my town, and I live on a crawlspace that is prone to flooding with more than 6 hours of steady rainfall. so yeah, I was freaked.


oh. in case you think I'm exaggerating... this is where I live:

when the severity of the storm became clear through weather reports on Thursday, I made the decision that being TOO prepared was better than not being prepared enough. so after work on Friday, we went over to Home Depot (along with the rest of the citizens of Maryland in it's entirety) to look for sand bags to place around our doorways. no such luck. so we then headed home to prepare the house by rounding up candles and flashlights. I also packed an overnight bag for us, in the case that we did get flash flooding and had to evacuate quickly.


the next morning we woke to grey eerie looking skies. I woke up before Sean did (must have been the anxiety, I'm sure), and took care of some exterior things, like moving the loose trash cans to the garage and cleaning up anything that would blow around in the wind. one of our neighbors stopped by and told us that he wasn't planning on sandbagging, and informed me that it would take a 9' storm surge for the Bay water to reach our house, which was a HUGE relief. he said that the one thing he was worried about was the tree situation, since the winds of 50mph+ would be strong enough to knock them onto his house. thankfully, we only have one tree near our house, and it faces the garage and not the main part of our home.


we took what we knew would be our last hot showers, and because we still knew that there was a very real possibility of being without power for a week, we took our chances and drove up to the store to get some supplies, even though we knew it'd be a madhouse. we picked up some water bottles, a few games and a deck of cards, and nonperishable food items to get us through. after filling the truck with gas and taking out some cash (for if we needed to go to the store and their credit card machines were down), we headed back home to hunker down for the storm.


I put our packed bag and some cat food out in the truck in case we needed to leave. I filled the bathtub with water to flush the toilet when we lost electricity, and then we parked ourselves on the couch and watched the coverage of the storm on the news. the storm ended up taking a slight turn east, which was great for us, but not so great for those north or east of us. the rain started at about 11AM and the winds began really picking up around 2-3PM in our area. we watched the storm progress throughout the day/evening and the power flickered on and off for a few hours. just as we finished eating our grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner at 7:30, we lost power for good.

we already had our head flashlights and candles ready, so we promptly got to work with an intense game of Phase 10, followed by a game of rummy, and some devouring of Little Debbie cupcakes. the winds got stronger, which was pretty scary to hear once the sun went down and it was pitch black outside. before it got dark, we did see that our neighbor's tree was knocked over before the brunt of the storm even hit us. around 10ish, we laid in bed and read for a while... Sean fell asleep first, but I was too riled up to sleep, especially knowing that the worst of the storm wasn't expected to hit us until about midnight. I finally fell asleep around 1 after a thorough checking around the house, discovering that we had no trees or flooding yet.

terrible cell phone self portrait. 

I woke up a couple times throughout the night listening to the wind whipping around the house and the sound of the rain, but overall I slept through pretty well. I woke up right as the sun was coming up and walked around the house to make sure there were no damages. looking out the windows, I could just see branches and leaves everywhere, and a only little standing water, which was a relief. after walking around outside, I realized how lucky we were. not one branch hit our home, and although our crawlspace flooded with about 12" of water (which was expected), we were very fortunate in that it didn't make it's way into the house or the garage.


we opened all our windows on Sunday to keep the house ventilated and drove around the see what kind of damage other areas suffered. right down our street, there was a HUGE pile of trees sitting on a power line, so we knew the source of our power outage. luckily the main roads were clear, but there were several smaller back roads that were closed due to flooding and downed trees/wire. after having lunch, we went to my brother's house to pick up a generator for the fridge. my only concern about losing power was having our food spoil. after we got that all hooked up, we headed over to my dad's house (who, amazingly, didn't lose power at ALL) to take hot showers and have dinner with family.


having no electricity has not made Bear feel different at all. he's still doing mostly this. 

we finally got our power back this morning around 3AM, and I feel lucky that we even got it back that soon. there are still thousands of people without electricity right now, and hundreds that are dealing with insurance claims and damages to their homes. BGE is estimating that mostly everyone in our area will be restored power by Saturday. compared to the photos I've seen of the northeast, we made out pretty well. I'm grateful that we were as prepared as we were and that we remained safe.


sheesh. I know, that was really long, but I really wanted to make sure I documented our Irene experience thoroughly in order to remember it. it's a shame that it occurred at night, or I'd have pictures to show everyone. even though Irene was not as forceful as the weathermen predicted she would be, she still did a LOT of damage!


ANYWAY. did you experience Irene's wrath at all?