Resolution Accountability + A Treat For Your Friend

Blah blah blah, here I am again, chattin' it up on a Monday night...

• A little resolution accountability...
• A treat-sy idea to take to your friends...
• A promise of something fun coming soon...stay tuned!

Have a great week!

Children's Book Pick: Zen Series by Jon Muth

Confession: I am obsessed with children's books. Obsessed. I get unreasonably excited when I stumble across something really wonderful. In fact, I have goosebumps right now, sharing my new favorite with you: the Zen series by Jon Muth.

Ta da! Aren't they beautiful?! The watercolor illustrations are just amazing. These three books (oh, I wish there were more...maybe they'll be more someday...please?!) introduce Chinese folklore, koans ("questions you have to answer for yourself"), haiku, meditations ("ideas to puzzle over"), all told through the very Zen panda, Stillwater and his three young friends. I love the books because there's a lot of meat there for adults and older children (Maya had an a-ha! moment or two...), and a great story and beautiful illustrations that even 2-year-old Simon loves. And each book ends with a short explanation and mini history lesson from the author that provides additional insight.

All three are fantastic, but Zen Shorts is my favorite.

Michael, Addy and Karl meet Stillwater for the first time and each visit him on different occasions.

On their visits, he enlightens each of them with a different story (or meditation). The stories have great messages that truly get you thinking. (My favorite is "The Farmer's Luck". I literally have been thinking about it for days and days...)

Zen Ties and Zen Ghosts are also fascinating and wonderful and beautiful. Like I said, I hope hope hope there will be more in the series at some point. I'm also interested to read The Three Questions, which looks to be along similar lines.

I have a new rule that I don't buy any books unless they are totally beloved family favorites. I'm trying to be very selective so that we don't add any more stinkers to our collection. (Somehow we've managed to buy a lot of crappy children's books...) The Zen books are definitely on the must buy list.

So, check them out from the library and see if they're worthy of your collection. I hope you like them as much as we do! And please, please recommend your favorites to me! We're always looking for our next favorite...

What I Wore Wednesday: In The Blue (+VLOG!)

I got dressed every day and lived to vlog about it! Do tune in...I have some important questions for you regarding jeans, purple tights and, um...Girl Scout cookies. Plus, I'm showing you my jewelry, which you can't possibly make out in those terrible pictures I post each week...

(Did you hear my kids shrieking in the background? They actually were being supervised by their Daddy. Wild maniacs!)

Like the jewels? Links at the bottom. And now...the outfits! Lots of blue this week, I noticed. Linking up with the Pleated Poppy...

Top - Forever 21; Cardigan & Shoes - Old Navy; Jeans - Gap; Belt - Target. So, do my pants look looser? Huh, do they, do they?

Top & Tee - Target; Jeans - Gap; Boots - Ugg. Oh, I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay!

Tank & Sweater - Old Navy; Jeans - Gap; Boots - Ugg. That is technically a maternity sweater. No, I am NOT pregnant! :) Do I know Ugg boots are ugly? Yes. Do I care? No. Because they are warm and comfy and wonderful.

Tee - Old Navy; Top - Tulle; Belt - Target; Jeans - Gap; Moccs - Shoe Boxes. That shirt is a dark green & white stripe. It just looks minty green in the photo.

Tank, Sweater, Belt, Tights & Shoes (!) - Target; Skirt - Forever 21. Yes I did wear this skirt last Sunday. But not with purple tights. I'm pretty sure no one noticed my skirt.

(Soon to be infamous?) Green Sweater & Top - Target; Jeans - Gap; Shoes - Old Navy. Green sweater two days in a row! Got to work the newbies hard.

Top - Forever 21; Infamous Yellow Sweater - Sears; "Jeggings" (hahahaha) & Shoes - Target. Yes, I'm sporting the jegging! Actually really like this pair. The rise is high enough to conceal my gut a bit...

And now, my favorite jewels...

• The Bright One - from Nest Pretty Things
• The Subtle One - also from Nest Pretty Things
• And Nest Pretty Things earrings
• Soiree Earrings - Stella & Dot
• Goa Pendant Earrings - Stella & Dot
• Stella & Dot Slinky Bracelet
• Allora Handmade flower earrings
  
• These are very similar to my spoon earrings
• And get your cheap JC Penney jewelry here

Happy Wednesday!

Tin Litho

{1 2 3 4}

I quite love tin toys. In fact, my kids all received tin spinning tops (remember those?) in their Christmas stockings this year. (I think Santa may have found them at Tuesday Morning...) And since seeing an amazing collection of vintage tin dollhouses in the February Martha (no pics online that I've found, sadly), I've been obsessing over them, and all things tin toys. But especially the dollhouses. How amazing are these? {Especially go check out the interior photos of #1...oh boy! I'm in love.} I think I see a collection in my future. Love, love love. This looks like a good resource, and there appears to be lots of them for sale on line, both on Etsy and Ebay.

Did you have one of these as a child? Or have you seen them out on your thrifting/antiquing adventures? I'm officially on the lookout...

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate + A Weekend Wrap Up

I whipped up a little peanut butter hot chocolate yesterday. Oh, and vlogged about it, since the laptop was handy. Yes, I may be addicted. But I did keep it shorter for ya...under 2 minutes! But first...the recipe:

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, per the Martha

Combine 2 cups whole milk and 1 cup cream (I used half & half) in a saucepan and add 1 cup of chopped milk chocolate (I used chocolate chips). Whisk until chocolate is melted and combined. Simmer until it thickens...about 5 minutes. Then add 1/4 cup peanut butter and whisk to combine. Serves 2ish...all 5 of us had some and it was plenty. Very rich and delicious. See for yourself...(And watch for the little red bobblehead behind me. Simon was hanging out with me, as he often does when I'm in the kitchen, but this time in his helmet! I don't ask a lot of questions...)

Want more hot chocolate? Check these out:

Barefoot Contessa Hot Chocolate
Martha's Peppermint Hot Chocolate
Mexican Hot Chocolate a'la Ina

So what else did I do this weekend, aside from the obvious "recorded myself whilst making hot chocolate"? Well, thank you for asking!

• Friday afternoon playdate with some of our favorite pals = late getting home. Which = Chris whipped up a lovely bacon & eggs breakfast for dinner. You can't beat that guy!
• Kiddies to bed & Chris watched "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" or whatnot while I zoomed the internet and flipped thru magazines.
• Saturday morning snuggle fest on the bed with the DSi Zombies, AKA Maya & Mason. I love and hate those things equally. But they love them...especially on Saturday mornings.
  
• Finished up Maya's Science Fair Project (phew!).
• Visited a different library than usual and found lots o' fun books for the kiddos.
• Quick visit to Target for diapers for 2, birthday gifts for 2, + a shower gift. I may have visited the ladies department and picked up a new cardigan for my collection. And some purple tights. For me. (!)
• Night out @ the local high school to watch their production of Les Mis, which was surprisingly, um...awesome. Les Mis is my absolute favorite and I wasn't sure it was a brilliant idea to go and watch the high-schoolers have their way with it, but I have to say...they really did it up right. And now I'm singing and singing and singing the good ol' Les Mis songs. My family is so happy about it.
• Late night Mexican dinner with one of my besties.
  
• Church, which was really fabulous today. Good stuff. And my purple tights were a hit. Okay, not a hit. My Dad pulled in the parking lot and said "I was thinking 'Who is that with purple legs?! Oh, it's my daughter. Why am I not surprised.'" I thought they were smashing, though. And no one told me that only I could pull them off. Maybe that means I didn't pull them off?
  

Shortly, we're off to my parents' house for dinner and then it's time for meal planning and grocery listing and taking a look at the busy week ahead. I haven't checked out the details, but just by the sheer amount of pen I see on the page already, it looks to be a doozie! Got to love it!

Have a fabulous week!

Vloggy Vlog Vlog: Friday Favorites

In this inaugural edition of Friday Favorites, I wax uneloquent about Groupon, Cake Balls and in a shocking twist (spoiler alert) declare my love for Ree Drummond. It's 6 and a half-ish minutes, people, and try as you might (and wish as you may), you can't ever get it back. Proceed with caution!

A few things I don't ever want to live without...

Group Buying sites, such as*...

• Groupon
• LivingSocial
• BuyWithMe
• CrowdSavings
• EverSave
• Urban Dealight
• Get Grouby
• DealOn
• Travel Zoo Local Deals
• DealSwarm
  
• Morgan's Deals (this one is local Austin...and I think in 1 or 2 more cities now...)
• Localiter (just Austin)
• Nab The Deal (just Austin...and a different take on the idea...)

(*Some of these are affiliate links, meaning if you sign up thru me, I may benefit from that in some way. It will most likely change my life, so thanks in advance!)

Know of one I missed? Do share!

Cake Balls!

THE queen of the cake ball biz (in my opinion) is Bakerella! Be sure to check out the cake balls AND the cake pops. WOW! I think these are my faves. And what? There's even a book! Check it out...

And if you're even in Austin, do try the pumpkin cake balls at Sweet Treets! Yum yum.

The Pioneer Woman

Did you go visit Ree yet? She's such a delight, isn't she? Well, don't forget to check out the cinnamon rolls recipe. And the meatloaf. And the spaghetti with meatballs. And the chicken spaghetti. Oh, and the cinnamon rolls! Did I mention? And you'll also probably want to get the cookbook.

I hope you have a happy weekend! Not much on the calendar, other than a high-school production of Les Mis that I'm going to hit with one of my favorite besties. Good times! Wishing you the same...

Berr Armchair

(big - little top - little bottom)

I think my heart skipped more than one beat when I came across these chairs. Gasp! Now, I'm not sure how I would incorporate something so colorful into my already-colorful home. Maybe in my bedroom. I'd like to designate it as my personal reading spot. I would, I'm sure, allow little snugglers to join me there. Of course, they'd have to bring their own books, which I would be more than happy to read to them...because truthfully, I like their books better than my books.

One of a kind! Limited edition! See them all here! How I wish it was in the budget...

While I'm dreaming, I'll take this too. Because...yellow couch! Ahem, excuse me....chesterfield, don't you know. Love, love, love!

Stay With Me!

The weather went & got gorgeous again (hooray!) so I took my kiddos out for a walk yesterday. I love walking along behind them...

...Maya leading the charge, as usual. She was giving us a grand tour of the neighborhood. A very imaginative one. She's got a creative brain, that one. And Mason eats it up, ever the good sport, playing along, asking appropriate questions, exhibiting proper interest and awe. And then there's Simon. A walk with him brought the expression "herding cats" to mind. And herding cats is super hard with a baby attached to the front of you...

...oh, there she is! Yes, Lucy, ever along for the ride, (almost) always happily. Love the sling. The better to smooch her sweet little head.

But back to Simon. Simon has that certain "I do it myself" quality that most toddlers have. He's independent. He's strong-willed. He doesn't liked to be forced to so such things as hold my hand while crossing the street. But at the same time, he's very tuned into what's going on. He's quietly watching, emulating what he sees everyone else doing. "Stay with me! Stay with me!", I kept repeating as we walked along. Keeping them safe on a walk is a lot easier than keeping them safe as they get older and things get much, much harder. I'm trying to walk with them on a good path, a safe path now, and I hope they'll stay with me...for as long as possible. I have lots of faith in them, that is for sure.

Silly, quirky, crazy kids. They are really something(s).

PS. I think I'm addicted to vlogging. More ramblings coming tomorrow, baby!

What I Wore...Some Time or Another...(PLUS...First Ever Vlog!)

The lovely Kami's feature on vlogging totally inspired me to give it a whirl, so here you go! 3 and a half minutes of my ramblings. Can you handle it? (Feel free to NOT click play, people. I won't even know.) Notes to self: natural lightning is most likely preferable to florescent closet lighting. Make-up is good. And for heavens sake, BE STILL!!! Mercy. Well, I am learning.

And now...What I Wore!

Hmm, this was a while ago. But I like it! Top, Jeans & Belt - Target; Infamous Yellow Sweater - Sears; Almost Infamous Moccs - Shoe Boxes (local)

Oh look, it's the exact same outfit! Minus the belt and wait...that IS a different green shirt. That one's from Buckle. It's got a ruffle going on!

It must be Sunday if I'm not in jeans! Tee - Old Navy; Belt, Jacket & Shoes - Target; Skirt & Tights - Forever 21

Casual Monday! I think all the days I didn't take pictures of myself over the past little while I was wearing...this. Well, what can I say. In case you're all dying for one, the Snoopy sweatshirt came from Forever 21. Jeans - Gap, Boots - Ugg.

...followed by...Casual Tuesday! Hooray! Tee - Old Navy; Sweater - ???; Jeans - Gap

Thanks, Pleated Poppy, for the linky fun! :)

Wall to Wall Awesome

For some reason, I have it in my head that we need a gigantic map to adorn our playroom walls. The bigger the better. Which is why the floor-to-ceiling mural appeals to me, of course.

If my kids had it their way, we'd decorate with these...

and/or these.

And I have to say, I'm not totally opposed to that.

Am I Blue?

After spotting this fabulous photo (source unknown) over on Marta Writes (I think I gasped when I saw it. It's true love, I think) I've been mentally designing an all-blue-ish room.

I do have the perfect spot for that shelf...
{curtains - mirror - chair - round rug - rectangle rug}

Library List - Favorites For Girls {Free Printable!}

My girl looooves to read. Like, a lot. Like, I've been known to make more than one trip to the library each week to keep her in books. And she reads a little of this and a little of that. There are approximately one million series of books directed at girls her age, and she pretty much likes them all. Of course, she has her current faves (Geronimo Stilton, Baby Mouse, Ramona). And as I pay my visits to my various libraries (while she's at school...), I can't keep track of which of what series she's read (my brain just doesn't work that well...). So I came up with this:

A library list! With all her favorites! And other series that have been recommended to me by friends! And things I loved when I was her age and want her to read! Etcetera! So she checks off what she's already read. And highlights what she's dying to read. I slip it in my purse and voila! Book selections customized to her needs and wants.

Have a young reader in your house? Feel free to download all 7 pages of it here. *Note: I have not read all of these books. They have been recommended to me by librarians and friends.*

Now, be a friend a recommend some books you love, won't you? By no means have I hit all the best stuff. Maya (obviously) loves easy chapter books, and I'm always looking for new picture book favorites to read to the whole fam'. Do share!

Letter Writing Kit

Danielle @ Kitschy Digitals is one of my absolute faves. And this letter writing kit she created for her son for Christmas is the best. Love love it. So well-thought out. Makes me want to think a lot harder about the gifts I'm giving. You must go check out all the details.

Sparkly

I loved reading about this dressy Christmas Eve family dinner, complete with talent show! So fun. And I super duper love this gorgeous outfit. Sparkles: double check! Pop of yellow: double check! Fancy leg and/or footwear: double check. Double love. Want to wear it.

{No Big Dill is an awesome blog, by the way...}

ModCloth Wish List

I've always got a ModCloth wish list going. Especially this top. It's exactly what I've been looking for.

aaand...I also love this dress. Pretty.

T-Straps

I'm pretty sure that Leslie @ a Room Somewhere knows what I like better than I do. I'm super tempted to take her up on this shoe recommendation. Love, love.

Another Lunch: 12 Days of Christmas Bento

I have been enjoying Another Lunch's 12 Days of Christmas Bentos immensely. So cute & clever. Would I, could I ever do this? Um, no. But I sure do appreciate checking out what the Bento wizard are up to!

My favorites? 11 Pipers Piping:

(I laughed & laughed when she said that she thought about making homemade ding-dongs but that they seemed "too labor intensive" so she just piped some icing onto regular cookies. This from the person who makes teeeny tiny faces on teeeny tiny circles of cheese and creates teeeny tiny hair bows for them out of fruit leather. Yep, if she finds it too labor intensive, it's worth skipping!)

I also liked 8 Maids-a-Milking...

(the cow shaped grilled cheese & the Milk Duds make it for me!)

And how 'bout that pear tree?! So, so adorable.

You really should check out the entire series here. Genius.

Toms vs. Sperry's

Boot season in Texas don't last long, sadly. And I'm finally ready to settle the epic battle between a pair of Toms and a pair of Sperry Topsiders. Are you ready?

I'm going Toms.

But these are a great runner up.

I Think I Can

One of my 2011 goals is to learn to run. I've always hated running, but envied those who love it. Any suggestions where to start? Chris says the most important thing is a good pair of shoes. I like these customizable Nikes. You can even add a custom message. Like mine?

"I think" on one and "I can" on the other. I can, right?

Dinner Once A Week For A Year

One of my Christmas gifts to my parents this year was that I would make them 1 home-cooked meal per week in 2011. See, my mom hates to cook. And I'm cooking anyway. And truthfully, most recipes make enough for 2 small families anyway, so I've been sending my extras their way for a while now. But I promised to try to make 'em good. And that they'd arrive (or be picked up by my Dad on his way home from work, rather...) most weeks. So for week #1, I made...

Pioneer Woman's Favorite Meatloaf (minus the bacon). Thumbs up from me. I thought it was super yummy.

and Bloomin' Onion Bread, as seen on Your Homebased Mom. Thumbs up here, too, from me AND the kids! Very cheesy & yummy.

All of that fat & calories was balanced perfectly by a pile o' steamed broccoli, don't you know.

Now, 51 weeks to go...

World Market Wish List

Something pretty to sit on...

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Obligitory January 1st Business

It's a new year! Which means...drumroll...a new family theme!

Better & Better. Meaning that life just keeps getting better and better, and we are grateful for that. AND it means that we are constantly trying to be better and better. We're sure 2011 will be the best year yet!

In addition to a theme, there are also always resolutions, oh yes.

Happy 2011 to you!