Williams Sonoma Cake Mix

This week my baby sister turns the big 2-5! We celebrated this weekend with a little dinner party with some friends. I was requested to make a chocolate cake with homemade cream cheese frosting. I was super excited when I went to Williams Sonoma and found that their chocolate cake mix was on sale...and of course came across their adorable cake numbers! 

I would say the cake mix was much better than a regular betty crocker box...even though the cook time would have burnt the cake to a crisp. You would think the box would come with a bunch of cool things in their because it is so damn cute...but really its just a plastic bag of cake mix! Delicious cake mix. I would definitely purchase this again...if it was on sale!

The Party Girl

DIY Anchor Party Hats

 With my babies first birthday party around the corner the DIY projects of navy, red and anchors are in full force! Of course I couldn't find the perfect party hat to match the rest of our decor, unless I wanted to spend about $17 each on etsy, so I decided to semi-homemake them! I wandered around our local party store and found red striped hats...but they had a tiger with a black hat on them. I wanted to put my own little twist on them so I added some trim with streamers, a little pom on the top, and covered the tiger with an anchor! They came out pretty cute.

Here is the finished product

The achor was designed by my sis (handpickednotions.blogspot.com), printed onto 2 1/2 inch avery circular labels and backed with navy card stock. 

The hats are all ready for kiddos...

Kitchen succulents...months later

Remember way back when I bought a couple of white pots at Ikea and planted some succulents in the kitchen? Well if not see my original post for the DIY idea. I was just realizing that these little plants have survived indoors (mostly) for months with little maintenance.  I have let them soak up some sun occasion and watered them sometimes once a week, sometimes twice a month. And they are alive and well! 

 

The above white pots are from Ikea and the trowel is from West Elms gardening line...so cute, if you like that sort of thing.

Downtown Corona Del Mar

 On Saturday the babe, Grandma and I headed to the beach to meet the newly engaged couple for a late breakfast at ZINC and a stroll through the farmers market. Of course Easton loved every minute of it and he kept us very entertained!

This little guy makes each of my days so full. He is just so happy and full of life (and energy). At breakfast he had to try a little bit of everyones meal, and had his first real egg experience (oops I'm supposed to wait a full year, aren't I). He was shoveling scrambled eggs mixed with leeks and spices in his mouth. 

 The walk back to their house is just beautiful. With quaint little yards and beautiful gardens that line the streets it allows one to refresh and enjoy! Easton had to take a stroll himself and show off a little walking ( a new skill he has learned).

Of course we did not leave empty handed. We left with breads, peaches, italian spreads and the craving to cook and eat fresh food.

5 on Friday Linky

number 1: For Mother's day I was gifted this amazing candle from bath & body works and I finally started using it and it makes my home smell so fresh and peaceful. It's one of those candles that inspires you to keep your house clean (but if you don't at least it smells clean). 

number 2: My new kitchen cafe shelves...gotta love my husband. I show him something on pintrest, tell him how much I love it and where I think it would look good in our home. I come home from work and there they are! I just put some random display items up there, but will most definitely making them look more gorge as the time goes on. These were home depot wooden shelves and he painted them swiss coffee to match our baseboards and door trims. 

number 3: Umm baby Tom's...need I say more. They are the cutest most adorable baby boy shoe ever! I bought a size up just so they last longer : ) Found at Nordies

number 4: Little guys bathroom coming together. Anchor towel hooks are ready!

number 5: Chevron mouse pad found here on etsy!

Flying with the babe

Our trip to Idaho was Easton's second flight...he flew across country when he was 8 weeks old. But an 8 week old versus an 11 month old? Basically completely different scenarios! Infants sleep, eat, and poop. 11 month olds are a whole different ball game! When it came to booking our flights, there were not many options since we flew into a tiny airport. We had two short flights each way. Of course when booking them I could not get seats together so I had to prepare for the worst and hope for the best! I came up with some ideas that worked for us...obviously each child is different. Mine does not sit still...not even for a minute unless eating or watching Mickey Mouse clubhouse.

We packed our bags so that we would only need to bring two suitcases, basically carry on size. It killed me to pay to check our bags...but walking through the airport and or security with a bunch of baggage (literally) would not be that pleasant! We rented a car and therefore rented a carseat...thank goodness! So once we checked our bags we had an umbrella stroller, a baby, a diaper bag, and a bag of "back up goodies"!

Pictured above: baby cereal bars, petunia pickle bottom boxy backpack, nuby cup, plum organic puffs, chico umbrella stroller, iPad, advent bottle.

We had an early flight at 710 a.m. so we decided that we would be waking Easton up at 515 a.m. so that he would be tired during take off. I heard the key is to have them tired and hungry. I made sure he was wearing comfy clothes, had a blanket and many pacifiers! I packed the diaper bag with a gallon zip lock of every kid of snack I could think of. I made sure I had a sippy cup and filled it with water after the security line! I had a bottle with formula in it and brought water to fill it. I was planning on breastfeeding him during take off, but wanted to have a bottle just in case. I downloaded a couple of shows on the iPad to occupy some of the plane ride. I packed wet ones to sanitize the area.

When packing I made sure to have a gallon ziploc filled with the same amazing goodies for the plane ride home! Which I thought I was being very organized...then my baby slept the E-N-T-I-R-E way home, both flights people.

*I realized that you can bring baby food, formula, or breast milk through the airport security! Next flight, I will pack snacks for myself so that I don't steal baby snacks...

Big Tractors

During our trip to Idaho we spent some time on the family farm. The land is beautiful and the kids had a blast looking at all the tractors and taking pictures on them. 

Baby Love

We got a tour of the land that his uncle farms, I can't imagine the amount of hard labor that it takes. I was pretty amazed at the fields of crops and stacks of hay...obviously!

Tucker & Easton with Great-Grandma 

Easton on his great-grandpa tractor from the 1930's

 I thought that Easton's favorite things in life were his dogs and Mickey Mouse...until he came in contact with the cows on the farm. He was so excited he could barely contain himself. Legs kicking and screaming kind of excitement!

Purse Hooks & Gray Paint

A project completed! A long long time ago I saw this pin on pintrest and showed my crafty husband.  If you scroll all the way down you will see what this hallway looked like originally. My husband crafted the purse/bag hooks, changed the knobs to the garage to match and then we had the house painted a soft gray color. I guess this could a be considered a pintrest success! 

The inspiration photo 

the completed project

You see that really cute bag hanging there? That is a hand made reusable grocery tote! I have a matching one...and I must say I think I have the cutest grocery bags out there! 

the hooks

BEHR graceful gray

The before... 

This is before new floors, new knobs, new paint, and hand crafted purse hooks! I love the way it turned out.

4th of July

For Easton's first 4th of July we traveled to Idaho to visit Tucker's side of the family! Although hearing many stories from his childhood and lots about his family that lives there...I had never met them. Yes, in 10 years! I was definitely missing out! It was absolutely beautiful and it was great to meet the people I had heard so much about! On 4th of July we attended a small town 4th of July parade, went to a carnival and then watched the fireworks. Keep in mind it does not get dark until 10:00 p.m., therefore fire works start at 10 and those cute little babies below all made it through the fire work show! 

You can see how exhausted Easton is in the picture on the left..barely keeping his eyes open! On the right is my attempt at getting a picture of all 4 kids...Looking at the camera or not, they are pretty cute.

Parade pictures

While waiting for it to get dark the kids found these amazing pinwheels. See how fast it is going? It was so windy for awhile...thank goodness it disappeared right before the firework display! Easton was willing to do anything to hold onto that pinwheel!

When to wind was blowing a thunderstorm through a double rainbow formed...it was beautiful! Idaho definitely has my kind of weather! Although I didn't actually get to experience the thunderstorm, we could see it off in the distance!

DIY cut off onesie & 4th of July Baby Tank

4th of July DIY onesie

We are preparing for our 4th of July getaway...which of course must include a cute little outfit for the mister for his first 4th of July parade! I have so so many long sleeved onesies that still fit and figured rather than pack them away and buy all new short sleeved onesies...I would work with what I have! Besides, pudgy baby arms in a cut-off onesie? I can't think of anything cuter right now!

 Above are the steps to convert your onesies into cut offs. Basically turn it inside out...cut along the seams going up the sleeve and then around the shoulder!

I love incorporating baby hands into every holiday.  Just like this pumpkin from Easton's first halloween! Little tiny baby hands and feet!

The below process got a little messier than anticipated...but hopefully will look cute! I squirted some paint on a paper plate and made it about the side of his hand and then dipped those cute fingers into the paint...of course he grabbed the paint, but I quickly attempted to "place" his hand on the shirt. Little areas of smudges around the fingers and palm were later corrected with a paint brush! I then used my finger (it would be a very very bad idea to use his finger for this...) and made some red lines for the flag! 

When he wakes up from his nap...hopefully we will have a little modeling session! I can't wait!