Friday, February 17, 2017

January Outfit Round- Up

Happy Friday friends!  We have a fun filled weekend with lots of family in town.  We are celebrating Sterling's birthday tomorrow and attending SEWE.  Tonight my sister and I get to go out for dinner with no kids- we are just a little excited:) 

I wanted to share my January Outfit Round-up.  So many items are reduced now and I tried to denote if they were on sale. 

I am wearing a small in the dress, it runs TTS.


Dress ON SALE also Here ON SALE and in pink Pumps
Blouse (on sale!) also in Green and Floral  | Earrings
Off Shoulder Blouse (on major sale) 
FRANCES MOON Outfit Details | Dress + Pumas
STERLING outfit Details | Stripe Tee (comes in 3 colors) + Nike Pants + Vans also in blue






Thursday, February 16, 2017

Mom Confessions

Happy Thursday,  it is time for a new installment of Mom confessions.


- Today is Sterling's 7th Birthday.  I am not kidding when I say I feel like the last 7 years went by in the blink of eye.  It scares me to think how fast the next 7 years will go by and then I will have a 14 year old.  I still vividly remember checking into the hospital, laboring for 32 hours and becoming a mom for the first time.  I was terrified but then when I held him for the first time I knew this was my purpose, to be a mom.  Sterling provides me with so much unconditional love and has taught me the same.  I thank God everyday for him.   Happy 7th to my sweet boy!

- A few weeks ago Sterling called me to our back door and goes look out on the porch mom.  He said do you see that animal? Sterling pranks me often so I was totally expecting a joke.  It took me a minute to focus in and see he was pointing to a rat or very large mouse that was chilling on our play kitchen set on the porch.  The next day I saw two large mice- now I am now officially freaking out.  I called my next door neighbor who helped me set up traps and rat poison.  I was too scared to even set foot on the porch for a week.   I later found out Sterling and his friends had been making potions with water and my spices and that was attracting the mice- yikes! 

- Potty training sucks.  I should have known Sterling was so easy and Frances has been difficult.  She is pretty good about going tee tee in the potty but freaks about pooping.  She will bring me a diaper when she needs to poop and ask me to put it on her, then she will walk away and go poop.   If I ask her to poop in the potty she screams and runs away and hides. 

- Sterling recently had some allergy testing done and we found out he was basically allergic to everything.  His allergy doctor said allergy shots were really the best option for him since he had such an extreme reaction to so many external things.  I took him in last week for his first shot.  He basically turned into the exorcist.  The first nurse came in and tried to give him the shot and he was screaming and flipping out so badly they called in a second nurse to help hold him down.  He then starts hitting and kicking and no one is able to pin him down because he is so erratic.  Then the head doctor walks in and tells me he will not be receiving allergy shots because he is too immature and a threat to her staff.  At this point I am crying because no one wants to see their child acting like Sterling did.  We left but he still really needs shots- anyone have advice for getting kids to calm down for shots? Bribery does not work:)

- Frances screams every time I brush her hair.  Like even if I barely touch her hair or just put a bow in she screams as loud as she can and says I am hurting her. She acts like I am torturing her in the worst way possible.  I dread doing her hair in the morning and many times after I do it she rips out the pony tail or bow.  Is this normal and do kids grow out of this????

- Frances keeps telling everyone she is going to have a baby  and that baby Jesus is in her tummy.  I think playing Mary in the school Christmas play got into her head- haha.  Last night she told me I was gonna be a grandma soon:)

- Sterling's made this Valentine's card for me.  I love that I look like Britney Spears.  He said he put me in workout clothes because I am always in workout clothes.  If only my workout clothes looked like that and I looked that good in them:)

- My kids love lunchables and Spongebob.  It makes me think at some point I have majorly failed as a mom.

- I am fully addicted to Parenthood.  I feel like I am a Braverman at heart.  I also now want to have two boys and two girls so I can mimic their family life.  The best show ever.  Craig T Nelson reminds me so much of my dad in so many ways.  

- Yesterday I took Sterling and his best friend to see the new Batman movie as a birthday treat.   It was dark and I was so tired and I immediately fell asleep and slept through half of the the movie.  Not gonna lie it was nice to take a nap during the day. 

- Speaking of legos, I throw them away all the time.  If I step on one and find them loose on the ground they are trash.  We have way too many legos. 

- Frances only wants to wear pink.  If I bring her an outfit that is not pink she starts crying and saying it needs to be pink.  Who knew the dressing struggle would start this young.

- As soon as I clean the den and pick up all the toys everywhere it never fails Frances will decide the one toy she needs to sleep with is buried at the bottom of the toy bin.  She then dumps all the toys out to get to that single toy.

- I recently found out when I was asking Sterling to clean his room he was throwing everything in his dirty clothes hamper- clean clothes and all just so the floor looked clean.  I was like this is not gonna fly.  Not sure why it is so hard for him to put his clothes away but the struggle is real.  He also never closes his dresser drawers and that drives me nuts!

Happy Thursday!  I would love to hear any of your mom confessions to make me feel like less of a weirdo:)




Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Indonesian Beef and Veggie Bowls + $22 Dress



This is a little powerhouse bowl filled with so many tasty flavors.  I am starting to love "bowls" as much as my beloved salads.  You could easily sub brown rice for the white but there is something about white rice with the ground beef.   I don't eat white rice often so I figure its ok every now and then.  If you don't eat read meat you could use ground chicken instead. 

The flavors in the meat are complex- a touch sweet with some heat and spice and then creaminess from the coconut.  Crazy good I tell you.  The crisp veggies pair perfectly with the meat. Drizzle it all with some hot sauce and you have a kick ass dinner. 

Side note-  if you are serving this to kids I just left all the veggies off theirs and just served them the rice and meat.  

|| I N D O N E S I A N  B E E F  B O W L S ||
adapted via Better Homes and Gardens

- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce (sriracha)
- 1 small cucumber sliced
- 1-2 red chiles sliced
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 1/2 head savoy cabbage shredded
- shredded carrots
- white or brown rice

Cook rice according to package.  

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and add red curry paste.  Cook about 1 minute.  Add in coconut milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and hot sauce.  Add in ground beef and crumble it into smaller pieces.  Cook on high 5-7 minutes.  Reduce heat and simmer about 25-30 minutes.  If you want most of the liquid to cook down.  

Serve in bowls layered with rice, beef, shredded cabbage, cucumber, shallots, carrots and chile pepper.  Drizzle with sriracha if desired.  

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I found the cutest embroidered dress at Old Navy this week.  Use code ENJOY to save 30% off, making the dress only $22.  It runs TTS, I am wearing an XS.  The small fit too but I liked the fit of the XS better.



Also comes in a chambray version which I love.  My store didn't have this one but I am tempted to order.







Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Obsessions | Under $100

Today I am sharing some obsessions all under $100!

I love the pleat and stripe combo.
These are so fun!
I love the lace detail at the bottom and smocking around the neckline.  

This blouse may be my favorite.  I love a spilt back and there are so many ways you could wear this.


I am always a fan of a crisp white blouse.

This comes in 5 colors and is light weight cotton.  I already ordered the white.  I am picturing it with white jeans and fun jewelry.

Such a cute everyday dress and under $50.
It also comes in this short sleeve version.

This comes in 6 colors.  I actually own the black and green from a few years ago.  They are easy to dress up or down!

Simple yet classic.  Also available in black and brown here
This bracelet came in the mail yesterday and I love it.  Also comes in a turquoise color.  I think it will be great for layering.

The back on this dress is gorgeous.
This adorable tee comes in several colors and is under $25.
This reminds me of a Kate Spade version from last year.  


I just ordered this suit to try and fingers crossed it looks cute on.  It is under $40!