Things Making Me Smile

It has been a great week and I just wanted to share some of the things making me smile...
Arabella all dressed up and cleaning!
The note on the back of an envelope that I received from a wonderful friend back in the States!
My beautiful blooming orchid plant.

Jay and Arabella having a video chat call before bed...this was the 1st one ever!
My new perfect pink manicure!

Winter Beauty

It started snowing 24 hours ago and it has just stopped. Now it is cold and blustery out, but we are long overdue for some real winter weather. I actually can;t remember how long it has been since our last significant snowfall and there were patches of grass showing on many lawns since it has been unseasonably warm. I was actually excited to see the snow start and it wasn't too bad out when we left for swim lessons yesterday afternoon. When we left the aquatic center, I was amazed at how much had come down in such a short period of time! And the roads were very messy on the drive home. But everything was beautiful and the snow coming down was the heavy, wet snow that blankets everything.
I took this picture after about 2 hours of snow...I love how she is looking outside.


These 2 shots were taken last night - just beautiful!

When I went to the gym this morning, it was still snowing. I took the camera with me since I was going to be by the Lakeshore and I wanted to check out the water. I was the only one at the park that I stopped at and it was so quiet and beautiful. I love the silence the snow brings with it. It was still snowing and the wind was picking up, but I made the trek to the shoreline and it didn't disappoint.




I love how everything is covered in the fresh white blanket and am happy to have had some more snow. I think that Arabella and I will probably go out and play in it tomorrow after we drop Jay off at the airport.

Do They Fit?!?!

This past week, I tackled the monumental task of going through all of Arabella's clothes from birth to now. This had been on my to-do list for a very long time and I always managed to do something else and put it aside...for multiple reasons...but after it had finally taken over the laundry room, I knew that I had to do it! And since I have a little break now before my next classes start up in March, I figured it was a good project. It literally took me all week. I started on Sunday night and finished packing away all of her clothes (that we are keeping) and the infant bedding on Friday afternoon. (Thank God for space bags!!) It was tough to go through everything and see how little she really was when she was born. In some ways it bothered me to be packing the clothes up - but I know that at some point, we will need them again - I just hope that when we do need them it is for another little girl otherwise, we will be up a creek without a paddle! I also was able to donate some of the things that I am not keeping to a friend who is going to Cuba on vacation - she takes extra clothes for the poor children there so it makes me happy that another child who is in need is benefiting from some of Arabella's things she has outgrown.

One of the items that I was packing away on Friday morning were the Halloween costumes she has worn since her 1st Halloween. As I was getting ready to put them into the space bag with the linens, she came down to the basement and got all excited when she saw them. Arabella wanted to try them on. I tried to talk her out of it, but there was no way it was working, so I let her see for herself that they were too small. The first one she tried on was the ladybug costume from her 2nd Halloween - one of her favorite books lately is the Ladybug Girl series so she ran around the house pretending she was Ladybug Girl with butterfly wings!

Next came the pumpkin costume...she actually never wore this one, it was just one that I bought for $5...not sure why I am keeping it since there is no sentimental attachment to it...

And finally she had to try on the pea pod from her very first Halloween when she was just a few months old...


Needless to say it was funny to see her trying to stuff herself into the too small costumes. She did help me with some of the cleanup. And Jay was very happy when he got home from New Brunswick to see that the laundry was once again a laundry room!

Photography By Arabella

The other day, I was taking some pictures and the phone rang so I put the camera down on the kitchen table without turning it off. Arabella picked it up and proceeded to walk around the house and take pictures. It is funny to see some of what she took, some of them came out pretty good.

Mommy's Wellies

It has been warmer than normal here and so some of the snow we have has started to melt. I was getting sick of putting on my heavy, clunky snow boots that don't keep my feet warm (yes, a $200 pair of North Face boots that I bought 2 years ago, no longer do the trick) so I pulled out my Hunter Wellies. They were perfect for sloshing through the puddles and melting snow earlier this week, although I am not sure that they are going to work when we get the foot of snow they are forecasting for later today! I had left them out to dry and Arabella decided to try them out! She is such a Mimi-Me - Jay is in so much trouble!

Glow Stick Fun

Pintrest once again has given me a fun idea...using glow sticks! I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to find any around here, especially this time of year, but I did. Dollarama had a bunch of different types so Arabella and I picked out an assortment. They had 6 packs of think ones for $1...can't go wrong there. I wanted it to be a surprise for Arabella and so I told her she would have to wait until after dinner to see what we were going to do with them! I was not sure if it would really work, but it did and Arabella loved it. At bath time, we turned the lights out and cracked the glow sticks. Then we threw them in the tub for some glow in the dark bath fun. It was so neat and she had a lot of fun playing with them. I have even figured out a way (actually Uncle Mike did) to make the glow sticks last longer. When you are done with them, stick them in the freezer - next time you need them, take them out and re-crack and shake them. And, viola, they glow again! How fun is this (the pics are not the greatest - it is hard to take pics in the dark with a toddler and moving glow sticks, but you get the idea)...

Surprise From Auntie

This week, Arabella received a surprise in the mail from Auntie Lori. Canada Post tried to deliver the box but we were not home when they came and for some random reason they won't leave the box on our porch. So we had to wait until the next day and then go pick it up. Arabella was so excited to get the box and was so excited to see what was inside! It was full of Valentine's Day fun - stickers, some chocolate, animal crackers, an adorable purse and a Hello Kitty change purse. And to top it all off, it was in a gift bag with an owl on it...Arabella's favorite!!



She loved everything and has been carrying her purse around with her! Thank you so much Auntie Lori...we are so lucky to have you!

For Me

I am not one to normally buy myself nice/expensive jewelry. But I am also not going to lie and say I never have, because, in fact I have. In the past when I have splurged, it has usually been on David Yurman - I love it's classic, clean lines and versatility. And when I do make a purchase like this for myself, it is usually for something that I have worked really hard at - for example, when I lost a ton of weight 10 years ago, I purchased my first David Yurman ring. When I finished my Paralegal Certificate, I bought myself a David Yurman bangle. And when the first reinsurance arbitration I worked on (which was a living hell for months)was complete, I walked from the law firm right to Tiffany's in Copley Place and bought myself the Elsa Peretti starfish necklace!

So when I finished my final exam and graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I decided I should be able to reward myself for the hard work and dedication I put towards my studies this past year. Not only did I learn a lot about health, wellness and nutrition, but I also learned more about me. It was an adjustment going back to school with a toddler and a husband who travels, but I/we made it and for that I am very proud of myself. Not only have I grown and transformed, but how I raise my family has changed and that is amazing and inspiring to me! For my present to myself, I decided to pick out a few Pandora charms that represented my Institute for Integrative Nutrition journey. I took Arabella with me to the store and she picked out the bracelet...a very pretty pink braided leather one. I chose the charms and each one hold a special meaning for me:

The knot = the never ending journey for true health & wellness
The owl = the wisdom I have gained over the past year
The swirl = the swirl is the symbol of my school, Institute for Integrative Nutrition

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's Day! As soon as Arabella came into our bedroom this morning, she said "Happy Valentine's Day", it was so sweet and she couldn't wait to open the treats that she saw on the counter in the kitchen. She was too excited to open the treats from Grammie and since it was a special day, we let her have some chocolate with her breakfast! Arabella was so excited to go to school today and exchange Valentine's with her friends. They had decorated bags at school last week to hold the cards and when they left school today with the bags full, you could see how excited they were. When we got home, she emptied it out on the table and looked at each card, it was so cute!


After a call with a client and while Arabella was napping, I decided to make her and Jay a special surprise for dinner and desert. I made quinoa and goat cheese meatballs with a fresh tomato sauce for dinner. And for dessert, I made chocolate cakes with the cutest mold that I purchased at Williams Sonoma when I worked there 5 years ago! It took a lot of butter and chocolate to go from this...

to these yummy little cakes...

Jay had asked me what I wanted to do tonight, and I have never really been one to want to go out on Valentine's Day...so instead, I asked him to go to a Bikram yoga class with me. It is something that he said he would try with my just once, and when they had a special at my studio today - Bring Someone You Love to Bikram on Valentine's Day for FREE - I thought it was the prefect thing for us to do. I am impressed with how well he stuck through the class...I remember my first time, it wasn't easy! He did a great job - thanks for joining me Jay! I hope that he now sees just what I do each time I go to class and that maybe he will understand my practice a little more...and give me credit for how hard it really is!

Arabella also made the most special Valentine at school...I just love these projects. They make my heart melt. Thank you so much for such a special Valentine, Little Bean, I love it and I love you!

And one final word on Valentine's Day...I went to Starbucks last weekend when I was in Plattsburgh on my shopping trip and I feel in love with cup for Valentine's Day.

I love how it makes you think about all the different types of "love" there is.

Valentines

Arabella has her class party tomorrow for Valentine's Day. She has been so excited about it ever since they started talking about the holiday. Last week they made cute bags for their Valentine's they will exchange. Instead of the typical cards and junky chocolate, I decided to do something that I saw on Pintrest. Arabella loves goldfish so I thought it was pretty fitting - it went from this:

To these totally adorable Valentine's!

I also made the most perfect PINK cupcakes for the party...I just love how pretty they are!

A Few Favorites

Jay visited his Mom this past weekend in North Carolina and he surprised me with a few of my favorites when he got home...

Wordless Wednesday

Lego's

Over the weekend, I purchased Arabella her first Lego set. She picked out a very small set from what appears to be a new line just for girls call "Friends". I love how they are now marketing to both boys and girls...good for them, bad for us parents. Arabella has enough toys to last her a lifetime, but she had a really good week and I figured it was something we could do together. She was so excited and it reminded me of the bins of Lego's my brother used to have. He would play for hours with them and when I told him that Arabella now has a little, tiny set, he was all excited that he gets to play with them again! She had a little trouble putting them together, but then again I did too. Those pieces sure are small! But once it was finished it was adorable and she has been playing with it since we put it together. It is a little swimming pool, lounge chair and a blender/drink (kind of looks like a margarita glass to me!) and a figurine.

Winter Reading

Since I have a break before my Immersion classes start with Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I am going to try and catch up on my pile of reading, in addition to my other projects I have been putting on hold.

I wonder how many of these books I will get through before March 19th when Immersion begins...

Painting Play Date

Last week, we had one of Arabella's friends from school come over for a play date. Ronald and his dad, Bram, joined us for a fun morning of crafts, painting and movies. Arabella loved having Ronald come and spend time at our house. They had so much fun and loved painting the best. We can't wait to do it again!

My Newest Time Waster....

Just in case I needed something else to suck me in, not really, but since I am done with the first part of school and am on a little bit of a break before Immersion starts, I decided to find something else to waste my time. Pintrest...in case you haven't heard of it, check out www.pintrest.com, it is a virtual bulletin board when you can "pin" things you like and then they are put in your created "boards"...a good place to keep them without clogging up your hard drive. I am sure Jay thanks me already. Anyway, I have been sucked into it lately. In addition to all the projects already on my to-do list, I now have more, thanks to Pintrest! You can follow my boards here

I decided to put a few of the recipes I found to the test last weekend when I had a few friends over last weekend. They were all a hit!

I made fresh raspberries stuffed with dark chocolate chips.


Coconut Nutella Cookies


Arabella helped decorate them!

The finished cookies! Delicious!

And I also made mini pretzels with a chocolate drop that I melted and then topped with an M&M. So easy and a great party snack!