Favorite Things

Here are some of my favorite things from August!

Summer fun.  Some pretty great date nights with my Noel and some awesome girls' nights with my sisters.  

I love that the boys are playing with each other these days.  Just what brothers are for.  Can you tell that they're brothers in the picture on the left?  :-)  The picture on the right is when I took them to the temple a week ago to walk around the beautiful grounds.

My JCrew elephant necklace!  I've talked about it before, but I seriously love this necklace.  It's nice having a light-weight necklace that goes with everything.  Also, I talked about these earrings here.  Coral is my new neutral.  And I got them from The Purple Polka Dot for $8.  Can't beat that!

I annoy myself so much when I read books.  Whenever I get even a little nervous about what's going to happen, I skip a few pages paragraphs to see what's going to happen.  This one was definitely a page turner for me...but I still have mixed feelings about the ending.  There was one big moment that I knew what was going to happen and thought, "Really??  Really?!"....the same feelings as Jacob imprinting on Renesmee.  It's weird at first, but then it works it self out...kind of.

Snuggle snoozes are what I miss most about little, teeny babies.  While we were at the beach earlier this month, Walker snuggled right up to me on a rainy morning and took a snuggle snooze with his Mommy.  I loved every second of it.

Honorable Mention 

Have you seen this?  My heart was beating fast the ENTIRE TIME.  Probably not one that I'll watch again, but I thought it was pretty entertaining.

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Alright!  Now it's your turn to link up.

Here are the rules (Yep, there are rules this month) :-)

1.  Link to your actual Favorite Things post.

2.  If you have an old post you want to use, that's totally fine!!  Just make you link back to my blog in some way.  (You can grab a Favorite Things button on the sidebar if you'd like)

3.  Go visit a few other bloggers and say hey!  (I've met some pretty amazing people through link ups!)

Happy Friday, friends!

 

A dress for all seasons...

Dress:  Old Navy here,  Belt:  Old Navy,   Shoes: Tory Burch

I am a jewelry minimalist and like outfits that can just "be" by themselves.  I love this jean dress for that reason.  I usually wear only one "statement" item of jewelry with each outfit (and I'm wearing a pretty cute pair of coral studs with this one....the photographer just didn't capture those....not calling any names....Noel). Another thing I love about this jean dress is that it will take me straight into fall with a pair of riding boots and a cutie scarf.   

Will you be wearing anything from your summer wardrobe right into fall?

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy today!

 

A day on the boat

Well...more like 10 minutes on the paddle boat at the park.

Either way....how adorable are these little sailors?!

PS.  Make sure to get your Favorite Things post ready to link up with me THIS Friday!!

 

Finding a Love...

Photo taken of me back in the day (4 years ago) by my girl, Bridget

I grew up training in classical ballet.  I continued that training during my college years (where I majored in Dance Education).  One day, while I was in class, I remember being SO over ballet.  My foot was killing me from having a blister that caved IN, I was sick of wearing a leotard and pink tights, and my head was hurting from all the bobby pins.  While I was waiting to go across the floor, the Modern dance class down the hall caught my eye. They were rolling on the floor, dressed in sweats, dancing while accompanied by a live drummer.  Everything I was not doing.  From that moment on, I switched my dance focus.  I was trained by a Modern Dance genius, and finally found a deep love for the art of dance.  Now, though, as I'm a little older, I've found a real love for ballet as well.  It's nice to stop the world for a moment and get lost in beautiful movement....(and now that I'm older, teachers don't make me wear a leotard and pink tights) :-)

PS.  Make sure to get your Favorite Things post ready to link up with me THIS Friday!

 

Field Trip

My sister, Sarah and I had a wonderful time taking the boys to the museum the other day.  We've been several times before, but somehow, in some way, everything seemed to be more magical this go around.  The butterflies flew right up to us in the butterfly garden, the massive projector screen kept our attention for the longest time with larger than life footage of the different seasons, and Charlie loved getting a chance to pet a real bunny (he usually only sees them hopping around in our yard during breakfast).  Apart from my slight anxiety attack when Meet the Animals lady busted out the biggest snake I've ever seen (and then started walking around the room with it).....it was a wonderful day.  

 

A Few Things...

A few thoughts....a few links....

What do you think about this tweet?  Is it true?  I have honestly never watched an episode of PLL.  And although I'm not fully invested in the Bunheads plot, I do like an occasional dose of Sutton Foster fabulousness.

Did you know that JK Rowling makes $8 a second???!  I knew I should have written those Harry Potter books.

Do you have a blog, a shop, or a product that you're interested in growing?  Check out my sponsor page and email me for super low rates!

I'm thinking about Halloween costumes.  (No you come calm down.)  :-)  I can't decide between this super cute one and this adorable one (with Walker as the cute little Boy Scout).  I can't decide!!!

My sister got me this JCrew necklace the other day. (Wearing it in the picture above)  It's perfect and I wear it every single day.

Is this not one of the cutest party themes ever? Maybe it's the polka dot balloons that did it for me (because I'm kinda obsessed), but I'm definitely putting this one in the birthday party folder.

I entered a contest on Elizabeth Banks' website (um, duh) to win an autographed copy of the Hunger Games.  We had to tell her what our favorite scene from the movie was, and without a doubt it's this one.  (When Katniss is lifted up into the games.)  I love how well they translated this scene from book to movie.  Your favorite scene?

I hope you're all having a great day!!

 

Letters

Dear Les Mis,  I am so, unbelievably excited for you.  I have never seen a better movie trailer.  Never!  I'm usually not an Anne Hathaway fan, but she is totally rocking it out in this preview.  Dear Walker, I can't believe you got your first hair cut this week!  Dear Charlie, You usually act slightly psychotic during a hair cut, but when Mrs. Suzie cut your hair this week you sat so perfectly still.  Breakthrough!  I guess it helps that she's your nursery leader at church and you kinda/really adore her.  Dear Hunger Games, I'm going to need you to come out a little earlier than midnight tonight.  Like, 12 noon.  Ok?  I'll be at Walmart waiting because I know you're just stashing all the copies in that storage room.  Dear Adele, I'm going to need you to come out with some new stuff.  The dance season has officially begun and here's me

and here's Rumor Has It.

(I'm over it). 

Dear Friends, Happy Weekend!

 

SYTYCD Thoughts

A night of Mia Michaels?!  Don't call me, don't interrupt me, don't even look at me.  I was way too excited for this.  

Staying in the Olympic spirit,  I've awarded certain Mia Michael's routines a bronze, a silver, and a gold.  (This is based off the original version, not last night's.)

Bronze:

Bench dance:

*I loved this dance so much when it came out.  Noel kept reminding me of this.  How he remembers, I have no clue.  Probably the combo of Travis, Mia, and Celine all in one was way too much for me to handle....In the most awesome way possible.

*Loved last night's version.  The jump off the bench into the guy's arms.  The hand touching under the bench.  Loved it.

Silver:

Gravity

*This piece is genius.  I mean, really.  The choreography is ridiculous.  After Kayla and Kapono did it, I paused my DVR, cried on my couch, and then watched it 5 more times.  It was that dramatic for me.

*Lindsay's legs just couldn't pull this piece off.  Cole was incredible.  Really incredible, but Lindsay...no.

Gold:

Hometown

*My #1 dance OF. ALL. TIME.  Nothing beats this.  Sometimes I'll just randomly youtube it.

*I loveeeddd when Mia said, "too normal".   Favorite quote of all time.

*I get chills when I watch this dance...I can't even stand it.  Like spikey chills.  The music is my favorite, the transitions are gorgeous, the dancing is effortless, the costumes are simple.  The perfect recipe for a perfect dance.

*Katie and Josh did it better, but the couple last night did pretty great.

So what did you think?  I can't believe Amelia and Matt got sent home!?!?!?!

 

Get it together!!!

The other day I handed Charlie a brush and asked if he could "just put it in one of those drawers."  I was referring to one of my bathroom drawers and seriously shocked myself.  "Just put it in one of those drawers???"  Not a specific bin in a specific drawer?  Where was Ashley?  

You know that Sunday night when my family abandoned me?  That night I changed my drawers from this....

to this.

The pictures don't say much, but I'm telling you...organizational order has been restored.  I can finally sleep at night.

And here are some cutie pics of my babies this past Saturday while I was using those drawers to get ready for the day.

Go here to get some pretty fantastic earrings!

Summer Fun

(Eek....iphone pic in a dark theatre)

One of my favorite things about this summer has been having all of my family as house guests, and I really hope that never ends.  My sister, Sarah (^), my sis Jessica, my brother James, and my mom all made appearances here this week.  Sarah spent the weekend with us and Charlie loves playing with her.  Walker thinks it's pretty cool that there's another human that looks and acts like his mommy.  My friend, Ronnie has a dance company, and Sarah and I went to their fantastic performance on Saturday night.  We also went with Noel and James to see the new Bourne movie.  The first 30 minutes was a snooze fest, but overall it was pret.ty awesome.  Jeremy Renner was super fierce and just might be my new celeb crush.  Watch out EB! 

Hope you all had a great weekend!!

 

The sun and the sand

{Charlie and cousin Ande)

{Walker and cousin Owen}

I'm going to be really honest.  I'm not a huge fan of the sand.  Before kids, I would enjoy sitting out on the beach to read a book, but I've never been interested in getting super sandy or swimming in the ocean.  No thank you.  With kids, at the beach, there is sand everrryyywhere....and this crazy sand appears in random places for weeks after we get home.  This past beach trip, however, I knew I only had one day on the actual beach.  Charlie was having so much fun that I decided to give the whole "dig a hole" thing a try, and it was actually pretty fun.  I guess if I'm going to have to clean it off the boys and scoop it out of their mouths (Walker's favorite beach snack), I might as well fully embrace it myself.

Green and Navy Bridal Shower

Blurred out all the location details

The bride!

Banner made by my sister in law

Ok, these fruit things actually looked pretty cute when I took them out of the freezer....they had been sitting out for forever before I took a picture....errrgghh.  I gave my sister in law, Laurie, a bridal shower last week.  Everything turned out really nice.  A chili bar, awesome presents to get the bride started on her new adventure of being a wife(!), and yummy treats.  I told her to enjoyyyyy being engaged....so much fun to be pampered, look at flowers all day, and to just be excited!  

Hope you all had a great weekend!

 

Slowing it down....

(Love this super cozy skirt from Gap!)

I have been running around like a crazy person this past week.  Choreographing, cooking, baking, floral arranging, tying......  Not a lot of snuggling and not a lot of vrooming....which just so happen to be two of my favorite things.  So today, my two babes and I are going to make cinnamon rolls, get cozy, and get a full load of truck noises, garages made out of blocks (Charlie's favorite), and most importantly, Mommy kisses.

Happy Friday, friends!

PS.  Click here to win an incredibly gorgeous bracelet!

 

The Purple Polka Dot Giveaway

I am seriously in love with everything about The Purple Polka Dot.  Everything!  They have THE cutest jewelry, clothes, and furniture.  

Today, someone gets to win this beauty from their store!

No doubt it will look beautiful on you!

I'm using Rafflecopter for the first time.  Don't worry...it's very user friendly and makes it super easy to enter.

  The first two entries are mandatory and then everything else is optional.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends Sunday, August 5.