there's a baby coming!

So incredibly excited to announce there's a baby growing in there...






A baby was always in our "five year plan" (although it would've been in my 1 year plan had it just been my decision) so as 2013 approached we started to have lots of conversations. Is there anything we want to do first? Do we make enough money? Do we have good health insurance? And more specific things like what kind of schooling our kids will do and how they will be disciplined or will they be vegetarian..... so much to think about! There was also many many talks with a ton of our good friends about what to expect, ect and finally at the beginning of the year we we're like Lets do this!! The first couple months were a tad hard for me, as periods came and went, I did LOTS of praying and even more trusting. Then I realized that maybe the iphone app we were using to know when i ovulate was off, so I got some ovulation tests and went to town. Turns out my body likes to be really different and I ovulated like 10 days before the app predicted... so we had completely missed it! Just a heads up for people who use that app as a means of birth control or conceiving: not a good idea! All that to say, I know a couple months isn't a long time to wait (some people wait years and years) but I was so happy to see those double pink lines... so happy i took 12 pregnancy tests!

The first trimester was a little rough, nauseous 24/7.. no appetite.. and sleeping all day, but it TOTALLY could've been worse so I'm counting my blessings. P.S. why does NO ONE ever talk about first trimester fatigue?? I really could've used some warnings on that one. I've never slept so much and still been so fatigue in my life. Which is why my store was closed for so long, by the way.
Josh came home from work many nights and I was already in bed. Thank goodness he's so gracious and fed himself dinner the past couple months. Luckily I'm slowly getting my appetite back! Woo hoo!

We've seen the little babe on an ultrasound and heard its heart beat... talk about exciting and surreal. There's a human in there! So incredibly thankful and excited for this new journey!


p.s. i did my best to push a little bump out for these photos, but it felt weird because there's really not much to speak of yet... well, depending on what I eat ;)

Currently

Loving: This grey and rainy weather we've been having again. I don't mind the sunshine or the warm air but the rain is so familiar and homey. Although I'll be quite ready for some warmer weather come June, where I feel the need to be outdoors all day through the end of September. For now I'm happy with my hot tea and lazier days.

Watching: (i guess this is currently buttttt..) The Great Gatsby! I'm a huge fan of Baz Luhrmann (Moulin rouge is my all time favorite movie) and I thought this movie was absolutely perfect in every way. I'm kind of bummed it's getting bad reviews... but they've got at least one fan in me. Did you see it yet? The whole movie was beautiful and I kind of want to see 10 more times.

Eating: my staple foods are pretty bland and boring these days, which is perfectly fine with me. Toast with avocado is my favorite meal ever. Plus now that Trader joe's sells a variety pack of french macarons i'm set for life. They are unbelievably good!

Thankful for: Lemon in my water. A talented husband who works really hard. My family and friends. And answered prayers.


Thinking about: My 23 goals list and how I need to mark a few off! The year is nearly half way over, I've got some work to do! I'll share the whole list soon and see how far I have to go!

Clutch giveaway! [Closed]

^^ok, i know this is a sad attempt at showing the polka dot clutch (i just put the fabric on top of the stripe clutch) but I didn't get one made up in time. This gives you the basic idea. I really want one of these for myself!^^



TO ENTER:

Check out the clutches in my store and leave me a comment here and let me know which is your favorite (leave your email address also!)

The giveaway ends Sunday night and I'll announce the winner Monday. The winner will get the clutch of their choice.

Bonus entry: Share the giveaway via twitter or instagram and leave a comment here for an extra entry.



Edit to announce:

Random.org chose #15 so Rebecca is the winner (check your email Rebecca!). Thank you all so much for entering!! I'll definitely do this again soon

hello hello!

Just a couple random shots from the week:
1. my favorite snack right now. i can't do yogurt in the morning but i've been snacking on one of these every day to squeeze in some extra protein. doctors orders!
2. knick knacks on my dresser. confession: i'm a candle hoarder. i got this candle for my birthday in November and I never wanted to light it because I like it so much but I did for the first time this week. It doesn't make sense but I do this with every candle... apparently i'm really afraid of them running out. (Both candles on my dresser are from anthropologie and both are amazing!)
3. My husband is sometimes too good to be true. He picked up on some hints back when this dear creatures collection first launched and pre-ordered it for me. It took months to come in but its beautiful and I can't wait to wear it all the time.

I just noticed I haven't posted since the end of April. I've been pretty sick for most of May, colds and stomach stuff but all is well! I've missed it and I'm looking forward to catching up. I have another video, a recipe or two, a tutorial and regular life stuff to post before May is over... you've been warned ;)



p.s. I have some new clutches in the shop! Check them out HERE and come back tomorrow because i'm giving one away!

weekending

We had a really good weekend, so good I thought it was necessary to blog about it with only iphone photos (which i rarely do). We didn't do anything extravagant, in fact we didn't do much of anything but it was exactly what we both needed.

On friday we were both craving chinese food so we drove to our favorite place 20 minutes north and chowed down. Their portions are ginormous and its always fresh and not greasy tasting (chinese food can be so scary). I could probably eat their fried rice everyday.

Later friday I remembered one of the frozen yogurt places nearby starting serving pineapple dole whip (the kind you can usually only find at disney parks or hawaii). Just one little google search will show you that people go CRAZY for this stuff! Me and josh were so fascinated by the cult following it has plus it sounded really good so we got some! It was my first time trying it and i have to say: It definitely lives up to the hype. It's SO refreshing (and dairy free!). We even got some to-go to keep in our freezer. When we got home I was already looking up where I could buy the concentrate so I could make it all the time. Have you ever had it?? If not and there's a Menchies frozen yogurt chain in your area, chances are they have it. You HAVE to try it!



Saturday I somehow convinced Josh to go grocery shopping with  me (love when that happens), we walked to get some coffee and then took a long nap. We also made these buffalo baked pickle chips and they were really good!



And today (which is technically the start of our work week) we picked up a donut from the cutest little shop, Coco donuts. It's a coffee shop also and I have a feeling we'll be frequenting this place quite a bit. Lavender latte anyone?? And also rose water latte?? Excited to have found you Coco donuts!



And that was our weekend! I guess it all revolved around food but most good weekends do right?? ;)

Only a couple days left in april! Hope they treat you well!

currently

Watching: Downton Abbey. I finally gave this a shot after hearing nothing but good things about it. I have to say the first season was a little hard to get into, there are SO many characters and I found myself looking at wikipedia after every episode to figure it out. I'm loving it now though, I just finished season 2 and now i'm trying to figure out where I can watch season 3. I  also got caught up with parenthood about a month ago and I tried finishing the second season of American horror story but it got creepy/weird and was giving me nightmares so I stopped.

Hating: taking my vitamins. after years i am still such a baby about this! i start to feel gaggy even just thinking about it.  i've found taking them with juice is WAY better but i still avoid it all day. Am i the only one? any tricks that make it easier?

Feeling: Thankful! April has been full of all kinds of emotions, but mostly the good sappy kind. And it's been a busy month. Hence why the blog has been ignored. Also, super thankful to have a new (to us) car. Our previous one bit the dust a few weeks ago and we spent two weeks relying on other people or public transportion (the worst!). Despite the inconvenience i am so grateful for friends who took me grocery shopping during that time (you're the best sarah!!) and now we're stoked to have a prius (typical portlanders...)

Eating: a really amazing piece of hazelnut chocolate. I've been off sugar again, but I get one day a week to enjoy something sweet (which happens to be today!). It's really doable for me and it feels good to not be eating sugar every day. You should try this method if you need to cut back on sugar, it doesn't feel too limiting.

Excited about: putting some new items in my store soon! I have quite a few new accessories, as well as some new dresses/prints for ladies and babies! Look for those in May! I'm hoping by announcing that it'll give me the motivation to actually work long days and not just take naps ;)


Thats all for now! Play along in the comments if you'd like! Hope you all have an amazing week

WEARS 01 // easter

We had such an amazing easter, there wasn't much to it but it was special. For some reason we woke up at 7:30am (which does NOT happen on the weekends), but i'll chalk that up to the sun shining bright in our room. We traded some small gifts, not sure why we still do this but its a fun excuse to spoil each other a little. Then we ate breakfast and lounged around. I dropped him off at work then spent some time with family, celebrating easter and birthdays. We ended the day at our church, with a beautiful service.

Before we ran out the door josh took some photos of me... this is me trying to document more daily stuff and not just flowers ;). I bought this dress recently with a gift card and I'm excited its finally nice enough outside to wear it. i haven't owned a white dress in a long time but i love it. Confession: I wasn't ready to go tightless just yet but i felt insecure about wearing black tights with a white dress, so i searched for that combo on pinterest and million things came up which gave me the confidence i needed. (thank you pinterest!)

Hope your easter was lovely too!


P.s. i cut a few inches off my hair. it feels SO much better but also so short, i almost feel bald. Crazy that a few inches can feel so different! Glad to have the crunchy ends gone though

spring blooms

I've said it before and I'll say it again.. Spring is the prettiest time of the year in Portland. It may still be pretty drizzly but every street is decked out with blooming white, pink or yellow trees.. I seriously gasp in awe all the time (ask my husband, it freaks him out). The other day we went out for a walk and I brought some scissors so i could steal a few blooming branches to put in a vase. Added to my ever changing collection of fresh flowers... who have i become?


On a totally different note, March was kind of a weird month... I was pretty unmotivated in my work, which wasn't my favorite. I think it was the remnants of feeling burnt out from too much work in jan/feb. I'm not a very good boss for myself but i'm learning! I could probably write a never ending post on what to do/don't do when you run a business (or two)...oh the mistakes i've made! (I'm still the WORST at email correspondence, its tragic). Today I sat down and wrote out a new schedule for myself so i guess its safe to say i'm back to my motivated self.



P.S. the other day I came up to our room and saw these two babies hugging while sleeping... is that not the most precious thing you've ever seen? i can't even handle it!