Weekend Rewind - Porter's Birthday, New Make-Up, and Star Wars!

We had such a fun weekend - it was busy, as usual, but we also had some great family time as Scrooge The Musical came to a close at our church. Here are some highlights:

• Porter celebrated his 3rd birthday yesterday (Sunday, December 20th). I cannot believe we have a 3 year old. We had a fun party for him last Wednesday - a Paw Patrol pizza party at his favorite restaurant by the train tracks - and he was seriously ELATED with the fact that his entire family and all his friends were in one room together. We sang happy birthday to him, and right at the end, a train flew by- and I thought he might cry from excitement. It was pretty epic. He thought we planned it, and it was amazing. I didn't correct him, because his little eyes were so bright, it filled my heart in ways I didn't know possible.
• Porter got some amazing gifts, but I am seriously in love with his Paw Patrol Aquadoodle that his friends Carter and Charlie ;) got him. I've heard of it before, but actually playing with it? A mother's dream. No mess, no fuss. Can all toys be like that, please? (This isn't the exact one he got, but it looks pretty cool with the metallic!) If I have to throw away cap-less markers or broken crayons one more time, I may lose my mind.
• I seriously debate deactivating my Facebook every single day - or at the very list, going uber-private. Some people and what they share/tease/dig for just tick me off... if you don't want to talk about it, here's an idea: don't post about it on Facebook. Ugh.
• I love this lipgloss. My friend Jessica told me about it, and so when I was at Ulta the other day buying some Christmas presents (not for myself, pshh) I grabbed it. The formulation isn't too sticky, and the color "Dahling" is the perfect cool mauve. If it were matte, I'm pretty sure it would be the PERFECT gloss.
• I'm loving my new curling wand. It's fast, it's super hot, and the curls hold forever. I like when they loosen up a bit and look more beachy, which usually happens after I've slept on it for a night - I just take the wand through it the next day and add a few tighter curls/clean up a few kinks, and bam... perfect waves. Look for coupon codes, too - I got mine on sale, 2 wands for $34!
• I HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE SINGLE SOLITARY STAR WARS MOVIE. I know, I know. I'm not human. But I will festively and proudly flaunt this sweater from H&M when I see it, though - so cute! Ooh, or this one from Macy's. I can totally get on board with Star Wars, guys.
• We tried a new restaurant yesterday, called Indo Asian Street Eatery in Tacoma, and it was delicious. I had a Banh Mi, which I've never had before. I love a good sandwich, have I ever mentioned that? And a Viatnamese French Dip sounds confusing, but it was oh so delicious. It had pickled veggies and the most delicious beef broth. I want another one right now.
  
  

  

  Indo Asian Street Eatery | Tacoma, WA

Jay & Hay's One Big Day

I really love weddings. I love love. I love the celebration of a couple choosing to be together, happily ever after. I love the commitment, the statement, and the excitement of a wedding day. I love seeing the personality of the bride and groom come out in all the little details. I love wedding gowns. The hair. The makeup. The choice of dress in which you force all of your girlfriends to wear as they stand by your side to support you on the biggest day of your life (the bride either loves or secretly loathes all of her maids and matrons, and it's hilarious. Haley loved hers, for sure - the cutest dresses, the formal introductions and the dancing entrance!? SO wonderful). I love the photos: memories for a lifetime, that a granddaughter will someday pull out of a box and show everyone how beautiful the women in her family are.

However, the more weddings I go to, the more I realize how much it's about so much more than the little details that you spend weeks and months pouring over. It's the anticipation in the air as a thousand of your friends and family watch a slideshow of two people they truly, honestly adore. It's the admiration for a couple that held strong to their beliefs, loving God above all else, pouring out every ounce of themselves in acts of service to other people day in and day out finally standing together to be united as one. It's about childhood sweetheart exchanging heartfelt vows to continue to take on the world together. It's about moments and people and relationship. I've never been more moved than I was last night - one small supporter in a sea of a thousand, just happy to be in the room as a wonderful couple became husband and wife.

Jon and Haley are those people. They are the head of student ministries at my church. They are younger than me, crazier than me... and I respect and love these guys so much. They're the first ones to the church and the last ones to leave. They love people, they exude joy, they are cheerleaders and hard workers and adventurers and they always have happy, positive things to say. Haley is the first to run up and give me a huge hug and tell me how much she loves me - and I haven't seen or talked to her in weeks. She's just that girl, and Jon is just that guy. They are impacting the world in a big, big way.

What a great wedding last night, Mr. & Mrs. Yadon! You are truly wonderful people and it was an honor to celebrate you. If you're on Instagram, check out #jayandhaysonebigday... so many photos and videos of the festivities. You can feel the love, respect and admiration in every post.

You two rock at life.

Currently In The Oven

This:

Roasted Pepper & Eggplant Marinara

It's way, way, waaaay too hot to be roasting vegetables and garlic and eating pasta, right?

Wrong. Shame on you. It's NEVER too hot for pasta. NEVER.

I watched Rachael Ray make this this morning as I was getting ready for church, and I was sold. So, currently, I'm waiting for my garlic and eggplant to finish roasting, sweating like... something that sweats a lot (the only thing I could think of was an inappropriate example).

Review coming soon!

Sick Day Getaway

Last week was a rough week. Paul, Porter and I were all sick; probably from the craziness of traveling and all the early, early morning flights. Paul was sickest in the beginning of the week, me in the middle and toward the end, and Porter was right along with me. His room is feet away from ours, so my coughing and sneezing and blowing wasn't helping Porter's sleep. There's nothing worse than a sick, sleep-deprived baby.

On Friday, our church had an overnight retreat up in Seattle. Paul was running sound for the event, so I got to join him. We left Porter at home, mainly so we could use a night away in Seattle to get some rest. 

Sleep: bring it.

Overnighters in Seattle are something Paul and I love doing anyway; one of my favorite date nights is dinner/hotel in Seattle, even if it's for less than 24 hours. We usually leave when I'm off work, head up and check in to our hotel, and then we go out to dinner or to see a show (or to a progressive dinner at a few new spots!) and then back to our hotel to watch a movie, order dessert from room service, cuddle up in bed and relax. It's heavenly.

I joined Paul at the retreat Friday night, but I was a mess. Blowing my nose into my dinner napkin and coughing every time there was a round of applause so I didn't distract everyone. Needless to say, sleep that night wasn't as amazing as it could have been, so I woke up in the morning when Paul got up to head down to the ballroom, and I felt even worse. He told me to stay in bed, try to get more sleep until he was done.

I did exactly that.

When I woke up, I ordered room service, and found a Law & Order: SVU marathon on TV. I've never watched it before, but I totally got sucked in (and I may have set up the DVR once I got home to record all upcoming episodes from here on out).

Eggs Benedict and Law & Order: SVU: a good Saturday morning

To all the mommies out there, I have to encourage you... if you have the time and the means to get away for a night with your hubbies -- or even alone! -- please do it. You can shut off your brain for a few minutes and enjoy some much-needed R&R.

Adventures in San Francisco

This past weekend, we enjoyed beautiful San Francisco as a family. It was beyond amazing; I love, love, love that city. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't to move SF up to my top three favorites cities ever! But, alas -- that's where you can now find it. Top 3 Favorite Cities. Ever.

We flew down for my work retreat (my company is based out of SF). So, along with exploring a new city, I got to meet all the people I've only known virtually for nearly 2 years. It was crazy... putting faces to voices, sharing inside jokes that we've only ever laughed about over IM or email. It was a blast. I'm blessed to work for an amazing company.

My husband was scheduled to fly down with us (Porter and me), but then he was invited to attend a conference in LA for our church (where he works). So, on Friday AM - at 4am - Porter and I were picked up by our friends, Richard and Ashley (Ashley also works for the same company, which is great!) and I flew down sans husband -- Porter's first flight ever.

I was beyond nervous. I'm independent and all, but something about being a new mom sort of takes you down three notches. What if Porter was that baby on the plane? And I was alone, unarmed? No backup? How was I going to carry a suitcase, a diaper bag, a laptop bag, a stroller and a carseat by myself through security and onto the plane?

Turns out, people are pretty nice to traveling moms -- especially traveling moms that are alone and unarmed. It wasn't that bad. Next time, I would probably try to condense even more, and I would have definitely utilized my Ergo carrier sooner than I did. Either way, it's a workout. Porter is no dainty little kiddo... he's 23 pounds of solid CHUNK. He weighs the same as his 18 month old cousin, and she feels about 10 pounds lighter, because she's taller. He is just a solid mass of baby fat. I love it to death, but not so fun when you have no one to relieve you of child-toting duties.

We also booked an apartment to stay at on the website Airbnb... have you ever heard of it? Absolutely amazing. Well, scary -- I mean, you're staying at people's apartments or homes -- but we had an amazing experience. I feel like we made a new friend. Natalie was so sweet, and we were so grateful to be staying in a 2 bedroom flat. With two babies under one year old, being sardined into a small hotel room would have been torture. 

The apartment was spacious, uncluttered, clean and somewhat kidproofed -- Natalie, the homeowner, has a two year old daughter. Ironically, Natalie was leaving down this particular weekend for a work trip... to Seattle. So, it was fate. :)

Some awesome highlights from San Francisco:

• People are so nice. People are not that nice in Seattle.
• Painted Ladies. I definitely hung out of the window of our rental car singing the Full House theme song at the top of my lungs as we looked for a place to park at Alamo Square Park. Such a tourist I am.
• ARCHITECTURE. The detail in all the homes and buildings is just so intricate.
• FOOD. Oh my gosh, SF has is heaven for foodies. So many amazing restaurants. I feel like we only got a glimpse, but my glimpse included a gourmet grilled cheese, so I'm not even mad.
• Our apartment. It was a perfect location for everything we wanted to do.
• ZipCar. It was amazing to have a full-sized SUV to drive around with.
• Parks, parks, and more parks! I need to be there for a full month, you guys, just to visit all of the amazing parks.
• Fisherman's Wharf. So much to do, so many shops, so many restaurants.
• Those ridiculous 10-person bicycles that you can rent. So cool. I needed to have done that, too.
• Alcatraz. We didn't go, but I saw it from the Wharf. It was pretty amazing.
• The Bay Bridge, lit up. The most gorgeous thing I have ever seen.
• The view from Treasure Island (over the Bay Bridge). STUNNING. All bright and lit up, with just a glimmer of fog floating over the tops of the highest buildings. So perfect.
• THE FOG. It rolls in like powered by a freaking fog machine, you guys. It's thick and has a personality of it's own.
• De Young Museum, in Golden Gate Park. Sweeping, 360º views of the city. So pretty.

The real Full House house. :) It was painted darker and had a gate up with a No Trespassing sign. I can only imagine how annoying it must be to live there and have to deal with hundreds of photographers

Paul flew in on Saturday evening, and met us at Starbelly, where we were having a fun company dinner. It was so amazing to see him. Porter was so glad to have his daddy.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but this is the view from Treasure Island. It's moments like this that I wish I had a full-sized camera. I wish I could remember the detail of this view forever.

And, err, some lowlights:

• I dropped/shattered my iPhone getting out of the car.
• I got sick. Horrible head cold. And unfortunately, I passed it to my hubby and Porter. Poor boys. I'm doing better, but they're both still fighting it.
• Traffic. Eww. At 9pm! Freeways are really a parking lot at 9pm!?
• There was a BART strike. Super lame that I didn't get to experience that... and it made traffic that much worse.

I'm already debating when to plan my next trip back to this fabulous city. Have you ever been? What is your "must do/see" for San Francisco?

Fall Things: Friday at Fox Follow Farm

We spent a fun Friday afternoon at Fox Hollow Farm, a beautiful (albeit, kinda spooky) farm nestled into the hillside of Issaquah. It was magical: fog swirling above the treetops, reds and orange and gold leaves all around, piles of pumpkins and white-fenced arenas, wild bunnies hopping around randomly, a box of brand new kittens for your petting pleasure, a barn full of friendly horses, pony, tractor and train rides for the kiddos, parrots (!?) in the trees above out head greeting us, a beautiful river behind a charming little farmhouse, and plenty of mud puddles so that my Hunter boots could earn their keep.

It smelled like sawdust, campfire, leather, and evergreens.

It was magical.

Oh, and I'm told the "Sweet Shoppe" was selling the makings for S'Mores, so you could carry them over to the bonfire and cook your own. Somehow I didn't end up here, and I'm considering driving back up for that part alone.

Life is so much better when you spend it with great friends. This is Maggie, Katie, Jodi, and Jen... four amazing mamas that I get to be around all the time. It's so fun raising our kiddos together. Not only will Porter will have these wonderful memories growing up, but I will be able to look back on days like this and remember how amazing it is to be surrounded by genuinely good people. Especially as I'm learning and growing in my new role as a mother to a (gulp) almost one year old!

I love photography. This photo above is amazing, but if you panned back, you would see Porter perched perilously on a very questionable tree branch, with Paul's arm death-gripping his leg. Doesn't Porter look so relaxed for a child that could possibly fall into the river at any given moment? ;)

Love that Porter loves his daddy so much. It makes my heart skip (several) beats.

See. Beautiful, and only a little spooky.

100% adorable here. Not even a little spooky.

I Don't Run, But I Like To Look Like I Do

Saturday almost always means Target runs with Paul and Porter. It's one of my favorite parts of the week. We usually always pick up a few necessities, like diapers and dog food, or we spend way too much time pouring over the home decor, debating on if we need a new rug for our living room. But, I also always get to peruse through my favorite areas: clothing. Cosmetics. Shoes. Holiday.

I mean, when don't I need another bag of Holiday Reese's, or a new wine-stained lip (made possible by this, in Bordeaux)? The answer you're looking for is never.

So, I bought a hot pink pullover last winter before I had Porter, and I am in love with it. It's fitted and soft and is a perfect go-to outfit for running errands with a 9 month old. I'm sure it's made for something like yoga or running, but HAHAHA.

Yeah right. If you see me, and you think to yourself "man, she must be going running!", I'm sad to disappoint you. I don't run... but I like to look like I do.

I found this year's version today -- which is even softer and stretchier. I'm in love! I bought one in black (but this purple one looks better in a photo, so you can see all the fun detail).

They have a ton of different variations of this jacket, so if you've never looked in the athletic section, I urge you to do so! If you're lucky, you may even find last season's version on the sale racks. 

Target Run & Saturday Fun

Paul was busy doing some home improvements and Porter was sleeping in, so I flew out the door by myself to make a Target run for a baby shower I was headed to later in the afternoon.

I flew out the door.

By myself.

Those are two phrases that I definitely don't say often. Ok, maybe ever, anymore. 

Leaving the house takes planning and preparation, two things I'm not awesome at as it is. And by myself is just highly unlikely, which I'm ok with. My husband is my best friend, so I honestly enjoy doing stuff with him. And I missed Porter's chubby little cheeks (two sets) in the front of my shopping cart, yelling at me for a drink of my Starbucks while I ignore him and kiss his little nose.

Of course, I detoured through the clothing section, and ended up with two new purchases that were calling to me (Yep. Bought the same sweater in grey and orange). Do these not scream fall? And also, youshouldbuynewwedgebootiestoobecauseiwouldlookawesomewithfauxleatherleggings?

I came home with Starbucks for my hub and our friend, who were busy sheet-rocking the downstairs bathroom. Porter went down for a nap as soon as I got home, so I got ready for the baby shower, put together the shower gift (I even had the time and motivation to write some fun advice in my friend's card... WHAT? Normally I forget to even buy a card), cleaned up living room, lit some winter-y candles for the guys (I know they secretly appreciate wintery candles while football is on TV, no matter how much they roll their eyes), and left on time.

New winter candle and some valuable advice for my expecting mom-friend!

I know this seems uneventful, and even boring, but new moms can totally appreciate this: those days when everything just goes according to plans -- no blowouts, no nap strikes, no blueberries ground into the white carpet -- are worthy of a post.

A day like yesterday deserves it's own post, for sure. If I show the day the honor it deserves, maybe it won't be so shy to come around again. 

Like, tomorrow.

It's Monday. Please be gentle.

Scenes From The Weekend

It was another beautiful summer weekend in Washington. Sunday was particularly amazing. After church, we ran home and dropped Porter off with family (afternoon naps are a must) and we headed out for the final service of the weekend. We made a quick stop for lunch at our favorite happy hour spot, Masa, on 6th Ave. They have the best chips and salsa, the best "street corn", and the best fish tacos... all doused with a healthy amount of our favorite hot sauce(s).

Are you a Tapatio or a Cholula freak?

Husband is sick.

I've known him for years, but this is the first time I've known him with the flu. He is a mess. He won't even attempt to eat, because he hates throwing up so much. He won't take pain medication, because he is afraid that it may (even though it never has) make him nauseous. He has been sleeping for nearly two days. He is hardly talking. He's not making up words to random melodies that he gets in his head, he's not cracking cheesy jokes to annoy me, he's not even drinking coffee.

I'm so bored, I've cleaned the entire house, done all the laundry, and even spent a couple hours shopping online for candles.

Candles.

I want my husband back. Life isn't nearly as fun without him yapping in my ear, day in and day out. Love him so much - I hate to see him like this. Also, I hate to see our bank account like this. I've joined three sites (including Birchbox) and ordered six candles so far.

Get well soon, Paul. Please?