9/29/15

halloween inspiration


I love scouring the internet for inspiration as a new season begins. It's a prep of sorts for all the goodness to come. There is so much that I want to do, or buy, that realistically I could never tend to it all. I pulled a few favorites that set the tone of my Halloween dreaming. Because in this house, we've been doing a lot of it. 

Logan's costume has been purchased and delivered weeks ago. She is dressing up as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. She could not be any more excited. I don't know if it's anticipation of the frizzy hair she insisted on rocking or the special wizard powers the character carries. She has a wand but I just loved the different colors and the feel of the DIY ones pictured above.

We are all about Holiday themed crafts and do several throughout the holiday seasons, Halloween being no exception. In fact, it may be Logan's favorite holiday to craft during. She is all about the uncertainty of spooky slimy gore. This cute little bat is definitely on our craft to-do list. So is the light-up mummy with the googley eyes. I love the simplistic look of both crafts.

This past weekend Logan painted her first pumpkin of the season. We do a lot of pumpkin painting in the fall. I love the brushstoke polka dot pumpkins pictured above. They are stylish and simple and any age can pull them off. We are going to use them for inspiration next time we paint.

Witch better have my candy. Enough said. 
I am loving all the Halloween inspired T-shirts. 
Hard to choose just one.

9/8/15

long beach island, new jersey



The first week of August, we visited family who rented a house by the beach. We stayed two nights and it was such a nice little break from the everyday. It was great to spend a few days unplanned and out of our element. We ate good and drank even better. It was such a fun time for all of us. The house  was two away from the beach and had a beautiful pool differing from ours in the sense that it was much, much warmer. It was nice for a change...especially come night time. We swam from early morning to late afternoon  and then into the late hours of the night. 

I haven't been to Long Beach Island in well over ten years. It's about 20 minutes further out from the beach we typically visit, but still the same ocean. The change of scenery was greatly welcomed as we needed a switch. Where we typically go is wonderful, but it's pretty busy, and there are many distractions, cue: ice-cream, pizza, rides, games, and cheap stuffed animals that no five year old can deny. It was nice to solely focus on the sand + water, and nature. 

I love when the beach is easy to enjoy. Let me rephrase that, I love when the beach is set up for safe, fun, limitless kid play...insert sand bars, calm waters, and lots of shells and pebbles to explore. We had the best luck during our visit when the ocean formed into a lake-pool of sorts with an island. I have never seen the ocean do anything like it. All of the kids loved it, us adults too. We had our own little private island with a waveless ocean-pool. Little fish washed ashore and Logan just loved picking them up, filling her bucket, and assigning them each names. She ended up with a family of three: Mr. Willie Fish, Mr. Nillie Fish and Ashler. She even convinced some older and squeamish cousins to touch her new pets. She swam underwater in the ocean-- a first for her, pranced, flipped, and twirled about. She loved just being there, and I loved that too. It was fantastic and we hated to leave.

We are thankful for loving, generous, and inviting family.
If there is one thing I want Logan remember from this trip, it's just that.

back to school business

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8

This whole school life is serious business.
There are so many necessities with too many options.
Where to begin?

Here I have documented a few things that I have either picked up already or am waiting on receiving, or ordering. Anyone is seeking ideas, or inspiration I have provided all of the links above.

When it came to school shopping, I decided to focus of simple, basic staples that would get us through a few years. I generally strive for quality of quantity, and would rather spend a few extra dollars on something durable and timeless over something trending and cheap.

I love love love Logan's new backpack, and am so happy that we decided to purchase it. It had the two most important things I was looking for in a backpack: lightweight and simple. It is easy to store + easy to clean-- couldn't ask for more as far as I'm concerned.

I went with practical and functional while shopping, only buying things that I know we would use as a family and that Logan would need in the classroom. That being said, I didn't buy the "Sorry I'm late, I didn't want to come" t-shirt for back-to-school night, but it is still on my list. ;)

I did buy a new bottle of vitamins to start our school year (as the humidity got to ours over the summer months and we needed fresh ones) and shampoo containing tea tree oil and lavender. The media has me paranoid about pesky hair bugs, so I am complying to all/any precautions recommended. Nature's Gate is usually my go-to brand for organic shampoo, but I am eager to try California Baby. I bought this brand out of convince. Target always.

A while back I ordered Logan Converse sneakers in a fun cheetah print that would essentially go with whatever she would wear. We pulled them out of the closet today and to our surprise they fit. We started our morning with a lot of excitement, it was really sweet.

I definitely was most stressing the art of packing a lunch in sending my girl off to school for a 6+ hour day. I did not want to send her to school with a sandwich every.single.day and was feeling stressed out about limited options. I discovered the Yumbox and instantly knew it would be exactly what I would need for my veggies and dip, pasta salad, waffle and syrup loving variety girl. I love that it seals the food compartments individually. I no longer stress the nut mix turning into a yogurt nut mix, and other messes. Yumbox is a really brilliant design and one I am happy to have discovered. We are excited for ours to arrive. Until then, we are using a few different containers. Effective, but tricky, and a lot of wash. I also like that Yumbox is all one piece. So many pros.

An umbrella was probably in the top five on my back-to-school list. Logan will be a car rider to and from school, and on rainy afternoons while she waits for her ride home (outside of the school) an umbrella will come in handy.

Logan's school does a staggered entry for kindergarten where they wean the students into the rhythm of school with a few days long  process. Lo has been eager and ready since day one and was less than thrilled with all the staggering, just wanting "real school" to begin. She has really adjusted well. She  comes home humming tunes, reciting facts, and telling me about another new friend. I couldn't be any happier with her transition. Having never attended any sort of formal school, I was a bit unsure about how things would go over. I should never have doubted her though, she's pretty exceptional and easy going with everything she does. School the same.

Proud mom moment.

9/4/15

f r i d a y / / f i v e

 
 one // two // three // four // five
^ I have always loved reading inspiring words when transitioning into something new, weather it be a new season, new venture, or simply having to meet new people. This quote right now speaks volumes to be as I gear up to become a kindergarten mom. I don't know how we got here so quickly, but rather then dwelling in that, I am simply going to embrace this new phase of life, with my big girl.

^ Generally we think of  back-to-school as a closing of summer, but summer doesn't officially end until the 23rd of September. I'm thinking that means plenty of time for homemade popsicles, like these Mango Coconut Creamcicles.

^ In place of listing at all of things Logan and I will be missing out on with her in school 6+ hours a day, (sigh...) I'm focusing on the things that we can do and setting some ideas aside of simple DIYs for her and I to do on days off. 

^ I loving little style, and with Logan getting bigger, the little trends are only getting cuter. Looking forward to picking out some fun, simple pieces with her.

^ The end of this month we are going to be heading up north to Maine for a mini getaway. We have been dreaming about delicious New England seafood since we confirmed our dates. Drool.