All I Want for Christmas

Tiffany Heart Key Charm necklace

Carpenter Bee Bag

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Style by Lauren Conrad

Madison Patent Sophia in cobalt by Coach

Seychelles 'Sophia' flat in teal or clay*

BP 'Frankie' flat in silver*

Jessica Simpson 'Fannie' flat in ink blue*

Nine West 'Alekto' bootie in brown*

Steve Madden 'Troopa' in cognac*

*shoe size = 9.5

NPOW

Nail Polish of the Week

OPI: Who Are You Wearing?

under OPI: Happy Anniversary

reasons for the delay

So this will probably be my last post until after Thanksgiving. The holidays are always a hectic time for us because we have so many families to squeeze into such a short amount of time. Anyway, I just wanted to give a recap of what's been going on with us this last week.

So for the past couple of weeks, I've been planning a surprise for Justin to celebrate him passing his exam. Because he's been working so hard, I decided to surprise him with a relaxing weekend in Tahoe. The plan was to leave on Friday afternoon and I didn't tell him anything until Friday morning. He was shocked (it's pretty hard to surprise him, he usually catches on). But then his shock turned into worry because after looking at the weather report, it was set to start snowing (heavily) over the weekend. I wasn't too worried since I've been to the snow so many times, so we decided to head up anyway.

We were set to stay at a friend of our's cabin and when we arrived at about 5:30 that evening, we realized the power was out. We called our friends to let them know and to see what they could do. It was 20 degrees outside and snowing so we decided to go eat dinner while they tried to figure something out for us. Unfortunately, they called us back and told us there was nothing they could do until Monday! So, being the generous people they are, they made reservations for us at a really nice hotel nearby. They offered to pay for us to stay all weekend, but we decided to stay the night and head back the next day.

Well overnight, 3 feet of snow fell and a storm was coming. Chains were required on the roads that day, so we couldn't leave the hotel without them. The hotel graciously offered to put chains on the car for us... for $80! With no other choice, we paid to have the chains put on and made our way home. If you know anything about driving in the snow with chains, you know that you can't drive over 30 MPH. So that's what we did, all the way out of the mountains. What is normally a 3 hour drive home ended up being a 6 hour drive home. So we decided to have a stay-cation in our house the next day and did absolutely nothing. So our supposed relaxing weekend away turned out to be a chaotic mess, but at least it was an adventure we can retell!

The best part about the trip? Belle got to see snow for the very first time! She liked it when she had her mittens on, but when I tried to get her to touch it with her bare hands, she wasn't so sure.

as promised pie

So I know last week I promised an apple pie post, but let me tell you, this past week has been quite hectic (post on that coming soon), so I apologize for the delay. Anyway, here is the apple pie that I made that I will be remaking and bringing to the in laws on Thanksgiving. It turned out great! Thanks to the recommendation of THIS recipe by my friend Adrian who also blogged about her pie making HERE.

Some heavily bruised apples. Don't worry, I sliced around the bruises. Man, peeling and cutting apples is a lot of work! That was the hardest part of the pie making.

Sliced and diced.

The sauce.

In the pie!

Marked it with a "B"! (For Belle of course)

Finished product (crust removed because it burnt, don't worry, I know a crust saving trick for next time). I put kind of a lot of the sauce on top which I was a little worried about it, but it came out nice because it crisped up leaving a sugary crust on top.

Yummy!

engagements, books and pies

First of all, I'm not sure if you've heard (you may be living under a rock somewhere), but William and Kate are finally engaged! Why do I care so much? Well, my father lived in England when he was in the Air force in 1981 when Charles and Diana were married. He went to London that day and took pictures from the parade and masses of people that were outside during the procession. My mom, after their divorce, somehow inherited this album and I grew up looking at those photos. I was also born in England (we moved back when I was 6 months old which is why I don't have an accent and can't tell you anything about what England is like) the year after Prince William was born and my mom, who has always had a huge obsession with Princess Diana (I remember when she died, I woke my mom up to tell her and she called my grandma and they both cried), wanted to name me Diana after her because I was due on July 1 (Princess Di's birthday). Unfortunately I was born on the 9th so they gave me the name Adrienne instead. So I've always had that fascination in me. Anyway, how exciting is it that a regular (albeit a rich) girl has been chosen to be part of the royal family? It's like a real life fairy tale.

love her dress (perfectly matching the ring)

how gorgeous is she? you picked well William.

And this ring? My God! I think Sapphires are about to become very popular.

I know when Diana wore this ring almost 30 years ago, replicas were everywhere.

Anyway, in other news, last weekend was the big weekend! Justin not only passed his big exam, but he did so with distinction. We are so proud of him! We also went out of town and left Belle overnight (for just one night) and let me tell you, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. The wedding we went to was so much fun, but I missed her too much. I'm not sure I'll be leaving again any time soon. At the airport on the way down, I wanted something to read but every book in the bookstore that looked interesting I already had on my bookshelf at home, so I settled on this:

It was short and super easy to read (I finished it on the trip), but I wasn't a fan. It's like being inside a young autistic kid's head which is interesting, but gets tiresome after a while.

I also attempted baking an apple pie from scratch yesterday! We are going to my mom's house and then the in-laws for Thanksgiving and my in-laws always get store bought pies for the holidays, so as my contribution I offered to make some fresh baked ones. I wanted to do a test pie first in case it was a disaster, but it actually came out great! Other than the crust edge burning (that was easy to cut off), it was very delicious. But I'll do another blog post on that tomorrow.

musings on motherhood

Recently, after reading THIS and THIS, I got to thinking about being a mom and what it means to me. Before I had my daughter I thought for sure she was going to go to daycare, I would have a career and be the breadwinner of our family and my child would not be my whole life. That's the person that I thought that I was. But once Belle was born, everything changed: the plan of going back to work made my heart hurt and the thought of not being with my child every day made me really, really sad.

Three months after she was born, I was supposed to start looking for work again (I had been laid off during my pregnancy), but I was really nervous to tell my husband that I just wasn't ready. I finally told him, thinking I would have to convince him to understand, but to my surprise, he was more than supportive. For the past four years I have been supporting his dream of getting a PhD, and now it was his turn to support me in my new dream of being a stay at home mom. Not that giving up a healthy salary to live off a student teaching stipend was an easy decision, but we made it work and we agreed that we would make it work as long as we could. We agreed that spending time with our child was much more valuable to us than being able to afford dinners out and movies every weekend.

Almost every mother that I know has a life, a passion, a desire for something more than just being "mom". I am not that person (at least not yet), and not only do I not at all judge these women, but I admire them. There is nothing I have ever wanted more than children, but my biggest fear was that I wanted them too much and that my entire existence would be based on them. I do not want to be one of those moms who sobs when their kids go off to college and calls them 10 times a day and meddles in their personal lives when they're adults (Nora Walker anyone?). And those women who don't make their kids their entire life will have a much easier time when their children grow up and will have very healthy, well rounded lives and may even appreciate their children even more after having some space from them. And let's face it, their children will probably love them more for not being so overbearing when they are in the stages of their lives where mom and dad aren't cool anymore.

I've tried hard for the past two years to come up with things to do outside of being a mommy, but the truth is, there's nothing I love more than that. I even go so far as to offer every woman I know who has a child and a job to watch their kid because there has never been a job (and believe me, I've had a lot of them), that I enjoy more than being with kids all day. When I did have a career (as short lived as it was), I dreaded going to work all day every day, but being with Belle (and Abby most days), all I feel is happy and I can't wait for the next day to come so we can go to the next class or activity. Not at all to say that every single part of caring for toddlers is easy or enjoyable, I do lose my temper and get frustrated (umm, about 100 times a day), but I still love it and wouldn't trade it for anything.

When thinking of what I want to do with my life after my children are older and not in the house all day, the only thing that sounds right to me is teaching. That way I can be around kids even after my own are gone. I know that one day I will be a teacher and that my kids will leave and I'll do my best to let them go, but for now I'm just living in the bliss that (for me) is mommyhood.

PS - This post is not at all intended to make women who have careers outside of the home feel bad or guilty, it's simply my own thoughts and feelings. I think there are a million different successful ways to raise children. I also think that to be a parent and have a career and/or hobbies outside of the home and not feeling a desire to be with your child all day every day is completely natural and normal. In fact, I feel almost abnormal that I don't want to leave my child and it worries me. I support and admire anyone who has a child and is simply able to stay sane.

big things are coming

No, I am not pregnant (I know people are waiting for it, but please don't hold your breath). My news is actually about this handsome guy:

Tomorrow morning at 9 am, he is taking the most important exam of his academic career. He's been preparing for this test for 3 years and tomorrow is the big day. To say he's been full of nerves for the past few weeks would be an understatement! He is really scared that he won't do well, but everyone, even his professors, are confident that he's more than prepared. I am just excited because after it's over, I will have my husband back! He has been studying, reading, writing and working non stop this semester and I'm looking forward to him taking a nice long break (like until January). So wish him luck (not like he needs it)!

We are also going to San Diego for a special event and are leaving this little face overnight for the first time (I won't say exactly when for safety reasons):
The thought of leaving her gives me a massive stomach ache (she's a huge mama's girl and I'll admit, I'm a sucker for it. Even as I type this, she has her arms around my neck, giving me kisses and saying "love you"), but I know she will be in the absolute most capable hands possible with my mother-in-law who is so in love with Belle that I make sure to lock my doors at night in fear she will come in and steal her! HA! I am totally joking. But seriously, MIL is a trained nurse and has 3 kids of her own so I know she'll be well taken care of. And because (even though Belle is almost 2) I am so not ready to leave my daughter for too long, Justin and I are flying down the morning of the event and are flying home first thing the next morning.

Anyway, wish us all luck! I'm sure I'll need it more than Justin will.

Bedroom Makeover

A while back I did a photo tour of our apartment (that you can see HERE). I've spent a lot of time putting our apartment together so that it feels like a home, but our bedroom has always been poorly decorated. I never give our bedroom much thought, it just ends up being a catch-all room. So I decided to ask my favorite interior designer, Bryn Alexandra, for some help redecorating. Our budget was very limited, but I thought there had to be something I could do to make it a little more sophisticated. Anyway, here's what she came up with for me:

I LOVED it! So I quickly got to work and after a few weeks, I can now show you the before and after:

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Here's what I did:

• New sheets, duvet & pillow cases (West Elm set - platinum) $79
• Striped pillow cases (West Elm) $29
• Quilt (Target) $69
• Blue throw pillows (bought the fabric at JoAnn's, sewed by Jen, pillows - already had) $30 for fabric
• Gray throw pillow (Target) $19.99
• Curtain panels (Target) $24.99
• Curtain rod (Target) $34
• New art (in frames & above nightstands) FREE!
• Gray frames (Target) $5/each x 15 = $75
• Frames above nightstands (Ikea) $10/each x 2 = $20
• All other frames - already had
• Nightstand accessories:
• magazine holders - $4/each x 2 = $8 (Target),
• corset stand (Ross) - $10,
• jewelry box - $15, blue bud vase - $6 (West Elm)
• Painting backs of nightstands (paint from JoAnn's) $8

GRAND TOTAL: $427.98

Not bad for a completely new room right?

I also ordered the shams from the bed set that's on the design board that Bryn made for me, but they are on backorder until the end of November. Unfortunately, the duvet is no longer available. I decided to go with white curtains instead of gold because the gold was a bit much in the room and the white went well with all of the new art. The lamps I have to wait on because lamps that substantial are pricey. So that's it! Hope you like it, I know I do!

Halloween, movies & other random things

I forgot to post a picture from our Halloween! We had so much fun; we had activities on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and Belle got to go trick-or-treating for the first time (you can read more about it here). Belle was Elmo, Justin was Cookie Monster and I was Big Bird.

So did anyone else see the Rocky Horror Glee show last week? If you are friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, you'd know that I watched it about 100 times (it's still on my Tivo). But before it aired, I decided to watch the original movie (I know it's based on a stage musical and that the movie is not the 'original', so please don't correct me). Anyway, I think it's my new musical obsession. The story is so bizarre (I had to Google it to figure out what it was about after I watched it), but it's so fun and campy and the songs are really catchy.

I also love scary movies and have been dying to watch this:

Justin hates scary movies, but I convinced him to watch it with me on Halloween night (because what else are you supposed to do on Halloween but watch scary movies)? He thought it was lame, but it really creeped me out. So on Monday night I went by myself to see the sequel which I thought was equally scary, but there's a baby in it and weird things happen (I won't give anything away) involving the baby which I do not like. I get very emotional when things happen to kids in movies. Anyway, if you like scary movies, I'd recommend them both. They build up so much anticipation and the pay off is not exactly in-your-face scary, but it will leave you creeped out for a while.
Also, our bedroom transformation is almost complete! I'm just putting a few final touches on the room and my talented friend Jen is making some pillows for us, so once we get those, I'll definitely be posting pictures. I worked with interior designer Bryn Alexandra on the project (her designs are incredible), so I'm pretty excited about how it looks so far.

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS BABY!!!!