Mum's Day 2012

Fantastic day, went to Aimee's sister's house and Antz Mommy's house. Super tired but I'm so stoked about my new camera. When I use it I hear Angel's trumpet and cartoon birds fly around me, this guy fucking rocks!

Aimee's lovely family

I'm super jealous that Aimee's sisters and her son, Holden are going to France next month

Saying hi to Jill & Billy's turtle

My Lovely Mommy & Sister

Tantrum face

Antz & his sister

Happy Happy Mother's Day to all those incredible, never-ending mountains of love and giving selflessly Moms.

Rainbow Connection

I can't help myself...I wanted to keep some of Liv's birthday details a secret but I just finished a few more items and they are too cute to not share.

I have been trolling Etsy all month looking for a birthday hat but since she has this one from her first birthday.

Fastest year ever

OMG!! I miss how little my monkey was!!

I thought a crown would be cute for her 2nd. So I put this guy together.

I still need to add a few bits to the crown

I am using this pendant for her rainbow cake

So, I'm crossing things off her list and we're looking forward to her big day. Yay!

Too much of a good thing

I apologize for not blogging on a daily basis. I haven't been extremely busy so I have no excuse for not making time to blog. After some thought, I am realizing I am overwhelmed.

Keep smiling at Brite Spot diner

Not with life, everything has been awesome. Antz had two recent trips to San Francisco for work and Liv is her rad usual self *with a runny nose, boo*. I am overwhelmed with my ambition. I have so many things I want to do, I have been unable to get started. Have you ever felt that way? I've hit a creative road block.

I want to give my blog a makeover.
I want to attend Blogshop so I can learn how to makeover my blog.
I want to learn how to use my new camera so I can create new content for my blog.
I want to expand our etsy shop.
I want to throw a spectacular rainbow party for Liv's 2nd birthday.
I want to make a rainbow cake for Liv's birthday *trial cake finished*
I want to make a video of Liv's second year. *here it is*
I want to make a Shutterfly photobook of Liv's second year.*completed*
I want a new summer wardrobe.
I want new pretty bras. *since I've stopped nursing*
I want to go bike riding at the Strand in Manhattan Beach.
I want to color my hair.
I want to remodel our kitchen and hallway.
I want to plant flowers and veggies in our garden.
I want to take a road trip to Austin.
I want to spend our 10 year wedding anniversary in Hawaii.
I want to book our cabin for Jessica & Trevor's wedding.
I want to save money.
I want to pay off our credit cards.
I want to sell our house and buy our dream house.

I want to do more than I'm capable of doing.

All these desires are overwhelming me to begin action. I can't focus on one thing at a time. I, of course, turn to my Mom's words of wisdom..."How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."

I never really understood this metaphor. I mean, I would never want to eat an elephant, maybe if you replaced it with lobster, it applies. Oh, now I get it! I need to take things one at a time. I have a list things to do for Liv's birthday so I can start there. Maybe this weekend I'll make a mini rainbow cake for a trial run so I won't have a disaster for her birthday. I found the food coloring at Michael's yesterday when I was visiting Aimee. I picked up the streamers for the decor. I also bought more felt to make a birthday crown since I couldn't find anything I loved on etsy. I need to order her birthday attire *and maybe a few pieces for me since Gap is having a sale*

Paisley maxi dress

Broken-in straight khakis

Floppy sun hat

This is where I begin to contradict myself. I want to shop and save simultaneously. I have no willpower when it comes to shopping. I have to accept that we can't afford Hawaii this year. We will go one day. I am looking forward to Palm Springs next month. Yes, I have been there hundreds of times but it will be Olivia's first time. I am super excited about The Saguaro and we will have a short but sweet time. Huzzah for mini vacays! I need to rearrange my list of priorities. I get sucked into wanting everything all at once and that leads to non productivity and that is lame. My inner Veruca is taking over!



Speaking of lame, Liv has been a potty training wonder but...she only uses the potty when she is naked *which she prefers to be 75% of the time* I've unsuccessfully tried pull-ups, she has Yo Gabba Gabba! panties that she hates to wear, she just doesn't like to use the potty if she's wearing something. I am getting tired of cleaning up the mess when she has an accident and our washer and dryer have been going 24 hours a day. I am concerned letting her go naked is the lazy approach to potty training. Although I can't help but feel super proud every time she goes potty and announces triumphantly, "I deed it!"

sunkissis via Instagram

sunkissis via Instagram

Suri's Burn Book also must share the blame for being a majority of my free time suck. I crack myself up hearing her voice in my head when I read these snarky posts that are so brilliantly entertaining. Enjoy when you're bored at work or endlessly waiting for your toddler to go potty when she's really crying wolf.

It's great to be a Mummy!!

Antz asked Liv what should he get me for Mother's Day, she told him "Daddy, we all know Mommy needs a new camera!" Huzzah! I am so excited to finally have a camera that isn't wonky or broken. I have read mixed reviews on the Nikon J1 but here's my bottom line, it's a hybrid SLR so I have the functionality of a detachable lens *mine comes with a 1 NIKKOR 10-30mm lens* but I can upgrade to a 30–110mm 1 NIKKOR VR zoom lens if I like. I also still can use the D3000 55-200mm lens if I'm shooting a long distance. One thing that has always bugged me about the D3000 was the shutter speed felt slow and it's hard to use a viewfinder. I know the pros prefer it but whenever we asked someone to take our picture we always had to give them a tutorial of how to look through the viewfinder and because you don't look at the LCD screen, we would end of with tons of shitty photos. I snagged this bundle with includes the camera, 8 GB memory card, battery and case on sale for the cost of the camera alone. So it's affordable, does this fancy camera magic and it's smaller and lighter than my bulky D3000. Hopefully I won't break it in a month *yeah right* and I'll just have to overlook the Kooch's endorsement.

Here's a review I watched that shows off some of the fancy features and it's weaknesses.



I know most Mom's want jewelry or a day at the spa *both sound lovely* but Liv's birthday is almost here and I would hate to end up with disappointing photos. Plus, I'm not afraid to admit, I'm a techie, I like gadgets and once I get my Sassy Strap, I'll be one happy Mommy. I'm still getting the old SLR a doctor's appt. but now I have a backup camera cause I'm sure Nikon will take forever to repair it. I'm actually betting they will advise me to buy a new camera cause the D3000 is so outdated anyway.

Thanks for the early Mother's Day gift, Anthony & Olivia. You are super rad!

My fancy strap I made for under $10!!

View the complete set here

Rainbow Bright

I am taking the rainbow theme to the extreme! The Saguaro is my inspiration. Such a lovely, colorful hotel.

I think this place is giving the W a run for it's money

Reception

Lobby

Outdoor lounge

I'm hoping for a pink room

Pretty stoked to taste the tequila!!

I wanted to make a banner for Liv and I loved this one made by Liz Stanley at Momtastic. I made my hearts a little bigger but I love how my guy turned out. This was one of my first stress-free craft projects, I didn't hurt myself or stay up all night cursing, it was really fun to just sew and be creative.

Luckily I had all the right colors in my felt bin

Fits perfectly on our mantle *although Liv keeps trying to pull it down*

My next project is making these rainbow streamers. I picked up really cute wrapping paper from Paper Source today. Aimee just ordered her gift for Olivia...

Kickboard Mini Scooter

SUPER FABULOUS!! I know Liv will love it *I sure want to use it*. I am looking for an equally fantastic helmet but we have to take her in-store to try them on. I just ordered her presents online which I'm going to try to keep secret *so excited about how darling they are*. Back in the day our parents had it so easy, all they had to do was let us watch a half an hour of TV and we would ask for whatever was in the commercials and that's what we got. Of course I had a Rainbow Brite doll!



Who knew the Poltergiest girl was in this commercial?