'Tis the season

It's my favorite time of year! Cheers!

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Happy {belated} Halloween

I'm just now coming off my sugar coma, which explains the major delay in this Halloween post. But I couldn't resist sharing the Little Bean's costume that I made the day before trick-or-treating festivities. Let me first say that I had another costume planned, but since he is now old enough to have an opinion, I had to surprise him with his request.

Team Umizoomi is his favorite show and the only one he likes to watch. (Thankfully, we've been spared from Dora, Barney, or any other painfully annoying character.) For those without young toddlers, Team Umizoomi is a cartoon that teaches kids about math, shapes, and problem solving. Geo is one of the characters:

Unfortunately, the only "Geo" costume I could find online was sold on eBay at the beginning of October - when non-procrastinating moms start looking for costumes. And since this is not one of the more popular shows, or maybe because I waited until the day before Halloween, I couldn't find this costume at any local big box store. So with a little felt, glue, and some hand-sewing...

...we were "ready for action"!!! (<--a phrase from the show)

 

He was so excited that when he saw himself in the mirror, he softly patted me on the back and quietly said, "Thank you, mommy. It's perfect." That's really all I needed to hear to make the hours of work the night before worth it!

So for future reference for anyone with a young son wanting to be Geo next year, here are the basic instructions for this costume:

• Print this template, for the boots and helmet wave (ignore the rest of it, unless you also need the template for the shapes belt).
• Buy a blue plastic toy helmet. I think this was a racing helmet; I took the middle stripe off. You can also use a blue beanie or backwards baseball cap, if that's your only option.
• Glue (or double-sided tape) 2" of yellow felt along the bottom of the helmet.
• Add the light blue felt wave to the the helmet. (I made the wave extend to the back of the helmet too.)
• Paint a styrofoam ball red. Cut in half. Glue red card stock to the bottom (cut) half. This makes it adhere to the helmet better since the styrofoam won't bend with the helmet, leaving you with a misshapen surface to tape or glue.
• Paint 2 smaller styrofoam balls red, as well as a toothpick, and stick the smaller balls into the top half of the larger one.
• Make the shapes belt and attach to bottom of a bright blue short-sleeve t-shirt. (I couldn't find a plain blue shirt in a size 2T, so I used this old pull-over and rolled-up the sleeves.)
• For the roller skates, I printed the template, and cut the shape out of felt. The template for the yellow tip of the boot is incorrect, so I had to just measure that as I went along. Sew the top together, leaving the back open, so you can slip it over the front of your child's boot or shoe. I found that I could safety pin the back together, slip it on his foot (like a sock) and then it fell easily over his boot. Much easier than trying to pin or velcro it closed once he's fully dressed and ready to run out the door. (The bottom of this "roller skate" is open, so he's actually walking on the soles of his own shoes.)

I threw this together at the last minute, but he was happy and that's all that mattered to me! Hopefully, these instructions made a little sense for those of you trying to follow.

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

PS - Since we don't really let him have candy, we told him that all the candy he collected would be left overnight for the "Great Pumpkin" and in the morning, he would find a gift in exchange. We bought a couple of books as his Halloween treats and have spent the past week eating 3 pounds of chocolate. It's a win-win idea if you ask me!

And one more makes four

Way long ago, I posted this story and never finished it. Can we blame baby brain?

I wanted to do something a little fun to announce the sex of our second baby, so we made a really cute gender reveal video for our friends and family, and had our first "family-of-four" photo shoot. With the help of a talented photographer, and a little patience from a young toddler (2 year olds aren't great at all-day photo shoots), our Little Bean pulled a string that dropped a room-full of blue balloons to announce a LITTLE BROTHER!

....and he arrived last week perfect as can be.

 

I'm excited to be home for a while, basking in new baby bliss, and enjoying my favorite season with my favorite boys. I may even have some new posts for you. Stay tuned...

August Showers

If there is one thing my mom has passed on to me, it's her love of entertaining. She's the food behind the operation and I add decor (evidence seen here and here). When she and my aunt wanted to throw a baby shower for #2, they had a delicious menu planned months before and I pitched in with the last minute theme, invite and some decorations. Yes, I helped plan my own shower. The other thing she passed on to me is her semi-controlling nature. (Sorry, mom...and my children.)

The photographer decided not to show up, so you'll have to settle for my crappy iPhone pictures. It's a good thing the photographer is related (read: free) so all is quickly forgiven.

*I edited out the personal information, for obvious reasons.

But you get the idea.

I decided on one of our favorite goodnight books as the theme for the shower. We used pages from the book ("Goodnight light, and the red balloon. Goodnight clocks, goodnight socks. Goodnight bears, goodnight chairs...") and made tissue puffs in complementary colors. The banner on the mirror was the contribution of my dear husband, who carefully cut out letters while I took #1 to swim lessons and frantically showered and dressed for the party.

1. Guests wrote sweet notes and wishes to the new baby
2. One of the shower games was decorating onsies and bibs.
3. The main decor wall.
4. Guests received gourmet popcorn bags with a red balloon that read: "Ready to POP"

This party, like the others, was done on a small decor budget (to spend more on food!). We used blue and green plastic tablecloths for the walls, yellow paper for the stars, and colored tissue for the blue, green and orange puffs.

I wish I had more to show you because the food was DELICIOUS and there were more adorable decoration spread throughout. If any shower guests are reading this and took other pictures, please email them to me!

Only a few more weeks to go....then I'll have plenty of time to get back into blogging, right?

work/life (im)balance

New job = more travel. Not that I'm complaining, because my recent trip to NYC was a blast, four hour plane ride aside. I saw old friends, ate way too much pizza, and may or may not have gone to a fantastic sample sale (pictures later!). And how could I do all this new traveling without a new work bag and iPad cover??? After much debate, I decided on this Tory Burch tote and leather iPad cover. I would have loved the iPad cover in a matching beautiful mint blue tote, but already purchased the nude color before the new Spring colors came out. (I can be so practical - re: boring - sometimes.) I also practiced extreme boring-ness when the Christian Louboutin 20th anniversary trunk show came to town a few weeks ago. Only 7 stores in the country received the trunks and I admired these little lovelies from afar.

This weekend we're getting ready for the Easter Bunny and our first Easter egg hunt! (Not counting last year, when the Bean just turned one and mommy went out on a bender the night before. I tossed plastic eggs on our giant couch and let him crawl around collecting them in his basket. I think he enjoyed the new game and more importantly, I nursed a bad hangover.)

What are you doing this weekend?

Great-grandma chic

Back when I actually had time to read blogs, I came across this one celebrating the life and style of men and women who lived in era of true dapper style (the 30's -50's). I love that these women still take care of themselves and how they look and have aged with class and grace.

Ruth is one of the featured women. At 100 years old, she offers her tips for living with style:

• I never go to bed with my makeup on. that is number one.At night you must let your skin breathe. 
• I use a lipstick brush to paint on my lipstick--It stays on longer that way. I can also use a lipstick longer than anyone else because I can dig into it.
• Every night before I got to bed I use Elizabeth Arden's 8 hour beauty cream on my lips. You must keep your lips moisturized.
• I make myself go out everyday, even if its only to walk around the block. The key to staying young is to keep moving. You are never too old to exercise.
• Invest in quality pieces, they never go out of style.
• Don't look at the calendar, just keep celebrating everyday. 
• I dress up everyday and I don't wear blue jeans. I dress up even to mail a letter, you never know who you will meet along the way. 
• I have been active my whole life. An old Elizabeth Arden Ad said, 'If you want to look like this when you are 40 start when you are 20'. 

image and interview via

Uninspired

Hello luvlies,
I know I've been absent. Sick, work, holidays, sick, work, birthday, sick, tired, blah. So I've been a bit cranky and hardly interested in the season's newest fashion or what the celebs are wearing to the award shows.

When I lived in New York, they warned me that January and February would be the most depressing months because of the lack of sunshine and dirty, melting snow. Here and now, we've had more sunshine than should be allowed in the winter months and the only "snow" I've seen was at an ice skating rink in the mall <insert eye roll>. No, I'm not depressed, I'm just not interested.

So I'm thinking of joining the "365-photo-a-day" bandwagon or maybe the "Wordless Wednesday" everyday team or maybe nothing at all. Silence is golden, no?

And someday soon, when the allergies tell me Spring has arrived, I'll be back with the same sarcastic wit and Bossypants tone you love - with big news. Or no news at all. I feel like a good comeback requires news. Must get to work on that. Job openings and home rentals in Santa Monica, anyone?

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B is for Birthday

My mom loves to cook and entertain. We had such fun birthday parties when we were young and now that we're all grown, she hosts big family dinners every week. It comes as no surprise, then, that the party-planning gene was passed down to me. (I actually used to be an event planner!)

So when my little Bean turned 2 this past weekend, we celebrated in style with his current favorite thing - the alphabet! Seriously, he loves singing the ABC's more than Yo Gabba Gabba, Dora, Sesame Street, or any other annoying educational TV show. So last week was spent drawing letters on card stock, cutting them out, sticking them on walls and hanging them from the ceiling, designing the food labels, and frantically cleaning and decorating the house.

My mom made all the food and the birthday cake topped with alphabet block letters (pictures to come). We had small bites for different letters of the alphabet: "A - apple pie" "D - dates wrapped in bacon" "F- french fries with garlic parmesan" (served in paper cones - so cute!) "P - pizzas" (small, bite-sized white pizzas)...you get the point.

Even though we're all (still) sick, we all had a great time, filled up on sugar and presents, and had enough excitement to keep us worn out through this week.

Happy weekend

This is what the last 2 weeks has looked like around here. Same outfit, same warm spot on the couch, same barking seal cough. I've been sick since Thanksgiving and evidently, I can look to stay sick until the Bean is about 5. Then it's a whole different set of dirty elementary school germs. If you have an older child, you know what I mean. If you have one under a year old, this is what you have to look forward to. Mine didn't have so much as a runny nose until he turned one and once we put him in 'school' for two half-days, he was sick every other week. How do little things carry such big germs???

Anyway, I've been on somewhat of a social media fast. No Twitter,  no blogging, no Pinterest. (I know I'm holding my iPad above, but I was probably reading email or magazine. The iPad is great for reading blogs, but not so easy to comment on them.) I'm looking forward to spending tonight catching up on my favorite blogs and seeing what the rest of the world is up to!

Aren't my weekend evenings so exciting? How has your new year been so far?

Happy New Year

Source: conLab via: thehiddenlist.com

Although it's not starting off like it, I'm jumping on Kelley's bandwagon and declaring 2012 to be my year! I mean, being sick since Thanksgiving means that this year can only get better from here, right?

Did you make any new year's resolutions? See mine from 2011 here.

Holiday traditions

Every year since my dad passed away, I've made a Christmas eve feast of horseradish crusted prime beef rib, mashed potatoes, green beans and some dessert like bread pudding or french silk pie (sounds simple, but it's a party in your tummy). We stuff ourselves into a food coma, then watch a Christmas movie and drink hot chocolate. I started this tradition to remember my dad and the thing he loved to do most: eat. He clearly passed this trait on to his children, so every year, his children gather and silently celebrate him and remember all our joyous family memories that feel like they're slowly fading, but the love still forever ingrained in our hearts.

*Christmas 2009 and my very pregnant belly in the background! 

And here is last year's post from Christmas morning brunch at my mom's house which is an equally ridiculous (and delicious) food fest. If your holidays aren't all about eating, all day long, then you didn't grow up in my family!

What are some of your family traditions?

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

 

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To say that the last few weeks have been insane doesn't begin to describe it. Not only were we all knocked out for three weeks with a death-cold and one small double-ear infection, but it's holiday season, which means that people use the excuse: "can you help me pick out some gifts" as code for "maybe we'll just peek at a few things for me".

And by the way, can I just say as a first-time parent who is never sick, having a busy toddler when you have a cold is a cruel joke from nature. I even shared my drinks and purposefully sneezed in his face in hopes of him catching it and slowing him down for a couple of days, but it seems my attempted assault on his immune system kept him unfazed. (I really didn't, CPS.)

We've all recovered and are now ready to fully enjoy the holiday festivities. This is my favorite time of the year and I'm extra excited to see it through the eyes of an almost (*sniff*) 2 year old.

BTW - big THANKS to Juggling in Heels for the sweet award! 

I'm looking for my picks, but in the meantime, 

check out her blog to see the other lucky recipients!

What would you do?

Source: via

Is it just me, or do you also find the line between fear and irresponsibility a little blurry? Are you afraid to use all your savings to travel the world or is it irresponsible to spend what you've worked so hard to save for the future of your child(ren)? Is fear holding you back from quitting your job and following your dream or are you being responsible by keeping a steady income? Are you scared to move across the country and live a new adventure or is it more responsible to keep your kids in a good school with all their friends and have family nearby to help?

What do you think? How would you answer the question? 

Have you faced a fear and overcome it?

You can see my new year's resolution with the same 'fearless theme' here.

Pardon the dust...

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Don't you hate taking a little trip only to come back sick? Only worse when the little one is not feeling well either. So excuse the dead air the past couple of days. I wasn't permanently scarred from the perv, as you may have suspected. I'll be back soon!

Are you all getting ready for your Thanksgiving feasts? What's your favorite dish?

Dia de los muertos

Source: via  Photo Credit:Danielle Rocke Toews

Today is dia de los muertos or "day of the dead". A day to pray for and remember those that have passed away. For me, that would be my dad. And while I can't bring myself to write anything about him without feeling the loss as fresh as yesterday, I'll share a great post from one of my favorite bloggers about a dad and his daughter.

Are you remembering any loved ones today?

Choo Choo's (and I don't mean Jimmy)

While you may have been out on a fun date night or watching the World Series on Friday night, I was turning a cardboard box into a train for the Bean. Yes, that's how exciting it was over here. And I wasn't even drinking while crafting. It's nothing too fancy, just a little paint, scissors, tape, and a paper plate (to make the steering wheel; I cut circles from the cardboard and painted black to make the train wheels). Let this be a warning to you expecting mothers out there: the most exciting thing about your Friday night will be doing something to see the smile on your child's face on Saturday morning.

And it's totally worth it.

Weekend in review

Since the last few weeks have been so busy, the weekends have been spent relaxing recharging running boring errands -- and the little one hasn't had enough mommy-time. So this weekend, we enjoyed every waking minute. Mommy, Daddy, and Bean.

Life on the weekend (in pictures):
1. Highlight of the weekend, a trip to the pumpkin patch & picnic by the lake
2. Sunday lunch at grandma's house is always a treat
3. Picking up pine cones for grandma
4. Finally had a chance to wear my Missoni for Target rain boots

A full weekend of family-filled activities has left me wishing for another day before the work week begins.

How was your weekend?

via Pinterest

Hi there!
Remember me? It's been a very busy week in the Mommy Chic household and next week is going to be even crazier. Sorry to leave you with bad knock-knock jokes and a scarf tutorial for the week. I promise there's good stuff to come. In the meantime, here are a few weekend links:

Shorten your own jeans and keep the original hem.
 
Great dog costumes.

A how-to video to hide unsightly ceiling light fixtures with a simple drum shade.

I'm definitely adding elbow patches to one or two of my sweaters. 

Is this bike for real? Wheels made of sprung steel and the faster you go the softer the ride.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  

Weekend in review

Hello lovelies!
How was your weekend? Can I just tell you - the past week was insane and October doesn't look any easier! I'm ready to retire. Or move to the west coast. Working this hard wouldn't be so bad next to the ocean, right?

This weekend, we went to a museum that I haven't visited since elementary school. There is a huge interactive children's section for kids of all ages. Bitty loved the giant Light Bright board (remember that game from the 80's? "Light Bright, Light Bright. Turn on the magic of colored lights."). There was also a section specifically for kids under 6 years old to play in a pretend grocery store, hospital, or train station. I managed to put my germaphobia aside long enough to enjoy it with him. That doesn't mean we still didn't slather on the anti-bac every time we left one fun station and moved on to another. Some see "play areas", I see necrotising fasciitis. Is that just me?

What did you do this weekend?

Weekend in review

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? This month is full of events and parties, week days and weekends, but we managed to sneak in a kid's first birthday party and a trip to the flea market.

The weekend in pictures:
{one} At the birthday party: the chic mommy designed each cupcake to have some kind of significance in the birthday boy's first year. Such a cute idea! I wore this dress and may have been more over-dressed for a kids' birthday party than in this outfit. What do you think?
{two} At the flea market: How creepy is this giant head? I had visions of placing it in random areas of our house to surprise the husband, but I couldn't stand it staring at me during the car ride home.
{three} Of air and of sea, little figurines I need to add to my bookcases.
{four} I really wanted this scale, but it was already sold to another genius who saw the value in owning a scale that goes up to 400 pounds (because you never know...).

Off to another busy week! Hope you have a good one!