One dress, four looks!

So Macy's was having a killer sale on dresses and I bought a few for Vegas and myself. One was this cute little BCBG number. It looks a bit short in the pic, but it actually hits a little above my knee (a plus to being a shawty). Once I received it in the mail, it ended up being a bit big. It was the smallest size they had in stock so I decided to hold on to it after finding I could use it several ways (as shown below). I love the layering and it is staying in my closet! My tailor can hopefully help me cinch it in a bit, otherwise I will use one of the high waist belts I own. Dress love!

  The Dress

Casual Style

Painting the town Red!

Demure (with one of my fave puffed sleeve sweaters)

Date Night!

With tights.

My Staples

So I have been really reassessing the material items I need and don't need in my life. God knows how much I love to shop and I do wear a lot of clothes, but I also like simplicity and a clean organized closet. The rule is if I haven't worn it in a year, it should GO. I used to make it two years, but found the item just stayed in my closet one extra year as dust accumulated on it. I have been going on a bit of a rampage trying to make more space since we don't have too much of it, but there are some items I can't live without. Others might find this excessive, but hey, I'm happy!

#1: Sunglasses. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE sunglasses!! They keep my eyes happy and help the skin under and around my eyes stay semi-wrinkle free. I swear it is helping me stay away from the plastic surgeon for a few years, so in essence I am SAVING money, right?! And living in "sunny" San Diego most my life I need the protection, especially with my skin cancer scare a few years back. It is imperative I have a some sunnies for each occasion, fashion and activity. I need my fugly joggers for outdoor activity. I need my lightly tinted aviators for those semi-cloudy days. I have the classic Wayfarer that will never go out of style, although not the best for side facial sun protection. I love my big bug-eyed D&G's for lot's of protection and in case you did not notice I have a few back up pairs of my faves. So no debating with me. I'm keeping them all and plan on more, although mommy is staying away from the bank-breaking Chanels from now on.

#2: JEANS!! So this is a pic of my collection AFTER I whittled away the pairs I still loved did not need. Need I even explain why jeans are SO awesome? And unfortunately, for my hubby, I love the expensive ones. True Religion being my go-to brand. But fear not! There are a few Old Navy skinny jeans I own and some cheaper jeggings I adore. Sorry, but not going to pay over $100 for jeggings. So 22 pairs of fantabulous jeans is what I am keeping. I had 30...

#3: Turtlenecks! Yes, laugh now, but I have loved turtlenecks most of my life. Eric's first look at me was in a pic where I was wearing a mock sleeveless turtleneck. Let's just say he was more impressed when he saw me in person. The funny thing is a turtleneck to me could define someone who likes pearl necklaces, Argyle Cardigans, chinos and enjoys clothing from Land's End. This is SO not me. But I could rock a black turtleneck at a club if needed (fat hoop earrings and a smokey eye and I could make it work)! So I have around 18 here alone and trust me (unless this very mild winter stays around till spring) they will be worn! Also great with a pair of jeans. Do I sense a correlation?

#4: My fave shoe. As you can see the streets of Japan destroyed my favorite clog. I loved these. I had them forever and they will be making a trip to my local cobbler who I PRAY will be able to save them. They were so comfy and versatile. Great with jeans, shorts and had height without being over the top. Please keep your fingers crossed these bad ass shoes who have traveled many miles on my feet, can be salvaged.

And yes, there are so many other material items I am excessive about like watches, hoop earrings, velour track suits, cute mom-friendly flats, heels I rarely wear but still salivate over and flip flops, but I will save that for my next therapy session retail outing as well.

The Last Lime

This weekend was a bit sour literally and figuratively. Sophia started with a nasty cough Saturday and we ended up staying home all weekend and breaking some plans we had with family, hence why I am posting. I NEVER have enough time to blog! Sunday she mustered up enough energy to help mommy make organic chicken soup with veggies. I also used the last yellow lime from our tree. We found the BIGGEST web on the tree and one heck of a spider attached. Hopefully she is protecting it from bug predators so she is welcome to stay. Keeping my fingers crossed she brings us a big harvest of limes this season as well. I could seriously write a blog based on just the spiders in our backyard!

    The last of our juicy yellow limes. I LOVE lime flavor!

Guardian of the Kelso Lime Tree. This spider is badass.

Homemade chicky noodle sopa.

Check out the free t-shirt I was given due to my bad Diet Coke habit. This one is going in the PJ drawer if I keep it. Not something I am proud of but I do LOVE Coke even after this study!



Sophia in a better mood. She gets gnarly on this thing.

Lazy Weekend

Hey! Back after a long hiatus and figured I would post a little something for the SAHM's. Was a beautiful Saturday today. Sophia and I decided to strike the insane local gas prices this weekend. We relaxed in our backyard, picnicked, and had home fun instead of a beach day. One of the projects we worked on was making new crayons out of all our broken pieces. Sophia has just about every color and restaurant crayon you can imagine (Rubios, Islands, Claim Jumpers). So after picking off massive amount of crayon wrapper and now suffering with sore nail beds, we came up with the following:

1. Use one silicone mold w/various broken crayons in any color combinations that suit your fancy.

2. Bake at 275 for around 15 minutes. You may need to swirl melted mixture with a toothpick.

3. Cool completely. The silicone makes it easy to take out along with making cool shapes. You can also use a regular muffin pan w/a bit of veggie oil sprayed in each cup.

Wha-La! You have a whole new set of fun crayons and have recycled in the process!

Little Miss Artista

It's August already?

WOW! Time is really pushing forward faster than I EVER imagined. It is going on 5 months since Eric left for his Japan tour but it feels like he just left. I have an A+ in being mentally prepared and keeping busy. Eric and I have our tour theme song "Cold Blooded" by Rick James (we feel that is what other couples who don't know us must think since we are cool with this living arrangement). I take comfort in the fact that we will never do this again and 2 plus years is such a small blip of our 18 plus years together. I have also lived in worse situations, so in all honesty, it is really not that bad. He has been so darn busy (as we anticipated) that quality time with him is next to nill in Japan anyhow. We are grateful that I am surrounded by our friends support here in San Diego and spending quality time with our family as we intended so Sophia does not miss out on knowing our loved ones. Eric has been busy flying, working 12-14 hour days and will be leaving on his second deployment only to come back when we go visit for a month later this year. Skype has been amazing and we usually talk twice a day. Where was this technology when Eric deployed for almost 10 months years ago? It is amazing how things have changed in a GREAT way! We make a conscious effort to make good conversation, which is easy to do since Eric is my best friend...but can be something easy to overlook in regular day to day lives when with each other every single day. This whole situation is making us stronger and we will come out with more love for one another as it teaches us not to take one another for granted. It also teaches ME how to run the house better and be a better independent woman by working the power saws, repairing sprinkler heads, using the drill more often and the like! So, we are still very pleased with the decision we made, no matter how untraditional it is.

Sophia has had a few milestones in these past months. At around 20 months I finally took off the front screws to her crib and turned it into her daybed. I really wanted to do this at 18 months since our little monkey set herself free and was able to get out if she wanted. I am amazed at how agile she is and hope one day she is not climbing El Cap rope free. Thankfully she was so excited about sleeping in her big girl bed that no transition was really needed (thank you Mr. Ferberization). It was standard operating bedtime procedures as usual and in fact, she did not want me to read or rock her that night since she totally wanted to lay her head down on her new big kid pillow!
Sophia also started potty training. We are still SLOWLY working on this one day at a time as my little girl is stubborn and wants to do this on her terms, which is totally naked. She pees like a champ in her potty when she is free of any clothing (socks and all). Unfortunately, this situation does not work well on trips out and about so we are currently slowly introducing panties (that she also likes to pee in). I got some sparkly Dora panties today, so I am hoping this may change my little free naked spirit.
I have also been busy channeling her endless amount of energy into Mommy & Me Soccer, a class she has a blast in. She is in session two of swim class and finally floating on her back by herself! Sophia is also attending part-day Montessori School 3 times a week, which she has a fun time socializing in. We will have to miss some classes until the beginning of the year soon, but for great reasons. We will be on our way to the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone for most of September! The Shafers have graciously invited us to go on the camper driving journey of a lifetime along with their family and little boy Bjorn who Sophia adores. Gail's parents will be taking care of Sophia as we hike down to the bottom of the canyon and stay at the Phantom Ranch! I will be happy to have a day of rest and ranch life as we depart for our hike up the canyon the following day. Then onwards to Yellowstone! October will be my annual visit to Palm Springs with my most awesome friend Dani. It's a much needed girls trip and the weather will be amazeballs for pooly time and adult beverages! Soon after my sister is due. We are SO excited! Little Ava is going to take up a lot of our time, hugs, and kisses! Halloween and Thanksgiving will blow by with our fam here in San Diego and before you know it, we will be visiting Eric for a month in Tokyo in our "Japan condo". Yippee!              

Hear ye, Hear ye, Princess Sophia is TWO!

SO thankful she has been a good sleeper since 3 months old. It's God's way of giving me a break for the time she is AWAKE and with enough energy to run our city!!

Picking our first crop of organic heirloom tomatoes. Sophia was SO excited to eat one, until I cut it open and offered. Looks like we'll be making spaghetti sauce instead.

Canning the tomatoes so they don't rot! We had quite a few and more on the way.

No worries. You don't need to submit this to shitmykidsruined.com. It is a Crayola bath time set Sophia got from her buddy Bjorn. Lord knows what chemicals they used to make that work, so I'm gonna try my best to not read the ingredients and pretend it's all natural! Besides, it is an extra 30 minutes of happy quiet time for mommy as she plays so contently!

And lastly, a little brown widow friend crawled it's way into Sophia's bike, called it home and is clutching it's nest sak per the above picture. I am not terrified of spiders like most of my friends. Having lived in SoCal most of my life I've seen my fair share of gnarly black widows ...but add my daughter into the pic and let's just say I was pretty freaked out knowing she's been scooting all over the place on this for quite some time before I noticed. Sweet dreams, and Goodnight!

Lazy Sunday

Finally smiling for the camera

Strawberries and Spring Mix Lettuce. Finally put up the net after something was eating the strawberries and now I have little holes in the lettuce! I am trying to learn how to make this work organically w/no insects!

Our cucumbers are doing okay. I think they need more sun since I placed the tomatoes on the wrong side of the sun. Spinach is growing and tomatoes are going to be great! I have an ant issue on this side so I use borax and corn syrup to help ward them off.

Hey! Look at me! I am on a roll as this is my 2nd Sunday of blogging. It's probably due to the fact I lost my master to-do list. I can't find it anywhere and quite frankly, I can't remember what the hell I needed to do anyhow. Maybe that means it's all really not that important.

So usually San Diego is considered sunny year round. What most don't realize it that this is really the opposite once you hit "May Gray" and "June Gloom". One of the cool things about living out where we are (around 20 minutes from downtown) farther east inland is that all that tends to burn off late morning and open up to sunny blue skies. It looked that way today and then in came the gray again later on. These kind of days make me want to curl up and do nothing. I truly do suffer when I can't see Mr. Golden Sun in my day and my daughter is very much the same creature. I have a hard time if I can't get her outside each day with her for more than 2 hours. I have NO idea how others (or possibly we someday) can brave a real long blustery winter where you stay inside with a toddler.

So since my to-do list is probably in the recycling bin, we decided to do hang out at the house and fill our day with backyard play, garden tending, and hanging out with our dogs. Sometimes it is nice to not really make plans. A big plus for today is that Sophia had no tantrums as well...Yay!

I'm baaack...I think.

It's been awhile! Blogging has officially become a to-do list chore for me at this time for a number of reasons. I had really thought when Eric left for Japan I would be twiddling my thumbs with not much to do, but it has really been quite the opposite. I find myself dozing off as I rock Sophia at the end of the day while singing and reading her stories. It is a struggle to stay up past 9PM but I must if I plan on getting anything accomplished. I also find I get a bad case of writers block when I try and blog. The words and ideas do not flow and if you can tell by my posts, I did not major in English. I wish I had all the time to sit here and tell you of my "adventures" each day (even with my non-existent reader following). More for Eric's sake, especially since I love reading when his blog is updated. My big problem is there is just SO much in my head that I could write about. The possibilities are endless. My blog is really not centered on any individual subject, just our life in general. I could totally rant like an old person (which I believe I am in many ways) about how people do not use their turn signals, why skater boys in our neighborhood would get a swift kick in their low-riding jeans ass if they ever tried to date my daughter, how people really need to learn cell phone ettiquite, and my quest to get speed bumps installed in our neighborhood. I love to bring up hot topics, but that always seems like a bad idea after you do it since my friends views on life are so varied. I could dedicate a whole blog on health. More ideas that come to mind is our commuter marriage, having a high energy and spirited toddler, awesome recipes I am trying, my battle with quitting diet Coke and my love/hate relationship with working out. I would love to use a blog as therapy too and talk about living in and overcoming severe dysfuntion growing up. So at the end of the day I have all these ideas floating through my head but I usually find myself curled up on the couch with not one ounce of energy left, not even in my fingers. So for now I will take it one Sunday at a time, and one blog subject at a time. Sunday is also the day Eric and I read our book club selection and watch Mad Men Season one together (though miles apart).

So in the midst of all this trying to keep in touch and keeping communication tight with Eric, I have our little Sophia who is going through a "Mom, you can't take a picture of me because I think it is funny when you tell me to smile and I look away from the camera" phase going on. I try and sneak one in, but I can never get a full smiling face. It would be nice to have some new pic's for Eric, really. At this point I have all but given up.

Lately Sophia has a love of holding on to random items. She must hold on to her toothbrush all day long. She actually gets a bit frustrated if she doesn't have shorts or pants with pockets she can hold her brush in. She also likes to hold on to more random items: a spoon (since she finally learned a fork was unacceptable by mommy), anywhere from 2-6 bracelets at a time, chap stick, Mardi Gras style beads, and her stickers. She falls asleep with some of these items as well and wakes up each morning pointing and asking for me to pick up "my stickers", "my bracelet", "my toothbrush" and on goes another day of the gypsy look. She has finally realized she is having a harder time holding on to these items as she starts to accumulate more to her collection. She recently found a snazzy little basket so she can now hold on to more! Yippee!

Today I got her all dressed up, hair and all and tried my best to take a pic for Eric near our beautiful blooming lilies...only there was one problem.... she refused to give up the basket of junk for the picture. She was also pretty mad I took off her 5 bracelets, necklace and the picture session was then cancelled. So I give you "Sophia without basket"...