My favorite blogs

There are so many DIY/lifestyle blogs out there, and I have a few that I read everyday.  I love following along with their projects, pregnancies and family life.  One of my favorites is Young House Love.  I've been following them for a little over 3 years now and remember when their little girl was just a baby!  Over the year's they have mentioned that they've been approached to do a few reality shows, but have turned down TV opportunities to continue their blog.  They recently revealed that they were working on a line of hooks with a company to be sold in Target!  I was on board as soon as I heard Target and my friend Lauren and I rushed to check it out.  They have the cutest line and I wanted to buy all of them!  I ended up with the white octopus to be put in our basement half bathroom for a towel holder.  Our bathroom has an ocean/travel theme so little Octy fits right in. :)

A few other favorites are Bower Power and I Love You More Than Carrots.  Happy Monday!!

Swim lessons

Last year around this time we started swim lessons with Keaton.  Drew and I love everything about being in the water and we don't want Keaton to have any fears about large pools or lakes.  We took lessons for about 3 months and he absolutely loved the water.   Keaton has changed so much over the past year that I highly doubt he will remember swimming when he was 8, 9 and 10 months old.  Now that he is 19 months old I have a feeling it won't be as easy as it was last year. 

We are starting lessons again tomorrow and can't wait to get back in the pool.  This is definitely an activity that Drew and I both enjoy doing with Keaton.  Wish us luck that it goes smoothly!

Sunglass love

Keaton is so obsessed with his sunglasses lately!  It is adorable!  He hasn't quite mastered the art of putting them on so we've had many pokes in the eye.  If he pokes himself he will look at the sunglasses and say "bad, bad, bad" and scold the glasses.  He is hilarious!! 

Playroom rules!

The beginning of any good playroom starts with rules.  Fun rules at that!  We bought this sign from Etsy (click here for vendor).  I am so excited for Drew to get the built-in bookcases started.  There is so much wall space to fill! 

I also want to get wood alphabet letters to add to the wall. I've found a few inspiration photos where they are either modge-podged with different scrap book paper or they are painted.  I found the below inspiration from this website.  

 Off to do more planning!

Friends, food and fun!

Chicago was such a blast!  I had a wonderful time hanging out with Lisa and Mike this past weekend.  I left work around 2:30 on Friday afternoon and made it to Chicago in great time.  Without traffic it would take 3 hours and since it was Friday I thought the Chicago traffic would be horrible.  It really wasn't too bad and I ended up making it in 3 1/2 hours and I even made a stop at a gas station on the way.  While waiting for the restroom I saw something I've never run across before...
pickle in a BAG!  One of the reasons I find this so disturbing is because it isn't even refrigerated.  Just lukewarm pickle in a bag...gross!

 

After I arrived we went over to the grocery store to pick up some food.  We planning on being low key on Friday and not really going out.  The grocery store was so cool!! You could buy anything from their meat or deli counter and they would grill it up for you right in the store.  Fresh takeout!  People were buying shrimp, lobster tails, chicken and they were grilling for those people to take home.  It was awesome! We went with a burger and added grilled asparagus and bought a bag of chips.  There was a wine bar on the first floor of the grocery store so we took our freshly made burgers to the bar and got a bottle of wine.  It was such an easy/cheap dinner!  I loved it!

We woke up on Saturday morning (it was amazing that I got to sleep past 6:00 without a Keaton wake up call!!) and went to get a pedicure.  After our pedicure it was time for more food so off to lunch we went.  Lisa and Mike live in the West Loop area.  There is a restaurant around the corner from their condo called Girl and the Goat.  It is owned by Stephanie Izard, season 4 winner of Top Chef on Bravo. 

 

 

The Girl and the Goat is a little bit out of our price range and is only open for dinner...BUT, she opened The Little Goat Diner across the street from her upscale restaurant and it is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Luckily it was only a 20 minute wait and we got seated fairly quickly.  The decor at the diner was stunning and I loved every part of it!  The wallpaper was amazing and this light fixture was so pretty.

 

Everything on the menu looked tasty and I ended up getting the fish tostadas.  Holy cow, this meal is definitely at the top my list!  My mouth is watering just looking at this picture.  It had cilantro, cabbage, chick peas, perfectly lightly breaded fish, crunchy tostada shells with a creamy sauce. 

 

As you can see, I really liked it!

 

After lunch we went back to the condo and relaxed on the couch and caught up on some DVR'd shows.  It was nice to have some down time before going out that night!  

 

We started at a Mexican restaurant (I can't recall the name) with margarita's and some yummy food.  (sorry for the blurry picture) The margarita's were awesome!

 

 

After dinner we did some bar hopping and had so much fun!  It was so great to spend time with Lisa and Mike and I can't wait until we can do it again!

The Sunday morning drive back to Indianapolis, was helped by a large iced coffee and a few donuts for the road. (not all of those donuts were mine!)  I got home just in time to get Keaton after he woke up from his nap and I was so happy to see him and Drew! 

Daddy and Keaton weekend

I had so much fun visiting Lisa and Mike in Chicago, but missed my boys so much!!  Drew was so great about sending me pictures during the weekend of what they were doing.  They had a great bonding day on Saturday.  The morning was spent hanging out in the basement watching cartoons and playing.  This is the adorable picture I got that morning.

After Keaton got up from his nap he was still a little tired so they relaxed on the couch and watched the formula 1 race.

 

That afternoon they ventured out to the damn by our house.  They threw rocks at the water and chased the geese.   Keaton loved it!

I'm so glad to see that daddy/Keaton bonding weekend went so well! When I got home on Sunday afternoon it was during Keaton's nap time.  When he woke up I went in to get him and his face lit up with a huge smile.  When I picked him up he gave me a big hug and put his head on my shoulder.  It was so adorable and I loved it.  I will have my Chicago update on the blog tomorrow.  I had such a fun time!!

Toddler all the way!

Keaton is officially 19 months old and has welcomed toddlerhood with full force.  Most of the time he is a sweet little boy and every so often he will climb into my lap and give me a big kiss on the lips...those are the times I just melt and think he is the best boy in the world.  Then there are times like the other night when exhaustion took over his body and it was temper tantrum central!

Speaking of toddlerhood one of my friends posted an article on Facebook and it is so spot on and hilarious.  My favorite is number 16, because this used to be me.  (number 17 is pretty good too)  Happy Friday!

16. YOU CAN’T ACTUALLY MOVE A TODDLER TO WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO GO

I was a dick about kids and parents when I did not myself have a kid. I was Judgey McJudgerson, judging you with my judgey-face. A crying kid on a plane would stress me out. I’d think — as do many other asshole adults — DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR CHILD. Having a kid now has, erm, softened that judgment. I admittedly still think some parents are way too disconnected from their children (and way more connected to their goddamn iPhones — “Hey, is my toddler in traffic? Candy Crush, bitches!”), but in general, I’m a lot more sympathetic because you can’t just “control” a toddler. They’re not a lamp you can move into the corner and turn on and off. They’re not even dogs. They’re tiny human beings with orangutan strength. I used to think, “Just physically control them, just put them somewhere, like in a drawer or something,” but toddlers do this trick where they either let all the tension go out of their bodies or they instead flail about like an unmanned fire-hose. Imagine trying to wrestle an angry octopus, and you get the idea.

Full article here: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/03/24/25-things-you-should-know-about-life-with-a-toddler/

April showers...

Bring May flowers!  Look what we have coming out in our front and side yard.  I am so ready to see flowers blooming and leaves on trees.   We need some green in our life.  Although it is pouring rain in Indy today with accumulation supposed to be around 3 inches.  At least this rain will make our grass come out of its winter slumber.  I'm so excited for sunny days to come!

Chicago here I come!

I am so excited to go visit a great friend this weekend in Chicago!  I'm leaving Keaton and Daddy at home to have a girls weekend. Whahooo!  I've known Lisa since college and love that she lives in Chicago which is only about a 3 hour drive from Indianapolis.  Most of my other friends from college live in California so having Lisa so close is a perk.   Drew is taking a couple "boys weekends" trips in May so I cashed in my girls weekend chip as soon as I could. 

Lisa and I have come a long way since college and I'm so glad that we made it through ups and downs in our friendship and came out the other side!   She is such a great friend and I can't wait to hang out this weekend!  Is it Friday yet?!

 

Mmmm...pizza

This weekend flew by!  Actually, I think Saturday dragged on a little bit because we were stuck inside playing because it was so cold again!  Sunday, on the other hand, flew by and we spent a lot of time in the afternoon running around outside. 

This is how most of Saturday was spent...on You Tube clicking through all the toddler song videos.  I must say, it is so adorable when he stumbles upon "Wheels on the Bus" and does all the motions with the song. 

 

Saturday night was build your own pizza night and I can see this quickly becoming a Friday or Saturday night tradition in the Smith household.  Keaton absolutely loves pizza and he hasn't been that excited about dinner in a long time.  It's time to add this to the weekly rotation!

Of course, pizza night is not complete without beer!  Drew just picked up this 312 pale ale and I'm really enjoying it.  I'm not a fan of a super hoppy pale ale, but this flavor is just right.  It's nice to have another choice rather than just drinking my old standby Stella.

I didn't get any pictures of us playing outside on Sunday, but we had a great time.  We pushed around the wagon, and rode around the block with Keaton's "bike."   We grilled a pork tenderloin and ate dinner with the back door open.  Ahhh...spring!

Happy Monday to you!