weekly photo dump! week 2

horray for completing another week of phone-tography.

i honestly didn't think i could keep up with this and it is only the second week!

this week was full of whine and wine. 

a toddler that is either cutting molars are has turned on his mom and is all "i'm 2 now and don't care what you say!" has about killed me. we are full of tantrums, whining, no's, whining, pushing away the hands, whining, not eating, whining, not napping, did i mention whining? hoping he turns a corner because this is bananas! i don't know if i will survive the 2's. for real.

we had a good week despite. or at least we tried to!

sunday was full of naps by the cats. no one napped here! see above about the whining and no napping!

early bedtime for the toddler due to no napping but first a little bubble guppies to soothe the soul. 

after "nigh nigh" momma and dada had some wine by the fireplace and looked at each other like "wtf happened today?!?" 

monday was the 2 year check up / lead screening day. 

d had a stuffy nose so it was good that we went to the doctor so he could make sure it was nothing more. it wasn't, thankfully. 

d watched videos / looked at pictures of himself on the iphone because he loves that more than most things these days. 

he also looked at himself in the mirror a million times. also what he loves to do these days!

he got a good report, got pricked for the lead screening, and we were on our way but not before we stopped to look at the fishies for a few minutes. 

target is our home away from home. so much so that the baristas at starbucks inside target know declan and have watched him grow up! that is a lot of trips to target my friends.

tuesday we went to target for some essentials and non-essentials, then came home and played in the yard for awhile. these january days have been nice and warm. 

i also caught up on blogging, emails, twitter, etc. am i the only one who has multiple windows open on their laptop at one time?!?!?

i also received a special delivery of caramels to try for sugar loco! this job has major perks. 

wednesday was another job perk. i got to spend the afternoon at the marriot laguna cliffs resort trying a delicious desert for sugar loco! i spent some time with the chef and he gave me a tour of their kitchen. amazing what all goes on behind the scenes! look for the article to pop up soon on sugar loco!

b stayed home with declan and they had some good one on one time. i missed them but it was a nice break! Plus i got to eat waffles and donuts! worth the missing of the boys. 

brandon was an editor on the tv show, chuck, and we went to the screening of the last two episodes and mann's chinese theater in hollywood. his episode was screened thanks to it being part of the last two ever. it was so fun and amazing to see his name on the big screen! i am so proud of him and all the hard work he has done throughout the season!

friday was a venti iced coffee kind of day. well everyday is with a toddler!

we sipped coffee, played outside, watered plants, and made sand castles. another beautiful day in so cal!

the evening was full of s'mores and b's episode of chuck. we watched again and it was just as good the second time around. so sad to see this show end!

saturday breakfast/brunch out is kind of a tradition here so today we hit up jack-n-jills for a yummy chicken salad sandwich and some sweet potato fries! sooo good! after brunch we came home and "mowed" the yard, rode our car and tried to tire out this boy. didn't work though. no nap for him so it was grapefruit margarita time for parents! i found this recipe on pinterest. it was really good. i suggest you cut the tequila just a little. it was a bit bitter for me so i added some grapefruit spritzer and it was much better! 

that was our week! we are enjoying some family time together and trying to get this little boy to nap these days! napping vibes are greatly appreciated!

i joined amy for her weekly iPhone pics post! 

i have to say i am loving it and it's a great reminder of what we did because i don't remember squat these days!

A Goldfish / Under the Sea 2nd Birthday!

last weekend,   2 saturdays ago we celebrated d's 2nd birthday with a  goldfish / under the sea themed party of epic proportions! (this is how long it has taken me to get this up on here!)

never one to skimp on a birthday party or a party for that matter, i went into full party mode around thanksgiving because i knew it would take time. lots o' time! party planning is my passion. i love every single aspect of it and someday would love to do it as a job. not sure how or when, but dreams are what i am made of these days.
my little guy loves fish of all kinds so this theme was a given and was so fun to plan! so many options and great ideas.


this post is way heavy on the photos so apologies now!!
here we go!


first off the invites..
i wanted a simple yet fun invite that had some ombre style to it. i was going to carry that over into the rest of the party so it seemed fitting! 

carrying the ombre over into the place cards for food was also a way to go with the theme and the different colors of blue for water!

we are lucky enough to have a "big" yard in southern california so i took full advantage of it. it is much easier to have 12 toddlers outside destroying things vs indoors. i am sure you will all agree!


paper lanterns add color to an otherwise boring, or in this case, dead tree!

activities -

my hubs and i came up with and idea for a submarine but neither one of us are quite artistic so our big dream got scaled down to a smaller version and then used as a photo booth of sorts! in the end i was so glad we did this. it was so fun and the kids loved it! 

we also made an aquarium for the kids to play in out of cardboard boxes. we painted some fish on it, hung streamers like waves and put some blue balls in it for water. fun for hours! 

D got a sand table for Christmas so we buried shells, sharks, and fish and had a bunch of sand toys for the kids to play with. add a swimming pool full of balls, tons of outside toys, sidewalk chalk and a bubble machine and you have happy toddlers!

decor

we have this little covered patio in our backyard that was perfect for the food setup. 

i transformed this into a little fishing shack of sorts complete with shower curtains as a backdrop (target for the win), streamers, blue and orange ombre paper garland (obsession), shells, and hanging fish and nets. 

i had a "make your own flavored water" bar full of mason jars with paper straws, strawberries, mint, oranges, limes and lemons. i wasn't too sure how it would go over but it was a huge hit. along with the water we had french lemonade, juice boxes for the kids and beer and wine for the big people. 

 

 cups with paper straws adorned with fishies.

food :

feeding kids is not easy! some are so picky and others will eat anything so i needed something in between for everyone to enjoy! submarine sandwiches, fruit, veggies and dip in pails and lots of different potato chips, snap peas, and pretzels helped complete the food table. 

scrapbook paper was used for flags and johnna made the fish

handmade beach pails filled with hummus or ranch dip and carrot chips. thanks to pinterest for helping me solidify the idea! 

one of my favorite ideas was the goldfish bar! every kid loves goldfish! it only seemed logical to have a goldfish bar for everyone to enjoy! 

desserts -

for the dessert table i made marshmallow pops and "fish flakes" and we bought some mini cupcakes,  sea salt brownie bites, caramel corn, blue sixlets and candy canes, fish shaped sugar cookies, honey, vanilla, s'mores, chocolate goldfish and a big birthday cake completed the "bar."

 

the inside of the cake was blue ombre and one of my favorite details. i am obsessed with ombre!! my friends own a catering company and their pastry chef made the cake. i had so much fun coming up with the design. also, holy big cake! so much leftover! 

the take home gift were some beach pails i found at a beach shop in texas filled with a fish print washcloth, fish stickers, a fish ornament i found at target, and the cutest fish in a bar of soap made by ellis c. naturals in a lemon lavender scent. the soap was so adorable and i've had so many of my friends tell me their kids actually want to take a bath now that they have this soap! 

 

i bought the tags and ordered some custom made stamps and stamped each tag. 

fish soap in lemon lavender scent

so there you have it!

declan's goldfish / under the sea 2nd birthday!

i had so much fun planning and crafting for this party. i said last year's party was a favorite but this year might beat it out!

declan had a great time and honestly that is all that matters. so many friends and family joined in to celebrate this little guy's big day! i am forever grateful for that. 

photography - natalie porter 

cake - schaffers genuine foods

paper party package - Livy love designs

paper fish for straws and fruit cups - MamaMatryoshka

paper straws, fruit cups, and gift tags - In the clear

ombre garland - custom order from flowerbrained

shower curtain / backdrop - target.

fish - christmas ornaments from target

paper laterns - save on crafts 

cutlery - garnish. 

stamps - custom order from cupcake tree 

wash cloths for bucket - target

fish soap - ellia c. naturals

potatoe soup.

it's raining today in usually sunny la.
this makes for some serious craziness on the road! i'm home all snuggled up with my little family instead of battling the people who loose their minds when rain falls from the sky!

since this day is cold and wet and full of blah i thought i would make some potato soup to warm up this family of mine that is coming down with some sort of cold.

pinterest has pulled through for me again and i found this recipe that is easy and also delish!

i will spare you the play by play with prep and cooking photos!
a food photographer i am not!

enjoy!
i am off to cook and drink some coffee because we have the serious case of the mondays here!

weekly photo dump!

lots of pictures taken this week thanks to my new phone.
i am slightly obsessed with picture taking and my iPhone takes this obsession to a whole new level. i can't get enough of this camera. it is amazing and so clear!!

so this is what we did this week!

saturday was Declan's 2nd birthday party, the real birthday was wednesday.
we celebrated with lots of friends and family and had a great day.
*blog post coming soon, i swear!*

sunday we recovered from the party mayhem.
hot cocoa and a piece of birthday cake made the laryngitis that i got a little better. 

after a big party comes all the clean up!
monday was "clean up the rest of the party stuff" day.
i always hate to take down fun decorations. also, thoughts on what to do with all of this gorgeous garland. I don't want to trash it!

tuesday my mom and i had a little girl time and went to brunch at botegga louie where i nommed on meatball sliders and macarons. seriously some of the best macarons i've ever consumed! 

wednesday was d's real birthday and we celebrated with a trip to pretend city, lunch, and then out to dinner at cpk. this kid loves mac-n-cheese!

thursday we opened the last of the gifts and played with rody, the current favorite gift! 

i also tried some chocolate wine for a story i am writing for valentine's day for my other job at sugar loco. tough job, i know!

airplanes are a favorite for d, so on friday we went to watch them land at lax. there is a park right near in-n-out burger (convenient much) and we got burgers, sat at the park and ate and watched all the planes land! this never gets old for me. so much fun. and loud! whoa!

b and i had took full advantage of the grandparents in town and went on a date! we hit up a favorite korean style restaurant where you cook your own meal. after we went to the rooftop bar and had some fancy drinks and snuggled by the fire. it was actually kind of cold in la! 

bacon saturday! 

it pays to have friends that are chefs and give you free stuff. they cure and smoke their own bacon and we got to sample! so yum! 

  i also made some cookies for my mom and dad to take back to texas. they drove so obviously you need cookies for a road trip!

that was our week! 

looking forward to doing this more often. i like to catalogue what we did for the week. it also helps me actually remember that we did things! 

mom brain here!

i'm linking up with amy at a good life for her week in iPhone pics!