Charlotte's Disney Bows by Eola Ella

Not long after Charlotte was born I found a little bow shop via Instagram and quickly fell in love with their products. Eola Ella sells the cutest bows, not to mention the most adorable Disney bows!

 

 

How cute is that bow?! I love the elastic headbands these bows come with. They are sturdy without them being too tight on your little's head and always match and coordinate just right! 

Here is another Disney bow we got from Eola Ella for Charlotte's first Disney trip. Another great thing is when you order your bow, you will choose the elastic size so you can be sure it will fit. 

 

Eola Ella sells way more than just Disney bows. They are constantly updating their inventory through their Etsy shop with new creations and don't stick to one style of bow, so you will always find yourself coming back for more (which is super bad for the budget, but then again having a baby girl is really bad for the budget all around)!

Follow them on Instagram and you will see all the sales, offers and giveaways they have throughout the month!

High Fives

1. Since Saturday was National Wear Your Lilly Day, Charlotte of course had to participate!
2. I picked up some fabric to make more bow bracelets and bows with. Not to mention they make great appliques for koozies and shirts.
3. Yesterday the US played against Germany during the World Cup and although we lost, we are still in it! I think it's because my coworkeers and I donned our patriotic gear
4. Over the weekend we went to a local classic car show. It was fun to get out, walk around and check out the cars and vendors. I loved this old mail truck of course, because it had Mickey and Minnie dressed as postal workers!
5. Charlotte's daycare put up an awesome blow up water slide this week and I just adore the pictures her teacher sent me. I think she loved it! :) 

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

World Cup!

I'm not ashamed to admit it, I've jumped on the soccer bandwagon. Who can blame me?! There is nothing better than rooting for your country in a big worldwide event like World Cup! And for a few hours, our entire country is united - politics, race and religion don't matter.

So today, like many other Americans, we are sporting out country pride! What's even better is work is having a viewing party for the game since it takes place in the middle of the day. So here's to hoping the U.S. can pull out a big win! WE BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!

Wall Decal from Cozy Wall Art

I have always been drawn to the cute wall decals used for home décor, so when CozyWallArt.com contacted me about trying one of theirs, I jumped at the chance. Knowing how much we love Disney, they suggested their castle decal for Charlotte's nursery.

Shipping was fast and it came in the mail in a nice shipping tube so it would be in perfect condition when I received it. Inside was an instruction sheet, the decal, an application squeegee plus a sweet extra gift of lollipops with a mini practice decal.

I followed the directions to a T, but thought it would be helpful to show you through pictures how easy it was to apply. If I can apply this decal with a screaming baby in the room, than anyone can do it no problem!

Once the decal was flat and smoothed out, per Cozy Wall Art's (http://cozywallart.com) recommendation, I taped (writing side down) it to the wall for placement. I removed the bottom two pieces only to begin peeling away the paper.

Peel the decal from the paper slowly and carefully making sure nothing gets left behind on the paper side.

Once you reach where your tape is, hold with one hand and cut the paper off. Now you slowly lower it and press against the wall being careful not to create bubbles. This is where you will use you squeegee tool to smooth it all out since you still have the top layer on. No need for the piece of tape since the bottom half is adhered to the wall. Working from the top, do the same thing and peel the paper away from the decal until you reach the center where it will just fall off. Again, you slowly stick it to the wall as you did the bottom half.

Continue to use the squeegee tool and smooth out as many bubbles as you can. You will also want to use it over the entire decal so this next  and final step is easy. Start from one corner and begin to slowly peel the top layer off leaving just the decal on the wall. Sometimes small pieces (especially on the more intricate designs) might stick to the paper. If this happens fold the paper back up an inch or so and smooth that section out using your squeegee tool, then peel back again. Once that top layer of paper is off, you're done!

And in about 30 minutes from start to finish, you have a pretty sweet decoration. It's easy to fill our wall space with mirrors and frames and shelves, so why not add a decal as something new and different?

I love the way mine turned out. They had so many colors to choose from and I' so happy with my choice of the pink as it goes perfect with everything else.

Check out all the different decals they have for nursery's and kids' rooms. You can even get them personalized! Why didn't they have this stuff when I was a kid?!

So if you're in the market for a wall decal, be sure to check out Cozy Wall Art (http://cozywallart.com). They are on Facebook and Instagram too!

High Fives!

1. Monday was my birthday and one of my coworkers brought me the cutest mini ice cream cake! It totally made my day that much sweeter (see what I did there?!) and was the icing on the cake (ok I'll stop) for the perfect birthday!
2. We've moved on from cereal and have begun real foods! So far she has had broccoli, green beans and sweet potatoes. She hasn't met a food she doesn't like so here's to hoping she isn't picky like her mommy and daddy!
3. I got some requests for Lilly fabric bows and koozies which gave me the perfect excuse to purchase a few prints! These are all going to be available in my shop over the weekend! I especially LOVE the 4th of July print!
4. My friend got me a new Alex and Ani bracelet for my birthday and I LOVE it! It's the perfect addition to my collection, AND it's pink! 
5. Of course the highlight of my week was being able to celebrate my husband's first Father's Day! The love he has for Charlotte is more than I could have ever imagined. Seeing the two of them together just melts my heart. 

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

Disney Dining Tip and Tricks

It's been forever since I've written about Disney, so I thought I would take the time to share with you some tips and tricks for eating in Walt Disney World. One of the main reasons for not writing about the parks in so long is because they have changed so much. Not necessarily in attractions, but with the infrastructure. Ever since Magic Bands came into play, things have not been the same.

The Magic Bands was a billion dollar project that links everything to one RFID chip in a bracelet (looks like a Fit Bit) that you wear. It acts as your room key, credit card, park pass and fast pass that is managed via a smartphone app. I can talk more about this in detail another time, but my reason for bringing it up is because now every guest has the opportunity to plan every moment of their trip, which leaves the seasoned veterans to be forced to plan it out as well when they wouldn't have otherwise.

A lot of things about the new system are positive, just be prepared and plan your trip months in advance. If you have never been before, then this will be easy. But if your like my family who is known for going to Disney on a whim, this can be frustrating as restaurants book up six months out!

Disney dining holds a special place in my heart since I used to work at one of the restaurants on property. I remember seeing overwhelmed, frustrated and confused parents who just want an air conditioned place to sit and eat a real meal. It always broke my heart when I had to tell them that there was no availability. So in an attempt to make sure everyone gets the most out of their trips, here are a few tips to help make your dining experience a little easier.

Plan ahead: For our trip in December we will have 8 people in our group, so planning is key. Dining reservations open up 180 days out, but if you are staying on Disney property, you can book all your dining reservations for up to 10 days past your check-in date. For example, my trip starts December 6th, so on June 6th I was able to make my whole week's worth of dining reservations at one time, instead of calling back every day to book one day at a time.

Be persistent: If there is no availability for s specific restaurant, then check back daily. It seems like a daunting task, but it has paid off for me on numerous occasions. People are making reservations and canceling them constantly so don't feel discouraged if at 180 days out, you didn't get all the reservations you wanted. You have plenty of time for things to open up. Just make it part of your daily routine to check the Disney Dining webpage.

Be organized: When booking your meals in the parks, I find it best to use your reservations as a baseline for what park to visit each day. For example, If I have a dinner reservation in Epcot, then I will plan on watching the Fireworks in Epcot that night. You don't have to be strict with this, but it serves as a great baseline for when your planning your trip.

Share the details: One of the best things Disney does is accommodate. Be sure to tell them any and all allergies. Even if you think you know what to order and what foods to stay away from on a buffet, you probably don't know all the ingredients. If you have an allergy, the head chef of the restaurant will come out and tell you what you can and cannot eat. In some instances they will put together a special plate just for you. This is all done at no cost and is an excellent example of their legendary customer service. If you have any type of celebration like a birthday or anniversary, make sure you tell them when you book your reservation. Not all the time, but sometimes they might give you a special little treat to help you celebrate.


To be honest, I could go on and on, but this is already getting long so I think I will end it here. If you have any particular questions you would like me to address, I would be happy to write a post about it! Sometimes it's hard to get all the information from my head down on paper, so I figure it's best to take it small bits at a time.

Summer Fashion - Baby Style

This past weekend was super busy with parties and cookouts so it seemed only fitting that Charlotte bust out her summer wardrobe. There were two outfits in particular that I've been dying to have her wear and she managed to rock them both over the weekend!

 

I always see these smocked outfits and I think they are so cute, but they are usually so expensive! So when I saw this adorable outfit pop up on a Facebook freecycle/yardsale site for just $10, I jumped all over it. The fact that it was in her size was fate!

 

Judging by her smile, I think she approves of this outfit as well. I paired it with a red headband and red bow, and she was ready to party!

 

Charlotte's first Lilly was given to her by one of my friends before she was even born. After waiting what seemed like forever, she can finally wear it! It's the perfect summer outfit and how can you not love those matching bloomers?!

For now, I think it's safe to say that this child loves her Lilly like her Momma.

 

Of course I had to wear my Lilly too!

 

Linking up with Lindsey @ The Pleated Poppy for WIWW

 

DIY Father's Day Gift

I know Father's Day has already come and gone, but I couldn't resist sharing this quick little DIY I did for my husband's first Father's Day!

As usual, I left myself with no time to get creative for my husband's gift and was about to take the easy way out and frame one of the many pictures of Charlotte. However, I came up with this little idea via handy dandy Pinterest and figured I could swing that with the two days I had!

All I had to do was run to Walmart and grab the letters "D" and "A". I thought about getting the other "D", but the goal was to do this on the cheap and since I had no plans to reuse the letters, two would be enough.

Now for the fun part. take pictures of Charlotte with the letters! I dressed her up in a Minnie outfit (go figure) and handed her the letters and began snapping away. Once I knew I had two good "D" shots and a good "A" shot, it was to the computer I go.

Editing doesn't have to cost and arm and a leg or be incredibly complex. I just use Picasa because it's free and intuitive (I don't have the time or patience to educate myself on something more complicated). Since the letters I purchased were just plain wood, I thought they would get lost with all the other color in the picture, so I made the shots black and white and uploaded them to Walmart for printing.

The next morning, I ran back to Walmart to pick up the prints and grab a frame that held three 4x6 pictures. I thought about doing 5x7 but I was worried it would be too big.

And there you have it, an easy yet very personable Father's Day gift. You can do so many different versions of this to make it unique for your family. For example, if you have multiple kids, have each of them hold a letter and then add a group picture with a special message just for Dad. This would make a great birthday present as well, so don't wait until next year to try it out!

High Five for Friday!

1. We celebrated my birthday (a week early) at the Melting Pot! As always, it was amazing! But I think the best part was being able to have a night out without Charlotte (my parents watched her).
2. As usual, I did a lot of embroidery this week. I made Charlotte's 5 month outfit, a bib, and some sorority legacy bloomers. 
3. My mom had a member/guest tournament last week and she asked me to be her guest! The other half of our foursome was another friend of mine and her guest. The theme was Pretty in Pink - 80s style, so of course we had to go all out! 
4. No week would be complete without a fun Charlotte picture. We had a fun but busy weekend with family and friends enjoying the amazing weather!
5. Friday after work, my mother-in-law came in to town and we went the The Winery at Bull Run for the first time. Everyone else had the same idea, but once we were able to fight the crowd to get our bottle of wine, we found an ice picnic table and enjoyed the company!

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

My Latest Obsession - Fabric Bows

If I'm not at work or spending time with my family, you will find me in my craft nook working on my latest creations. I will either be making dresses for myself or Charlotte, embroidering shirts, or my latest obsession; making fabric hair bows (you can check them out in my Etsy shop)!

One night I was looking at all the piles and piles of extra fabric that I have from various embroidery/applique projects and decided I needed to put it to use. If I were my mom, I would get creative and come up with an awesome quilt design, but quilting isn't my thing (at least not yet anyway). Then it came to me...bows! In the past I made ribbon bows, but every time I got a new idea for one I would have to go out and buy $5 worth of ribbon. However, the fabric bows required no trips to the store because I had tons of leftover fabric to experiment with.

And that is exactly what I did. I had an example of a fabric bow I had bought a while back, so after some careful studying and lots of trial and error, I had it mastered!

Then I couldn't stop. Any scrap fabric I had that was big enough, quickly turned into a bow.

What I like most about these is that they aren't just for girls. You can adhere them to shirts and onsies and just like that, you have a bowtie!

 

Fabric bows are my new favorite item to make, so if you are looking for a custom bow, let me know! I think my next project will be to add a monogram to them for that perfect personal touch!

My First Lilly Pants - WIWW

The warm weather is here to stay, which can only mean one thing...it's Lilly season! In case you are new here, let me fill you in, I LOVE Lilly Pulitzer. And now that I'm not pregnant (Lilly really needs a maternity line), it means I can wear Lilly all day everyday, right?! If only it were that simple.

 

As I was dusting off my Lilly's that haven't seen the light of day in nearly two years, I notice something; all the tags seem to have really small numbers written on them. Oh yeah, two years ago I was a much smaller person and didn't just have a baby. What's a Lilly lovin' girl to do?!

 

To the sale racks! Or should I say discount sites? Rue La La saves the day and has an epic Lilly sale just in the nick of time. When I saw these pants I new it was meant to be, then I saw the only ones left were in my (post baby) size and it was fate.

 

 

I'm still a long ways away from being comfortable doing outfit posts with my new post partum body, which explains why some weeks I don't even post an one. Even though I see so many things I want to change in these pictures, I'm posting it anyway because I can't keep these amazing pants to myself.

Outfit Details:

Shirt//Target

Cardigan//Target

Pants//Lilly Pulitzer

Shoes//Jack Rogers

 

 

My favorite thing about these pants is that they are made of denim and not that stretchy cotton that tends to show every flaw, bump and line. Can we also talk about the cute little added detail of the zipper at the ankle? Yeah, so basically these are my new favorite pants. If only they were a little more inconspicuous, I would wear them at least once a week!

Let's not forget, Charlotte has the matching bow, so getting these pants was definitely a must!

I may or may not have already borrowed it.

Linking up with Lindsey @ The Pleated Poppy for WIWW

Charlotte's Five Month Update

How has another month come and gone already?! I know I sound like such a cliché, but seriously, can time stop flying by please? On one hand I look forward to Charlotte getting older so we can experience all the new and exciting things as parents, but on another, I don't think I'm ready to move from infant to baby then baby to little girl. I have a feeling next month will hit me hard...

Eating - We finally started solids (I guess that's what they call it even though there is nothing solid about watered down oatmeal) and she LOVES it! I thought it would instantly replace a bottle, but she still wants about 3 ounces after she eats her "big girl" food. We are trying to cut back on the formula after I was told by the pediatrician that she can't have more than 36 ounces a day....ooops. We were giving her exactly that, so now we try to only do 30 ounces. Nothing else has majorly changed with her eating. She still spits up a good amount, but we are used to it by now. Hopefully with the solids, we will start to see less of that.

Sleeping - We have been so lucky from the beginning with a baby that sleeps. Some nights she will fall asleep after eating around 6:30or 7 and stay asleep until 6am. Other nights, if she wakes up from her nap, we will give her another bottle around 9:30 and put her down in her crib where she will sleep until 6 or 7am. Only twice since her first tooth started coming in has she woken up in pain, but easily went back down after a little consoling. We try to have a nighttime routine that consists of feeding her in her room with story time, but sometimes she falls asleep earlier than expected and we just let her sleep until we go to bed. She seems to enjoy going with the flow for now.

Charlotte is still a HUGE Daddy's girl and will find him as long as he's in the room. She loves to "talk" to her hands and Wubbanub right before falling asleep. We say she is telling them all about her day. She's not a fan of teething, but who is? Every now and again she will scream in pain, but it only lasts a few seconds. We are finding that chewing on her pacifier helps; she's not big into teething toys just yet.

And just when I thought she was warming up to Minnie, she still seems confused as to why there is a life-sized mouse sitting next to her month after month.

Check out her other month updates here:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

Linking up with Molly for Funday Monday!

High Five for Friday

WARNING: Baby spam!

1. Charlotte started cereal this week and LOVES it. Hopefully we can cut back on some of her bottles!
2. I got these super sweet Lilly Pulitzer pants from last week's Rue La La sale and am obsessed! This is my first pair of Lilly pants and I had no idea if I would like them or even if they would fit, turns out yes and yes!
3. Poor Milo has started to feel the effects of being neglected now that he has a little sister. I thought he needed some extra love so I made sure to include him this week. 
4. We went to our local winery last week for an impromptu "wine down" start to the weekend. Of course, Charlotte and I rocked our chambray, but she was cooler because she had some Lilly flair.
5. My mom took Charlotte and I to a Nationals game on Saturday and we had such a great time. Charlotte was all decked out (thanks to my friend, Keri, for letting us borrow some of Lucy's accessories). She was so good and spent the day resting in the shade in the Bjorn.

That's all for now! Time to get back to my Etsy orders....monograms, bows, and more monograms!

Charlotte's First Baseball Game

My mom has been wanting to take me to a Washington Nationals game all season and we finally settled on a date; last Saturday. Originally I wasn't going to bring Charlotte, but after being away from her for a whole week, I wanted to spend as much time as possible, plus it gave my husband the afternoon off of "Daddy Duty".

We couldn't have asked for a better day. The weather was PERFECT with not a cloud in the sky, upper 70s for the temperature and a light breeze. We got to the stadium early so we could walk around and get Charlotte fed and settled before the game started.

 

While we were walking around we took advantage of all the photo opportunities we could find: picture with the George, obligatory stadium picture, and a few others of Charlotte's amazing outfit!

 

When we took this picture, a MLB social media representative asked if he could take a shot as well and told us it might be posted to the MLB Instagram account. Well sure enough, a few hours later there we were!

 

So there you have it, Charlotte's first MLB game and the Nats won, great company, perfect weather AND she was a mini celebrity! Not to mention she was so well mannered! We couldn't have asked for more.

Venus Snap VoxBox Review

I have really enjoyed being a part of the Influenster program. It has been almost a year and I've been lucky enough to receive three VoxBox's! This one was a little different than the usual VoxBox that has five different items to review, there was just one item. To be honest, I liked receiving one product over five because I felt like I could give a more thorough review since all the focus was on just one item.

 

The Venus Snap razor could not have come at a better time. My husband kept stealing mine from the shower (I think it's time we buy some replacement blades for his own razor) and then when I would go to shave my legs it wouldn't be there. There is nothing more frustrating than getting out of a hot shower, dripping wet and running to the other side of the bathroom to retrieve said stolen razor!

 

 At first, the size of the handle had me skeptical, but I quickly converted and became a believer. The grip makes it so that it fits perfectly between your thumb and first two fingers and before long, you've forgotten all about that long handle!

So why not have a long handle on your razor? After all, they've made them that way for years. There is no need for it, especially when traveling. You see, the handle takes up unnecessary space in your ditty bag (doc kit, cosmetic case, whatever you choose to call it) but you need to put it in something so you don't have a razor floating around your bag. Well, that's where the Venus Snap razor comes into play.

 

It's small which makes it perfect for travel AND it comes with a protective case. To me the case sells it. I no longer have to reach into my bags with fear of slicing open my finger. Not to mention the case has holes in the bottom to allow the water to stay out. Best. Design. Ever!

Don't let its size fool you. This little razor will give you a close and smooth shave. It uses the same blades as the standard Venus razor so you don't have to stock multiple different blades if you use a regular Venus for everyday and this one for travel.

Speaking of blades, I haven't used a Venus product in a while because I always hate buying the replacement blades (such an investment), but lucky for me inside the box was a coupon for $4 off more blades. You better believe I will be keeping this little razor around for a while, not just because it !

 "I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."