Project 366 Rewind: Week 11

Another week down! Can you believe it's the middle of March?! I surely can't, what with all the snow we've been getting around here! It's wimpy snow......really wet and slushy, and it doesn't stick around for long. But, I'll admit that I'm ready for some more spring-like weather. You hear that, Pacific Northwest?! SPRING!

As for this week's theme (Down Below), I've really got nothing! Hehe! And to top it off, I even cheated and used a picture from Sunday since I didn't actually take a picture each day last week. That's okay, I took enough pictures on Sunday at my friend's Bridal Shower to really make up for lost time ;) I was having so much fun playing with lighting, and shooting both indoors and out. So, last week looked a little something like this: Rain, cute little girly outfits, flowers, chinese food, colorful dress (which I returned to Target since it's just really not me), ballet shoes for the little one, and a cute napkin at the bridal shower.

I'm really hoping we start to get some nicer weather around here.....all this rain is keeping us cooped up inside. It's really drowning my creativity (pun intended).

My Week in iPhone Pics

Well, hello there! It's been quite a week around here! 

I'm not really even sure what happened, but somehow blogging completely moved to the back-burner this week. I've been tired, a little sick, and overall just busy with life! I'm currently laying low and staying warm on this St. Patrick's Day, with my belly full of an Olive Garden soup knock-off involving kale, potatoes, and sausage. 

My tribute to the Irish. Or something like that ;)

Anyways, while I may have been absent from this little blog for most of the week, I didn't slack on taking cell phone pictures. Here's what our week looked like:

Meeting my good friend's new baby! 

Elliott dancing away......

 Snuggled up with my nice clean pooch. He's always more cuddly when he's clean.

Look up Seasonal Affective Disorder in the dictionary, and I'm sure this is the picture next to it! Sheesh!

 Ellie was really too cute for words this week. In the car, she tried to convince me that puppies say "cockadoodledoo"!

The sun came out for about 2.2 seconds. We enjoyed every minute second of it.

 What? You don't eat strawberries topped with cool whip and watch Jersey Shore by yourself on Thursday nights?!

Snacks. Like a boss.

What did your week look like? I'd love to see!

Project 366 Rewind: Week 10

This week's theme was Healthy Choices. Just about the only healthy choices I've been making lately are salads and walks. I'm loving the Southwest Chicken Salad from McDonald's.....I think it's a pretty healthy, filling option when I'm on the go or at work. And like I said, I've been walking a lot more lately. I'm really, really not into exercising, but with Spring hovering near, I figure the least I can do is take a walk each day! It's actually been really refreshing. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I walk during my lunch break at work (I have a friend that I walk with, which makes it so fun!), and the other days I take Ellie with me. It's just good to get out of the house......it's good for Ellie and for me!

The rest of this week's pictures are a little scattered and random: a box of Girl Scout cookies (certainly not a healthy choice), Mustaches because it seems to be a very popular thing in my etsy shop these days, SNOW in March!, and playing with Play-Doh.

Certainly a great week!

Project 366 Rewind: Week 9

While I took lots of fun photos this week (like the celery I cut up and stored in a bin full of water,  or the "Chinese food" that I made and evens served with fortune cookies), I'm not sure any fit the theme of "soul".

That's okay. I'm just glad that I managed to take out my camera each day and document something......even if it was just me posing awkwardly for the camera, or Ellie trying to feed the camera yogurt. I guess you could say the picture of the braid and the picture of the car could fit our theme this week. My baby girl has a soul all her own......she's unique and independent, smart and full of life. She's a girly girl, and yet her tomboy tendencies are really coming through lately! In the last week, I've bought her two matchbox cars, and a little toy tractor.....and this weekend her activity of choice was throwing tennis balls and basketballs and footballs......I love that little girl!

Project 366 Rewind: Week 8

Another week down.....this one started just as crabby as last week was, but turned out much happier and bright! Our week involved lots of organizing (story of my life these days......I call it spring cleaning), crafting, busy errand-running, and trying on and wearing cute new outfits. Not too shabby, and I feel pretty accomplished. So that's good!

This week's theme was Love.

Taking center stage are four pictures of Elliott, who has taught me what true love is and how to love. I also love organizing (the laundry room was my victim this week......more on that later) and crafting, hence the pretty purple flowers (part of a top-secret craft endeavor.

Here's what our week looked like:

I'm linking up with Naptime Momtog and Chic Homeschool Mama for this Project 366 Rewind. And since it's the end of the month, it's time to submit a favorite photo from the month.

I took this photo a couple weeks ago, and I'm in love with it! I love the colors and the lighting, and my baby girl's bright eyes. There's just about one good spot in our house for natural light (our kitchen), and I'm rarely home when the light is available. This picture reminds me of why I need to take advantage of it more often!

Our last week or so via iPhone Pictures.

Our week consisted of: sleeping with her hand in the goldfish bag, freezer smoothie prep, Elliott's pants are still a wee bit too big, pig tails to-die for, vintage cutie, new plates made of recycled milk jugs!, bathing beauty, workin' around the house, I got to sleep in!!!, the perfect grilled cheese, fro-yo, grocery shopping.

Phew. And we're ready to do it all over again tomorrow. Wheeeee!

Linking up with Amy.....you should, too!

Project 366 Rewind: Week 7

Oy vey. You see the only two pictures of my daughter this week?! Yep, that's just a little glimpse into our week around here. I really have no explanation as to why she was such a crab, or why I only got pictures of her crying.......maybe it's all the rain? I don't know. Either way, I'm glad it's Monday and we're moving on to a new week!

This week's prompt was "favorite feature". I don't really have one photo that represents that today, but I did buy a new giant spoon and fork for my kitchen, and they're kinda my favorite right now. Oh, and the amazingly cute toddler shoes I found at Target this week......those will be our favorites this spring. Scott also surprised me on Valentine's Day with some sweet and thoughtful gifts: some UW rainboots and Dior Lip Glow. I felt so totally spoiled. 

Project 366 Rewind: Week 6

I hate to even admit how much of a struggle it was to come up with pictures for this week. I realized that at some point I would hit a will....burn out.....whatever you want to call it. 

That's why I'm doing this challenge in the first place. 

Remembering to take out my camera each day and take at least one photo is a struggle sometimes. But once I take the camera out, I surely don't regret it. So I'll admit that this week there is one cell phone picture.....can you tell which one?

This week was just a typical week.....nothing too spectacular, but lots of self portraits, and lots of cute moments with Elliott that I managed to capture. I guess I can't really ask for more!

My Week in iPhone Pics

I haven't posted my iPhone pics here in a couple of weeks......so that means you should prepare yourself for an epic iPhone photo-dump. Don't say I didn't warn you!

There you have it, our last couple o' weeks via my iPhone. If you follow me on twitter, instagram (esmomma), or facebook, you've probably already seen these. And if you don't follow me.....well, why not?! ;)

I'm linking up with Amy, and you should too!!

I'm Not Perfect

Today I'm going to share a little bit about myself here.....I mostly write about Elliott, because she's what I LOVE to write about! That's okay, but sometimes it's nice to talk about me, too ;)

Thanks to The Paper Mama for hosting a link-up and prompting women (myself included) to step in front of the camera. To shake off the insecurities, and to love on ourselves a little bit! It feels good!

So, here are a few fun prompts that Chelsey laid out for us to answer:

Obsessing over…Elliott's Valentine's. I cannot wait to give them out to all of my her friends!

Working on…Photos, selling my crap on eBay, keeping my house clean

Thinking about…Bills. Bleh.

Anticipating...The weekend! I'm going to go see The Vow with girlfriends, relax, and hopefully sleep in! 

Listening to…The Big Bang Theory is on in the living room. I can hear it from here, and it's calling my name ;)

Eating…Nothing (for once!) Just sipping some ice water

Wishing…I would win the lottery. 

And, here's what I've been thinking about myself lately:

I hate to exercise

I talk way too much sometimes

 

 I can be selfish

I can be a stick-in-the-mud

 I'm a perfectionist

I expect a LOT from others

I can be impatient
I am sometimes an aggressive driver

 I can't cook
I hate to clean

 I am motivated
I am confident (most days)
I am proud of myself and my accomplishments
I love deeply
I take pride in making others around me happy
I am talented at many things
I might not be good at being perfect, but there are lots of other things that I am good at.

Project 366 Rewind: Days 29-35

This week's theme for Project 366 Rewind was "weary". Boy, am I weary these days! 

I've got this major urge to re-organize, re-decorate, toss stuff our, and just clean and make my home feel more cozy. I've been working pretty hard at all of it, and I've grown weary. 

Tonight my feet actually hurt, and I realized that it's because I haven't sat down all day! I have literally been on my feet all day long. I've accomplished SO much though, and it feels good! 

This week my photos represent all of the changes going on around our home: de-cluttered and organized closet, my husband's medals finally on display where they belong, and a happy kiddo.....I attribute her happiness to my own happiness. I feel so much more relaxed when my house is clean and in order, and I definitely think that Elliott can sense when I'm happy!

What about you....has the spring cleaning bug hit you yet?
It took my mom pointing it out to me to realize that's what all the fuss was about at my house.
I just have the urge to de-clutter and clean ALL THE THINGS.
 And while I might be growing weary, at least I'll have a clean house to show for all of my hard work!

My Hair Lately

I've always considered myself to be a short-hair person. 

Short hair fits my personality, my lifestyle......my face. 

I've stuck with the classic inverted bob and piled on the blonde highlights for most of my adult life. 

This is probably the last time I had freshly-cut and freshly-colored, cute, short hair

But lately, I've been growing my hair out. I haven't had the time, money, or energy to keep up with my cute blonde hairstyle since having a child. I wish it wasn't so, but that's the truth. I would LOVE to get back to a freshly maintained, chic, stylish hairstyle eventually, but for now I'm actually having a lot of fun with my hair. I'm finally getting past the annoying in-between-chin-and-shoulder length and experimenting with different styles and 'dos.

I experimented with bangs:

While the bangs were cute and fun, I'm already over it. 

If I styled them just perfectly, I think they looked ok. But, it was way too easy to look awkward with these short, short bangs. And, 2nd day hair is almost never presentable when you're rockin' bangs.

Now that I've decided I don't like the bangs so much, I've been clipping 

them back and out of the way.....I think this will help me manage until they're grown out.

I've also been dying my hair darker to help with the upkeep of color. I'm pretty certain that I've finally found my natural shade (or as close to it as I'm going to get), and I like to freshen up the color every 6-8 weeks......I can do that, since it's $7 a box vs the $100's I used to spend at the salon.

Most days I really enjoy my longer hair......I can wear it curly, straight, pulled up in a ponytail, whatever. 

I feel like I have choices to fit my mood and my to-do list.

Like I said, some day I would love to make regular visits to a stylist, and keep my hair fresh, healthy, and looking magnificent. 

For now, though, I'll continue to experiment, have fun, and watch these hairs growwww!