OOTD: Blush + Booties

Blush Top // Jeans // Boots (last year, similar here)

This past weekend, I had a baby shower to go to and I knew exactly what I wanted to wear. I love those days when checking out your closet is easy and something immediately comes to mind. I snagged this top after seeing how much Megan loved it and had to try it out myself. I loved it immediately! I bought it online, but when I went into the store they had it for 70% off so I snagged two more in black and white. It's such an easy top to wear, I've already worn it and the black one to work already. It's super comfortable and I love how it drapes in the front. I totally feel like an Old Navy ad though since I'm wearing them head to toe.

Recipe Review: Tomato Salad

My co-worker often makes this salad and it smells amazing so I asked her for the recipe because I had to have it. This is a really common salad, I've had this same salad at lots of parties/showers, but I've never made it myself. It's really simple, delicious, healthy and we've been loving it at our house!

Here's what you need:
- Cucumber (one whole one, or half of a large one)
- Tomatoes (you can use whole or baby)
- Bell Peppers
- Cilantro
- Onion
- Vinegar (2 Tablespoons)
- Olive Oil (1 Tablespoon)
- Salt and Pepper

Optional Ingredients:
- Dash Seasoning
- Basil
- Garlic
- Mozzarella
- Infused Vinegar (we use mango infused vinegar and it's delicious)

There's no perfect amount of vegetables to use, you can make it with more or less depending on your tastes. If you choose to include mozzarella, I wouldn't mix that in until it's served or slice it into medallions and put the salad mix on top.

Chop up all your vegetables to bite size portions and mince the cilantro

I'm craving some right now...

Add your vinegar and olive oil. Since we use a mango infused one, I do one tablespoon of regular and one tablespoon of the infused.

Mix it all together and let chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes!

Serve and enjoy!

The salad lasts for about 2 days in the fridge, but the tomatoes and possibly the cucumbers will get soggy by that last day. When using half of a large cucumber and two whole tomatoes, I get about 4-5 servings for Matt and I. There's always extra dressing with those portions so I could definitely add more veggies without having to increase the olive oil/vinegar ratio. We also use a lot of cilantro and about two slices off of an onion for our own preferences.

This is one of my favorite and easiest recipes I've tried. It's so good and is a great side dish. 

What are some of your favorite recipes? 

Day Off Snapshots

Last week I had to take some vacation days off work and it was glorious. They were days I hadn't planned on taking off, but with my change of positions I had to switch my scheduled vacation time. It worked out though to have Halloween off so no complaints. It's always wonderful to have a few days off during the week to run errands and spend extra time with family.

I loved being home with Ellie! She's at a fun age and it didn't seem like it was as much "work" as other age ranges have felt in the past. Yes, she's always on the go, but maybe we have a better routine down now? She's been on a fantastic nap schedule for a few months and that has really made life much easier. I was one of the lucky women who had a baby that rarely napped so this new sleep schedule is very welcomed. She just takes a one two-hour nap, so it's nothing crazy, but it's better and easier than two short naps like she was taking before.

So here are some random shots from the week:

We snacked a ton. Lots of hummus was eaten.

My girlfriend came over and we worked on some holiday crafts

I finished a wreath, made some ornament balls for our banister (they still need some fabric ribbon to hang from), and monogrammed a pumpkin

Anytime I asked Ellie if she wanted to check the mail, she ran to the door

With awesome mail days like this package, why not? 

The Olivia Lace set from Willow Crowns

We snacked some more

I snuggled up for some Lifetime movies during naptimes
Why do boot socks say they're One Size, but I struggle to put them on?

Wore leggings almost everyday. 

Love these printed leggings from White Plum (c/o) 

Snag 25% off with code LEGGINGSLOVE through November 21st!

Wore more leggings

Then finally put on some real pants for about 30 minutes

Enjoyed being outside

That's a little bit about how we spent our days together. I wish I could stay home all the time and play all day with Ellie. We had so much fun together and I loved having friends over and making dinner (who knew?) for us. If only there was more time in the day to really enjoy our time together and get more stuff packed into each day. 

Hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Mama + Me: Buffalo Plaid

After talking several times with my mommy friends, one post idea that has kept coming up repeatedly was Mommy + Me outfit ideas. I've been working on one long post for so long and it finally dawned on me that it would be easier to do one outfit at a time. Then I thought, what if I made this into a weekly feature? Is that something you guys would be interested in? Let me know in the comments!

So this week's outfits are pretty easy, buffalo print has been everywhere! I love the look and it works easily for the whole family.

Little Man

Plaid Shirt

Jeans

Shoes

Mama

Buffalo Shirt

Jeggings

Booties

Little Lady

Tunic

Leggings

Boots

I bought Ellie that plaid tunic last week and I'm kicking myself for not buying myself the top when it was 50% at Old Navy! Now I'm stalking the site and store for it to go on sale again. 

Do you like to dress alike with your kiddos? Did you like this post? Let me know!

Weekend Snapshots

This weekend felt so long, but it went by so quickly! It was so much fun and we had such a great time together. I had gone to the store several times this past week and kept thinking about how we needed to get candy to pass out, but of course I ended up at 3pm buying several bags on Halloween. The stores were so packed! I'm happy that they had a ton of "good" candy left, no one wants to be that house.

We started Halloween off with a party at Ellie's daycare. It was so cute and fun! They decorated treat bags, had a little program where they sang songs, decorated sugar cookies (Ellie skipped the work and went straight to eating hers), had a scavenger hunt in the "spider's lair", and had their face painted. I'm so in love with her new daycare! She has so much fun and I love the attention she gets from her teacher and friends.

For the party, I made monster cupcakes that I couldn't wait to share...

But one of the kids wanted to help me carry it and knocked over the case, so they definitely became MONSTER cupcakes. I couldn't stop laughing, he was so cute to help! Plus, they still tasted just as yummy!

After Ellie's nap, we finally painted her pumpkins. We had been meaning to do this earlier, but we've had lots of visitors and Matt and I didn't want to do it without the other one being present. So day of decorating totally happened. I used some painters tape to make a design in her pumpkin and I'm thinking an art project for the playroom should totally happen soon using the same method.

I wish I could keep it forever! I love how they turned out! I'm thinking about having her decorate a foam one so I can. It was a really fun project and it wasn't nearly as messy as I had expected it to be. 

After dinner it was time to trick or treat! We just went around to 4-5 houses and then came home and had a firepit in our driveway with some scary music playing and passed out candy.

It was just a great night! Children make holidays so much fun and I can't wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas next!

Oh! Here is my costume for the holliday, I went with a Halloween classic- a ghost!