Things That Make Me Say Yeay

Current fall favorites: Free People clogs, buffalo plaid shirts (found this one in the little boys department at H&M and bought the biggest size) and leopard accents (beanie was a random find at my local Sprouts grocery store, where apparently you can shop for food and beanies ha!  Similar one can be found here.

Ritual Discovery Kit c/o TATCHA.  I can't tell you enough how much I love this line and how amazing it makes my skin look and feel.  This is great starter kit for those of you who would love to try something new but are not sure if you want to commit to the full sizes just yet.  Even though I promise once you try this you will be hooked and the full sizes will make their way onto your Christmas list for sure.

Max is officially training wheel free!  I am so proud of him.

Your dreams of wanting a pre-packaged BOMB Paleo cookie mix have come true! Thanks to Primal Bake Shop.  I know the adorable momma who started this company and let me just tell you she has a gold mine with this product.  My favorite so far is the Salted Caramel Cookie Mix...the whole batch lasted one day folks.

Something we planted is actually growing!  No but seriously I am so pumped on this little bitty sprouting cilantro that the boys are I planted a couple weeks ago.

Have a great weekend!

A Peek Into our Master Bedroom - A Work In Progress

Ian and I have been married for 7 whole years and in those 7 years we have never decorated our master bedroom.  It was always one of those things we would put off because we had a baby coming or we had to pay for something else.  So when we moved into our recent home I decided it was finally time to make our master bedroom a priority and create a personal space that we both love with both of our styles in mind.

Ian's decorating style is "log cabin" (haha if that is even a style) and I love mid-century modern.  So I tried to combine the two and I would say it is a fun mix of modern farmhouse and we couldn't be happier with how it's turned out so far.

This light up marquee sign that was a recent HomeGoods score is hanging above our dresser.

Vintage Arrows found on Etsy, which I have arranged in a vase.

A unique abstract painting that the husband actually picked out.  Artwork can be found here.

My awesome kick ass decorator of an Aunt recommended that I add a chair in the corner of our room and ever since I found this chair (also a HomeGoods find) it has become one of my favorite spots to sit and read (and drink wine duh) after the kids go to bed.

Moroccan leather pouf can be found here.

Vintage Kilim rug, which has made it's way out and back into our room at least a dozen times because I can't seem to decide if it's too much.  Thoughts?

Brass ceiling lighting, which was the biggest pain in the butt to hang but totally worth it.

DIY tufted headboard made by my Aunt.  She found the headboard at a thrift store and then added the velvet tufting.  It is so beautiful and adds so much character to our room.

I have gone through more pillows than is probably normal but I finally found these beauties from Etsy, which are staying for sure.

These West Elm nightstands were love at first sight for me, but not for the husband.  He wanted something with more of a barn house look (think massive with lots of drawers) but I think these are slowly growing on him ;)  We each have one on each side of our bed and funny thing is I don't think he even has one thing in that drawer ha!  I found the lamps at Ikea and the circle mirror above from the Flea Market.

Our room is a work in progress and we are taking our time trying to find additional artwork pieces and doing a few other projects (I would love to do a faux white brick wall behind our bed eventually) but in the meantime we are loving our first adult big boy and big girl bedroom :)

Happy Halloween! + What I Have Been Doing Instead of Blogging This Week

Happy Halloween everyone! What are your plans for tonight?  I made a giant batch of crockpot chili and we have having a few friends over to hang and then we are making the rounds around our neighborhood to trick-or-treat with the kids.  As you can see... Max is a Ninja Turtle and Ronin is Spiderman (he takes it very seriously by the way haha).  This is the first year where I totally let them pick whatever they wanted to dress up as without any influence and these were their first choices :)

So why have I not blogged at all this week?  Well it's because I have become awesome and jumped on the Walking Dead bandwagon.  Guys I am so hooked! Best show ever.  I have become completely obsessed and stay up way too late watching it.  So there you have it :)

I will be back next week!  Have a great weekend!

Things That Make Me Say Yeay

Yesterday the boys and I started our first indoor herb garden.  Max is certain that his Cilantro is called "salami" and insists that it is going to produce little sausages ha!  He is going to be in for a rude awakening :)

A console table made purely of seashells, which was even more beautiful in person.

After searching for the perfect pair of reasonably priced distressed black jeans and having no luck, I decided to just improvise and do it myself to a pair I have had forever.  I just marked with chalk where I wanted the distressed rips, placed a magazine rolled up into the jean leg and sliced away with a razor. Easy and I love them.

We took a spontaneous trip to Del Mar last weekend and it was so nice to get away with just the two of us.  And if this selfie looks forced it's because it is haha! My husband hates taking pictures, so this is rare.  Also I am currently loving those clogs/heels.

Skinny Margaritas + Oysters = perfect combo while away with my husband.

I am off to pumpkin patch (again) this am with Max's Pre-K class and then we are having a much needed relaxing family weekend.  Happy weekend everyone!

4 Ingredient No Bake Brownie Bites (Paleo)

I would say that I am an impatient baker.  When I want something sweet,  I tend to get all Veruca Salt like and "I want it NOW!"  I pretty much do not have the time or patience to sit around waiting for things to bake for hours with millions of steps.  So it's no wonder that quick desserts like Apple Pie Energy Bites and The 2 minute Pumpkin Pie are some of my all time favorites.  I recently stumbled upon this recipe and I knew it was something that needed to be made asap.  Not only did these take 5 minutes to make (one time I had a reader say..."well you are not accounting for cleanup" ughhh there is always that annoying person...so okay maybe 7 minutes in total if you account for cleanup).

What you will need:

• 1 1/2 cups of walnuts 
• 1 cup of pitted dates
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder + a pinch of salt 

Directions:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a food processor. 
2. Process until everything is mixed together.  Your brownie mix will seem a little dry so at this point add a few drops of water to help moisten it up a bit. 
3. Once you have a sticky consistency, transfer the mixture to a bowl. 
4. Roll out tbs size bites and place them in a container and place in the fridge. 

These are best cold so give them a few minutes to chill and then enjoy!

Things That Make Me Say Yeay

Baked butternut squash fries with a tuscan herb sauce.  Ohhh I sound so fancy right?! Haha I'm not fancy at all but these were amazing.

We got "BOOed" by our cute neighbors.  They left this on our front door with a bunch of fun goodies inside for the boys.  The whole idea is you pass it on within the neighborhood.  Such a fun and festive thing to do!

Last week the boys and I went pumpkin patching.  We visited 3 different patches in one day, because why not?  I do not recommend doing this again unless I have a bottle of wine waiting for me at home.  I told the boys they could pick out whatever pumpkin they wanted as long as they could carry it.  So here is Ronin trying with all his might to pick up this giant one.  He ended up with a little baby one about the size of his head, which he named "Baby" :)

Scenes from our favorite patch located in the wine country.

As the boys get older it is impossible to do any sort of project (like this one) unless I involve them.  Soo the other morning we made little tiny polymer clay figures and this kept them entertained for a good whole twenty minutes...you would be surprised with what I can do in twenty minutes ha!

These little wrapped chews are called Greens and I am obsessed!  They are made by the same company who makes the wraps I have been using.  I eat them in-between meals to help curb hunger.  Each little chew contains the antioxidant strength of 20 cartons of blueberries!  Some of the ingredients in the chews are: apple, acai, broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, beet, blueberry, kale, raspberry, cherry, leek, onion, papaya, blackberry and spinach...just to name a few!  They are also Non GMO for those of you who care about that.  LOVE them.

Have a great weekend!

And on a side note: Thank you for all of you who took the time to leave feedback on this post.  I really appreciate it! xo

How Personal Should a Personal Blog Really Be?

How personal and transparent should I be here and how much should I really share? This is the one question that I ask myself almost every time I go to write a family or personal post...and the longer I blog the more I question it.  In the beginning of my blogging journey I shared pretty much everything (maybe too much).  Now that I have been blogging for almost 5 years and my audience has grown, I tend to hesitate more when it comes to sharing but I would love to hear from my readers what you like to read.  Plain and simple.

Do you like reading about my personal life and my journey/trials as a mom? Or should I save that more for Instagram, where I have decided to make it less of a blog promoting space and more of a personal space.

I would love to hear your opinion, whether you are for the personal/family posts or not.

And that is all for today :)