There are so many adorable Valentine's Day outfits for girls on sale right now!! I wanted to share some of my favorites. If you order them soon they will arrive in time for Valentine's Day parties. There are some adorable accessories, too, that can be reused for other holidays and events.
Penelope is a special name to me and this coat is so special. It is pricey, but The Beaufort Bonnet Company is always excellent quality. I try to always buy their clothing when they go on sale.
Smocked Auctions is one of my all time favorite clothing stores. It has affordable classic children's clothing. I love anything tractional or smocked. This Valentine's Day dress is beyond cute.
What a fun mail day! Charlie's Golden Goose Amazon dupes arrived today. I was a bit skeptical with the box they showed up in, but once I opened it, I saw how cute they are! They are legit dupes! Super on trend and under $20.00. Link below or click on the picture for a link.
P.S. These are perfect playground shoes for spring!
Ever since I heard of Mark & Graham, I fell in love with their products. I love monogrammed items and I love classic style. They combine both when they create their beautiful products.
On our recent trip to Florida, I realized my travel luggage situation was not working for us! I usually have Charlie in the stroller and I carry my diaper bag backpack, but the backpack always seems too small for all of the items we want to carry on. Also, I am always losing my phone in my diaper bag. I was in need of a solution so I turned to Mark & Graham for some new products. I recently shared in my instastories the new products I purchased and I wanted to share links to everything here.
2. The Commuter Laptop Sleeve will be what I carry my laptop in inside the Concourse Boarding Bag. I love that this laptop sleeve can be carried on its own.
3. I am so excited for this Phone Crossbody in the airport. I ALWAYS lose my phone in my diaper bag so I am exited to have my phone and my drivers license readily available for going through security, etc.
4. This Q Charging Bracelet is such a good invention! It would be an amazing gift for someone. It is a rechargeable battery to recharge your iPhone when you run low. This is perfect for me because my phone battery is always on low!
6. The Maddie Travel Pouch is the coordinating toiletry bag for the Maddie Weekender. I plan on using these items for road trips up north or local overnights.
7. The Maddie Weekender is a classic duffle with lots of room. I love the bottom section that is separate for shoes.
I seriously had a ball making this fun sweets board for Charlie! I have seen a few ideas for kids candy boards in the past and I thought I would have my hand at it. This would be perfect for a kids Valentine's Day party. Everyone can just reach in and grab what they like and its all on one platter!
We are a family of foodies over here, so playing with food is always acceptable to me!
Speaking of foodies, I made a list of a few great Valentine's Day gifts for the foodie in your life.
2. Emile Henry is my favorite brand of baking dishes and this heart pie dish is adorable! It also comes in red.
3. Caitlin Wilson has the most tasteful & feminine home decor. This pink vase is timeless. It would go beautifully in a neutral kitchen.
4. I love anything personalized and I love a cheese board. This is both! Plus all Mark & Graham items have the option of coming beautiful wrapped for free.
8. I collect linens. I love having cloth napkins for different occasions. These blush pink gingham napkins are super cute for Valentine's Day, but also can be used for Easter, Mother's Day, summer parties, etc.
You didn't think I would forget about the little lads, did you? I love shopping for girl stuff, but it is just as fun for me to shop for little boys. Here are a few linked Valentine's Day gift ideas for little boys under $20.
Valentine's Day is around the corner! It is so much sweeter to experience holidays through Charlie's eyes and I am so looking forward to this Valentine's Day with her. I always like to make the holidays special for her with gifts and treats. I compiled a list of a few sweet gifts for girls under $20.
Here are some gift ideas for little girls under $20:
We just got home from our Disney World vacation, and aside from all of us coming down with the flu on our way home, our trip was incredible!! I am in no way a Disney World expert, but I wanted to share some of the highlights of our trip.
Our Hotel - Four Seasons Resort Orlando
We stayed at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando. It is on Disney property. Our experience at the hotel was amazing! I mean, all Four Seasons hotels are amazing, but this hotel was the perfect combo of luxury and kid-friendliness When we arrived at the hotel, they had an adorable kids robe waiting for Charlie with a crown and princess wand. We also requested a crib in our room and they had left us a special toiletry kit for Charlie, as well as a bib and some Paw Patrol pouches. She loved it!
The hotel has a family pool, a lazy river, a splash pad with a baby pool, and an adults only pool. The hotel also does its own character breakfasts on the weekend. We got to meet some of the characters without the Disney World lines! Everything about the hotel was perfect.
The Four Seasons Resort Orlando is beautiful!
It is totally adult and kid friendly!
Day 1 - Magic Kingdom
On our first day at the park, we went to Magic Kingdom. Charlie is obsessed with the princesses right now, so we knew this was a must! We didn't schedule much throughout our days in the parks because we wanted to play it by ear and see if Charlie could handle an entire day at the park (since her currently schedule she naps 2 hours in the middle of the day). The only thing we reserved at Magic Kingdom was our ride on "It's a Small World," the Bippity Boppity Boutique experience, and dinner in Cinderella's castle.
The first princess we met when we came into the park was Merida. She was the first person we saw and there wasn't a long line. She was great! Charlie was shy at first, but eventually warmed up to the princesses. We then wandered around the park and just stopped at things we were interested. At Charlie's age, we were mainly interested in meeting characters. We met Minnie and then met Ariel in her grotto (for some reason the line was SO long for this, so I would get a fast pass for this experience). We ate a snack, rode its a small world, finished walking through the park, and took a mid-day break in a quiet corner and ate lunch so Charlie could relax a little before her big Bippity Boppity experience!
The Bippity Boppity Boutique is a MUST if you have a daughter who loves the princesses. When you arrive, you wait in a very cute waiting room for your "Fairy God Mother" to assist you in picking a dress and a hair style. Charlie, of course, picked an Elsa dress and crown. We then went to the salon in Cinderella's castle for her hair and make-up. Charlie was a little scared at first, but the hairstylist was so great with her and made her feel so comfortable. When she was finished, we spent about 30 minutes hanging out in front of the castle waiting for our dinner. This time was probably my most favorite time of the trip. Charlie was running around singing "Let it go!" and "Into the Unknown!" I think she truly thought she was Queen Elsa. I am also so glad we did the Bippity Boppity Boutique towards the end of the day because it really would have been too much for her to wear that all day long.
We then had dinner at Cinderella's castle. Upon entering, we were greeted by Cinderella and Prince Charming for a photo and autograph. We then were led upstairs to dinner. Throughout the dinner, different princesses joined us and we were able to meet and take photos with each of them.
After dinner, we watched the fireworks and light show at the castle, which was AWESOME! I highly recommend you stay late for the show. It is at 8pm.
Meeting our first princess - Merida!
We are mostly at the hotel, but I felt the need to try the classic Disney treats!
Beautiful Charlie after the Bippity Boppity Boutique
My heart!
I was told to get the Dole whip and it did not disappoint!
Day 2 - Hollywood Studios
Our second day at the park was at Hollywood Studios. We took our time to get there and enjoyed the character breakfast at our hotel first. The only thing we really wanted to see in Hollywood Studios was the Star Wars part and it was incredible! I don't even know much about Star Wars, but I still thought it was great. We only spent a half day at Hollywood Studios and then we went back to the hotel to use the pools.
We had visits from Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy at the character breakfast at the Four Seasons.
I love this little Minnie outfit!
This is the bottle the Coke came in at Star Wars...and that's my awesome husband!
Day 3 - Epcot
Our last day at the park was spent at Epcot. We had debated between Animal Kingdom and Epcot, but I am fairly certain you can only see Anna & Elsa at Epcot. We could've bought a hopper pass for this day and have visited Animal Kingdom, but we were all so exhausted. A half-day at Epcot was about all Charlie could handle. The first thing we did at Epcot was the princess breakfast in Akershus Banquet Hall. It was really cute! We were able to meet two princess there that we did meet at Cinderella's castle, which were Snow White and Belle. We then went next door to meet Anna & Elsa. We did not have a fast pass for this and the line was about 30 minutes long. We spent a lot of time in the Norway section, which had all of the Frozen items since Frozen is Charlie's favorite movie. We rode the Frozen Ever After ride and it was awesome! I highly recommend it.
Walking into Epcot
Star struck with Queen Elsa
These donuts were huge! We had to get one.
Charlie in her Princess Anna dress.
My 10 tips for a Disney family vacation:
1. Bring hand sanitizer. Enough said. (LOL)
2. Use a fast pass and reserve as much as possible ahead of time...the lines are long!
3. If you want to see Anna and Elsa, you have to go to Epcot.
4. Don't bring a car seat if you are staying on Disney property. Our hotel car had a car seat and we didn't need one to go to the parks.
5. Get the original embroidered mouse ears. They are classic and so cute!
6. If you don't want to purchase a princess dress there (they are around $65), buy a cheap one and bring it.
7. Don't try to do all of the amusements with a toddler. It would be too much and you might end up with a cranky kid! Just go and enjoy what you get to see.
8. It took longer than expected to get into Magic Kingdom, so leave earlier than you think if you have plans in the park that morning.
9. We didn't have the fast pass bracelets, but it seemed way more convenient to have the bracelets versus the card, so I would buy a Fast Pass bracelet (see #11 below).
10. Buy an autograph book! It was so fun to collect all of the characters autographs.
Now on to the important stuff!
I had so much fun dressing Charlie for our Disney trip!
Charlies Snow White dress (above) is from Elfie London, but is no longer available. There are adorable embroidered story book dresses available at the Women's Exchange of St. Louis, but you have to call to place your order.
I absolutely LOVE a New Year. I love creating goals and plans for the upcoming year. I could spend hours thinking of all the possibilities the next year holds. It truly is a magically positive time of year!
I am a firm believer that a goal without a plan is just a wish. You can have goals all day long, but if you don’t put action behind your goals, they will never be reached! I am also a huge fan of the vision board. I don’t necessarily think there is some magical force that manifests your dreams to come true once you Elmer’s glue some magazine clippings to a poster board, but I do believe that you are given a vision and it is your job to make the vision come to life. The first step to making a vision come to fruition is to put your ideas on paper. Something about having a physical form of your dreams really helps embed it into the physical and make it more real. I have made vision boards once every about 5 years for the past 15ish years of my life and it is truly incredible to see what you can create once you put the ideas together and get the ball rolling! Since it is a new decade, Greg and I are making new visions boards. We are also writing down all of the plans we wish to do throughout the year. Whether it is a family vacation or a Chinese dinner on New Years Eve, we are planning every little thing because otherwise it just doesn’t seem to happen on its own.
On top of making plans on things to do (i.e. I am already planning next years Christmas décor LOL), I like to set New Years resolutions. We usually write down our wishes or goals for the year with the date. We put them into a jar and keep it sealed until December 31st of the following year. It is so fun to read then on New Year’s Eve and see which ones happened during the year.
One of my most favorite things is filling in my new planner for the year. I love this one from Erin Condren.
Here are a few of my resolutions for this year:
1. My biggest goal is to really focus on blogging, which I have always wanted to do, but it also requires me to get some help from a sitter (a big step for me!). I would love to have my own project. I love being a stay-at-home mom, but there are only so many hours in the day I can pretend to be Peppa Pig J I also have this desire to help people, especially in regard to infertility and IVF, so I would love for my blog to be a platform to help people.
2. Monitor sugar levels and consume a low carb diet (I have a sweet tooth so this is hard for me!). This past year I had blood work done that revealed that my glucose levels were slightly elevated so I really want to work on keeping sugar & carbs out of my diet.
3. Walk my dogs 5 days a week (the poor things hardly ever get walked- I need the exercise, too)
4. Wake up earlier. Let's face it; the only time to get anything done is while the baby is asleep! I would love to have two hours to work or workout before she wakes up for the day. This goal requires me getting Charlie on a regular bedtime schedule. Right now, she sometimes goes to bed at 8pm and sometimes it is 10pm! It would help us all if she had a better schedule.
5 Enjoy every moment. If there is anything I have learned so deeply is that life is precious and time is a gift. I love to make plans and do lots of fun stuff because I thoroughly enjoy every second of life. I want to keep making beautiful memories because I know that life is a precious gift.
What are some resolutions or goals you have set for yourself in the New Year?
