Tuesday, November 25, 2014

dad fashion & nights apart.

I suppose you may have had your fill of me, so I figured I'd break it up with some way more attractive men's fashion, or in this case... DAD fashion as I like to call it (I'm still going to try and make it a "thing." It's going to be like "fetch" but better).

 

When it's time to go down to LA and visit my side of the family, Makai and I usually head down a little early to help ease my parents Makai itch. So now I've been away from Mark and the apt for a full day and as much as he says he misses me, I'm pretty positive he's living it up and partying. That, or he's walking around the house in his underwear "Risky Business" style and enjoying the unfamiliar quiet. (Must be nice.)

Meanwhile I'm making my way through closing Kmarts looking for awesome deals and fighting with the munchkin over nap time. I live an exciting life. You should be jealous.

But as cliche as it sounds, I think the saying is true - "distance makes the heart grow fonder." As much as I think Mark is just saying he misses me, I think the day or two apart is healthy. At least he acts like he might actually miss me. I think that's enough for me. And I'll be honest, I miss him every night we sleep apart. Sure, he snores and occasionally hits me at night, but I kind of miss it when he's not around. After 5 years together, I now find comfort in his snoring and diagonal sleeping

My only hope is that as the years pass, we continue to miss each other each night we're apart. 

(I don't know if you can tell, but I'm going after the whole Marshall and Lily thing here.)






P.s. There's only a few hours left in my LUSH bath set giveaway! Don't forget to enter here!





Mark:
Short Sleeve patterned shirt - Banana Republic
Bow tie - handmade by me (etsy here)
Bow tie chain - Men's Wearhouse (similar here)(I also like this)
Black skinny jeans - Old Navy (available here
Wool peacoat - H&M
Boots - Sebago from JackThreads

Monday, November 24, 2014

my crystal bead DIY necklace.


I've been doing a lot of gift crafting as of late and for once I took a second to make something for myself. I had to stop by Michael's for some misc supplies, when I walked by the jewelry making aisle and some glass beads caught my eye! It wasn't anything too special, just a small string of stick crystal beads in metallic gold (just like these and these) Something about it just felt so easy, I couldn't resist.

With my new inspiration, I walked around a little and found some leather cord, jump rings, clasps, and crimps. Once I got it all home, it took me all of 10 minutes to put everything together, tie some knots, crimp a few things with my handy pliers and ta-da! New necklace!

Now it's nothing fancy, but I kind of like it! I feel like its in the heir of something like this, this, this, or this. And for the money I spent on the supplies (which came out to about $9), I was able to make 3 necklaces with some supplies left over.


Feel like you need more of a step by step? Here's my necklace in 10.
  1. Buy supplies listed above
  2. Measure cord to your desired length and cut about an extra 2 inches
  3. String and center beads in desired order
  4. String bead crimps on both sides of glass beads and pinch with pliers to keep beads in place
  5. Connect 2 jump rings together
  6. Thread cord through one and knot (you can use another bead crimp at the end of knot for extra security)
  7. Connect 1 jump ring and 1 clasp
  8. Thread cord through jump ring and knot
  9. Put on your necklace
  10. Take unnecessary selfies in it. 
YAY! done!


As I started to make these as presents, I realized that sliding knots might be the best way to go. That way, the new recipient can adjust the length on their own! There are many different types of sliding knots, but I didn't get that fancy. I just took a single small round bead and threaded both ends of the cord through it in opposite directions and made basic knots. I like having the bead in the center of the sliding knots to keep the opening together, and I think it helps provide some security once your desired length is acquired. The key is finding the right sized bead.

But really, I'm not jewelry maker, so maybe just follow one of the tutorials here for something nicer.





P.S. There is ONE MORE DAY left in my LUSH bath set giveaway! Don't forget to enter here!






Alyssa:
Black sweater - Madewell (other colors available here)
Boyfriend Jeans - Ann Taylor Loft
Navy Leather studded purse - Banana Republic
Shoes - Steve Madden (available here)
Necklace - DIY!

Friday, November 21, 2014

movin' on up!


FUN NEWS! I managed to trick Old Navy Online into taking me on as a full time employee giving me a promotion! Woohoo! I got 'em good. :]

Now it's nothing that spectacular, I'm not the new CEO or anything, but I'm the new Assistant Merchandiser for Men's at Old Navy Online. Fun, right? 

Well... fun for me at least. 

I'm just happy that I've finally got a legitimate career path set up for myself! For a good while, I considered myself a lost soul. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do or where I wanted to be (like a lot of other folks in my age group), but after a couple of years, I finally figured out that Fashion Merchandising is where I wanted to be. And even after that, life things got in the way and I never got to finish my degree. I tried my best to work my way up from retail stores and internships, but I'll admit, it was a tricky path. Now I'm finally here and ready to make it count for something!

So here's my current life plan now: I'm about to hustle the crap out of this position and take over the company. I will then be incredibly successful and never have to worry about anything ever again.

Done and done.



Wait. Does this mean I'm a grown up?! Eek. I don't know if I'm ready.



And HEY! While you're here, don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for a chance at a LUSH gift set! There's still a couple days left!





Alyssa:
White boyfriend-fit button up - Banana Republic
Sweater - Banana Republic
Necklace - F21
Skinny jeans - Old Navy (other washes here)
Shoes - Guess



Tuesday, November 18, 2014

how i get my kid to take a bath & a #GIVEAWAY!

I'm sure my fellow parents out there can agree that sometimes, it is basically impossible to get your kid in the bath.   

...willingly at least.

Honestly, I don't really get their struggle. When I say it's bath time, Makai almost always fights me. There's usually a lot of coaxing, but sometimes there's even tears involved (either mine or his). But when Makai is actually in the bath, he loves it and I can barely drag him out! I put all this effort into getting him in the bath, then once he's in there he starts splashin' around, having a grand 'ol time, and he demands to sit in there until all the water is drained and he's shivering and prune-y.

Pick one, dude! Hate the bath or love it.

So to help with the struggle, I found that FUN (or "play-doh soap" as I like to call it) seems to do the trick.


Makai got this and a Dragons Egg bath bomb from Lush as a present from his Tita Andrea last birthday and it's been a total hit. (While he did also enjoy the Dragon's Egg, I didn't enjoy the glitter involved)

Whenever he doesn't want to take a bath I ask, "Do you want to use the 'play-doh soap'?" And more often than not, he'll change his tune. He loves being able mold it, break it apart, get it wet, watch it disintegrate, color the walls, etc. Plus, it turns the water blue and it smells amazing! And I don't really mind it all because it's actually soap and his playing with it is only aiding in his cleanliness. Awesome!

In the end, I get a clean kid, and he gets some fun free time to play. Win-win for all parties involved.


After I discovered what fun FUN was (see what happened there?), I decided to take a look at what else Lush had in the way of kid friendly bath items. There's definitely a lot of options that I wouldn't mind "buying for Makai" but than actually using myself. And as pricey as some of these fun/unnecessary Lush products can get, I think it's totally worth it once and a while. Why not make bath-time fun and special for them/you? And in my opinion, if you get 1-2 less fights over it, than it's totally worth it. Or if it didn't work and you still have to deal with a screaming child, then at least you can relax yourself in your own fun bath. Plus, most of these products are completely green, preservative free, or helps raise money for good causes, so while you sit in the bath, you can feel better about yourself, because your basically helping save the world.


Want this product? Well it's your lucky day! 1 lucky reader can win their own fun bath-time set with some of my faves, including some FUN! The set will include this, this, and this. Now, if you decide to give this to your kiddo or keep it to yourself, that's completely up to you! Just leave a comment and enter below!




Makai:
Birthday suit
 




FYI: This post IS NOT sponsored by or associated with LUSH. This giveaway and post was written and provided by myself and from my own funding.

Friday, November 14, 2014

looking forward to the holidays.



I can feel it in the air! The holidays are coming!

I must say, this is my favorite time of year. Crisp, cold, sweater weather. The spirit of gifting. Chunky layers and cute boots. Irresistible sales. Mugs of warm sweet drinks. Completely necessary desserts. Best of all, family!

It's our 3rd year as our own little family during the holidays and boy is it exhausting! The joy and hassle of having family on both ends of the state (San Diego to Sacramento) is having to travel everywhere and learning to split our time. (And let's be real, no one really cares about Mark and me, we're just Makai's delivery service.) So now, we alternate Christmas and Thanksgiving between Mark's family and my family. This year is Thanksgiving in SoCal and Christmas in NorCal. Even though traveling back and forth and scheduling can be a lot to deal with, I'm thankful that we have that much family to see. Sure, it's a lot of work and money and presents, but I'll admit that I still look forward to it every year.

When I was younger and my older siblings had moved out of the house, I always use to look forward to the holidays when everyone would come home and stay together under one roof again. I loved being able to wake up to the smell of bacon and white rice (Ãœber Filipino, I know), then fighting over the comic section around the table surrounded by slightly too many Christmas decorations. It's not an especially exciting memory or thing to look forward to, but it was just about us all being together and acting like siblings. I know it sounds cheesy, but even now, after we've all grown up, I love it when we can all be together again and just act like kids.

Now I find myself looking forward to giving Makai those simple memories with both of our families and all of his cousins. It's just a trip seeing the next generation of our family grow. I think of Christmases past, and I remember how exciting it was to be around everyone, eating, opening presents, laughing together, and making memories. But each year things evolve and change. We make new traditions, add in new family members, and now we all get to watch our kids grow up and make memories of their own. So now I'm totally turning into that random aunt that tells you "OMG! You're so big! I used to change your diapers!" But if I can turn into that super cool aunt that gives awesome presents and is lots of fun, then I can totally deal with that.

Here's hoping I can make that happen!





Mark:
Wine slim fit chinos - Banana Republic
Striped/color blocked jersey polo - Banana Republic (similar here)
Navy varsity jacket - Banana Republic

Alyssa:
Green cable knit sweater - Ann Taylor Loft
Destructed straight leg jeans - Gap (available here)
Suede lace up booties - DV by Dolce Vita (available here)

Monday, November 10, 2014

magic drink.

Lately, my drink of choice at work has been a not-so-special-sounding mix of honey, lemon, and water.

 

It started off when I was sick and had a soar throat. Now, I don't know about you, but when I have a soar throat, I CANNOT drink plain water. For some reason, it is the 'most unpleasant thing to drink. So I thought I'd make something up! I knew honey was good for soar throats, and lemon seemed like the perfect compliment plus additive of some vitamins. So I went with it and it was perfect.


It tasted so good that I decided to just make this my morning "thing" and have it at my desk all day. Then for some reason, I decided to look up if it was a pre-existing "thing". Apparently, it is!So I'm either really behind and had no idea this was a "thing" when it totally was, or I'm ahead of the fad for once! (I'm going to assume the former)

According to here, here, here and here, honey/lemon water is supposed to be the perfect thing in the morning! Honestly, before even reading anything about it, I truly enjoyed this first thing in the morning. The taste helped pick me up a little bit (it's sort of like iced tea, but luke warm), but without the additional caffeine. Oh and get this, it should apparently help me lose weight! MAGIC! And as you know, everything that you read online is completely true, so I completely believe this. Since I already don't eat that well or work out, I'm going to assume that adding this drink to my daily diet will help the pounds melt right off. I will now forget ever dieting again and will just drink this all day everyday because that just seems easier.


Also, in case you don't know, I have a thing for mason jars. I'm sure you'll see plenty of these on the blog. 





PLEASE NOTE: In case you're not completely in tune with my online sarcasm, this drink is not in fact magic and you should continue to diet and exercise if your goal is to lose weight. Also, everything that you read online is not completely true. PLEASE know that. No, seriously... PLEASE know that.

Friday, November 7, 2014

i think i'm my son's worst nightmare.


My place is pretty small.

For now, we call our little one bedroom apartment home. Meaning, we all share a room. It's not so bad. Sure, it can get a little cramped, but with just the 3 of us, I think it still qualifies as cozy.

So at night, Makai tends to crawl into our bed while we're sleeping. Honestly, I don't really mind. I love having the extra little cuddle buddy :] But as he gets older, I've noticed that his dreams have gotten a little crazy, and not in my most favorite way. He's been talking, yelling, and kicking a lot in his sleep lately (which Mark does not enjoy) and they always sound like the worst dreams.


Here's a few things Makai has said in his sleep and why I think Mark and I might literally be his worst nightmare:

-"No! I Said NO! I don't wanna watch it. I don't wanna watch that. Turn it off."

-"Stop it, dad! Stop it! I said NO"

-"Don't cook that!! I just wanna eat it, mom"

-"MOM! STOP IT! I don't like that. I don't like that..."

-"I don't want to go home. Don't wanna go home."

-"Mom, don't! Don't do it. Don't do it..."


There's definitely a lot of anger there, right?! I'm not just reading into that? Oi vei.

I was talking to a friend about it and they actually thought it was kind of sweet how simple these "nightmares" really are. The extent of his frustration and terrible dreams are apparently my cooking something that he didn't want to be cooked. And I guess that's true. There's no crazy fear, it seems like. He isn't waking up screaming and crying about monsters or villains. He's just being really mean to us... in his dreams! So yes, I think we're his worst nightmare, but comparatively, his worst nightmares might not be so bad. I just can't decide if I find comfort in knowing his worst nightmares usually involve me.

What's kind of weird is that when he wakes up at night, he still looks for us to cuddle. When he wakes up in the morning, he seems perfectly happy. So I don't think he actually hates us... he just hates us in his dreams.

Oh, man. I hope he doesn't resent me already. It's too early for that. I'm supposed to at least get 10 more years before real resentment, right?



Makai:
Pajamas - Old Navy

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

50 years & growing up.

This weekend, we went up to Benicia to celebrate Mark's Aunt and Uncle and their 50 years of marriage.

50! Fifty years of marrieage! What a feat, am I right?

Apparently, only 5% of marriages make it to this milestone.

So naturally, to celebrate, the family and I got gussied up. And as per usual, Makai showed us all up. Look at that. That's a ridiculous amount of cuteness.


I've always considered Makai a bit of a timid kiddo. Around others, he tends to be very quiet, cautious, and soft spoken. But as he gets older, I've noticed him come out of his shell a bit, and it's a fun thing to watch. Instead of hiding or begging me to go with him to play with the other kids, he ran off to his cousins without even glancing back. And I'll admit, as much as I loved seeing him playing outside with his cousins, I was a little sad that he didn't need me anymore. It's totally the first step to him not wanting me around at all. Agh. I'm not ready.

But hey, nothing a little Cranberry and Vodka can't help fix! :]


It definitely helps take away the sting. I mean, if I don't have a little kid to watch after, I might as well enjoy the open bar.

So anyway, It was both refreshing and weird having Makai go off on his own for a change. At one point, he even seemed to be the one wild kid that everyone else was chasing after to keep up with! And that's what I want, right? To have Makai be ready to go out into the world without me? To be confident enough to do things on his own and lead the way? I know I'm reading into things... but as I see him change and grow up before my eyes, I can't help but wonder what it means for his future. What he's slowly turning into. How he is maturing and in what ways I'm affecting that.

I know that it's every mother's dream to have their children be their babies forever and I am no exception to that rule.

Once it was dark out and Makai HAD to come inside, it was comforting that he still wanted to sit in my lap. I know that's going to go away soon. He's already started his "No, I wanna do it myself. I'm a big kid!" stage. But hey, I'm going to cuddle and hug him as long as he'll let me.

Let's be real, I'll probably do it even longer than that.


And since I know Makai won't be my baby forever, I'm going to make sure I document every moment that he still is.


How fun is this .gif that Google+ made for me?!

In case you're dying for more, see our full selfie photo shoot below. As you can see, we have fun.




And I guess Mark and I can have fun on our own too. Eventually I'll be stuck with just him. 

I know, I know, I'm pretty romantic. Here's hoping we can make it to 50 years too! 







Makai:
White oxford button up - Old Navy (available here)
Grey striped suspenders - H&M
Black static bowtie - handmade by me (etsy here)
Olive skinny jeans - Old Navy
Camo lace up shoes - Payless (available here)
Grey varsity cardigan - Old Navy

Mark:
Chambray shirt - Banana Republic (similar here)
Fleece shawl collar cardigan - Old Navy
Chino bow tie - handmade by me (etsy here)
Gold bow tie chain - Men's Wharehouse
Plaid fitted pants - Banana Republic
Black wing-tip boots - JackThreads.com

Alyssa:
Abstract print crop top - F21 (available here)
Silver spike necklace - JCPenny
Black pencil skirt - Ann Taylor Loft (similar here)
Grey pumps - Steve Madden from Piperlime (on sale here)








Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...