My First Mother's Day!

My first Mother's Day with our daughter was as lovely as they come! I am so thankful to have our family close and to have started traditions that will hopefully continue on for a long time!

The weekend began with The Race for the Cure with my Mom, and this year, Claire! Mom and I have been doing this 5k for about 5 years, which we run in celebration of my Grandma who is a breast cancer survivor. I think it's only appropriate that it falls on Mother's Day weekend and I hope that as the years go on, Claire will find it to be as special of an event as I have.

Sunday morning Chris was up early making breakfast and coffee and tending to Claire so that I could sleep in a bit. He was quite giddy for 7am and asked if I wanted to enjoy breakfast outside (something I would do every morning if he let me!), which is when he surprised me with new lounge chairs for our pool! They are the perfect additions to our backyard and a lovely place to kickback and enjoy our morning coffee together! A big thank you to our parents for going in on them, too!!

And just when I thought I had been spoiled enough, Chris and Claire had some other wonderful surprises peppered throughout the morning which included the insulated picnic cooler and zip-up picnic blanket I had been eying at Vera Bradley! I cannot wait to use them both on our next family picnic and park play dates (both activities we've been enjoying quite a bit lately)! I never cease to be amazed at my husband's thoughtfulness when it comes to gift-giving. 

We then joined our families for a beautiful brunch hosted by Chris' mom. All the moms in the extended family were invited along with their spouses and kids, which made for a good-sized get together! From sparkling mimosas to homemade cherry turnovers, everything was perfectly fit for a queen (or a very grateful mommy!). And best of all, I was able to celebrate with all of the lovely women in my life, including my mom and daughter, the two reasons that make the day so very special! 

After a wonderful afternoon nap and delicious dinner at my parents' house, we headed home. I couldn't have asked for better way to spend my first Mother's Day! It was simple and lovely and spent with my favorite people!

A New Tradition

Today is day one of Chris' birthday week! This year I decided to start a new tradition and I am giving him a present each day through Friday! Even though the gifts are going to start out small, I am quite excited about today's! Of course, I can't tell because he will probably read this before he gets home:-)

I've been tying to pump him up about this week and finally last night he said, "My birthday week starts tomorrow!".

Don't you just love spoiling loved ones on their birthday!!

And on a weekend note, Chris took me to one of our favorite restaurants Friday night!


I hope your weekend was marvelous!

Christmas Cookies!

Happy Friday! I'm off today for a very special reason-I'm baking Christmas cookies, peppermint bark and all sorts of festive goodies with my Mom! Only to give most of them away as tasty gifts! We've been looking forward to this for weeks, as it is one of our favorite holiday traditions. I'm going to get a quick run in this morning, you know, to pretend I work off those pesky cookie dough calories that I will inevitably consume:-)

Do you realize this is the last weekend before Christmas?! Ahh! I am so stoked! This weekend will be full of tamale making with Chris' family, gift exchanges with sweet friends and enjoying the general splendor of the season with people we love!

Hope you have a glorious weekend!

Happy December!

“How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” ~ Dr Seuss

Does anybody else feel like this? I adore holiday cheer as much as the next girl, I'm just having a hard time believing it's already here. So much to do and just a few short weeks to do it!

I realized last night that Chris and I are truly two peas in a pod. As we were snuggled on the couch watching the cartoon version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas , I couldn't help but giggle at my husband for knowing almost word-for-word the theme song from the movie! He never fails to make me laugh! Now if I could only get him to love White Christmas that much we would be set!

This weekend as I was laid up on the couch being a sickie, I was admiring our Christmas tree all decked with our childhood ornaments and I couldn't help but appreciate that I married a man with the same affinity for Christmas traditions as myself! You see, we both came into our marriage with a few boxes of ornaments. I'm not talking little boxes either! In fact, we had to sort through them this year and only ended up hanging about two-thirds of what we have! But it's so fun to share the memories they hold for each of us!

This was our first "Hansen" ornament we bought last year!


These belonged to my Grandma and I have always loved them so my Mom passed them on to me last year:-)


Folks, this is just a tiny drop in the bucket!


Enjoy the first day of December! I think I may need to get myself a festive peppermint latte this afternoon:)

The Holiday Season is Upon Us!

Today I had my first taste of the Holiday season! I was invited by Christopher's step-grandma, Lupe, to the Harvest Festival in Sacramento. I have seriously been looking forward to going for almost two months. It was fantastic, and the best part was, like any sweet and loving grandma would do, she gave me $50 to spend!! Amazing since I really didn't have any extra cash. She told me this is a tradition, I'm all for it:)

We had such a wonderful time! I am definitely someone who LOVES the hustle and bustle of hundreds of woman running around and squishing each other in hopes of finding the perfect gifts and holiday goodies! I purchased some super cute things and I really can't wait to decorate for Christmas next weekend!!!

The best part of my day was spending time with Lupe and Chris' Pop when we finished at the festival. You see, since I moved to California, twelve years ago, I haven't had grandparents nearby. I have grown very grateful to have his twenty minutes from us. As we sat and chatted for about two hours I realized three things that I really love about grandparents:

1. Stories! I am a big fan of them. Today, we happened to stumble upon a few about Chris as a kid. It is beyond endearing to hear his grandpa tell me about how Chris was his right-hand man when it came to building things:) It makes me especially proud to share stories about what an amazing man and husband he has become!
   
2. Home baked treats! As I am sipping hot pomegranate tea and savoring a warm, toasted piece of homemade zucchini bread, I simply cannot deny that grandparents make the best goodies:)
3. You are never in a rush at their house. It almost feels as if time stands still, just for you! I have decided that the next time I am feeling stressed out, that's where you can find me:)

I am praying that you too, are enjoying the season as much as I am. Take time to look around and count your blessings!

A fun Christmas survey that Jeannine sent to me. Copy and paste it and send it along to your friends and family (and me too!)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper for sure! You can do so much more with it!!
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real! I just love everything about picking it out on a chilly evening and the smell!
3. When do you put up the tree? Two days after Thanksgiving. The day after is reserved for shopping, of course:)
4. When do you take the tree down? Right after New Year’s.
5. Do you like eggnog? Not really. It is so rich, but I do love Silk Nog.
6. Favorite gift received? Definitely my pink Kitchen Aid mixer!
7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad because he doesn’t get excited about anything.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My mom because we have very similar likes and dislikes. If I love it, I can pretty much bet that she will too!
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Not yet, but give me a break, this is my first Christmas in my own home.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Definitely mail. I am old fashioned like that!!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't really like this question. I love presents and the thought that people put into them!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It’s a tie between White Christmas and Elf.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I start getting ideas around October, but don’t usually start buying until day after Thanksgiving.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can remember!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mom’s Crème Brulee French toast!!! I will learn to make it someday!
16. Lights on the tree? Yep! Clear.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Baby it’s Cold Outside, on Christmas with the Rat Pack
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Never spent a Christmas away from home!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? I sure can!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A beautiful bow that cascades down the tree (thanks Mom!)
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One on Christmas Eve and the rest in the morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Grouchy people!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? My Disney ornaments!
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We do a big crab dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas brunch, so dinner is usually fairly simple.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? New running shoes, the basics: VS undies and cute nighties, Origins Shedonism, a good vacuum, and a bunch of Taste of Home stuff;)