Today.

After a stella early morning play date at the beach,

the boy asked so sweetly and politely if we could have 

lunch on the pier.

I couldn't say no.

The smells of pancakes, bacon, and warm maple syrup filled the air.

 

He was such a good little man.

He sat quietly and ate every last drop of his lunch,

only stopping in between bites to ask 

questions of 'why' and 'how'

Still in our bathing suits and covered in sand,

we made our way to the farmers market.

I love going there with him.

He makes such wise decisions about food,

and loves when I tell him about all the crazy produce and where it comes from.

After packing up the car full of fresh fruits and veggies,

we took a long stroll through the Nursery.

As we literally stopped to smell every flower,

we found our selves amidst a little game of garden 

hide and seek.

It was a perfect morning and afternoon.

Now if I could only convince him that we should take naps.

10 things i couldn't live without this week

1. the easiest grocery shopping trip i have had since the day the boy was born. this kid has a new fascination with my iphone. he actually asked if he could sit in the cart and play the pbs kids app.  which is a far different tune then his recent wanting to walk on his own and raise a ruckus at the store. so i went with it. and he was an angle!
2. we met up with our new friends, tracy and sinjin, at their hotel pool for a swim date. it's been a while since we have been in a pool and i have to say....i have missed it so so so much! we may be trying to get to the lake lytal pool soon if the weather stays this warm!
3. the hubs has been completely over worked this week (trying to insure that he get to take his vacation... un-interrupted) but can you believe that man of mine has still found time in his crazy morning routine to make me coffee before i get out of bed....did i mention that he doesn't drink coffee....he's so good to me.
4. and while i am on the topic....i love it when the hubs has my back. he totally went off on this girl for making fun of my "cliche" mustache tattoo. he verbally ripped her a new one, and shut her up real quick by commenting on her coy fish tattoo...."so, speaking of cliche, are you asian?" i love that man.  he's always go my back.
5. do you guys watch up all night? it's quickly becoming our new favorite show. the hubs and i want to meet the writers - we are pretty sure that they might be getting some of their material from us. watching that show is like looking in the mirror. sometimes the roles are reversed, but for the most part the relationship that christina applegate and will arnett share is just like me and the hubs.....now if i only had their house and her waredrobe! hehe
6. it's been a long time since we've had an at home play date, but we invited sinjin and tracy over to play in the sprinklers and drink coffee.  the boy has forgotten how to share his toys with others, so we are going to have to do these dates more often, but it was so much fun playing the yard.  they also brought a serious goodie bag full of birthday treats for me. i mean just too sweet! it was full of mustache paraphernalia and some really beautiful goodies for the house! all wrapped up in the coolest re-usable shopping bag - which i will most definitely be sporting as a purse!
7. i made one of my favorites this week for dinner - raw veggie pizza. it is really hands down one of the easiest most delicious meals! and i had too many chopped up veggies so i made veggie burritos the next day for lunch.....but the kicker this time was some {to die for} sweet corn relish made by my friend kelly hogrebe.  i seriously can't stop thinking about how good it is. it's taking a lot of will power to not eat the entire jar in one sitting! she should seriously quit her day job and start selling this full time!
8. the hubs vacation started saturday! we kicked off the week of adventures by making the trip to my mother in laws house. the hubs sister was in town from atlanta. we had a blast hanging out with her and his brother.
9. we dodged rain drops and made it over to hollis gardens and barnett park. the boy had such an awesome time. and i snapped instagram pics like it was my job. barnett park looks like it popped off the pages of a dr. seuss book. it's one of the coolest parks i have ever seen. the colors and shapes are just crazy. the boy loved it. and hollis park was breath taking. beautiful plants and flowers lined perfectly manicured lawns, and you would not believe the size of some of the produce that is landscaped into the mix. just stunning.
10. today we are up bright and very very very early! when the hubs asked me what i wanted to do for his vacation i knew that i wanted to take a trip to webster antique and flea market. so her were are, 5:30am ready to go find some treasures! needless to say, i didn't sleep a wink last night. i am so excited.

november is for giving thanks: day 17

i am thankful for days full of friends and tire swings.

10 things i couldn't live without this week:

1. at home play dates! i always forget how much fun can be had at someone else's house.  we had a fantastic time with christine and ebba at their new pad this week. love these ladies. and thank you for the stinky fish fertilizer and delish mint iced tea!
2. you know that adorable burton family i am always gushing about....well it was announced this week that we can be expecting another baby burton in the spring! congrats to you guys! oh so cute.
3. i have been an anxious mess this week with all the upcoming changes in our house (i will be reporting this amazing news soon!) and that hubs has yet again proved to be just the best! he knows just how to soothe my soul...and did i mention that he's doing all of this while completing week one mission quit smoking! he's so awesome!
4. oh sweet delicious cookies! so i used the island cookie recipe, but subbed the coconut out for dark chocolate chips and crasins.....holy smokes! so good!
5. went to an amazing fashion show put on by bika swimwear, the davidk space, and the cottage. thanks you so much to one of the greatest friends in the world for accompanying me and sweating it out....boy was it hot!
6. i can't believe that it's taken me this long but i finally discovered the greatness of groupon and living social this week.  while i have been members of both websites for quite some time now i have never actually purchased a coupon, well i don't know what i was waiting for! this week i scored a half off dog grooming and half off admission to leapin' lizards. i am hooked!
7. did i mention the dog grooming! hahaha stella was getting shaggy and stinky! now she looks like a prize winning pooch! the folks over at milton's grooming parlor did an amazing job. usually when i pick stella up from the groomer there is an underlaying tone of "don't bring that dog back here".....this time was a completely different story. i showed up ready for the worst, and found my dog (or at least i think it was my dog) sitting completely well behaved for kiki.  meanwhile kiki is telling me that she would like to show stella next year at a groomers show, that she was the most beautiful and unique dog she's seen in a long time. all i could think was..."are you crazier than the stella....because she's nuts".
8. i have to just give a shout out and major thank you to all the special ladies in my life from my friends to my mother to my step mom and mother in law....all of you have been just the biggest help with helping me handle the boy and his "tude".
9. after about a month off, between all the traveling and being sick, i finally got back in ballet this week... it was a huge eye opener to how much a month can do to your body. i ached, pretty sure i groaned, and tweeked my neck and ankle, but i loved every second of the torture.  this week i will be pushing my limits and taking two classes back to back....trying out a contemporary class right after ballet. i kinda can't wait! the only thing that i am afraid of is falling in love with the contemporary class! haha.
10. we are two days diaper free (with the exception of naps and bedtime) and have only had a few accidents. we even ventured out in public in big boy underpants! really proud of the boy and how fast he's growing up!