Let's talk Black Friday.

This time of year it's hard to watch T.V. without seeing a department store's commercial advertising their doorbuster deals and steals. It seems as if the top stories on the news are constantly about "who's Black Friday ads have leaked" or the hottest toys that are flying off of the shelves, right?
I used to work retail. 7 years to be exact. And for that reason, I can't seem to get into the whole 'shopping before the sun comes up' thing. I can't justify dragging myself out of my cozy, warm bed to go stand in line with a bunch of crazies fighting over 3 dollar DVD's at Best Buy. I just can't.
A department store at the mall I used to work at didn't typically open early on Black Friday (the horror!) . And because of that, we had a lot of customers who were rude or upset because they had to wait until 9am to shop with us, when they've already been shopping for 6 hours. I'll admit- the only perk showing up to work to surviving Black Friday was that hefty commission check that I would be getting.
Maybe some year I'll venture out at 3 am- but this year I'll be hibernating in my king size bed (with flannel sheets, and warm down comforter) on Black Friday. Will you be shopping on Black Friday? What deals are you standing in line for?

The party is on!

Cameron's first birthday party, that is! I haven't decided on a theme, but I am thinking maybe Mickey Mouse- he really enjoys watching bits of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the mornings I'm off. I designed a simple, quick little invite (literally took me 10 minutes, ha!) for the party, and now we just wait!

And bear with me- I've been a total blog slacker lately. I promise I'll start posting more regularly soon!

Cameron, my little hoarder.

I have been missing my car keys for quite some time now- since Labor Day, actually. I remember we were headed out to the lake for summer's farewell and I couldn't find my keys anywhere. I give them to Cameron sometimes to play with while I need a few minutes to do something without him holding onto my legs and dragging behind me, so I figured they were around somewhere. I looked, and looked. EVERYWHERE. I turned up the couch cushions, looked under the bed, in my car, and other places I thought they could turn up. Nothing. I gave up hope sometime around mid- September.
Fast-forward to today- my husband loses the last set of his keys to one of his trucks. He is tearing the house apart too, and stumbles upon MY keys, MIA for over 2 months! And where did he find them? In a little trench in the couch (not sure how I missed it!) with a few of Cameron's socks, and a squirty bath toy. Hmmm. I find his little socks in the most random places, so I'm pointing fingers at the cutest little boy I know. =) I didn't care so much about the keys on it (I have multiple spares) but I had a Jayhawk keychain on it that I've had since I was in 6th or 7th grade-long before I could even drive! So glad I found them!

11 months, one day.

At this time last year, the husband and I were trying to enjoy 3 more weekends as a twosome. Turned out we actually had 5 more- little did we know that this little... er, big guy was going to be so late.
Now, we can't even imagine our lives any different!

Snippets

Call me crazy. I reeeealy want to put up my Christmas tree today. I'm going to wait, but I still want to. I'm so excited about Christmas this year, mostly because Cameron is getting some cool stuff and I want to play with it already!

I don't really get into Halloween much and I wasn't going to spend money on a costume for Cameron, but our neighbors had a little Tigger costume that their son wore when he was Cam's age, and they let us borrow it. We dressed him up and went trick or treating with a few kiddos in our 'hood and Cameron LOVED it. He just sat in his stroller the entire time, kicking his little feet and chewing on candy wrappers!



I am itching to re-do Cameron's nursery. I want to repaint, and make it into a big boy room! I don't want to make it overly "themey"- as I'm sure I'll have to endure years of trucks/Transformers/whatever movie Disney puts out theme in the very near future. Maybe just some new DIY wall hangings, new sheets, and some cool blue paint. Surely I could do this for under $100! Maybe after the new year when things quiet down.

My mom has been in Africa for a few weeks and gets back on Friday. She was born there and lived a lot of her childhood there (my grandparents were missionary doctors). When she gets back I'll definitely share a few pictures here!

Time changes certainly aren't what they used to be. Back in college it meant a real, whole extra hour of sleep and an extra hour at the bar. Now it means Cameron's sleep schedule is completely out of wack and he's ready to play at 5:30am. ARG! I hope this doesn't last long.

Family pictures.

Last week I went out and took pictures of my sister and her family, and today, she took pictures of us! She recently got a DSLR camera, so now we can just take pictures of each others family instead of going to a portrait studio. I really think she did a great job. Cameron was quite the wiggle worm, so it was a little tough to get a good shot where he wasn't trying to escape. I also wanted a good picture of just Jon and I, since the last time we had our pictures together was from our wedding (and truth be told, there aren't many I liked of us from that day!). Here are just a few of my faves-what do you think?



Now... Which ones to print and frame?
PS- mpix.com is running a special- 15% off prints through Friday at midnight. Enter 15prints at the checkout!

Snippets: on my plate.

My head is somewhat spinning these days, but in a good way. It seems as the holidays approach, time slips away and before we know it, we're in a brand new year, and things start to turn green again. When I stop and think about what's on my plate for the rest of the year, I feel as if I need to jump into a a machine that will replicate me into 2 or 3 people. One would just be a mom. The type who eats bon-bons and has dinner prepared and on the table by 6 o'clock. The other clone would work, design, run errands and and party plan. Here's what's on my busy plate for the rest of the year and early 2010.

• Finishing invitation design for BFF's wedding, and starting invites for the bridal shower and a Christmas cocktail party my dad is in charge of.
  
• Thanksgiving. I want to have ALL my Christmas shopping done beforehand.
  
• Cameron's 1st birthday. I have a few things left to get for his birthday and still have to design a quick little invite to send out.
  
• Christmas. When I think about the fact that I have 18 nieces and nephews (+ 3 more being born between Christmas and Valentines), and 13 brother and sister-in-law's, it makes me want to escape to an undisclosed (tropical) location for the month of December. I'd send out Christmas cards that said "Wish you we're here!!!!!!" with a picture of me surfing in a swimsuit and a Santa hat.
• My 26th Birthday. Which I just might "forget" this year.
• New Years.
  
• Bridal Shower for my BFF the day after New Years. I'm hosting!!
  
• Bachelorette party. Must build up tolerance.
• BFF's wedding in April!

I think that's all that I can think of! Anyone else feel like this year FLEW by?

Weekend Baby Shower!

This weekend was the baby shower I hosted for my sister-in-law. Everything went really well! Baby Christian (making his arrival around Christmas) will certainly be well dressed for the first 6 months of his little life!





I was really honored to host the shower for my sister-in-law. I've known her for 10 years and she was the one who introduced me to my wonderful husband 6 years ago. I am blessed to know her!

Baby shower prep!

This weekend is my sister-in-law's baby shower- and I'm hosting! And since I'm the only host, I've decided to keep things simple, doing most of the prep in advance so that on Saturday, everything is smooth sailing.
I noticed while shopping for baby shower decor, that most of it is either tacky, overpriced, or both! So I settled on some "It's a boy!" confetti, some tea light candles, and a little banner I made for just 2 dollars. I'll probably set the food table with some fresh flowers too. I wanted to share the banner I made, because it was easy (I got it done during Cameron's nap!), and I only spent 2 dollars on the paper and ribbon.
I started by drawing letters on this awesome glitter paper I spotted at Hobby Lobby.

Cut them out!

I used cups around the house to cut out the circles for the back of the letters.

Hobby Lobby was out of white card stock- so I used the back of leftover wedding invitations I've had sitting around for over 2 years. I couldn't bear to throw them away- I knew I could find another purpose for them!

I stapled the blue circles to the ribbon.

And then glued the letters to the white circles, and then the white circles to the blue ones.

Done- and so easy!
I'll definitely be back to show pictures of the banner hung, and of the shower!

Making my list. (And checking it twice).

Did you know that Christmas is pretty much next week? It is, my friends. I've been seeing these "100 days of cookies" or "100 days of holiday recipes" in magazines and online, and I have to admit, it's freaking me out a bit. Department stores are dusting off Christmas decorations as I write this post. And as soon as you have your last trick-or-treater, you'll see neighbors hanging up their Christmas lights and flanking their yards with inflatable deer and snowmen.

Anywho, if you are like me at all, I never know what to tell my family when they ask what I would like for Christmas. I never have anything in mind, and I always just tell them I'll get back with them and let them know later. Well this year, dearest friends and family, I'm armed with a list. Without further adieu, I present my Christmas list:




I'm happy to report that the #1 item on my list was purchased today by my wonderful husband! I have been telling him that if he waits until after Thanksgiving that there won't be any Uggs at ANY store, in ANY city. He was hesitant, but I softened the blow by telling him that he has his Christmas shopping done now!



I think this pretty, lightweight scarf from Gap would transition nicely into spring!



My next camera lens! A 50mm auto-focus, perfect for portraits.


A non-stick pizza crisper. So we can quit putting pizza directly on the oven rack, causing cheese to fall to the bottom of the oven, burn, and set off the fire alarm.



And lastly, a subscription to BHG. You may or may not remember this subscription was on my list for Mother's Day. I've gone from "casually" dropping hints at the grocery store newsstands, to flat out telling my husband that I'd like a subscription, to actually HANDING him a subscription card that's filled out with my name on it. Y'all, sometimes boys just don't get it. So for that reason, it's still on my list!
Anyone else have their list made? Shopping started?

There's an affair going on at work...

...and it involves me.
I've been putting in some good hours in at work lately, and it's the only thing that gets me through the day. I wake up excited knowing I get to turn it on, spend the day staring at it, caressing and stroking it. My snooze button has become a thing of the past. If my office had a window, it would likely be foggy from heavy breathing (mostly on my part).

Everyone, meet my new office affair, Mac.

Excuse the horrible florescent lighting in my office!

My eyes wander all over the 24 inches of its glorious face. It says so much without ever saying a word. Just LOOK at that keyboard! Now look again. Pretty fierce if I do say so myself. I think the feeling is mutual. ::blush!::
Don't worry; I've already notified my husband of the affair, and insisted we get one just like it to spice things up at home. He hasn't come around to see it my way, but he will. Oh yes, he will.

10 months & weekend fun.

Cameron is 10 months old today! I remember reading blog posts awhile back of moms who would cry when their babies turned one year old- and I thought "why on earth is that sad"? I totally get it now. And I'm pretty dang sure I'll be sobbing in two months when he turns one. I just want him to stay little forever! I love this stage right now- he gives tight hugs and slobbery kisses and it's the best thing in the world.

This weekend (well, just Sunday actually) we decided to go to Kansas City for the Chiefs vs. NY Giants game. I was so excited to take Cameron to his first pro football game! We're not huge Chiefs fans, but we like to support the home team and enjoy watching sporting events of all types.We headed out before the sun came up Sunday morning, and as soon as we got there, I wanted to whip out my camera and photograph some tailgate action. Um, would you believe that I left my camera at home? That's right. I charged my battery the night before. I packed my zoom lens in the diaper bag. I was all ready to take a few action shots and be hired by Sports Illustrated. I kicked myself the entire day for forgetting it- I never forget my camera! I snapped a few pictures from my phone, and thankfully our sweet friends took some pictures on their camera and will send them to me! Still, I feel like Sunday's game didn't even happen because I didn't have my camera. I'll never make that mistake again!

Our friends have several sets of season tickets just behind the end zone. They were great seats!