It's been a week....

It has been a week over here at Team Jordan. Not so much busy but, Madeleine has been teething like crazy!!! Her little gums are so swollen and we've been battling a slight diaper rash. Also, she has been putting everything in her mouth. She even tried to bite Chili's ears several times, today. Chili looked at me with such hate! LOL, poor Chili. I broke down this week and gave her some teething gel during nap and bed time!!! And speaking of naps... those have been pretty frustrating! She either fights it, because she's in so much pain or, she just skips it and wants to be held. And anyone that knows my child, knows that for her to want to be cuddled, she is feeling pretty crappy (she's always on the move!). There was one day this week, where I took spark 3 times!! I was drowning people!!! But, I felt great the whole day!!

Here is Madeleine's attempt at Chili's ears. She was softening her up with a big hug first....

Earlier this week, we went to our first play group. It was nice to talk to some other moms in the area and for Madeleine to meet some other kids. I will admit that I am an introverted-extrovert. My explanation of this is, I am shy once you first meet me and then once you get to know me, I am just a bag of fun (hahaha). Madeleine had a blast and that's all that matters. So much so, that was one of those days she didn't nap!


Also, my aunt and uncle sent us a package with gifts for Madeleine and chips and salsa for me and Morgan. And lets be honest those are really for me! I will shamefully admit that I have eaten one bag of chips and an entire jar of salsa. Please, when you judge me, be kind!!! And if you're not, just remember I am stuck out here with horrible excuses for salsa!! LOL

In other news, we finally settled on some patio furniture!! We had been going back and forth on what we wanted and finally I just let Morgan pick. We went with a retro style.......

I wasn't sold at first but they grew on me. And it's patio furniture, it should be fun! We got 4 different colored chairs and a white table. Now, I just need to find an outdoor rug. I'm sure Target can help me with that.

The bad part, is it's been raining all day and will continue to rain all weekend!! And I mean rain where there is actual flooding. It's been a while since we've seen rain. Where is the California sunshine?!?!? So much for putting the furniture together.

We are attempting to try that MyGYm class tomorrow. Hopefully the commute isn't too bad.  And if it is, I promise I am going to keep my cool ;) Other than that we are staying inside, with all this rain. I'm sure by tomorrow I will be stir crazy!!

Well, this was post was all over the place. Have a good weekend!

Recipes.....

Today was the last session  for our story time at our local library. It started off pretty good but then we had to leave early because Madeleine was not having it! She tried to pull every book off the shelf and then started to roll around on the ground. Apparently she was not into the story about the circus. But who can blame her, I didn't want to hear the story about the clown, either! I HATE CLOWNS! The funny thing was we weren't the only ones that left. Apparently, the kids weren't feeling story time.

Well, I wanted to tell you guys about a few recipes that I have made over the past few days. They are super easy and super yummy! Over the weekend I made Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I actually used ground turkey because I didn't have any ground chicken. Still very tasty! It's a slow cooker recipe but it's only in the crock pot for about 1.5 hours. It's so simple and pretty healthy! We usually drench ours' in sriracha sauce.

I also recently made a pork tenderloin in the crock pot. This one isn't as healthy because there's this brown sugar glaze that goes on it for the last hour. But, it made for a great dinner and I'm pretty sure Morgan wanted to just eat the glaze out of the sauce pan!

Today, I made some brown sugar blondies for a playgroup we are going to tomorrow. Well, they were supposed to be for the playgroup but when I came back to the kitchen after putting Madeleine down for bed, half the pan was finished! Morgan has the biggest sweet tooth!! They were really good but I'll probably need to double the batch for, old sweet tooth Jordan! Here's the recipe.

What are some of your favorite recipes? Share, please!!! Well, I should probably get some sleep so I'm not dragging butt tomorrow during playgroup.

Sportsmanship....

Hello! How has the weekend been for you guys?!?! Our weekend has been pretty good. On Friday, Morgan got some good news about a great career opportunity. He has asked that I don't share a lot of his work stuff on here so I respect him on that. I love how he gets all "Liam Neeson." HAHAHA!!! So, in lieu of cooking dinner, I decided to order pizza & salad and made us a fruit salad. Madeleine was very excited for pizza night! We put down blankets on our sofa and let her eat in the living room, picnic style, while watching Lilo & Stitch. She's kind of obsessed with that movie right now. It's cute but, I'm sure I'll be sick of it soon enough.

Saturday morning we were all set to take Madeleine to My Gym for her first, "gym/waddler" class. I used to take her to the open play time, at one of the Austin locations, and she loved it! Just from the description of the class made me think she would enjoy it. Apparently they sing, dance, do balance beams and all that jazz. The closest location to us is 25 minutes away so we left an hour early thinking we would be good and would probably even be early. WELL......California traffic SUCKS!!!!! It was 9:15 on a Saturday morning and we were in bumper to bumper traffic. I was fuming!! Needless to say, we did not make the class. We had to re-schedule for another time.

Now, during this whole experience, I was a complete MONSTER!! I threw my phone, huffed and puffed, cursed and threw a fit. You would have thought that I was the one that was going to miss class. I'll admit that none of that was necessary but I was in a mood. After I cooled off, it got me to thinking that I have got to get it together. My temper got the best of me and I sure don't want to show Madeleine that side. 

Then, it got to me to thinking of my fierce, and more often than not, my competitive side. And when I say competitive I mean I will kill you over a board game!! I'm not playing folks, my husband and I cannot play board games unless we are on the same team. We learned this our first year of marriage when we played a board game with some of our neighbors and I ended up screaming at Morgan because I thought he was cheating. I'm bad people!! I even catch myself competing with people while I'm running. If someone passes me while I'm running I usually sprint past them and make sure I stay at that pace so they can't pass me again. They have no idea what sick game I'm playing in my head. And, I won't go into too many details about how bad of a sore loser I am! I've been known to be feisty!

I partially blame my mother. She was that mom that was always involved with her kids' sports activities. She was at every practice, volunteered to coach, or volunteered my dad. Whatever sport I was doing she made sure that I was doing 100%. She was also that crazy mom that would scream at me from the side lines and sometimes run up and down the side lines. She may or may not have yelled at the refs, as well. I remember when I was doing competitive dance, my dad would videotape my competitions, and he would sit away from her so she wasn't screaming "GOOOOO NIKI!!!!" the entire dance routine. But, you could always hear her! At the same token, I am very grateful that I still have the memories of my parents, especially my mom, always being there. There were a few kids that weren't as lucky.

And Morgan, he is just as competitive as me. He and his twin brother will get into an argument about the color of the sky!! One will say its blue and the other will say it's aqua blue. Then, they will debate until one of them is out of breath, which usually can last 4-6 hours. And please don't get them started about who was the faster runner, in high school, on the cross-country team! Or who was stronger. I feel like they came out of the womb competing with each other.

The reason I am telling you guys all this is because I'm hoping to break the cycle a little with Madeleine. I am hoping that when Madeleine starts sports or gymnastics or whatever she wants to try,
that I will learn to chill. I want to teach her that it's not always about winning. I will make every effort to be at every practice, recital, and game but I am going to make a conscious effort to not scream my head off from the side lines. Don't get me wrong, I will cheer but, I'm going to try not to be so Crazy! ;) And along the way, I hope she will have a little of our competitiveness with a whole lot more sportsmanship, than her mama ;)

Well, my rant is over! Hope you guys had a good weekend and see you tomorrow!

Four Attempts....

Well, today hasn't been the most exciting day. Madeleine is on her 4th attempt at a nap!! Yeah you read that right....4...Four...Cuatro!!! And as I sit here typing, I can hear her talking to herself in her room. I will say, for not having a nap today, she has been pretty awesome! But, I'm pretty sure she got into the sugar container in the pantry because homegirl is wired!! She woke up this morning around 5:45am. I contemplated letting her stay up but my own tiredness and selfishness wanted more sleep so I put her back down! She didn't wake up until close to 10am.

We did our usual things and I for sure thought she'd take a nap, at least a late nap. But, no here we are, close to 5pm and chick hasn't even attempted to sleep!! At one point, during her failed attempts, I looked at the monitor and saw her sprinting from one side of the crib to the other then, she would throw herself down and jump right up!

Needless to say I got nothing accomplished today! I was planning on cleaning and reorganizing the bathroom but that will have to wait til tomorrow. And since she has had no nap and has been running around like a sugar-induced polar bear I had to make 2 Sparks today!!! The only saving grace is that she is not being a total monster and the weather here is great so we have been outside all day!!

This is what she decided to do instead of napping the first time.... Make her shirt into a crop top. Every time I pulled it down she pulled it up!! We're in trouble!!!

On another note, my mom will be here in about 31 days for two weeks!!! Woohoo!!! I miss that crazy lady!!

Well, I better go check on this chick and see if she actually fell asleep or if we are just skipping a nap today :) Thankfully we are eating leftover chicken tacos so I don't have to try to cook something!

See you guys tomorrow!

Wine Day

I forgot to mention it yesterday but, I made this recipe for, Honey Mustard Pretzel Chicken. And I'm here to tell you it's delicious!! The only difference I made was using pretzel chips and mine didn't turn out as brown as the picture they posted. Either way it was delicious!! The yummy honey mustard sauce was awesome! I even dipped my brussel sprouts in the sauce. Of course, Madeleine didn't eat one bite :( She just had hummus and grapes. I'm surprised that girl is alive for as little as she eats!
But, Morgan and I loved it. It's a pretty simple recipe but it took me a little longer because Madeleine insisted on holding onto my legs and asking to be held. This happens sooooo much!!!

I don't know if you guys know it but it's National Drink Wine Day!!! Well, normally I don't need an excuse to drink wine, but let me tell you......TODAY WAS THE PERFECT DAY FOR IT!!!

Lately we have been battling teething and random meltdowns. And meltdowns for the most random acts. For instance, we had a meltdown because:

1. I wouldn't let her open the back door to let the dog inside
2. I was brushing my teeth
3. I wasn't serving the grapes fast enough
4. I wouldn't let her play with a poop diaper
5. I wouldn't let her climb the fire place
6. She couldn't reach her puzzle...2 feet away
7-18. ALL RIDICULOUSNESS REASONS

Chick, get it together!!! And for some reason the meltdowns usually happen in the evenings. She's perfectly fine in the mornings and then around the time I'm prepping dinner, it's total chaos. As soon as Morgan walked in the door I poured myself a glass of wine. He kind of gave me a look and then poured himself a glass. Soul mates!

Believe it or not with all the complaining I just did I got a lot of stuff done today. We went for our 3 mile run with interval training in between and played on the beach. It's hard not to take full advantage of the gorgeous weather and scenery.

While she was napping, I started cleaning out my closet, which lead me to start cleaning my jewelry vanity, which lead me to start researching new nightstand tables. This happens to me a lot. I get a little ADD when I start cleaning..."Oh, I'll dust, wait I should clean the windows, wait I'll clean the bathroom!" It all gets done but I get there in a round-about way. So, by the time Madeleine woke up from her nap my closet was a mess! Thank goodness for cartoons, purses and hats! She was entertained long enough for me to finish. And this adorable picture was captured.

I know it may seem like I complain a lot but this little girl knows how to melt my heart! And, I always have my WINE!!! Cheers!

Kid Genius

So, yesterday I went grocery shopping but by the time I got home I was in no mood to cook! I know I'm not the only one that does this....Am I? We ended up going to Board & Brew. This is not a bad sandwich shop that's reasonably priced and they have decent craft brews. I just stuck with a turkey club but Morgan got a spicy roast beef sandwich which actually looked good. They had me at spicy!!!

After dinner we had to run by Lowes to grab a few things. I was tempted to let Madeleine down so she could run around but I figured a hardware store was the wrong place to let a toddler roam around ;) I'm such a good mommy....... I did this instead!!!

I hope she doesn't expect this all the time!

When I was at Costco the other day, I picked up this book and it's GREAT!! While we were reading today I would ask her to say or point to a picture and she knew about 12-15 of the pictures. Now, I may be biased, but I'm pretty sure she is a kid genius!!! I'm pretty sure she'll be writing her first novel in another 2 months! Besides the major meltdowns and occasional tantrums this is a pretty cool age.
I love hearing her little voice and all the new words she is picking up!

During nap time I was able to squeeze in a little trip to Trader Joe's and of course, Target!! No, I didn't just leave Madeleine with the dog. Daddy had the day off so he was left in charge. But, if something happened to him while I was gone, Chili would be the next in line :)

I of course scored a few Valentine's decor for super cheap!!! I also scooped up some Easter/Spring decor. I still have my Love day decor up but once March gets here I'll be ready!!! I love to decorate for the holidays! I would say it's for the princess but it's really for me. I'm a sucker for the holidays. I can't wait to put these cute banners up, plus all my other things :)

While I was at Target, I got the cutest text from my friend, Sam. She sent me a picture of her adorable daughter, Posey, and this in the text: "My kid loves Target as much as you! She's in awe, and her cartwheel is full!"

I am with you baby P!! I am in awe every time I go into Target too. I'm pretty sure she is my soul sister!! And again, I don't mean to be bias because she's my friend but, I'm pretty sure she's going to be a kid genius as well!

Weekend Wrap Up......

How was the weekend for you guys? Did you guys have big Valentine's Day plans? We don't really celebrate "Love Day," we just celebrate our anniversary which was 2 days before. We usually give each other a silly card and call it a day. But, this year we focused more on our little princess and showed her a little extra love :) She's lucky she's cute because after the way she acted on our anniversary she's lucky she got gifts! Hahaha. (She was actually good this whole weekend!)

Morgan actually had the day off on Friday so we started our day with heart-shaped pancakes, eggs and fruit. YUM! Morgan is a big breakfast person, like HUGE! So, on the weekends he normally goes all out. During the week I just grab some fruit and yogurt and call it a breakfast! After breakfast, we let the little lady open her V-Day goodies. She got 2 bags from mommy and daddy and my mom sent her a little basket. I actually still remember getting V-Day baskets from my mom until after high school. I'm sure I'll be the same with Madeleine. I just love doing the holidays with a child!!

Later that day we took her to Courtney's SandCastle and to the San Clemente Aquatics Center. They have a really cool water park. The water is maybe about a foot deep so it's perfect for Madeleine. She was in heaven. We even were able to use her float for a little bit until the supervisor told us we couldn't use it in there :(  But, she didn't care she had a blast! She even went down the slide a few times. The only bad part was there were a few pockets of cold water so we tried to stay away from those areas. As you can see it didn't bother her too much!

After an hour of swimming we went to grab lunch at La Siesta. Mexican food...YUM!! Then, on our way home homegirl passed out and we were able to transfer her from car to crib perfectly!!! First time EVER!! Look at those lips!!! Melt my heart!!!

AND she slept for 4.5 hours!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!

Saturday was another long day for Madeleine. Morgan got me a really awesome anniversary gift but it's one of those gifts that I had to pick out. And to me, those are some of the best gifts ;) But, it made for a really long day because it took a while for me to pick it out and then it had to get made and picked up that afternoon. Which meant that we were in the car for a longer than we'd like to be. While we were waiting for my gift we stumbled onto a massive shopping center! And what did we finshd..... Chick-fil-A!!! OMG people, I haven't had Chick-fil-A in about 7 or 8 moths!!! And I don't care that it's not the best for you or what the bread is made out of... it was delicious!!!! We were in heaven for a good 30 minutes.

After we stuffed ourselves we stumbled over to REI. And homegirl loved it!! She kept going to the stroller section and playing with them. Then, she'd run over to the wall of sleeping bags and touch them all. This kept her entertained for 45 mins!! We didn't just take her in there to burn laps we were actually in there looking for something specific. We were looking for a kid carrier we could use for hiking. Any one have one? Do you like it? Do the kids like it? This is the one we were interested in but they were completely sold out of every carrier.

I'll let you guys know if we decide to purchase and if she likes it.


By the time my gift was ready homegirl was DONE! She only had a 30 minute nap, while in the car, so I was surprised she did so good for as long as she did. She cried the whole way home!! All 30 minutes!! By the time we got home, she was ready for dinner, bath and bed!



What was mommy ready for? Wine and "House of Cards" season two!!! If you don't know about this people, I demand you watch it!!!! I pretty much had a heart attack and almost pooped myself, at the same time, during the first episode. Not really, but you know what I mean!!! SOOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!!

Today was my day for grocery shopping. Which means Costco and Target are a must!!! You know you go to Costco too much when your child points to the back where the fruit and vegetable section is located. She knows what's up! She also whines a little because she sees all the fruit in the basket and must have it all! I had to bust open the bag of bananas today. Plus, she had samples and a little pizza! Chick was hungry!

Well, we've got nothing planned for the rest of the day. Just taking it easy!! Enjoy your day!!

The Dinner Date from Hell....

As mentioned yesterday, it was our 13 year anniversary. Woohoo! Morgan came home on Tuesday and told me he had made a dinner reservation for the three of us. I was planning on making us a nice meal and have a nice BOTTLE of wine but I was OK with not cooking! I mean, I usually have a little gremlin hanging onto my leg for dear life when I'm cooking, so when he said he made reservations....Music to my ears!

The day started great. Madeleine actually ate a decent breakfast without much protest. Which in my book is a HUGE win. Flowers were delivered to me from the darling husband. The dog was actually behaving and letting Madeleine play with her. All was good......

And then, 11:00 rolled around and the gremlin wanted to go "nigh nigh" (her words, not mine). Now, usually her nap time isn't until around 1:00 or 1:30. I tried to keep her up a little longer so that she could stay on schedule and I knew that I had to go out and buy Morgan's gift (if you knew what I got him, you'd know I couldn't get it early because I wouldn't be able to hide it). But she was insistent on going to bed. So, I put her down and hoped for a long nap. Well, that long nap didn't happen. Now, let me just say that a usual nap for Madeleine is 2+ hours. Today, homegirl napped 1.5 hours. I know, I know, people would kill for their kids to nap 1.5 hours but my girl needs her long nap! I was all prepared for her to wake up cranky. But, she woke up in a great mood! (I should have known something was up!)

Once she had lunch we headed out to get Morgan's gift. I had to go to Laguna Niguel to get his gift, which is about 20 minutes away. I passed by a Costco and I just had to stop in. Am I the only person that loves to go "visit" different Costco's other than their usual ones? I didn't have too much time because the gremlin was starting to act up and I still needed to run a few errands.

Now, for the past week whenever we are in the car Madeleine has been very demanding about her music selection. To the point that if her song doesn't play she whines! Want to know her favorite song?

The Black Keys- Never Gonna Give You Up (Originally by Jerry Butler)

I absolutely love that she loves The Black Keys, but if I have to hear that song one more time, I might throw out the CD!!! I had to listen to that song over and over today. It is kind of cute because she claps after it's over but I mean.... can we get a different song!

So, after running our errands we only had an hour until our reservations. I could already tell this chick was on the verge of a breakdown. Whenever Madeleine hasn't had enough sleep and she is tired she starts to roll around on the floor. She's almost like a dog, haha! Maybe she picked it up from Chili Pepper.

Now, I don't mean to sound braggy, but when we go out to restaurants Madeleine is so well-behaved!! She's sometimes better in public than she is at home. We occasionally get compliments from total strangers and even from some of our friends. But tonight, this chick was a total NIGHTMARE!!!! She did not want to be in the highchair, didn't want any snacks/dinner. I even put her in the seat next to me and let her play with ice on a plate (a trick my uncle taught me). That entertained her for all of 10 minutes. We even had to take turns taking her outside the restaurant. When Morgan finished his dinner he took her outside and I was finally able to eat my dinner. Don't ask me of it was good because I inhaled it because I knew we didn't have much time until the gremlin exploded. I was kind of hoping that they would have stayed out longer so I could order more wine! HA! When he came back inside the waitress asked if we wanted dessert and I was trying to give him the "eyes." You know, the "You better not order dessert because this little monster needs to go home!!"-eyes. What does he do? Orders a slice of cheesecake! I bit my tongue because he got me a good gift but inside my head I was plotting his death! Thirteen years, people!!! And I did not get one bite because the gremlin had finally exploded!! BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM! Thank goodness it was a Wednesday night and the restaurant was not at full capacity.

Needless to say, she went straight into the bath and then bed when we got home! I'm pretty sure the lack of her beauty sleep + a few teeth coming in attributed to tonight's debacle. At least, that's what we are telling ourselves!! Hopefully, it's not a new pattern!!! If it is, we may never eat out again!!

This was her before we left for dinner. Doesn't she look like an angel? Don't let her fool you.

(Side note: This was the second time that she has worn "stockings" under a dress. I just don't know how I feel about it?!?!)

Maybe next year I'll make dinner :)

It's Our Anniversary....

It's our anniversary and every year I think of this song and sing it all day!!! I wonder what ever happened to them? 

Tony Toni Tone

I'm going to spare you all the mushy, lovey stuff (I have to save something for his card!) and just say that I love that man more than anything in life! And I fall in love with him a little more everyday, especially watching him with our Madeleine. I love you!

Monday, Madeleine and I went to our weekly story time at the library. It was total chaos!!! There were some parents that just showed up and they weren't even registered for the sessions, which made the class huge!! And I'm pretty sure every kid, including mine, got into some sugar before class. Ms. Pam, the librarian, could only make it through one book. She had to end up singing and dancing because the kids were not paying attention to the book or they were trying to take the books off the shelf. My child was one of those! She will sit down and listen for a little bit but she loves when Ms. Pam sings and dances. I'm actually thinking about getting her into some music or gymnastic classes. Here she is before story time. Apparently, she needed her lunchbox, in case she needed a snack and mommy's sleep mask, in case she got sleepy. I had to pry these out of her hands before we went in!

(Did you notice her uneven part down the middle of her hair. Mommy can't part hair worth a crap!)

So, I've started a new game with Madeleine when I need to get something done and she insists on holding on to my leg like it is her life support. It normally happens around the time I'm preparing dinner. I will tell her, "Can you bring mommy your...." and then I name a toy or book. Usually I end up with 30 toys in my kitchen. That's usually about the time that Morgan walks in and I can tell he's thinking, "Did you clean the kitchen today?!?" insert HUGE <eye roll> He'll never say it because he knows there's a chance I might cut him! (Thirteen years people!! We know what not to say to each other!!)

Well yesterday, this game was not working! She managed to get into the pantry while I was cooking and talking on the phone. She's like a baby MacGyver and maneuvered her way around the child proof lock and managed to empty a whole bag of pretzel chips on the floor. What did I think she was doing? I thought she was looking at a book.....Wrong! And you better believe that I put those things back in the bag! 5 second rule, right?!?!

After I managed to clean that up and finish up dinner she was into my tupperware cabinet. There's no possible way she can damage anything in there, right? It's all plastic, right? Wrong, again! She threw my favorite mixing bowl on the floor and it cracked! I didn't even think that it could break..... But baby MacGyver proved me wrong, once again. I'm going to have to find another one just like it. (It was my cousins but she let me have it after I kept it for over a year.) I guess it's a good excuse for a Target trip!

Well, I should probably go buy my husband a gift, you know because it's our anniversary! Have a good one!

Oh, hey there......

It's been a while! Did you miss me? HAHAHA, just kidding. I'm not that vain.

This past weekend was pretty busy for us. We had my aunt come visit us from San Francisco. It's always nice to have family come and visit us, and it gives us a great excuse to explore more! It was also nice because I got a little "mommy time." I cherish those rare moments.

Friday during the day, while Morgan was at work, we ventured to Laguna. I know I have mentioned this before but every time I go to Laguna, I instantly think of "Laguna Beach" and Lauren Conrad. HAHA. We spent most of our time shopping the cute little boutiques and brunching. I love shopping at boutiques but the California ones are ridiculously over priced. I saw just a plain white blouse for $194. Ummmmm, NO! You can easily get that at the mall for $40 or less! But, I did find some places that were reasonably priced. I also managed to score a cute hat for $30. I love a good hat!!!

Saturday, was a "pamper" day. My aunt and I went to a day spa for a massage and facial. I am not big on massages. I don't like the pressure and I get freaked out about a stranger touching my whole body for an hour. I would just prefer if someone played with my hair for an hour! But surprisingly enough, I actually enjoyed it. The lady was really nice and she gave me the best arms massage ever! I know, I know, an arm massage? YES! I actually tried to tense up my second arm so that she would spend a little longer on it but she wasn't buying it! Lol. Now my facial, was a complete disappointment. And I love facials! The lady didn't say one word, didn't describe what she was doing and at the end she left part of some green gunk on my neck and my moisturizer was caked all over my nose! Was not impressed with her skills!!! Afterwards, Morgan and Madeleine met us for lunch and a little beach stroll. I love to see the outfits that my husband will put on her when I am not there. She was kind of a mess. But, maybe she'll have a little quirky side to her because of her daddy ;) Later that night, we stayed in a cooked a nice meal and drank gin & tonics along with wine! Can't go wrong with mixing liquors ;)

We also, started watching House of Cards on Netflix. I'm OBSESSED!!! It's like Scandal meets The West Wing (2 of my favorite shows!). I might have stayed up til 3:00 in the morning watching! I can't wait for season 2 to premiere on Friday.

Sunday we ventured to the next town, to the north of us, San Juan Capistrano. I really didn't know much about this place until my aunt mentioned that there was this famous place for brunch. It's called, The Ramos House Cafe. It's located in a historic area and it's got tons of charm! It actually sits around a mulberry tree and is the cutest little place. They use fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits from their own garden. Whatever they don't grow they buy from local farmer's markets. And let me tell you the drinks and food were amazing!!! We started off with sangria mimosas....Ummmmmm delish! Then, I had apple cinnamon beignets for a small plate and then had smoked bacon scramble with wilted rocket and apple fried potatoes. It was AMAZING!!! 

After brunch we wandered down the street to a petting zoo, ZOOMAR. And let me tell you, homegirl, Madeleine, enjoyed herself!!!! She actually fed and held some animals! It was a great way to tire her out!

 I love daddy's face!

She almost choked this guinea pig! Lol. It reminded me of Lenny from, Of Mice and Men. She's so rough!

Well, that was our fun-filled weekend. Hope you enjoyed yours'! See you guys tomorrow!

Cosmetics

I get so excited when I order something online and I know I'm going to receive a package! I'm tired of getting junk mail and bills. Bills?!?! Who needs to pay bills? Why do I need electricity?!?! It's always nice to receive "surprises" in the mail besides those "other" things/bills.

The older that I get the more I find myself really trying protect my skin. I remember when I was a teenager and even early 20's, I used to go to tanning beds (Palm Beach Tan, anybody?) and during beach trips I would lather myself up with tanning oils and lay out in the sun for hours!! My mom, of course, would lecture me about this and how I should put sunscreen on and I would regret this when I got older. Oh mom.... hush and let me enjoy my cocoa-buttered tan!  <eye roll> Moms!!!

Now a days, I don't leave the house without sunscreen on my face and neck. And if I know I'm running in a sleeveless shirt, I lather those shoulders up! If I go to the beach I usually wear a fabulous sun hat and big glasses. Don't get me wrong I still tan. Meaning that I am one of those people that can tan very easily! It's a double-edge sword in my opinion. If I didn't wear sunscreen I'd be running around Cali looking like Snooki!

I even try to use make-up with sunscreen in it. Which is why I buy RAE Cosmetics. Not only does it have coverage but it's great for us gals that tend to be more active and sweat! I have worked out in this make-up, many times, and it does not smear or run! And it doesn't break my skin out if I do that. I will be completely sweaty and it's still there!!!

Remember when we used to use face make-up from the grocery store? Like Maybelline, Cover Girl, etc. Not anymore! I have to worry about hiding some old lady wrinkles and I have to try to get rid of them! I will gladly spend more money on a quality product. Don't get me wrong, I still use Maybelline Colossal Volum' Express mascara!

(Side note: My best friend, April, trains the creator, CEO, Rochelle Rae. And Rochelle is gorgeous and super nice!! Also, this is not a paid endorsement. I just love the products!)

I actually forgot to stock up on my make-up before I left Austin so I had to order online. Which means I will be getting a package in the mail :) It's the little things with me!!!

Well, that's all I got for you! Sorry this post wasn't as interesting as others. But here's a Madeleine picture to make up for it .

 

Grouchy Pants

This weekend was a pretty busy weekend for us. And by busy, I mean I had to put something else on besides workout clothes or pajamas. If leggings are acceptable then pajama pants should be too!(Ok, rant over.)

 Friday was our typical day as far as Madeleine and I go. She did try to test my patience though. The girl loves to be outside, which I actually LOVE! But, we are in a throwing phase and we are trying to teach her to set things down instead of throwing them. Well, homegirl didn't like me correcting her and threw a ball at me! So inside we went and time-out it was.......

My mom said I was too hard on her "baby." Excuse me Mom but I used to be your "baby!" How about, she was too hard on Your baby! Oh grandparents!!!

That night we went to dinner with one of Morgan's buddies who just got back from Afghanistan. We went to Selma's, here in San Clemente, which is a Chicago-style pizzeria. It's pretty decent pizza and the portions are huge!

Saturday we went on our normal stroll to the beach and through downtown. We were hoping that our little gremlin would take a nap because we had a wet-down that afternoon.(Wet down sounds dirty but it's just a military term that means someone got promoted and they get to buy the drinks for everyone.) But, she wanted no part of a nap! She ended up falling asleep in the car which was only a 30 minute ride. I figured she would be a total nightmare but there were a a bajillion kids there and she was in hog heaven! At the party, the food was pretty much "bachelor-style." Dips, chips, pizza and beer :( On our way home we stopped and had some pretty disgusting chicken tacos. Coming from Austin, where we have the almighty Torchy's and other fantastic taco joints, this place sucks for tacos!!!

Sunday we were going over to a friend's house for the Superbowl. Of course we knew it was going to be finger foods and party foods. So we were trying to mentally prepare ourselves for a third day in a row of eating like garbage! I even made myself a green smoothie so that it would make me feel better. Morgan and I are used to eating pretty healthy-ish. So, when we eat like garbage for more than 2 days we get GROUCHY!!! Grouchy to the point where, I considered throwing him threw a window and I'm pretty sure he contemplated duct taping me and shoving me in the closet. That's what bad food does to our bodies!!! We don't do well on junk.

We were pretty much grouchy with each other until we got home and I started making out my weekly menu. I'm pretty sure I got a lady boner when I wrote the words "roasted brussel sprouts." We're going to try to eat at home this whole week because we need to detox our bodies with healthy foods! Plus, my aunt is coming into town this weekend and I'm sure that means eating out a little. The good thing is I get to pick it out and I can have something healthy!

Even with her parents' grouchiness, Madeleine, slept like a champ yesterday! Three hour nap!! We actually had to wake her up so we could go to the party. I can never sneak in her room without her waking up so I had to take advantage of her sleeping and snap a few pics. I love those little, juicy lips. Melt my heart!!

And here she is during our grocery shopping. God bless the inventor of these carts! Mommies around the country can shop without having to rush through the store :)

Now I'm off to prep dinner. We are having hummus crusted chicken with vegetables. Here's the recipe. It's the easiest dinner ever!!!!