San Antonio: Holiday Ole Market

If you live in the San Antonio area then you may have heard about Holiday Ole Market. Here is a little snippet about the event from the Junior Leaugue of San Antonio's website.

"Find unique, boutique-like SHOPPING with premiere merchants offering apparel, jewelry, children's items, home goods and original holiday items. Experience a wide array of ENTERTAINMENT options including great food, music, auctions, and much more! Net proceeds from Holiday Ole Market benefit the community programs and projects of the Junior League of San Antonio, Inc."

I'll be attending the bloggers sneak peek for this event on Wednesday. Be sure to check back here Thursday for a post all about Holiday Ole Market and what you can expect. I am beyond excited! Interested in going? Enter below for your chance to win a ticket. The giveaway will end THIS Wednesday. It's a short entry period and I'll announce the winner on Thursday! Good Luck and as always, Happy Shopping!!!

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Face to Face Fridays Link Up

Face to Face Fridays is back this week. Just to clear up any confusion you might have your video does not have to be a new or current video. Any YouTube video or blog post containing a video can be linked up. It has to be family friendly. No nakedness or twerking please. Keep it classy around these parts. Can't wait to check out everyone's videos this weekend.

Baby M's Many Faces...

One day I was taking pics of all of Baby M's expressions. I thought it would be fun to make a little something with them. So funny! 

Love all his little faces, haha!!!

San Antonio: PB & J Kids Shop

Last week I had the opportunity to check out a brand new kids shop in San Antonio. PB & J Kids is located in The Alley on Bitters and it's the cutest kids store I've visited in a long time. The owners are a sweet married couple who initially started the store because they wanted to sell crafts. After doing a little research they added baby and children's items to their store and PB & J Kids was born.

I absolutely loved that the store had an area for kids to play. What I liked even better was that because of the intimate size of the store you could actually take a look at everything while your kid played. 

There were so many cute things to see. I really loved the knitted hats and leggings hanging from the clothing pins.

PB & J is also the only store in San Antonio that carries the Lollacup that became famous on the tv show Shark Tank. See them on the middle shelf in the yellow box...

I personally loved these hot pink leggings with the leaf detail. So cute...

PB & J had tons of novelty toys and gifts. I loved the one of a kind bibs and toy airplanes...

 Here are the bibs. The owner is a retired Air Forch pilot. This "Captain" bib was my favorite of them all...

All of the bloggers enjoyed yummy snacks and we each took home one of these floral gift bags...

If you live in San Antonio be sure to check out PB & J Kids. Happy Shopping!!!

Dinner Idea: One Arm Chicken

Sunday I made the famous crockpot chicken tacos that are floating around Pinterest right now. I only used half of the chicken breasts from my pack for the tacos and needed to use the other half. I normally don't have luck with chicken breast. I asked my twitter friends to tweet me some of their favorite chicken breast recipes and I was very happy with the suggestions. 

I got a tweet from Walmart. (yes that Walmart) They suggested that I check out their chicken dinner Pinterest board. (I didn't event know they were on Pinterest.) There were a lot of good recipes on their board. I found a picture of a meal that looked pretty good and easy enough for me to whip up. I couldn't find the actual recipe to accompany the photo so I tried my best to replicate what I saw. Here it is. My "One Arm Chicken". I will explain how I named this dish after the recipe.

Season both sides of your chicken breasts with this...

Heat your frying pan/skillet and pour in some olive oil and a scoop of butter...

Also pour in a little white cooking wine and some minced garlic (not pictured)

Once your butter is melted a good bit add your chicken to the pan...

Cook until done... Flip the chicken to brown it on both sides...

Once the chicken is done remove it from the pan...

Pour a little of the white cooking wine in your pan to loosen up any of the chicken bits and flavor...

For the sauce: Add some minced garlic (to taste) and dried basil (i sprinkle in A LOT) to your pan. Pour in a cup of cream. Drain a can of diced tomatoes (you can always use fresh) and add that as well. Cook this on low for a few minutes. Drain the mushrooms. Add them to the pan...

Once your sauce thickens a bit. Add the chicken back to the pan and cover it. Cook on low for about 15 minutes...

It should look like this once it is done... (I know it looks a lot like the first pic but you should see a difference.)

This is my husband's plate...

The potatoes were roasted in the oven and the broccoli was steamed... This chicken was AMAZING!

And I called this recipe "One Arm Chicken" because I cooked it with one arm, haha! I know this may not be the healthiest meal with all the cream but every now and then I have to cheat. I don't normally use canned mushrooms but they were a great alternative. It would have been really hard to chop mushrooms holding a baby. Normally I'm able to put the baby in one of my wraps or carriers when he's fussy but today he wanted the real thing. 

Oh. And not to be out done Savannah drew an entire picture on the counter tops. Thank goodness for anti-bacterial wipes. They clean everything.

Will you be trying this recipe? What are some of your favorite chicken breast meals?

Video Diary 9222013

The first day of Fall and I'm a little excited!

Chic Mom Style: A Tee and Jeans

Today we went out to run a couple errands and grab lunch. The typical family Saturday outing. I wanted to wear something relaxed, casual and cute. I decided to wear a cute tee and some skinny jeans. I scored the tee shirt during the big Labor Day sale that Express had. My sneakers are the Steve Madden wedge sneakers that I've been wanting since last year. I was able to get them at half the price during the Nordstrom Labor Day sale. The jeans are my favorite skinny jeans. They're probably six years old by now and they have the best fit. Skinny but not skin tight. 

Oh. And I wore my hair up in a top knot. It's so rare that my hair is straight and I'm loving wearing it up. I bought some of the marley hair I need to make twists so I'm thinking about attempting that this coming week. We're having our family portraits done tomorrow so I may start them after that.

What do you think of my easy Saturday style?

Give a Minute. Help Make-A-Wish

Happy Friday! Although none of us want to admit the holiday season is THIS CLOSE to rearing is cheerful head. One of the best ways to get in the spirit a little early is to give back. During the month of September Straight Talk Wireless is donating $1 to Make-A-Wish for each person that takes a minute to  learn about Straight Talk at their participating Wal-Mart. 

Straight Talk will donate a minimum of $500,000 and up to $1,000,000. If you don't live near a Wal-Mart you can still give back by sharing and viewing this video. Your views will help toward the overall million dollar goal. Great, right?  This is the second year that Straight Talk has hosted this program. Last year they were able to meet their million dollar goal! 

Like Straight Talk, we want to help grant a sick child's wish. So, if you're in the market for a new cell phone or thinking about gifting one this holiday season please learn more about Straight Talk's service. They have an unlimited plan for $45 per month that is perfect for a texting talking data needing teenager. 

I participated in this sponsored campaign for One2One Network. All opinions stated are my own.

Mommy Reflections: What I've Learned So Far

I can not believe my baby girl is three already. Whoa. Time sure is flying. I remember the day she was born. She was a tiny little angel with bright pink lips. Her hair was jet black. I held her as much as I could and she went every where I did. Always. She was my precious sweet little baby.

Fast forward three years and here we are. She's a big girl now. She's full of imagination. Her bright eyes fill me up. She's still my baby but she's a big girl now. I find myself thinking about how we got to where we are. She's so smart and funny.

This past three years has taught me a lot. I've learned to be less stressed about the little things. I still struggle with it but it helps so much not to get all worked up over every little thing. Perhaps the biggest lesson that I have learned is to keep things simple. As parents we want to create all these amazing memories for our kids and I think sometimes we forget that you don't always have to be over the top and perfect. Savannah has reminded me that it's the little things that she enjoys. I don't have to throw her big parties or fancy play dates. I don't have to spend a lot of money or buy her the latest greatest toy. All she wants from me is my attention and time. Both of those things are free. 

I am reminded that children are just like adults in many ways. All they want is to know that someone is paying attention to them. They want to know that someone cares about what they have to say and how they feel. You don't need superMom powers for that. You don't have to be the craftiest Pinterest pinning Mama for that. All you have to be is yourself. After all, God chose me to be her mother so I am enough just the way I am. Of course, there's nothing wrong with trying or learning new things but I am enough just like this. 

As I am coming into my own as a Mom I keep reminding myself that the tough times are temporary. She won't always be this little. She won't always be this busy. She won't always need me. While she still does it's important that I soak it up. I have to learn to slow down and not just go through the motions of the day. I am learning that every moment that we have together (even her sassy testy moments) are times that I should enjoy. I've got to become better at taking a deep breath and not letting every time she misbehaves send me to a bad place. It's not always that serious.

I must remember that she's only three. It's not fair to her for me to expect her to behave any older than that. So I've learned to appreciate the days where she acts five and understand the days where she struggles with growing up. It's going to happen. I won't always be the perfect Mom and she won't always be the perfect kid -- And it's all going to be OK.

Giveaway: The Juppy Baby Walker

We haven't done a giveaway around here in a while. Since I just had a baby I've been looking at all the new baby products that are out now. Of course there are tons. When I came across the opportunity to check out the Juppy baby walker I couldn't pass it up. 

It's so cool. When I was teaching Savannah how to walk I remember it being a very fun but crazy time. She was wiggling all over the place and there I was trying to help her. My back would be all hunched over and she'd be doing her best to show me her new moves. A product like the Juppy would have come in so handy for me then. Luckily, I'll have one when Baby M starts learning to walk.

There are so many things to love about the Juppy. I personally love the fact that you can take it with you because it fits into a pouch small enough to go in your purse. This means that when I take Savannah to play dates or the park I can use the Juppy with Baby M. Perfect!

From the Juppy Baby Walker site:

What is The Juppy Baby Walker "Momentum"?

"The Juppy "Momentum" is a solution to a previously recognized but unsolved challenge for parents of babies beginning to walk. Babies strong enough to  begin walking but not strong enough to walk alone. The Juppy builds confidence in your baby and teaches balance while you maintain your  natural posture, eliminating the grueling task of hunching over while teaching your baby to walk. "

Enter now for your chance to win! Good Luck!

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Chic Link Up: Face to Face Fridays Week Four

Hi everyone! If you're new to this link up thanks for joining us! We don't have many rules here. The only thing that I ask is that your link contain a video. It can be a link to your blog post with video or a link to a video on YouTube. All are welcome!

Feel free to tweet, FB, Google+, grab the button (it's in the sidebar) and share. I'd love to see some new faces around here. Have a great weekend!

The Beach vs. An Amusement Park

So here's the thing. My baby girl asked for a trip to the beach for her birthday. Of course the weekend that we're suppose to be frolicking in the sand and sun mother nature decides to call for a little rain. Now I'm stuck with trying to figure out a quick plan B. My husband has already taken off from work so there's a part of me that feels like we should just go and make the best of it.

I considered taking her to a local amusement park as a plan B. After calling and speaking to someone about their water park admission I learned that it would be $75 for our little family. Our general admission is free since active duty military get one free trip to the park this year. However, I just can't see spending $75 to go swimming.  Maybe I'm being cheap but I see that $75 as gas money to the beach. Round trip.

So in true Mommy fashion I have spent the day researching other activities for us just in case we get rained out. Hopefully the rain will provide cooler weather for the baby. One can only hope. Anyway, I will be doing laundry and packing for this getaway for the rest of the evening. I can't believe my baby girl will be three next week. Time flies. What is she going to want for her birthday when she's 16 if she's already asking for beach trips at three?

Chic Mom Style

Alright. I said that I was going to share when I wore the Pinterest inspired denim cut off shorts outfit. I feel like this pic isn't really doing the outfit justice, haha! It looked great! Instead of the Tory Burch leopard print shoes from the inspiration pic I paired my outfit with my gold spiked toe Sam Edelman flats.

Since I was planning on getting matched up for some new makeup my face is fresh.

Here I am trying on some booties. (That are now living in my closet!) Check out my husband wearing the ergo and photo bombing me in the background, haha!

Shirt - Express (The Portofino Shirt) Shorts - H&M Booties - Steve Madden Flats - Sam Edelman Watch - Michael Kors Bangle - a gift

Face to Face Fridays Week Three...

Welcome to week three of Face to Face Fridays! Every week the link up gets more interest from fellow bloggers. Very exciting! Hopefully, we'll start seeing some of those faces around here soon!

Remember, on the First Friday of the month we'll be chatting about a certain topic. This week we're sharing five things we're most proud of ourselves for. The link up will be open until Tuesday. 

I hope you enjoy my video. Of course, Sav makes a brief cameo. :-)

I'll be checking out everyone's videos this weekend. Happy Friday!

eShakti Fall Collection

I wanted to quickly share a promo offer that just hit my inbox! You all know how much I love eShakti. Well, their Fall Collection is now available and it's full of feminine classic modern items. Remember eShakti always has your size because you can provide your measurements and have the items customized to fit you. It's like having a personal seamstress and tailor via the web and I love it! 

You know I've been doing a lot of online shopping lately and any time I find out about a great sale I spread the word on my Facebook page. Here is another offer. Take 20% off while you shop eShakti's Fall Collection. They have everything from the very now menswear inspired look to the very pretty cobalt blue. I can not wait to start scrolling through their new line. Check me out in some of my past favorite eShakti looks.

Hello September...

I can not believe it is already September. This is a very fun month for our family. I spent the majority of Labor Day weekend laying in bed fighting sinus pressure and shopping online. I got some great deals! Very excited about getting all those shipments this week. 

All of Savannah's activities start back up this month and I could not be more excited. It is going to feel so good to have a scheduled activity every day. We'll be out and about Tuesday thru Thursday. On Mondays and Fridays we'll do more "Preschool at Home" activities, run errands, clean and do whatever else the house needs. Savannah will also be turning three in a couple weeks. This year she wanted a trip to the beach for her birthday so we'll be having a family party/getaway. I'm not even mad or sad about her not wanting a party. That's one less thing for me to plan...

We'll probably at least have cake and ice cream with her girlfriends though, but that's it.

I've been trying to gather things for our beach trip and plan my outfits. I found a cute outfit on Pinterest that seemed really easy and comfy. Since it was repinned over 200 times I decided to recreate the look. Cute, right? Can't wait to share my finished look!

I also want to try something different with my hair. I'm not sure if I want to put in some marley twists or if I should invest in a good flat iron and wear my hair straight or blown out. I would really love to do the twists but from the reviews I've read they don't really last that long. We'll see.

I'm so ready for this much needed break. My husband's birthday is at the end of the month so we'll be celebrating all month long. As I've said before Fall is my favorite season. I'm looking forward to this season and all the changes that will come with it!