Weekend Recap: Celebrations

Finally getting to my weekend recap!  This past weekend was so busy, it flew by so quickly.  I feel like I blinked and it was Monday.

Friday we took off from work to head down to Philadelphia for my friend from college, Troy's wedding.  As always, the drive took way longer than it should have.  We arrived just in time to get ready/dressed and head to the shuttle.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful and it was so good to see some of my college friends.  We had lots of fun reminicing and celebrating the happy couple.

The ceremony took place with a really pretty view of the city in the background.  

The wedding programs were so adorable!  They had lots of cute details and little touches all throughout the wedding.  She definitely spent some time on Pinterest!!

Hannah stayed with my mom and her Aunt Emily!  My aunts and cousins came to visit and they had a little girl's night (plus AJ)!

Here is a picture they sent me in the afternoon.

Saturday morning we headed back from Philly.  After another long drive we got home in time to rest briefly and then get ready again for a celebration dinner for Alise.  We went to a really great dinner at a new restaurant in town.

For being out so close to her bedtime with very little napping that day, Hannah was such a good girl!  She loves to be out!  She also had her very first restaurant spill (first of many if she is anything like her mommy!)  She was sitting on my lap and somehow knocked over my water.  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised she reaches and tries to touch everything.  I put a piece of pretzel in my plate and her little hand was on it faster than I could catch it!!

Sunday we were planning on a productive day but Michael got a migraine first thing in the morning and before I knew it, it was 7PM and I was still in my pajamas and nothing on our list got done.

I only managed to take one picture.  Hannah was in her bumbo watching a little TV in the morning while Michael rested.

I did manage to get some great video of Hannah on Friday morning before we left for the wedding of her jumping and doing a lot of "talking."  It was the most noise I have ever heard her make.  Unfortunately it is still sitting on our camera, so hope to share some of that soon.  I will work on getting some pictures of all the new things she is doing.  She is dying to be on the move.  She has started to go backwards and it is just a matter of time before she figures out how to go forwards (and then Michael turns into a baby proofing crazy person!)

Favorite Things Under $10 - Headbands!!

I am doing another link up today with Momfessionals and A Little Bit of Everything to share my favorite thing from this past month under $10.

Baby Bling Knot Headband

These have been my absolute favorite thing from this past month and they ring in right at the $10 limit.  They are so soft and I love how they look on Hannah.  She has the ivory, hot pink and aqua.  I really need to get her more colors!!  

Here she is playing with her bestie Alise this past weekend, rocking her hot pink headband!

At lunch last weekend in the aqua.

Thank you Mom and Emily for buying them for Hannah!!

I have a few other headbands on their way in the mail, hoping I love them just as much!  I am obsessed!

Craft: Butterfly Footprint Art

I wanted to get my mom something unique from Hannah for her birthday.  Since Hannah is too little to help make something herself, I set out on Pinterest in search of something to make.  Anyone that knows me well knows that I am not a very crafty person.  I really really wish I were.  I love crafts and the idea of being able to make things yourself; however, my craft attempts are known to end in tears. I inevitably mess them up every time.  This time my desire to make something different won out against my hesitation to craft and I found this for inspiration.

This colors would look really cute in Hannah's nursery.

A quick trip to the craft store and we were ready to go!

Hannah is not so sure this is a good idea.

During the first attempt, I dipped her foot directly into the paint.

The paint turned out gloppy and it wasn't quite the look I was hoping for.  After a quick clean of her feet we attempted it again, this time painting her foot with the brush.

Doesn't she look thrilled?  :)

(Excuse her wet diaper and our messy kitchen!)

Seriously has she ever had more fun?  

Still not exactly what I was hoping for but much better than the first attempt.  

I let it dry and then painted on the rest of the butterfly, her name and age.

It wasn't exactly how I wanted it to turn out but being crafting impaired I think the fact that we accomplished it at all was a success.  So successful in fact, I am thinking of doing it again.  I would love to keep one on my desk at work and make another for the wall of her nursery.

My mom absolutely loved her gift!!  From the looks on Hannah's face during the process she may share my feelings on crafting!  Let's hope she is a little more creative than her mommy!!  

Friday Favorites: Make Up

My absolute favorite moment from this week came from Hannah but it was not caught on camera, so it won't make for a very exciting blog post.  So this week I am going to explain my favorite moment and then I will share my favorite make up products for Friday Favorites.  Linking up again with: Momfessionals, A Little Bit of Everything, and Grace and Love.

My favorite moment from the week:

Hannah has started to do this jumping thing sort of like a little frog.  When you are holding her up and she is standing, she crouches down like a frog and then starts to jump.  It is too cute!  On Wednesday when I got home from work, my mom was holding her and she got so excited she started to squeal and do her frog jump.  She normally is happy to see me and greets me with big smiles when I get home, but this was a whole new level of excited.  When I went out of the room to put my purse and the mail down she cried.  I loved it!! (not the crying part)

I am going to do my best to get pictures and video of the frog jumping and a few other new sounds and things Hannah has done this past week over the weekend and share them next week.  It feels like she has done so many new things this week!

Now onto my make up favorites!!

As I have shared before, I am a product junkie.  One of my absolute favorite things to buy is make up.  I love reading blogs about other peoples "must have" make up items and watching YouTube video tutorials on applying make up.  It is so dangerous though!  Once I get in the make up mood and start focusing my blog reading on that, I immediately start filling up carts online at Sephora, Nordstrom, etc...  Most of the time I never end up actually purchasing anything though.  Make up is an expensive habit!

One day when we buy our first home, I hope for a big vanity area that I can organize all my make up and display it in acrylic storage containers.  Maybe something like this.  :)

 A girl can dream!

Anyway, today I wanted to share my favorite make up products.  When I consider something a favorite when it comes to make up, it means I love it so much I would probably be close to tears if it got discontinued.  Not that that has every happened before :)

1.  Paula Dorf Sweep Away

My first favorite is actually a make up remover.  I put this at the top of my list since I always have at least two unopened ones in my medicine cabinet at once (just in case), then one in use and another in my travel bag.  I have tried TONS of other make up removers and nothing comes close to this one.  It doesn't burn or irritate my eyes at all and gets pretty much all my eye make up off the first time.  I typically stock up on these during Beauty.com's sales.

2.  Urban Decay Naked Eye Shadow Palette

I have the original Naked palette and think it is great when creating an every day natural eye (I use the first color on the left and the fifth color from the left every single day) and also great for creating a more dramatic eye for going out at night.  I have had this for a pretty long time and haven't run out of any colors - so definitely worth the $50.  I would love to get the Naked 2 and 3 palettes one day!

3.  MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Engraved 

I have been using this eye pencil for YEARS!!  I think it stays perfectly on my upper and lower water lines without any issue.  When I am going for a more dramatic eye liner look I absolutely love my Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in black ink but for every day use, I can't live without my MAC!

4.  Mary Kay Lash Love Mascara 

I have tried lots of different mascaras and for awhile I fell in love with a Chanel mascara that was just too expensive to keep buying.  Then a saw a video on YouTube with rave reviews for this Mary Kay mascara and I thought I would give it a try.  I absolutely loved it and think it works exactly like the much more expensive Chanel mascara (and half the price!!).  There is something about the brush that just makes the application so easy!

5.  Anastasia Perfect Brow Pencil

I am relatively new to filling in my brows but this product seriously makes it so easy!!  I was always afraid to try filling in my brows in fear that they would look fake and drawn on.  I think this pencil helps fill them in and make them still look very natural in the process.

6.  Laura Geller Bronze-n-Brighten in Regular

I have always had a hard time with bronzers but this one I really like.  The different shades all blend really nicely together and it isn't sparkly.  I have also found that I can use it year round and it adjust nicely to my skin tone whether I am pale or tan.

I would love to know what some of your "must have" make up products?  I am always on the hunt for good under eye concealers and bb creams - any favorites?  Has a product being discontinued ever brought you to near tears?  

Have a great weekend!!

Congratulations Alise!!!

I had a post planned for today to show Hannah's craft that we made for my mom's birthday but things have been a little busy this week so I never got around to writing it.  I will definitely share it next week. I was just going to chalk things up to being busy and not post anything today until we got some GREAT news!!

One of my very best friends, Alise,  finally got a job teaching second grade!!  I am so beyond proud of her for never giving up on her dream of becoming a teacher, no matter how hard things got.  You always had faith that it would happen and I could not be any happier for you!!  Those kids are so lucky to have her for a teacher!!

After work, I quickly ran around to the store and did some quick sign making (proud of myself for not messing it up!  Usually I get Alise's help with sign making!)  We surprised Alise when she got home from babysitting on her front lawn.  Hannah is very happy for her bestie!!

We love you Alise!!

 

McGrath Family Photos

I shared a picture of Hannah on Friday from our McGrath family photos that we received back from the photographer last week and I wanted to share some more of my favorites from the day of Hannah and our beautiful nieces and handsome nephews.  We took the pictures back in the end of June.  It was such a fun time to be together - although getting 10 kids to cooperate and look at the camera was not easy!  It caused for some very silly antics from the adults.  I wish we had photos of what was going on behind the camera!!

(All of the pictures are by Rachel from Sugarshots Photography, she is super patient and awesome!)

Here are my favorites of just Hannah.

These are my favorite group shots with just the kids.

Now with Grandma and Grandpa.

It is so surreal for me to see Hannah in these pictures.  Back when Michael and I first started dating, and I would stalk his Facebook pictures, I remember seeing pictures of a big beautiful family on the beach.  I later learned that they take a family trip every summer to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and at the end of the trip they take a family picture on the beach.  So cute!  The first summer we were dating Michael invited me on the trip and I got to be in the picture.  We weren't dating very long at the time but I remember how special it felt to feel like a part of the family.

My first OBX trip in 2009.  The kids have grown up so much!!

Now seeing Hannah in pictures with her cousins and grandparents (the very same people from the Facebook photos just over 5 years ago) is so crazy.  I was so close to my cousins growing up and I am glad that Hannah has so many McGrath cousins, since it will probably be awhile before she has any cousins on my side.  The thought of her running around one day and playing with them makes me so happy.  She is so lucky to get to be a part of such a loving and close family (we both are!).