12.15.2016

My Favorite Things: Baby Edition

To go along with my personal favorite things, here is a post with my favorite baby things! I partnered with The Baby Cubby for this post and want to take a minute to tell you why. I had the chance to visit their brick and mortar store in Utah back in April. I was so impressed! I didn't even realize they had an online shop until recently! It is a very cool and unique store. They carry the big brand items which is nice, but I loved it because they carry some of the cute, small shop baby goods that I follow on Instagram. Plus they had a cute, little play area for the kiddos to entertain themselves while you shop.

Before we had Lucy I spent HOURS researching ALL the gear to make sure I was getting the best product for the best price. The Baby Cubby spends hundreds of hours researching products so that you don't have to waste your life away. Their team is made up of parents who know what it's like. They also price match everyday--even with Amazon--and offer free shipping nationwide for purchases over $49. Go check them out at Babycubby.com. You can also find them across social media. I like seeing their toy tutorials on their Instagram to learn about some of the cool toys out there. I truly think they are a cool company or else I wouldn't have agreed to share about their store.

1: Happy Baby Wrap: I will forever sing the praise of these things! I wore Lucy in a wrap almost everyday for the first few months but still here and there for up to a year. The ergo seemed too big and clunky for a newborn and we didn't have the infant insert. This is how I cooked, cleaned, grocery shopped, ran errands, went through the airport and got some baby snuggles in. I had the Solly baby, but the Happy Baby wrap is the same thing for a cheaper price point. Win-win. Not to mention the wrap makes a pretty cute accessory ;).

2. BOB stroller: Love this thing. My main pitch to Duke for buying it was for all the running I was going to do post-baby. That was very ambitious of me ;). It is a fantastic running stroller and I have done a bit of running with it. However I love how it is all terrain. You can really take this thing anywhere. We bring this thing to the beach and it rolls through that sand like nobody's business. You're average stroller will not do that!

3. Covered Goods: I know there is a whole movement right now to normalize breastfeeding and that is good and great. But not everyone is comfortable bearing all, and I think it is polite when other men are around to cover up. This thing was REALLLY nice being a first time mom that had no idea how to nurse at first. Instead of dealing with a blanket or even one of those things that hangs around your neck, you are completely covered 360. I really loved mine and got a lot of use out of it in the beginning when I needed it. I got better at being discreet as Lucy got older. This brand has a ton of cute styles.

4. Ergo 360: So you may wonder, do you really need a wrap and an ergo?? My answer is yes :). The wrap is awesome for little babies, but the ergo still works for Lucy who is 2. I actually started off with the regular Ergo, but after trying out my sister's Ergo 360 I upgraded. The 360 lets you wear the baby facing out, in, or in some kind of sling position that I've never bothered to figure out. We love this when hiking or at the airport.

5. Freshly Picked Moccasins: I love cute things so naturally these made the cut. Lucy's first shoes were a pair of moccasins and we've received lots of compliments on them over the past couple years. I started off buying cheaper brand knockoffs, but recently bought my first pair of Freshly Picked. They are the ones who really popularized them and they have extremely cute and always changing styles. If you want a cute kid, you gotta go for the moccs!

6. BabyLit books: These are really cute books based on classic literature stories. I'm a sucker for the cute illustrations.

7. Swaddles: Gotta have the swaddles! Use them as a blanket, a swaddle, a burp cloth, a car seat cover, a changing pad, whatever you want. These Little Unicorn swaddles have a ton of cute prints. Can't go wrong.

8. Puj Tub: I bought this tub based on a few things-1. I like the way it looked, 2, it had good reviews, and 3, I really did not want a bulky tub that I had to store somewhere. This lays totally flat when not in use and we just hang it on the back of our door on a hook. It is the best baby tub out there if you ask me!

Thank you to the Baby Cubby for partnering with me for this post! 

12.12.2016

My favorite things

I'm no Oprah, but I have some favorite things too. I love when people share their favorite things, so I thought I'd share some of mine!

1. Maskcara HAC Pallate: This is a foundation/blush/illumator pallate that was developed by the beauty blogger Cara Brook of Maskcara. I bought it about a year ago and loved it, but when I ran out of my highlight color I decided to to go back to bareminerals and then estee lauder. A couple days ago I went back to this and wondered why I ever strayed. It seriously is amazing and SO easy to use and I feel pretty when I use it. She has a ton of tutorials on her website and is really helpful if you need help identifying your shade. Also their customer service is amazing! I ordered too light a color back in May, used it twice, and then just set it aside. I just emailed them and they are going to exchange it for me. I can't recommend enough!

2. Zella Live-in Leggings: These are my favorite leggings I have ever owned. And I've owned a few in my lifetime. I actually bought mine 3 years ago and they are still my very favorite. I've never worn lululemon, but I have heard they are comparable, but for much cheaper! I also read somewhere that Zella hired an old Lululemon product manager to develop their line, so there's that. Also! I've seen them in Nordstrom's anniversary sale several times. Yay for deals!

3. NARS Lip Pencil: I've been obsessed with these for several years too. They are just the best! My favorite color is Luxembourg, but they are all good and have their place. They're a little pricey for lipstick, but they go on like butter and stay really well. NARS is my personal favorite for lipsticks.

4. Boom Chicka Pop: A list of my favorite things would not be complete without food. These two popcorns have been my go-to snack the last few months. I'm a big snacker and need something to munch on without eating 5000 calories. Especially while I've been doing my sugar fast this month the regular flavor has been my best friend. I literally go through a bag every 2 days or so eek!

5. Olaplex: Ok hi, this stuff is amazing! Back in October I did an all-over bleach and my hair basically died. It was real bad. I was using Living Proof's Restorative Mask overnight every time I washed my hair, and although I believe that stuff is great, my hair still sucked. I just got my hair done by someone else and she did a salon olaplex treatment and my hair is CHANGED! It's honestly back to it's pre-bleached state and it is truly amazing! You can read more about it on their site if you are curious. I just ordered an at home treatment Olaplex no. 3 (pictured). The salon treatment is called Olaplex no. 2 and is just a more concentrated product if I understand correctly. I bought mine on Amazon naturally.

6. Peppermint M&M's: My one true holiday love has been the peppermint Hershey kisses for a long time. And I still love them. But I discovered these recently (right before my sugar fast of course!). I think they taste more or less the same and you can eat more for less calories. Win-win. Although it didn't take me more than a few days to eat the whole bag.

Maybe you'll find something you like too! I think I'll try to do this more regularly!

12.11.2016

Okinawa Bullfighting

 In March we finally went to our first bullfight! This tradition is unique to Okinawa I believe. The bulls fight until one gives up or runs away basically. There were some fights that were really quick and others that lasted a while and I could see blood coming out of their heads from the horns digging in :(. It was interesting to watch though and I was so glad we made it to one! And sorry for all the random blog posts coming up that were from way earlier this year!  
 The winner gets draped with this cloth
 little cheeser^
 some fav oki friends who came with us^
 visiting the bulls outside the arena

Easter 2016

 Back in March we had Easter haha. Lucy was only 17 months in these pictures!! I guess the fun part of playing blog catch up is looking at how much she has changed in such a short time! Lucy had the easter egg thing down pat. It seemed like it was intuitive. We first went to a church Easter egg hunt and she needed no instructions, she just went for it! Picking up any egg in her path. We were so proud ;). We also did a little one for her in our backyard on Easter. I don't even think there was anything in those eggs. It was just for the joy of putting the eggs in the basket!
these two!

12.09.2016

Lucy turns 2

Our sweet little Lucy Joy turned 2 years old on October 25! My family sang to Lucy and I both before we flew back to Okinawa and then we waited to celebrate Lucy's birthday with friends until Duke got home. Oh my little Lucy, where do I start? She has truly been my greatest challenge in life but also my greatest joy and fulfillment. Funny how those go hand in hand. Luckily the joy is what makes the demands and challenges of motherhood so worth it. This stage she is in right now is my favorite. She is saying more words, and although it's really difficult to distinguish what she is saying at times, I still feel like, hey! we're communicating! This is awesome! She loves to smoosh her face against mine really hard and hug my neck tight. It's a little uncomfortable, but heart-meltingly sweet. She's learning her shapes and she knows her colors for the most part. When she's watching something about colors on tv or reading in a book, she goes around the room and points to everything that is the same color. She loves animals and animal noises. She's become more concerned with Winston these days, which she pronounces "nin-nin". If he is upstairs sleeping, but not on his bed, she insists that he "comes" to his bed. Or if we fill up his food or water bowl, she thinks he needs to get over there right away and eat. I'm not sure how Winston feels about it all. My favorite though is when Winston runs out the door and I raise my voice to yell, "winston!" "come!" and she does the same. Kills me every time!

I think she is going through a growth spurt right now. She's been sleeping in till about 9/930 and the other day I had to wake her up at 11!!!!! I was starting to get concerned, but today she woke up at 830. We put her down at about 8 these days. I like to think of it as her Christmas present to me!

Lucy, when you read this later on in life I hope you know how much we love you! We love you like crazy! We always try to let you beat to your own drum as you like to do and live life the way you'd like. I hope you continue your determined attitude and love for life. I'm so happy I get to be your mama! And I can't believe it's been 2 years!
 The rest of these are from her birthday party. I found this unicorn cake on pinterest and knew I had to find someone to make it! I used SugarArt here in Okinawa and I highly recommend her. The ears, eyes and horn were made with while chocolate-no fondant! Although it started getting droopy ears bc it was so hot outside. whoops. But the whole cake tasted AMAZING! 
 The bubble maker was a hit^
 My little birthday girl!
 She went to TOWN on that unicorn horn! What are birthday's for if not a sugar coma?!
 Her friend drew had just dumped out all the balls and Lucy is saying "do???" what did you do?!
 little cute friends
It was fun watching her actually unwrap her presents for the first time. She's just too much!