This week...

I kinda like this list style blogging so you're getting it for one more day.

This week...

...we finished my table and chairs! I'm so in love! I'll post a dining room reveal with better pictures when everything is done.

...this man made his way to his place in the table, at least through the end of football season. A nutcracker that's a football player? Yes, please!

...on Wednesday I laid in bed and drank tea and caught up on TV (Chicago Fire=hunk fest) and napped for four glorious hours. Just what the doctor ordered!

I got my assignment for the It's Just Emmy garland exchange! I cannot wait to get started on it this weekend!

Clay learned to blow kisses...sorta. Sometimes he actually does it but sometimes when you blow him a kiss, he sticks out his hand like he's catching it. Awwwwwwwww.

Linking up with Lauren and Jeannett!

 

Maybe...

...I took yesterday off from life for a few hours. I worked 26 hours in two days and my brother is in the hospital and I just needed a break. It was amazing.

...I'll start wearing real clothes once the fall weather comes. For now though, with this 80 degree weather, you'll be finding me in running shorts and a men's white tee (best purchase I've ever made- how do they make those shirts so soft???).

...the only way I get a shower in the morning is because of this ExerSaucer and a bribe of Cheerios.

...it takes me an average of five takes to get the picture I want. Do I go back and delete the bad ones? Uhh, maybe when my phone starts acting up and tells me I'm low on storage. It's not like there are 4,000+ pictures on my phone or anything...

...I have my first friend on my sidebar! Go check out Kelli at She Crab Soup! One of my favorite posts of her's is this one where she gives you ideas on what to do when the football game gets boring (besides obsessively checking your fantasy score like I do).

...Clay got this look from me. Maybe he got it from his dad. Either way this kid LUCKED out because he inherited some awesome looks from both of us.

...I've become a day of, afternoon blogger. Because, why not?

...I broke my own rule and put my Halloween decorations out before October 1st.

...I really like this list style of blogging. I shall do it more often.

 

Clay is ONE!

I guess it's about time to talk about Clay's birthday party. Ya know, since it was a month ago...

Remember my inspiration?

Here's what we ended up with:

I'm sad that I didn't get a better picture of the table! You can barely see the little football can holders I made for the utensils at the end! The sweet AstroTurf koozies I made were probably one of my favorite things about Clay's party and the most stressful. Maybe one day when I've forgotten the pain I'll write a tutorial...

Instead of hanging the football banner on the table I decided to make twelve of them and use them to display Clay's monthly pictures. It turned out so perfectly I'm trying to figure out if I can get away with hanging it up somewhere...

Here's a picture of Clay with Aunt Amy in front of the photo backdrop she made. Isn't it so cute??

Apparently fire is funny??

I kinda failed and didn't take a better picture of the cake...but anyway, it came from Edible Art on Selwyn for all you Charlotteans.

Clay was all smiles pretty much for the whole party!

Clay's party was so much fun and I'm so glad I was able to do all of the decorations myself. Most of them I'm going to keep for future football parties and you might even see that burlap reappear when I do my new dining room reveal! I'm not going to write tutorials on everything right now but if you have questions about how I made something, don't hesitate to ask!

I'm really happy with how everything turned out and might already be collecting ideas for next year!

Linking up with Time for Mom!

Clay is ONE!

I guess it's about time to talk about Clay's birthday party. Ya know, since it was a month ago...

Remember my inspiration?

Here's what we ended up with:

I'm sad that I didn't get a better picture of the table! You can barely see the little football can holders I made for the utensils at the end! The sweet AstroTurf koozies I made were probably one of my favorite things about Clay's party and the most stressful. Maybe one day when I've forgotten the pain I'll write a tutorial...

Instead of hanging the football banner on the table I decided to make twelve of them and use them to display Clay's monthly pictures. It turned out so perfectly I'm trying to figure out if I can get away with hanging it up somewhere...

Here's a picture of Clay with Aunt Amy in front of the photo backdrop she made. Isn't it so cute??

Apparently fire is funny??

I kinda failed and didn't take a better picture of the cake...but anyway, it came from Edible Art on Selwyn for all you Charlotteans

Clay was all smiles pretty much for the whole party!

Clay's party was so much fun and I'm so glad I was able to do all of the decorations myself! Most of them I'm going to keep for future football parties and you might even see that burlap reappear when I do my new dining room reveal! I'm not going to write tutorials on everything right now but if you have questions about how I made something, don't hesitate to ask!

 

My favorite recipe. EVER.

So we all know how obsessed I am with the food blog Pinch of Yum, written by the wonderful Lindsay. I first found this recipe on her site way back in April and have made it several times since! I love it because it's quick to prep, has 5ish ingredients (it's customizable), it's healthy and it can be eaten a ton of different ways. Without further adieu I present:

Crockpot Mexican Chicken!

I know. You're in love already, as you should be. Here's the link to Lindsay's original recipe and here's how I've been making it lately:

• 1 pound of chicken breast


• 2 cans of low sodium black beans, rinsed well (sometimes I change it up and do pinto beans)


• 1 packet of low sodium taco seasoning


• 1 jar of salsa


• 1/2 package of frozen corn

Throw all the ingredients in the crockpot, stir, cook on high for 4 hours. When it's done, pull it apart with forks (easy!).

There you have it. Be prepared for this deliciousness:

Ways you can eat Crockpot Mexican Chicken:

• As a dip


• On a taco or burrito


• On a salad


• Blend it up and use it for baby food (Clay LOVED this dish)


• By the spoonful

So there you have it. I try to freeze half of this when I make it and it tastes just as good thawed out later!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMEMT: If you own a crock pot, go buy some of the liners for it! My aunt got me five (!) boxes of liners for Christmas and it's sooooo much easier to just throw the liner away than to have to soak and scrub the pot!

Linking up with:

 

 

Training Thursday

As I've mentioned on here several times, I'm signed up to run my first half marathon in November. Now we're officially under the two month mark. How's training going, you ask? Well, I started on Monday. Yes, I know. Buuuut, I'm choosing to be positive about this situation. My only goal going into this was to finish so I'm sticking to it!

I haven't really ran since July. It's been a hot summer and the only time of the day I had to run was between 11-4. You know, the hottest time of day. So that just didnt happen. But now that it's cooling down, I'm back at it!

I decided to keep it easy on Monday just to test the waters...I probably could have ran further than a mile and now I'm kicking myself for not going further! However, I did run the entire mile without stopping!

When I was running I remembered how good it felt to run! I only wish my running buddy Liz wasn't all preggers and stuff (jk! I can't wait to meet Clay's BFF)! I do miss her so but I'm excited that my cousin Rachel is running the half too! She's gonna rock it- she's already on her fifth week of training!

Besides starting to run again, I started eating clean last month- well, for the most part! There have been a few slip ups but I can already tell I'm losing fat and I feel so much better! I really thought that eating clean was going to be hard but it's not. It just requires a bit of planning which I like doing anyway :) Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing my favorite clean recipes!

That's all for now! Hopefully next week I'll have more training to report!

 

Dear Clay,

Dear Clay,

By the time you read this I will probably have long since stopped calling you "pumpkin butt" and "Clay baby." Hahaha, right... You'll always be my Clay baby- the little man who made me a mom, taught me patience, and made me laugh more than I ever thought a baby could.

 

I sure hope that you still laugh as much as you do now and still enjoy giving your mom hugs. I hope you still eat everything and haven't turned into a picky eater. I hope you grow into a caring, respectful young man that any girl's parents would approve of. I hope you still make faces like this:

Hopefully you're a Steelers fan and have grown up loving sports like your mom and dad; although if Uncle Brian has anything to say about it, you'll be an outdoorsman.

[caption id="" width="500" align="aligncenter" caption="Photo by Elizabeth at Almond Leaf Studios."] [/caption]

I'm guessing you'll look a lot like your dad- complete with an already receding hairline but I'm pretty sure you'll be talkative like me. And as far as height goes- welcome to the hell of trying to find pants long enough that still fit your skinny waist. I really hope you still have those blue eyes and smile that make you such a lady magnet.

 

I haven't a clue as to what you'll grow up to be. Your Aunt Mika and I decided it would be pretty cool if you played pro football because we could supply ESPN with pictures from your first football photo shoot:

But really, I'd be a nervous wreck every Sunday during the season so please don't go that route.

Well, I'm going to close for now because I'm already getting a case of the "my baby is growing up so fast" tears but just know that no matters what, I will always love you and have your back, Clay baby.

Love,

Mom

 

I'd now like to take a moment to thank Sarah and Holly for making me cry ugly face tears in public while I tried to write this letter.

 

 

Model Baby

This post is going to be a little picture heavy so maybe I'll pretend for five seconds to be sorry about that then we can just move on...

Clay baby racked up on clothes for his birthday...most likely because that's what I requested and dropped hints about for months leading up to the big day. When I opened this outfit from Rachel and family, I almost died from the adorableness! Luckily we had a photo shoot planned for two days later and Aunt Amy had just given him the jeans a few days before!

Clay definitely had the nerdy jock thing going on! The bonus: we got to take the photos at the high school where my dad played football!

"Dude, don't eat the wood chips!" -Eli

Ahh! I die! Everytime!

You can find the sweater here, the button up here, and the jeans here. All from GAP.

Linking up with Trendy Tot Tuesday! Take some time to go check out all the adorable kiddos!

 

Come back tomorrow to read my letter to Clay when he's older!