IHWSH - Oh Baby, I Wanna Get With Ya

And we will get to... SOON! Little Miss Wendel is due 8 DAYS from now. WHAT. We are both in disbelief that this little miracle will soon be here - surely Katie a little more so. This week we have picked 8 items for Baby W - one for each day leading up to her due date. So the SHE in this week's "I'll Have What She's Having" is Lil Homey herself!

Katie's (Mama's) Picks:
1. House Toy Box - Sisters Guild
2. Baby Blanket - Mela&Roam
3. Soft-soled Rainbow Bliss - BitsyBlossom
4. Costumed Dolls - Blabla

Aunt Jayne's Picks:
5. Romper - Baby Gap
6. Personalized Diaper Cover - Chad and Jake
7. Organic Penguin Bib - DownHomeAmy
8. Custom Baby Print - LeoLittleLion

She already has great taste, doesn't she?

What Happens In Vegas, Leave It In Vegas

That's the phrase on the cheap shirt Dac picked out for me in Vegas. We saw a t-shirt shop on the old strip downtown with t-shirts 4 for $10. We each had to pick one out for each other. He picked that one for me because the phrase, while it makes sense I suppose, just slightly missed the mark if it was going for the ever popular phrase "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

So, some highlights from our trip. I had a blast on my first trip with Dac. He was there the whole week for a conference, and I joined him Thursday night. We stayed at the Bellagio (where he was the whole week), which is just perfection. 

1. We ate at Olives (Todd English's restaurant at the Bellagio) before seeing "O" (also at the Bellagio). Olives looks out over Lake Bellagio, so we had a nice view of the fountain show. Would highly recommend both. O is amazing.

By the fountains.

At O.

2. Random Exploring at casinos I hadn't been to, like Aria. 

Me making an... Elvis face? Not in the slightest.

3. Characters were out in full force trying to get you to tip them for a photo. We saw about 10 different Hello Kitties. We decided these guys probably make a pretty decent amount of money in tips, but it still wouldn't be worth it in 110 degree heat. (I actually took this picture for Katie, because she loves Jesse.)

I actually took this for Katie, because she loves Jesse.

4. Exploring the old strip. We originally went there to do the zip line, but the line was long and it was HOT. So, we settled for some drinks, a little black jack, and that cheap t-shirt buying I mentioned above. It's pretty much the anti-strip... opposite in so many ways, and much, much less expensive. I don't think we'll go back, but I would have liked to see the "ceiling" lit up at night.

5. Shopping at Fashion Show (namely Zara and Topshop, neither of which I have in KC). As an early bday present I got a couple lipsticks (in Rio Rio and Satorial) and a sweatshirt blazer from Topshop.

Everything else that happened, we left it in Vegas. Just kidding. Viva Las Vegas!

Sing, Sing a Song

We were lucky enough to grow up listening to tons of great music.  I LOVE roadtrips because they are an excuse to sing along with all of your favorite songs.  I am not hip to "kid's" music today (I have heard of this yo-gabba-gabba business, but that's about it).  What I do know is that THIS album is still super fun to listen to, with or without kids:

This CD came out in 1991 and we can sing every song on the whole crazy album.  It is full of covers of classic and not-so-classic children's songs, like Little Richard rapping the Itsy Bitsy Spider.  My favorite songs include "Chicken Lips and Lizard Hips" sung by The Boss, "Blueberry Pie" by Bette Midler, and "Child of Mine" by Carole King.  You can buy it here, used, for 5 or 6 bucks (including shipping) - money well spent on any kid if you ask me!

Anyone else know great kid's music?  I've heard the Barenaked Ladies have a fun album, I think I need to check it out...

Here's To The Crazy Ones

Two things.

1. I love these rap lyric posters from Paper Jam Press. The first one is my theme song for the past week - from old job, to Vegas, to new job in a span of 5 days.

2. I had a blast at my first day of my new job yesterday. Someone asked me about my favorite ad ever, and it made me think about the old Apple Think Different commercial I hadn't listened to in a while. It's just the best copy ever, and an inspiring reminder to be so good (or so crazy) they can't ignore you.

Might just have to get this print from society6.

Let's do something crazy today.

The Littlest Bookworm

Henry and I had another very busy weekend, completing many more projects around the house - especially in the baby's room!  I know last week I said the bunny knob in the bathroom was my favorite part of the room...but these new bookshelves have won my heart:

I need to get a wider shot of the whole room, but the rest isn't quite done, so that'll have to wait.  Don't they look awesome?!  I'm going to have to rotate books in and out of them because she has too many cool ones to fit.  Henry did a great job hanging them.  The big comfy chair we ordered will go in the corner right below them. 

I ordered the shelves from Clear Solutions Displays after seeing them on another blog, Effortless Style.  They are 36" long and were only $11 a piece!  I ordered them last Tuesday and they arrived on Friday - impressive.  We are very happy with them, and they really add a lot to her little room.

I also finally put together another little project for the baby:

It's a little homage to one our favorite movies, "Up."  We especially love the "Carl and Ellie" portion of the movie...I don't think any movie sequence has made me cry happy/sad tears like the opening of that movie does (and there isn't even dialogue!  It's so beautiful.)  I ordered the little pin from an Etsy shop, "ChunkeeMonkeeBow" (ha, what a name!) for just $3 and used some fabric scraps from another project (the fabric actually used to be a pair of Ikea curtains in our old place) to pin it inside the frame.  It makes me very happy.

Aunt Jayne gave us this "Up" poster which will also be in Lil Homey's room (but in a white frame):

"Up" poster found here on Etsy.

It's been SO FUN to finally get all of these things put together...we're almost done! 

IHWSH - Summer Eats on a Stick

With (seriously) rising temperatures, we're not eating a lot of soup these days.  Instead, we want to enjoy these refreshing treats on a stick for this week's "I'll Have What She's Having":

Katie's Stick Picks:

Frozen Grape Kabobs

Root Beer Float Pops

S'mores on a Stick

Jayne's Stick Picks:

Burger Spears

Italian Lollipops

Watermelon Pops

Be cool.

Pink and Yellow, Pink and Yellow, Pink and Yellow, Pink and Yellow

via

As soon as I saw this picture, I thought of that Wiz Khalifa song. One of Dac's favorites to sing. Then I thought, what an awesome color combo this is.

I already had this skirt from Anthro:

So, inspired by that pretty picture, I bought this little oh-so-afforable ($13) top from H&M:

I can't help but feel I will look a little Easter egg-ish... or maybe cotton candy? But it's fun nonetheless.

via

Today is my official last day at my current job, I'm heading to Vegas this evening (a previously-planned trip, not to celebrate my new or old job), and starting my new job on Monday. One heck of an exciting week/weekend. And even better than all that, Baby Wendel will be here so very soon!

I am one truly...

sweet print via minted 

Knob Off

We decided to get the Ikea Hemnes 8-drawer dresser in white to use as the baby's changing table (and dresser, duh).  We have the same one in black-brown in our bedroom, and like the simple design and super price.  Also, I love that once we don't need it to change diapers, it's still 100% functional.

But I don't love the drawer pulls that come with the dresser.  So, I found some on clearance at Anthropologie for $2.98 a piece (sorry, no longer available).  Thank goodness they were a steal because we had to buy 12 of them!  They aren't my #1 choice, but for the price, I love them.  The only problem was that they are attached to screws that stick 3" into each drawer.  We didn't have the right tools to fix the problem, so we headed to Home Depot to figure something out.  No one had a great solution until finally I just asked someone if they could do us a favor and cut them for us in the tool rental section.  They have some giant cutters, and it took the guy 3 minutes to cut all 12.  Never hurts to ask!

Here is our finished dresser and some close-ups of the knobs:

Love the dresser!  I look forward to changing many, many, many diapers there.

My favorite thing in her room so far is probably the bathroom medicine cabinet - I did a switcharoo on that knob too:

Isn't it so CUTE?  The bunny is also from Anthropologie (available here) and the upgrade is definitely worth $10.  As you can see above, we've finally painted in Lil Homey's room!  The bedroom is Behr Paints in "Frolic," and the bathroom is Behr in "Cool Melon," both found at Home Depot.  We used no-VOC paint, and also mixed in a teaspoon of vanilla extract when we got home with the paint.  This is an awesome trick!  The room didn't smell like paint AT ALL when it was done.  So great!

Anyone else changed out boring knobs or handles for something more exciting?  Have a better solution to extra long screws than begging for special treatment at Home Depot?

The Short End of the Stick

Like sister like sister! I copied Katie (although quite a few months later) and got my hair cut off. It was just time. I can only grow my hair out so long before I get completely sick of dealing with it. I'm meant to be a short-haired person I think.

Went from this (most recent pic):

To this:

Looks like I need to work on making the back a little more even. But this is seriously the super easiest hair cut I've ever had. So fast to wash and dry, and then I just give it a little curl with my straightener (works better than the curling iron in this case) and done!

I like to think my hair now looks/could look something like this (or does in my head at least):

via google

Any chance I get to compare myself to Katie Holmes, I will. I have found my hairdresser for life here now. She cut my hair like a picture I had pinned earlier that day without me even mentioning it or showing it to her. She can read my thoughts. I will never betray a hairdresser who can do that.

Here's to a great hair day for all.