Personal – Page 47 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Mom Talk February 22, 2016

Week in Review

Last week was my ‘birthday week,’ and I had the best time celebrating with family and friends. It was definitely busy, but I didn’t work on my birthday, which was a nice break.

This is Sasha’s last week working in Oil & Gas before heading to a new job at Google (not moving, don’t worry!). We are so excited for this new endeavor. I can’t wait to share more details soon!

Some highlights from the past week include:

Taking some fun photos for one of my best friends, Meredith of Cake & Confetti – I’ve featured a few below and she’s also posted some on her Instagram!
Photographing blogger Brittany Boone at Highland Village on Sunday!
Taking photos for Caroline and Molly in Montrose, near Common Bond – I used to live in that area and miss how cool it is.
Photographing Elly at CityCentre – it was windy, which made the shoot so much fun – she can pull of windswept hair (basically pulls of any and everything!!).
Having 28th birthday celebrations with a few friends and my family for dinner! I got spoiled and need to write ‘thank you’ notes pronto! It’s on my very long to-do list!!
Eating lunch at Local Foods on Saturday after spending time in the Rice area that morning.
Photographing a good friend’s MIL’s surprise 60th birthday party at Ousie’s Table – Barbara is absolutely stunning and doesn’t look her age at all!
Going to church at Bayou City Fellowship and then lunch at CPK afterwards – we used to always eat at CPK for our birthdays in college, so it always makes me nostalgic!
Taking photos for a DEFINE shoot using trampolines – a new class they will soon be adding!
Going to a play date at CityCentre with our friends, Emma and Alexander.
Eating dinner on Sunday night at our friends’ house – Isla was loving baby Archer (and his baby swing!!). See more on Snapchat – AileePetrovic!

How was your week? What did you get up to? xo

Personal February 15, 2016

Happy President’s Day! I hope you had the best Valentine’s Day weekend – it’s definitely one of my favorite holidays! We had a relaxed day, which is rare at the crazy Petrovic casa. After church at Bayou City Fellowship, we had lunch at Ruggles Green with my sister-in-law, who was in town briefly from California. We then hung out at the house for a few hours while Isla napped, then went on a 4.5 mile around our dream neighborhood, which isn’t very far from our house. We made flatbread pizzas when we got home, drank some prosecco and watched the 100 Foot Journey, while I finished editing photos from the week.

Some other highlights from our past week include:

Taking photos for Destiny and then grabbing a quick bite at Relish afterwards – it’s such a simple little grab-and-go restaurant, but I love the food so much!
Photographing Alex at Tiny Boxwood’s and then at Highland Village before she jetted off to NY for Fashion Week!
Taking blog photos for both Elly and Caroline at City Centre.
Photographing Burdlife’s newest collection!
Photographing a styled shoot with Pour L’Amour x Paper Flour Ink – these two ladies are unbelievably talented! I loved their setup so much.
Taking newborn photos of the sweetest twin boys and a little girl with so much hair (that reminded me of Isla!) – newborn smooshiness is the best!
Going to The Grove for an early Valentine’s dinner with some friends and then to see Toruk, which was my 10th Cirque show to see, and definitely my least favorite! I loved the costume, set, storyline, etc. but was seriously missing the acrobatics from normal Cirque shows!
Taking Isla to her first swim class at Lifetime – we didn’t enjoy it as much as Dad’s Club, but it’s more convenient. We’re going to try the next level, and if it’s not better, then we’ll go back to Dad’s Club.
Spending time with my wonderful sister-in-law, Ivana, on the two nights that she was here! I love her!

How was your holiday weekend? xo

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Personal February 9, 2016

Week in Review

It’s Tuesday evening, and I’m just now getting around to writing last week’s review post, as it has been a pretty crazy past few days. Isla seems to have gotten into a routine of waking up around 3am and not wanting to go back to sleep for a few hours. I feel a bit like a zombie, and then I remember that a few of our good friends are nursing newborns every 2-3 hours! Oh goodness – those are the craziest days!

We arrived home from Australia on Sunday the 31st, then I took Monday off and ran some errands, like picking Belle up from Meredith’s house. She had the best time with the Staggers – their yard is way bigger than ours, and she is always ten times more spoiled by others than she is by me during the day. Belle was excited to see Isla though! The two of them have been inseparable since we got them home together.

Other highlights from the past week include:

Catching up with and photographing some of my favorite ladies – Destiny, Caroline and Molly
Finally meeting one of my SIL’s best friends, Jenny, whom I adore. She stayed with us on Friday night, and we galavanted across the city on Saturday, taking photos for her site – Jenny Journey. We got in trouble from security guards, almost froze to death in gusty winds and had lots of good laughs. It’s rare you find someone so genuine and uplifting – I love her so much and cannot wait to follow along on, well… the Jenny journey.
Taking newborn photos for the sweetest couple and their adorable bundle of joy, Morgan. He was so calm during the entire session!
Spending time with our family after being gone for two weeks – Isla went to Katy for a day to see my parents. She loves Mimi and Papa!
Baking ‘thank you’ cookies for our neighbor with Isla, and then having them eaten by Belle when I wasn’t looking – I was none too pleased with her!

How was your week? Up to anything exciting for Valentine’s Day?

International January 21, 2016

Melbourne (Part I)

We made it to Australia safe and sound with only one piece of luggage missing (unfortunately, it held all of Sasha’s clothes and my makeup/toiletries)! Isla did surprisingly well on the plane, so we’re totally expecting her to go berserk on the haul home (praying this isn’t the case though). Although I am definitely far from a travel-with-young-child expert, I will share a toddler travel tip blog post when we return with some advice I’ve read, been told, and learned firsthand.

The last time I was in Melbourne was May 2010, and I was only here for two days (visiting my closest family ~~friends~~ after a trip to Sydney). We landed on Tuesday morning (which was weird since we left on Sunday in Texas), and had to take a quick trip to Lululemon for Sasha to get some new clothes to wear to the tennis tournament the following day. We then spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool and catching up with our friends.

On Wednesday, we rode with Greg into the CBD (Central Business District, which is what we refer to as ‘downtown’) and got breakfast and coffee(s) at CUMULUS INC.. Afterwards, we walked to the Australian Open and watched Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Roger Federer (my favorite!) play, then ate lunch at Cucina di Casa, and hung out around the grounds watching Andy Murray. When Roger won his game, we walked along the Yarra River back into town, through Federation Square by Flinders Street Station, and went to Little Cupcakes for some post-dinner treats. Afterwards, we went back to the house for delicious dinner cooked by Greg.

On Thursday, we went back to Lululemon (bag only arrived in the evening), then ate lunch at Pantry, which was delicious. Afterward, we went to Brighton Beach to lay out, splash around and photograph the colorful huts, then walked back to Church Street where we spent some time window shopping (my favorites were Gorman and Country Road!), before having a drink at Brighton School House (Detox juice and Mojito both highly recommended). Ailie (pronounced the same as my name) drove us back home afterwards, moving through St. Kilda and Toorak, then going home for dinner. Greg (or Mr. Greg, as I called him my whole life – he’s like my second dad) is truly the best chef ever, and he pulls out this delicious himalayan salt block out, adds basil leaves, mozzarella cheese and cherry tomatoes, which absorb the salt. You eat each together after 5+ minutes of being on the block, and voila – the best caprese salad you’ve ever eaten! I definitely will be trying this when we get back home!

Today (Friday already!), we’re having a slow morning because it’s pouring rain. We’re going to go out for lunch, then do another day of the Open. We’ve got tickets to see Roger play again, and Sasha has a ticket to see his tennis obession (Novak) play at Margaret Court. He’s so excited. I’ll share a recap of the rest of the week in a few days!

Let the photo oversharing begin!

Week in Review January 11, 2016

Week in Review

How does Monday arrive so quickly? I think every weekend needs to be at least three days – we love having Sasha at home! We had a busy week and traveled all over the great state of Texas, so decided to do very little yesterday, and it was pure bliss. I’ve already started packing for Australia because I am a) very OCD, b) an overpacker and packing early is a tactic to slowly remove unnecessary items, and c) so excited about a beach vacation! I haven’t sunk my feet in the sand since we went to Bali on our honeymoon in 2013!

Some highlights from the past week include:

Spending Serbian Christmas Eve at the Serbian Orthodox Church in Galveston, and then celebrating the following day at our Aunt Zlata’s house with all of the family – it was such a great evening. It’s always nice to have all of the family in one city! Sadly, we started taking down Christmas decor that evening when we got home. I was sad to see it go, but ready to have our house back in order!
Taking photos for my gorgeous sister-in-law, Ivana, and Bob downtown and at Memorial Park – I am dying to share every single photo, but we’ve got to keep some of them mum for now!
Having a spa day at the Houstonian Spa (Trellis) with Destiny – we both got facials (which were amazing), then spent time in the sauna before heading to lunch at True Food Kitchen.
Heading to Austin for a day trip to celebrate Sasha’s grandma’s 85th birthday and his Aunt and Uncle’s Slava. It was a lot of fun, although 6 hours in the car with Isla and very little sleep made us slightly nervous about next week’s long flight to Melbourne from LA. Thank goodness for amazing mamas on Instagram who shared helpful toddler travel tips!
Taking blog photos for Destiny, Alex and Caroline – three of the sweetest ladies! Love spending time with them.
Meeting Esther and Naomi at Discovery Green for pictures for her collaboration for Everlane – I love this momma/daughter duo!
Having an impromptu park date with Megan, Kristen and Destiny! It’s hard to have real adult conversations with toddlers running around, but Isla and I still had a great time.
Spending much of Sunday at home after a crazy week of being all over the place. We rarely have quite days at the house, and we all loved it. Sasha and I watched the Golden Globes last night

How was your week?