How is this our last full week in September? Oh goodness, time flies. I’m torn between sadness over summer disappearing quickly and excitement over the fact that Christmas is only 94 days away! I am already ready to pull our tree out of the attic and get all set up!

Yesterday, Sasha, Isla and I met our friends Jenny and Bailey at our neighborhood park for a fun picnic shoot, from which I’ll share photos tomorrow. It was definitely one of the best points of the week, which was filled with a lot of activity. Sasha was out of town for Friday through mid-day Sunday, and it made me have a whole lot more respect for single-parent households!

I am incredibly grateful for my friends, Jessica and Amanda (and Scott too!), who babysat Isla this week while I was working. Sasha’s mom, aunt and grandma also watched her, which is such a blessing (or #blessing, as Sasha would say). We are so lucky to have such loving people in our lives!

Some of the highlights from this week included:

• Going to Story Time at the Cy-Fair Library with my friends, Destiny and Kristen, and their little ones – we had such a good time (and lots of laughs). I cannot wait to go again!
• Shooting an Elaine Turner x Hotel ZaZa collaboration with Lauren Mills, Brittany Boone and Alex Carreno on Saturday morning. It was nice meeting them in person (all so sweet). We even discovered that Alex and my little sister were friends while at The University of Texas at Austin. You can read about the fun giveaway on their blogs and Elaine Turner’s site (Houston and Dallas).
• A follow up dentist visit with my friend, Dr. Matthew Nickolas, who is helping rid me of TMJ! My mouthguard, as dorky as it may be, is working, and I’m so happy! If you’re looking for a dentist in Houston, go to visit him!
• A trip (or two) to Big Juice. I was making my own juices for two weeks, but it takes a lot of time and ingredients, so I won’t give up on Big Juice just yet!
• Visiting The Monogram Shop (three times in one week!) and shooting for their new website, which is going to be gorgeous! I’m so excited to be a part of this.
• Meeting Destiny downtown to photograph five looks for her blog – Truly Destiny. She is genuinely the most beautiful human on this planet and truly is as sweet as she is pretty.
• Shooting my gorgeous friend, Jessica, for her blog – Feather Thread. We met at CityCentre and roamed around (avoiding all of the construction!). I am so proud of how much she’s already accomplished! 
• Going to visit Sasha’s dad on Tuesday evening at his house in Cypress for his birthday. Isla was having a grand ole time running around outside with their two big dogs. She loves animals so much!
• Going to LifeTime for BBG, but admittedly not often enough. It was a busy week, and I’m ready to get back on track now!
• Meeting Meg and a handful of other amazing ladies for a shoot for Ovarian Cancer Awareness – more to come! Cannot wait to read her book on this topic! The photos were taken by the talented Rocio Carlon.
• Picking up items from cuteheads and Miss J’s Sugar Cookies for the picnic shoot tomorrow! I had never met Jessie before, and albeit a brief rendez-vous, you can just tell she is the sweetest.
• Worshipping on Sunday at Bayou City Fellowship and seeing one of our friends up on stage leading! Rob killed it!
• Eating brunch with my friends, Amanda and Taylor, and Isla at Benjy’s – if you were following along on Snapchat (@AileePetrovic), you will have seen her snuggling up to the 20-something-year-old guy sitting next to us. Ooh la la!
• Having friends over for dinner two nights in a row! We had Patrick, Paola and Guillermo (remember this wedding in Mexico City?) over on Thursday and I was begging them not to leave, even thought it was past midnight! I miss them!! I had my high school friend whom I hadn’t seen in 6 years over for dinner on Friday, and we had the best time catching up!

What were the highlights of your week?

Typical case of the Mondays over here, given that yesterday was the most beautiful day we’ve experienced in months and months. I want to relive it all over again! Houston felt like San Diego, which made me want to move to California immediately! But that’s a whole other topic of conversation.

Yesterday was a much-needed day of relaxation after a Saturday that looked like this: 7:30am: First birthday photoshoot at Memorial Park, 9am: Breakfast at Sweet Paris in City Centre (where we got to hug my friend, Melissa, for a second!), 10:00am: Third birthday party for Isla’s friend, Evie, 12:30pm: Photoshoot for Megan’s daughter’s third birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, 3pm: Visiting my best friend who is dog sitting and then a trip to Yogurtland, 5:30pm: Dinner at Cafe Brasil, then home to put Isla to sleep and editing photographs from the shoots until 11pm. I was dead by the time I fell into bed.

All in all, we had a wonderful week with lots of visits with friends and delicious food. Sasha will tell you that the highlight of his week was getting his phone stolen from the table he was sitting at outside Starbucks, and then grabbing one of the robbers (one without his phone) and putting him a choke hold until he passed out while the other guy ran back with his phone. He has told everyone the story and cannot stop reminding me that he’s “pretty much Batman.” Ahem.

Some of my highlights of the past week include:

• Kicking off Labor Day Monday with breakfast at Sweet Paris in Rice Village with our friends, Brittany and Shane, then heading to Brazos Bend State Park to scout for family photo spots! It’s gorgeous, and Isla got to pet a snake (yikes) and tiny baby alligator!
• Going to the Tot Spot at the Children’s Museum with my cousin-in-law, Angie, who has a daughter, Ana, who is Isla’s age. The girls had so much fun roaming around and playing with every single toy and activity. Isla was exhausted afterward and took an amazingly long nap.
• Stopping by The Monogram Shop to pick up a Goldenthread necklace I had ordered for a friend, and recognizing someone I follow on Instagram (Brooke) and having the guts to talk to her. It turns out she recognized Isla (clearly I’m a momarazzi), and that she had plans to meet our mutual friend, Esther, at TCBY (which is next door) afterwards, so I crashed their party for a bit. Both ladies are so sweet, as are their adorable girls, Naomi and Blake.
• Throwing a confetti party in the backyard before Sasha arrived home from Carabbas with our dinner (Sunday tradition!). The 15 minutes before dinner time means serious hanger management in our house, so I decided we would toss confetti in her empty wading pool, and she loved it… like laughing harder than I’ve ever heard her before. It was so cute!
• Running over to Sasha’s aunt’s house with Isla to visit with her and his grandma. They live just under 2 miles away, and the weather was so perfect – it was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon (while Sasha rode a million miles on his bike!).
• Visiting SWEET in City Centre to pick up macarons for the second Rising Tide Society Meeting (if you live in Houston, join the Rising Tide Society – Houston Facebook page!), which was held at Maria Maxit’s gorgeous floral studio. Isla loves running errands when it involves getting little treats!
• Going to my first DEFINE Revolution spin class since Isla was born! I went three times a week during my pregnancy and have missed it! I’m going to go a few days this week (at 5:30am – ouch!).
• Having a playdate with Megan and Olivia at our house! The girls had a great time together and were cracking us up with their crazy antics.
• Making it to Life Time Fitness for BBG workouts and cardio, since it rained non-stop last week! I seriously am so grateful for the gym and their wonderful daycare. Isla loves it!
• Taking two trips to West Elm to get six of these 13 in. square gold frames for a collage wall I’m doing in our bedroom with prints from Britt Bass Turner. I’ve hung the frames, which may or may not be completely straight, and hope the prints arrive soon! Once they get here, all I’m waiting for is two pillows and a throw blanket and their our master bedroom transformation is complete! I posted our original plan back in January, but it’s taken a few twists and turns. Cannot wait to share photos when it’s done.
• Waiting for the rain to calm down at Big Juice, where we get our favorite juice – basil, apple, pineapple and chia seeds. Yum. Have you tried their juices yet?
• Making my first trip to J. Crew in ages and buying this silk crepe de chine cami which I’ve already worn twice! These days, I seem to only buy stuff for Isla and have forgotten to shop for myself ever. It’s nice to get something for yourself every now and again!
• On Friday morning, my mom and dad and Sasha’s mom all came over for a few hours to play with Isla. It was raining cats and dogs, and nobody wanted to go outside! 
• Eating dinner at Adair Kitchen on Friday night with Meredith and Brittany – I love girl’s dinners! 
• Celebrating Bayou City Fellowship’s 4th anniversary with Vision Sunday. I seriously love this church and it’s mission so much. If you’re looking for a new church home, give it a try!
• Isla loves shaved ice so much, so we made a quick stop to Bahama Bucks, which you’ll have seen on Snapchat if you’re following along (@aileepetrovic). She’s currently obsessed with bellybuttons and kept trying to find it on everyone around us. Yikes!
• Eating lunch with Lauren (of Wilde Republic) at Ruggles Green after church. We connected after I watched her Periscope session (my first ever!), and we figured out we went to church together and had a friend in common. She is the sweetest, as is her adorable son.
• Having a photo from my Instagram re-post by Gap Kids and discovering (via my best friend) Amy Stone‘s Instagram account (she is the Social Content & Creative Manager at Gap) – it’s gorgeous and you should follow along too!   
• Updating my 2015 Shutterfly book – I am still so far behind! I desperately need to get on top of this!

What were the highlights of your week?