Personal – Page 55 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Mom Talk August 12, 2015

Finger Painting with a Toddler (In the Bathtub!)

After Isla woke up from her nap yesterday afternoon, we played in the yard for ten minutes before heading back inside, both red in the face and sweaty from the record breaking Houston temperatures (humidity factor made it feel like 110 degrees). I decided we needed to do something fun indoors, so I grabbed some paper, tape, Greek yogurt (which Isla loves) and food coloring and we painted in the bath tub.

At first, Isla was hesitant to “get into” the paint, but after I did some splatters myself, she went crazy with it. Of course, we were playing in the bathtub, so I was very excited about her enthusiasm, which was peppered with little moments of silence as she stopped to eat her ‘paint.’

Personal August 10, 2015

Week in Review

Is it Friday yet? Kidding, but only slightly. The past seven days flew by, and I’m definitely planning a much more relaxed weekend ahead! As I mentioned on Instagram last night, I am definitely not complaining, as we got to see lots of friends and family, meet new blogger friends (and old Instagram friends!), take lots of photos (with Cake & Confetti, Willow Crowns, Feather Thread, Butter and two first birthday shoots – one for Meg!), swim multiple times, praise God at one of the most incredible concerts I’ve ever attended and decorate a new set of bookshelves!

In a little more detail, here are some of my favorite moments from the week:

Attending the Outcry tour with Hillsong, Bethel Music and Kari Jobe (amongst others!) with my friend, Ashley, and catching up over food and drinks at The Grove beforehand. While we were gone, Sasha had three of his friends over with their little kids, and I managed to snap some cute pictures of Isla and Ellery before I left. She is such a little lady! I love her.
Going to the first Blogger Brunch hosted by Justin James and Carrie of Wear Where Well at Tout Suite on Sunday after church at Bayou City Fellowship. It was a lot of fun meeting ladies I’ve followed on Instagram for a long time.
Swimming and barbecuing at our friends’ house. I want to move into their home immediately. Everything is so gorgeous, and Nina is so sweet and is letting me do a home tour post, so be on the lookout for that soon!
Having couples over for dinner on Saturday to discuss Paris plans (they’re going next weekend, and I’m so jealous!) and then playing a few games of Taboo and Bananagrams (I’m such a game nerd!).
Shooting the fall line with Willow Crowns at Megan’s house on Tuesday. Her and Olivia, her daughter, are truly the sweetest, and we had the best time playing after we took product pictures. The new bows, headbands, clips, etc. are gorgeous, and I cannot wait for the launch!
Taking two sets of first birthday photographs – one for Sophia and another for Caroline (Meg’s daughter). Both girls were super cute and happy, which makes my job lots of fun.
Shooting photos for Jessica’s blog – Feather Thread – and hair styling photos for Brittany’s partnership with a hair product company. So much girliness going on!
Swimming multiple days at our sweet neighbor’s house – we’re so blessed to live next to her. Isla and Sasha also headed to my parent’s house after church on Sunday while I was at the Blogger Brunch to swim with them! She’s a fish.
Receiving our new Sawyer bookshelves from Crate & Barrel and getting to work on decorating them. They’ll likely change ten times in the next two weeks, but this is how they look right now!
Spoiling Isla with some Bahama Bucks (taste testing all of the sugar free snow cone places in Houston!) and cotton candy (made by Meredith for an upcoming cocktail!). She’s a lucky lady!

Personal August 3, 2015

Week in Review

Happy Monday, everyone! I cannot believe that it was only one week ago that we were running around the woods of Houston photographing this hippie shoot. Last week was busy with lots of photography, which made me very happy! Meredith and I got together to photograph her Texan cocktail (‘The Lady Bird’) for 5 O’Clock Fashionistas, and then the next day, Brittany came over to shoot photos for her exciting Instagram launch this week! Between those three shoots and catching up with friends and running errands, Isla and I kept very busy.

I am grateful that on National Sister Day (do people just make these things up for Instagram?), I was able to spend time my three sisters (two by birth and one ‘in law’). Ivana was in town for work from San Francisco, so we spent the evening with her on Saturday and then had a pool party at Sasha’s cousins house on Sunday. I got to see both of my sisters at their birthday dinner celebration at Pondicheri on Sunday evening (that place is so delicious!).

Some other highlights from the week included:

Going to a surprise birthday party for my older sister – she genuinely had no idea all of her friends were going to be there, and I absolutely love surprises like that! It was a great evening.
Celebrating my best friend’s birthday with lunch at True Food Kitchen and then a girl’s get-together on Saturday. She hosted us at her place, and we had a gorgeous table full of the most delicious food – plus yummy blackcurrant drinks she made us! It was the best afternoon.
Worshipping in Bayou City Fellowship’s new venue, which is slightly closer to our house than the last, which is great. We ran into a few of our friends, which made my morning, and then ate at Ruggles Green after (my absolute favorite!).
Meeting two of the sweetest (and most beautiful!) mamas in Houston – Destiny and Kristen – after being Insta-friends. We met at a splash pad near Kristen’s house, which was seriously the most amazing splash pad we’ve been to. Truman, Mila and Isla were so cute together – they would come together, then go on their separate ways. The photo of Truman biting Isla’s doughnut is hilarious!
Catching up with my friend, Amanda, at her house and talking about interior design, as they’re in the process of updating some of their rooms. Scott and Amanda just got a new dog, Gilbert, who is adorable. He was being slightly terrorized by Isla, who is used to a much bigger dog, but was a great sport about it.
After being in Colorado for a month, I finally got back in the gym. I’ve been doing my BBG workouts at home, but it’s much easier to do it at the gym. I definitely missed Lifetime!
Given that we went from breezy, dry 80 degree weather to hot and humid 105 degree Houston, I felt we needed to reward ourselves throughout the week with fun treats, so we had TCBY twice, juice from Big Power Yoga’s new Big Juice bar and snow cones from Mam’s. Needless to say, Isla loved every bite.

What were the highlights of your week? Hope you’re having a great Monday! xo

Mom Talk July 31, 2015

Reading with Bookroo (Plus, Discount Code!)

We have been reading lots of books to Isla since she was a tiny newborn, which felt a little funny as she didn’t really seem all that interested in books at 4 weeks old. As she’s gotten older though, she has taken much more interest in reading and that makes a book lover like me very, very excited. I even posted a list of her favorite books to read here, and you’ll see in this photo that she now loves to read in her crib until she falls asleep (melts my heart!).

When Jane, the co-founder of Bookroo, reached out and shared information about her new company that helps parents build their children’s book libraries easily and affordably, all the while getting kids excited about reading new, fun books, I was sold. As my husband will tell you, I enjoy getting packages at our front door all too much, and receiving books for Isla made it even better.

Events July 29, 2015

Haute Hippie Days of Summer

On Monday, a few of my good friends and fellow “Houston creatives” got together for a hippie styled shoot, and I had so much fun despite the 100-degree Houston weather. Sasha’s youngest cousin (and now mine too!), Kristina, was the inspiration for the entire shoot. Not only is she stunning, she is the sweetest person ever, and I love her boho style. I’ve been dying to photograph her pretty face for ages, and decided that we could pull together something really fun with flower-power, boho vibes.

Immediately, I thought of my friend, Britt, who owns Butter, to give Kristina the hippie makeup and hair. For florals and styling, I knew that Meredith of Cake & Confetti would knock it out of the park (and she did, obviously!). I adore the floral crown, but also the incredible arrangements – they’re just as I had imagined. Joy (mentioned in the #GIRLBOSS series here) gave us Priya jewelry, which matched the theme perfectly. We got most of the furniture pieces from The Foundry (new rental business in Houston – love them!), and I asked Jenny of A Fine Florish to write one of my favorite phrases on a fringed purse I found at Nordstrom.

We originally found a few hippie dresses online (featured below), which I absolutely loved; however, Kristina found “the one” while shopping in Fayetteville, where she goes to school. It is the most gorgeous dress, and I’m so pleased she discovered it. She looked like a goddess!

I am so excited about how everything turned out. We found a spot in Memorial Park, got to work and created a little hippie paradise. I had the hardest time narrowing down the photos – I wanted to share them all! So although there are about 40 photos below, know that I did exclude hundreds (ha!). A huge thank you to everyone to helped pull this shoot off! I love y’all.

Florals + styling: Cake & Confetti (Instagram)| Hair + makeup: Britt Lais Williams from Butter (Instagram) | Dress: Line & Co. from Savoir-Faire (Instagram) | Jewelry: Priya (Instagram) | Purse: Nordstrom with calligraphy by Jenny of A Fine Florish (Instagram) | Rug, wicker chair, side table, terracotta pots + dream catchers: The Foundry (Instagram) | Model: Kristina Jovanovic (Instagram) | Photography: Snapshots by Ailee Petrovic – me! (Instagram)