Week in Review

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

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?

Week in Review January 4, 2016

Week in Review

Happy New Year! I have already written 2015 a handful of times and expect that won’t change until February (at the earliest). I can’t believe that this is the year of my 10 year high school reunion – where in the world did time go?

This is a busy week, as we will celebrate Serbian Christmas on Thursday and go to a church service the day before. I’m currently working on editing engagement photos, which I love already! I cannot wait to share some soon (sneak peek on Instagram here).

Some highlights from the past week include:

Spending NYE with our friends Destiny, Sid, Jessica and Bubba – we had lots of fun ringing in the new year with them at our house!
Hosting game night with my sister-in-law, Bob, my sister, Kevin, and our friends, Blake and Michelle – we played Taboo and it got very, very competitive. The women obviously swept every round.
Taking two sets of newborn photos – two boys, of course (I feel like every baby born recently is a boy!). They were both adorable!
Taking photos of Lauren at Highland Village – she is the sweetest and looks incredible at 33 weeks!
Going to (and photographing) Lilly’s first birthday party on January 1! The details were unbelievable. Some sneak peeks below! Post to come soon!
Taking photos of Destiny at her house – we snuck in some NYE pictures, and she even got behind the lens to take some photos of me and Isla!
Photographing Caroline at her house and then doing outfit pictures at the River Oaks District. I cannot believe she just had Andrew – she definitely does not look like she was ever pregnant!
Spending quality time with my sister-in-law, who is in town from San Francisco! I love her!
Going to Bayou City Fellowship on Sunday! I love our church home.
Giving Meredith a brief camera tutorial at our house (which resulted in that pink photo below!) before she headed to Vegas and Palm Springs (lucky lady!).
Having our cousin, Kristina, and her sweet friend, Allie, over to the house and catching up with them – we even swung by HEB to do curbside pickup of our groceries (you don’t even leave the car… it’s a dream come true!)

How was your week? How did you celebrate NYE?

Personal December 28, 2015

Week in Review

I hope you are enjoying the holidays! Isn’t it always hard to get in the swing of things on the Monday after Christmas? I just want to be back at my parent’s house, enjoying their company, opening gifts and eating my mom’s delicious food!

The past week was very relaxed, which was a pleasant change of pace. As I mentioned, we celebrated Christmas in Katy, and decided to spend the night there after a Christmas Eve service at CityCentre for Bayou City Fellowship. That service is always my favorite – we sing my favorite carols and hear a good reminder about the real reason for the season. The rest of the week was very family focused – we spent all day, everyday together, and I loved it.

Some of the other highlights from the week include:

Going wedding dress shopping (not for me!) although I would love to do it all over again. We ran into my old high school/college friend who was trying on dresses and looked absolutely stunning! I love weddings!
Taking blog photos for two of my favorites, Destiny and Alex, at West Ave. I love those ladies! They’re so sweet.
Going to our neighborhood park, which seemed like a great idea (well, it was!) until Isla refused to leave. She was having the best time!
Watching Isla wear the dress that my sisters and I wore on Christmases when we were her age! I love special moments like that. My mom is the best to have saved them!
Updating my annual Shutterfly book (books, actually, this year because I take so many photos!) – it took ages to get caught up, but I did it!
Having a very bittersweet farewell to my best, best friend, McKenzie – we got blow outs at Dry Bar and then ate dinner at Benjy’s before heading to our friend’s house (she lives walking distance away – jealous!).
Going back to Benjy’s the next day to celebrate Meredith’s birthday (which is on Christmas!).
Eating lunch at Ruggles Green with one of my closest college friends, her mom, my mom and Isla – I loved every lady sitting at that table! It’s always great catching up with old friends.
Eating family lunch at Adair Kitchen and then dinner at Carabbas on Voss – two of my favorite places in one day. I would consider that a win! I love that Sasha loves the same restaurants as me! Makes picking places to eat very convenient!

How was your Christmas? Are you ready for NYE? Somehow it sneaks up on us every year!

Personal December 23, 2015

Isla at 18 Months

Isla turned 1.5 on December 4th, so I’m a little behind in giving an update (last one at 1 year!). My mom allegedly has a list of all the words I said at 18 months (yet to see this!), so I wanted to do the same. These are all things you think you’d never forget, but you do! Even reading through the update from 6 months ago was crazy! Alas, here we go – Isla at 18 months.

Isla now says: Duck, turkey, bear, bike, bee, owl, bird, “nana” (banana), “nack” (snack), apple, cheese, “nigh-nigh” (night night), bath time, thank you, no way, no (all too often!), book, ball, baby, bubbles, bottle, “bankie” (blanket), binkie, one, “mo-wee” (more), all done, mouth, house, nose, eyes, ears, shoes, socks, chair, watch, boots, doggie, cereal, Belle, Coco (neighbor’s dog), Dada, Tata, GG, ZZ, Deda, Baba, Mimi, Papa, Nana, Mama, Bob and Mummy. She will use sign language for: more, all done, one and where, but her favorite thing in the world is to make animal noises for: sheep, horses, dogs, cats, monkeys, lions, fish, owls, and elephants.