Happy Monday! It finally felt like fall this weekend, and absolutely everyone in Houston was talking about it. We had a ton of yard work done on Saturday (a follow-up to our meager attempts last weekend), and I’m sure the men were glad it was in the high 70s versus high 90s like it has been lately! Both Sasha and I are excited about the new bright plants (which may only last a few weeks) and fresh mulch. He made us take an official tour on Sunday morning – he’s a nut.

The low-light of this week was definitely Isla getting sick with a very high fever (103.8!), as well as two ear infections. I took her to the pediatrician on Friday, and he gave her a lot of medicine (which she absolutely deplores taking!). She’s on the mend though, and we’re so grateful for that fact.

The week did have a lot of highs, some of which included:

• Worshiping at Bayou City Fellowship on Sunday and running into some of my favorite familiar faces. I love that church family so much!
• Going to my Dad’s birthday lunch on Monday with my sisters at their house in Katy – he’s the hardest man to shop for, so if you’ve got some creative ideas, let me know!
• Eating at three of our favorite in Houston – Buff Burger, Carabbas (the original on Voss!) and Giacomo’s (Saturday date night!). If you live here and haven’t eaten at any of those places, you need to!
• Photographing Lauren Mills of Sunday Beach on Saturday morning at Berings and Tiny’s No. 5 (cutest restaurant ever!). She just announced she’s having a boy! So excited for them.
• Shooting Elly Brown of Uptown with Elly Brown outside the Menil Collection on Sunday, then heading to Meredith’s house to pick up flowers and going to Brazos Bend State Park for two family sessions: the Armes’ and the Adamsons! Sneak peeks of their sessions below.
• Taking Isla to swim class at Dad’s Club – she was the only one who showed up, so we got a fun private lesson. She’s a fish! She loves the water.
• Meeting Sasha at Zoe’s Kitchen for lunch and nipping into Gap for some new clothes for Isla – I caved and got a Gap card. I should have gotten one ages ago!
• Two days of crafts and one day of a makeshift piñata… I’m constantly trying to think of new ways to expand that little lady’s brain and increase her creativity, but may need to start turning to the pros on Pinterest! Ha.
• Ordering Pink Converse from Zappos for Isla, as Sasha had been complaining about her lack of “practical footwear.” I am obsessed with them! I have some in white, so now we can twin.
• Going to Trader Joe’s and picking out some pumpkins for the house (and for eating!). Isla thought they were all balls and kept yelling “BOHHHHL!!!” 
• Getting visits from all four (immediate) grandparents during the week – including babysitting from Sasha’s mom, dinner with Sasha’s dad and a family dinner at the house with my older sister and parents on Sunday (I sadly missed it!).
• Finally making a trip to Sephora to get a whole heap of new makeup supplies. I do not spend a lot of money on beauty products, but was in need of some essentials. Of course, I ended up getting other stuff too, which I’ll share a review on soon!
• Having the very talented Jamie Sawicki over to our house to style and photograph some of her paintings (my Instagram post here) – I cannot wait to share more details!
• Going location scouting for family photos at Terry Hershey Park. Sasha rides his bike through it week, but I had never been! It’s gorgeous.
• Taking newborn photos of Baby Jack and getting a very real case of baby fever.
• After talking about a lob for a year, I got 9 inches taken off my hair and a keratin treatment by Eric Vaughn (who is amazing), then had my eyebrows done by Jackie!
• Meeting with Leah from The Monogram Shop at our house for some creative chat, and then going to the store later in the week (it’s next to TCBY, so obviously had to have some!).
• Last, but certainly not least: a Kwikar cleaning. Sasha is always on my case (rightfully so) about how untidy my car is! I finally got it cleaned and hope to keep it that way for a little while!

How was your week? What were your highlights?

Happy fall, y’all! Can you believe that last Wednesday was the first official day? Have you bought a pumpkin yet? Brought out your Halloween decor? Drank a Pumpkin Spice Lattee? Worn a sweater? If you live near us in Houston, you’ll likely only have done max one of those things, given that it’s still hot-hot-hot.

We spent a few hours yesterday in our front yard doing gardening before Sasha decided it was miserable and that we should get someone else to do it (fine by me!). I’ve had a few dedicated yard days since we bought the house three years ago, but all were pre-Isla and while Sasha was in class, so it was just me working. I could never convince Sasha to get yard men to do the planting until he actually got his hands dirty! I would consider that a win (ha!).

Some of the highlights from our past week include:

• Eating at Sweet Paris not once but twice – once with Megan and Olivia for brunch and on Saturday morning with Sasha! I got the Vegan and then a vegan parfait one, both are absolutely delicious! I could likely go every single day (and probably gain 25 pounds by doing so!). 
• Photographing a DEFINE Body shoot for next month’s Breast Cancer Awareness month
• Meeting Elly Brown at CityCentre on Monday to shoot three outfits for her blog – Uptown with Elly Brown. She is so gorgeous!
• Treating ourselves to a little Jamba Juice at Greenway Plaza while waiting on Sasha’s car being serviced (why does it always take 2x longer than promised?).
• Going to Target for laundry detergent and lightbulbs and leaving with about 23 other things, including new blue pillows for our long couch!
• Having a hair consultation with my stylist, Eric Vaughn, for a chop and Keratin treatment on Tuesday – then eating lunch next door at Salata.
• Briefly meeting up with my friend, Joy, to give back Priya jewelry!
• Going to the Houston Garden Center and Home Depot on Sunday afternoon to buy a ton of flowers, grass and ivy to redo our front yard, which has been severely neglected by me. After working for four hours, Sasha decided to outsource the work, and we’re getting an estimate on Tuesday! Ha. Gardening is not our thing!
• Shooting with Kim Myers of Champagneista on Sunday evening at Highland Village.
• Watching two movies (even one would be rare!) throughout the week – The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Aquatic Life of Steve Zissou – they took us 6 nights to finish, but we loved both, mainly the former! Wes Anderson is amazing.
• Going to Isla’s swim class at The Dad’s Club, which is for sure a highlight every week. Isla loves the water! It’s hard to get her to stay out of the water when she’s dressed and ready to go home!
• Photographing an Uncork event at the JW Marriott downtown and finally meeting the sweet and trendy Magen Pastor after following each other on social media for awhile! The event was so fun (loved catching up with friends!).
• Testing technology with Meredith at my house and dying laughing over Google Effects – she caught the best photo ever of Isla wearing a monocle and having a halo. Hangouts are the best!
• Running into my friend, Melissa, at Lifetime and convincing her to do the crazy BBG arm workout with me! She’s so fit! She then ran something crazy like 18 miles on the treadmill the next morning!
• Playing tennis with Sasha at his mom’s neighborhood courts, while she watched Isla. I am not very good (understatement), so I had a lot of learning points from Sasha. Why is it always harder to be coached by your husband than anyone else? Ha!
• Going to a wedding at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church on Saturday where Isla’s Christening was held. It was great seeing almost all of Sasha’s family, and the bride, Iva, looked stunning. My best friend, McKenzie, babysat while we were gone, and she did the most amazing French braid in Isla’s hair. 
• Getting one of our new favorite restaurants – Garbanzos – delivered to the house (I love delivery!!!). Garbanzos is the mediterranean version of Chipotle! We’re obsessed.
• Meeting Sasha for lunch at Zoe’s Kitchen on Thursday after swim class and sneaking off to buy some things from Carter’s (which is next door). I got some new sparkly black shoes, which I love! It’s so nice getting to sneak in a lunch with Sasha during the week!
• Having a fun little balloon party after buying another helium tank. Isla freaks out when she sees balloons – she LOVES them. I tied them to a candy bracelet, and she waved her hand around like crazy and was dying laughing at the noise.
• Finally getting the last pieces for our bedroom and photographing it (post here).
• Buying our first pumpkin of the fall, which Isla kept calling a “ball” and throwing it. I imagine it’ll be nice and smooshed inside.
• Buying new fall clothes at Gap including a fun French poodle sweater for Isla (similar here) – ready for it to be a tad cooler!
• Booking 10 family sessions in one week (which had a lot to do with this!) – I cannot believe I’m saying this, but I only have a few weekend days left in October and November, so email me now if you’re interested! Go to SnapshotsbyAileePetrovic.com for pricing details!

What were the highlights of your week?

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?