Texas – Page 3 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Personal September 22, 2014

Week in Review

Our first week back in Houston has come and gone, and ohmygosh, I am exhausted. I was so excited about seeing everyone that I might have overdone it by filling up our calendar to its capacity. I was out pretty much all of Monday and Tuesday with food poisoning, then spent the rest of the week seeing family and friends and running errands (so much dry cleaning!). Highlights from the week are captured below:

Isla meeting my grandma for the first time (her Great Grandma, or GG)
Signing up for a membership at Life Time Fitness and working out for the first time in three months
Isla’s playdates with with Lillian, her cousins (Ana, Mila and Lazo) and Ellery
Going to The Container Store after many months apart (yes, I’m addicted)
Taking Isla into the pool at our friend’s house for the first time (in her sweet Honest Company pineapple swim diaper from Kirby!)
Receiving our first Teil Duncan painting – one of her Bulls
Eating lunch at my parent’s house with one of my best friends, Andrew, who lives in Boston
Hosting two of our favorite friends for a dinner and serving these vegan brownies
Going to church at Bayou City Fellowship after being gone forever
Isla learning to laugh and doing it often (the cutest sound ever!)
And last, but not least, catching up with my best friend, McKenzie

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Baby August 27, 2014

Week 6 in Durango

Week six has come and gone, leaving Isla almost 12 weeks old and us with only a few weeks left in Colorado. We had our favorite weekend so far, given that one of my best friends, Kirby, her husband, Brett, and their adorable 7 week old, Lillian, came to visit us. They arrived on Thursday, and we filled the next four days with multiple hikes, raft rides, walks through town, a visit to Durango Mountain Resort, and plenty of laughter and relaxation at the house. After the girls went down, we played games like Taboo (obsessed) and categories (we amazed the boys with our sports knowledge). It is such a blessing to have a best friend with a daughter so close in age to Isla – now we just need them to move to Texas from Oklahoma City!

Below you’ll find some photographs from the past week – lots of Lillian and Isla, including her new sassy shorts from Sugarplum Lane. Only two more weeks left! I cannot believe it.

Reminder: Today is the last day to enter the BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier We giveaway. You have until Friday to enter the BabyLit giveaway and until Sunday to use the promo code ‘Isla’ for 40% off all books (this is a great deal!).

Me and my sleepy head while at Durango Mountain Resort

Two generations of best friends

Sneak peak of my floral arrangement for week 2 of Nicole’s Classes

Isla was cracking me up during the taking of these pictures – that tongue! Similar J. Crew onesie and similar RH Baby & Child Lovey

The future best friends in their matching Baby Gap rompers

Our OKC Thunder loving lady and squeaky Sophie

Kirby and her mini-me, Lillian, in this sweet J. Crew polka dot onesie

These are my new favorite shorts ever – can I get a pair?

Isla loves her Sugarplum Lane shorts and Carter’s top

Serious father-daughter conversations (those are some serious duck lips!)

Isla is one messy lady, so we’re loving these J. Crew tanks – puke resistant!

Brett was prepping for the alpine slide race with Sasha | Cutest dads ever | The view of downtown Durango from our morning hikes

Food August 25, 2014

Sweet Summery Guacamole Recipe

I am an avocado fanatic – I could eat them all day long, so naturally, I love guacamole. The local grocery store in Durango recently had a sale on avocados – 10 for $10, which is a steal. We bought 10 and then realized they would go bad before we managed to eat them all, as we’ve been adventuring to different restaurants for dinner in the evening. I decided to make my signature guacamole dish, which is sweet and salty, given that I use Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip and sea salt. This dip is very summery, given it’s slight sweetness. Depending on whom I am making the guacamole for, I’ll add cilantro to the top or jalapeños – enjoy with Stacy’s pita chips (Sasha’s favorite), or celery and carrots if you’re being healthy like I am right now!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of Robert’s Reserve Roasted Red Pepper and Onion Dip
3 ripe avocados
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/8 cup of red onions
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 jalapeño pepper (optional garnish)
Handful of chopped cilantro (optional garnish)

Steps

Finely chop 2 garlic cloves and 1/8 cup of red onions and add to mixing bowl
Add 2 tablesppons of the roasted pepper and onion dip (in most grocery stores in a stand alone section near the deli)
Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to the bowl and mix
Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt to the bowl – keep out in case you want to add more later
Pit and add three avocados to the bowl – ideal to use a mortar and pestle (I love this Le Creuset one!)
Mix well and add additional salt if desired

Baby August 18, 2014

Isla Loves: Milk Nursingwear (Giveaway)

When one of my best friends, Kirby, told me about Milk Nursingwear‘s amazing nursing tops, I was very intrigued. Most of the maternity tops I had ordered were very ‘momsy’ and far from stylish. I trust Kirby’s sense of fashion, so I went to their website and was pleasantly surprised by their selection of nursing wear. Milk Nursingwear was nice enough to send me this gray scoop neck shirt to try, and I love it! The top section pulls up to allow for discreet breastfeeding – others genuinely cannot see a thing. Given that newborns are so unpredictable with their feeding, it’s nice to know that I can feed outside of the house if needed without giving up my privacy.

I’m excited to be teaming up with Milk Nursingwear to give away a $35 gift certificate to one lucky individual! In order to enter the giveaway, you must do the following:

Reply to this post, including your name, email and which Milk Nursingwear item(s) you would buy with your gift card
Follow Milk Nursingwear’s freshmilk blog
You will get an extra entry by being or becoming a follower of Snapshots and My Thoughts (see ‘Follow’ button at the bottom righthand corner on desktop version of the blog)

One winner will be drawn at random. The more entries you have, the higher the chance you’ll win! The giveaway ends at midnight on Wednesday, August 20. I will announce the winner by Friday. I look forward to your responses. Good luck!

Follow Milk Nursingwear on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and their blog.

Milk Nursingwear Sleek Gray Striped Scoop Neck Shirt // Isla’s Carters Romper // Kendra Scott Rayne Necklace // Kendra Scott Ailee Bracelet (my favorite, obviously – more here!) // J. Crew Chino Shorts // Dolce Vita Jentry Booties // Tory Burch Robinson Double Zip Handbag

I was given this nursing top by Milk Nursingwear for my review. I was allowed to keep the product, but the opinion I am sharing remains my own.

Baby August 14, 2014

The J. Crew Family

I absolutely adore J. Crew, and as the primary shopper of the family, Sasha and Isla inadvertently wear lots and lots of J. Crew too. I especially love a lot of the summer to fall items that J. Crew has right now. In fact, there’s a 25% off sale for these styles with the code NOWANDLATER. I received my seasonal reward card (sometimes hundreds of dollars off due to J. Crew card spendings!). I spent ages on my phone (while feeding, of course) trying to decide what to buy with the gift card. We recently ordered Sasha a pair of the 7” Stanton Shorts – nice and short for my favorite pair of legs, as well as the Heidi Long Dress for me (for an upcoming wedding in Mexico!), and the Flower Patch Tank for Isla. I decided on some of the items below – I love this assortment of J. Crew outfits for the entire family. The only non-J. Crew item are the sweet felt bows for Isla which are from A Little Lady Shop.

Have you bought anything from J. Crew recently that you love?

The Mrs.

Barrett Suede Ankle Boots // Broken-in Boyfriend Jean in Abbott Wash // Classic Silk Blouse // Panama Hat // Origami Necklace

The Mr.

Broken-in Chino in Urban Slim Fit // Classic MacAlister Boots in Suede // Secret Wash Shirt in Orange Check // Ray-Ban Aviator Sunglasses // Ebbets Field Flannels for J. Crew Homestead Grays Ball Cap (Similar)

& The Little Miss

Baby Tunic in Liberty Nina Taylor Floral // Baby Everyday Leggings (Neon Corral) // Baby Salt-Water Sandals // Baby Oeuf Cat Bib // A Little Lady Shop Felt Bows