well color me HAPPY!

As some of you know, I lost my precious hello kitty watch last summer, and I have been quite "unhappy" about it since. The thing about this watch is, it's not just any watch, it is a reproduction of the 80's watch that many of my friends had but I didn't. I really wanted it though, and I never stopped wanting it. I searched and searched for it, going in and out of every Sanrio store I saw, browsed Ebay weekly, and finally finally found one on Sanrio.com. Finding it really made me happy, I even considered buying two, I am still regretting not doing it.

I wore it proudly for almost two years. I was truly the envy of every girl between the ages of 4-10. But one day it was gone. I tore everything apart I owned, combed the apartment and even began searching ebay again. But no luck. I even thought that it would turn up as we packed up the place, but as the last box was taped, it hit me, it was really gone.

This morning for the first time since I have moved back here I decided to check ebay once again. (There is something about living here that has made me forget about shopping, which really, is a good thing). I typed in my usual searches: "Hello Kitty Vintage Watch", "Hello Kitty Flip Watch", and then on my last shot "Hello Kitty Retro Watch", it came up. HOORAY! And for only twenty dollars. I must also note that this was a great deal. I actually found one over a month ago, on ebay, went to my sometimes trusty auction sniper, and put in my bid at $26. For sure it would never go that high, I was the only one bidding on it. Well, I put too much trust in the sniper and lost, by twenty five dollars. Yep, the watch sold for fifty. So you can see how I thought twenty sounded great at a buy it now price, not to mention it comes with a calculator.

And this time, I bought two of them!

* Sorry about the photo quality of these, I couldn't wait until I got them in the mail to do a post, I am just way too excited!!

The Party

Last year it was Star Wars, this year Nemo. After this party, it was quite apparent I really am my mother's child, we both tend to bite off a little more than we can chew, delegate the design stuff to our husbands, recruit the help of the construction paper wiz Whitney, and stay up way too late the night beforehand. It was all worth it though. Luke loved every minute of it.

The invites:

The decorations:

In keeping with the fishy theme.

The food:

Fish sandwiches, gold fish crackers, and carrots for the kids. Fruit, chicken curry croissant sandwiches, and tortellini salad for the adults, & cupcakes for dessert. Luke blew out his candles but only pretended to take a bite of his cake.

The games:

A favorite from my childhood, go fish, for many useless nemo inspired knicknacks. & the old standby, the Pinata. The kids went crazy for both.

The kids & presents:

All of Luke's new friends spoiled him rotten, but the crowd favorite was the fish from Aunt Tara.

The favors:

Craft boxes filled with Nemo goodness for the kids, and sweedish fish for the adults.

And the birthday boy:

Still reveling.

My recipe for a happy valentines

People I love 

I love a whole lot of people but last night I just couldn't help not narrowing it down to my family and my hubby.

+

Good Food

Because reservations are often an afterthought, we usually cook for Valentines. Since it was my turn this year, I made my favorite dinner and Tom's favorite desserts. Clockwise; Salmon, Asparagus, and Parmesan potatoes, Chocolate Molten Cake, Chai Cheese Pie, & Berry Cheesecake.

Combine these two ingredients together, talk & laugh for approximately 60-90 minutes, cool after too much dessert, and voilà, a wonderful holiday.

A day in

One of the joys of not having a car is the inability to go anywhere. Luckily I had a few things to do to keep me busy and happy.

First up, baking my favorite, one time a year only, sugar cookies. Luke helped me with the first batch. After he lost interest, he found fun in stealing my rolling pin, over and over again.

I love all baked goods, but sugar cookies are some that I can't resist, even after having three. I'm pretty sure there is something addicting in them, maybe it is the soft fluffy texture, or the yummy almond cream cheese flavored frosting? Whatever it is, the last time I made them was during my 9th month of pregnancy with Luke, not really caring about the hundreds of calories I consumed daily. Knowing the problem I have of self control, I have talked myself out of making them several times. But with a new baby born and valentines around the corner, I gave in.

I tried to share my love of cookies with my boy, but even disguised as his favorite animal, he turned them down.

And a plate for my friend Andi who just had a new baby. This was the second batch I had to frost after my dad kept sneaking cookies from the plate. As always, he pleaded ignorant.

And lastly, a couple baby kimonos. I really love this Martha Stewart pattern. It's super easy and so cute on both boys and girls. I mostly love that the top can grow with the baby. Three quarter sleeves on a baby are so precious.

Yes folks, he's two!

This little guy is no longer a baby. But I can't help but want to hold on.

Should I...

Take away his binky, his silky, or both?

Be concerned he only has a vocabulary of 12 words but knows over 20 signs?

Continue using months to describe his age?

Worry that he seems to prefer dog food to sugar cookies? 

Stop thinking it's cute when he climbs out of his crib 5x's a night?

Find another favorite activity besides playing in the sink for hours?

Not secretly love that he hates being apart from me, even in our house?

Worry that the next child is going to be at least almost 3 years younger than him?

Stop asking him to show off his dance moves? He does a great funky chicken.

Not want to protect him from everyone and everything?

Just let go, and let him experience all the world has to offer?