While Mommy was away...

Daddy, Madelyn and Quigs had lots of time to play!

My mom, Sara and I had a great long weekend together.  I laughed until I cried multiple times, and often couldn't catch my breath. Yup, it was that much fun :) I indulged a lot, laughed a lot, shopped a lot, ate yummy food, had good wine and slept great. Although, my mom and sister can't say the same for the sleeping bit, it was a great time all around. We're already talking about our next trip!

I had no doubt Brian would take good care of Madelyn, but when it came time to actually leave, I had a very hard time. I first left Brian alone for a few hours with M when she was about 8 days old and he did great. He's a natural, but this was all about me, and not being home to kiss my baby goodnight. So it was equally as hard, as it was fun. I believe its good for moms to do things for themselves though. Time for you makes you a better wife, a better mother, a better friend, sister, daughter, etc.

Here are some pictures that Brian sent me while I was away. She had a great time with Daddy and I'm happy they had a chance to have that time together!

hanging with her bro - cute :)

happy playing

Brian sent this one on Saturday night... it said "goodnight mommy, I can't wait to see you tomorrow"  I cried at the dinner table...

 

my sweet girl

 

Getting away!

I'm so excited about my weekend away this weekend that I have to share with you what we're doing :) My mom, sister and I are going away for a little girls weekend, in.... Lancaster, PA, of all places! It's funny when my Dad lived there for 6+ years, we didn't visit him all that often. Now that he's back home, we've made more trips to PA then we'd ever have thought. So, you are probably thinking - why Lancaster? They have great hotels, an abundance of restaurants, lots of great outlets and a great spa, all with great prices! Sounds pretty good, right?

We're staying here - Eden Resort in a big 2 bedroom suite

We're spending Saturday afternoon at this spa - Bernards at Brighton with massages, facials and mani/pedi's (oh my!)


But one of the places I really can't wait to visit is here -

I mean, who doesn't love Pottery Barn, and this outlet does not disappoint. Depending on what you are looking for, they have everything you could imagine. A few years back I bought our 8 x 10 100% wool living room rug here for less than $300, a steal! Can't wait to see what they have this time around! 

Then of course I just learned that they opened a Janie and Jack outlet.... trouble, with a capital T.   Loft, Banana, Gap, the list goes on and on.

Really, I love time with my mom and sister so I'm really looking forward to the chance to relax and have fun with them. I even have Friday off so we can hit the road nice and early :) Someday when we do this, we'll be bringing Madelyn along for the fun, but for this trip, she'll be home spending QT with her Daddy!

So, I don't know about you, but I'm day-dreaming about the weekend today. Happy Hump Day!

It's the little things

When we renovated our kitchen a year ago, we planned to finish the work up by adding subway tile for backsplash.  However, we switched gears quickly to the nursery and sure enough, the backsplash never got done. Here is a picture of the "finished" product.

A few weeks ago we were out of town for the weekend and we came home to a surprise. While we were away, my parents had someone come in to install backsplash and hang a cabinet over our little desk nook. As we pulled up to our house, we saw a note hanging on the front door. "Oh God, what is that?!" we said as we pulled in. But we were pleasantly surprised as we got to the door to see that the note read "Happy Anniversary and Happy Father's Day Brian!" What a treat :) One more thing to knock off the list and one less thing we had to worry about. We are SO appreciative of the surprise and we love it. Sometimes the littlest details make the biggest impact!

New find...

Confession: I like my job. I love being a Manager and having a team that I am responsible for.  One tough part about my job and being that go-to person though, is it's really hard for me to step away from my desk. All day long I hear, "hey Jess, I have a question?" "Jess, can you help me with this?" "Jess, what should I do for this customer?" You get the point. So, I rarely leave my desk (and I wonder why I can't lose weight?!) Instead, when I need a break, I turn to the internet to zone out for a few minutes and for a quick little distraction from the craziness.

Enter my quality-time with facebook, listingbook, zillow, and the list of my blogs. I jump from one blog to the next and before you know it, I've spent my self-allotted 10 minute break and its back to work. Recently though, I stumbled on a new site Layla Grace.  I was hooked and I broke the rules and browsed for at least 20 minutes before placing an order :) Is it just me that didn't know about this site? What a find, I loved everything on it and quickly found 2 things that I had-to-have.

I'd been on the hunt for wooden letters to hang on the wall in Madelyn's room for months.  I looked at all the usual places, then Etsy, amazon and a few others, desperate to find the right one. I wanted something big enough to hang on its own but small enough that it would work next to something else and it had to be a cute letter. Thanks to Layla Grace, I found the perfect letter - Lowercase Wood Letters with lots of options of cute ribbons. It looks better in person than the picture, but I love it! We're waiting for Madelyn's birth announcement to be framed and I think I'll add it next to it.

I couldn't just buy one thing from Layla Grace though, and when I spotted this bag, it was another have-to-have moment! It's not in yet so who knows when I'll get it, but for $40? It's SO cute, right?
Rosanna Ikat handbag

Gotta love good finds and internet shopping :)

Happy Friday!

Simple Joy

Lately I've been working crazy shifts at work, so our routine is sort of all over the place. Brian has been picking up Madelyn and putting her down for bed, often before I am home. Last night though, I got home in time for a snuggle and I put M to bed... our quiet time together before she went to bed, literally made my month so I had to share!

She was in her usual, cheerful mood and greeted me with squeals and smiles when I walked in the door. I swooped her up and we went right into her room. I was going to read her a story, but as soon as we sat down, I could see she was happy cuddling. As I've mentioned, our munchkin isn't much of a cuddler but every so often if you catch her when shes sleepy and in the mood, she'll let you snuggle with her. I don't know if she sensed that I just needed some snuggles or she was so tired that she didn't want to fight me off but she indulged me nonetheless, and it was perfect. She didn't wiggle around, she wasn't reaching for her toys, she just stared up at me and let me hold her tight as we rocked. It was so perfect I cried... As I whispered - I love you sweet girl, I thought to myself, I wonder if she'll every know how much I love her? There are no words.... One thing is for sure, I never would have thought such a simple moment could bring so much joy! Thank you Madelyn Jayne, my heart is so full.

25 things...

You don't know about me....

I always enjoy reading this part of US Weekly, whether I like the celebrity or not, it's always interesting.  Don't ask me why, but on the commute home tonight, I was thinking about what would be on my list. So here it is -

1.) I was born on my due date (only 5% of babies are born on their DD)
2.) I didn't really like babysitting when I was a kid
3.) I love to read, always have and I wish I made time to do it more
4.) I love time by myself. When I was a kid, my Aunt teased my mom that there was something wrong with me because I always entertained myself and liked playing alone.
5. ) I LOVE cheese and could eat a ridiculous amount of it but I don't like cold cheese. I can't eat cold cheese alone, I have to eat crackers or something with it.
6.) I am really good at remembering numbers and random facts
7.) I have at least 10 episodes of Law & Order: SVU on our DVR at all times
8.) I am obsessed with real estate
9. ) I was a cheerleader in high school and I was really, really into it.
10.) If you'd asked me 6 or 7 years ago if I was going to have kids, I probably would have said no... I thought I might just have a lot of dogs
11.) I enjoyed every last second of my pregnancy immensely and I look forward to going through the whole experience again.
12. ) Being a mom is the best thing that's ever happened to me. My sweet girl means the world to me and when I'm with her, I smother her.
13.) I would do anything for my friends and family
14.) I have a hard time saying no
15.) Our first pet was a cat, Jasper and I really loved him. Now, I don't like cats
16.) I love the dynamic of my relationship with my husband... He is such a great guy and so perfect for me! 
17.) One of my favorite things to do is have dinner with my family
18.) I love red wine
19.) I drink soda less than once a month
20.) I hope Madelyn and I have a relationship like me and my mom do... it's the best :)
21.) When I started working at Vineyard Vines, I didn't really know what Martha's Vineyard was.... Now its my favorite place on Earth!
22.) I hate swimming
23.) I went on my first flight when I was 10 years old - to my Uncle's gradutation from grad school at Wake.
24.) I would love to rescue another dog... someday :)
25.) I really enjoy blogging!

Maybe I'll convince Brian to make a list next, ha ha!

Happy Birthday America!

Hope you all had a great day with lots of red, white and blue, stars and stripes, and appreciation for our freedom!