Ready. Set. WRITE! - My Goals

 

I am stepping out on a huge ledge here, and joining some lovely writers for my FIRST EVER writing link up.  So without further ado...
Here's a little bit about READY. SET. WRITE!

Ready. Set. WRITE! is a summer writing intensive that provides an opportunity for us to cheer each other on wherever we’re at in our writing—planning, drafting, or revising. We set goals, write/revise/plan like crazy, and keep one another accountable.  It is hosted by Alison, Katy, Erin, Jaime & Elodie.

I need this accountability, desperately.  Especially if I ever plan to actually finish this manuscript.
So here are my big goals for the summer:

1. Get my word count to 40,000 for my WIP. I'm currently at 17,000, so that will be roughly 2000 words a week.
2. Go to the beach at least twice this summer.
3. Get more active within the writing community, whether it's blogging, twitter, etc. Just get out there and start conversations!

Which leads me to my first weekly goal:

1. Write 2000 words for the week!  Short and simple, I am really hoping I can do this!
   
   Oh, and since this is my first time doing Ready. Set. WRITE!, here's a little bit about me.  Hi, I'm Suzanne! I live in Florida with my lovely husband, our two crazy kids (Kaitlyn is 4, Zack is 1) and our two spoiled kitties.  I am an interior designer by day and try to fit in my writing on lunch breaks, nights, weekends and long work flights (clearly I'm failing!) I'm a closet writer, my husband is the only one that knows I'm writing a novel, so it's finally out there in the open!  I am very excited and nervous to be doing this! Thanks for reading!

Friday Five - Stitch Fix Review

Happy Friday!  I'm looking forward to the weekend, how about you?  I decided to do my Friday Five around my Stitch Fix pieces that I received this week!

1. The first item I tried on was the Mapei V-Neck Blouse - $44. I loved the fun colors and the light-weight colors. And that it is a very versatile piece, and can be dressed up or down.

STATUS: KEEPING

 

2. Once my fix shipped, I cheated and googled all of the items before they were delivered. (You know you do this too!) This was a pretty popular dress so I found it instantly, the Lex Textured Floral Fit and Flare Dress - $74. I knew I would love the style of the dress, as I had a similar fit and flare style dress from my first fix. I loved the fit.

STATUS: KEEPING

3. The second top is the Edmondo Stud Detailed Split-Back Blouse - $38. I loved the color right away, a fun turquoise for the summer. I wasn't sure about the style, but the more I walked around in it, the more I liked it.  Plus the hubs really liked it, so it was a win! I forgot to take a picture of the back, which is the fun part..whoops!  It has the gold studs going down the back, and it splits at the bottom.

STATUS: KEEPING

4. Oh this jean jacket.  Morrie Boyfriend Denim Jacket - $58. I wanted to love you, and I am still unsure about this one. It's a very heavy jean jacket, which I'm not sure how much wear I will get out of it in Florida.  I don't see myself wearing it in the Spring/Summer. It fit, but it was a bit big at the shoulders and the arms.  You can see below how the sleeves come over my wrist. 

STATUS: UNDECIDED, BUT LEANING TOWARDS RETURN

5. The Marsha Bowler Satchel Bag - $68. I asked for a crossover type bag and my stylist delivered! It's a good size, but could have been a little bit smaller.  The color is a powder blue.  Again, this is one I am unsure about. I showed the pictures to my co-workers and they think it's a great color and to treat it like a neutral. 

STATUS: UNDECIDED, BUT LEANING TOWARDS KEEPING

 Not too bad for my second fix!  What do you all think?  Should I keep or return the items I am unsure about?

And to end it off on a really cute note, this little girl is having her first recital tomorrow!  Can't wait to see her dance her beautiful heart out! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend filled with great memories!

Zackary's Viking Birthday Party

My little boy is turning two next month, so what better time than to re-cap his 1st birthday party! I knew from the beginning it would be a viking/Norway themed party with nautical hints thrown in.  My husband is part Norwegian, and we made the nursery theme based off of a viking ship painting that was passed down to my husband, so the party theme made perfect sense!

We had a relaxed party at the house with family and a few friends.  For decor, I mainly focused on the food area, which is our dining room.

 

I made the above invitation on Photoshop.  

Behind the invitation I re-used spaghetti jars and painted them and added twine for vases.

Since his birthday is in the summer, there was lots of Red, White and Blue decor to choose from! I picked up some flowers at Michael's that were at a great price.

 

Fun nautical bucket that I used to hold the silverware.  I wrapped the silverware in nautical napkins from Ikea, wrapped them in twine with life preservers (life saver candy).

 

The drink station was on our dining buffet.  We had fruit punch Kool-aid for the kids and waters and sodas for the adults.  My mom gave me the fabric scraps of Zack's quilt she made for him, so I made him a tassel garland and used some of the other scraps for table runners and additional decor.

I think the tassel garland is my favorite!  I have it hanging in his room now above the changing table.

Some of the food - Viking Booty and Fish

I think this was my best food spread yet!  The red, white and blue theme was so easy, didn't take much thought, and I had fun coming up with Viking/Nautical food ideas.

Smash Cake with Nautical Cookies

 Since birthday parties are the only time I have time to bake or try out new recipes, I opted to try for some custom looking nautical cookies.  I made anchors, life preservers and the Norway flag.  It was definitely a trial and error on these bad boys, but I think they look pretty good, and I thought they tasted good too!  I tried so many different icing recipes during this process!

Buoys (Marshmallows dipped in Red Colored White Chocolate) & Chips Ahoy

Norway Flag Cake

Me and the girl!

What we wore: For the first part of the party, Zack had a custom onesie embroidered by my mom with his name and a viking ship.  We all had matching Viking shirts. One of Andrew's old college friends hand drew the viking and we had them made into shirts!  

Me and the birthday boy!

Yummy!

These two though!

My Viking Boys!

My family

It was a great party to celebrate Zack-Attack, now on to the next party!!  This year will be all about bubbles - he is OBSESSED with bubbles!!!

Zackary-4 months!

Happy four months baby boy!  You've had a great month.  You are such a happy baby, you give smiles to everyone!  And from what I hear, you are quite the flirt!  One of the day care ladies was commenting on how you have smiles just for them, but when she found out you were giving smiles to another lady, she was not happy!  Such a ladies man! ;)

4 month stats: 
I am totally guessing here.....we don't go back for check up until Nov 1.
Weight: 14 lbs?  Height: 26"  ??

You Love to:

• Smile, doesn't matter at who
• Grab things
• Roll over!!
• Suck on your hand, arm, fingers, etc.
• Drool
• Coo and babble at mommy
• Watch Football with Daddy

Watching football, go UCF!

Firsts:

• You went on your first Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Walk.  You hung out in your stroller for the whole race, slept a little, but mostly liked to look around at everyone wearing pink!  You supported your Aunt Sissy very well!!! 

With daddy before the race

My pink Girl!

During the race

Race Bibs

• You rolled over! From the back to front.  We were all super excited!  You had been half rolling over for a little bit, but now you are a rolling over champ!

I am still amazed at what an awesome, happy baby you continue to be!!! Love you my "Zack Attack!"

Sibling Love!

A Day in My Life - Maternity Leave Edition

As I am writing this, I am back to work, boo hoo!  But I wanted to show you a glimpse of my life on maternity leave.  Eventually I will also do a day in my life - Back to Work edition, so that I can compare the two!  So here it goes!

It is Tuesday, September 17th.

I hear Zack starting to stir, darn he didn't sleep through the night.
I get out of bed at 5:27am to feed him.  Usually he's been sleeping til 6:45-7, but I guess he's hungry early.  I breastfeed him, but he's awake and wants to play, so we hang out in bed for a bit.  He finally gets sleepy again, and we are back in bed at 6:27am.
7:30am I hear the patter of feet, my 3 year old, Kaitlyn is awake. Zack is still sleeping so I get some cuddle time with my girl.  The hubs gets up and gets ready for work. I get Kaitlyn dressed while Andrew gets her lunch together.
8-8:15am Andrew and Kaitlyn leave for school.  Since on maternity leave, Andrew has been the one taking and picking up Kaitlyn from school. It's been so nice! But since I'll be going back soon, I agree to pick up Kaitlyn today, so I can slowly get back into my routine.  (Kaitlyn's school is 6 minutes from my work, so I am usually in charge of pick up/drop off. Right now, Andrew has to back track to get to work after taking Kaitlyn)
8:23am- It's just me and my boy. He wakes up and I change him and feed him.
8:41-8:51am He's done and I put him in his swing so I can pump.  I've been pumping once a day in the morning since Zackary was 4 weeks old to build up my stash for when I go back to work. I get a good amount!

3 ounces, not too bad!

My stash

9:00am Breakfast time for me, I make coffee and have waffles. Zack is done with the swing, so I put him on his boppy for a change of scenery.

Chilaxin'

Waffles and watching Kelly & Michael, with Zack chilling on his boppy

Coffee in my Minnie cup

I love Kelly & Michael!  Still miss Regis, but I think Michael is a great co-host, he's pretty funny and he and Kelly have great chemistry.  

9:20am Zack is starting to get tired, so I nurse him to sleep.
9:38am Sleeping Baby

Sweet baby, getting too big for his bassinet!

This is my "me" time, while Zack sleeps.  I catch up on Facebook, check the work email and start some laundry.
11:00am Zack wakes up.  I change and feed him.

Zack's Faux-hawk

We hang out while I fold laundry and clean out his nursery.  I have a ton of hand me down clothes, so I organize those. 

Lots o' Piles

Getting that head up!

Playmat Time!

Zack's had enough play time!  He's down for another nap at 1:28pm.
My stomach is growling so I heat up some leftovers for lunch.

Mmmm Pizza

1:45pm I finish the laundry and decide to surf the TV to see what's on TV.....whoops I get sucked into New Moon! I really love all of the Twilight books, but man are the movies cheesy or what?  Still haven't seen the last one yet, I need to get on that, Stat!
3pm Zack is up and we do....you guessed it, a diaper change and eat!  We have some cuddle time before we have to pick up Kaitlyn.

Cuddle time!

4:15pm We leave to pick up Kaitlyn from school and are home at 5:20pm.

Going home

 It's a nice evening out, the evenings are finally starting to cool down a bit, so we play outside.  Kaitlyn gets on her tricycle and I put Zack in the stroller laying down.  I work with Kaitlyn on trying to pedal the bike by herself, and she actually gets it!  She pedals it a little by herself, she is so excited and I am so proud of her!

Riding her trike!

Hanging outside in the stroller

5:40pm We head back inside, so I can get dinner ready.  We are having marinated teriyaki chicken with pasta.  Simple, but yummy!  I put the chicken in the oven, and daddy gets home about 6:00pm.  We go outside again to show Daddy how Kaitlyn can ride her tricycle now! 
6:30pm Dinner is on the table

Dinner!

Eating Dinner

7:00pm All finished with dinner, I clean up the kitchen and Daddy plays with Kaitlyn.  They play with her castle and her new Snow White figurines she got for her birthday. I feed Zack and play with them afterwards.
7:40pm We start the bedtime routine.  Zack gets a bath tonight, Kaitlyn brushes her teeth and gets in her jammies.We watch Snow White for a little before she goes to bed with Daddy.
8-8:30pm I nurse and cuddle Zack, while he falls asleep nursing on me. 
8:50pm Zack in bed
9:00pm Andrew comes out of Kaitlyn's room, and we catch up on some shows together, and catch up together on our day.
10pm Shower and head to bed
Lights out at 10:30pm.

I'm pretty sure Zack slept through the night this night, Wahoo!
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our life! :)  Nothing too special, but it's ours!