In the middle of the night ...

Your mind goes crazy places in the middle of the night.

For instance, last night our fire alarm went off around 4am. It only lasted for a couple of seconds and then it stopped. But, it was enough to wake us up from a dead sleep. The Mr. inspected the house and found nothing, but as I was trying to fall back to sleep my mind started churning......

First let me say, I am not a worrier. I don't always think about the 'what ifs' and I never have any problems sleeping. But, there is something about the middle of the night that makes you insane.

Here is an example of how being awake at 4am makes you delusional..... Part of our AC unit is up in the attic, so I started thinking that there was a possibility the unit in the attic could have sparked a fire. And if it was on fire, how long would it take until we started to smell smoke? Our neighborhood is right behind a fire station, so that was reassuring..... especially at 4am. I knew that the second I smelled smoke one of us would run upstairs and grab Miss A. But, what about the animals? Jake (the dog) would be easy to find, but would it be easy to find his leash? What about Steve (the cat)? He normally sleeps in one of the living room chairs, but what if he was not that easy to locate? And then what would we do with him while we were outside? I decided I would grab a tote bag, toss him in it and zip it up! And then, what all would I have time to grab as we were running out of the house?

Please tell me I am not the only one that does this. Surely the middle of the night has claimed others?

Romper Runway

You all know I love a good deal, especially when it comes to baby clothes and baby gear. I have tried consignment sales in the past, but always get frustrated with the quality of the merchandise and end up leaving empty handed. But not this weekend. Romper Runway is having their fall sale and I can hardly wait. If you are in Dallas, you have to hit up this sale - it is wonderful.

Hands down, it is the best consignment sale I have ever been to. I always leave with a bag full of smocked outfits for practically nothing.

This year I plan on checking out the baby gear. It is crazy how much new stuff has hit the market since we were shopping for stuff for Miss A. I really want a Mama Roo, so cross your fingers that I get lucky.

If you want a sneak peak of some of the goods that will be available at the sale, like Romper Runway on Facebook. From what I could see, they had everything from Bugaboos to Crew Cuts. Not to mention the racks and racks of adorable smocked clothing. The prices on these things are insane - such crazy discounts you will want to buy everything.

Romper Runway's Fall/Winter sale - July 21, 22 and 23
3003 Carlisle
Dallas TX 75204

New Mom Pre-sale:
Thursday, 7 PM - 9PM

Public Sale:
Friday, 10 AM – 6 PM

Half-price Public Sale:
Saturday, 9 AM – 1 PM

New moms and grandmothers can shop early, plus bring a friend. I have done this before and it was awesome - you are able to get first dibs on all the stuff. Or, if you want to volunteer to work the sale you can also get early shopping privileges. Visit http://romperrunway.com/to sign up.

Also, from my own experience.... bring a tote bag or two. You will have so much stuff you will need somewhere to stash all of it while you are shopping.

What Is On My Phone

Goodness.... I have not posted anything in almost 2 weeks.

I am trying to figure out the balance between posts that are kid and baby related vs personal stuff vs the rest of what I normally post about. I have never been one to post too many pictures of Miss A and that is not going to change. But, when all of my days revolve around her and our activities, sometimes I feel like that is all I would be posting about. So, this means I just need to start cooking more, do more home improvement projects and crafting more. Basically, start to cross of everything that is on my "TO DO BEFORE BABY" list that is on the fridge.

Testing out this bracelet trend....

I love the pom pom trim on this skirt.... You can count on Miss A having a couple of these in her fall wardrobe.

I love Brie cheese, but never seem to eat the entire thing before the rest of the wedge spoils. I found these the other day and they are wonderful solution to that problem.

One of my dear friends has the best eye for furniture deals and steals. She used to have a booth at a local antique store, but now she is selling directly from her house. (Which means lower proces!) I fell in love with this dresser she posted on her FB page. Go check her out - she has some GREAT things. GypsySoulInteriors

I am in the process of refinishing twin beds for Miss A's big girl room. I have been sanding and sanding and sanding some more.

Miss A loves to put bracelet earrings on Steve. Most of the time he is a willing participant and lets her do whatever she wants. He is a good sport.

After 6 attempts at finding the perfect light pink for Miss A's big girl room we fianlly decided on Benjamin Moore Elephant Pink.

"Look Mommy, I feed Jake."

I saw this throw a couple weeks ago on a blog and fell in love. And only $19. Even better.

Children Inspire Design

Hands down, this has to be one of my favorite companies for children's art work prints.

Children Inspire Design is totally up my alley - bright colors, funky patterns and fun prints. I have these prints in our game room and I just ordered some for the nursery, plus I have used them for Miss A's chic farm party.

Here is the game room.....

And here is the banner from A's party...

In a couple of days, these prints will be added to my collection:

Normally, I am NOT a fan of decorating with words, but I guess every rule has an exception. (I have lots of crazy and wacky "rules" for decorating, but that is a whole other post.)

And I am loving these 2 prints. I really want this alphabet for the nursery, but will wait and order it once we know if Baby M2 is a boy or girl.

And these planet prints are wonderful.

Right now you can order these wonderful prints for a great price at Zulily...

Nap Time, Craft Time

If you don't have kiddos in carseats, then you might as well quit reading now. But, if you live in a hot climate and have a car seat in your car then you have this problem - HOT metal and plastic carseat parts that can burn bare legs. Unless you have the gadget that can remotely start your car, then it is impossible to cool down the car prior to putting the kid in the carseat. So, I whipped up this neat little sun shade to solve this problem.

Exhibit 1:

Normal carseat exposed to the blazing heat

Exhibit 2:

Carseat covered up with a sun shade

Now, doesn't that look like a nifty little gizmo?

All of the metal and plastic parts are safely covered.

I lined the back of my sun shade in brown fabric, so it would match the pink and brown carseat.

I love that I can just roll this up, keep it in the backseat and always have it on hand.

Want one? $10 + shipping. Shoot me an email - mrspreppy@gmail.com

Booked!

Right now I am counting down the days until I will be here....

Ahhhh... the beach.

I love everything about the beach. The sound of the waves, the smell of the ocean, the wet sand on my toes and most of all - the tan I will get. Normally I would say having a cocktail on the beach, but this summer I will have to skip that little luxury.

I know the blog world is full of people that have vacationed in this part of FL/live here/of have houses here. Therefore, pony up some information!

Where do you like to eat? Where should we shop for groceries? Any fun things we have to do? What are toddler friendly activities around the area? We will be there mid-August.

Happy Birthday to ME

Happy birthday to ME!

I have always loved having a summer birthday. When I was younger, I never had to go to school on my birthday and I could always spend the day doing whatever. I always had pool parties and spent the day outside in the sun.

Well, on my last twentysomething birthday, I will be doing the exact same thing.

Started the day off with a huge fountain Diet Coke...spent all morning playing with Miss A in the pool...Chick Fil A for lunch and now I am headed back into the pool. Tonight we are having a birthday dinner and hopefully my annual birthday cake.

Not such a bad way to start off the last year of my twenties.

And on the subject of turning 30... at least I have 1 more year until I have to face that reality.

Hey Good Lookin', What Ya' Got Cookin

Last night I made a Mexican pizza for dinner. We had had grilled chicken salads the night before, so it was a great way to use the rest of the ingredients.

I had in mind a corn crust, but could not find the Pillsbury tube of corn twists.... so, I just substituted crescent rolls. I rolled them out and made a rectangular crust, and then baked it for a couple of minutes. While that was baking, I mixed together some black beans and a can of Rotel, to use as the pizza sauce.

After baking the crust for a couple of minutes, I spread the beans all over the crescent rolls and then topped it with the cilantro lime chicken, bell pepper, purple onion and cheese.

I served it with sliced avocado and a side of Spanish rice. I made it up as I went along, just using ingredients we had on hand and it was a keeper of a recipe!