A toddler Easter Basket

I'm on vacation and thought it was the perfect opportunity to decorate for spring and easter! I like to decorate early or not at all. Sometimes it's a lot of work (we keep everything in the basement and it is so not organized) and if the holiday is in the too near future -- it's just not worth it! But 4 weeks seemed to be a good amount of time. 

I also went to Target yesterday and bought some stuffers for Javi's easter basket! This year we're going to try to do an egg hunt and I bought stickers to fill some eggs and I'll put some snacks in others. If it's nice weather, we'll do it outside or else we'll be inside. I know Javi will love to find the eggs and will love opening them even more!

// bug keeper (similar here) // bucket hat (similar here) // printed cactus beach towel // Easter Fun book // bubble wands (similar here) // sidewalk chalk (similar here) // garden tool set (similar here) //

I didn't want to go overboard with the basket (everything is from their formerly $1 but now $3 section except for the beach towel) because I do intend on getting him some outdoor toys (mostly this sandbox) for the yard. So, I'm saving my money for that!

What do you like to put in easter baskets?

Christmas 2013

On Christmas Eve, we went to dinner with Sean's family. It was a lot of fun and a perfect way to see some family members around the holidays. We usually go out for Chinese food and this year we held on to that tradition. I chose to get a little dressed up for the night and decided to wear this navy lace dress I seem to sport at winter events. It was super inexpensive at Forever 21, two years ago and I was pretty happy to be able to wear it again.

After dinner, we went to my family's house to spend time and open one gift. One gift soon turned into a couple :) and then we headed home pretty early to watch Elf. It's so nice to only be 10 minutes away! On Christmas morning, we woke up at 6AM (the cat's wanted breakfast) and then we laid in bed watching Home Alone: Lost in New York. It was amazing! Christmas between the two of us was pretty low-key (we did just buy a house after all) so after a lazy morning we went to Sean's parent's house for brunch and gift-exchanging.

In the late afternoon, we headed to my family's house for dinner and gift-exchanging. At both houses we continued our tradition of taking a group shot. I already love looking back at the group shots taken with self-timers. I learned that I'm really bad at setting up the camera for such shots.

By the end of the night we were exhausted! We brought in all our gifts and admired them in the kitchen. We decided to find homes for all of our new things right away so they didn't get confused with all the other boxes in the house. I have to say things are really coming together! We're so fortunate to have families so eager to help us out on our new home adventure. The holidays have been really good to us!

4th of July weekend.

We spent the 4th of July in the White Mountains which are in New Hampshire. The cabin was about 3.5 hours away from our home in Massachusetts -- right on the Connecticut River, so when we looked across the water -- we were looking at Vermont. Oh, New England.

This trip with our friends, Kyle and KayLee, had been planned since February.

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the cabin and surrounding areas looked exactly like they were supposed to look according to the campground's website. Don't you love when that happens? I hate when people lead you on, or falsely advertise. But this place was the cutest. And typically I only use the word "cutest" when referring to my cats. But it was that cute.

It was small but it had all the necessities; sleeping arrangements, a clean bathroom, this interesting stove/fridge/sink combo appliance pack. It also had some extra luxuries; a TV (we didn't even turn it on), a pretty sweet porch overlooking a river and a fire pit. We loved everything about it.

We brought some necessities of our own -- an acoustic guitar, a charcoal grill, some board games, coke for me, beer for everyone else and of course items to make s'mores. On the actual fourth, we didn't do anything. Around 4PM, we all commented on how we had in fact done nothing that day except for eat. How's that for freedom?

At night, we saw some fireworks. It took us a little bit to realize that the fireworks display we were watching was in fact just some neighbors and not the town's display. By the time the town's began the smoke from the neighborhood fireworks covered the sky but I still say we got our fix. The next day, we ventured. We drove around finding neat places to stop, hiked to a waterfall (in flip flop, oops), had lunch on top of a mountain... you know, the usual.

That night, Sean and Kyle realized the first version of their first album (!) was sent to them. So, we all jumped in the truck and went for a ride to listen to the music they've been creating. It's really amazing.

We've all agreed that a trip back in the fall would be a great idea. Can you imagine all those trees red, orange and yellow rather than green? Oh, New England -- you can be pretty great.

I hope your Independence Day was fantastic. If you don't celebrate the 4th of July -- than I hope July 4th was as good a day as any.

Happy Easter!

We celebrated Easter by making the rounds.
I feel like that's always the way on holidays.
But I don't mind it at all.

At my parent's house, we not only celebrated Easter but we also celebrated my grandmother's birthday.
I won't mention her age (I hear that's rude to do), although the candles on the cake give it away.
It was a beautiful day -- warm weather, great company and yummy food.
Here are some photos.

Happy Easter. :)

How well does your spouse know you?

I've decided to link-up with Jessica for a "how well does your spouse know you" quiz.
I made a point to ask Sean these questions days ago in anticipation for this day, Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day. :)
And after each question he said "hmm, that seems like a trap".
He's a smartie.

If you've been reading along you know I've been talking a lot about our love story the past few days.
You can catch up here: part I, part II, and part III.
I'm interrupting the story because I ran out of time and my valentine wants to take me to dinner.
:)

So, enjoy.

Here are the instructions:

1. Fill out the Valentines Day Questions. You can find them here.
2. Hand over the same set of questions to your spouse. Find out his answers to the questions about you.
3. Write a post comparing both of your answers
4. Link up your blog post below!

How long have you been married? 

His: Like exact? I’m not good at math, a year and 8 months

Hers: A year and almost 7 months

Where was your first date?  

His: Official? Olive Garden

Hers: Olive Garden

Where was your first kiss? 

His: In a friend’s kitchen

Hers: At a friend's house

Who first said, "I love you"? 

His: me?

Hers: He did... while watching an episode of MTV's Room Raiders.

What were your wedding colors? 

His: Pink, and black? White?

Hers: Black and pink

What is her most commonly used phrase? 

His: That’s a tough one, "nerbit"? (that's my nickname for him)

Hers: I don't think I have a catchphrase. 

Who is her celebrity crush? 

His: Robert Pattinson

Hers: Robert Pattinson

If she was ordering drinks for both of you what would you each get? 

His: A mountain dew for me and a coke for her

Hers: A mountain dew and a coke

What is the best meal she has ever cooked you? 

His: I don’t know, fake chicken dinner (One time I bought a rotisserie chicken from the market with all the sides, changed the containers when I got home and told him I made the whole meal from scratch)

Hers: I don't generally cook

What is the worst meal she has ever cooked you? 

His: You never really cook dinner that bad. There’s something, but I can’t remember what it was
Hers: Maybe something that didn't cook all the way through, that happens often

What is the most-played song on her iPod? 

His: Anything by t. swift

Hers: Taylor Swift

What would she say is your most annoying habit? 

His: My OCD

Hers: Nothing :)

What is the last thing she does before she goes to bed? 

His: Wash your face

Hers: Wash my face and brush my teeth

If you could throw out one item of her clothing what would it be? 

His: I feel like that’s a trap. But, Uggs

Hers: Probably a "grandma sweater". (he tends to NOT like sweaters?)

What would you say is your favorite thing about her? 

His: Too many things to choose from. You’re my wife.

Hers: I'm hysterical. Obviously.

What's her go-to drink at Starbucks? 

HIs: A water?

Hers: I don't like Starbucks

What's her blog's name?

His: Jasmine and Sean

Hers: Jasmine and Sean

:) happy valentine's day.