Valentine's Day Projects {Silhouette}

I'm about to start sharing more crafts, I promise. I have been using my Silhouette Cameo practically everyday to create birthday banners, cards, invitations or create with vinyl. Earlier this month I did a few Valentine's Day projects (all available for sale with personalization via Facebook and Etsy).

First is my Valentine's Day subway art. The Silhouette Studio offers some ready-made files to use for this, but I wanted mine to be unique, I didn't want to visit another blog and see the same exact item in different (or the same!) colors. I decided what words I wanted to use, adjusted the fonts and layout in Studio and used red and pink vinyl mounted on a 12x12 piece of painted white wood.

For my second project, my favorite apprentice (check out Halloween and Christmas) was needed. I found some cute frames with heart cutouts and got to work painting and personalizing. Someone ordered one for a friend too and the friend loved it!

Consignment Delight {baby boy deals}

Just after Christmas I traveled to see my family in Connecticut. While there, mom and I went to Once Upon a Child where she has purchased great toys and clothes for William in the past. I went straight for the 12m clearance (50% off) section. William has plenty of 9m clothes and knew he needed some bottoms in the next size since some of his 9m stuff is getting tight.

I got a lot of great pieces. I'm so excited that I wanted to share because many people don't think about consignment for kids clothes. My question is always, "why not?"

First I went to the pants because I decided that if I found better jeans than the $5 ones I just gpt him at Kohls I would be happy. Well, I got a pair of jersey lines jeand from Childrens Place and a pair from Old Navy. Also found green maude pants with original Gymboree tags and gray cords from Old Navy.

You see those prices? Do you see the stars? I got them for 50% off listed price! Moving on….

All boys need cute overalls. Right now William has four pairs that fit, two of which are corduroy OshKosh and were $1 at a consignment sale in the spring of 2011 (go me!). Anyway, I picked up two pairs from Gap (khaki and striped on the left), a pair from OshKosh and black cprduroy ones from Gymboree. Same deal, 50% off list price. The polo shirts, both from Gap were a whopping $2.25 each! I also picked up a $5 bathing suit (only thing not on sale).

Getting killer deals on like-new baby boy clothes makes me feel good and gives me more money to spend on other things. Like new clothes for myself :)

Bit by the Bug

We have had a bug in our house since Thursday and it is finally going away. We originally thought the culprit was food poisoning since Brad, William and I all got sick within ten hours of eating at our favorite Mexican restaurant. The possibility of food poisoning made us sad because of course it would be awkward for us to eat there again. Well, 24 hours later my mother-in-law was sick (she was also at lunch with us) and then my father-in-law (who was not at lunch). Phew -- must not have been food poisoning!!

My mom unexpectedly flew down from Connecticut Thursday night after her car literally died on the highway. My dear husband went car shopping with her on Friday after spending all day Thursday researching options. happy to share that she got a new (to her) car. She loves it! Unfortunately, on Saturday night she got sick so we definitely have something contagious in our company.

Therefore, I am spending the next couple days sanitizing and cleaning because I don't want to deal with this again!

Scallops with Tomato & Papaya

I cooked this recipe a month or so ago right after I purchased a papaya at Costco because William loves melon. The recipe comes from the March 2011 issue of Ladies Home Journal, one of the magazines I subscribe to.

Ingredients:
4T canola oil
12 medium scallops
1T minced garlic
1T cumin seeds
1/2t Spanish paprika
1/2t ground coriander (I did not use them)
1t kosher salt
1c cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium ripe papaya, cut into bite size pieces

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallops and sear, about 2 minutes per side. Remove scallops and set aside.

Heat remaining oil in skillet. Add garlic and cook for 10 seconds. Add cumin seeds, paprika, coriander and salt and cook for 5 seconds (release the scent).

Stir in the tomatoes until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the papaya and cook for 3 more minutes.

Add the scallops to the sauce in the skillet, stirring gently to coat. Serve over rice.

Review: This recipe was great (if it wasn't I wouldn't take the time to share it with you!). The recipe came from Bal Arneson, who is apparently known as the "Spice Goddess" on The Cooking Channel. It tasted a little bit like Indian food and probably would have tasted different if I used the coriander, but it is pricey and I never took with it. I can't wait to serve it to guests since my husband and I liked it so much! 

Let me know if you have recipes that use scallops, because I'd like to cook with them more.

NINE Months

I can't believe I just typed "NINE Months" when referring to my son. He actually turned nine months on New Years Eve so I am almost two weeks late with this post…please forgive me.

Stats: At his nine month appointment William weighed 20lbs 5oz and was 28.25in long. He has gained about a pound a month since 6 months and has grown 2 inches. He is still in the 40-45% for both, but he is healthy and bigger than alot of his friends so who designed this growth curve anyway?! He wears a size 3 diaper (size 4 overnight), 9m clothes and a size 3 shoe.

Eating: We finished breastfeeding on New Years Day since I had been weaning him since late-October. It just wasn't working for us the way it used to and I knew he could be healthy and thriving with formula. So I decided to cut myself some slack and start with the bottles realizing there are worse things I could do. He still eats baby food sometimes when he doesn't want to pick up table food. I noticed this alot when his teeth were coming in. But, most of the time he picks anything up and puts it in his mouth (even when it isn't food) so he eats whatever we give him!

Developments: He now has SIX teeth, although you can't easily see the top four yet, but they have come down from his gums. He was a trooper during teething because I thought he only had one and was shocked one morning to see four up top! William is a cruiser. He stands up and walks around everything. He is also getting awfully good at balancing and will stand on his own for what seems like a long time even though it is probably just about one minute. He climbs stairs (and fast!). He still says "Momma" and is getting more discriminate and only says it when he sees or wants me. He also has the "da-da" sound down and we are working on becoming more discriminate with that one. He likes to just play on his own, get the toy he wants out of his bin (or pot out of the cabinet) and play with it. That is awesome.

Fun things: He gives KISSES - open mouth, tongue out kisses that are awesome. But you better just give him your cheek or have your mouth closed. It is so sweet to get a kiss from him when you ask (most of the time). He is getting better at waving and doing "so big" when sitting in his high chair.

The Wonder of Christmas

I know two weeks have gone by, but I had to share pictures of William's first Christmas with you! Really, we had a multi-day celebration. 

We were at my in-laws for Christmas Eve for gifts, church and lobster. Unfortunately, William missed dinner because he crashed on a bedroom floor right after getting sick from his dinner (not lobster). Sad he wasn't at the table with us, but that meant we all got to eat at the same time! We all got some fun and thoughtful gifts including books, a ride-on zebra and a play farm. Those were William's of course ;).

Santa came to our house that night and my in-laws came over to see William open all of his presents at home. He got an airplane, Baby Einstein octopus, books, Melissa & Doug band-in-a-box (a hit, no pun intended), a drum and some other great toys. He just wanted to eat the paper. Figures. I got my Silhouette Cameo and a romantic night in Annapolis with my hubby which is very sweet. I got his marathon "stuff" framed from his first marathon that was in 2010 and a few small gifts.

After a delicious made by my husband the chef, we drove about an hour to Brad's cousins house which is where we celebrate Christmas with my mother-in-laws family. Its a big group, but not overwhelming (at least not after 5 years) since we see everyone pretty frequently. William was given even more toys. Oh boy.

On December 26th William and I drove to Connecticut to see my mom and sister. My brother would have been there too, but he took a job with the NBA in New Orleans so we didn't see him this trip. So on Monday afternoon he got to tear open more gifts! A wagon full of mega-blocks and the ride-on fire engine were his favorite along with a rainstick, cell phone, etc.

Everyone who told me Christmas is fun as a parent, you were right! I was up one hour before William on Christmas morning, anxious for him to wake up and see his presents. I know next year he will understand more since he will be 21 months old, so we also have to make sure he knows that Christmas isn't just a time for presents.

My Business is on Facebook!!

This past week has been a busy one for me. You see, a few nights ago I launched Memorable Designs on Facebook. If you haven't "liked" it, please do!

In case you haven't been following Enjoy, Life and Love too long, I started a side business in August 2008 that I named Memorable Designs and used a blog and personal connections to promote my work. Keeping up this blog, the Memorable Designs blog, my personal email, my work email and my personal life proved to be a bit overwhelming so I got a bit slack on the blogging (other blog…is this confusing?).

As I have continued to grow my business creating photo books for weddings, babies, anniversaries and birthdays as well as video montages, I have started paper crafting again which is something I have liked to do for many years. In addition, you may have read that I got a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas (so exciting!!) so that makes my work much better, more detailed and more diverse. It also gives me the opportunity to design with vinyl which is alot of fun for me.

So as a bit of a business push, please think of me when you are planning baby showers or your child's birthday party and are interested in a coordinating banner, cupcake toppers, favor tags, etc or personalized party buckets, wall art, etc. I can't wait to start feeding my creativity even more and thanks for coming along on this journey with me :)

Time to Get My Craft On!

Well friends, this year I got a larger (in price) gift than usual because I really wanted it and my husband knew I'd love it and get lots of use out of it. Let me introduce you to ____(insert name that I'm thinking of)___, my Silhouette Cameo!

Okay, this isn't actually mine since it is a stock photo

How do I like it you ask?? I LOVE IT!! I started cutting on Christmas Day and then sadly had to be away for a week while I was in Connecticut (sad about being away from the machine) and I was back at it the next day making hats for our New Years party!

I have only been using cardstock so far even though I have vinyl. I guess since I am more comfortable with cardstock (and have alot of it) from all my years scrapbooking. I have some great vinyl ideas, just need to go buy some wood and frames as a base for my projects! I am finishing up a gift that I will share once the momma-to-be receives it and also a birthday banner for another friend.

I can't wait to share my projects and maybe even create something for YOU!!

Oh What a Year It Was

This was my favorite moment of 2011 (there is a photo before this but not so "clean" so I'm sharing this one instead):

March 31st, William Michael is born (3 days late!)

Obviously, becoming a mom was the highlight of the year for me. I went from an urban professional to a stay-at-home mommy taking music classes, going swimming on Tuesday afternoon and having Monday playgroup with all of my "new" aka Mommy friends. I couldn't think of anything better!

I have changed in other ways too. For example, I am not as organized anymore, but people still say how much I am. I am more relaxed and am happy just staying home and playing all day although pajama playdates are fun too. I have more time for my hobbies which is fabulous! I have also realized what and who are important in my life and cherish everything.

Here's to a fun-filled, crafty and blessed 2012!