…cute baby not included :)

as my lovely friend and style advisor kat knows all too well, i’ve spent the last few weeks struggling with what i’m going wear to eric and tessa’s houston wedding coming up on march 6th. after several nights and countless hours spent looking at dresses online, i came across the perfect LBD during an impromptu trip to nordstrom rack.

part of my struggle included what shoes and accessories i would pair with said LBD. i knew i wanted to go with a color – preferably a bright one – to bring something more to the outfit than simple black. stylistic kat suggested going with metallic heels if i couldn’t decide on a color, like a silver, pewter or even gold. i thought that was a great idea because, hello, how easy is it to pair silver jewelry with silver heels? and it’s an evening wedding, so metallics would have worked.

but then ellie and i took an afternoon trip to our (ok, my) faaaaavorite store, anthropolgie, and it was there that i found this necklace. it’s a bit chunkier than the jewelry i normally wear and i knew it would be a challenge to find shoes to match, but i decided i was up for the challenge and i bought the necklace anyway.

luckily, i have SEVERAL very style-conscious friends, and another one of them directed me to a website called asos where she searched and found these shoes … just PERFECT to go with my necklace! alas, the company is located in the UK and we leave for texas in less than a week. wah wah. the perfect shoes were no longer within my grasp. out of reach. a no-go.

OR SO I THOUGHT.

you may have heard that ryan is in london on business this week – he comes back thursday – and a few days ago i had a lightbulb moment … have you figured out yet where this is going?

that’s right. my wonderful husband placed an order for those perfect shoes today, and they will be delivered to his hotel tomorrow. the timing couldn’t be more perfect. it’s like it was meant to be :)

when my brother and i were little, our parents always let us open one present on christmas eve. i imagine we’ll keep up the same tradition with ellie as she grows up, but since this is her super special first christmas ever, we decided she could have a present FIVE nights early :)

grandma bought her an adorable critter chair from pottery barn kids. they have a brown cow, a green frog, a blue hippo and a pink bunny, so of course she chose the pink bunny!

ellie was a little skeptical of it at first. the look on her face said, “what on earth is that? and what is it doing in our living room?” but then grandma started playing peek-a-boo with the bunny’s ears, and her expression turned into, “oh, i see. i think i LIKE that!”

“yes. yes, as a matter of fact, i like it very much.”

now ellie and her pink bunny chair are the best of friends :)

thank you, grandma!!! <3

tonight we had dinner at casa orozco with our favorite date night couple, matt and alyssa. i had been looking forward to it all day because the only time i’d left the house since tuesday was to go to the post office to mail our christmas cards. needless to say, i was craving a little fresh air.

ok, i was craving a burrito and a margarita, too.

when we picked them up, i was surprised to see alyssa holding a present wrapped neatly in pretty holiday wrapping paper. immediately i thought, “oh no! their gift hasn’t arrived yet!” followed by “oh well, just another excuse to hang out again before christmas.” she said it was the only gift she’d bought so far, and that she couldn’t wait for us to open it, so after dinner we did just that.

what was inside, you ask? only the cutest, most thoughtful christmas gift two friends could ever give a little family of three. it was a tradition in a box! the box contains an adorable little elf and a children’s book called the elf on the shelf.

the barnes & noble web site explains it well:

based on the tradition carol aebersold began with her family in the 1970s, this cleverly rhymed children’s book explains that santa knows who is naughty and/or nice because he sends a scout elf to every home. during the holiday season, the elf watches children by day and reports to santa each night. when children awake, the elf has returned from the north pole and can be found hiding in a different location. this activity allows the elf on the shelf to become a delightful hide-and-seek game.

such a cute idea! i’m sure this will be one of many traditions we carry with our family throughout the years, and we’re so touched they thought to pass it on to us <3

welp, we bought our new car last weekend and booooy, do we love it! it’s so quiet and such a smooth ride; ryan and i both commented on how it almost seems to drive itself. maybe it’s the four-wheel drive? whatever it is, it’s WONDERFUL. i’m so glad we held out for the color we really wanted, too, because it’s the shiniest, most beautiful color ever :)

honda owners for life!

while we were waiting to have our cars serviced at the honda dealership a few weeks ago, ryan and i decided to walk over to the showroom and check out the new CR-V. we’ve been thinking of purchasing a new car for a few months now, mostly because my little two-door civic isn’t very family-friendly. it would be nice to have something bigger, something i can easily transfer ellie in and out of, something i can have with me while ryan’s at work so we can pick up and go whenever we please, so ryan can drive his own car every day like he wants to.

i fell in love with it immediately. it’s considered a “crossover” vehicle, so it’s spacious while not unnecessarily huge like an SUV. the one we want is a pretty charcoal-like color called “polished metal metallic,” and it has a sunroof, a feature i’ve always wanted in a car, but never prioritized when purchasing.

the reason we didn’t buy the car that very day is because we spoke to robert, a 20-year veteran of the car business, who spoke to his friend at another honda dealership who offered us the same trade-in amount for my civic ($8,000), the same interest rate (3.9%), and $250 over invoice rather than the $500 over invoice they offered at the first dealership. $250 saved, why not? so we walked away.

over the past two weeks, we’ve been playing the waiting game, waiting to hear back from dealership #2 that our make and model had arrived (2010 honda CR-V EX with 4wd in polished metal metallic with black interior), waiting for the phone call telling us to come sign the papers. and finally, yesterday, we got the call. our car would be there in an hour! we should come get it! yes! excitement! but there was a catch: they couldn’t give us $8,000 for my trade-in after all. they could only do $7,200.

!!!

unfortunately for dealership #2, the deal we agreed upon at dealership #1 is still on the table. so i called today and they’re looking to do a dealer trade for our make and model. wouldn’t it be funny if dealership #2 got it from dealership #1 and now dealership #1 wants it back from dealership #2?

i don’t really care how they get it. I JUST WANT MY CAR.

i was busy christmas shopping online when i stumbled upon this ADORABLE burgundy checked taffeta dress from tiny tot dress shop. it’s a little pricey for such a tiny dress, but that’s ok! it’s for the most special of special occasions, after all: ellie’s first birthday :)