make it better Monday :: play date!

It seems like life just keeps on going and I can't quite seem to catch my breath.  But however poor my time management skills may be, there have been some fantastic little moments that I love having the opportunity to remember while I write this post for make it better Monday!

I have to say, play dates are one of my favorite parts of being a mom.  The kid gets lots of energy out and I get to spend some time with some fabulous women!  These are some pictures from last week's play date!

like my twinsie Kristin from Petal and Thorn.  Yes, I talk about her a lot.  Yes, she is awesome.  Yes, you should go check her out if you haven't already. =)  The hats are from Urban Outfitters if you are wondering.  =)

Hito had the perfect smile right before the camera clicked...  But my friend Jennie looks cute, doesn't she?!

Aren't these mammas beautiful?  It ended up being hat day for most of us.  =P  Their little girls are the  cutest too!

And then we get home and this kid still finds the energy to come home and pull pretty nearly every toy in the box.  =P 

All told, despite getting sick over the weekend, it has been great just chilling with the hubby and kiddo, sleeping, and reading.  All great summer activities even if I was forced to do them because I was sick.  =P  

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

make it better Monday :: 10 month musings...

It has been a while since I've done a make it better Monday post but since today is also Hito's 10 month mark, I thought it would be appropriate.  =)

Man, I have had a baby around for 10 months now...whodathunk?  I mean, I knew he was coming, well, I knew a baby was coming (we didn't find out if he was going to be a boy or girl before he came).  And I knew it was going to be a journey.  But I guess I didn't expect all of this.  The joy, the disregard for the state of my house because I'd rather spend time with the kid, the ridiculous happiness when I see pictures like this...

He is learning how to use the things that he used to just wing around, he is pulling himself up on anything he thinks is remotely stable.  The pace of life is increasing rapidly...

 But still he smiles...and I smile.  Mostly because his is so darn infectious...I can't help it.  Even when I'm praying with all my might to keep it all under control because he won't nap and I have things that need to get done.  Ah well.  God knows.  And so on this Monday, it is a better Monday.  Even if he hasn't had a good nap and isn't wanting to pay attention when he is eating and has been fussying a lot today.  We smile because he still is so excited to see me or dad or to pull himself up again and again.  Not all of this may make sense today.  But let me just say it again.  It is a better Monday because I have been blessed.  With smiles, family, and a 10 month old baby.

Have a beautiful day.

make it better Monday ~ father & son edition

I haven't done one of these in a while and thought I'd just share a little something that I have been treasuring very much recently.

dad and baby...

There is little that can describe the feeling of peace and pure joy that a mother and wife feels when she sees two of the most precious people in her life living, playing, loving...eating...each other. =P  This does a lot for carrying me through the hard times and making this Monday a lot better.  

Have a beautiful day!

make it better Monday!

Happy Monday everyone!  And I do hope you are all having happy Mondays!  This is the first one in a while that I have felt ready to take on the day and the week.  So here's hoping I actually am able to tackle it all.  =)  But while I'm drinking my coffee, I thought I'd share a few little happy Monday things.

1) New nail polish (finally!)

So I love my little girly kicks that come up periodically and the most recent one (spurred by a recent spa visit with my mother-in-law, grandma, and aunty) is nail polish.  So many of my favorite fashion bloggers (like this one and this one too.  btw, they are ordinary fashion bloggers who know how to make smart choices without breaking the bank!) use nail polish so often with their outfits that I have been wanting to finally buy a new nail color.  I have not bought nail polish since college...which was...a while ago.  Let's just leave it at that.  So now, I present to you (drumroll, please) my new nail color.  And I am totally in love the the sparkle and great mauve color that I have with it.  Yup, I am on a girly kick alright.  =)

miss independent by Nicole from O.P.I (available at Target!)

2) Baby & Hubby (of course!)

I couldn't really have a make it better Monday post without talking about the men in my life.  =)  So rather than talking, I'll just show you.  

he's very smiley right now  

and totally loves chilling with dad  =)

3) Cake pops (my new obsession)

I am not really sure where this interest came from but I love how versatile and easy to serve these babies are!  You prep before hand and just bring a tray out when they are ready to serve!  (I am starting to think ahead for the holidays so that could be where this is coming from.) I started out seriously but couldn't help myself when I found some fun ones too.  =P

{via} who doesn't love the minions from Despicable Me?!

That's it for this week!  Have a beautiful day!

make it better Monday!

So I did not completely forget you, my dear readers, this past week by not publishing a "make it better Monday" post.  Life just seems to keep getting busier and busier!!!  As hard as I am trying to get things off my plate and just do stuff at home, I can't seem to do it!

How do you clear out your schedule and be productive with housework and getting ready for a baby?!  (Maybe you don't have the last part of that but I'd still love to hear how you are productive at home!)

But back to our regularly scheduled program!  Here is your make it better Monday post for August 22nd! I hope you are as excited by these little goodies as I am!  =)

1) Adorable little kid accessories

So you all read about my dear friend Kristin from Petal and Thorn in my post about my beautiful baby shower but I have to share this with you.  Not only is she beautifully talented with parties but she is also the creative mastermind behind the Etsy store Petal and Thorn.  She has just brought out a kiddie accessory line - you have to check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78295231/lilypad-headband-baby-girl-headband

2) Fun with family

The hubby and I had a pretty packed week with family from Arizona in town and got to do a bunch of fun stuff with them - like going to the beach and making smores with JUMBO marshmallows!

these got taken on my phone so they aren't the greatest quality but it was definitely the biggest, greatest smore I've had in a long time!  =)

3)PINTEREST!!!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this site?!  (or how much time gets sucked by it now?) But I do love to look at all the beautiful things that people are finding around the interwebs - like this!

pinterest via here (my sister and cousin are very seriously hoping that baby is going to be a girl - i thought this was adorable.)

That's it for this week.  I hope you all have a beautiful week!

make it better Monday!

So I realized my problem - when I am doing things, I am so busy talking to people or enjoying the "general splendor" that I completely forget to get my camera out or even snap anything with my phone.  You may not always get pictures with my posts as much as I am going to try.  =)

1) Old friends, new families

On Friday night, the hubby and I were able to spend a lovely evening with old friends from college at a wedding shindig for Ruby and Justin!  A lovely new couple and a great evening of street tacos (they hired a taco truck!) and fantastic company!  It doesn't get much better than that.  

this picture is from their wedding courtesy of Ruby's sister

2) Fresh paint

We finally painted baby's room!  Pictures to follow as I get more things set in the room.  =)  But it is a lovely shade of sky blue that makes momma very happy - hopefully baby will like it as much.  

3) TOYS!!!

People have been incredibly generous and kind to us as we prepare for Baby Nagel's coming and I got this lovely little toy over the weekend from "Aunty" Jenny.  Isn't it cute?!?! I do like kids toys.  =P  My little sister always got mad at me for playing with her things and I wouldn't let her play with mine.  Thankfully, we have both grown out of that stage.  =)

Hope you all have a great week!

make it better Monday!

This post is a day late because of the fourth of July! I hope you all had an amazing weekend and enjoyed times with family and friends. But I thought I would still share my make it better Monday thoughts with you on Tuesday. :)

1) weddings - one of my dear dear friends got married today!  I had the pleasure of making her bridesmaids jewelry and hair pieces.  I will have pictures for you very soon.  =)
2) little things - we had a lovely Fourth of July weekend in the mountains spending a little time with family and when we got home, one of my in-laws cats decided we had been gone too long.  =)

this is Amber.  She voluntarily jumped in my lap even though she usually isn't a people person.  

3) amazing bakeries - one of the highlights of our time in Big Bear is this little bakery: Sugar Pine Bake Shop.  I don't have pictures of everything we ate from there because all the cookies, bars, and bread disappeared really quickly.  =)

this gives you a good idea of the amazing things they make.  that m&m cookie is heavenly.  it would be well worth your trip to Big Bear only for that one thing.  =)

Have a beautiful week!

make it better Mondays!

Has anyone else felt like this past week has just flown by?!  It feels like I was just at last Monday working on the make it better Monday post from last week!  But here we are again and there are definitely some things that I am very excited about this week for!

1) Custom Weddings and Jewelry

these are the bridesmaid necklaces I made for the first wedding I did this summer.  they looked a lot more sparkly in person.

I have another custom wedding that I am making jewelry and accessories for!  So excited for how these are turning out (hopefully you will all like them too!) and it probably means that you all will be seeing some new products in the Etsy shop in the coming weeks - trying to get this wedding done and then I will work on pushing some of those things out.  =)

2) My brother is getting married!!!

aren't they cute?!  he flew to South Korea to propose because that is where she is working right now!

I haven't told you all the good news but my little (who is not so little anymore) brother proposed to his girlfriend (now fiance...soon to be wife!!!) and she said yes!!!  So excited for them.  =)  They are cute, aren't they?

3) Yummy food =)

my current work area looks a little less jumbled than this...a little better...hopefully.  =)

This seems to be a trend now when I am working on jewelry and custom orders.  I tend to get the munchies and so I had a peanut butter sandwich and a vanilla cupcake with almond frosting and an apple for lunch today.  It was incredibly yummy.  And I'm making fried rice for dinner!  Good, Hawaiian fried rice...with lots of spam (yes, I eat spam. you can't help it when you live/grow up in Hawaii) and celery and carrots and a fried egg on top.  I'm making myself hungry already.  =)  

I think it will be a good week, don't you?

make it better Mondays!

Some of you may remember me talking about wanting to be more regular about blogging and getting a schedule going was one of them.  So this is my start towards that goal.  I here by introduce you to:

make it better Mondays!

I don't know about you but I have a love hate relationship with Mondays. I love my weekends and all the time I get to spend with hubby and the more relaxing parts of life. But I honestly love all the different jobs I have right now. Jewelry making is relaxing for me, babysitting is fun (usually anyway), and office work forces me to keep myself relatively organized.

That being said, I do hate getting out of bed on Monday mornings. So the goal of this new weekly post is my pick-me-up to get myself going and hopefully encourage all of my readers to do the same and look at the positives versus the downer of it being a Monday. =)

This week...

1) Riding in your car with the windows open

It isn't exactly the same as riding in the car but this dude was ripping with his kite...I've always wanted to try kite surfing...

With the weather being so nice, I had to do it today.  And it was lovely.  Even though I got my hair all tangled from the wind whipping through it, you get that exhilarating feeling of being so close to flying if you could just get your wings to deploy and gravity to let up for just a second.  Yes, my imagination often comes up with weird, random, and not quite normal things.  =)

2) Just had a relaxing weekend spent with and talking to both of my dads

one of the few and precious pictures of me and my dad in more recent times

I don't know about all of you, but we had a wonderful Father's Day BBQ with my hubby's family and I got spend a good chunk of time on the phone with my dad back in Hawaii.

3) Coke  

the only thing better than Coke is Coke with In N Out burger =)  this picture is from last summer when my cousin and bestie were visiting.

I love Coke.  It is my weakness.  I've done a pretty darn good job cutting it out of my diet since I've been pregnant but I still LOVE my coke and hot summer days scream for an ice cold Coke!

Have a wonderful week everyone!  Hope you enjoy this first edition of make it better Mondays!