Friday Link Party

Happy Friday! I'm really excited about this weekend. Tomorrow is date night! Above is a (not so great self taken) picture from our last date night which was on my birthday. I'm super excited to be trying a new-ish sushi place that opened when I was pregnant and a new bar that has old school arcade games. What are you plans for the weekend?

Here are some links to hold you over. I've thrown in a few to Mother's Day gift ideas since it's just a few weeks away:

I love Etsy. I especially love all of the cute and quirky cards you can find on there. Here's some Mother's Day cards to check out!

If you're crafty and you're looking to make your mom (or your kids' mom) something special try these awesome DIY photo magnets!

I found this on a list of things lazy people need and I definitely think it's something that I would use.

Does the mom in your life seem to already have everything? I just know you can find something for her at Uncommon Goods.

I've seen many Pixar Theories but this one blows the rest away!

Words are awesome. Words are my favorite. These words had me rolling and The Hubs rolling his eyes!

I love using Pinterest! This was my most popular pin from last week!

Have a great weekend!

Friday Link Party!

Oh what a day! After MOPS (where the picture above was taken), Gibbie had a total meltdown. It wasn't the best day but we got to see Aunt E and Aunt M which was awesome. I'm so glad it's Friday night, both girls are in bed, and I'm having a beer and watching Airplane. Can you believe I've never seen this movie?!

Have some links!

I'm back on social media so if you'd like to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, or Tumblr please do!

Add this to the things I can definitely agree with!

I am so in love with this song and it's not really the kind of music I typically listen to. I can't stop listening to it!

I love looking at vintage wedding photos and wondering where these people are now.

The Hubs bought me an awesome Sriracha t-shirt from Urban Outfitters in Las Vegas a few months ago. I need all of these to match it!

Have a great weekend!

Saturday Link Casual Get Together

Thursday I wrote a beautiful Thankful Thursday post and posted it and shared it with Facebook/Tumblr/Twitter/Google +/Pinterest and then I deleted it because I'm clumsy. Just take my word for it, it was beautiful.

Anyway, through the grace of God I'm out of my emotional/spiritual funk and I'm ready to roll. I'm going to be busy with my family this weekend so I'll just leave some fun links for you here and see you on Monday.

This is absolutely terrifying.

Only have one means I can't tell you if this is true or not but I now that all of the "1st baby" stuff was true with Gibbie.

Yet another Etsy shop that I'm in love with.

If I ever make it to New York I'll hopefully remember these tips.

It's been so long since I've blogged regularly so I can't remember if I already posted this link but I love these return address stamps so much that I'll risk reposting it.

I love this guy's blog. I also love how non parents think they are going to be the world's greatest parents when they have kids. I read something online the other day that said, "I used to be an expert on parenting and then I had kids."

Finally, something all moms need to remember.

Currently Gibbie and I are watching The Wizard of Oz. She's never seen it before today and she is in love. We have both witch toys from Happy Meals and she's so excited about seeing them on the screen. I might take her for another Happy Meal when it's over and see what toy we get next!

Enjoy an old picture of Gibbie:

Saturday Link Shindig

Everyone has a link party, welcome to the link shindig, which is basically the same but with a more fun name!

These yogurt cookies look like a lot of fun and easy to make. I doubt I'd put the frosting on though, they look delicious without it.

Living in a household with one Buddhist, one Christian, and one little girl that loves church even if she's not sure what it's all about yet I love to read articles about people who identify as both Buddhist and Christian.

This looks so yum but I despise the fact that it's called Cookie Dough for Preggies. I'm not preggies but I still think I deserve this.

A relaxation website that guides you to calm. Unless you're looking at the beach scene. That one stresses me out because I can tell when the video stops to loop.

I want this vintage oven in my kitchen so bad. Of course, then I'd have to redo the entire kitchen. Who wants to pay?

I really love this Camp Director Tote from Mod Clothe. I can imagine stuffing some books in it and heading out to have some fun.


Have a wonderful weekend lovelies and I'll see you Monday!

Stay at Home Mom vs. Working Mom

I am a stay at home mom. The first year of Gibbie's life I suffered from cabin fever because of it. I know now that I didn't do it right. I took the stay at home part literally and because of that I was very lonely and sad though I never did have postpartum depression (surprisingly). Now, however, between MOPS, LWML, Stroller Fitness, and the bible study I go to, Gibbie and I keep ourselves very busy (and sane).

For a brief moment I did consider going back to my supervisor position at Levis in our outlet mall after my maternity leave was up but because it was only part time I would be working to pay for day care and not have anything left over. That didn't make sense. The Hubs and I both wanted Gibbie to be brought up in a way that made sense to us and not let someone else do it their way .

Finishing my degree is still on my to do list but one of the reasons I haven't gone back to school yet is because we don't have a childcare option. Ideally, someone in our family would watch her, I'd finish school, then I'd go back to work with a very flexible schedule so that I could still do the PTA stuff I've dreamed of doing.

With all of that said I do wish that I had the ability to provide for myself and my daughter if (God forbid) anything at all should happen to my husband. At this point, though I do sell Pampered Chef, I would lose the house and car and probably have to move in with Satan my sister unless there was a miracle of a full time job that didn't require a degree and paid very good money.

Posing this question to Facebook and Tumblr I almost assumed everyone would say they'd stay home if they could. I did get a few with that answer but one friend said she was very glad to show her girls what being an independent woman is about. Of course that made me wonder if maybe by not having a degree and staying at home is going to end up sending Gibbie the wrong message. The social media consensus is that working from home would be perfection. It's such a hard decision for me to make. My mom stayed at home and I thought it was wonderful but she did literally come from a very different generation. The Hubs' mom always worked full time and it was a great example but he was alone a lot. I'm really just hoping that I can find a nice balance with The Pampered Chef and I'll be able to boost my business and not have to worry about anything at all.

What would you do if given the choice?

Links:
This is the article that got me thinking about this topic.
This one seems a bit harsh but I get why she says what she says.
I love this blog and the writer recently quit her job to be a stay at home mom to her two children.

Finally, here's a picture to fulfill your cuteness quota for the day:

Saturday Link Party

Gibbie and Papa at Avila's

We're gearing up for the weekend and I like to take this time to hang out with my family and not blog it up. Here's some links to keep you busy until I get back.

- One of my favorite blogs. I read it religiously. She has two beautiful little boys (one is brand new) and lives in New York.

- I have a lot on my Pinterest and I try my best to not get addicted. I fail. I'm so addicted.

- I don't consider Tumblr a "real" blog but I do consider it a lot of fun. I've wasted many hours on this site and I still post on it random blurbs and funny things so if you'd like please feel free to follow me.

- I have a tendency to like expensive things. It's never on purpose! I just like quality merch and this is some fine quality merch my friends. I want this camera. I actually wouldn't mine having any decent camera so I wouldn't have to constantly take pictures with my iPhone but this one would be quite awesome.

- Have you heard of Bountiful Baskets? If they have a pick up location in your area I highly recommend you try it just once. I'm addicted to this service. You pay a small fee (compared to how much you'd spend in a grocery store) and you get a lot of fruits and veggies. You can also do add-ons such as whole grain bread, a special themed veggie pack (tropical, Italian, Mexican, etc), and you can choose to get an entirely organic basket.

- Bookshelf Porn. Seriously. Just look at all of these pictures. I want a built in bookshelf so bad I might "accidentally" take a hammer to the wall so we'd have to fix it and while we're fixing it we might as well throw in some bookshelves.

- Such a cute idea to do something with all of those scribbled on papers laying around. Yeah, just admit it, I know I'm not the only one with stacks of papers with scribbles everywhere.

- I love kitsch and this Etsy shop has it!

A repair man should be here any minute to take a look at our water damage and my father-in-law is coming to translate for us (we should really learn Spanish). Later, Gibbie and I are going to a birthday party for a one year old girl. I'm possibly going to a housewarming party tonight if I still have energy left over  and tomorrow we're hanging out with my in-laws.

What does your weekend look like?