Nautical Anonymous:

Blame it on the hot summer months ahead, but I can't seem to get enough of nautical themed fashion!

 

Nautical Baby Sailor Shoes

Admiral Pillows

Navy Skipper Canvas Beach Tote
Anchor Bikini

Anchor Beach Towel

Anchor Bracelet 

Pool Party Ready:

With summer come lots of birthday pool parties for the kids! Victoria already has a few on her calendar! Here are some items on our pool party must-have-list!

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

Fabric Lust:

So to continue the post about 'V's playroom, eventually I'd love to make bench cushions for the Expedit Shelves. This way, there will be a comfortable place to sit, especially for grandparents. I was really excited when I found this great tutorial on how to make them! I have zero sewing skills, and this tutorial by IHeart Organizing was right up my alley! Now comes the hard part. Which fabric to use!!

 

See all the great fabric selections from this store!

You can order samples for a $1 each!

 

V's Playroom:

After my husband was diagnosed with cancer, we knew our lives would be turned upside down. We knew there would be a lot of hospital stays, so we had to make a special place for our Victoria  to play.  Back in September I had started looking for ideas on kids modern playrooms. We knew the most cost effective way to go was IKEA, but we didn't really like the kids furniture because of the colors. So we found pieces that could easily be incorporated in a kid's room, and still be useful afterwards. It's still a work in progress, but at least she now has a retreat while daddy is busy getting better.

 

1. Expedit Shelves 59.99

They are the perfect height so she can easily access her books and toys.

 

2. Skubb Bins 14.99 for set of 3

Perfect for holding her lose toys, while keeping them well hidden

 

3. Gladsax Frames 7.99

I designed the posters and got them printed at a local printer

 

4. Lack Side Table 9.99

We didn't like the children's table, and this side table was the perfect fit for a third of the price.

 

5. Mammut Children's Stool 7.99

Adds a touch of playfulness to the room

Play Time:

After a year of being in our new  home, we are finally getting around to unpacking the last few remaining boxes, and starting on Victoria's playroom! It just wasn't a priority and she was too little to have really enjoyed it. Now that's she's finally walking and enjoying her found freedom, we thought it was time to give her a place to play and call her own! Since her nursery is very Pottery Barn traditional, we decided to make her playroom an extension of our home, and make it sleek and modern. Here are some rooms I found while searching for inspiration!

 

 

{My favorite foam playmat is the one from Skip + Hop}

 

{Love the Chalk Wall idea}

 

{ I like the use of a low Book Shelf and using various

colorful containers to store toys}

 

 

{Large Wall art can be found in Etsy, this is one of my favorite Shops}

 

 

{I need this hopscotch rug from CB2}

Mini Me:

I have to admit I'm a bit of a fashion sargeant when it comes to my daughter's clothes. I know everyone has their own taste in fashion, but my theory is, dress your child like you would dress yourself - age appropriately of course! My daughter is still too small to wear Crewcuts from JCrew, but the items that are currently on sale have me tempted to splurge and save them for later! Now if only these were adult sizes and adult prices!

Green Bags:

Now that we live in this new society of sustainability, many new products have entered the market that promote a "greener" way of living. Having said that, I must admit that as hard as I try to recycle, I'm not doing the most that I could be! Nevertheless, everything happens in baby steps. Yesterday I found this adorable Etsy shop of reusable sandwich and snack bags, Bagitconscious, and of course I immediately had to place an order. The most difficult part was deciding which pattern to choose. I figure, if you're going to go "green", you might as well do it in a fashionable way! Below are some of my favorite products!

Sandwich and Snack Bags $13.25

Set of Three Sandwich Bags $20.00

(You choose Fabric)

Reusable Bamboo Cutlery & Pouch $15.00

(Photos from Bagitconscious)

What's in the Bag:

Kate Spade Diaper Bag

Haribo Gummy Bears

Johnson & Johnson Hand and Face wipes

Pampers Sensitive Diapers and Wipes

Aquaphor Baby Healing Ointment

Plum Organics Baby Food

Neat Solutions Easy Wipe Bibs

Ralph Lauren Baby

Bee Party:

 I finally got the time to go through my daughter's First birthday party photos. When I started planning her party eight months ago,  I wanted to design something special & unique for this celebration. I figured when she gets old enough, I may not have a say in the theme of her parties. I loved the idea of a Rustic Bumble Bee Theme, and we were touched by the opening line of The Bee Movie - According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. It's wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee of course flies anyways, because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. My daughter was born at 26 weeks, and overcame many obstacles to make it to her First Birthday, so we knew this would set the tone for her Bumble Bee Theme.   

I designed all paper goods, including the invitation, tags for food, the banner, and the goodie bags. For the kids’ goodie bags, I ordered Muslin Bags from CelestialGifts, and then designed a custom iron on logo, that read “Thank you for Buzzing by”. The goodie bags contained bubbles, bumble bee tattoos, sunflower seedling starter kits, and The Bee Movie.

My creative friend from Paperglitter was kind enough to offer her help and make three Beehive Piñatas for different kids’ age groups. This helped a great deal since there were about 30 kids ranging from ages 3 to 10.

The dessert buffet had lots of treats, besides the birthday cake, it included honeycomb cereal, honey teddy grahams, yellow gumballs, various flavors of candy sticks, and chocolate and vanilla cupcakes by a local baker, Golosinas. I found wooden letters at a local Michael's store to spell One. 

I worked very closely with my friend from The Posh Nosh Cakery to design a cake that had a hint of the Bee Theme without being too caricature like.  

Photography by: www.denisecruzstudio.com

Color Straws: HeyYoYo

Papergoods: Fresh Linen Press

Gilt:

For those of you not yet familiar with Gilt Groupe, its another one of those member only sites where you can get good deals on designer items. This week has many great finds, especially for baby items. As a new mom, any good deal helps! This week they are featuring beautiful modern items from brand name companies.

Click here for an invitation to Gilt Groupe

Let them eat cake:

It was so exciting to celebrate Victoria's First Birthday. We decided to capture this special ocassion with a cake smash session. My friend Denise from Denise Cruz Studio truly captured the moment, and Victoria's very vibrant personality. We also wanted to thank everyone who donated to the March of Dimes in Victoria's honor. It is because of their on going research that preemies have a chance at life!

Miniature cake by The Posh Nosh Cakery

A Miracle Birthday:

I can't believe Victoria's first birthday is fast approaching! I must say, there were times last year that I thought we'd never make it this far. After Victoria's premature birth at only 26 weeks, we had an emotional rollercoaster ahead of us. Each passing day was a challenge and a blessing. The three long months she stayed in the hospital felt like an eternity. The day she finally came home, only two days after my very first mother's day, was very bitter sweet. We had become so attached to all of her nurses, or as I like to call them, her NICU Mothers. They were our support system, reassuring us with each passing day, she would be okay, and one day she would finally be home. Today she is a chubby, healthy baby, who is growing way too fast. I feel thankful and blessed to finally be celebrating this joyous occasion. She is our little miracle, who changed our lives forever.

In celebration of Victoria's birthday, we have created a virtual band to make donations to the March of Dimes in her honor, and in honor of so many babies who were not as fortunate as our precious Victoria.

{Click here to make a donation in honor of Victoria}

Victoria's Baptism:

When I started designing all of the details for Victoria's Baptism, I knew the color had to be Robin's Egg Blue or Tiffany Blue. Being that Im not a fan of the color pink, I wanted a color that would be elegant yet feminine. I had been looking forward to her Baptism for a long time, so I truly enjoyed planning this small event for forty. The Invitation and other papergoods designed by Fresh Linen Press.

 {Mini Chocolate Mousse Cups by Gilbert's Bakery}

 {Vanilla Cupcakes}

{Raspberry Lollipops}

{Chocolate Truffle Favors by the The Posh Nosh Cakery}

{Photography by Brooke Nelson Sharpe}

{Click here to purchase Vintage Tiffany Blue Party Kit}

Good Stock:

Im an old fashioned girl at heart, but I must admit I love technology. I can't go anywhere without my iphone and I love that I can do just about anything on it. I'm mostly in love with all these companies that have popped up on the internet to create and publish photo books. I'm not a big scrapbooking fan; I just don't have the patience for all the cutting and gluing. My motto is that a perfect photo album is one mouse click away. Recently I was researching (cost effective) sources to get such a book published. I don't mind the books that I make on my Mac, but I wanted something with a little more design flexibility. Every time I dive into the internet for research, I somehow always manage to stumble onto treasures, and Good Stock was one of them. They create amazing photo books, they are costly, way out of my budget, but worth every penny if you  are planning on giving a truly special gift to someone.

Unique Series:

First, let me apologize in advance for yet another baby related post. It seems that's all I notice these days. I couldn't help but to share this unique series from the talented eye behind  Sugarleaf Photography. Everytime I find a unique way to document a pregnancy I can't help but to feel sad that I didn't have the time or the chance to document my own. So to all of you new expentant mother's out there, don't wait, start documenting now!

{See the entire maternity series here}

Shoes for a Queen:

Sorry I have been completely disconnected from my blog. Ive been back to work full time, plus the full time job of taking care of little Victoria. On top of that we purchased a new home, and will be moving soon! I do, however, seem to be spending every little bit of leftover time browsing the internet for unique pieces of clothing for Victoria. Since we have decided that we will stay a family of three, it has almost become my mission to make everything as special as possible for OUR ONLY ONE! The other day I stumbled on this site of beautiful hand made shoes, and page after page it was difficult to keep it together and not be tempted to purchase their entire inventory. Sadly though, their collection is only available for a limited time in limited quantities. Now I will have to visit daily in hopes of getting a chance of purchasing a pair of Joyfolie shoes!

Visit Joyfolie to see their entire breathtaking collection



Feature:

I got a nice surprise from my baby shower photographer and friend Stephanie. She submitted it to On To Baby and it is featured today on their website! On to Baby is a chic blog dedicated to all things baby!

Baby Shower:

Im so happy to finally be able to share some of these pictures with you. This was a very untypical baby shower since I wanted to plan and design the whole thing. I had been trying for a long time to conceive, so this would be a very special celebration, and one that I knew I would pour my heart and soul into. From the beginning I had a very specific look in mind, I wanted a crisp and clean look. I especially didn't want to use the color pink just because I was having a girl. As fate would have it, two months before my shower I was admitted into the hospital for what would be an unknown amount of time. I immediately contacted all my vendors, some of whom I have close relationships with, to reschedule. In the end, I ended up having it on its originally scheduled date. My vendors were extremely understanding with my situation, and everything couldn't have looked more perfect, like I had always imagined it.

Credits:

See more photos at: 3 Little Words Photography

Flowers: Avant Gardens

Linens: Party Tables

Cookie Favors: Elsylee

Cake Pops: The Posh Nosh Cakery

Venue: Coral Gables Country Club

Invitations and Paper Goods: Designed by me

Welcome Home Little One:

Sweet Tooth:

Are these not the most beautiful cookies you've ever seen? I can't wait to start planning Victoria's birthday parties to have an excuse to purchase them!

{Find them via Etsy seller TS Cookies}