The Destroyer of Books - Baltimore, MD. - April, 2012

We have a problem!

This sweet, beautiful little lady does this...

to just about every book she gets her hands on.

She use to eat them, now she destroys them.  I'm at the end of my rope!  I've been hunting on line to find other parents that have dealt with this but really haven't found much.  I think this is so exasperating for me because I LOVE books and to see my daughter making quick work of dismantling all the pages, peep-a-boo flaps, spines, and covers just breaks my heart.

PLEASE HELP!!!  How do you stop a 2 year old from destroying her books?

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

I'm A FINALIST!!! Ready? Set? BLOG!!! - Baltimore,MD - April 2012

 I've been watching a lot of the award shows lately... The CMA's, The Grammy's, The Academy Awards, and 3 nights ago the ACM Awards.  I just love the suspense and watching the faces of the nominees just before they announce the winner. That's a little how I felt the morning I woke up to find an e-mail from Su Casa sitting in my inbox. I was sort of transported back to my senior year in high school when I was opening college admissions letters. Did I make it? Am I in or out...? I almost jumped out of my chair when I read the words, "We are happy to announce that you've been chosen as a finalist..."

I am a finalist in the "Test it. Blog it. Win it." promotion at Su Casa!!!

My dear friend Ashley and Anna hate the excessive use of exclimation points and capital letters, but...

SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY! YAY!! YA!!!

In case this is the first you're hearing about it, The "Test it. Blog it. Win it." contest” asks a select group of bloggers to document the entire process of creating, ordering, and living with customized furniture from their store. At the end of June they will take a bunch of factors into account and on July 1st, they'll announce that one of their featured furniture testing bloggers has won everything they've been demoing in their home. The cool part though is that even if you aren’t the BIG winner, just by being selected as a finalist blogger you have the opportunity, at the end of the contest, to purchase your custom furniture at 50% off the retail price.

Out of all the submissions, I have been chosen, along with 16 others, to be one of their featured bloggers. I'll be blogging about custom dining furniture and I can't stress how much I will need your help!

The way Su Casa makes their decisions on the winner are creativity, quality and frequency of posts, Feedback and commentary on each post, and traffic from the blog sites back to the Su Casa website. I'll do my best to keep the posts coming and make them entertaining, informative and creative, but I need your help on those last 2; Feedback and commentary on each post, and traffic from my blog back to the Su Casawebsite. This is the one part of the contest that is actually quantifiable, meaning they have a way of seeing where their website traffic sources from and they can also go to our blogs to see how many comments we have on our posts.

NOTE TO READER: You DO NOT have to live in Baltimore to look at, dream about, and buy furniture from Su Casa!  Which means you DO NOT have to live in Baltimore to help me win a fantastically beautiful dining set by commenting on my blog and checking out their website. 

Over the next few months we'll do some fun stuff to get you in the Su Casa Spirit.

OH and there will be a couple of GIVEAWAYS that just might be based on who my most loyal and frequent commenters are. 

NOTE TO SU CASA AMPLOYEES: You may not have been able to participate in the "Test it. Blog it. Win it." promotion, but you are more than welcome to participate in my giveaways.  (If you need an alious I understand just make it the same one every time you comment.) Based on what I've read in the "Our Story" section of the website, Y'all are some of their best customers!

So join us for some dining furniture fun!

READY...? SET...? BLOG!!!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

We LOVE Ruby Love - Baltimore, MD - March 2012

I need to start by saying I'm pretty sure my mom has a baby book for each of her four children somewhere. I think I've seen mine, but it's been so long that I'm not sure if it's real or just a memory I created. If it exists, I'd love to see it. I think it'd be a great way to get ideas for my girls and their baby books.

My good friend Katie introduced me to an AWESOME Etsy shop 

Ruby Love.

And that's where I found...

MJ's baby book!

They sell modern fabric covered baby books that are perfect for a busy mom that needs to just fill in the blanks but still wants it to look totally beautiful and customized.

Each book comes with color coordinated pages and stickers for the calendar to mark those oh so important "firsts".

Simple adhesive photo sleves...

And the window in the front panel is great for a photo or for $5 you can have it personalized with your child's name in one of these 4 styles

I'm generally not one to name drop, but these unique and one of a kind baby books have been featured on BABBLE.com, Apartment Therapy.com, and Pregnancy & Newborn Magazine! Those are some pretty big names in the baby and mommy biz.

There are also packets for Adoption, a stay in the NICU, Baptism or Dedication, First Holidays, First Outings, Reflections from their siblings, The 2nd Year and a packet for years 3-5. There is also a packet for pregnancy. These packets allow you to customize your book and tell your little ones story from the very beginning.

Here are a few more of the custom fabric covers that I liked.

If these don't strike your fancy there are over 150 covers to choose from so I'm positive they'll be one that is the perfect fit for you and your little one.

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

Randomness: A Tents, A Rug, Pots and Pans, and Secret Drawers - Baltimore, MD - March 2012

These are a result of iPad surfing during middle of the night feedings with sweet MJ, who is A MONTH OLD today! Her check up is Saturday so stay tuned for her new and improved stats.

I saw this on a friends blog the other day and it made me want to go right to Home Depot and a fabric store to build this in the girls room.

(via)

This would go great under my new dining room table... More on this SOON!

(via)

For a girl that LOVES order in the midst of craziness. I WANT THIS!!!

(Via)

And for all my fellow apartment dwellers... Here's to not wasting an inch of space!

(via)

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

Pizza Party For 2 - Baltimore, MD. - March 2012

Four years ago, In my second post, Pizza Party For One, I mentioned that my favorite delivery pizza of all time is Domino's thin crust with pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives, To this day it is my favorite and I could and on some occasions I have actually eaten an entire one by myself.

 Tuesday at about 11am I got a text from one of my best friends on Earth, Sarah, who lives just over 1,000 miles away (and according to Google Maps 18 hours and 1 min) away from me. The text read "Ordered you lunch. Should be there by noon."  I was confused and excited!

Just before noon there was a knock on our door. I opened the door to reveal a cheerful pizza delivery girl with a piping hot Thin crust, pepperoni, mushroom, and black olive pizza and an order of cheese bread! What a surprise and what a treat!

Turns out this is the Monkey's favorite delivery pizza as well.

(Just like her mama, sneaking toppings when she thinks no one's looking.)

Thank you Sarah for loving on us from so far away. The only thing that would have made it better is if you'd been here to share it with us!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

Just A Moment to Share BIG News - Baltimore, MD. - March 2012

I seriously have like 12 minutes between putting one little lady down for a nap and having the other wake up so I'll make this quick... Well the WanderingLili version of quick.

A couple of months ago a good friend of mine mentioned that a local Baltimore furniture store called Su Casa was having a contest for bloggers and that she thought that I and my blog may have a good shot at getting in. 

 The "Test it. Blog it. Win it." contest” asks a select group of bloggers to document the entire process of creating, ordering, and living with customized furniture from their store. At the end of June they will take a bunch of factors into account and on July 1st, they'll announce that one of their featured furniture testing bloggers has won everything they've been demoing in their home. The cool part though is that even if you aren’t the BIG winner, just by being selected as a finalist blogger you have the opportunity, at the end of the contest, to purchase your custom furniture at 50% off the retail price. 

So after talking it over with the Hub, I submitted an application in the

dining room furniture category. 

If selected as a finalist I’ll walk you through the entire process, start to finish, no feelings spared (and when have you known me to be anything other than completely honest). Don’t forget I’m the girl that talks about:

People pooting in elevators

Battling a particular big box store that can't seam to manage their shopping carts

A politically correct "Wendy"

and

Educating people on what they should and SHOULD NOT do in public

I'm sure there are more, but these are just a few  examples  to reassure you you're going to get the REAL experience from me.  And even though 50% off would be awesome, I’m not one to shoot for second place, so I’ll need your help. 

The way Su Casa makes their decisions on the winner are creativity, quality and frequency of posts, Feedback and commentary on each post, and traffic from the blog sites back to the Su Casa website. I'll do my best to keep the posts coming and make them entertaining, informative and creative, but I need your help on those last 2; Feedback and commentary on each post, and traffic from my blog back to the Su Casa website. This is the one part of the contest that is actually quantifiable, meaning they have a way of seeing where their website traffic sources from and they can also go to our blogs to see how many comments we have on our posts.

I'm SUPER excited to blog about this entire process and hope you'll join us for the ride!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage!

P.S You might find it amusing to know I started this post at 9 o'clock this morning and it is now almost 6:30p.m.  ***SIGH***

Welcome Home Baby Girl - Baltimore, MD. - March 2012

Two weeks ago  yesterday, in a flurry of excitement, we welcomed sweet baby MJ into the world.  

We are all so happy she is here.  She is healthy, happy, and an absolute joy!

Born February 27th at 5:23pm

Weight: 6lbs 4ozs

Length: 22 inches

The story of her arrival is an emotional one for me to tell because nothing went as we'd expected or planned.  A situation that seamed and felt completely routine turned on a dime, leaving both of our lives in the hands of our Lord and the care of our doctors.  I'm working to get it all down as accurately as possible so give me a bit of time.  I'll preface it all by saying it is one of the most frightening moments of my life and has given me a new appreciation for the fragility of life and the ability to overwhelmingly love someone you've only just begun to know.  I have also been humbled by the support of our friends and loved ones, as they support us and share in our joy!

Till next time,

Bon Voyage