Because I had to...

I usually never post videos on here, but I take a ton on my iPhone. This one was too cute not to share. And if you spend any time around Nina, you know that this is NOT a rare occurrence! 

** In case you're wondering, Mr. Evans is eating blueberries. And yes, we were careful to ensure she didn't choke on a berry when he was hurling it in her mouth. :)

Silver Linings

Every cloud has its silver lining. I came across this one on the way home from Milwaukee last week. It was a helpful reminder that although dark clouds appear silver linings are (hopefully) near.

I really needed this reminder... :)

When Daddy's Away...

When Daddy's away, the girls will play! Mr. Evans was in Vegas last weekend for a bachelor party, so Nina and I enjoyed ourselves. Just wait until "enjoying ourselves" means a spa day and trip to Chicago for shopping. What can I say, I learned from the best. Needless to say, our weekend was a little more low key. 

Friday, we went shopping (I'm on a decorating mission) and went to Festa Italiana with family. Saturday, we got up early and went to the Farmer's Market, received a flower delivery from Mr. Evans (what a guy!), went to the lake for the day, and then went to a friend's cookout for dinner! Sunday, I attended a friend's bridal shower and then we went to the lake again (surprise, surprise). Here's a few photos:

Just for fun, here are a few great links to check out:
- Peruse Part Nouveau, you'll be sucked in!
- Humans of New York is so real and captivating.
- As we all know, I luurrve stationery so Letterheady is right up my alley (a compilation of letterhead designs of the famous).
- LOVE this post and the articles to which it links... I really am head over heels all things royal!

Green Bay Daycation

Last weekend, Mr. Evans, Nina and I took two "daycations." On Saturday, we drove up to the Green Bay area for the day to catch up with friends. On Sunday, we went to Ikea in Illinois. Lots of driving, but lots of fun! Here's the recap of Saturday.

We hit the road early and stopped first at The Creamery, a coffee bar and cupcakery in De Pere owned by my college roommate Pam. It's a must do if and when you're in the area. Seriously - pour over coffee, homemade chai, fresh smoothies with mint/pineapple/banana, a peach bellini cupcake, fresh blueberry streusel and an earl gray scone (we ordered a lot for breakfast... hehe). Yummm!

Next stop was St. Norbert. Oh, how my heart swells with happiness when I'm back on campus. There is something about it that just makes me feel at home and at peace. We took a nice walk and then had lunch on the lawn in front of Main Hall. Take out muffalettas and cubans from Pasquales, anyone?

After Nina's nap, we made a two stops... First, Nina's introduction to Lambeau Field. Second, a beer run for Mr. Evans at Hinterland Brewery.

Our final stop of the day was to spend the afternoon with Zach and Sarah (also a college roomie... basically). We loved spending time with them on their deck! We had time to catch up while Nina was napping and then stayed until Nina crashed around 8:30ish. Luckily, it's just 90 minutes back home! :)

Lawn chairs, a tequila/white grapefruit/lime cocktail, grilled shrimp tacos with grilled corn salsa, avocados, queso fresco, homemade salsa, fresh limes and cilantro. Does it get any better on a July afternoon?

Pretty Lily's

Check out this triple petal lily bouquet from our farmer's market. The smell is overtaking my entire house and I love it! I wish I could have beautiful fresh bouquet's all year long!

Big Girl Bed

It's been almost two weeks and Nina has done surprisingly amazing at sleeping in her big girl bed. She's under two years old, but just seemed ready to move on up!

Here's how it went down.

When we moved in to our new house two months ago, we setup her crib and big girl bed. Since then, we read on the bed at night, talk about how exciting a big girl bed is, practice sleeping with our head on the pillow, etc.

When we're at my parent's house for lake time and dinners she'll usually sleep/nap in a pack & play. However, since Nina's tall she doesn't quite fit comfortably anymore. So, my mom bought a Kids R Us Cot  and Nina did great sleeping on it. She also sleeps on a cot at daycare for naps now that she's older.

Fast forward to last week. I asked her if she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed and she said "yeee-AAHHH" in her excited southern drawl. She just seemed ready. So... Mr. Evans took down the crib and that.was.it.

Of course, I was a bit nostalgic about taking down her sweet little Jenny Lind crib. My baby is getting to be a big girl.

But seriously, she has stayed put (mostly) in her bed. Slept through the night. Continued to sleep about 11 hours each night (with 1 1/2 hour nap during day).

I was prepared to sleep train again if needed (we use progressive waiting). But, luckily she's done great! Her bedtime routine continues and all is well in the world. :)

The only (minor) thing is that she's been waking up earlier the past few days. I think I'm going to buy this clock for her to learn when it's ok to wake - any tips??

Also, you'll notice she's not yet skilled at using the pillow. Any tips? We also don't have her using the covers yet (it's summer and she might get lost in her unique sleeping positions). Also, we have lots of pillows on the floors (their wood) and a side rail just in case! I suppose we'll remove these soon.

Yippee for Nina!

Update: I bought the clock and it's working great. Nina totally gets it and stays in bed until the light turns colors!

Her first nap in a big girl bed.

Her first night in a big girl bed.

The Tradition of Circus Baby

At Mr. Evans's Grandpa Al's funeral a few weeks back hundreds of photos were on display. One in particular caught my eye. The gem below is of my father-in-law Terry (the eldest of 15 children) and his father, Al. This photo had to be taken in the early 1950's.

Look familar to the photos I have below of Nina and her daddy doing circus baby... some 60 years later? It's that an amazing tradition/coincidence? I'll have to ask my mother-in-law if she has any photos of Mr. Evans and his dad doing this??? :)

Just because...

I just had to share some of these with you. Click here to see more. At the bottom of this post, I also share a few links I've been loving lately!

- Such a haunting and beautiful song here (heard on So you think you can dance... love that show)

- Worth watching this video... if you need a gratitude adjustment it's so so worth your time

- I've loved Pentatonix since The Sing Off... if you haven't seen this video you must (but seriously all their songs/arrangements are this good)

Weekend Recap

There is nothing better than a long, hot, relaxing summer weekend. Well, maybe if it's Fourth of July weekend (and long, hot and relaxing)... then it's pretty close to perfect!

I barely took any photos (jeez, I'm getting bad at this!) but here's a quick recap: Wednesday night dinner with great friends, Thursday morning parade then the day spent at the lake swimming, drinking, eating (I made this - yumm!), watching fireworks, Friday again spent all day at the lake, Saturday Farmer's Market and projects around the house, Sunday at the lake again!

Hope you had a nice weekend as well! :)

Happy Fourth!

As we all know, tomorrow kicks off my favorite weekend of the year. The Fourth of July weekend is the quintessential American holiday. Fireworks? Cocktails? Lake time? Smores? Grilling? Parades? Sunbathing?  Lots of family and friend time? Yes, please!!

Enjoy your long weekend! Let's celebrate America the beautiful. :)

Stitch Fix Update

Here's an update on Stitch Fix! If you have no clue what I'm talking about, see my post here.

So, my second fix was a month or so ago. I purchased this fun navy cardigan with yellow, peach, mint and white polka dots. Excuse the photos in this post. They were all taken at like 10:30 pm and note - I am not good at selfie's (probably because I NEVER take them)!

Last week, I received my third fix. I purchased two dresses. The first is a belted black and white striped mini dress with sleeves and a scoop back. This cut works well on me because I have a small waist and larger hips.

The second dress is a dot print dress with a red leather belt. It's similar to the one above, but different enough. I thought hey, why not? I have plenty of easy-breezy summery dresses and am always in need of staple dresses for events. My "fixes" always include fun pattern, color, practical shirts and pants but I seem to stick with what my closet needs. :) For example, my second fix included cropped denim pants with stars (pretty much just like these) that are super fun, but not practical for me. Hello? I am not super trendy or a hipster, nor do I think I could pull them off!

If you want to sign up for Stitch Fix, I'd love it if you used this link. I get a kick back. Thanks so much!
http://stitchfix.com/sign_up?referrer_id=3060294