Mickey Mouse cupcakes

trying to be a lady

thinking about it

practicing restraint.

woh, sugar rush!

and there is the girl I know

gotta wash it down.

So this has been a rough week. Not only have I had a few late nights at work, but Emma has been up at ungodly hours and I feel Ive spent most of my mornings disciplining her. I really don't like losing my cool with her, but she is really testing my limits.
Anyway, I saw these cupcakes on a blog and wanted to try them out for Miss E since she is such a Mickey fan. I'd love to go the extra step and buy marzipan bows to turn them into Mini Mouse cupcakes, but I worked with what I had.
She smiled and said "Mickey" when she saw them. She of course dove into the frosting and eventually ate the cake part. It was a great morning actually. She was up at 5 and wrote on the wall again but she was somewhat reserved. And we watched Beauty and the Beast and I was reminded of just how much I love that movie. She really gets into it. She will warn Belle as she enters the forbidden west wing to "be careful". And Clogsworth just cracks her up. At the end when they kiss, she makes a kissing sound and claps. She is full of joy.

All the good things are wild and free

and that would include my ninj and her ninja moves the other night. Sigh.

spring is in the air

Sort of. Yesterday was a glorious day. So sunny, blue skies and I only needed a light coat. Emma wore her cute trench coat I got her at Zara. I got so excited thinking I could start putting away the heavy sweaters and puffy coats and start taking out the dresses and blazers. Alas today I woke up to 20 degree weather. Anyway, it wont stop me from day dreaming of summer dresses and brighter colors. I was at the Gap the other day and found some amazing deals or as Claudia would say, gangis! I found these lovely tops for myself in a lovely peach and mint green. I need to lose about 5 lbs to really rock them as they were final sale, 8 dollars each, and the only size left were Ms. I am sadly a large now but used to be a M in Gap wear. Anyway, I also picked up some really cute things for E including this amazing trench coat. I will photograph these great finds soon, but for now Ill pull the rompers I got her from the web. BTW, I think Emma has now way too many summer dresses.

The new iPad is coming!!

and I for once really want to treat myself to it!! I'm thinking mother's day is a good reason... perhaps my partner will help contribute to my fund. I'm not a tech nerd at all, but there is something so lovely about the iPad and I still haven't quite figured out what it is. I tend to swipe Ant's laptop to tool around on the internet and realize that I need something portable that will allow me to pine away at my blogs or pin amazing things I find on my Pinterest page. I got this amazing iMac and use it for "making" things, but I need something for the couch or long train rides or late sleepless nights, so yeah, Im starting a fund today and hopefully in two months will have enough for it!!!

Reading Nooks

There is no surprise that Emma loves her books and we love being able to indulge her with books galore. I am working on trying to set up a little nook in her room where she can read her books. For now she has a magazine/book rack that sits next to her bed but I really want to create a cozy little reading spot for her. Ive come across some really fabulous examples of other children's room and wanted to share them with you.

this is such a fabulous little art station/reading nook. I love the red rocking chair and the wall of books.

Image via Tiny White Daisies

I love this little corner spotted on Ralfefarfarparadis

I love how they converted Ikea's spice racks into book shelves. Im leaning towards this idea. Found at Oh Dee Doh

I wish I was handy with power tools to make E one of these. You can learn how to do one yourself over at Kojo Designs.

I love the vertical hanging book holder, found over at Found Now Home

I love this little canopy tent and the baskets that hold the books. Such a sweet little nook found over at Flickr

I could easily curl up with E on a soft pillows such as these. Found at the Artful Parent

Book of the week, Chicken Thief

I am a fan of wordless books and the Chicken Thief by Beatrice Rodriguez does not disappoint. Playing with our expectations that all foxes and chicken are natural born enemies, Rodriguez creates a fast pace tale that involves a kidnap, a great chase scene and a surprise ending. A rabbit, a bear and rooster are on a hot pursuit as they try and rescue their chicken friend from the fox. What I also love about this book is its panoramic format that I feel heightens the sense of a long and exhausting chase.
The story is so visually engaging and the illustrations are so animated that you will never once find the need for printed text. The best part are all the subtle details that give way to an endless possibility of outcomes that can be read over and over. The ending made my heart melt and I guarantee this book will delight both the parent and child.

silla, cute and luna...it all makes sense

Emma sometimes asks for things with such confidence that it breaks my heart when I have to disappoint her and say "I don't know what you mean". For example, Emma has been pointing to the window sill and saying "silla silla!". But we are not fans of her getting used to sitting on window sills so we just say no and let her cry it out. Today as I was walking out of the house, I look over and see Emma happy as a clam, sitting on the sill with the sitter and I realized that Connie has been letting her use it as her silla and hence her desire to do the same with us.
Another thing Connie does is sings a certain Moon song during nap time. Emma at night cries "luna luna" and I hadn't the slightest clue why she was asking for the moon, but now it all makes sense. And finally, Emma started saying "it's cute" to everything and Ant and I assumed that Connie must have taught her that word. I guess when in doubt blame the sitter.