OOTD Party at the Park

 

Avery's friend turned 1 this past weekend and had an adorable party at the park, on the edge of a pond, where ducks and seagulls congregated. The noisy quacking kept the babies entertained and the seagulls kept the adults glancing nervously upwards.

Lots of laughs with friends from Mommy and me (our baby/mama class). I smiled my mouthful-of-cake-stuck-in-braces smile. You know the one.

Please pretend I'm wearing dark gray socks and not very very light gray ones that make me look like an MJ wannabe.

OOTD, AnthroMama:
Anthro Tiny On the Ropes sweater, 2011
Gap mustard tank
J Crew necklace
Anthro Daughters of Liberation skinnies
Anthro Sunnies

OOTD, AnthroBaby:
Lollipop felt clip
Anthro LiaMolly sweater
Target Harajuku mini tutu
Splendid leggings
Uggs boots (yes! isn't that the cutest?!)

 Quack quack goes the duckie!

 Yes, aren't the duckies so pretty? No, we won't pet them this time. 

No, you can't have one for Christmas. 

But we might eat one for Christmas. Mama's not a vegetarian...yet. Although she's trying.

 But a girl can only eat so much tofu and cheese, you know what I mean?

Ok, now Daddy's turn. This is Avery's favorite game: "Tick Tock, Avery's A Clock." That's the official trademarked name.

 Tick.

 Tock.

 Avery's...

...A clock.

 Cuckoo!

 Cuckoo!

Oh, big hug and kiss for the cuckoo baby bird with her tutu.
xo
shelia and our little cuckoo family

Three Guesses

 

...why I haven't been blogging, and the first 2 don't count. Well, friends, Avery has been on the move. She's 8.5 months and has been cruising/crawling for over a month. I barely have time to check my email and write creepy letters to Clooney anymore, much less blog. 

     So we are still very much alive, but just fully enjoying this magical time. Thanks for all your concerned emails. Or just the one.

 

We went to an amazing 1st birthday party the other day, at a grassy lawn overlooking the glistening Pacific Ocean.
Somehow, Avery and I got enveloped by this mysterious parachute, which was euphemistic for the general sense of lighthearted goodwill and colorful bonhomie. Or the paralyzing debt and despair our country has slowly but dramatically crumpled under. Either one.

It was a family affair. Chris' elbows are really this massive in real life. He's been in several medical journals. True story.

Avery searching for fleas. Thankfully, only a few were found.

Outfit of the other day:
Anthro top '10
Anthro Pilcro cords
Anthro belt, circa '09, which I still see around in stores

Btw, I love this belt. I bought it full price (about 50 bucks or so), and have never seen it go on sale, although I still see variations of it. Sequined main body, with a braided design, and brown leather buckle. Goes with everything and seems to add just enough sparkle without being Imelda-Marcos-obnoxious.
Or being just obnoxious enough.
And isn't that the goal? Being juuuuust obnoxious enough.

OOTD and Gardens

A happy and lazy and summery Sunday afternoon to you!
Despite our collective brown thumbs, Chris and I have managed not to kill anything in our garden...yet. In fact, we have found that we have enough roses and other flowers around for a little nosegay to grace our kitchen table every few days.
It brightens up the room and brings the outdoors in. By the outdoors, I mean fruitflies and worsening allergies. But lovely nonetheless.

 In other news, I almost burned down our kitchen again (there was the incident of the burning french fries in the toaster oven of 2011).
 Methought I smelt burning plastic (which occurs often, just usually when I'm cooking), and I looked everywhere I could think of. Then, I opened up the dishwasher and found the remains of one noble Tupperware lid.
RIP, little lid. You will be missed.

 Some outfits lately for bumming around the house, garden, and Target runs:

On me:
Anthro Deletta Twisted tee
Anna Sui for Target skirt

On Pumpkinhead:
Crocheted dress, c/o Bobo
Babylegs
BabyGap sweater

 We went all the way out to Huntington Gardens this week with our friends! They are famous for their massive, gorgeous rose gardens which was lovely beyond belief. Just rows and rows of meticulously and lovely tended roses of every color and hue imaginable.

 Inspired me to have my own little garden spruced up. Which meant more work for Chris, of course--I was too busy--that Project Runway ain't gonna watch itself. jk, honey! smooches!

 We went to our favorite brunch joint, where I ordered blueberry pancakes with fruit, extra whip. Like any self-involved blogger (synonymous? redundant?), I took a picture so you could act interested.

 Self portrait: Still life with Heinz.

 But oh! the dress. I finally fit it again. I had bought it, saved it, couldn't squeeze it on during pregnancy, and unearthed it the other day. The color is to die for, and it just makes me feel a kindship to Jackie O I didn't think possible. 

Anthro aviators
Anthro necklace circa '09 (see below)
Anthro Lil dress circa '09
Anthro Lemon stick wedges, sold out online

Loved the bow in the back, btw. Hope you are all loving the last of the weekend!

My First Hollywood Premiere and OOTD

Well, it's been a long time, friends. How is everyone doing? I'm good, thanks. Just reeling from our date night last night. What did we do? Glad you asked.

Let's just say that last week's date night that I had planned (with half price tickets from Fandango to Bridesmaids) paled a bit in comparison to my first Hollywood premiere where we saw Owen Wilson and stalked John Lasseter.
(I say "my first" bc C has been to stuff like this before, the weasel). 

Chris finagled tickets to the world premiere of Cars 2 at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Vrooom Vrooooom!

Wearing:
Urban Outfitters Military Peplum Jacket
Anthro Burlapp dress
Anthro Espadrilles (scored at last week's tag sale)

 Well, I had to bust out my new Anthro espadrilles, now sold out online. Totally forgot the name, sorry! It's preggo brain. Yes, preggo brain continues beyond being preggo. I'll let you know when I'm back to my razor sharp self.

 Squeeeezed into this dress, and had to solicit Chris' help to zip up. Good thing I had a jacket on, since I had to unzip later on just to breathe, spending half our evening with my left armpit hanging out. It's the California casual look. And that's why I never wear shawls.

The paparazzi were totally turned the wrong way and not ONE asked me what I was wearing. RUDE. They were all too busy yelling at Owen Wilson, who had just arrived. The crowds behind the barriers were going nuts screaming his name.

 We got to walk the black carpet. Which is next to the red carpet. But they hustled us along so we wouldn't gawk at the celebrities (but I did say hi later to Larry the Cable Guy, who was there, holding his mo-hawked 3 year old).

After the movie (which was adorable yet surprisingly complex--like a kiddie Bond flick), we sauntered down to the after-party, which ended up being part-carnival, part-hugest coolest kid party ever.

 Complete with huge race tracks for kids to send their lego cars careening down.

 A full-sized Lego Lightning McQueen.

 Very cosmopolitan--with a Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, Tokyo skyline.

John Lasseter posed with the spy car, voiced by Michael Caine.

 After wandering around for a while, we stumbled upon the food. OH. MY.

 It was an embarrassment of riches. You will notice that I am clutching 2 pack of Auntie Anne's piping hot pretzel sticks, a plate of steak and chicken burritoes, a cup of short ribs and mashed potatoes, and an unfortunate bag of cotton candy that I ended up having to leave behind...

 Only because we found the Wolfgang Puck cupcake stall. Oh, Wolfie--your chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting, and chocolate milk chaser made my evening.

 Tow-mater and Lightning McQueen were also in attendance.

By this time, we were turning into pumpkins (unlike the 500 4 year olds who kept on partying with their exhausted looking parents--all who were from the entertainment industry), so one last picture with the neon lights, and we headed home to our baby (Grandpa was babysitting).

My turn to plan date night next week. I'm thinking of netflixing "When Harry Met Sally" and having Chinese takeout. I want to keep his expectations low.

Happy Father's Day, Chris!