Let's Catch Up!

When Mommy's Away...

   I took my most recent work trip last month which left Brooklyn and Kelvin home to run the show for a few days.  I went to Austin, TX for a team meeting for 3 days and as you can see on my before and after photos above, I wasn't too thrilled about leaving and really ready to get back.  The thing that gets me on these work trips is the massive amount of delicious food that they pump into us...lol!  However this time I did practice good self control and I even worked out each day while I was there!  As far as the home front, Kelvin and Brooklyn enjoyed their much needed Daddy-Daughter time.  Brooklyn did not get sick while I was away this time and her hair held up pretty well.  Daddy did a pretty good job of tying it up to ensure neatness...lol!  Check it out:

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Brooklyn's House of Fashion

  I dress my little one so basic during the week because I don't believe in wasting my time to get her all dolled up for daycare only for her to look like I didn't spend much time on her after she's been there a few hours.  I don't spend a lot of money on her clothes because she grows so fast.  Her daycare gear is pretty much t-shirt and shorts, but she has a pretty big variety thanks to great sales from Carter's at the beginning of the summer.  However when the weekend rolls around, I try to put the cute stuff on her.  That's when I pull the hair accessories out.  I re-paint the toenails and I reach into the closet and pull out a cute outfit and sandals for her to wear.  So, if anyone is looking at this blog that normally only sees Brooklyn during the week; my baby does look (even more) cute on the weekend :-)  Just look and see:

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Diet gone from good to bad to worse...some times

 

   Why is it that when you decide to go on a diet these restaurants decide to have such great specials.  So, right out of the gate from writing my good intentions on one of my last blog post; me, mama, and Brooklyn have our weekly GNO (Girls Night Out).  We were going to go to Olive Garden but it was way too crowded so we decide to go to Red Lobster instead.  I'm thinking it's a good choice because I could have some tasty Wood Fire Grilled Tilapia and a salad BUT they had this amazing 4 course feast for $14.99.  Well, that turned into a Caeaser salad with shrimp topping, a bowl of chicken tortilla soup, garlic herb chicken and shrimp with mashed potatoes, and triple chocolate brownie a la mode!!  Now, now- I didn't eat all of that.  I ate all of my soup and salad, about 1/4 of the entree, and about 1/3 of the dessert (Brooklyn was all over that so I got what I could get when our spoons weren't fighting...lol).  To make matters worse, it was so good that I returned there 3 days later with Kelvin!  I can say though the entree made for 3 meals for me as I ate it for dinner when I went and for lunch for the next 2 days following that.
     Follow the Red Lobster fiasco up with GNO a few weeks later when we decided to go for ice cream.  I should have known that would turn to bad...lol!  We were all ready for that ice cream and ate a whole lot.  Brooklyn  had a scoop of cotton candy ice cream, Mama had a Banana Royale, and I had a Brownie Sundae with World Class Chocolate and Salty Caramel and Hot Fudge, Whipped Cream, and Almonds...YUM YUM YUM!!!!  CALORIES, CALORIES, CALORIES...lol!  For all of my friends on My Fitness Pal who are seeing this, this is part of the shame that has kept me from logging in for the last week...lol!  I think I'm going to blame my slip-ups on hanging out with Mama for GNO...she's a bad influence...lol!

 

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Official Pool Party Goers

   So, Brooklyn and I attended another pool party at the end of last month at Paige's beautiful backyard oasis :-)  Since none of her little friends were there this time, Brooklyn wasn't as brave about getting in the pool.  I dressed out this time, so I got in the pool with her and I think we had a pretty good morning with it.  After that, I smashed my diet a little further totally pigging out on the food meant for the kids to pig out on...lol!  It was so good though :-)  I'm being really open with my blog readers by showing these pics because I left my hair twisted in them so I could style it better for the rest of our events for the day.  I'm looking pretty to' down.  I did manage to remember to suck in my stomach for the photo opps though...lol!

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Brooklyn's First Trip to the Circus

   We have never taken Brooklyn to a big event at the Verizon Arena because we weren't sure if anything would keep her engaged long enough to make it worth our time, money and efforts.  However, when the circus came to town this year; I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out.  After all, I loved the circus when I was growing up.  My parents would take me and Brandi every year.  There were 3 rings, lots of clowns, amazingly talented animals, fire, cannon balls, trapeze artists, tight rope walkers, and more!  It was a blast.  It was also the 1980's.  Fast forward to 2012 and it was a pitiful shell of itself.  The concessions were outrageously expensive ($8 tasteless lemonade and $12 regular-sized bags of cotton candy)  There was 1 ring, 1 clown, no tigers, no monkeys, 1 trapeze artist, 2 second tight rope walking, no cannons---major disappointment for me.  For Brooklyn though- it was amazing!  She was sooooo excited!  She danced and ooo'd and ahhh'd the whole time.  It was worth every penny to see her enjoy herself so much!  I had fun getting ready for the show myself.  Brooklyn and I wore matching pink t-shirts which I bedazzled before the show.  After the show, Brooklyn got to be an amazing acrobat riding on her Daddy's shoulders all the way back to the car.  It was a priceless Family Night Out that I will never forget!

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A New Wreath on the Door

   It's time for the big reveal on my latest craft excursion and I don't expect a lot of applause for this one.  I had this grand idea that I would make a wreath for the door with deco mesh in green and red and put black buttons on the red so it would look like a watermelon.  However, from the street (to me) it looks like we were too lazy to take our Christmas wreath off of the door...lol!  A few things I think I could have done differently was maybe choose a smaller frame for the wreath and find a flat wooden watermelon slice and write Happy Summer on it for it to hang in the middle of the wreath so it would be perfectly clear what I was going for with the wreath.  Oh well, live and learn.  I'm not above showing my steps towards being a Crafty Queen so I'm blogging about it all.

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Suzie Homemaker

   On this edition of Suzie Homemaker, I'm featuring a quick and simple twist on a kid dish that adults can enjoy too.  Last week, I decided that we would have mini-pizzas for dinner one night.  I decided to make them a bit healthier by using multi-grain light English muffins and turkey pepperoni.  The idea was great, the results in taste compared to the not so healthy version- a good intention at best.  However, they served their purpose in being something quick and light for dinner and I'll definitely do them again.  Looks like I forgot to take a pic of them after I baked them...lol!  Guess I was pretty hungry :-)

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Natural Hair Update

   It's been a while since I updated my readers on my progress with my natural hair.  I think I'm getting bored with it.  I know as the fall approaches I'm really going to long for long flowing smooth tresses and will probably make that happen.  For now though, I thought I would try to do some mini-twists as a little project for myself.  I just finished them last night and had been working on them a few hours a day since Saturday. I follow Naptural85 on YouTube and have been on her channel quite a bit for the past few weeks.  One thing that she's big on is making her own products to do these and other styles with.  So, after about a week of hunting and gathering I finally had all the oils I needed to make some of these.  The two I needed to make the mini twists were a Shea Butter moisturizer and some Flax Seed gel.  These are actually done in the kitchen as though I'm cooking so these pics I'll show will look like they belong on the Suzie Homemaker update but they are in the right spot.  Brooklyn was a little confused too as she kept asking me if she could taste them and lick the mixers...lol!  I'll put a pic of the end result of my hair on the blog when I can figure out what to do with them.  Naptural85's hair is much thicker and fuller than mine so hers look amazing even left down.  My hair is very fine and thin so mine aren't nearly as full.  So as usual for me it will be all about the styles I choose to put them in.  For now, here's a few pics from my product making party :-)

 

Oh, one more thing- I recently ended my trial of Women's Rogaine.  I decided that I would rather a natural product since I couldn't really tell a difference after a few months with the Rogaine.  I also decided that I would rather something I could always use so that I wouldn't have to suffer any hair loss should I ever not be able to use the Rogaine.  So, my sister suggested Jamaican Black Castor Oil.  She said a sorority sister of hers uses it and had good results.  I looked it up online and decided to give it a try.  I was thinking I might have to order and end up paying shipping, but lo and behold it was right in my local beauty supply store which by the way is decidedly the best beauty supply store in Arkansas.  Ladies, whatever you are looking for and can't find in Little Rock-- come out here to Sherwood to Extra Beauty, they probably have it.  One drawback to the oil, it's very very thick.  I haven't really figured out a way to incorporate it into my sides on a daily basis without ruining whatever style I have.  I will probably have to start applying it at night before bed.  I'll let you know how it works out.  Here's a pic of it below: