Giveaway: Fall Favorites

I don't do many giveaways here, but when my friend Courtney asked if I'd like to be a part of a collaborative giveaway, it was a no-brainer. I LOVE Courtney, and I think an occasional giveaway is fun... especially when there are amazing- and I'm talking amazing- prizes. I want to enter but I'm not allowed. ;) YOU are, though! Here are the goods up for grabs:

Did you catch all of that? Shopping for days!! A carseat that turns into a booster!! Whoever wins this will have Christmas shopping locked and loaded, along with a whole new wardrobe for their children or nieces or grandchildren or friends' children... I'm excited for this winner in advance!!  

Now you see why I wanted "in" on this giveaway.

Who are the lovely ladies who have provided the prizes, you ask? Well, let me tell you: 

Courtney & Julie || The Chirping Moms: Moms who share their adventures in motherhood along with great activities for kids, crafts, recipes and ideas for family travel. For their Fall Favorite for kids, they've chosen to provide a $250 shopping credit to Polarn O. Pyret. This well made, Swedish brand offers bright, fun clothes for kids. Their outerwear line is great for chilly fall days! 

Monica || Marino Bambinos: A former researcher turned full-time mama of two. Her writing is primarily influenced by her experiences in motherhood and her darling children. On her blog, you will also find some of her crafty endeavors, sewing projects, product reviews and giveaways. Monica is providing the Britax Pioneer 70 Combination Harness-2-Booster Seat (winner choses color), and $100 to shop The Printed Palette, where you can find great tees for the whole family.   

Pam || TripleThreatMommy.com: a lifestyle blog showing you can do it all in NYC with style and grace...usually. She is also President and Founder of Triple Threat Media LLC, a social media, marketing and PR consultancy. For her Fall Favorite, Pam chose the MadPax Spiketus Rex Whirlpool Half Pack. These backpacks are fun, bright and stylish!

Brianne || Stroller in the City: fashion showroom owner turned mom and blogger/writer. She lives in New York City with her husband and three children. Her blog, Stroller In The City, talks city-living, kids, and fashion. Brianne's fall favorite is a tutu, leggings and tights from Funky Legs. 

Betsy & Kristin || The Little Style File: this blog offers Styling Services for the entire family, features the real style of children and moms, personal shopping, product reviews, giveaways and highlights the latest trends for families. These ladies have chosen are offering $100 Quirky Threadz credit.

I'm offering a set of the pajamas from Skylar Luna that I LOVE and told you about a couple weeks ago. 

The simple ways to enter are below!! Good luck!! 

xo, Kate

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Open to U.S. Residents only. 

Loving and Linking

Photo via Pure Mamas

Healthy + gorgeous meal. Seems manageable to make, too! 

My new favorite website. So good.

Oooh, the steepest streets in SF...  climbing stairs rather than sidewalks is kind of awesome.. unless you have a stroller (been there, done that, oops!).

I'm so into this fall board. Fall is such a charmingly cozy season.  

This is such a good set of 25 tips for taking low-light pictures.

"What I miss about my city" - quotes by leaders & influencers. LOVE this. 

Dreamy kids' desk space. I love uncluttered, minimalist spaces, especially in mini version. 

This skirt is PRETTY. The color itself kind of sells me.

Big fan of this look. 

This was entertaining... oh whole foods... 

ALSO: Delighted, issue 6!! The BEST weekend reading!!! 

I slacked a bit getting online this week. We lived big... here to there to everywhere. The weekend is going to feel REALLY good... anyone with me?

xoxo,

Kate

Celebrating

My husband turned 31 last weekend. He looks like he probably turned 23, and his heart is 19, but his age is 31.  

Birthdays are great. They really are. A REALLY good birthday can be simple. In our old age (!), we prefer being with people we love, focused only on quality time together. We met dear friends at the beach for a beautiful bonfire to celebrate, and it was just right. We discussed who assembles the best s'mores, throws the best spiral, and jumps the furthest off the sandy dunes {In my opinion, Brian won all three}. 

I love simplicity.

I'm lucky because I'm younger than Brian... but only by a month... I'm taking every opportunity to let him know he's an old man for the next 25 days or so. Also, how much I adore him, but that goes without saying. ;) 

So glad we get to grow old together.  

xxoo.  

New Shoes

It was time. Sophie had blisters from her shoes, and would cry when we walked too far that her feet were hurting. Brian's mom came in town this weekend and decided she must do something to fix this.

Enter: our new and old, tried and true favorite footwear (and outfits to accompany):

flats // dress // hat

sneakers // jeans // sweatshirt

casual // tee // skirt

Sophie got measured for new shoes, and tried about ten different pair, and we settled on two. Does anyone else have serious trouble picking shoes for their pre-schoolers? We want them to work with a lot of outfits in their closets, so we get the most bang for our buck, but I also want them to be "fun," and interesting enough for my children to want to wear them! There's the comfort and durability factor, and the on/off factor, the "will they stand up to the park" factor, etc. 

That said, we try to replace shoes accordingly. We like to have one flat/princess shoe, one sneaker/park shoe, and one comfortable shoe that can be versatile and neutral. We also love having some Minnetonka boots in the rotation. 

Sophie has never had sneakers like her new New Balances she got today. We mentioned they look like my running shoes, so when she wore them tonight on our walk, she wanted to race her daddy the whole time. When they finally stopped, she looked up and said,

"Daddy! This is great! These sneakers really work!" 

Now we have a little marathoner-in-training. 

xo

Loving and Linking

Photo via Studio DIY

This gumball stirrer concept is one of those brilliantly simple "why-didn't-I-think-of-that" type of DIYS. It would have been perfect for Maggie's birthday party!

Sleep is so important. Six tips for getting a better night's rest. 

I found this riveting and thoroughly entertaining... I find the "advice" at the end especially good.

Technology etiquette. So important.

If you're having a fall party and need a simple favor for guests, this is perfect. 

Beautiful. 

Sophie's shoes have started to give blisters. I'd say it's time for an update. I had some J.Crew flats for Sophie 40% off in my cart, but I missed the sale, then they backordered... so we went with these instead. I'm glad they're 50% off, but it's weird to order shoes online. It's something we've always done in-store.  Hopefully they fit! They look like they'll be pretty versatile. (BTW, the prices for 4-year olds is way higher than the prices for 2-year-old shoes. Learn something new every day).

Takes three seconds to vote for Old Skool Cafe to get an ad in the superbowl! VOTE here.

Bento inspiration, indeed. 

One of the best instagrammers has one of the best little shopping sites. Endless sweetness. 

And we all need at least one recipe to inspire us to keep cooking, right? Here are good ones: Quinoa Fritters, mmmm and Brie Apple Tarts {two of the most delicious things, so it would seem they're fail-proof?)

Happy Weekend!  

Brunch

Before we had children, going out to brunch was an every-weekend-essential date with Brian. Even when we had Sophie, we continued the routine of taking a walk to get a fabulous brunch every weekend. I mean, the choices at brunch! ... if I wanted huevos rancheros, he could still have a salad.. if he wanted pancakes? I could eat a sandwich. It's the best of both worlds, mid-morning on the most relaxing day of the week.

Then we had Maggie. Brunch with one child is still relatively chill. Brunch with two? Not ideal. We'd be trying to feed them, attempting to salvage the last bit of orange juice before our children downed theirs and ours, and doing our best to keep the avocados on our plate from being snatched by toddler hands... We had to come to grips with the fact that our overpriced eggs and waffles would no longer be our weekend routine. 

Wait, there's good news!  

I still craved the big brunches or breakfasts that were a step above the every day. Just because you stop doing something the way you once did doesn't mean you have to totally stop doing it altogether. Enter: culinary efforts! Who knew I could do this?

Creating onion/tomato/avocado/cheese scrambles is SIMPLE. Waffles are SIMPLE. Huevos rancheros, the easiest! Mexican breakfast with "papas y chorizo" (I use soyrizo, actually) is just not as difficult to make as I once thought. Bread pudding- laughably easy. And it's all delicious!! I've discovered that making fancy brunches is the easiest meal of the day. 

The best part? I feel so thoroughly accomplished when I've fed a beautiful brunch to my grateful family. We are in our own home, relaxing, chatting, and orange juice refills are aplenty, and a full bowl of fresh strawberries doesn't cost us $8. 

Happy Friday, friends. I totally recommend a grand feast of a breakfast or brunch this weekend... I have a feeling this weekend is going to be a great one.  

(it HAS to be good... it's Brian's birthday weekend!) 

 ps. Links up next, later this weekend. xo