Real Life, Episode 3 /  by Katie Brightbill

Ahh you thought I wouldn't get my post in before the day ended, but here I am! In slow-motion vacation mode! I love Thanksgiving week. It wins for best all-around holiday weekend for me. I love that it makes for a definite 4-day weekend, and when it's over, we still have plenty to look forward to.

Today we shopped a little. I always go shop on Black Friday, but rarely spend much. My theory is that stores mark up to full price anything so they have wiggle room to mark "way down." I have better luck hitting regular clearance. That said, I absolutely love the vibe while being out and about. People-watching at its finest!

So here's the rest of the week in review:

We're loving ourself some brisk cold weather over here in the east. Maggie is in bliss mode because jackets are her favorite thing in the world. This whole thing with jackets started about two weeks ago... (Well earlier, but before it was only with jean jackets): she sees a jacket and wants to put it on immediately. She picks it up and brings it to the nearest adult and starts making yell noises until they help her put it on. When she gets in carseats or sits to eat dinner, jackets come off and crying begins. It's so crazy! This age is hilarious.

Sophie did some baking with my mother-in-law for Thanksgiving. She seriously helped! She rolled the dough, pinched the pie crust and basted the turkey. Maybe she can teach me her kitchen skills. :) The girls got chef hats as early Christmas gifts too, so those have been worn plenty.
Mornings have been frosty around here... And gorgeous.




Maggie got the pigtail treatment for Thanksgiving, which is always a hit with everyone (except her)!
My little sunshine kid.
S absolutely loves doing silly pictures. We had a little "photo booth" session the other day... She's green, I'm blue. So fun!

Vacations are amazing. Nobody has to leave for work, kids get tons of attention, and we get a break for the norm, so we get refreshed... Hope you enjoyed your week as much as we did!

Love,
Kate



Thankful Giving /  by Katie Brightbill

The holiday season begins today, and there are so many sweet memories to be made. Something I dearly appreciate when the holidays come is the beautiful spirit of giving. It is so fitting that a day has been created to celebrate thankfulness as the kickstart to a season filled with joy and memories.

One holiday comes to mind every year for me, with so much gratefulness. As a young teenager, my brother spent three years battling cancer. During one holiday celebration, he was rushed to the hospital for an infection. My family spent that Christmas at his bedside in a dismal hospital room, rather than in a warm and comfortable home filled with laughter and cheer.

BUT, what I remember about that day is not sadness or stress; rather, I recall the visitors he had to the hospital: generous people that we had never met came bearing gifts and songs, and lighting the pediatrics wing of the hospital with joy. These incredibly sick children received board games and stuffed animals and toys... and most importantly, smiles and love.

Those people are the kind of people you do not ever forget. They are the people who realize that thankfulness is more than simply enjoying their time with loved ones; it is also about sharing joy with those who may not have people there to love them. These lovely human beings took time from their cozy festivities to share with others who needed them more.

I am thankful. I am thankful for those I love and I am thankful for those that came into our lives that day, and made joyful memories from what could be incredibly painful moments, right when we needed them most.

I would be most grateful this year if my family and I can spend our holiday season with a deliberate selflessness, and that we would spend our time creating similar poignant and joyful moments for those who especially need that extra dose of love in their lives.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kate

 

Sophie Style: Denim, Cable & Dots /  by Katie Brightbill



I love a good denim vest. The kind with no bells and whistles, just a basic vest to add a little something different to a simple outfit. I could not find one anywhere for Sophie... so I took scissors to the sleeves of an oversized jean jacket that was on clearance. I think it turned out pretty good!

We paired the "new" vest with my favorite sweater in the world-- the one I wish I had in my closet. It's perfectly oversized, cable, cream, and soft... So so soft and currently on sale (special thanks to Gap for making that one)!
Her leggings are J.Crew, her boots are from Target circa 2010-- they are beat-up, but holding strong-- and her sass she inherited from her dad... Thankfully she also got his good looks. :)


Happy Thanksgiving!! It's my favorite holiday of all!

*Kate

A very special thanks to the lovely Kristy for being a brilliant photographer.



Gift Guide: Wardrobe /  by Katie Brightbill

We're thrilled to begin our weekly gift-guide series for every Tuesday leading up to Christmas! We've decided to sort our gift suggestions based on types of gifts. We love style, so we're starting with clothing suggestions for the nearest and dearest little ones in your life. Be sure to take advantage of all those lovely coupons being mailed and emailed your way, and get shopping!

First up: babies! They love to stay warm and cozy, so one-pieces, leggings, and onesies are our favorites. As they grow, they also become very active, and need clothes conducive to an active life. Here are our picks:
Heart Romper, Brown Legging Set, Striped Onesie, Pink Legging Set, Dotted Onesie, Fuschia Cable Romper

Bright color and soft comfort are the themes for the preschool kids. Boys tend to be happy with jeans and comfortable shirts. From my experience, girls prefer leggings, skirts, and a little does of dress-up. If you're going with clothes for preschoolers 4 and older, you may want to top the gift with an inexpensive little toy or book so you don't get yourself the "boring gifter" reputation (speaking from personal experience)!

Coral Coat, Plaid Button-down, Green Jeans, Grey Vest, Grey Long-sleeve, Sequin Skirt, Striped Leggings, Jeans, Blue Striped Sweater


There are also plenty of festivities and celebrations to attend during the holiday season, so here are some suggestions to have your children looking fancy-fresh:


Gingham Tunic, Cashmere Stripes, Red Dress, Checked Shirt, Navy Silver Striped, Red Sweater.


We'll be bringing more gift ideas through the next five weeks, so feel free to drop by whenever you'd like a little gifting inspiration in your life.


XO,
Kate

Make it: Baked & Stuffed French Toast /  by Katie Brightbill

Today I'm going to teach you to make this. Aren't you glad you decided to visit the blog today?
I'm currently on the east coast enjoying time with my in-laws and came up with this fabulous idea to share one of their family recipes we have every year when we come. This one is definitely not low-cal, but totally worth it, let me tell you. Okay, let me get to it:

Ingredients:
One loaf of "Texas toast," cubed
12 oz cream cheese, cubed
21oz can of blueberry pie filling (or you can make your own!)
10 eggs
2 cups milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
Cinnamon to your liking
Now here's what you do... It's very simple:
 
1. Fill a 9x13 casserole dish with a layer of your bread (use about half the loaf)
2. Distribute your cream cheese cubes on top.
3. Layer blueberry filling on top.
4. Add another layer of the remaining bread cubes on top.
 
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, cinnamon, and syrup.
6. Pour mixture over the casserole dish. Let soak at least one hour, but ideally overnight.
7. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
 
8. Remove from the oven, plate it, and enjoy! (We added strawberries and powdered sugar to make it extra fancy).
I love this recipe because it easily fills our whole family (with leftovers!) and it can be made the night before a holiday, then easily popped into the oven with no extra stress or cleanup day-of... Not to mention it's absolutely delicious!
 
Enjoy!!
XO,
Kate
 
 

Real Life /  by Katie Brightbill

Ahh, a Friday has come again. What sweet relief.

Do you ever find that the week before a holiday is one of the hardest? It's like the last hill on a run... you're saying to yourself "ohhh I think I can, I think I can," and you're not quite convinced that you actually can... yes, that's me the week before a holiday. Somehow I mentally go on vacation when I truly have plenty of castles to build, portraits to paint, and dances to dance with two energetic little girls.

All that said, it's FRIDAY. Next week is Thanksgiving and I really cannot express quite how thankful I am. So, so much.

Here are some glimpses into real life:

Sophie got to hang out with the fun crew at Oh Happy Day... for her it meant playing with big fluffy letter pillows, eating apples and jelly beans, and skipping nap time, so it was a win on all counts for her, obviously.
































Maggie was there with us too. And in case you wondered, it took her an hour to eat her apple.









































Both girls spent a lot of time convincing family members to read a lot of books to them. Big blue eyes and happy smiles make it incredibly difficult to say no to "one more story." Right? Could you refuse this little girl? I want to read a story to her right now because I'm looking at that hopeful little face!























On Saturday when I was prepping for my sister's shower, I chose to take Sophie with me to the store. I thought taking my older child would be the quicker route, but I learned my lesson: I should have taken Maggie. S needed to shop with her own cart, stop for samples- and finish them before moving again, go potty, pass everything to the cashier by herself... it was a blast, don't get me wrong, but it took for-ev-er.



The winning meal of the week for me was this Vietnamese perfection with my friend Nicole. It was so good to get out of the house and hang with someone older than three for an evening, and Vietnamese is my second favorite type of food in the world (the Mexican in me prefers a good Mexican meal to anything else). I got to eat rolls, noodles, and chicken and eat the entire meal without interruption. Yes, life is good.... and it's really funny the things I consider luxury these days! This is a very bad picture of a very beautiful meal.










































 While I'm at this "getting personal" stuff, I may as well confess that my home was epic messy more than usual this week too. I mean, of course I'm admitting this after the fact because that's what we do as people, right? I cleaned it today, so now I feel that my messy self is behind me, so I am quite comfortable confessing at this point.

In general, when people come to my house, it's pretty darn clean. Not perfect, but definitely not cluttered and freshly vacuumed. BUT if someone were to drop by unexpectedly at - say 11am on a Thursday- they may think a little differently. Especially if we were searching far and wide for a certain ballerina's slippers and decided- while we're at it- to clean not one, but two closets to find them... only to realize they've been in my purse ready to go all the time. My big great idea is that my friends and I all send our husbands to one another's homes at random times mid-week so they can all see a normal day at other homes and don't think everyone has a perfectly picked-up home every day. That's to make me feel better about this terribly untidy home I've been keeping. I think it would be most memorable and effective for them... I'd just hope no one would send anyone to mine. :)

 Links for your weekend:

If you're hosting friends and family next week, you may want to consider one of these stylish oven mitts to pull hot food out of the oven. I'm always "considering" new oven mitts because they're such a simple way to spice things up a bit... like "oh, I'm just going to take this dinner out of the oven" in the most stylish way possible. No biggie.

San Francisco rain has gotten me looking at cozy blankets and new hot chocolate recipes. For the most part, I just look at those recipes and hope someone will make them for me, then go grab my hot chocolate from the canister of SwissMiss. I'm only a recently converted domestic who does domestic things for survival, not luxuries. BUT if you're the type that thinks it sounds fantastic to make it homemade, I think it looks amazing.

We've also eaten more soup in the last two weeks than ever- so much that Sophie said to me last night that she just had chicken and soup and would not be convinced when I assured her it actually is a different type with basically the same ingredients. Anyway, the one soup we couldn't get enough of (I'm talking fourths for both girls!) was this one. I pinned it ages ago, and keep going back for more.

Happy weekend to you all!

Love,
Kate