Baby's first ballgame

Jon and I went to our first Giants game of the season and baby must have been good luck, because we won! It was also a beautiful warm day in the city and our seats were awesome. It was extra special feeling baby move during the (super loud) national anthem.

Last year's Father's Day present to my dad and brother from my sister in law, my mom and I. First time we found the brick! It is in front of the stadium. Very cool to have it be a part of AT&T Park.

Madison Bumgarner warming up for the game. 

I am glad this second trimester is being so kind to me and I can still enjoy a day at the ballpark.

One week to go...

One week from today we will find out if we are having a little boy or girl! I have bought two baby things so far, one is for a girl (I just couldn't resist!) and the other is gender neutral. I can't wait to shop for this little one. So far, I have spent a lot of time browsing all the cute stuff on Winter Water Factory and BlaBla.

DIY Art

What if I told you this was a piece of wrapping paper from Cost Plus World Market? The picture doesn't do it justice, but it is thick and textured and cost $2.99 for one sheet. I slapped it into a frame that was containing some artwork I liked in college but not anymore. So pleased! Cost Plus also had this print in shades of pink.

One warm weekend

What my weekend looked like, if you're interested.

Frozen yogurt on a hot day. But halfway through I smelled Subway and wished I had that instead. Weird!

Trying to get excited over sparkling water with lime and strawberry...but hard when you husband is drinking beer he brewed himself and you wish you could enjoy a glass too!

I got my first Birchbox. Verdict? Meh. I got some expired (2009!) moisturizer and duplicates of fashion tape among a few other things. Not impressed. I will give it one more month before canceling. I'd like to try out Bluum or Eco Emi.

Loving my new radio I got from Gilt. Had lots of background radio and Giants games going on recently. Plus, it's cute!

This is not how you made homemade rosewater (I wish!) but this looked and smelled pretty on the kitchen table.

What I Wore: Weekend Lunch

Most of the time it's easiest to just throw on some unzipped jeans with a Bella band and any old top, but when you have a lunch date you should put in a little effort. I met up with my girl Jackie this weekend for lunch and a little shopping and this what I wore.

Top from F21, Belt from Kohls, Skirt from Target and Sandals from Steve Madden.

Me and cutie pie, Jackie.

Happy Friday!

{Kari Herer via Oh Joy!}

This week has been eventful but good. I think we are finally out of the gloomy days and onto the sunny days from here on out. We took care of a couple of big house projects to get ready for baby. I won't bore you with the details, but it felt good to cross some stuff off our list.

Some other thoughts this week:

-Can't wait to make this hummus chickpea salad with all our leftover cilantro. Have you read Umami Girl's blog? If not, you must, beautiful food photography and healthy eating.

-Email from my mom that made me smile: "I am happy and excited every day because you are having a baby :)"

-And on the flip side, someone telling me yesterday that I'm "so big"  and "the baby is so big" for only being 4 months. Ugh. Seriously. It is never okay to comment on a woman's body, got that?

-Getting excited for my lunch and shopping date with Jackie this weekend!

-Deciding on a vacation for June. Austin is it! We will def make it to DC another time.

-I think I felt the baby for the first time last night. They say if it's your first it is hard to distinguish the baby moving and your body doing its thing but I felt something a bit different. Hooray!

Happy weekend everyone!

See you in 6 months...

Don't forget about me, we are only on a break.

{Oysters and beer in the summer}

{A bloody mary at brunch...or any time}

{Beer at a baseball game}

{Whatever's in the famous red cup}

{Wine tasting with friends}

 {Art and wine festivals in the warmer months}

Jon's 30th Birthday party

I think I stayed pretty true to my inspiration board for Jon's party this weekend. Some things I didn't have a chance to take pictures of, was too busy having fun. And Jon had a blast too, which is all that matters. Another one for the books.

Setting the stage on the patio...

 Papel picado lining the house.

Jarritos on ice. 

Fresh flowers on the table. Trader Joe's always has the best variety. 

 Loving my new pink sandals! Picture does not do the neon justice.

And back inside...

Colorful paper flowers lined the table.

The fake Chiclets were a huge hit with the kids.

Strawberry and key lime cupcakes made by Jon's mom. Not pictured: the chocolate ones!

And to top it all off, the Giants won! After the final score, the birthday boy poured up shots of Don Julio. Success!

Where to go?

{DC/Austin}

We are having a hard time deciding where to go for vacation this summer. On one hand I really want to do nothing but lay on a beach and feel the sun but on the other hand it would be nice to see a part of the US neither of us have had the chance. Washington DC and Austin TX have also been near the top of our list. Is this something a very pregnant woman will want to do in early June? And when I think of tropical vacations why can my brain only think of Mexico and Hawaii? Unfortunately we only have 7 days to work with, so anything in Europe or with a flight longer than 5 hours isn't really worth it. If anyone has advice between DC and Austin or a great tropical location, I am all ears!

April 13

Happy Birthday to my husband, love and support! Today you are 30.

Muah,
Holly

{Photo by Kate Harrison}

Recent purchases

These Rebecca Minkoff sandals in pink. So soft! So neon! So perfect for spring and summer!

Goodies from Sabon! I love me any kind of exfoliant and excuse to stay in the shower longer. The scrub has been great getting rid of tough winter skin on arms and legs and the gel polisher is gentle enough to rub on my belly. I first wandered into a Sabon on my Chicago trip and fell in love. We need one in California!

I was a big fan of the Say Yes to Cucumber towelettes but the Burt's Bees ones were a little less expensive and the ingredient list seemed the same, so I am giving these a try. So far, they smell fresh and clean! 

This book. I have read a bunch about this nation's food system, how farms run, how animals are treated, how this country is fat, you name it. But this book focuses more on how hidden toxins go into our food and can be blamed for many common allergies and diseases. Robyn's journey began feeding her family McDonalds and flavored milk and now they are on the path of healthy eating.

some baby details.

Wow, thank you so much for all the kind words on my last post! While I am so so excited, I am still a little uneasy about everything and hope I am out of the woods, per se. Feeling the love from so many of my blog friends has definitely helped!

{16 weeks}

Jon and I are expecting this little baby near the end of September or the beginning of October. In other words, a Libra. :) We want to find out the sex and will hopefully get that information in May!

I have also been unsure of how to post about this because I am friends with several women both in real life and through blogs who are trying to conceive. I want to be sensitive to everyone as all of our situations are different.  In that light, I feel grateful and lucky. 

It was no coincidence that my blog break coincided with my first trimester. It was brutal. The all day morning sickness lasted a while, including two very bad weeks where I could not believe this is what pregnancy was like. I didn't want to eat anything yet I was starving 24/7. Early on I also made the mistake of reading a lot of online forums which made me sick with fear. Now that those two stages are in the past and I am sailing into my second trimester I am feeling great. For now, I am reading books (not too many as it can be overwhelming), have started prenatal yoga and am trying to find other pregnant bloggers to follow along. If you know of any, share them please! I can't wait to share this journey with you.

Haaaaaaa.

What's cooking

We are so excited!

Easter Scenes

Today marked another fun Easter with my family. This is one of those holidays that is a ton more fun with little ones running around. (Now, if only the Giants had won...) Also, I baked my first carrot cake! I used Kristina's recipe and it was as easy as she said it was. Take a look.

 Did you know pineapple and raisins also go inside a carrot cake? This is one of those cakes I was not a fan of as a kid but I love it now. Complex flavors and that cream cheese frosting can't go wrong.

{All frosted up in afternoon light}

{Deviled eggs}

{A with her babies Ariel and Rapunzel}

{Not the kid's Easter basket ;) }

Happy Friday!

{flowers from the backyard on my nightstand}

Can you believe we are in the first weekend of April, already? This year is just flying by. 

Here's to a happy, sunny Easter weekend for everyone!

See you Monday.

Baseball is in the air!

Giants opening day is Friday and our house is getting excited! I don't care about football or basketball and I feel that's all the country's been talking about lately, so I am so happy my sports' season is here!

I have always been a Giants fan but haven't really started caring about the players and learning about their inter workings since we made it to the playoffs the year we won the Series. (truth!) So it's so hard with all these trades and such going on and losing players that I've loved and seeing all new guys I know nothing about. Even if he is just going to the minors, this one's for Eli Whiteside, my silver fox.

Eli, doing his thing to protect our pitcher from the evil Phillies, last year. 

That fight was INSANE.

Who else is ready for baseball?

Natural Egg Dyeing

I have always wanted to try dying eggs naturally so on a rainy day this weekend I gave it a shot. You will learn from my mistakes.

First things first. You will need some eggs. If you normally buy white, you should buy the brown ones, they will produce deeper shades.

Your natural ingredients. Red cabbage, cranberry sauce* and curry powder*. We will come back to what has a little asterisk by it.

In separate pots, bowl the eggs and the ingredients. Follow what you normally do to hard boil eggs and for the rest, add the ingredients to water and a few tablespoons of white vinegar. Simmer those for about 20-30 minutes. This will make your kitchen smell disgusting.

Then pour out the cabbage, leaving intense purple water and let them all get to room temperature. When they are cooled, put your eggs in their baths and put them in the fridge overnight.

All aboard the fail train....

Ok, so the red cabbage made the most beautiful blue eggs I have ever seen! But then again, the directions said that. Where we took a turn was the directions actually called for cranberries, not the sauce. Fail. And even though curry powder looks identical in color to turmeric, it doesn't work. Fail. Those eggs came out weird and speckled, so it wasn't a total loss, but I would have loved deep red and yellow to go with the blues. You can also use onion skins and chili powder. Have fun!