Cup of Yum

Every morning when I awake (after taking care of my sweet little loves) I brew either a small pot of coffee or I make myself an americano with our espresso maker. Either one is then carried downstairs and sipped while I take care of emails, etc. This is how I feel about those moments with my coffee....
Coffee is so comforting and delicious-thank you Lord for making coffee:) this little lady LOVES it!

(and in case you really want to sip your coffee out of a heart shaped cup-you can....go to this cutie pie shop-http://www.mollaspace.com/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=252)

Cheers!

talk about cute kiddo clothing!!

I love looking at little kid clothes-especially because I have a boy and a girl so there is always something I can find that is adorable for one of them. Now keep in mind I rarely buy clothes for them because I have a sister who gives amazing hand me downs and I have hit up some unbelievable garage sales that could clothe my kids forever.....and of course there are occasional weak moments at baby gap and gymboree which we do not need to dwell on-BUT I have finally found a dream store for clothes-good thing it is a bit of a drive away.


Can we just all say how cute these little girl clothes are!!?? I love to imagine just how stinkin cute Isabelle would be in all of the below items. I stumbled across this store Jack and Jane at Woodfield mall-and it was love at first look. It is officially the Anthro of little kids.:) Be still my heart-and wait till I show you the boys clothes (and yes, I have been discovering that indeed the clothing world does make cute boy things too-you just have to search a little harder)






And for the boy section....oh if my Judah wore this stuff he would be the cutest little lumberjack that ever was!

My little Belle

My sweet little Isabelle is going to be two in a week.....oh my how time flies!! She is the delight of many of my days-always surprising me with the different things she says and does. I love her and thought you should have a sample of how sweet she is!!

Running the Chicago Mini-Marathon

So last Sunday I successfully finished the Chicago Mini-Marathon-I am thrilled!!! I first decided to run it when I realized that I could indeed still run a few weeks after having Judah. I signed up for the mini and started training. I ran this one for Judah! To someday say to him, your mommy wanted to show you she still had it, even after having you:) He had just turned three months 5 days before the mini. I finished with the time of 2:18.....the last time I ran a mini was pre kids and pre marriage and I finished at 2:03....so I certainly added a few minutes to my time...but lets be honest...I have added a LOT of things to my body since that time:)

The mini was amazing!! My sister Ruth and I always pretend that we are going to run together-but really I realize that I just prefer to run by myself. But we both finished within minutes of one another-which is quite humorous considering we did not run together past the first mile. I love having someone there that is running it too....someone to get nervous/giddy with and Ruth is the perfect person for that!! Nate was the sweetest of all men (as always) and came to watch while faithfully holding Judah the entire time!! Sweet Isabelle stayed home with my parents. He cheered me on in so many spots and was the race photographer as well. There is nothing as wonderful as the start of a race when people everywhere are cheering for you to run well and finish. All I can think of is the verse " we are surrounded with a great cloud of witnesses" and I without fail usually tear up within that first mile of the run! Then, with this race you are doing a loop on lake shore drive-so you get to see all the runners ahead of you on the opposite side of the street. I probably blew too much energy cheering for them-but I simply could not help myself. I was grinning ear to ear calling out "You are an inspiration....keep it up!!" And that probably was one of my most treasured moments of the run. To be able to cheer for other runners while yourself being one. Amazing.

The day was quite hot-especially for me who loves to run when it is COLD!! And the last few miles were not the prettiest believe me!! (Side note: since I loved running on the outside of the road for the whole race I was photographed about a million times. The marathon photographers are sitting on the outside and then snap pictures of the runners throughout the race....so you can imagine just how many photos of me there are online...and THAT is not the most flattering of picture collections I have seen of myself....so believe me when I tell you I was not the most attractive person nearing that end:)) But I finished!! Right when I finished the man over the loud speaker just kept saying my name.."Way to go Abby...Nice finish Abby...right over the line Abby!!" It was truly humorous how many times he said my name-but it was certainly fun to hear it!! Then I was finished....on cloud nine knowing that I had achieved my goal. This mother of two (23 months, 3 months) had just completed her 13.1 miles....life is good!!!

Products I Cannot Live Without

We all have them.....products we cannot (or would rather not) live without. Please...if you have a blog write a list like this....or in whatever format you chose and let me know in the comments what your address is so that I can go read it. Or just leave it in the comments:)

Now on to the good stuff....I only listed 10 things. I plan on doing this with other stuff in my life...so look for more 10 item lists! And I would love suggestions for ones you would like to see:)

1. Stila's illuminating moisturizer-i love it because it is great for keeping my face moisturized and offering a nice glow, plus it has an SPF 15!! great!
2. OPI nail polishes....love them and LOVE paining my nails (which i see as therapy at the end of a little bit too crazy day) favorite colors currently: tickle my france-y(the color of silly putty), you don't know jacques(dark brown grey), sweetheart(light pinky white), and parlez-vous opi ( a purply grey)
3. bobbi brown eyeshadow in grey
4. bobbi brown blush in almond (blush ladies is one thing that will always make you look better....okay not if you are sunburn, but besides that it is a winner)
5. boar's hair roller brush...amazing for making my hair look normal
6. bubble bath...I literally probably take one every other day if not more:) the aromatherapy ones from bath and body works are great-but I love them all!!
7. maybelline waterproof mascara-cry, wipe your eyes, do whatever you want...it is not coming off
8. Vaseline-you read that correctly...Vaseline is the best make-up remover and is super duper cheap...besides that it helps with eye wrinkles!!
9. soft brow by clinque in soft brown.....my eyebrows would be close to non-existent without this...and really your eyebrows make SUCH a difference to your face when they are darkened a touch.....if you do not believe me cover yours with coverup and see how you look!!
10. mac's eyeliner brush and any eyeshadow....wearing shadow for your eyeliner is much less harsh and therefore is forgiving on eyes and faces, rather than making them look super intense and aged!!

Pictures below are: the polishes mentioned, all my nail polishes, and Isabelle's lovely red nails on my lovely bluish grey nails:)