Things That Make Me Go "Woo-Hoo!"

Did you come here expecting colorado adventures part 2? (part 1 here) Me too. Turns out I need a littlleee more time to finish it. promise it'll be here tomorrow!

It's been WAY too long since I've done a life update type of post. Oh...where to begin, where to begin?

+We have our first family vacation (Cam's first time flying!) in less than 2 weeks! We are really looking forward to having a full week all together. If anyone has any tips for traveling/going to the beach with a little one (other than the feeding during takeoff), please send my way! Especially if it has to do with packing or what to bring/what not to bring. Also, I bought a lightweight umbrella stroller to bring with us but am starting to wonder if I will want our BOB with us? Which will be best?

+For the next 10 days before we leave, me and Billy are doing a big detox! It's actually a free guide from Steph's company-you can read about it here. It's two shakes per day and one regular meal. So, we will have the shakes for breakfast and dinner then lunch will be on our own (there is a list of approved foods you can have/make.) It's designed to be for 14 days but since we leave sooner than that, we are just doing 10. Even doing it for a week would be extremely beneficial! I was so excited when Billy told me he will do it with me so we can motivate each other AND because this means I don't have to cook dinner for 10 days! Yessss... 

+We had an awesome date night last Friday to celebrate our five year anniversary-a delicious dinner at Rigsby's Kitchen and some drinks after at Forno (LOVE both of these places if you visit the Short North often) It was a great night with my love. Our vacation was sort of our anniversary gift to ourselves, but Billy spoiled me with 3 dozen of the most beautiful roses...(and new Lulu shorts and this bar necklace that I've been lusting over!)

+In the past few years I've gone from not liking Taylor Swift at all to absolutely loving and adoring the girl. She's officially converted me. Her newest song/video Wildest Dreams? Yes please. All of it (looking at you, Scott Eastwood.)

+I'm feeling crazy emotional lately about how big Camden is getting. He is almost 8 months old (and is such a busy little one!), has two teeth, is eating 2-3 "real" meals per day, and the other day we realized he will only be on formula/bottles for another 4ish months! After that, he's like a little boy and then I'm practically sending him off to college. 

+Speaking of baby meals-I would really like someone to make it so that in grocery stores there are aisles dedicated to approved healthy baby foods and nothing else. All in ONE place. Shopping the entire grocery store for a handful of quality baby food is seriously time consuming (for a newbie like myself...I'm hoping it gets better?!)

+I found the perfect drapey tee from Target the other day (see-I can't stay away for that long.) It's so soft and will be perfect for the fall to layer under cardigans or to wear with leggings. I bought the teal wave color. I thought about going back to grab a few more colors, but then noticed they are on sale for $9 online right now, plus an additional 10% off for labor day. #timetostockup

+Kids personalized Christmas jammies...already thinking of ordering Camden a pair because well, it seems every other parent on instagram is doing it. Is it normal to order them this early? Either way, I have no problem joining in on this because...so cute. so cute. 

+A lot of my favorite items from the Nordstrom sale are BACK on sale. If you missed out on them then, now is your (second) chance. My picks: this cardigan (only $28), this striped top (perfect for now & fall), and this Nike half-zip (obsessed with these colors!!)

+Below Deck on Bravo-huge fan. Captain Lee has a serious case of permanent resting bitch face...don't you think?

I feel "out" of it in blog land lately (the good news is I'm feeling a little better..thyroid wise..) so if you're reading, please leave me a comment letting me know what you're loving lately! 

Colorado Travel Recap: Denver / Boulder

I'm so excited to be able to share another trip recap with you guys. I was taking pictures like a crazy person the whole time I was in Colorado-it's just too pretty not to! Colorado is definitely somewhere I can imagine myself living. It's so green, lush, and beautiful! So many great hikes, bike baths, and outdoor activities to do. It's pretty much paradise for outdoorsy loving people! 

And then there is the mountains...there is just NOTHING not to like about the mountains. That's all there is to it. It sounds silly, but even the air smells so fresh in CO...I swear it has it's own lovely scent, ha! Someone else has to feel the same, yes? Maybe?

Anyway, we stayed in downtown Denver at my cousin's for most of our trip but we also road tripped to Boulder, Idaho Springs, Vail (we stayed overnight here-wait until you see these pics! stunning!), Frisco, and Breckenridge. These cities were all semi-close to each other (Vail being the farthest from Denver, which was about 2 hours away), so it was pretty easy to hop from one to another. Plus, when you have scenic views such as this out your window at all times..you don't really mind being in the car for short periods of time!

I'm splitting this recap into two parts, otherwise you might hate me. Part 1 (ahem-now) will talk about everything we did in Denver and Boulder and then Vail, Breckenridge, our hike, etc. will be included in Part 2 (hopefully posted on Weds!) Also, I might miss a few details from this trip because we literally saw (and ate at) so many different places in the time frame we were there. I had an extremely long list of restaurants I wanted to eat at that my cousin decided to make an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of them - no joke. Crazy or not, it worked out perfectly. Planning ahead definitely pays off!

So, let's chat all about...

DENVER:

EAT
+Root Down-where we had dinner the first night! It's one of the more popular restaurants in Denver-think farm to table style with a large outdoor patio and yummy cocktails
+Avanti-cute place for drinks, has a huge outdoor patio with views of downtown
+Snooze-brunch, definitely try their pancake of the day (ours was cookies and cream-to.die.for), bloody mary's/mimosas, and I loved the breakfast tacos
+Denver Bisquit Co.-brunch/lunch, we got 2 of their bisquits to go and they were SO WORTH IT!
+Osteria Marco, great Italian place for dinner downtown-the food (and prices) are excellent! we are still talking about how much we loved the calamari and the pizza we got!
+Coopers Lounge-we just went for happy hour, it's inside Union Station and is beautiful!
+Linger, dinner/drinks-rooftop views of downtown so this is a good spot to go either before dinner or for dinner (the food looked good!)
+Pinche Tacos-dinner, delicious (killer!) margaritas and tacos

SEE
+Larimer Square-we went and "bar hopped" down here one night and it was so pretty!
+Union Station
+Red Rocks Ampitheatre, the ONLY sucky situation we ran into was that when we went-it was closed! They closed early for the day so we could only take pictures around it. It was a bummer but every other part of our trip was so amazing/went so smoothly we didn't care too much. Definitely seeing it next time I go!
+Tour one of the any breweries!
+Visit Boulder (BELOW :))

BOULDER:

Since we just spent early morning-late afternoon one day here, I don't have a ton of rec's but this was our plan...

-Shop/Eat at Pearl Street Mall
-Go for a hike at Boulder Mountain Park
-Walk around the campus
-Get a Rush bowl for a quick snack/mini lunch (think acai bowl but so many options-we loved them, they were so good and perfect if you just need something quick)

Part 2 coming soon! If you haven't been to Denver, add it to your list! I really liked being there not in the middle of winter, even though I do eventually want to go back sometime in the winter.

Who's been to Denver? What are your favorite parts?! 

Five Years

Today marks FIVE years of marriage to this cutie! I can't believe we got married 5 years ago...everything about that day was so perfect. Nothing will ever compare to it! 

For my past anniversary posts, I've talked a lot about Billy as a husband but for this anniversary I really wanted to write about how he has been in this current stage of our marriage - a Daddy! Life is so much busier with a baby and I've recognized that I don't verbally acknowledge nearly enough how amazing he has shifted into this new role as a parent.

Can I brag on him for a moment? yes? :) Anyway, it's always been important to me to have a spouse who encourages me to do things that make me happy (outside of my family-obviously they are my #1) and to have time for myself, girlfriends, and to be a really hands-on parent. As you know I recently went to Colorado with my girlfriend to visit my cousin and when we were first just talking about the idea Billy supported me the entire time and reassured me that him and Camden would be just fine. I was really nervous and worried about leaving Camden for 4 days (and felt somewhat guilty too), but he never once questioned if he could handle all the responsibilities on his own-he was just excited for his Daddy and son time together. Well, when I came home, I was truly blown away about how well things had gone. Aside from taking care of Cam wonderfully (not once did I receive a panic text/phone call-ha!), I came home to a completely spotless home, a newly organized kitchen (even the tupperware cabinet that resembled that of a tornado prior), both of our cars waxed and cleaned out, and stories about taking Cam on a hike and all the fun they had together. I was pretty much in shock because, honestly, I wasn't sure what I would be walking into after 4 days of being gone, haha! It's not that I wasn't confident in his capabilities because I knew he would be just fine, but he really went above and beyond. I felt a huge sense of relief...it was just so nice and I could tell he was really proud of all that he accomplished. And he should be...heck, I don't even accomplish all of that when I'm at home with Cam most of the time.

Obviously this is just one recent example but there are so many different reasons why I love him and am thankful for him. I get teary eyed when I reflect about all the memories we have together and how far we have come. So yeah, all of this to say...Billy, I feel so thankful and blessed to have you in my life and as a father to our son. You continue to impress me every single day. Thank you for working hard to support our family and for loving us-I love you to the moon! I'm looking forward to celebrating with you tonight! 

PS: Trip recap should be up Monday! I just uploaded my millions of pics and can't wait to share them!! Lastly, did you enter this giveaway yet? Hop on over and get yourself entered!

Another Target Obsession: Surprize by Stride Rite

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Stride Rite for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Guys-do you remember Stride Rite shoes?

I'm pretty sure my parents always had me in a pair growing up! I remember wearing them like it was yesterday...I kinda sorta loved them. The other day during one of my thirteen weekly shopping trips to Target, I had one of those giant "YES!" moments when you're so excited about finding something so amazing that you put it in your cart immediately...

I've been trying to find quality, comfy and cute children's shoes for Camden now that he's about to be at the age where he will start wearing them more, but I haven't had much luck until I stumbled upon Stride Rite's exclusive line called Surprize. Stride Rite shoes in Target? Who knew?! Not me! Surprize is an exclusive line of cute and comfy shoes, available only at Target. I was pretty excited to find them there because they had a great selection and this will make shoe shopping for him so much easier!

There were multiple pairs that I wanted to bring home, but I ended up buying Camden this pair of boots for the winter. I knew they would be needed and get A LOT of use with our cold temps...

I love that they have the rubber toes (makes them that much more durable) and that they have flexible outsoles allowing for natural step and growth. Not to mention, they are so adorable! 

I also spotted this pair...which would be a great everyday pair. Comfy and cute! 

Surprize for boys

Surprize for girls

Why are shoes so much cuter on little ones? I can't wait to see Camden wear these this fall/winter (which also means he will be learning to walk at this point and that is too much craziness for me to think about right now!)

You can find the full Surprize line at all US Target locations and online at Target.com. All the boys Surprize shoes can be found HERE-and the girls pairs HERE! Be sure to check out Stride Rite on all social channels for more information!

Which Surprize shoe would you buy your little one?

Shop Surprize by Stride Rite