This barely qualifies as a blog post but when I'm searching for something I feel the need to share my finds.  This is what makes me a blogger I suppose. Ha!  Last year I scored the sun hat above at Gymboree for only $7. I never found Nadia one and as any mama (or sister) knows, you can't get one baby a pretty hat without getting one for the other.  Hence my search for a hat for Nadia.  Here are my favorite affordable finds--all under $15 (plus special offers)!

One of my favorite photographers is going to take pictures of the kids soon! The minute I confirmed with her the wheels started spinning on what they would wear.  While I loved Dax's newborn photos I was so overwhelmed with life that I literally picked the kids' outfits out the night before.  Although that lack of planning saved me some cash, I admit that I regretted not putting much thought into it.  So here I am 6 months later and here's what I've come up with for casual indoor lifestyle photos- kids only. If you're taking spring pictures (or maybe attending an Easter shindig) perhaps these options will get the wheels spinning. Oh and PS- most items are less than $20 and nothing is over $25. This girl's on a budget.

I'm over on Live the Fancy Life today talking about my new favorite clothing line! I'm a tiny bit obsessed. Between JCP adding this line AND opening a Sephora...I'm smitten with a store with which I never thought I'd be smitten! Check out the full post here.

Hey peeps.  So. I'm sad to tell you my hard drive has to be replaced.  I have been without my laptop for over a week.  This must be what hell feels like.  Argh.  Well it could be worse. At least I back up all my files on a regular basis.  Oh wait.  I don't do that.  I haven't backed up since before summer started.  So yeah, I just might lose our entire summer pictured in thousands of photos.  I'm not crying. Yet.  There's still a chance.  You prayed for good weather for Nadia's party and it came to pass....so please pray I don't lose EVERYTHING.  And if I do, lesson learned: Back up regularly.  The end.

My point in telling you all of that is to explain why, after Nadia's party, when I should be sharing party planning goodness with you, I've been eerily silent.  Now you know I wasn't mad at you.  I've borrowed my husband's laptop a few times this week to get some work for Tall Clothing Mall done and to complete a guest post over on Live the Fancy Life.  I'm psyched about this post.  It was an idea I've had for awhile but never took the time to execute.  Expect to see a similar post on Taste{Full} this week.

Check out the full post here! I miss you!  Hope to be back at it soon (new hard drive should arrive tomorrow). Ciao!

After posting red, white, and blue garb for little girls, I received this in a comment: "would be so excited to see what you would come up with for a boy..."  Challenge accepted!  I didn't originally plan on posting for little guys since 1) I don't have one and 2) I'm lazy.  But I thought it would be fun to make believe I had a little boy to dress.  And it was.  I know everyone says it's harder to find stuff for girls and I totally agree but this exercise didn't prove that at all. I was able to easily stop at 9 pieces for a girl but just couldn't stop there for boys! Without even visiting every site on my list I found such adorable and stylish little guy wear.  Perhaps it was just the power of pent up shopping from all these years dressing myself and two girls (Joe doesn't let me dress him anymore.  Boo right?!), but for some reason it was so fun.  Here are my top picks for the little fella in your life:

From left to right*:
Junk Food Graphic Superhero T. $24.95 LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this tee!
Patterned Dobby Shirts for Baby. $11.86 I can't pick a favorite...but this shirt with the shorts below is definitely at the top of my list!
Americana Athletic Tee. $16.95
Madras Plaid Cargo Shorts for Baby. $11.86
Flat Front Oxford Shorts. $26.95
Perforated Slip Ons. $19.95
Short Sleeve 4th of July Graphic T. $10.50
Spirit Sneaker. $16.95 Super tempted to buy these for Genevieve!
Stars and Stripes Swim Trunk. $15.37
Dark Blue Shorts. $19.95
Mini Checkered Flat Front Shorts. $26.95
Striped Jersey Polos for Baby. $6.96 The most preppy of the bunch...and what Joe would choose. ;)
*some affiliate links included.

How cute are these little looks?  I love that they are mix and matchable.  Matchable is definitely a word by the way.  I seriously can't choose between them.  I love the cool T-s coupled with cargo shorts...or the dobby shirt with the chambray shorts...but of course if I had a son I'd love to dress him like Joe which would mean a solid blue polo with the plaid cargo shorts.  Clearly I'm not decisive when it comes to cute kids clothing!

In the first post I included a couple (ok, 6) pictures of the girls on the 4th of July. These cute little tanks pictured below are what the girls would have worn on Independence Day had my mom not purchased the little romper and dress you saw in that post.  And get this--I paid only $3.88 for them at Wal-Mart.  Not the trendiest place (ok, that's the understatement of the century), but every once in a while they come through.
I know the 4th of July seems so far away but I'm amazed at how fast May is flying by.  I feel like summer is going to slip right through my fingers! 

Originally I planned to post some fun red, white, and blue items for adults.  It all started with this pair of wedges.  And then as usual, the children hijacked my will, emotions, and livelihood and I decided to do a post about kids instead.  I'm not sure why I'm surprised that shopping for them is much more fun than shopping for myself.  But it is. Here are a few fun 4th of July looks for your cutie. Oh and I may or may not have thrown in a few gratuitous photos of my cuties on the 4th of July. 

Have you heard about Heidi Klum's new fashion line for kids?  As if she wasn't already rockin our worlds with her "Loved" and "Lavish" maternity lines.  She's at it again--this time with "Truly Scrumptious"--an adorable, fashionable, and fun line for bebes of all stages.  It debuts at Babies-R-Us in stores and online today.  Check out these cool duds:

Is it me or are there so many tempting deals on GroopDealz today?!  Check out these cool finds:

This is a random post...I just wanted to talk a tiny bit about being a bargainista.  I love getting a good deal and since I'm a reformed shopaholic, it's actually essential for me.  But I swear even if I won the lottery tomorrow I'd still hunt for a bargain.  And shop at thrift stores.  It's in my blood.  Now that I'm a stay at home mama, It's even more crucial that I stick to a budget.  Sometimes in blog land, it seems like everyone has a ton of money.  I don't.  And I'm not ashamed of it!  I'm actually really proud of the fact that I find 95% of what I buy on sale or clearance or a discount store.  I think I'm the only one who loves Wal-Mart.  No it's not glossy and pretty and fashionable like Target.  But it's cheap.  And I dig cheap.  But, I also like to look good (although unfortunately that's less of a priority lately) and for my kids to look good and for my home to look good.  It doesn't.  But I want it to.  [Man, this is totally a stream of consciousness. I hope you're still reading!].  So in order to accomplish that I hunt for a bargain.  I bring up Marshalls (and TJ Maxx) because I've often been asked where I got something and when I name one of those places, I always hear "Oh, I forget to go there."  So this is just a tiny bit of encouragement not to forget.  Our latest obsession is buying gifts from there.  I'll be honest- we don't typically end up spending less but we do end up buying a couple of items for what we would have spent on just one...so the giftee gets more and that's so fun!  In fact at Christmas I bought my niece a my little pony play set from there.  It was only $9.99 and I felt like that was cheap so I picked up another gift for her.  Later I looked on Amazon and Walmart.com and the exact same gift set was $24.99.  Score!  Ok, this obviously isn't a tutorial or lesson in getting a good deal.  It's just an encouragement to hunt for a bargain and not to forget Marshalls and TJ Maxx.  It's also an excuse to brag about these adorable items I scored the last time I was there:

Try saying that title three times, fast.  I mentioned in this post that I would blog about projects that I tackled after seeing it on Pinterest.  It's as much for accountability for me to DO something with all the ideas I collect there rather than just let them gather virtual dust.  It's also hopefully helpful for you if you want feedback on some of the recipes and ideas you see there.  So much of what's there looks either better than it actually is (recipes) or easier than it actually is (projects).  I can guarantee for now my projects will be pretty simple!  I don't have a ton of time to make pallet beds and crate bookshelves. ;)  When I saw this idea, I thought it seemed easy enough and would be so cute for father's day.  Well for Valentine's Day Joe and I usually forgo pricey gifts and instead go out for a nice dinner in which we can order whatever we want and not worry about the tab.  My love language is quality time so I'd much rather spend the cash dining out on a date night, sans kids. (And there's still time to hope for a nice night out AND diamonds, but let's just say that's a hope for the future if we play our financial cards right today!).

So I try to find fun little gifts I can give to Joe to still celebrate on that day.  Usually it's a simple gift/trinket and lots of chocolate that we both enjoy so I can steal it when he's not looking.  This picture seemed perfect for that!  I'd purchased the girls Valentines shirts from Wal-Mart a week or so prior.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money and I wanted it to be something Genevieve could ruin at school and it wouldn't make me mad.  I decided to dress them in those shirts and take the photos that way.  I figured I'd have 20 minutes tops before Genevieve got bored and started looking quite cross instead of adorably in love with daddy...and before Nadia started pooping, throwing up, or fussing.  [This is the life]. I printed out the words on card stock in a fun, somewhat child like font that I downloaded from here, threw them in a neutral setting with lots of light and went for it.  Because I waited until the last minute--story of my life-- I had to print the photos quickly.  I googled "online photos same day pick up" and found CVS photo.  There is a CVS moments from my house so that was perfect!  Here are the photos I used in the frame, the outtakes, and the final product.

So I successfully avoided Gymboree this weekend for fear of going crazy and spending tons of money on oh so cute dresses that miss Genevieve would only wear once or twice. But I visited the site this morning "just to see what they have" and somehow could justify my purchases--it went something like this...