Valentines Day Mini Vacation: 2014

Valentines Day Mini Vacation: 2014

Hi loves, Happy belated Valentines day! I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating love with your loved ones.  I am all for taking a moment to pause and appreciate love...yes, we should do this daily and we can, but not everyone does...so Valentines day is a reminder to at least take one day to think of the people you care about, the people you love and adore and cherish them, shower them with even more love than usual, and let them know that you appreciate them. 

Im a day late because my hubs & I went on a little night getaway to the Dana Point Blue Lantern Inn (Four Seasons Sisters Inn).  We had been gifted a night there from my sweet in-laws for our 1st wedding anniversary last September, but we were moving and had a 2 month old so it wasnt a good time for us to go.  We checked in Thursday afternoon and spent some time checking out the spread and hanging out on the patio which overlooked the entire harbor and had a gorgeous view of the beach and sunset.  Our little boy came along with us (he still wakes up to eat in the night so i dont feel comfortable leaving him yet) we set up the pack-N-play and brought our sleep sound machine and video monitors for his Grammy to babysit while we had a date night out.  They also surprised us with a gift to dinner at the Chart House. The food there is unreal.  I had a New York steak, mashed potatoes, and ordered the salad bar.  My husband had peppercorn steak medallions and shrimp scampi with a side of mashed potatoes as well. He ordered a lobster tomato bisque to start and a side of stuffed crab mushrooms for us both to share. We had a side of their herb steamed artichoke with aioli sauce as a side dish with our entrees.  And to end the night we sipped on decaf coffee and had their famous Chocolate Lava Cake...m o u t h w a t e r i n g. We were full to say the least!  We shared some great laughs, great conversation, and had a blast with it just being the two of us. It was so much fun to get dolled up and be arm in arm with my hubs.  Cash went to sleep right before we left and my MIL watched him as we took off for the evening. She is an angel! 

We are so blessed by our families kindness and support of our love and our sweet little family. They are always so generous in gifting us with special opportunities to create memories, and offer to babysit whenever they are available. We are so thankful for both sets of grandparents and don't even have words to explain our gratitude and how loved we feel by them.  I share this so you know that we don't live a lavish life. My goal is not to pretend to be something i'm not, or make other's feel less than or wish they had what we have. We are normal people, we have weakness, struggles, and even financial diffculties at times. So needless to say, we wouldn't regularly go spend a ton of money to go stay the night somewhere for valentines day. We simply were lucky enough to have kind parents bless us with these gifts for our anniversary/vday.  I always want to be honest with you all. I want a community here that feels peaceful when they leave this space, that feels our happiness, feels a connection, feels inspired, and feels like you can relate because we are just a normal little tribe sharing our everyday life.  

We woke up early.. very early.. After a late night = no fun.  Cash didn't know where he was so he woke up crying at 5:50am (hes usually not up until 7) and that meant we were up too! My sweet husband let me sleep in while he played with Cash, changed him, and then took him on a walk and a drive. He even put him down for his first nap. He is so sweet, i really am thankful for him and the way he shows his love. He teaches me so much. Hes my angel. I am a lucky gal. 

Once this mama was up and ready we headed to the harbor for breakfast and to take in the great weather.  We ordered Kona vanilla coffees and bagles with a smoothie.  We met the sweetest old man who came up to say hello to Cash.. he stopped to share some elderly widsom: "the trick to being 90 and being able to move around and enjoy life still is to keep myself busy".  He then came by later that morning with a woman on his arm... he walked over and once again peeked in to see Cash in his stroller, he said "he is a beauty!",  we giggled, and then he said "and this is my big beauty!". It was so simple... but SO SO sweet. Maybe it was the way he said it, the sound and tone of his voice, the warmth of his spirit that radiated out of him.. but i just felt so happy to share in his love for his wife, you could really feel his love for her in his simple but meaningful words. I leaned over and told Taylor that I hope when we are 90 that he is still smitten with me and talks to me in that tender sweet gentle way. He says he will. I believe him.  

The view from our rooms patio

That harbor has my heart wrapped around it.

Crab stuffed mushrooms

Salad bar deliciousness

Peppercorn Steak medallions with Shrimp Scampi and Mashed potatoes 

Herb Steamed Artichoke with aioli sauce

New York Steak with Mashed potatoes

Chocolate Lava Cake.............. a must!

And of course some cute shots of Cash l o v i n g the room. He was so excited to be there with us!

Harbor breakfast

My handsome husband, you have my heart for forever.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend so far! If you follow me on instagram you know i cut my hair off (: Cant wait to show you all! Maybe i will showcase the new do in my next post.  Stay tuned..

XO

What We Wear: Augie & Lola ((Plus A Discount))

What We Wear: Augie & Lola ((Plus A Discount))

How cute are these colors and prints!

The back lining is just as fab!

We adore Lola Augie & Lola. They sent us their pacifier clips and a few bibs to try out. I love doing these posts for all my mama followers because it's so tough deciding what products to trust and what works well, holds up well, and well let's be honest.. It's always nice to know what the cutest options are for our sweetest ever and cutest ever little ones. 

We adore these bibs because they are soft, easy to snap on, have room for your baby to grow and wear as they get older, they're colorful and fun for your babies eyes, they look adorable, and they are super easy to wash. The back of them is just as good as the front! The fabric is soooo soft and delicate against Cashs sweet soft cheeks and chin. Now that he's eating solids bibs are a must in our household. I can't imagine having to bathe him every single time he eats, especially as he gets older and begins eating 3 meals a day! 

We also love this paci clip! They have so many options and colors to choose from so you can mix prints and match your babies style and wardrobe for the day. Sounds silly but the price makes it easy to do. Cash loves binky leashes because it helps him be able to find his paci when he wants it and puts it into his own mouth without needing my help. 

Go check out their online shop and see what else they have to choose from. They offer many other products like: burp cloths, changing table covers, teething rings, blankets headbands and bows, and the list goes on. The owners name is Krista and she is a wife, mom and now a business owner. We love supporting working mamas, especially of great small businesses like this one! So go get your shop on!

They are also offering all of my followers 10% off with Coupon Code:  BlogT10

So so sweet!!!

Check out their Esty Shop: Augie & Lola
Or find them here Augie & Lola website

Happy shopping,

Xo

Adventure Dates 2014: Date #1 Cave Dwelling

Adventure Dates 2014: Date #1 Cave Dwelling

My hubby and I made a commitment to each other this year to incorporate more adventure into our lives. Being new parents, we know we have to put more effort and planning into our dating game..it helps to keep the fun/excitement in our marriage.  I'm not the type of girl who likes going to a movie or a restaurant date after date. I get to watch movies and eat food whenever we want when we are home at night and the baby is asleep.. so when we have a sitter and its date night, that calls for something more exciting, more adventurous, and more fun.  My hubs and I have committed to doing at least 18 adventurous dates this year. Thats about every 3 weeks of the year.  

A few weeks ago we went on our first adventure date of 2014. We decided to go to a secret cave in the ocean that my husbands good friend (a lifeguard) showed him.  It takes about 30 minutes to get to. We had backpacks full of hot dogs, buns, ketchup, smores, chips, dip, lighter fluid, napkins, plates, waters, etc while my husband also carried two stacks of wood. We carried this all the while climbing, jumping, and balancing on slippery rocks.. rocks that in just a couple hours would be covered in water 4 feet deep. Yikes! Keeping an eye on the tide was really important for this adventure.. but made the date that much more fun because of the risk.  We climbed high and scaled walls, it was such a fun adventure just to get to the cave.  

Once we reached the cave we made a place for a fire by collecting big rocks and placing them into a circle to help contain the fire.  We cooked hot dogs, read from the book we've been reading (Rick Warren's "What On Earth Am I Here For"), talked, dreamed, laughed, explored around the cave, and just loved being with each other doing something different and exciting.  It was there in that cave that we thought of the idea to go on 18 adventures this year.  After a couple hours we could hear the waves crashing louder..which meant that they were getting bigger and closer to us. We peeked out and saw that the tide was coming in and if we didn't leave soon, we'd be swimming back! lol.  So we packed up and left. The way back was a little easier, I think maybe because I knew we made it safely out of the cave without having to swim! That was my biggest fear the whole time. Ha.

We had so much fun together and plan to think up some more fun date ideas. What are some great date idea you've tried or would like to try? 

xo

Valentines Day Baby Shoot & Delicious Heart Tea Cake Recipe

Valentines Day Baby Shoot & Delicious Heart Tea Cake Recipe:

Who doesn't love Valentines Day?! Its a holiday! Holidays are a great excuse to be excited about something, get crafty and creative, surround yourself with family and friends, celebrate, and make new traditions and carry on the old ones.  I love Valentines Day because its a holiday just for LOVE. We get to celebrate our love for our partner, our family, our friends, and our Lord.  Its not just about people who are in a relationship, its a celebration of all kinds of love! I thought it would be fun to celebrate this sweet little lover that God blessed us with this Valentines Day and take a cute little mini shoot.  Its nothing fancy, just some iphoto pics and lots of kisses! He is such a trooper and lets mommy eat him up all day long.  I also wanted to share a yummy recipe for these super cute and super delicious Heart Tea Cakes!! I borrowed them from a dessert book a sweet friend gave to us for one of our showers, you can find the book here (Go to Their website or straight to Sprinkle Bakes Book). The author, Heather, has great recipes within, all desserts, and all are illustrated with beautiful pictures and detailed instruction to help guide baking amateurs like myself.  Try out these adorable little heart tea cakes for a Valentines day tea with the girls, or even for your childrens classrooms!

Head down to the bottom of this post for some EASY/SIMPLE Pinterest Valentines Dessert Ideas i've been eyeing lately (My pinterest) !

And now for the adorableness that is this little angel... can you tell im just a little obsessed?!

{All photos above in this post were taken with an iphone}

Here are some easy ideas for Vday desserts you can try! I have a board on pinterest strictly dedicated to holidays and parties.. follow it here: Pinterest, Tessa Rayanne

What are some of your favorite valentines day dessert recipes??? Or add your pinterest link below so I can follow back! Id love to hear from you ladies!

Enjoy!! 

xo