Happy 14th Austin!

Yesterday was my son's 14th birthday.  I quickly grew sad as I was looking for a baby photo of him to post on Facebook.  I just wonder where the heck did time go? Where's that little hunk of chunk that I used to cuddle with constantly and nibble on his chubby cheeks? In place of that little ball of happiness is this tall, slender, quiet, loud, shy, outgoing, musically talented, video game addict of a young man!

Here we are with our little Austin at 1week old.

Here's Austin on his 4 month bday :)

Talking it up on the phone! Austin at 9 months.

Here's Austin a couple of months ago with his little

brother, Ethan... best buds <3

It was funny, yesterday, we decided to treat him to lunch. He wanted Micky D's for lunch so I took it into the office and waited for him to come get it.  I also had his cell phone that he forgot at home even after telling him about 5 times not to forget it!  But anyhow,  there must've been about six other parents in the office... not sure why. Don't care.  But yeah, so anyway, Austin comes into the office:

Me: "hi!" (as I gave him the Micky D's bag and his phone) "How's your day son?"

Him: "um, good"

Me: "so you're enjoying today?"

Him: "yeah"

Me: "getting a lot of Happy Birthday wishes?"

Him: "some"

Me: "okay well enjoy your lunch baby, remember we'll be here to pick you up after school so we can head straight to your birthday dinner okay?"

Him: "okay, thanks"

Okay, then awkward moment.......... I know he's super shy and gets embarrassed if I try to hug or kiss him in front of people/kids at school and I totally respect that.  I know eventually he'll grow out of it so it doesn't hurt my feelings at all.  So I take a step back and he takes a step back and then forth and then we're like all weird and awkward cause I don't know if he's wanting a hug er not... so I start to walk away and he says to me, (in front of all the people!)

"I LOVE YOU MOM"...  Melt my heart away moment. :)

I just have to say that he is a pretty amazing dude!  Although I hate that he's getting older (because the means I'm getting older), I absolutely love that we can hang together and watch movies, talk about music and shop together.  Each year he changes just a little bit more... more mature, more thoughtful, more loving.  It's exciting to watch him grow into such a great young man.  I'm truly blessed to have him <3

So off to dinner we went as soon as we picked him and his brother up from school.  His choice was The Yard House.  It's a great restaurant in Scottsdale by the Fashion Square Mall.  For us it's a haul as we live about 45 minutes away but he's so worth it.

Below you will see a Polyvore outfit that I put together inspired by the outfit I wore to dinner last night.  I'm really digging cardigans and blazers this year!!  I'm dying to get my hands on a brownish-taupe colored one.  I find myself LIVING in boots this winter as well.  LOVE them! 

What's your favorite style of boots? Do you like the ankle boots that are in style this season?

Cognac, blue and white by aznat73 featuring a quilted blazer

River Island striped tee
$13 - riverisland.com

Vero Moda quilted blazer
$65 - oliverbonas.com

Sacha leather bag
$52 - debenhams.com

Snow Day

We may not have hired a professional photographer... oh wait. I am...  No... wait...  Every mother out there with a digital camera is a freakin' pro now.  I  set up my tripod and we get what we get! I can't bring myself to spend the money on something I know how to do! I set up the tripod and run back and forth like a crazy woman... in this case... it was a nice fellow that took our family photo in exchange for me taking a photo of him with his sons.

Snow day.  I don't mind the 1.5 hr drive up north to play in the snow for a while.  We drive up, eat lunch, play, freeze and drive home.  It's just enough time for my sons to have a little fun and for this "Mama with a digital camera" to freeze some memories.

Ok.  Pathetic story. Here goes.  I actually planned my outfit on POLYVORE!  Holy yikes. I know, sad.  I almost had it to a tee 'cept I forgot to throw my scarf on for the photos.  I was freezing and in a hurry to get back in the car!  It was really snowing pretty hard.  I couldn't keep my face up or eyes open for too long without getting snow flakes in my eyes.

Okay, so here's my outfit... Did I mention I love this site? It's like playing paper dolls on your computer.  So. Addicting. So. So. So.... Darn you Polyvore... I love u! :)

Snow Day by aznat73 featuring black gloves





A few "out takes" :O)

Me and my "little" lovies

Dale was trying to take a photo

of us all together... here he is trying to hold

my ginormous Nikon!  He didn't do too bad

and we had quite the laugh!

Dale and our boys :O)

Making memories people... making memories.. that's what it's all about :O)

Animal Print meets Grey & White

Okay so I had no idea that each set I create will be posting to my blog as well.. but I don't mind. It will certainly light a fire under my bootie so that I'm more active in here as well.

I live in Arizona so I throw out the whole "no wearing white after Labor Day" rule right out my window and into the 70-80 degree weather!  Although today, is feeling a bit more like winter.... the clouds are low and dark and we had quite the storm last night.  The weatherman says we wont be reaching 60 degrees today which will be nice!  I've been counting on some weather like this because then I know that less than 2 hours north, we probably have some snow.  I've been slacking a bit in the "Christmas Card" department.  I wanted to get a family photo for our cards this year and I just haven't been able to get us out the door to do that.  So, a trip up north and a quick little photo shoot in the snow will be perfect for Christmas cards I think!

About the outfit.  I love mixing grays and browns.  And like I said, I wear white whenever I want.  I have every item here except the scarf.  It's amazing how hard it is to find a nice animal print scarf without it feeling cheap.  Tops like this you can pick up super cheap at Forever 21 and they usually have cute jewelry.  I scored some sweet Guess boots this past week in this exact color.  I'd been looking for them for two months! I paid way more than I ever would but they are well worth it. All leather and the color I was after? Score!

Do you wear white whenever you want or do you follow the Labor day rule?

Animal Print meets Grey & White by aznat73 featuring yellow gold earrings

Feathers & Chains

Some of you may have heard of a little site called Polyvore.  Can I just say it's EVIL!  It's just as horribly addicting as Pinterest!!  I like looking at the endless photos to try to get some inspiration but some of the photos are so cluttered and overwhelming! I decided to join a while back and make my OWN inspiration photos.  My goal was to post one outfit a day by trying to match my own outfits.  I only chose items that would be in my budget and I am reusing items as if they were in my own closet.  As I purchase new items I search for them on Polyvore and save them to my list.  There are some items that I save that I do not have... you can call it my  "wish list".  Best thing of all is that if an item that you've saved on your list goes on sale, Polyvore will email you and let you know about it!

Ok, so the problem with doing this everyday is, I don't get "dolled" up everyday.  Especially now that my hubs is working from home, it's just the two of us at home while our boys are at school so we're usually in our workout clothes and (embarrassing to admit but...) sometimes, yes, sometimes our jammies!  So.... today I discovered that you can enter contests in Polyvore! There are all kinds of contest groups that you can join and tons of contestants.  The chances of me winning are slim but, what the hey... I joined!

Posted below is the outfit I entered.  The subject was: FEATHERS.  Wow! I wouldn't normally put a feather outfit together but I have to say that I'm digging those feather heels! I am not going to follow my "budget rule" for the contests so I'm sure some of these items are probably a little bit on the pricey side :O)

What do you think of my first entry?  Would you wear this outfit for an event or holiday?

Click on the photo to see some of my other outfits!

Feathers & Chains by aznat73 featuring swarovski crystal earrings

Nail Art

I go through phases where I really enjoy decorating my nails. Sometimes, I'll do my nails, take a picture then take it off immediately. People often ask me how often I do my nails and I really don't have an answer for that.  It just depends... sometimes I'll do them once a week and other times, I'll go 3 or 4 weeks without touching them.

Here's are some designs I've done this year.  Hope you enjoy :O)

Glittery French

Simple Valentine Message

Cute "Corset"

Simple Nude with Black

Cherry Blossoms (purple, yeah I know)

Cute Pink and Black flower design

Nude with White Lines accented with Gold

Black and Gold Marble design with Zebra accents

Zig-Zag Red, White and Blue

Simple Marble Watermelon design

Cute and easy Halloween design

Black and Silver with White Zebra stripe accents

Fun and simple Dice design

Red, Gray and Gold design using the tape method

on the ring finger

Thanks for visiting! :O)

I Am a Hallo-Weenie!

Could it be because my parents lacked the holiday spirit that I too have little spirit when it comes to Halloween? I do remember being little, wishing I could dress up and wishing I could go trick-or-treating... but I don't remember going on very many outings for Halloween, or carving a pumpkin, or putting up decorations.

I've tried to do things different for my kids.  Since they were little, I went over and beyond on birthday parties and holidays.  I tried to buy all the spooky decor and all the orange and purple lights and decorate our home, inside and out but my boys weren't really interested.  And as they grow older, the interest in the mess of carving a pumpkin has reduced... the interest helping decorate has reduced... and so has the interest in dressing up.  Does it bother me?.............nah... not too much.  I can tell you that I have NO problem not throwing down $40+ on a Halloween costume that they'll wear for only 2 - 4 hours or breaking my back over a sewing machine for a week sewing up intricate costumes.

With that said, what I do enjoy about this month is the drop in temperature and the smell of apples and cinnamon.  Then it's NOVEMBER!  That means it's baking time!  Thanksgiving feast with loved ones! And taking a moment to be thankful for all that I have in my life!  Then it's DECEMBER!  Shopping!  Christmas trees! Going to the craft stores and looking at all the amazing new Christmas decorations! (possibly buying a few more too! LOL)  And of course Christmas day... Watching my sons with my husband and being so thankful that he has made it possible for us to provide our children with so much more than we ever had.  Not only gifts but heaping amounts of LOVE that we show them everyday!

I guess you could say that the month of October and Halloween are just a "warmer-uppers" for what's to come!

We get very little change in color in AZ until January usually.

One of my favorites... Cold M&M's!

"Jack" From Nightmare Before Christmas

My Halloween costume that I wore to a contest at a nearby

Grill and Cantina....... I won second place!! $50!

Fun Nail art that I did on myself :O)

2012 Fall Wreath

Although we are still in the high 90's here in AZ, I can't help but feel excited about the Fall.  All the stores are filled with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decor.  I figured, since we are officially in the Fall season now, why not make a Fall wreath?

Here's a super simple wreath that I put together in about an hour or less:

I bought a medium size wreath a few months back.

Ribbon $2.79 ea (sale)

4x6 Letter "S" $2.99

Velvety Maple Bouquet  $1.99 (sale)

2 - Daisy/Mum Fall bouquet  $3.49 ea. (sale)

Supplies needed:

Glue gun

Diagonal cutting pliers

Thin wire

I wrapped one spool of ribbon loosely around

the wreath and secured it in the back.

I created a bow with the second spool of ribbon

and secured it with thin crafting wire.

Make sure to leave a little ribbon at the end

to hand you letter from.  This ended up being

too much so I simply made a few more loops

in my bow :O)

Attach the bow to the wreath with wire.

Cut the flowers off the bouquet as close to the

base as possible.

Arrange the flowers on the wreath simple by

weaving through the twigs of the wreath.  This is

where you might need your glue gun.  There

were a few flowers that were loose and not

fitting snugly through the vines of the wreath

so I just put a little glue and secured them

into place.

I wasn't planning on putting all the flowers

on but it just kind of ended up this way.

I could have gotten away with not wrapping

the first spool of ribbon around the wreath

since you can't even really see it.  I could

have used both spools on making a

larger bow.  (lesson learned!)

I spray painted the "S" with gold paint,

created a loop with the remainder of 

the ribbon and secured it in the back...

Hung the "S"...

and Taaaaa-Daaaaaa!

Here you have a monogrammed wreath for Fall!

Hope you enjoyed :O) xoxo