Pasadena, Here We Come!

Last week my husband was told that it would be his last in Bakersfield. He is an apprentice lineman and has about a year left. When you're in the apprentice program, you go ANYWHERE in California they send you. Hence why we've been living in Bakersfield for the past year and hence why we were in Tulare and Lancaster prior. NOT places we would have chosen but places we made home none the less. 

We have been ANXIOUSLY awaiting "the call" which would tell us where we were getting placed next. We have been praying SO hard that it would be something close by my family, a big city, and something we loved. Family and friends prayed for us all week. 

Obviously God heard our prayers because we are going to PASADENA! I literally could not be more thrilled. Pasadena is 30 minutes from my family, in the heart of Los Angles and everything I love, and close by shopping and friends. 

Yesterday we put in our 30 day notice and began getting boxes and drafting a plan of attack. Today we are packed up with a couple weeks worth of clothes and necessities and headed down to stay with my parents until we find a home. We have some places lined up but because Pasadena is so huge, it's a little daunting. 

I could not be happier about everything. To put the cherry on top, my husband will have weekends off which is HUGE for us. Things are really looking up for us and I am so excited to share this adventure with all my followers!

Forgive me if I don't post my usual every day or at least 5 times a week postings because I am going to be so busy but I will still be around and I have a ton of cute outfit posts and delicious recipes to share with you guys!

Off to find a new home! Eeeekkkk!

USA For The Win

We love a good patriotic tee over here. Especially one that isn't in your face red white and blue. So obviously we were thrilled when Prefresh sent James this one. Their clothes are SO soft and stylish. The perfect combo. 

^^ So lately James wants to take his sword everywhere. And I mean literally everywhere. Even to bed. Sleeping with a sword can not be comfortable so as soon as he falls asleep, I move said sword back in the toy box. 

^^ Also worth noting is this little TV chair that James is in love with. We picked it up at Target and he sits so cutely in it to watch his movies now. Just like a little man. 

^^ Getting a really close look at some bugs. 

And some playground shots-- Please note that it is like 110 degrees here. Is there an award entitled "Awesome mom who puts up with the heat so her son can play?" Because I should really get that award. Sweating bullets over here. 

And the greatest picture ever- 

Ready?

Static like whoa. 

Outfit Details- 

Tee- c/o  Prefresh Kids

Leggings- Thief And Bandit

Sandals- Salt Waters 

Semi Homemade: Apple Pie

Today I'm sharing my take on semi homemade apple pie. I bought pre made pie crust and did the rest myself. I looked up a ton of recipes online and to be quite frank, I hated them all. I knew I wanted both brown sugar and white sugar in my pie and most all the recipes I saw only called for white. Some recipes called for crazy boiling things and straining, and other ridiculous things I didn't want to do. 

So, I decided to make my own. When all else fails, experiment right?! 

And let me tell you guys, this pie was THE BOMB. I made two and brought them down to my family and they were gone in one night. 

Ingredients- 

5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced SUPER thin. The thinner, the better. 

1/4 cup white sugar + extra 

1/4 cup brown sugar + extra 

Cinnamon- be generous. 

Nutmeg- just a sprinkle. 

3/4 cup melted butter 

Directions- 

Peel and slice your apples. 

Mix everything together. 

Pour everything in your pie crust. 

Sprinkle some extra brown sugar on top. Go crazy. 

Cover the pie with an additional pie crust and mold the edges together. 

Make slits all over the pie. 

Sprinkle that baby with sugar. You can sprinkle cinnamon on, too. Have fun with it. 

Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes. If your pie needs to bake longer than that, cover the edges with tin foil so they don't burn. 

** Most recipes say your pie needs to bake for 45 min and I think that's a bunch of baloney. My pie was only baked for 30 minutes and it was perfect. Not burned at all either.  

Voi-la! Delicious apple pie!

Aren't they pretty?!

Let it cool for a couple of hours and then serve that sweet baby up with ice cream a la mode! 

I also tried my take on a Dutch Apple Pie. My husband went nutso ga ga over my apple pie and requested I try the Dutch version next. I'm Dutch so I thought I should give it a go. Instead of putting the pie crust on top, you simply skip that step and put a Dutch apple topping on instead. 

Ingredients for Dutch apple topping-

1/3 cups of white and brown sugar 

1 and 1/4 cup flour

1 stick of melted butter. 

Directions- 

Use a fork to toss everything together until the dough looks like little peas. Cover the top of your pie with this mix and then sprinkle it with cinnamon. 

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10-20 min. You really need to watch the pie. Take it out when the topping is golden brown. 

I hope you've liked my take on apple pies. I'm becoming obsessed with making pies and I can't wait to try more!

We're Back At Our Happy Place

Our passes are done being blocked for the summer and we are back at Disneyland aka our happy place!

You know what that means! Lots of Disney pictures in your future. Your favorite, I know. 

^^ Sweetest boy in the whole world. Seriously. 

So Disneyland was having this special Lost Friends thing where annual pass holders could do a meet and greet with characters that are never really in the park. 

One of my friends is "Hercules" so we wanted to go and see him. 

^^ As you can see, James was not overly thrilled. He was pretty terrified of Hades. But look at how cute my overalls are! Haha

^^ And we still managed a good photo too! Love. 

Peter Pan and his whole gang were there and that was pretty exciting for James! All the kids ran to see Peter Pan and Wendy but James ran to see Hook and Smee. Love my kid. 

Outfit Details-

Tee- C/O Prefresh

Leggings- Little Hip Squeaks

Moccasins- C/O Freshly Picked

And now for a ton of Baby Gizmo blogs by me- 

10 Best Leggings For Your Kids

10 Great Fall Diaper Bags

10 Vegan Dessert Ideas

Revamping Your Fall Wardrobe

10 Fun Fall Accessories For Your Kids

10 Miracle Hair Products Every Woman Needs

Fun Places To Take The Kids In San Francisco

Aviator Nation And My California Boy

Remember when I posted about my new favorite store in Venice Beach called Aviator Nation? Well today James is sporting some of the clothes I bought him from there. My husband and I each got a tee from them and we have literally been LIVING in them. They are by far the softest tees I've ever worn. High price tags but if money isn't an object I say- DO IT. 

I love that they are a store in California and that the clothes have such a cool vintage California feel to them. Perfect for my little California boy. 

^^ James' little cousins were in town last week and James claimed their backpack as his own. He was obsessed with pulling it everywhere.

^^ Sword fights with daddy. 

Now get ready for your heart to be a puddle on the floor-- 

Right?! Nothing is better and sweeter than seeing your husband and son together. I love the special relationship they have and how much they love each other. 

We are sad that our vacation is over and daddy is back at work but so is life and we had such a great time and made memories that will last forever. James and I actually have bad colds and coughs so we've been taking it extra easy and doing lots of lounging. Hoping for a full recovery soon. 

Outfit Details- 

Tee- Aviator Nation

Shorts- Old Navy

Hat- Target

Moccasins- c/o Freshly Picked

Hello Monday, Hello James

How is it already Monday?! Seriously! Boo hiss. We had the BEST week and I'm sad that it's over and that my husband is back at work today. 

Seriously, I can not express enough how important it is for married couples with kids to get away now and then and spend quality time alone together. I felt like we needed this so much. It sounds lame but I re fell in love with my husband on this trip. I loved every minute we spent together and it was just amazing. 

Since our week was so jammed packed I thought I would share some highlights of each day with you today for my Hello Monday post. So here we go. 

Hello Monday-

Hello to a super squishy ride down South to start our trip. I saw no point in my husband having to take his truck so I packed my car up SO FULL. I even had to hold pies the whole time and yes, before anyone asks, that's my bra. My lady parts need support, don't yours?!

We checked into our hotel, met up with Derek's fam, got dinner, and went swimming. The hotel upgraded us to a huge handicapped suite that was seriously as big as my house. Score. 

Hello Tuesday- 

Hello to finding time to do a few errands while on vacation like getting my car serviced. And hello to finding time for selfies and wearing my new kimono from The Oxford Trunk. 

Hello to shopping at the mall and finding toys while you're there, too. 

Hello to that little blur that is my child. Tuesday we went to a jump place right near our hotel. Since it is James' favorite place we thought it would be fun to go with his cousins. 

^^ Derek and his niece Charlotte.

They all loved it. 

Hello to a cousin dog pile. 

Other things we did on Tuesday- Went out for lunch and dinner and took James to his first movie Despicable Me 2. HE SAT THROUGH THE WHOLE THING!! You guys, this is huge! I am so proud of him and this means there are a ton more movies in our future!!

^^ The worst photo but proof of James' first movie experience. 

Hello Wednesday-

Wednesday was our Disney day. Here are some photos- 

^^ My overalls came and they are amazing!!

^^ Loving Jungle Cruise

We went to visit my family at night for dinner after Disney, went to Costco...

Where James tried on a fur coat and was very fabulous.. And then we called it a night. 

Hello Thursday-

Thursday we checked out of Disney, dropped James off at my parents house and started our wedding anniversary stay cation. We checked into a super nice Embassy Suites in South Orange County. We did breakfast at Mimis, Lunch at Javier's Cantina (so fancy and nice), and were way to full for dinner so we just did happy hour and the jacuzzi at our hotel. We saw two movies- Elysium and We Are The Millers and I would give both two thumbs up. We also did some shopping. A few photos from that day- 

Hello Friday-

Friday I woke up feeling like a fat cow for two reasons. One because I had about 6,000 calories on our anniversary the day before which is way up from my normal 1400. And two because I had to milk my engorged boobs since my child want there to do it for me. TMI SORRY. 

Anyway, Friday our hotel had a glorious breakfast but I was too full so I just had a Starbucks. We went shopping ALL DAY, literally 8 hours (I love my husband) and got tons of new clothes at South Coast and Fashion Island. We had lunch and then at night we saw Kick Ass 2 (ok but pretty dang bloody) and had dinner after at Karl Strauss Brewery which was amazing! Then it was back to our hotel for happy hour and movies. Here are a couple photos I snapped- 

Hello Saturday-

Saturday my husband had to go to school down here (it was actually great timing that we already happened to be down) so I had breakfast at the hotel solo style and then my mom and James came to spend the day with me. I was so excited to see James! I missed him so much! Derek and my dad went out for a fun "mans night" while we stayed back. I usually stay with my family every time we come down to visit so since we were at hotels this time it was nice that I still got a little time with my mom. A few photos-

Hello Sunday- 

Sunday we checked out of our hotel, loaded up the car, and headed to meet Derek's family for one last hoorah. We did Goofy's Kitchen at Disneyland, our favorite! 

Then Derek's fam had to catch their plane back to Seattle and we went to pick up our Sweet Lou pup at my moms and said goodbye to my fam and headed back home to Bakersfield. Then we did all the fun unloading, unpacking, errands, and grocery shopping that needed to be done. Ugh, coming home from vacations is the worst. 

Derek and I have decided that we are going to make a point of doing one night away and alone together every month. We really don't get date nights and he works so often so we are going to try really hard to at least have that one day and night away somewhere nice each month. I'm really looking forward to it! 

So needless to say, our week was beyond amazing and I'm really sad it's over. Today it is time to get back into the swing of things. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, and all that fun stuff. I can't complain too much, my day to day life may not be as exciting as a vacation, but it almost is and I am so blessed this life is mine. 

How was your week? Did you do anything exciting?