Monday Blues | Saturday in Pictures

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It's Monday and I've got the Monday Blues.

I thought this weekend was going to be pretty laid backs but it was quite eventful. Saturday we went to the annual Chicano park day. The Aztec dancers performed, low rider cars were displayed, there were plenty of vendors selling their art and also lots of yummy food. We then rode the trolley all the way into down town and walked to balboa park where we sat down for a while and relaxed in the green grass before we headed to the zoo. After the zoo we were planning to hang a bit at our friends picnic but the weather wasn't too nice and it started sprinkling as we got there so we just said hi and headed out for home. 

Sunday, Damian took Maxi to the park and I had target therapy, which included a latte, half an hour in the dollar section and trying on some clothes. I picked up some stuff for Maxi's birthday party not until June but I like to prepare in advance. We then headed to a street fair, where we walked around for a bit and then decided to go get some food + dessert and head home. 

Today was hard but Mondays are usually hard. Damian is at work from 5-4 then band practice from 4-8 which leaves me all alone with no time to even shower and it just drives me nuts. Cheers for tomorrows and better days.

XOXO

Lately

{ taken on a weekend walk to downtown | this photo does the color of these roses no justice }

{ made these baked chilaquiles a couple of weeks ago for brunch } 

{ from last week | these two having some outside fun }

{ play date | what a box and some Christmas lights can do }

{ the struggle of fitting three car seats in one car }

{ the guys took the boys to the zoo while the girls did brunch and shopping last weekend }

Skipped the weekly links post since I haven't been much online lately. Instead these are some lately happenings around here.

So happy it's the weekend, looking forward to relaxing and taking it slow. This morning was quite interesting... My husband and I woke up at 3 am to this very high pitched alarm noise, it wouldn't die off and I was kind of worried plus I couldn't sleep through it so I called to make a noise complaint. The firefighters showed up and Damian had to show them to the house since we didn't know the exact address. Turns out it was some sort of alarm left outside and since it rained it went off. Husband said the firefighters didn't look too happy but hey how were we supposed to know, right? I also woke up to a loose tooth! I had a chipped tooth and was putting off a visit to the dentist but that chipped tooth turned into part of my tooth being loose and now I MUST visit the dentist ASAP. Oh, the joys of life. For now I'll be eating through a straw since husband is at work and I have no one to watch Maxi.

Today Damian has band practice so we won't be having our usual date night. Tomorrow we have a full day. The annual Chicano park day, a short trip to the zoo and a friends picnic. If things get too crazy we'll skip the zoo since Maximiliano was there last Saturday. No plans for Sunday and I intend to keep it that way. Probably a morning coffee run + some time at the park. Bummed I binged watched DareDevil and now I have to wait until next season is out. Happy weekend everyone!

28

This is what 28 looks like. Sunday was my 28th birthday and my husband woke up super early and waited an hour in line to get me the best donuts in San Diego. I had been wanting to try them since I heard about them and luckily I didn't have to wait in that horrid line. I hate lines. He surprised me by bringing a giant doughnut lit with 28 candles and Maxi and him sang happy birthday to me in bed while I repeatedly asked "Is that a giant doughnut!?".  Maxi and I blew out the candles and then we all had donuts and milk for breakfast. The rest of the morning was spent at the beach where we soaked up the sun and had a picnic where we shared sushi and sandwiches. It was surprisingly a very chilly windy day so we wrapped up things early. We ended the day by taking a walk to the near by cafe and grabbing some coffee, then returned home and watched DareDevil  which I'm totally hooked on!

I'm excited for new experiences, places and opportunities. I'm also very thankful for my life right now and for the people in it. I know my 28th year will be great one.

XOXO, Lidia

LINKS | STRESSED

This weeks favorites:

Toddler eats. Great ideas for little lunches.

I really want to make a macrame plant hanger, with this easy tutorial.

How to turn a diaper box into a basket, another easy tutorial I want to try.

Teaching your child not to interrupt. I have a feeling this is going to come in handy soon.

Make the most out of your small apartment balcony.

and lastly GOALS.

This week has been SO hard. I have been taking care of my two year old niece because her grandparents (who are the ones that usually take care of her) had to take an emergency trip to Mexico. Let me just say I have not had time to sit down from 8-6 for the past 3 days. Maximiliano and her are constantly fighting over every. single. thing. They each want what the other has. They are also constantly getting into trouble, dragging chairs to get popsicles out of the freezer, jumping on the bed, climbing all the couches and then jumping off and so on and so forth. I was ready to just break down and cry with both of them today. I run out to throw a very bad diaper in the front yard trash can, literally took me 4 seconds and Maximiliano locked me out. After a minute of trying to convince him to unlock the door for me and mentioning time out a few times I gave up ran to the back door and forced my hand through the window. Maxi is a trouble maker BUT nothing compared to when they both team up. To think next week will be the same... Ugh that is not even all of it but I am too tired, it's been a looong day and my bed awaits!

3rd Birthday Inspiration

Two more months and Maximiliano will be turning three! I'm so excited for the next stage that will come with this age. As always it is bittersweet because my baby is no longer a baby and I will miss the two's as well, though not so much the tantrums that come with.

For this year I'm thinking of doing an underwater/sea theme. I want to keep it simple with a few details that catch the eye and over-all fun for the kids! For the center pieces I was thinking of having a few goldfish, I really like the idea of having a box of activities for the kids such as bubbles, balls and badminton, a goldfish mix will be the perfect snack for them too and lastly this cake is the inspiration for Maximiliano's very own cake (that I will be baking). I also plan on making a shark photo prop that the kids (and adults) can take pictures with. As for Invitations I bought some simple ones at target and I plan to print out a picture of Maximiliano to send out with them. Last two years I made the invitations myself but this year I don't want to spend so much time on them, I want to keep it as stress-free as I can.

image source: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

{ invitations  from last year | hand painted and stamped (they looked better in person, I promise}

                                 

LESS | MORE

{ taken a couple of days before my 27th birthday }

I will be turning 28 this weekend. I have some celebrations planned but nothing too crazy. Some things which will be involved: girls shopping + brunch sans husbands and kids. ice cream + toes in the sand + sushi rolls + cake just to mention some of my favorite things.

This picture was a couple of days before I turned 27. It was also after spending a fun afternoon sharing drinks with some of our friends. We were starting my birthday celebration that day and going to one of my favorite sushi places... Unfortunately that same night, I feared the worse... a stomach virus. My fears came to life and I was stuck in bed the whole day after. having one of the WORSE days of my life AND on top of everything my in-laws had gotten my husband and I tickets to see one of our favorite musicians, Julieta Venegas, that same day. I obviously didn't get to go which made everything 10 times worse. Well at least I got better for my actual birthday and was able to host the gathering I had planned.

Yeah, last year was just throwing obstacles at us from left to right. Cheers to this year which has been great!

Now, getting straight to the point. I just discovered another great blog that I am smitten by, lillies and leon. I was browsing her wonderful blog and came upon this post. Quickly I was inspired to make my own list and brainstorm some of the things that I want to do less of and replace them with some of the things I want to do more of. These are the things that I came up with and what better time than starting off fresh with a whole new year ahead of me.

Less taking pictures. | More being present.

Less time cleaning. | More time outside.

Less worrying. | More enjoying.

Less being lazy. | More being productive.

Less making excuses. | More exercising.

Less spending. | More saving.

LINKS

{ Picnic we had last spring, those are our favorite Vietnamese sandwiches }

This weeks favorites:

This chocolate bar. It's named moonwalk.
This lost Mongolian tribe, BREATHTAKING.
Cooked this yesterday but added more veggies. SO simple and full of flavor.
13 breakfast favorites in San Diego. I'm trying Snooze next weekend.
Tres leches cronuts anyone?
Thinking of getting bangs, going to go for something like this.


I'm so happy it's finally the weekend, Maximiliano and I have been stuck inside the house this WHOLE week. He has a pretty bad cough (that has now passed on to me) and we've been resting plenty. I was hoping that he'd be better this weekend so we could go on some adventures but we'll see... Mean while I'm hoping to head to the farmers market tomorrow morning, I had the best mint mojito iced coffee last Saturday and I'm officially hooked.  We're also having a few friends over tomorrow and hopefully Sunday we can head to the zoo. Today I'm really hoping for a date with my husband, I sure need a breather. Hope you all have a fun filled weekend!

XOXO, Lidia

Easter Day

Easter day has always been one of my favorite holidays. When I was a little girl I loved getting together with all our family and having a big picnic and of course an egg hunt! I also always dreamed of getting a basket from costco (back then known as price club), filled to the brim with goodies haha. Well that never happened! My parents were both born and raised in Mexico and the only reason we ever knew about bunnies and egg hunts was because at the time we lived with my dad's aunt that threw the best holiday parties/ gatherings. Now, when I tell my mom how bad I wanted that basket she laughs and says "and I never bought it for you!?". Now, I would never get Maximiliano one, not that there's anything wrong with them but the amount of candy that is in those baskets is insane! 

This Easter we celebrated by having a picnic at the park. I made a delicious mushroom-asparagus quiche, one of my favorite picnic foods. The night before Damian and Maximiliano dyed eggs so we also had hard boiled eggs, salad and fruit for dessert. Growing up we also never dyed eggs, I mean we might of done it once but it wasn't a tradition. On the other hand my husband did grow up with that tradition so he really wanted to dye eggs with Maxi. I'm glad he did because Maximiliano loved them, Damian told him the Easter bunny had laid them and Maximiliano was looking for "da bunny, where go?". Another thing my sister and I never heard of while growing up, we knew our parents were hiding the eggs but my husband really believed there was a bunny out there dropping off colored eggs. He was SO entertained peeling them, he almost ate three whole eggs. Did I ever mention that eggs are his favorite food? That and white rice, oh how he loves white rice. After we all ate, Damian took Maxi for a walk while my sister and I hid the eggs. Maximiliano had fun collecting eggs, he was very serious about the whole thing haha, so determined to leave none behind. We actually hid so many eggs he needed two baskets, luckily our sweet neighbor dropped off a basket for him filled with goodies the night before. The rest of the morning was spent relaxing in the sun and eating a bit of Easter candy. We then packed up and picked up some cupcakes to share and spent the rest of the day relaxing at home.

{ Maximiliano's basket }

{ before we took off, this is his iron man pose }

{ here is his hulk pose }

{ this one is spider man }

{ picnic food }