Loving these lately...

We spent the weekend with family up in Chicago doing a little bit of this...

 a whole lot of this... 

(check out her ridiculous tongue- 

she is constantly sticking it out at me!)

and definitely some chowing down on this...

by the way, if you're ever in Chicago, you HAVE.TO.GO.

Now we're back to our routine of kindergarten, preschool, laundry and Frozen card games...

And friends with girls- this 6-in-1 Frozen game set is AMAZING. We have been playing it endlessly! Thanks to my sister and sister-in-law for gifting it to my girls! 

And now, onto some of my favorite things these days...

We popped into Gymboree to use our Gymbucks and found not a single thing. It was sad until we walked into Crazy 8 and cleaned up! Both of my girls are insistent upon wearing dresses almost exclusively, so it was time to search for a few more cute little dresses to round out their fall wardrobes. How cute is this Crazy 8 Polka Dot Owl Dress? It was only $13 after 30% off of the already discounted price! Nice! The Catfish is so excited to wear it to preschool!

Now onto just a few items on my wishlist...

I think these Caroline Ballet Flat are PERFECT. I love the pop of color, and would love to add these to my flat collection. I was definitely more than a little sad to read the crummy review on the Nordstrom site though...definitely gives me some reservations!

 

A fun alternative to the Caroline's (and without the negative review!) are the Tieks Burgundy Ballet Flats. I've never owned a pair of Tieks (although I came ridiculously close to winning a pair- I would tell the story here, but it still makes me mad), and really my biggest hesitation outside of their hefty price tag is the blue sole. It kind of weirds me out, and I think I might find it annoying. For those of you who know me in real life, wanting a pair of red shoes is pretty brave, so I'm pretty sure the blue sole might put me over the edge.

My favorite after-Christmas purchase of last year were these Sam Edelman Penny Boots. They're on sale at Nordstrom right now. They are so stinking comfortable, not to mention cute, cute, cute.

So I saw this little bit of news in my email, and it was like the retail gods were smiling down on me. 

KATE SPADE IS TEAMING WITH GAP FOR A NEW KIDS LINE. 

Yup, you read that correctly.

MINDBLOWING. 

I nearly had to breathe into a paper bag.

October 30.

The countdown begins. 

And in delicious desserts news, my husband saw a pastry case filled with eclair cake at Portillos and challenged me to replicate it. 

Challenge accepted. 

I will let you know how it goes! 

 My coffee creamer obsession rages on with this new seasonal addition. 

Almost makes my coffee as yummy as a Starbucks peppermint mocha. 

Almost.

 And because I need another craft project in my life, I'm considering painting the back of the built-ins a darker blue (not as green as the picture below, but you get the idea). The former owners of our house (who I am now lucky enough to call our friends) left us some beautiful blue and white curtains  in the office that I think would look really great with a similar blue in the built-ins. Still sorting through paint colors...

 And finally...

This sweet little witch appeared on my doorstep courtesy of my absolutely wonderful neighbor, J. She spoils our family like nobody's business (as you can see from the many mentions she's gotten on my blog!) and has made our move so much less lonely! Can you believe she came over and watered all of my plants this weekend without a) me asking or b) even letting me know she did it?! Her husband told me this morning at the bus stop when I thanked him for bringing in our papers.

 I am so thankful!

What are you loving lately?