babybjorn – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Personal November 3, 2014

Week in Review

A wonderfully busy week, filled with lots of preparation for family photos on Sunday. I literally bought ten cream shirts from Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, J. Crew, J. Crew Factory, and Anthropologie to wear in the pictures, then decided (very last minute) on a pink sweater that I already owned! How fickle. And of course, lots and lots of returns to make this week.

We took our photos with Paige of Awake Photography – you can see a sneak peek of the pictures on her Instagram here. I cannot wait to share the photos with you, along with other Christmasy ones, next week.

Other highlights of our week included:

Calming Isla down by telling her “No more fussing!” while shaking your finger – she thinks it’s the funniest thing ever (see video here)
Swimming with Isla at Life Time Fitness – she is a big, big splasher
Painting (i.e. mushed berries) in her BABYBJORN highchair
Getting a blow out at The Dry Bar (I am obsessed)
Meeting Sasha’s cousin’s wonderful fiancé for the first time (and getting to walk the 3-mi loop while getting to know each other!)
Isla’s first halloween – we didn’t make it trick or treating (this girl takes bed time seriously), but got some cute strawberry pics
Having a trick-or-treater tell me they love my succulents (really??)
Helping my friend Amanda (her engagement photos here) get ready to be the world’s most convincing Elsa (see photos below)
Eating out twice at Ruggles Green (sorry Houston ex-pats!) – once with Brooke, one of my most favorite people on the planet
Taking Isla to Biscuit Home for the first time – although she slept the entire time
Trying a new food truck (Simply Greek) that is a mile from our house
Having Sasha’s classmate’s family over for dinner yesterday evening – such cute kiddos

What were the highlights of your week?

Finger painting was a fun, but very messy, activity

Décor August 29, 2014

Floral Fridays: Tulip Love

Week two of my Floral Arranging 101 with Nicole’s Classes has come and gone, and the homework assignment was to create a wild English garden arrangement. Our instructor’s example (see top photo) is literally to die for. I want her talent! Like I said last week, the local Durango flower and vase options are very limited, so I couldn’t produce as fancy an arrangement; however, I chose a bold colored tulip as my focal flower and ran with it.

I absolutely adore tulips (second favorite, to peonies, and runner-up to garden roses). I dug into my wedding pinboards and found some of my favorite tulip bouquets and arrangements. They also make for the perfect desk decoration – I’ll be sharing my favorite office spaces next week! I can’t wait.

Lastly, the winner of the BABYBJÖRN Carrier We giveaway is Vanessa W. Congratulations! Make sure you enter the BabyLit giveaway by midnight tonight and use code ‘Isla’ to receive 40% off at BabyLit.com. Have a wonderful weekend!

Tulip Floral Inspiration

Baby August 27, 2014

Week 6 in Durango

Week six has come and gone, leaving Isla almost 12 weeks old and us with only a few weeks left in Colorado. We had our favorite weekend so far, given that one of my best friends, Kirby, her husband, Brett, and their adorable 7 week old, Lillian, came to visit us. They arrived on Thursday, and we filled the next four days with multiple hikes, raft rides, walks through town, a visit to Durango Mountain Resort, and plenty of laughter and relaxation at the house. After the girls went down, we played games like Taboo (obsessed) and categories (we amazed the boys with our sports knowledge). It is such a blessing to have a best friend with a daughter so close in age to Isla – now we just need them to move to Texas from Oklahoma City!

Below you’ll find some photographs from the past week – lots of Lillian and Isla, including her new sassy shorts from Sugarplum Lane. Only two more weeks left! I cannot believe it.

Reminder: Today is the last day to enter the BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier We giveaway. You have until Friday to enter the BabyLit giveaway and until Sunday to use the promo code ‘Isla’ for 40% off all books (this is a great deal!).

Me and my sleepy head while at Durango Mountain Resort

Two generations of best friends

Sneak peak of my floral arrangement for week 2 of Nicole’s Classes

Isla was cracking me up during the taking of these pictures – that tongue! Similar J. Crew onesie and similar RH Baby & Child Lovey

The future best friends in their matching Baby Gap rompers

Our OKC Thunder loving lady and squeaky Sophie

Kirby and her mini-me, Lillian, in this sweet J. Crew polka dot onesie

These are my new favorite shorts ever – can I get a pair?

Isla loves her Sugarplum Lane shorts and Carter’s top

Serious father-daughter conversations (those are some serious duck lips!)

Isla is one messy lady, so we’re loving these J. Crew tanks – puke resistant!

Brett was prepping for the alpine slide race with Sasha | Cutest dads ever | The view of downtown Durango from our morning hikes

Baby August 22, 2014

Isla Loves: BABYBJÖRN Carrier We (Giveaway)

Living in Durango for the past month has definitely been a change of lifestyle for our family. Instead of being confined to the indoor air-conditioning of Houston, we are constantly out and about, whether it be walking to the grocery store or our favorite restaurants, or going on a hike, we are always on the go. In Houston, I had relied heavily on our City Mini stroller when I was running errands, but we wanted to be more agile once we arrived in Colorado. My mom’s friend lent us a ton of baby items, which saved us from hauling them across the country. One of the items was the BABYBJÖRN Baby Carrier Original. We quickly learned that this was Isla’s favorite item in the world. She could be crying inconsolably, and we would plop her in the carrier and silence (they aren’t kidding, it’s golden). She loved it, which obviously meant that Sasha and I adored it even more. Bye, bye stroller.

BABYBJÖRN recently released their newest baby carrier – the Baby Carrier We – and they were kind enough to send me one to try. It’s amazing. Seriously. One of the biggest benefits we have seen over the original carrier is the added support for our backs. When you are walking around for awhile, this is important! The Carrier We comes with a pressure-relieving waist belt and padded shoulder straps, which evenly distribute Isla’s weight. In addition, the carrier is designed perfectly to provide ample support for her head, back and hips. Also, it is easy for me to put Isla in the carrier without assistance from anyone else. And she loves it too. She finds it so soothing, and so we take her absolutely everywhere in it (see hiking photos below!). The best part? The Baby Carrier We is ergonomically designed for children up to three years old, so Isla will have many years ahead in this carrier!

I’m excited to be teaming up with BABYBJÖRN to give away a brand new Baby Carrier We to one lucky individual! In order to enter the giveaway, you must do the following:

Reply to this post, including your name and who you’d be carrying around in your Baby Carrier We (or perhaps who you’d like to win the carrier for!)
You will get an extra entry by being or becoming a follower of Snapshots and My Thoughts (see ‘Follow’ button at the bottom righthand corner on desktop version of the blog)
You will get an extra entry by posting the giveaway’s URL to your Twitter or Facebook account (please tag @ailee_petrovic on Twitter or mention Ailee Semple Petrovic on Facebook)

One winner will be drawn at random. The more entries you have, the higher the chance you’ll win! The giveaway ends at midnight on Wednesday, August 27. I will announce the winner by Friday. I look forward to reading your responses. Good luck!

Follow BABYBJÖRN on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

The carrier passed the 6 mi. hike test! We absolutely love it. Sasha kindly carrier her up, and I took the trek down.

I was given the BABYBJÖRN Carrier We by BabySwede for my review. I was allowed to keep the product, but the opinion I am sharing remains my own.

Food August 11, 2014

Sutcliffe Vineyards

On Saturday, we packed up two cars (Sasha’s mom, her friend, my sister and her boyfriend were visiting) and headed to Cortez, Colorado to visit Sutcliffe Vineyards. My parents are friends with the owner, John Sutcliffe, who is definitely the most interesting man alive. Sasha and I met John for the first time a few weeks ago when he came over for dinner, and he invited us to visit the vineyard for a private tasting and we took him up on the offer. The hour and a half drive was over rolling hills, next to spectacular mountains – everywhere you looked, there was a photo opportunity. Unfortunately, Sasha was driving, so we didn’t stop once! The vineyard is centered around a tall, red tower which you’ll see on the wine labels. The fields and fields of grapes are uncharacteristic of the dry, mountainous views next to it. The wine is phenomenal – my favorite is the Petit Verdot, which you can purchase online. Isla was extremely well-behaved during the trip, except for the 5 minutes when she was hungry and refused a bottle that I had pumped earlier! We need to work on that (although I selfishly don’t mind just feeding her myself!). My favorite part of the trip was not the amazing wine, nor the gorgeous scenery, but John’s fascinating stories. The man refuses to not pick up a hitch hiker (plenty of good stories to accompany that), he rattles off detailed accounts of his eccentric Uncle Percy who lived in England and wore WWII soldier apparel around town although he did not go to war, and tells the story about the vineyard’s conception being that his architect told him grape leaves would make for a good view out of his dining room window. I mean, really? If you’re ever in the Telluride or Durango area, I highly recommend visiting Sutcliffe Vineyards and meeting John. You and your taste buds won’t regret it!