Ailee Petrovic

Personal November 18, 2015

Week in Review

Three posts in one day after 4+ weeks of having only a ‘Week in Review’ post? Things are getting crazy around here! Ha. Kidding (and don’t expect it to continue!). But back to the serious things in life: 36 days until Christmas. I am so excited. Get your Christmas lists ready! Holiday gift guides to come soon.

I shared some of our PJ traditions on Monday and our favorite new Bumbo seat yesterday, so this post got bumped back two days. Since it’s basically my online diary/how I keep track of all-things-past, I didn’t want to skip it entirely! The past week had me pulling out my hair more often than not, but I keep reminding myself of the fun holiday events coming up soon, and it gets me through the very, very late nights.

The week was filled with lots of highlights and fun friend/family time, including:

Having my dad babysit (multiple times) by himself! My mom is out of town, and he’s really stepped up to the plate (with Sasha’s mom too). He did call me to ask if she was able to go to sleep with the hiccups (ahem, yes?), so I’m more concerned with her being overly cared for versus the alternative.
Going to Isla’s swim class, which is normally at Dad’s Club but is currently being held at Dive Tech while renovations take place. Isla throws a fit when we have to leave which is 10% cute because she obviously loves it and 90% embarrassing.
Co-hosting a party at Blue Leaf to celebrate the launch of cuteheads’ new collection. I was hosting alongside two fabulous women – Lauren Mills of Sunday Beach and Candace Taylor of Luxe with Kids.
Getting coffee with my former co-worker, Rowland, at Fellini at CityCentre and catching up on life. He is the best!
Eating Sunday lunch at Ruggles Green with our good friends and their newborn baby Archer.
Enjoying dinner at Benjys with our sweet friends whose photos I took beforehand at Discovery Green, which is a fun and colorful spot in downtown Houston.
Having a family dinner at Adair Kitchen on Saturday after I finished taking family photos for Megan of Willow Crowns. Their photos make me swoon.
Picking up lunch at Buff Burger, which is the best place ever. Alice agrees with me! I could eat their veggie burger every single day!
Eating brunch with my younger sister, Jill, and her boyfriend, Kevin, at Sweet Paris in Rice Village. Jill is in med school and is busy, busy, busy, so we don’t get to see them as often as we would like!
Taking newborn photos of sweet Tinley Hope, whose nursery is seriously the most gorgeous thing ever. I’m going to do a post with the photos soon! I also took photos for the sweetest little two week old, John, whose nursery was equally amazing. Rifle Paper Co. prints everywhere = my kind of place!
Photographing a fun little project with Magen Pastor above Tout Suite! We’re not sharing these just yet, but I’m bursting at the seams because her twins are seriously drop dead gorgeous and the pictures turned out great!
Meg Owens pictures at Centennial Gardens
Taking blogger outfit photos for Alex Carreno downtown, Ashley Seippel at Highland Village, Jessica Gentry at the Menil Collection, and Elly (plus her husband and oldest son) at Highland Village. These ladies are the best!
Taking family photos for our good friends at Terry Hershey Park. I feel like Pierson was just born and all of a sudden he is three years old, running around and throwing fake snow. Ugh, time slow down!
Photographing the sweetest family at TC Jester Park and getting some fun tiny Santa hat photos of their two sweet boys (one shown below).
Taking first birthday party photos at Briargrove Park for Liam’s Woodland One-derland (sneak peek here). I will definitely share ALL of these pictures! The theme and decor was entirely too cute.
Taking photos of our friends at their insanely stunning new house which backs onto a lake and I was googly-eyeing them while editing! Their family is so handsome, and the setting for the photos couldn’t have been better.
Hanging out in PJs on a number of occasions for the Carter’s post! Nothing to complain about there!

Hope you’re having an amazing week so far! Happy Hump Day – we’re halfway to Friday!

Ailee_Petrovic_151109_4B3A9870-3 Ailee_Petrovic_151109_4B3A9864

Mom Talk November 17, 2015

Toddler Brunch with Bumbo

Last weekend, our little family headed to True Food Kitchen for post-church brunch. It only opened last year, but has quickly become one of our favorite restaurants in the city (tofu lettuce wraps, fall harvest salad, fun fruity cocktails, delicious beet juice – yes, please). At 17 months, Isla has become increasingly agitated with sitting in uncomfortable, wooden highchairs at restaurants, so we decided to bring our Bumbo chair for her to sit in instead. It’s super light to carry and straps easily onto chairs. Although there is an attachable tray that tucks into the back, it puts toddlers at the perfect height to use the dining table. As you can see from these photos, Isla feels (and acts – reading that menu upside down!) like she’s ‘one of us’ when she’s in her chair.

Events November 16, 2015

Our Favorite Pajama Traditions with Carter’s

This post is sponsored by Carter’s; however, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I’m taking a break from my typical Monday Week in Review post (which I’ll publish tomorrow!) to share some of our favorite family traditions, which of course take place in none other than our PJs (sometimes considered my unofficial ‘uniform’).

Life has been pretty crazy recently with family photos taking place almost every day, which has made our ‘normal’ routine a little less rigid. However, some activities remain the same day in and day out, like taking Belle (our pup) on a family walk in the morning and evening. In the mornings, it’s just me and Isla, as Sasha goes to work at the crack of dawn so he can come home early. After eating our breakfast, Isla and I take Belle outside to the front yard and throw the ball around, take a spin in Isla’s car and walk down the street to let Belle go to the bathroom. This always takes place in our pajamas (our neighbors probably think we’re crazy, but we don’t care!). More often than not, Isla is barefoot, but more recently, she’s been wearing her new Carter’s footed pajamas with non-skid soles, which you can buy here. The best part is that you can get 20% off your purchase of $40+ now through Nov. 30 with the code CARTPJ25 (in-store coupon below!). If you follow me on Snapchat (@aileepetrovic), you’ve likely seen us take our morning walks in our PJs! No shame in our game.

When we get back inside, Isla will watch one episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, snuggled up with her blankie on the couch, while I clean the dishes and make the bed. She is never, ever happy about getting dressed afterward, and I don’t blame her.

We were really excited when the new holiday collection came out… so much so that we bought four pairs (see stack of pajamas in the photo above!). My favorite thing about Carter’s PJs is how affordable they are, which is why I feel comfortable buying so many sets. I bought both cotton and microfleece pairs – the latter has zipper tabs, which are great – who wants a cold zipper rubbing on their chin?!

There are some pajama traditions that come but once a year, like opening our Santa stockings all cozied up in our new PJs. I shared a post about this tradition last year here – more Carter’s pajamas photos (can we talk about how little Isla looks in those photos?? Sob).

So now it’s your turn: Does your family have special traditions that involve PJ time? Have you pulled out your one-piece fleece pajamas yet? I want some in my size, seriously!

Buy Carter’s PJs here (remember to use CARTPJ25!) | Find a Carter’s store near you by clicking here | Check out the #LoveCarters Instagram hashtag for cuteness overload!

Personal November 9, 2015

Week in Review

I think I’ll just start every ‘Week in Review’ post (my only posts these days!) with a little Christmas countdown to help alleviate any Monday blues. 45 more days until my favorite day of the year – can you believe it? I am so excited. I also need to start thinking about what to buy everyone! I was so late in purchasing presents last year and promised myself I’d be more on top of things in 2015. We’ll see how that goes!

Last week was filled with lots of photography – ’tis the season, I suppose! Ha. Although many of the sessions made it onto my highlights list, the real high point was watching Isla’s obsession with Hillsong’s Touch the Sky music video grow and grow (be still my heart!). It calms her down no matter her mood, and lately, we’ve done bath, PJs, stories, prayer and then the video (on repeat). Then I’ll just lay her in bed, and she falls right asleep. She’s mesmerized! It calms me down too. I love that song so much.

Some of my other favorite moments from the week include:

Taking photos of the cuteheads Cotton Candy Collection on Monday. I’m co-hosting the launch of the collection at Blue Leaf this Wednesday from 6-8pm – if you’re free, come on by!
Photographing fur babies with their parents at the West Elm x ASPCA event on Thursday! I was dying over the pups in their Christmas getups.
Getting to catch up briefly with Meredith when she came by our house for some Christmasy blankets for their family photos. The pictures are gorgeous! Michelle did such a great job.
Taking family photos and blog photos for Destiny. I love how both turned out! Her husband, Sid, and son, Truman, are equally as beautiful as her – they’re unreal!
Attending the Holiday Hosting Worth Posting event by House of Hough (more photos on their Instagram). Destiny and I rode together, and we left Truman and Isla with my mom. They were so cute and smoochy together when we got home!
Having a playdate with Taylor and photographing her new kitchen remodel (which is seriously so gorgeous). I’m excited for her to share the rest of the photos!
Taking photos at Lauren Mills’ baby shower. She wore this non-maternity Valentino dress and looked like ten million bucks! She is seriously glowing.
Taking three sets of family photos, some of which I’ve shown below! I’m going to do a roundup of all my holiday photos taken this season in a few weeks, and I’ll share more then!
Getting a long visit from my best friend, McKenzie, who just got back from a month in London for work! We missed her like crazy.
Taking photos for Margret of Style the Girl for the first time. She is seriously so nice and talkative – I can’t wait to hang out with her again soon.
Doing maternity photos at Lost Lake very early on Sunday morning. Michelle was glowing, and I love their baby girl’s name – Eleanor.
Going to our church (Bayou City Fellowship) and hearing our Lead Pastor preach about hypocrisy. We love Curtis!
Having family dinner with my dad (Mum is in Scotland!) and sister from Ruggles Green. It had been way too long since I ate my goat cheese salad!
Eating breakfast at Sweet Paris on Saturday with Sasha and Isla – they met me after photos, and we drove around Rice Village on the way home. I love that area!
Testing out the new Bumbo at True Food Kitchen on Sunday after church. We ran into Nasseim, an old high school friend! I cannot believe I graduated 9 years ago! That is crazy.

How was your week? What were your highlights?

Décor November 4, 2015

Our 2015 Family Photos

Remember how I was going to wait to share our family photos (taken by the absolutely incredible Paige Budde) until after our card was sent? Well, here they are… on November 4th. And I haven’t even given thought to our Christmas cards (although I’m eyeing a few Artifact Uprising ones that are ah-mazing). That, my sweet friends, is the embodiment of impatience.

But do not fear – I’ve saved three of my favorites that are top contenders for the card so that there will be SOME element of surprise when people receive theirs in the mail!

We took our photographs with Paige at 6:45am on Sunday… in the rain. Thankfully, we had already discussed taking them at the Menil Collection, which has a covered sidewalk. I’m also so grateful that Paige showed up with the gorgeous chair you’ll see below (she also owns The Foundry Rental Co.), which gave some extra flair given that we were limited to where we could shoot with the rain. When I saw this sneak peek, I was very excited. And then I saw the email in my inbox this morning and got teary eyed looking at all of the photos. I feel so incredibly blessed (I’m “so basic,” I know) to have these two in my life. Sasha is the best best-friend and husband I could ask for, and I didn’t know it was possible to love anyone like I love Isla.

Thank you, Paige, for capturing these special moments. It’s amazing to see how much she’s grown since our photos last year, and even since Isla’s first birthday photos. Please don’t retire from photography or move before 2037.

50 days until Christmas! I can’t wait!