Ailee Petrovic

Florals June 17, 2015

Get Crafty Workshop: Floral Crowns

Get Crafty Workshop (1 of 1) On Saturday afternoon, I headed to the owner of Baanou’s gorgeous (like jaw-droppingly perfect) house for a floral crown workshop, led by my friend, Meredith of Cake & Confetti (her #GIRLBOSS interview here). I’ve ordered three silk floral crowns now (all for Isla!), and I decided that I needed to learn how to make them myself, instead of continuing to buy them! Meredith had picked out the most elegant (and real-looking!) silk blooms, and we sat down with bubbly in hand and learned how to pick, place and secure the flowers around the wire. After two hours, there were 15 gorgeous crowns being adorned by an even more beautiful group of ladies.

I loved learning how to create these crowns (and not-so-secretly want to wear mine everywhere I go!). A tiny floral crown would be the best gift for a baby girl (umm, friends expecting babies, duly warned!) – and the larger ones would be perfect for a friend’s bridal shower or bachelorette party!

In addition to nibbing on sweet treats and cheese and sipping champagne, the workshop attendees were able to shop the Baanou’s racks – which were filled with the trendiest clothing ever, and I was slightly dying inside that Sasha has put me on a spending freeze for the rest of the month post-Isla’s birthday party (whoops!). The store is currently working by appointment only, and if you live in the Houston area, I highly recommend you call to make one asap (713.505.1347). Get Crafty Workshop (1 of 1)-22

Baby June 16, 2015

New Favorite Baby Products (6+ Months)

In December, I shared my baby registry guide, which included all of the essential items for babies ages 0-6 months. Now that Isla is a year old, I’ve looked back on the list to see what new items would be needed for 6-12 months, and there aren’t many. Besides eating apparatuses, like clever bowls, spoons, cups, and snack containers, the list of items to buy isn’t enormous (hooray!). I’ve rounded up a few of our new favorite products that are appropriate for this age range, and I’m sharing details below.

After reading through, I would love to hear from other mamas about which products you’ve tried recently and love? Mom word-of-mouth is always the best!

Boon Suds Bottle Washer: As I begin the process of weaning Isla off breastmilk (begin is key here), I’m starting to introduce her to almond milk. So after not using bottles for months and months, we’ve pulled them out from the cabinets and are filling them up. Anyone who has cleaned bottles before knows how frustrating it is not to be able to easily clean down to the bottom, but with the Boon Suds washer, you put the bottle inside the scrubber and push down and it cleans the entire container really well (and scooshes water up, like a car wash). Watch this video for a demonstration. I highly recommend this – it doesn’t take up much space and the dishwasher will not get the milk stains off the same way!

Personal June 15, 2015

Week in Review

Remember how last week, I alluded to perhaps resting this week post-party? Well, that did not happen, and isn’t going to happen this week, as I head to Oklahoma City today to visit one of my bestest best friends and her daughter, Lillian, then come back to a few meetings and an exciting photoshoot with Sugar & Cloth that I’ll share details about later. I am bursting at the seams with excitement over our short ‘second generation of bestie’ trip, as I don’t get to see them enough and love them to pieces (Brett too, of course). Lillian is getting her first birthday photos taken on Tuesday, and we’re sneaking in for some bestie shots too! I cannot wait for this!

The past week was wonderful, as we got to celebrate Sasha’s birthday and spend lots of quality family and friend time. A few highlights from the week include:

Isla got new sunglasses in the mail from Blue Bison Designs – a friend from high school’s new Etsy monogramming business. I adore them! And she was cracking me up trying to put them on upside down. That girl!
Swimming every single day of the week, either at my parent’s house, in swim class, in our wading pool or in our next door neighbor’s pool. Isla is a total fish!
Meeting some of my favorite Houston mamas (all Instagram friends-turned-real-friends) at the Ervan Chew splash pad. Isla loved it (see fish comment above). See this photo’s tag for everyone included!
Getting fun packages from Cuteheads Kids and Willow Crowns – incredible businesses owned by two of the mamas I met at the splash pad! I first met both Esther and Megan when we were on Great Day Houston the same day, and we’ve kept in touch ever since. Love them both!
Attending a floral crown workshop hosted by Meredith of Cake & Confetti at Baanou (Houston’s coolest boutique!). More details and photos to come from the Get Crafty Workshop later this week (some pictures below).
Since we skipped Isla’s normal The Little Gym class in order to go to the splash pad, we went on Saturday morning as a family and loved it. Having Sasha there to flip Isla and walk her along the beam was so nice! She had a great time with Tata too.
Going to The Monogram Shop to pick out a cute little dress and bloomers for Isla to wear in an upcoming picnic shoot (details to come soon!). She was all over the place (walking is insane!), but I adore that store and it will always be a highlight to go and visit.
Celebrating Sasha’s birthday with TCBY and vegan cupcakes from both Crave and Sprinkles. Needless to say, my BBG workout/diet started on Thursday! Lots of time spent at Lifetime Fitness this week!
My dad’s retirement started a few weeks ago, and although he seems to be keeping busy with Board of Directors work, we have loved seeing him throughout the week. He dropped by quickly on Monday just to say ‘Hi’ (and to help pick Sasha’s gifts – whoops!) – it’s so nice to see him more often already!
Taking Isla to the doctor for her one year check-up, which she passed with flying colors. We ran into baby Pierce and his sweet parents as we were leaving (the day after I took his newborn photos!).
Finally going to get my eyes checked by my friend, Ashley (ahem, Dr. Bagwell) of West Houston Eye. She looked like a million bucks with the cutest Kate Spade/Anthropologie-esque outfit on – I wanted to snatch it right off her! I am in trouble for wearing my contacts too much and not letting my eyes rest, so I’m working on getting my 20/20 vision back. What a bad patient I am!
Spending time during the weekend with my sister-in-law, Ivana, who lives in San Francisco, but is in Texas right now for work (coolest job ever at Google – so jealous!).
Sipping tasty drinks at Julep for Cocktails with Creatives (an AIGA event) – I met my friends, Meredith and Brittany, and finally got to meet Ryann, the creative whiz behind Nine Zero Nine Creative.
Getting two of the most gorgeous paintings from my mother-in-law and her husband, Nenad, who is an incredible artist. I am dying to show photos of the two paintings soon! They’re perfect.
Meeting an old co-worker, Catherine, and her mom at Rienzi to take head shots for their new non-profit organization which will be empowering young women in Houston by matching them with female mentors. I’m so excited to share details and be a part of this!
Celebrating my friend, Judy, and her fiancé, Josh, at a stock-the-bar shower on Saturday night! They’re getting married in August, and I can’t wait for the wedding.
Getting trained before church to be a Sunday School volunteer in our children’s ministry (ideally the little babies!). Bayou City Fellowship has been so wonderful to us, and we’ve enjoyed having Isla watched while we worship, so it’s about time we gave back!

How was your week? What were your highlights? Please excuse the insane amount of photos below, but I couldn’t help but to overshare!

Personal June 12, 2015

Tips for Traveling with a Baby

We recently got back from a 10 day trip to France and Russia, and when I tell people we brought our almost one year old, they’re shocked. Everyone wants to know how traveling with a baby went, and honestly, it wasn’t bad at all. I think that a sightseeing type of trip is probably easier with an infant (versus a beach), as she spent a lot of time snoozing in her stroller while we toured the city. We typically woke up, ate breakfast, walked a mile or two to a museum, church, site, etc. and she would nap while we were there, then we’d go to a park and she would play, then eat lunch, then another tourist activity (and nap), followed by another park then dinner and bedtime. Isla was very well behaved so long as we stuck to this routine! The hardest part of the vacation was definitely the flight to Paris (with a layover in Frankfurt), but I learned my lessons and the return trip was much better. I’m sharing some of my travel tips today so hopefully you don’t have to learn the hard way!

Rent an apartment versus staying in a hotel, if possible. If it’s more convenient to stay at the latter, then look for a hotel with a decent suite rate. We stayed in a suite at the Hotel Novotel St. Petersburg, which was so nice because we could put Isla down in her room, then spend the rest of the evening in our room and not worry about waking her up. I’ve also read that you can have them sleep in the bathroom, but that seems like a challenge to me. We rented an apartment with Airbnb in Paris, and had the best experience! Look for one with two rooms and a kitchen and ideally, a washing machine too (buy these Purex 3-in-1 sheets if you have one!)! Also, check to see if there is an elevator, and if not, how many stairs do you need to climb! I forgot to check, and we lucked out on only climbing two sets (which was still a lot!).

Baby June 10, 2015

Introducing Pierce (And a Big Announcement!)

No, I’m not pregnant. I thought I’d clear that up immediately, as ‘big announcements’ are normally associated with telling the world this news!

We will, however, start this post with baby talk, as I had the honor of taking newborn photos for the cutest little man ever on Sunday. I know baby Pierce’s mom through a friend of a friend, and Melissa is one of the most gorgeous ladies ever. She already looks like she was never pregnant, let alone in delivery the week before. We took the pictures at their perfect house in Rice Village (another swoon), and Pierce was so well behaved! I always have the hardest time narrowing down the photos to share on the blog, as I want to show them all! Sweet little Pierce and his adorable friend Tucker both melt my heart, and after photographing two other baby boys recently (Kerr and Brooks), I have to say I’d be more than pleased to have one next (although a sister for Isla would be perfect too)! But that’s getting ahead of ourselves.

My big announcement isn’t that much of a surprise, as I mentioned here that I was quitting the world of consulting to do photography, but today I’m sharing the link to my new site. So here we go (drum roll, please!)… introducing Snapshots by Ailee Petrovic! I originally had another name for the business (She Delights), but I wanted the blog and the photography business names to complement each other, and so Snapshots by Ailee Petrovic was born. The website is not super fancy, doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles, etc. but it serves the purpose for now. I imagine down the line, I’ll revamp, but for now, it serves the purpose well!

So with this said, if you know of anyone who is pregnant or just had a baby, I’d love to take their newborn photos! I’m also doing family sessions, and I’ve got a few head shots and other shoots lined up too. They can contact me through the site or email directly.