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Do As I Say And As I Do

Do as I say and as I do Mom Talk Advice Role Model Babies

You’ve probably heard the phrase: ‘Do as I say not as I do‘ a thousand times in your life. As a new mom, I keep on thinking about this adage and how flawed it is. Every night, I pray that I will be a good role model for Isla (and our future kids), and in order to do this, I need to act the way I want her to act. Therefore, my mom mantra is going to be ‘Do as I say and as I do.’

This statement applies to all aspects of life, from being kind and respecting all individuals to eating healthy and staying active. I cannot tell Isla to eat all of her veggies if I’m stuffing my face with pizza, nor would I be able to scold her for talking bad about a classmate if I constantly gossiped about my friends. Although many of the examples I can think of pertain more to a few years down the road, I know that I need to get into a good routine now so that she doesn’t grow up watching Sasha and I have bad habits.

One example of us getting into a bad habit is with our meals at dinner time. We spend a lot of money at the grocery store every week, buying organic veggies, fruit, meat, etc. to prepare all three meals at home. There is a delicious health food store and restaurant a stone’s throw from our house that is very reasonably priced, and so a few weeks ago, we decided to get takeout from A Moveable Feast every night (Monday through Friday) to see if we saved money by eating out (making our grocery bill significantly smaller). Not only did we spend less on food that week, it was such a relief not to have to cook dinner and clean the dishes. By gaining thirty minutes every evening, I felt like a new woman!

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide For Her

Valentine’s Day is just a few weeks away, and I’ve already started seeing splatterings of pink and red all over retail stores (and in our very festive neighbor’s yard). I even ordered Isla these adorable heart leggings and this crowd pleaser onesie from Les Petits Darlings. I cannot wait to get it in the mail!

My birthday is only four days after Valentine’s Day, so for my entire adult life, the two celebrations have been bundled together. I cannot complain, as this normally means one bigger lovefest versus two smaller ones. Last year, Sasha treated me to a romantic dinner at Haven (where we went after he proposed – sadly, it closed in the fall). We normally don’t exchange big Valentine’s Day gifts, but try to do something meaningful and sweet. I got him a number of small items last year, including personalized M&Ms, which were adorable but ugh, $70 for a bag of candy is excessive (lesson learned). 

2015 Resolutions (And a Survey!)

Happy 2015, my sweet followers! I don’t think I’ve said this recently (or enough), so I now want to thank you so much for reading Snapshots & My Thoughts. The past six months have been rather exciting, not just because Isla has come into our lives and made us happier than ever before, but also because my little labor of love has had some fun partnerships (BABYBJORN, Rifle Paper Co., Carter’s, Honest Co., Dr. Browns, amongst others!) and more than doubled in readership. In addition, I recently created a Facebook page and a blog-dedicated Instagram account (are you following along?), and I have more exciting content for you in the near future.

In the spirit of New Years resolutions, I’m sharing seven of my own today (but have many more!): [1] Get more personal, [2] Improve my skills, [3] Prioritize my family, [4] Read more books, [5] Be more present, [6] Give up control and [7] Practice being content. I’ve explained all of these in detail below. What are some of your resolutions? I’d love to read about them in the comments below.

One quick favor to ask of you! Would you mind filling out this anonymous survey with a few quick questions (five, to be exact) about the blog content? I want to make sure that I’m giving my readers content they enjoy, and this survey will definitely help me do that.


personal

This summer, I started my ‘Week in Review‘ posts, which honestly felt like an ‘easy out’ for a post. There was no research involved, no scouring the internet for photos, no design decisions to be made… it was just me (well, us). I simply recapped my previous 7 days, and I started to see a trend – these posts get higher views and comments than any other post in the week.

When I filled out the ‘Tour Through Blogland,’ one of the questions asked ‘what makes your blog unique?,’ and I struggled with answering that. I want to make Snapshots & My Thoughts unique in that it’s about me and my life, not in a narcissistic way, but I want to get more personal with my readers. Life is not always rainbows and butterflies, and I think it’s important to be transparent and more real. This is partly inspired by Brighton Keller (of Brighton the Day) – the other day she posted this on Instagram and started the hashtag #beBRIGHTbeREAL, and I love it.

Creative Halloween Cards, Crafts and Costumes

Halloween has historically not been my favorite holiday (since perhaps the age of 8); however, in recent years, I’ve come to appreciate the pretty Rifle Paper Co. cards, sweet pumpkin DIYs, and adorable little baby/toddler costumes. My favorite source of creative crafts is definitely Sugar & Cloth, and I love all of the costumes that Studio DIY creates.

In honor of next week’s spooktacular celebrations, I’ve put together my favorite paper goods, eerie crafts and creative costumes. This morning, one of my favorite blogs – Lark & Linen – published 12 ‘non-lame’ halloween crafts. It’s a great roundup too!

Do you love Halloween? Will you be trick or treating next week? If you need some baby costume inspiration, check out Hook, Thread and Tinker’s adorable roundup here.


Cards

“You’re my favorite creeper”? Um, yes. That and the orange monster. Oh and the gold leaf skull? How elegant. I love these cards so much. creative halloween cards costumes adults kids trick or treat DIY crafts adult party inspiration

Favorite Looks of the Week

This week’s Favorite Looks of the Week roundup is an eclectic mix of dresses, scarves and fall jackets. I am loving the two pregnant ladies’ styles this week – Emily of Ivory Lane and Samantha of Could I Have that? I also really love the classic style of Jessica of What I Wore – what a well tailored blazer!

In case you missed any of this week’s posts, see photos from my week in review, get the recipe for my delicious vegan, gluten free banana nut bread, read helpful tips for family photos, gawk at these gorgeous laundry rooms and practice your braids with these amazing tutorials. Lastly, have you entered the Rifle Paper Co. giveaway yet?

Which look is your favorite? Have a wonderful weekend!

outfits5 1 Barefoot Blonde // 2 Hello Fashionlooks3Brooklyn Blonde // 4 Atlantic-Pacific