Okay, so I know it’s a commercialized holiday when companies can market to their heart’s content, in order to tug at your heart-strings for whatever they might be selling but what’s so wrong with a day that gets national recognition for love? In the fast-paced world we live in, I’ve come to enjoy this day more and more, especially when I feel like you get a free pass to just slow down and enjoy the simple things in life.

Now, we never went too overboard with this holiday but my mom always made us feel extra special and I plan to do just that with baby A. Here are a couple of my favorite Valentine faces this year, some fun decorations we put up around the house and a little gift my husband thought of to give Ava that we put the finishing touches on last night. Unfortunately, the second we gave her the chalk, she took it to draw on the actual wall vs. the chalkboard. Oh well, we will get there. It’s the thought that counts.

Several times throughout the day, I think of things I want to make sure I teach Ava or advice I want to give her along the way but can’t always tell her at that exact moment, especially if a good episode of Sesame Street is on so I’ve decided to document those things here so I don’t forget. These are just a few of the ones that have crossed my mind over the past week.

Promise Mommy…

…you will always cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze (can you tell we are still in the midst of flu season with this one?).

…you will continue to share the same enthusiasm when it comes to brushing your teeth as you do now. Good breath can leave a lasting impression. So can bad breath but you really don’t want to be that guy.

…you will be kind to everyone. They may not always be kind to you, for whatever reason, but you never know what they are going through and a friendly face may be just what they need.

In a way, I look forward to the Grammy’s more than the Golden Globes or Oscars because I know people will be a little edgier and have more fun with their fashion choices. This year definitely did not disappoint.

Top pick of the night: Taylor Swift
Dress by Ellie Saab
Fuchsia heels by Giuseppe Zanotti
Earrings by Lorraine Schwartz

That color, matched with per purple shoes, was absolutely stunning. I don’t know if her earrings were actual stud earrings or clip-ons but I slowly became obsessed with them as the night went on. They reminded me of a pair that Audrey Hepburn wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s that I will forever be on the hunt for to find anything similar to them.

Worst pick of the night: Rihanna
Dress by  Giambattista Valli
Shoes and earrings by… have no idea, was too distracted (and not in a good way) by the dress

I kept thinking Leonardo DiCaprio was going to pop out from under her dress as her date. Not to mention, how bad I felt for the person sitting next to her! The thing is, I really liked the bandeau part of the dress but everything else, not so much. Off the top of my head, pepto dismal (no joke, I literally meant to say bismal but we can go with dismal) and cotton candy came to mind.

I know I have said it before but there is something about a good manicure in the winter that can instantly bring me back to life when I’ve got the winter blues. That’s exactly what I was hoping to achieve with these Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips but apparently I shouldn’t be trying a new, fancy french manicure kit at 9 at night because, I kid you not, I could not figure it out for the life of me.

If I can find a cute pattern, nail polish strips are my go-to quick mani fix because sometimes I barely feel like I have time to let actual nail polish dry before I have to be on to the next thing, whether that’s dishes, laundry or letting the dog out. I have tried a couple Sally Hansen and Essie nail strip kits in the past so I thought, for sure, would have no problem with a french manicure version but alas, I was sorely mistaken. After staring at the packaging for a while, I gave up and reached for this Essie nail polish color, Mademoiselle, from my nail polish stash and it gave me the same results, even though I did have to wait for the dry time. Now, if only I could find a quick fix to help clear up all the dryness around my actual nails from all this lovely winter hand washing.

So we are back at it again. After taking a couple of months off from transitioning to the sippy cup, with poor baby A being sick on and off the past couple of months and me not wanting to play bad cop or deprive her of any liquids while trying to beat all the lovely stuff flu season brings with it, I am ready to take on the challenge again in the new year.

I really have been beyond lucky with Ava. She has surprised me with how well she has handled all the transitions babies encounter in their first year, after hearing so many horror stories. For example, taking a bottle, solid foods, crying it out, breast milk to formula, formula to cow’s milk, being such a good eater and her willingness to try anything, she has handled it all beautifully, overall. But letting go of the bottle hasn’t ben our strong suit. Now, I realize I am the parent and 100% to blame but part of me is sad to part ways with the bottle. I absolutely love, cherish and look forward to giving her a bottle right when she wakes up and right before she goes to bed. Some of the best snuggle time ever.

Shortly after Ava turned a year, we transitioned to cow’s milk. Once we had that under our belt, I tried to be the bad guy and go cold turkey from bottle to sippy cup but after going through about 5-7 sippy cups, none of them seemed to take. She does, however, love drinking water from her straw sippy cup but as soon as I put milk in it, thinking I would fool her, she basically gagged the second the milk hit her lips. So we’re starting slow this week, continuing to do her morning and bedtime bottle, but only offering milk in a sippy cup on her tray at meals and taking away her bottle before her afternoon naps. Let the games begin.

Here are a few sippy cups I have on reserve. I would personally chose the little pink one, if I was her. She received it as a Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle. What is cuter than a little, girly, almost vintage sippy cup with sweet, French vocabulary on it!

As football season starts to come to a close (btw, go bucks and go pack!), which I’m sure my husband would say it technically never comes to a close but nevertheless, my favorite competitive “sport” season is finally here… awards season! There are so many different award shows now that I can’t keep track of but there are three I never miss: the Golden Globes, Oscars and the Grammys. I feel like these are the creme de la creme of glamour and fashion and last night kicked off with the Golden Globes.

There are two reasons I tune in for award shows. One, is the amazing fashion and two, the hilarious hosts. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were amazing, as usual, and I especially enjoyed the George Clooney joke about him winning the lifetime achievement award vs. his wife. However, the ladies who really knocked it out of the park, in terms of glamour, elegance and overall style were Emma Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Aniston and Amal Clooney. They just seemed to ooze beauty in every sense of the word last night.

Not to leave the men out because I think they always look handsome and dapper in their black suit or tux but we all know how much work we ladies go through to look the way we do. That is one thing I would love to know or be on a fly on the wall for on these awards days and that is what is a celebrity’s routine, from sunup to the moment they step foot on the red carpet. I would also love to know their workout/diet regimen leading up to the event, as well as how many people (truthfully) it took to get them looking red carpet ready. Whatever these ladies above did, it definitely worked!

Maybe it’s because I have always had goal-oriented parents or maybe it’s my type A personality but I think it’s a great exercise to make new years resolutions. The past few years, ever since a co-worker told me their resolution game plan, mine have been based around those. The way it works is, you come up with resolutions for the following seven aspects of your life: marriage, financial, education, career, spiritual, physical and material. These were my resolutions/goals for 2014:

Marriage – stick to a date night (we definitely had date nights, just not consistent)
Financial – set up Ava’s will (check!)
Education/Career – take apple classes (check!)
Spiritual – regularly attend church (sadly, failed at this)
Physical – lose baby weight (almost check!)
Material – organize basement storage (not even close)

As you can see, I didn’t stick to all of my resolutions but I definitely think I got an A for effort. While I love looking at each of these areas of my life (well maybe not financial), I think I need to simplify them just a little this year, especially during these first-time mommy years when I’m consumed with keeping up with my toddler. So this is what I’m hoping to stick to in 2015:

Emotional – plan monthly date nights
Physical – attend a weekly workout class, get more SLEEP
Mental – keep up with blog, apple classes and read
Spiritual – again, try to regularly attend church
Financial – give back to alma maters, even if that means $10, $20 or $25

The other overall attitude I want to have when going into the new year is to have a ‘why not’ outlook on things so if I’m presented with a great opportunity or new experience to embrace it and say, “Yes, Why Not.” We shall see!

I hope everyone had a very happy holiday this past week. I know I did. Here are some pictures of what made my holiday so special this year. Already looking forward to next year!

Our Christmas tree skirt 

Funfetti cookies I made for a cookie exchange 

Christmas party date night

Fun little Christmas craft with Ava 

Visiting the great grandmas on Christmas Eve 

These two faces on Christmas morning

One proud mommy 

Beautiful lake sunrise

This past Thanksgiving, as a thank you, I recently received a generous gift card from my mom (aren’t moms the best!?) to my favorite nail salon, Nail Lounge at Polaris. I am pretty sure pampering is one of the best gifts you can receive, by the way. Plus, there is nothing like a good manicure in the winter to make a girl feel pretty, especially since my hands are sometimes the only thing showing in the blistering cold.

I was able to find some fun nail color inspiration around the house. The gold is from a garland ornament on our stairs and the silver is from one of my favorite tree ornaments. This particular Eiffel Tower ornament reminds me how it lights up at night and sparkles like crazy. This nail color is as close as I am going to get to that this year (haha) but if you have not seen the Eiffel Tower at night, or Paris for that matter, I highly recommend you add it to your bucket list. It is a sight to see.

While red is a very powerful color, in general, and representative of many important causes such as the American Heart Association and recently, Red Thumb Day to encourage people to not text and drive, it is also a very fun and energetic color to have in your wardrobe. It is a must have for me, especially during this time of year when I can easily parlay it into an outfit for a Buckeye game, a holiday party, Christmas mass or even looking ahead to Valentine’s Day.

I bought this red blazer from H&M a few years back and it’s provided to be the perfect red staple for me. The sparkly top/blazer combo I wore recently to a surprise birthday party right after Thanksgiving and the t-shirt/blazer combo I wore to a cookie exchange party. You may recognize the sparkly top from one of my posts below from Forever 21 and the t-shirt is from Abercrombie & Fitch. Now don’t get me wrong, if these events were with the same group of people, I probably would not have worn this blazer both times but luckily they weren’t so it was a win-win all around!