Halloween and Costume Contests

Happy Monday everyone! Since Halloween is right around the corner I thought I show you what were were last year. For whatever reason I was extra ambitious and decided that making three bears costumes would be fun. I found the fuzzy bear fabric, had to go to three stores to find enough to make for all of us! I found this pattern for Baby Fox and this pattern for us at Joann's and they were on sale, score for me!

Laying out the pattern on the fabric

 

All the pieces for Baby Fox's Costume

 

Working during Baby Fox's naps and on weekends, 1.5 months later I got this:

I had never sewn an outfit together, so if I can do it, you can do it! I did have to call my mom a few times for help with the directions, but I probably could have found them on youtube or the internet if I didn't have her to call.

On another note, I'm so excited, I entered this fantastic girls costume contest and we're in this weeks top three pick! Yay for us! But if we want to be in the running for the grand price we have to win favorite costume this week! So head on over to Brie's neck of the woods and comment that you like the three bears the best...

Because you know, how can you say no to three cute bears plus a husband that is willing to dress up in a bear costume for his wife.

Hope you had a great weekend! My weekend recap will be tomorrow! We had a fantastic family weekend. Hope you did too! 

Wedding Season is Over...and Fun Facts Friday

With wedding season officially over, I thought I would share all the weddings I've been in. I've been in 7, 8 including my own. I was in two weddings just this summer. Both of them were planned quickly, so I ended up having to buy two bridesmaids dresses in the same month, ugh! But I was so excited to be asked to share in each of their big days. One of them I was even the Matron of Honor (who else hates that term, seem like it should only be used for old people, I'm not THAT old).

2003 - My roommate Sarah got married to her college sweetheart Matt at the church at our college

I don't have a picture of the backside, let's just say that it was NOT flattering...

think of the song "I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie"

2004 - My cousin Jessica got married just after the new year at our hometown church

2005 - I got married! In the same church my cousin got married in

 

2006 - My cousin Melissa got married in Santa Barbara in this cute chapel just outside of town

My sister, cousin Jessica, Me and my cousin Susie...guy lurking in background, my cousin Jimmy

2008 - My work friend, Val, got married in San Luis Obispo, at this really cute winery

2009 - My college friend, Julie (she was also a bridesmaid in my wedding) got married at her hometown church in Monrovia

 

2012 -  My brother, Matt, got married in the same church that my cousin and myself got married in

2012 - My best friend and college roommate, Christine got married at this cute place in San Diego

"After the Second Time it's Tradition"

Mr. has this thing that if we do something twice on purpose it becomes a tradition. Last night I told him that I just booked a session for us to get our family portraits done with the amazing Brittany.

Mr: "You know if you do something twice, two years in a row it becomes a tradition. 18 years from now, we're going to be dragging Baby Fox home from college to take family pictures and wonder why we started this tradition."

Me:  "NEVER, I love pictures too much"

Mr:  "I know, that why I do it for you."

Aww, love that man so much! I'm so excited, she did our family session last year too. Since Baby Fox's birthday is on Christmas day, we also did a 1 year photo session, score! This year we might have a harder time getting him to stay still...

Here are last years pictures:

 This was our Christmas card last year

 Love this one of us looking at each other

 I can't believe how small he is here, where did my baby go?!

I love that she caught the ornament he threw at us in mid air

Then we had my family over to join in on the fun

 My dad insisted on wearing this hat, Mom said...fine in a exasperated voice, and then it turned out to be one of our favorites, I think the hat really makes it fun, don't you?

Just one of us, oh how I miss my long hair 

Now to just figure out what we're going to wear...the hardest part. I have 4 weekends to figure it out...stay tuned!

Yep, It's Still Hot

But not too hot that I couldn't wear a little sweater today. You know because the fridged 64° temp the morning definietly warrents a sweater.

This necklace is actually a long pendent, I wore it here, but I wanted to shorten it, so I just put the clasp down a little further and put the 8" "tail it created down the inside of my dress...can I say cold metal down the back at 5am, is not ideal.

A Fall Roast

So tonight I made a Rosemary Roasted Pork Tenderloin. Actually I started making it last night, I made the marinade, but I cooked it tonight. I think it turned out fantastic, so I thought I would share. I got this recipe from All Recipes.com (but I couldn't find the recipe, I found it back in 2007). So here it is - retyped just for you guys.

Rosemary Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:
1/2 cup apple juice concentrate
1/4 cup disjon mustard (I used regular because that's what I had on hand)
1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary
8 garlic cloves
3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
3 (1 pound pork tenderloin) - I used 1 3.5 pound roast I got from Costco

Directions:
1. In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients; mix well.

Set aside 1/3 cup; coer and refridgerate. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the pork and remaining marinade. Seal bag and turn to coat; refridgerate overnight.

2. Drain and discard marinade from meat. Place meat in a roasting pan (I didn't have one, so I just used a 9x13 casserole dish, worked just fine) coated with nonstick cooking spray.

Pour the reserved marinade on top.

Bake, uncovered, at 350°F for 40-45 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 160°F.

Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing

Serve with some great sides and enjoy! I paired it tonight with some rice and green beans, but to give your plate a little more color try some mashed sweet potatoes.

This is definitely a dish that will impress guests and is SUPER easy to make...really. I know, I always say that, but it's really true.

Spoke To Soon

So yesterday we woke up to 90° weather, I guess summer wanted one last hurrah. I just bought this dress at Old Navy, I wanted to get some use out of it while I still could. I'm going to say I love these last warm days, only because I know fall and colder temperatures are on their way.

Fun Facts Friday

Here we are at Friday again, woo hoo! I have the day off, yep again. Yay. I am going to my parents, yet again with Baby Fox.  We're going to my uncle's wedding reception, he got married in a private ceremony in Hawaii this past week and they are having a reception on the beach on Saturday!

So here are a few fun facts about me:

1. My hair grows really fast. Because it grows so fast and because I like change I've cut off my hair 4 times. When I say cut my hairr off, I mean more than 15 inches each time. The first time was in high school, my senior year. I didn't realize it at the time. I went to get my hair trimmed, got 8 or so inches cut off, then went back a few months later for prom, and told the girl, I just want to be able to wear my hair all up for prom (up until this point my hair had always been at my waist), so she chopped another 6 inches off, and low and behold, I got my hair all up. Score! I didn't know about Locks for Love then, but I did find out about them later in life, so the other 3 times I've chopped off my hair, I've made sure to donate my hair.

2003 (Curtis and I had been dating for 2 months or so at this point)

 

I don't have a before pictures...lost all of my pictures to a hard drive crash, yep,

learned the hardway, back up your back up.

2008

 

My before picture is from a trip we had just taken to Italy

2012

Really awkward camera angle...ugh, double chin much?

 

2. This really isn't about me, but the Mr. only wears one, yep 1 contact. The other eye isn't fixable, saves us on contacts and since he's blind in the other eye, he has no periferal vision on his right side, so sometimes when we're driving and he says something I don't like, I'll make faces at him and he can't see me (don't tell him I told you that). I know, really mature of me.

 

Don't tell the Mr. I posted this picture of him driving...

3.  And to round out this Fun Facts Friday, I'm a klutz, I mean 100% klutz. I run into doors, walls (yep walls!). At any given time I'll have bruises on my arms, legs, hips, or knees are the common ones. It's gotten to the point where I'll find a bruise and can't remember where I got it, because I run into thing so often, that I don't even remember running into it. Now that's bad! Perhaps it's because I'm never in the now and always thinking of where I need to go instead of what I'm currently doing. I should work on that...

This weekend I'm headed to the parents house again. Then off with some friends to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. Hopefully Baby Fox doesn't cry the entire time.

Have a great weekend!