College.

Lets play catch up a bit here.

Kalynn is officially 3 years old.

Everyone tells me the terrible twos have nothing on the thunderous threes. So far, this is proven to be extremely spot on. She's very opinionated, very stubborn, very determined and very sassy. She makes her own path, right or wrong, and she doesn't take no for an answer. I'm not 100% sure if this is an age thing, or a hereditary thing. I guess we'll find out in due time. Either way, trying to tame the wild, or at the very least trying to keep up with her, is exhausting. Fun, but exhausting.

It seems like the crazier life becomes with a growing toddler, the faster it goes.

I'm having a hard time believing that 2012 is already over, let alone the entire month of January and half of February in 2013. Sometimes it's nice to slow down a bit and remember what is truly important. Mainly, the people I love.

When we visited California a couple weeks ago, it was really important to me to get some pictures of Kalynn with my grandmother (her great-grandmother). She's been an awesome staple in my life from before I can even remember and I really wanted to figure out a cool way to capture of all 4 generations of women in our family:

I absolutely love love love the idea of this picture. Being more physically distant from that side of my family then I have been in years is really hard sometimes, so having this little piece of them to on hang on Kalynn's wall is really special for us.

And with time flying by quicker than I expected, I also came to the realization that we need to be financially prepared for things that will come faster than we thought they would. Like Kalynn going to college.

Because she is going to college.

Every holiday I get asked by friends and family "is there anything that Kalynn needs?" "What kinds of things does she like?" "What types of toys does she play with?" And the truth is, She's three. And a spoiled three at that. She has more toys than she knows what to do with. More importantly, she has more energy than any person I've ever met so sitting down and playing with anything for an extended period of time is just out of the question most of the time. Sure, she loves to open gifts and have new toys and we're not unappreciative of the things that she has gotten and loved over the years. A few of those toys have even become part of our permanent daily routine, but truthfully, at least at this point, we're blessed to not lack any traditional type of toy or clothing that she needs.

Gradsave.com is a way for our friends and family to give the gift of education instead of traditional presents for any of Kalynn's special occasions, holidays and birthdays. College is expensive. I'm currently in the process of paying back a portion of my student loans and it's almost impossible to see the light at the end of the tunnel. What we're trying to do, is to not let Kalynn have a giant mound of debt after she finishes her degree. After seeing the final bill of my own college experience, and imagining the inflating cost of a college education 15 years down the road, it's frightening to think where we'd be if we didn't start planning right away.

Gradsave is super easy to use and it's 100% FDIC insured. We've set up an account for Kalynn so all anyone needs to do if they wish to donate is go to her profile page. All donations big and small are welcome. As soon as she hits her $1000 goal, that money is then transferred into her 529 college savings fund and her Gradsave goal starts again at zero. This website makes it so easy for friends and family to participate in an extremely practical gift that she'll never outgrow no matter how old she gets. It's pure genius.

If you'd like to make a donation or if you'd just like to check out Kalynn's profile page, CLICK HERE.

Other than time passing far too quickly, things are returning to normal since the excitement of holidays and birthdays has come to an end. We're gearing up for Valentine's Day by planning a little photo shoot that will be posted later next week. Hope all is well with all of you!

xo

Cinco De Mayo AKA: SUPER MOON NIGHT!

First thing's first: I've got a couple of guest posts lined up for the week we move, but have room for a few more so if you're interested let me know fairly soon!

So today is the fifth of vodka. I mean May, sorry, the fifth of May.

I'm listening to my Cinco de Mayo playlist on Grooveshark, (Viva Las Vegas is Spanish, correct?) packing, eating a turkey sandwich, and debating if I have enough energy to make these little individual seven layer dip cups I saw on Pinterest.

But mainly I'm just trying to bide my time until tonight's "Super Moon." Tonight's moon is 14% bigger and 30% brighter than any other full moon of the year because it's 31,000 miles closer than normal. Anyone that knows me (either personally, through my blog, Facebook, Instagram or whatever) knows about my romance with the Moon. Tonight we're going to rendezvous. It's expected the Moon will even outshine the meteor shower from the remnants of Halley's Comet. As it should. Nobody puts Baby in the corner. 

So look up around 8:30 Pacific Time, because the Moon is making quite a bit of effort to put on a good show for us, the least we can do is show it some appreciation. Everybody needs a little recognition and love every now and again. It's what makes the universe go 'round. 

#PhotoADayMay #bird

“Outlaws, like lovers, poets, and tubercular composers who cough blood onto piano keys, do their finest work in the slippery rays of the moon.” 

― Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker

"Balmy Days, Sweet Sangria..." ♫

You know, it just so happens Cinco De Mayo is tomorrow. And it's no secret that I'm a fan of a good cocktail. So when I was asked if I knew a good sangria recipe, I decided to just to do a whole post about it.

Sangria is basically the fruit punch of the wine world.  It's the spanish equivalent of our wine coolers but with more of a kick in the pants because of the liquor.

Grab yourself a glass pitcher. It doesn't have to be glass, but it really is a very pretty drink so if you can show it off, you probably should. If you're throwing a larger sized party, double this recipe and put it all in a pretty punch bowl.

( Obviously, this is a recipe that is best altered according to your taste. If you want it tamed down, skip the extra shots of brandy. If you like it sweeter, add more sugar. If you like more or less fruit, then add more or less fruit. )

Mix together a bottle of your favorite red wine, 1 shot triple sec, 2 shots brandy, and 3 cups Sprite or ginger ale (use club soda if you don't want it so sweet). Add in 3 table spoons of white sugar (or honey if you're a hippie) and whatever fruit that you love. I personally like to throw in sliced strawberries, oranges, raspberries, pineapples, apples, pears, peaches and grapes. I mean, if you're going to do a fruity cocktail, do a fruity cocktail. But that's just me. Some people like the traditional (boring) lemon and orange route. But I walk on the more open minded side of the rainbow. Because I'm awesome.

And on a side note

Happy Star Wars Day everyone! May the 4th be with you!

When Life Hands You Grapefruits...

I have the sweetest grandma ever. She sends bag loads of grapefruits from her backyard with me spring after spring, year after year.

I hate grapefruit.

I've always hated grapefruit.

But I take them, and I love them because I love her,  and I always find something to do with them. Because that's what we do as grandchildren, right? We take the stuff, and we love it.

So anyway, I'm a bartender by trade. I know, deep down to my soul, almost everything has the ability to find its alcohol soulmate counterpart. Turns out, when life hands you grapefruit, you make margaritas.

Behold, my L' Equip Stainless Steel Fruit and Vegetable Juicer:

I juiced the 12 grapefruit along with a handful of strawberries that were left in the fridge from breakfast, added some sugar, and made myself some pink grapefruit juice. If you don't have the homemade juice, Ruby Red Grapefruit juice from the store works just as well. 

The actual recipe is really simple. 1 quart juice, 8 shots tequila (or 9 or 10), 2 shots triple sec. Stir. 

Yes, I have an original Strawberry Shortcake pitcher (I have the matching glasses as well however they were too small for my purposes today). Also, yes there were way more margaritas at the beginning of the day, but I forgot to take the picture until half way through the fiesta. What fiesta? Well, my mom and I decided to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. It's close enough.