Steppin’ Out Christmas

Posted on | December 26, 2011 | 15 Comments

oh Harper >> dress: gift, target // coat: old navy, thrifted // shoes: target. on Mandy >> tank, jeans, shoes, cardi: target // scarf: h&m. on Scot >> super awesome new coat from target (i’m biased, i bought it for him).

let’s pretend it isn’t monday night and i’m just now posting SOS, ok? although i’m pretty sure the linky will be sparse this week – everyone was so busy getting their christmas on anyway. we sure were! we had a great weekend full of family, sugar and…more sugar. seriously, there is a reason why most people pick dieting as their new year resolution. dude. duuuuuuude.

christmas weekend included (but was not limited to) things such as: gingerbread house making, bloody marys, dogs in santa hats, smoked salmon, xmas jammies, white christmas viewing, letters for santa, turkey, playing with cousins, white elephant gifts that ruled, coffee, sparkly tops, taking down our dead brown tree and replacing it with a fake tree, and searching for the best christmas lights.

i hope you all had a wonderful weekend whatever you did to celebrate. merry christmas!

Snag the Code Here:

<a href="http://www.harpershappenings.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/2hi86lj.jpg" /></a>

O Christmas tree.

Posted on | December 6, 2011 | 35 Comments

this past sunday we headed out to pick out our tree. last year was our first year getting a real tree together ever, and i was skeptical at first. real trees are messy, they need watering, and we have a cat who’s only real wish in life is to live outside in a tree. you know, recipe for disaster and all that. but then! we got a real one and i fell in love. so it was decided that i was a real tree girl, when i thought i was a fake tree girl, only to be changed when i decide later in life that i am a fake tree girl again.

oddly, the sun was shining as we picked out the perfect tree. this is me not complaining. rain makes me unreasonably angry and the thought of traipsing around a tree farm in such madness gives me a bit of an eye twitch to be completely honest. so, yay sunshine!

needless to say, we had fun. the other reason i’m a real tree convert is days like this one. the actual act of going out as a family, choosing our perfect tree, then going home and putting on White Christmas while we decorate the house makes me all kinds of warm and fuzzy. last year i was a bit of a bah-humbuggy grinch, but this year i am stoked on the holidays and plan to squeeze every last drop of christmas. it’s only right. i have some making up to do, you know? handmade gifts, cookies to make. IT WILL BE LIKE A CLICHE BLEW UP IN HERE. is what i’m saying.

so here i sit, next to our (very delightful smelling) tree, drinking cocoa with gingerbread marshmallows (were you even aware that is a thing?!) and watching the light twinkle in my 3 year-old’s eyes. could you just barf? i love it.

The PNW had the Best Weekend Ever

Posted on | July 26, 2011 | 27 Comments

remember best week ever on VH1? dude, i loved that show. it’s true though, the pacific northwest had the best weekend ever. the weather was gorgeous, and it’s a good thing since we had water related activities planned for both days. we are super lucky to live in a town on the water, and one of the greatest things about living in the puget sound area is that water is always a short drive if you don’t live in a water town.

saturday my mom, scot, harper and i went on a boat tour of gig harbor. it was H’s first boat ride and she did great (especially considering it was a 2 hour tour and she’s 2). it was gorgeous! and captain tom really knew his stuff so we got to learn a bunch of fun facts about the area. it went under the tacoma narrows, around point defiance and back to the harbor. it was kick ace.

sunday was equally as amazing. me and the girls piled into the durango and headed to Tahuya for Bree’s bridal shower. all she wanted was a garden lunch and beach day with the ladies and abbie (maid of honor) delivered! lunch, peach sangria, and floating on air mattresses all day? SIGN ME UP. any excuse to wear a floppy hat i bought at target for no reason except it was on clearance. success!

a few things learned this weekend: 1) one pieces? are AWESOME. things do not return to their preVious places after you have a baby. a ruched black one piece with a flattering neckline is what the doctor ordered. thank you to my amazing mother in law for the birthday gift, otherwise this girl would have been squishing into a 4 year old bikini because that is the last time i bought a bathing suit. and b) sunscreen, mandy. let’s think about that next time. if you see me in 10 years with a chicken neck, it’s literally because of the burn i have right now. CHEST ON FIYAH. PARTS FEEL HURTY. DUMB MANDY IS DUMB.

ahem.

what i was saying is, the weekend ruled. come visit me sometime. the end.

Spring Fair Fun.

Posted on | April 18, 2011 | 41 Comments

my mom informed me last week that Dora was going to be at the local spring fair on saturday. of course we decided we needed to go. i was a little nervous (hello – remember santa?) about how she may react, but i figured even if she freaked, the fair has lots of fun stuff so it would be the trip anyway. so after a coffee run and stop for some discount tickets, we were off to the puyallup fair grounds.

Dora started at 11. we arrived around then and went to find her. it was easy to do because of the wildly innapropriately sized line of people with strollers. i knew (from you know, the santa experience) that lines = no. so we decided to go explore the fair and come back later when all those kids and their parents were coming down from their fairfood induced high and going home.

so we played the junk drums.

we got our face painted. (this picture just murders me).

we made a “bug hat”. also: planted a pumpkin seed, made a bookmark (for all the book marking she does?), made a mayday basket of flowers and saw tortoises and snakes.

we sat in the “peepul hand chair”. the fair is weird, yo.

we enjoyed seeing animals like cows and chickens. you guys? they had a barn with strictly pygmy goats and minihorses. literally the only thing that could possibly be better than that combo in my book would be narwhals and unicorns. there was a minihorse with a baby. a mini minihorse. commence dying.

after all that fun we headed back to Dora on our way out. the line was pretty short. the lady that came in behind us was told that she was the last person before Dora took a half hour break. SCORE. my mom and i tried to keep H happy in the line and get her excited about Dora as we got closer. i was still worried. YOU REMEMBER SANTA DON’T YOU? in fact, i was worried until the very second it was her turn and she walked up to the biggest headed cartoon character i had ever seen. girl had a huge head. i’d be scared.

but apparently, true love is true love.

and then my blog ceased to exist because i died dead. the end.