Best Dad Ever, A Treasure Troll & Red Hair Reveal

My daughter has been talking about being Ariel for Halloween for weeks. This past weekend the family had a Halloween party and everyone got dressed up. My husband decided all on his own to be King Triton so he could be Ariel's dad. How cute!! Best part is that he constructed the costume all by himself, no bag costume here and it was a hit. Check out Ariel and her daddy!

So my husband wasn't the only one with a fabulous costume idea. My sister in law decided to be a treasure troll and I think she definitely won for originality. How can you not giggle when you see her costume.

What was I, you may ask? Nothing as cool as those two but I was a gypsy and got to rock my new red hair, which I love!! What do you think?! xoxo

And Then This Happened...

So I've had an extremely stressful few weeks, drowning in tutu orders while trying to entertain Liv, just biting off more than I can chew, as usual. But I am down to my last two Halloween orders and it feels fabulous to be almost caught up. Although it's time to get my shops in holiday mode. Ahhh!! Never ending but busy is good, right?!

My lack of sleep and stress levels have certainly had me at my wits end but the extreme kindness of some radio celebrities certainly renewed my energy and drive. I had sent the ladies of the Z100 morning show some of my pink crystal boho wraps to match their "Hello Lady" shirts for breast cancer and they were kind enough to give me some Insta shout outs. Ahhhh!! Check 'em out! Am I dreaming?!

Anyways if you are interested the gorgeous pink crystal boho wrap featured, I am donating 25% of the money made from that design towards breast cancer research. You can order it here. xoxo

Pumpkin Decorating Tradition

I believe tradition is important. It gives you those little things to look forward to, little things you know that take place every year. One of our family's newer traditions is getting together to carve and decorate pumpkins. This year was fun as always and just a little more chaotic as the kids get a bit older. Here's a few photos from the afternoon and our glorious pieces of art.

Olivia hard at work

They mean business

Luke loves pumpkin fun!

Painting my pumpkin!

Group photo displaying our eclectic group of masterpieces!

So what about you, does your family get together to decorate pumpkins? And what did you create this year? xoxo

Rise Of The Jack 'O Lanterns

Last night we went to the Rise Of The Jack 'O Lanterns at Old Westbury Gardens and I hope this becomes a new yearly tradition. The carvings were amazing and it definitely got me in the mood for Halloween. Here are just a handful of photos I took of some of the amazing pumpkins.

Amazing, right?! These are just a couple that I was able to photograph well. If you are in the Westbury, NY or Los Angeles, CA area I would definitely recommend checking this out. xoxo

Ultimate Cash Giveaway

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Fun At Fink's

This past weekend we went to Fink's Farm in Manorville, NY for their fall festival and pumpkin picking. We've been going for several years now and it's always a great time for all and this year was no different. They changed things around little this year which made it better than ever. Here are some reasons Fink's is so much fun:

The Pigs
I am obsessed with pigs and Fink's certainly has a vast collection of these "little" fatties in their petting zoo.

The Turkey Legs
Mmmm....I love turkey and the fact that I didn't need to wait until Thanksgiving to have some delicious turkey certainly made my day.

The Perfect Pumpkins
I don't think I've ever seen a pumpkin patch with so many perfect pumpkins. Liv loved searching the field for her perfect pumpkin.

The Corn
Liv is obsessed with corn and seriously ate this entire thing. She's a beast!

The Photo Ops
There are plenty of places to take great family photos throughout the farm and we all know how I love taking photos.

The Farm Fun!
There are just too many things to individually list but between the corn maze, pumpkin sling shot, the country band, the hayride, the "moo" train, the food, the bouncey houses, the pony rides, the corn crib and the hay patch the entertainment was endless.

If you are a Long Islander I definitely recommend visiting Fink's this fall. xoxo

October: A Love/Hate Relationship

I love October, I truly do. It is my favorite month. The great weather and the fall activities, what's not to love? Well I'll tell you, the fact that I'm finding very little time to do the things I love so much about October. One of my Etsy shops: Oh So Pretty Designs has lots of adult tutus and with Halloween on the horizon the orders are flooding in.

I don't mean to complain about business being good because I am ecstatic about that but October has now turned into one blur of a day. I am also having weird dreams involving tulle. It's getting to my brain! Ahhh!!! But there is definitely a silver lining, the money I'm making from all these orders is going towards something very exciting which I hope to share with you in the next few days.

In the meanwhile, this post needs to be cut short so I can get back to my tutu making and create more masterpieces like you see below.

If you are interested in getting a tutu for Halloween I am still accepting orders but will probably need to stop soon so don't delay in ordering yours today!! xoxo

End The Mommy Wars

 I read some mommy blog posts on occasion. Some about the lack of respect stay at home moms receive and some about the difficulty of working full time and being a mom and all the posts usually make valid points but what is disappointing is the comments. The insults going back and forth between stay at home moms and working mothers. It's insane. Let's just admit that both sides are extremely difficult and support each other. Each side may present different difficulties but difficulties none the less. All moms deserve respect because we are all fighting a battle to be the best parent we can be despite our circumstances.

I am the mom a 2-1/2 year old difficult toddler (aren't they all.) I have both worked and stayed home in that time and neither is easy. Currently, I work at an office two days a week which I desperately need for adult interaction and I also work from home, which is a completely different ball game. Being a successful business owner with loads of work to get done while trying to appease your toddler with her tantrums and demands is definitely no fun. But that is a whole other post in and of itself.

Stay at home moms, working moms, work from home moms all have this need to say why the other parties have it easier or what the other parties are doing wrong. Stay at home moms will ask working mothers how they can let someone else raise their child. Working moms will tell stay at home moms they want to teach their daughters they can be more than a wife and mother. Stay at home moms will tell working moms how nice it must be to have adult interaction and have lunch and time to yourself. Working moms will comment how nice it must be to be able to get things done during the day. Let's just get down to it. It's all crap. Here's why.

Do you really think working mothers like the fact that they aren't with their child all day? Do you really think that all women who stay home are uneducated and aren't going to provide the best education for their child? Do you really think working moms enjoy their lunch time at work? I bet they are checking in on their kids at daycare or running errands they cannot do during the day. Do you really think stay at home moms have free time during the day? My daughter stopped napping at 1 so no break there. And free time? No they are feeding, changing, playing with their child the things working moms pay someone to do. Unless you are paying someone to do nothing all day.

Those comments above are not my views but just a few of the insulting statements I see in the comments of mommy blogs. It's all crap. Stay at home moms, working moms, work from home moms all deserve respect.  All positions are difficult. As I stated earlier they are difficult in different ways but all difficult. On those particularly hard days the grass can always seem a little greener but it hardly ever is. If we all supported each other things would be a lot easier and there would be no needs for mom to write posts justifying the type of mom they are. We are all doing what is best for our own particular family situation. Isn't that enough?

5 Things I Cannot Wait To Do this October

Happy Friday loves!! The air is crisp and making me oh so excited for all things October. So I decided that for Oh Hey Friday I would tell you about 5 of the many things I am looking forward to this month.

1 - Pumpkin Picking
Hello?! October equals pumpkin picking. But it's never just pumpkin picking, it's the whole fall festival at the farm experience. The hayrides, the corn mazes, the music, the animals, the pig races, the food. You get the idea. I really hope to be going to one of these this weekend.

2- Rise of the Jack O Lanterns
I wanted to do this last year but it sold out before we got tickets. It's a nighttime walk of 5,000 Jack O Lanterns. I hear it is amazing and I cannot wait to experience it this year. I'll definitely be letting you all know how it is.

3- The Color Run
We have done this fun day the past two summers but unfortunately missed it this summer. Fortunately for us they was a date added for Brooklyn for this October. So we get our color fix and it won't be a million degrees like when we did it in July last year. So excited for the happiest 5K on the planet!!

4- Pumpkin Decorating Party
My family loves to get together and decorate and carve pumpkins. It's always fun to see what everyone comes up with.

5- Halloween
What's October without Halloween?! I love trick or treating with my girl and all the Halloween parties. I still need to figure out what I want to be this Halloween. I need to get on that, I'll keep you posted!

Well, there you have it, just a few things I cannot wait to do this October. Have a fabulous weekend!! xoxo

Death To The Skinny Jean & A Giveaway!

Today I want to express my excitement that the days of the skinny jean seem to be numbered. I was late on adopting the skinny jean trend and only bought my first pair of skinny jeans a little over  a year ago, mainly because that's all there was.

Why did I hate them so much? Basically I thought they were quite unflattering to us bottom heavy girls and felt they were uncomfortable. I have big muscular calves and they were always tight on my calves. Even when I weighed only 120 lbs I had large calves and skinny jeans definitely do not accommodate for them.

I have longed for the days of the flare jeans for quite some time now and am thrilled with the fact that they will be big this fall and winter and probably for at least a few years. These were always my favorite style of jean. Flattering and comfortable. Hallelujah!! So I ask you are you team skinny or team flare??

And before you go on your merry way take the time to enter to win a gorgeous Michael Kors watch below. Good luck!!!

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