21 Weeks + 27 Years

8.25.2014

This Friday Marcus played hooky from work and we celebrated his 27th birthday by hitting up all our favorite "free-meal" spots and just driving around, enjoying some unusually delightful weather. I told him I ordered it just for him--me and mother nature are very close :)

The night before I was working late into the night, and on my drive home, with all the windows rolled down on the freeway, I got emotional thinking about how grateful I was that I was married to Marcus.
Neither Marcus, nor I are particularly social/extroverted people--we spend pretty much all of our free time together, and that's just the way we like it. Sometimes he'll come home from work and give me a big hug and tell me how weird and sad it is when he hears other people at work talk about how annoying their spouses are, or how they love coming to work so they can get away from their home and family and Marcus just sits there, confused about how this has happened to them. Surely it hasn't always been this way...?

Don't get me wrong--there are times when Marcus is doing something super buggy and I have to take a little break and go somewhere else {and there are surely times he feels the same about me} but I'd say about 98% of the time, it's more of a control thing or lack of communication on one of our parts and it's really not objectively something all that buggy on it's own. In reality, they're just not doing what YOU want them to do at the moment. So, separating yourself from the situation and really thinking, "Is he doing this because he's a terrible person who is striving to make me uphappy? Or am I just trying to put my agenda on him and he doesn't find 'that thing of the moment' to be as important as me, so he doesn't realize that it's bugging me?" Pretty much it's always the later of the two, and so I suck it up and talk it out and make a better plan where we both have a say on when and how we're going the accomplish 'that thing of the moment'. And then it all works out and we're happy again spending our free time being together, eating, talking, watching movies, making life plans, or just nothing at all but being near each other.

That's what works for us--it makes us happy and relaxed and maybe that's not everyone's cup of tea, but for me it is perfect and I'm so grateful to have found someone who works the same way. We have a peaceful home and it feels good. I love my Marcus and I thanked his mom for having him 27 years ago.
 __________
wearing:
check oxford//j.crew (buy here)
navy shorts//h&m (buy similar here)
watch//skagen (buy here)
 __________
wearing:
boater hat//free people (buy similar here)
pink lip color//ebay (buy similar here)
fringe necklace//old navy (buy similar here and here)
midi rings//etsy (buy similar here)
trapeze dress//asos (buy similar here)
striped watch//can't remember (buy here)
sandals//old navy (buy similar here)
diamond rings//c.o. fascinating diamonds (buy here and here)

*Fascinating Diamonds sent me CZ replicas of two of their rings to style, I'm more of a band kind of girl, but it's been fun to have something a little more formal to wear on special occasions. You can see their whole collection here.

les vingt

8.19.2014

Saturday marked my 20 week milestone. That means we're now more than half way there to meeting our little bug. According to my dreams, this child is most likely not human, but an adorable animal, one of many options from dreamland. So far it's been a baby monkey, a chipmunk and a kitten. While I would probably be perfectly happy with any of those options, pregnancy sure does seem like a lot of work to produce something I could likely find in the "Free Stuff" section of Craigslist, so for the sake of Marcus and a lot of sick days, let's hope it is a Homosapien. 

We hit up adorable downtown Gilbert twice this weekend--Marcus has recently fallen in love with Joe's Real BBQ and since basically all I ever want lately is some form of potato, I was fine with going there both Friday and Saturday night for dinner. You guys, their jumbo potatoes are the bomb!

I hope you had a great weekend and thank you again for all your kindness! 

xo, Ash
 __________
wearing:
sunnies//c.o. oasap (buy here)
lip color//covergirl (buy here)
dotted top//vintage (similar here and here)
tiny arrow necklace//stella & dot (buy here)
leather watch//skagen (buy here)
super stretchy skinny jeans//AG (similar here)
green heels//justfab (buy here or similar here)

{foodie} friday: chocolate éclair sheet cake

8.15.2014

I'm generally a huge sweets fan, but with this pregnancy, at least so far, I have craved deserts and candy a lot less than usual. But the one thing that sounds good just about any time are chocolate eclairs--particularly one's from Proof Bread, but since many of you don't have access to Proof, I won't taunt you with tales of it's goodness, and since I can't afford to get eclairs there everyday, I have to make do. And I must say, this is a pretty delicious option :)

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
3 cups milk
1 large package vanilla instant pudding
Fresh whipped cream 
Chocolate syrup

Preparation instructions:
Crust//
Step 1: Boil 1 cup water and 1 stick butter, then pour mixture into 1 cup flour and slowly mix in 4 eggs, one at a time. It's a weird consistency so I use a whisk to get it to blend well.

Step 2: Spread mixture into a large, greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 25 minutes, or until golden brown. (if you're planning on serving right away cook it to just barely golden, but I prefer to make it a day or at least several hours in advance and then let it sit in my fridge--this allows the crust to moisten a little, in which case you want the crust baked 'til a true golden brown color is achieved)

Step 3: Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Filling//
Step 1: Add package of cream cheese, 3 cups milk and package of vanilla instant pudding in a blender and blend until smooth (this ends up being more pudding than you need, so just put as much as you think you'll like, i ended up having at least a cup extra).

Step 2: Spread pudding mixture onto cooled crust and allow it to set up a little before spreading fresh whipped cream over the top.

Step 3: Drizzle chocolate syrup over the top and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Step 4: Cut into squares, garnish with a fresh strawberry or raspberry and enjoy!

a quick game of catch up

8.13.2014


Everyone, thank you so much for all the love showed to our family! We were so excited to share the news with you. We made that little video for Marcus's parents who are on a mission in London until December. We hadn't told anyone on the Nielson side we were pregnant because we really wanted to surprise his parents with the {long awaited} news, as well as the gender all at once.

It was so fun to watch their faces (via facetime) as they watched the video and figured out what was being set up and then to find out we were far enough along to know the gender as well. We're so excited to have them back in time to meet the little one in and out of the cocoon he currently resides.

Anyways, since I haven't shared any belly shots, here are the few we've taken so far--it's taken me a long time to show, hence the lack of progression photos. I just felt weird taking pictures of a belly that didn't exist yet, so now that I'm finally showing some progress I think I'll try to be more on top of things ;)
{seven weeks}
 {fifteen weeks}
 {sixteen weeks}
{eighteen weeks}
dress//asos (similar here)
{nineteen weeks}
top//c.o. swell (similar here)
moon necklace//gift (similar here)
marcus' shirt//j.crew factory (buy here)
crib sheets//(buy here)

the whole story...

8.10.2014


Love is Grand.

8.07.2014

Last week Marcus and i celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. We unfortunately both had to work on the actual day, but we decided that weekend would be good enough for celebrations--so Friday night we went out and had a delicious steak dinner and Saturday we planned to take a day trip somewhere cooler (in more than ways than one) than Mesa.
Saturday morning I woke up and asked Marcus where he thought we should go--we named a few places we had been before, like Flagstaff, Prescott, or Sedona, but then Marcus said, "Ashley, you were born and raised in Arizona and you've never been to the Grand Canyon--that's where we need to go!" He made a compelling argument...so we threw some things in a bag, hoped in the car with Poppy, and we were off!
It was lovely to watch the car thermometer drop the further we drove.

Because it's a canyon--there's not really anything to see until you're right on the edge of the cliff, as we parked and walked toward the look-out I was a little confused as to how anything that's supposed to be so spectacular could really be in front of me when all I saw was some desert forest, but oh-my-gosh was I wrong! When we got to the edge my breath was literally taken away--over and over again, every time i looked down into the canyon, I felt like the wind got knocked out of my chest. I'm not even one to fear heights--I'll always go to the edge of a cliff for a pretty picture, but this was unlike any cliff I had ever experienced--and as I looked out at it's expanse my mind had no way of comprehending that I was only seeing a tiny portion of this truly grand canyon. It was no wonder to after that, why Arizona holds one of the Seven Wonders of the World titles. I hope you all get to experience it someday.
We ate dinner on a restaurant porch overlooking the canyon as the sun began to set and talked about our future. It was such a beautiful evening with my best friend. I'm so lucky.

Party Time!

8.05.2014

I don't know how I forgot to post about Poppy Reh's 2nd birthday party!
vintage kilim pillow//themodboho (similar here)
chair//vintage (very similar here)
rug//old urban outfitters (similar here)
vintage inspired two-piece//c.o. oasap (buy here $23)
floral fringe kimono//c.o. oasap (buy here $21)
On our long drive home from Utah, I mentioned to my animal obsessed niece, Coco, that it was Poppy's birthday. She immediately started asking about party plans, what Poppy's favorite things were, what she would want for a cake, etc... I obliged by telling her everything I knew about the Pop-star, thinking we were just killing time until we got home.

Turns out that the whole week after that conversation all she talked to her mom about was: when Poppy's party was happening, how they needed to get the decorations out and figure out how to make a cake out of watermelon, tomatoes, and lettuce (Poppy's favorite vegetarian options--Coco's a vegetarian). We even brought Poppy over a few times, thinking that would satisfy Coco's need to celebrate her favorite doggy friend, but without decorations and cake, it was no party...so Monday I get a text from Reachel inviting us to Poppy's birthday/swim party.

Poppy was so excited! We got our suits on and Poppy put on her prettiest matching scarf...

We arrived to see a house decorated to the nines, complete with a watermelon, tomato, and lettuce birthday cake, all compliments of Coco's immaculate attention to detail.

I asked Coco is she was happy and she replied, "YES! Planning birthday parties and having birthday parties are my favorite things! This is the best day ever!"

Poppy couldn't agree more. We're spoiled.

MOCKTAIL MENU:

8.01.2014

Alright, just because we don't drink alcohol, doesn't mean we don't love a fancy, pretty drink every now and then--ever since I was in high school, I've been trying out fun mocktail recipes, and let me tell you, they are such a huge success at parties and get-togethers. 

So here's a delicious menu for your next fancy soiree (or maybe the next time you want to do something simple and special for you and your husband after a hot day out in the sun!)

Feel free to Pin this post if you found it useful!

*Serve all drinks "On the Rocks" (with ice)
Shirley Temple Mocktail Recipe
Shirley Temple
Rim Cup  (Dip the mouth of the glass in pineapple juice and then in sugar)
Add a cap full of grenadine
Fill glass w/ Ginger-ale or lemon-lime soda
Add one or two Maraschino cherries
Garnish with slice of lemon or orange
Roy Rogers Mocktail Recipe #virgin
Roy Rogers
Rim cup with sugar
Add a cap full of grenadine
Pour Cola
Add Maraschino cherry
Garnish with slice of lemon or wedge of pineapple
Virgin Mint Mojito #mocktail
Mint Mojito
Rim glass with sugar
Lemon-lime soda
Cap full of sweetened lime juice
Sprig of fresh mint
Garnish with slice of lime
Cuddling on the Beach Mocktail Recipe #sexonthebeach #virgin
Cuddling on the Beach
*Serve with an umbrella
1 oz peach nectar 
3 oz lemon-lime soda 
3 oz orange juice
Shot of cranberry juice
Garnish with orange, strawberry or kiwi slice
Baby Bellini #mocktail #virgin #recipe
Fuzzy Belly Button/Baby Bellini
No ice
¾ cup Sparkling cider
¼ cup of peach nectar
Garnish with a fresh strawberry, peach slice, or raspberry


Do you have a favorite Mocktail recipe! Do share :)
© i believe in unicorns. Maira Gall.