A friend of ours had a birthday yesterday and in addition to taking him to dinner I thought I would also bake him some cookies. I’ve always loved the “cookies n cream” cookies from our hometown favorite -Anthony’s Cookies in SF so I attempted to recreate them. I have to admit, I think I nailed it! I posted this picture on Instagram and had a few request for the recipe so I thought I would share it here.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup of white sugar
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 eggs
Close to a box of chocolate cream cookies (I used these)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Pre crumble cookie bits and drop into mix. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

I use a kitchen aid mixer which made my crumbles even smaller when mixing. I prefer to have a few larger bits as well. To achieve this, after rationing out each ball of dough on your cookie sheet, apply a few larger bits on top before baking and push them into the dough slightly with your finger.

Bake for about 11 minutes and get ready for deliciousness!!

by Gaelyn on September 3, 2013
Categories: Food, Uncategorized 1 1 

 

Things are still toasty here in LA and I’m actually perfectly fine with that for now, but little things get me thinking about fall fondly. Ankle booties might be one of them haha. I love a good bootie so I thought I would do a little round up of affordable booties (all under $70) I am loving this year for fall. I can’t believe that before we know it fog will be rolling in & leaves and temperatures will be dropping.

 

I ordered #1 for myself, they haven’t shown up yet, but hopefully I’ll love them. They should be just the perfect touch of “rocker” to dress up jeans and a T-shirt.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

by Gaelyn on September 2, 2013
Categories: Fashion, Products, swoon 2 3 

 

 

Shirt: Old Navy

Pants: Target

Socks that look like shoes: Trumpette

by Gaelyn on August 9, 2013
Categories: Fashion, What Ollie Wore 1 7 

This outfit kind of kills me.

Look at that handsome face!

Hat and Leggings:  Little Hip Squeaks

Henley shirt: Baby Gap

Socks that look like shoes: Trumpette (Johnny Socks)

by Gaelyn on August 8, 2013
Categories: Fashion, Kids, What Ollie Wore 1 3 

 

Last week we celebrated Oliver’s first month. I can’t believe that a month has already flown by. I feel like I blinked and a month had passed. It makes me realize how fast my maternity leave will be up and before I know it he will be 12 years old and taller than me. Okay, I might be getting carried away haha. To celebrate the most awesome of months we went to the Long Beach Aquarium with Emily, Adam and Chico (our godson). In all honesty Oliver couldn’t have cared less haha, duh, but we are eager for our boys to have fun adventures together so we went for it.

Emily is a big fan of baby carriers (that might be an understatement) and I was eager and interested in trying the Sakura Bloom ring sling. The biggest lure for me was the idea that I could nurse in the sling. Nursing can be a challenge when you are out and about. For example, yesterday I found myself at Target. I was waiting for a family fitting room (which were all occupied by non families- ugh) but before I could get to trying anything on the baby lost it and needed to nurse. I immediately latched him but then had to navigate my stroller with one hand, hold him with the other and try to find a bench- minor chaos. So to be able to do some hands free nursing sounded amazing. Several baby carriers say that you can nurse in them, but I haven’t found it to be true for newborns. So before buying yet another baby carrier, I asked Emily if I could try one of hers out (since she owns several).

I really enjoyed the sling experience for several reasons. I was able to successfully nurse in it and not only that but I was able to go about my hands free business. No finding a bench and doing nothing for 20 mins!

Another thing I really love about the Sakura sling is how easy it is to adjust and put on, especially between wearers. We currently own the Solly Baby Wrap and the Ergo Carrier. We like both of them but they do have their issues. The Solly take a while to get on, you have to wrap it up and around and then load the baby in. It’s not hard, but it does take a moment and if you have a fussy baby, it can feel like “too long”. The Ergo will likely be great as Oliver gets bigger but currently it has its downsides. One being that you have to adjust all the straps to change it between wearers. Two- to use as a newborn, you have to use this padded infant insert that makes it really hot for the little guy and three- you can’t nurse a newborn in it (same with the Solly).

The dads love that they can easily wear the baby as well. Honestly, these two dreamboats always want to wear their babies! “Can I wear him now?” Needless to say, we were pretty impressed so we have decided to add one to our arsenal!

I also snapped a few pics of Ollie’s cute outfit, since he was hiding in the sling all day haha. He was grumpy about it.

Then we had a little nursing session and he felt much better about it!

Photobombed by peanut!

(Oliver’s outfit is from baby Gap)

by Gaelyn on August 7, 2013
Categories: Fashion, Kids, LIfe, Motherhood, Products, What Ollie Wore 4 1 

 

It’s my opinion that most people buy way too much stuff for baby. When we told people we intended to stay in our tiny 500 and something square foot cottage after Oliver arrived, many of them thought we were kind of crazy. We knew it might be a little challenging, but definitely do-able. I thought I would share a few of the products that made it possible for us.

1. The Bloom Alma Mini Crib $340
comes in brown/orange/green/ gray/ white

This thing is perfect and has really been ideal in our small space. For one thing, the baby’s room is very narrow. This crib is actually on wheels and narrow enough to easily pass through doorways from room to room. This has been great because in the early months as I am night nursing Oliver, we can have his crib right next to our bed and not take up too much more room than your standard co-sleeper. Then in the morning when we go out into the living room we simply roll the crib out with us. Who needs a pack n’ play? (Downside: typically this crib only works for about a year+ or so depending on the size of your baby. It does not convert to a toddler bed and there for has a shorter life span. But for us, it works. Also, because it is a unique mattress size you are limited to buying very specific pricey sheets. Or you could make your own with this pattern I found on Pinterest)

2. Boon Naked Collapsible Bathtub $60comes in orange/teal/green

Forget the Puj tub, this Boon tub is where its at! It’s sturdy, its simple and IT COLLAPSES TO FOLD FLAT! It has a hook so you can hang it in the shower to dry or store it behind a door or in a closet. We simply tuck it underneath our clawfoot tub!

3. Bloom CocoGo Lounger  $200

This one is a bit pricey for what it is. And for the price, you could argue that you could get a bouncer that does a lot more. But what we love about this one is that 1. it folds flat and comes with a nice travel bag that you can store it in. 2. its not covered in obnoxious ugly “baby” patterns. One of my biggest pet peeves about baby stuff is how ugly it always is. Why does it have to be covered in cartoon characters? No thank you. I think the clean simplicity is key, especially in a small space. When living in a small space, so many of your things and babies things blend together and have to work in any room in the house. Also, did I mention it folds flat? In case you haven’t noticed, that’s a pretty big theme in our small space!

UPDATE: A friend gifted us the Baby Bjorn seat and I actually like it much better. It’s one piece instead of two and still folds up flat. Even smaller than the Bloom.

4. Boppy Slip Cover $25

Having a small space, my husband and I discussed quiet a bit what we needed and didn’t need. He argued that we didn’t need a boppy because “don’t we have enough pillows?! Where is that thing gonna go? It’s just going to stay out on the couch all the time?!”. Yes, yes it is going to stay out on the couch all the time. I think the boppy is definitely a necessary item if you are breastfeeding. Nursing can wreak havoc on your back and anything that can make it easier is great! But to his point, do I really want it sitting out on the couch all the time covered in some dumb cartoon character print? No, no I don’t. Enter the boppy slip cover. You can find a bunch of fabric options on etsy that will blend a lot better with your decor. This makes living with baby things in a small space much more bearable.

5. Fresh Changing Station $60

What I liked about this changing station was that it was SLIGHTLY smaller than most and fit on our smaller dresser top (just barely). I also found one of the more typical fabric covered foam cushion tops that would have barely fit but what I love about this one is that it wipes down clean! I cant tell you how many times a newborn will poop or pee right after you take their diaper off (sometimes more than once or twice)! So rather than have to strip off the cover and wash off the poop you can simple wipe this bad boy down and move on with your life. Or go back to sleep. Making things so much simpler!

Some of these items may be on the pricier side but for us, making our small space work means staying in an expensive neighborhood. So the pay off was worth it to us! Any other small space moms have items they recommend or cant live without?

by Gaelyn on August 5, 2013
Categories: Home, Kids, LIfe, Motherhood, Products 4 3 

 

Hi guys, I thought I would touch base since posts have been a little irregular lately. I’m still getting settled in my new mama roll. Some days I can barely remember to do really important things let alone write a blog post, and some days I would rather just sit on the couch with my new family and watch a marathon session of Orange is the New Black or Sons Of Anarchy. The thing is, I have taken photos that I intend to share with you but some days I just cant get to actually posting them! Oliver is going through a bit of a developmental growth spurt as of recently and its leaving him a little cranky and a little clingy (okay it might be making us all a little cranky some days haha). Its hard to even think about putting down a fussy baby to write a self indulgent blog post about what we wore. I do hope to get back to my fashion posts more regularly soon, if not my own outfits- Oliver’s. But in the mean time we hope you will stick with us and keep an eye on what we are doing as we figure this whole thing out!

 

Gotta run, the bug is waking! xoxo

by Gaelyn on July 31, 2013
Categories: LIfe, Motherhood 2 5 

John pretty much lost his mind when he found these baby henley onesies at Gap. He wanted these to be all Oliver ever wore and was about to buy them for every age in every color haha. Cute as they are we only bought three. He looks like such a little man in them!

 

 

by Gaelyn on July 28, 2013
Categories: Fashion, Kids, What Ollie Wore Leave a comment 0 

 

On Wednesday we had a pretty fun family day. I suggested that we go for a nice long walk, that the dog would enjoy it. She has still been getting walks but they are not as scheduled and as long as they used to be. John suggested we try a new spot in Venice for lunch (the restaurant is not new, but we had never been). This took us through a part of the neighborhood we don’t usually walk through which was fun to look at all the different houses/scenery. The baby loves being outside and being in his stroller. He basically slept the whole time. Lunch was delicious and try as I might to remember the name, I cant! Baby brain, sorry! Then we cruised back by the water, stopped into Peets coffee for a freddo (Peets version of a frappacino- but tastier and with real coffee). All in all our walk was probably about 3 or more hours and it was so nice to just slowly take in the day and enjoy it. For some reason it was the first day that felt like what I imagined maternity leave to be like. Just the 3 of us (okay 4 of us, the dog totally counts) slowly enjoying the day, the weather, each other etc.

 

PS remember this same outfit from my second trimester?

by Gaelyn on July 27, 2013
Categories: Fashion, LIfe, Motherhood Leave a comment 4 

 

Oliver is still growing into this outfit but Papa loves it because he has his pants rolled up just like Papa. 

Onesie and pants from Target

by Gaelyn on July 26, 2013
Categories: Fashion, Kids, What Ollie Wore Leave a comment 0