SECOND F-ING GRADE!

Yesterday Brian and I got all mushy about how quickly our son has grown. I'm sure every parent has those days where you just have to stop, look the kid in the eyes and say "Stop freaking growing."

We got a letter Friday from Hayden's school on what he has in store for second grade. The first day of school is quickly around the corner and he's definitely not excited about it.
His summer was spent being crazy with his best friend Julian and wading in the pool to escape the heat and he's not too excited about the end of the fun.

Last year he was so stressed about the first day of school he kept begging us to not make him go. Then he loved first grade. 

He's gonna be in for a shock though with so much going on the next week and a half he'll be back in school before he knows it.
We're headed on vacation this Thursday and we're all super excited.

He's at the age now where he remembers so much more than we expect him to. Just this morning we had a conversation about our impending trip and he said he was most excited to ride on the boat. He remembers the boat from three years ago and he specifically likes the little cubby hole perfect for him.

Looking back brings us joy and now he's able to express his memories so clearly it astounds us.

We talk often about the wonderful things he'll remember about home and his parents when he's an adult and about what we remember ourselves. Perception changes as we age but ultimately our goal is happiness and so far so good.

Just STOP FREAKING GROWING!

Weekend Redux: A Show, A Lesson and a Game

Photo by my coworker Liz

Friday evening we played a show at the Cheyenne Saloon. We haven't played a show since the Roxy experience and we hadn't played the Cheyenne for about four months. Which is a long time for us considering the last year and a half we pretty much played there at least once a month.
The show was a great time with friends and we made some new friends in fellow bands.
We stayed out late, enjoyed our time and played a decent set.

Saturday my friend Ryan had let me borrow his pass to the Vegas Music Summit so I could attend a panel I was interested in. It was about national booking agents and how they put together tour packages, local showcases etc. Overall, it was a good motivational pep talk for me to start trying harder.
Sometimes I stop sending emails, messages, and making phone calls to the top dogs in the scene when I feel like I'm bugging them or they're just not interested in working with us. One of the speakers said "You have to want to kill for this to be successful."
That comment alone lit a fire in me, especially since I had just heard that another band was badmouthing us so they could get better slots on shows we play with them.
My gloves are off.

Sunday consisted of playing lots of Madden '13 and making chicken eggrolls. Yeah, lazy day but I had time to put together a plan of action for the band as well, and now it begins.

MAKEUP!!!

Makeup has always been a weird "thing" for me. I didn't really like makeup until after I had my son when I was 26. I never really was taught how to properly apply it and I never really cared for anything more than eyeliner and mascara.
When my self esteem evolved so did my interest in makeup. I love to find new makeup styles for shows and I have the hardest time applying it correctly. I've been all about watching these tutorials lately from Letz Makeup. She's AMAZING and I love her Irish accent.

Every year I treat myself with a nice makeup kit. Something that includes lots of eye shadows and blush at a low cost. My current kit is over a year old and getting kind of worn. Thank goodness E.L.F is having a sale tomorrow on their HeatWave collection. Normally $46. It's gonna drop to $19.78. Go grab one for yourself too :)

  Get the e.l.f. Collections Heatwave Collection for just $19.78 (57% off)! This offer is valid 8/1 only with coupon code HEAT.

To Renew or Not to Renew

A while ago Brian and I discussed renewing our vows when we had been together 13 years. That was last year. Needless to say we dropped the ball on that one.
This year he said would be better since we've been married for 10 years in October. At the beginning of the year I was all gung-ho about planning a renewal ceremony and then a couple months ago when Brian's mom passed away I didn't consider it important any longer.
But he brought it up a few days ago and he feels its really important for us and would be a great celebration of our relationship.

So I've started to plan again. I love that pintrest has a ton of resources for stuff like this, and I have found a shit-ton of inspiration there.

Here's a link to my board: http://pinterest.com/domrockstar/renew/

I really had no idea where to start so I went to the same site that helped me 10 years ago when I was planning my wedding. TheKnot. http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-ceremony/articles/how-to-renew-your-wedding-vows.aspx

What type of Renewal ideas do you have or have witnessed?

Dogs can't have sugar

Last night we had cereal for dinner. It was a late night after practice and we didn't really have time to make anything.
As we ate Barley watched begging.
Brian offered him a small bite of cinnamon toast crunch and Hayden said: "DAD! Dogs can't have sugar. Didn't you go to high school?"

Sizzling Summer Wishlist

My summer has been jammed pack with lots of work for my day job and little time for my life time outside of family togetherness. It has been a super hot summer here in Vegas and the sky is filled with smoke most days because of the Carpenter 1 fire. So we've been spending most of our family togetherness time inside, playing video games.

Now that the smoke has cleared a bit I would like to actually enjoy my Summer and it's almost payday. I've really been digging the bright colors this year. 

Links: 1. Strappy Ankle Wedges. 2. Guadalupe Heels. 3. Abstract High-Low Dress 4. Han Solo Muscle Shirt 5.Open back skater dress. 6. Ombre petal tank 7. Heart/Love necklace 8.Color-block maxi 9. Teal dress 10. Jeepers Peepers

What do you do when it's 111 degrees in the desert?

'Tis the season of unbearable heat in Las Vegas. All I feel like doing is lazing about in my comfortably air conditioned house watching hours of b-rated goodies via Netflix and playing video games with my son.
The evidence of my indoor summers is all over my lack of vitamin d tinted skin.
However, we have spent a good amount of time in our neighborhood pool and Hayden has the cutest little tan.
Our summer survival kit currently consists of :
Baby sunblock for Hayden and my face
Frozen grapes
Lots of diet iced tea and water
dinners of salads and sandwiches

With today being the 4th of July we have a plan for a bbq with friends, pool time, and fancy drinks.

Hope you all have a safe but fun 4th!