Retirement at 31

After some thinking over vacation, I think the time has come for a retirement of sorts. It has been so much fun to share my fun finds with you all but with the twins on the run more than ever it just seems my time is more and more eaten up these days and I don't seem to have the time or energy I want to devote to researching my fun posts! Thanks for being such great readers and encouraging friends!

Out of the Office

Views From a Treehouse will be on vacation until after Memorial Day due to our annual girls weekend and family trip to Palm Springs! Make sure to check back then for some fun summer finds!

Hooray! Yipee! Woo Hoo!

Just a short post to congratulate my darling husband on his graduation from the MBA program at USC today! We're heading up to campus to celebrate and while it's been a long journey over the past few years it's been one of the best things he's done and the girls and I are soooooo incredibly proud of him! Hooray!

redbox.com

I was doing my weekly grocery shopping when I saw the big red vending machine at checkout. As a good former Coca-Cola employee, I see a red vending machine and my mind immediately goes to the great taste of Diet Coke or occasionally Barqs Rootbeer. In this case though, the box belonged to a company called Red Box which offers new release DVD rentals for $1 right from your grocery store or the local McDonalds...genious! I've been hearing great things about Freedom Writers and now I have my excuse not to see it as I can now pick up a carton of milk and my movie without having to make a second stop. To make my find even better I learned that if you log onto their website at www.redbox.com they will give you a code to get one movie entirely free! Beautiful!

UPDATE: We got and watched Freedom Writers and it is incredible! Should you be looking for a movie recommendation next time you are wanting a video, I highly recommend this!

$0.31 Scoop Night

For all of you ice cream lovers, you can thank my very in the know friend TK for this great tip....tomorrow, Wednesday, May 2nd is $0.31 Scoop Night at Baskin Robbins in honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Association. With such a worth cause how can you not participate? If you get my voicemail tomorrow, you know why!

Style Swap

As most of you know, I love Girls Nights and Girls Weekends....there is just something so refreshing about that time with friends. Last Spring I hosted a Clothing Swap Party and we had a total ball. Now, according to my very in the know friend SG who works for Hearst in NY, Biore Skincare & Cosmo Magazine are hosting a similar event in various cities around the country and has even put together a great template for how to throw your very own Style Swap! It’s a great way to “spring clean” your closet of all that stuff you don’t wear anymore, while filling it with new fashion finds and of course fun time with friends!

Mothers Day Madness

My sweet friend JS emailed a bit ago asking for some fun ideas for Mothers Day gifts. I gave her a few of my ideas from Red Envelope but thought I'd see if you all had any fun ideas for our moms and MIL's. Post away!

Ribbon Fan

It rained all day yesderday so the twins and I spent the day indoors. We had friends over, made muffins and attempted to clean out my craft cabinets. This last activity made me realize what an obsession I have with ribbon...I just love the stuff and have SO much of it. I'm really not sure what I save it all for but should you ever need some you know where to go. Would you prefer to search a real store, The Ribbon Jar has an amazing selection....even by my standards!

PS. Their "Ideas" section offers some awesome inspiration for crafty types too!

DecorateME

I am in total decorating mode....me, the house, the list goes on. I would LOVE to be on What Not to Wear and have someone give me a total makeover but am not sure I really qualify at this point...maybe if I start wearing sweats everyday?!?!

With regards to the house, my sweet friends at girls night last night talked me out of the craziness that is white couches at least until the twins are a little older and aren't eating goldfish crackers and other equally stainable things! I did find some great new oil rubbed bronze knobs for our kitchen cabinets and am in heaven with the new look! Now just a few new accessories and curtains for the family room and I think I'll be feeling happier with everything.

One of the things that I'm dying to try but not sure I'm brave enough for are Wall Words. I have no idea what saying I like enough to look at everyday but think it's the coolest concept. I've tried to get the photo to attach about a million times but it doesn't want to cooperate (it's been one of those days already!) so you'll have to trust me on this and just check it out!

Made with love

My dear friend CN brought us a delicious homemade dinner on Friday after what seemed to be the longest week ever. I can't tell you what a fabulous treat this was! She totally puts Martha Stewart to shame and makes me wish I was even half as "together" as she is. Anyhow, the moral of this story is that I honestly think some of my favorite gifts are the things that are homemade....like this great dinner and my longtime love of mix tapes (yes, I know, I am aging myself here). Now thanks to these adorable cd stickers we can give thoughtful gifts of music that look stylish too. The to-do for dinners, those may come from friends other than me! :)

Happy Tax Day/Birthday

Happy Tax Day to all and Birthday to me. It's the big 31 and I've already eaten more cake than a girl really should have! I promise a "real" post tomorrow after my suger high goes away!

Tagged!

One of my favorite bloggers at Suburban Cupcake got me thinking this might be a fun way to kick off the weekend so enjoy! TK and SG consider yourselves tagged!

Three things that scare me:
1. Roller Coasters
2. Fear of being alone
3. The idea of not completing everything on my list of things to do before I die/living a full life

Three people that make me laugh:
1. Twin A and Twin B who laugh at one another on an hourly basis and have me cracking up alongside them despite the fact that they know what they are laughing at and I'm just laughing with them!
2. My girlfriends and the amazingly strange situations we get ourselves into
3. Adam Sandler oddly enough

Three things I hate:
1. Peppers
2. Being stood up
3. People who are insincere

Three things on my desk:
1. Picture Frames with photos of my sweeties
2. The never ending to-do list which I couldn't live without
3. A copy of "Daily Candy A to Z: An Insiders Guide to the Sweet Life" - a birthday gift from my sweet friend AG last year

Three things I’m doing right now:
1. Thinking about things to add to the above mentioned to-do list
2. Listening to the hum of the dryer
3. Trying to come up with a third thing

Three things I’d like to do before I die:
1. African Safari
2. Sit in the audience at the Oprah show
3. Design a house from the ground up

Three things I can do:
1. Type without looking at the keyboard
2. Make conversation with any and everyone
3. Walk the dog, push the double stroller, carry hot tea and talk on the phone all at once

Three things I think you should listen to:
1. Music? Are you serious? All we listen to these days are the latest CD's from Music Together the twins music class
2. U2 is always my best standby
3. Your mom

Three favorite foods:
1. CPK Salads
2. Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce
3. Pineapple, especially when in Hawaii

Three shows I watched as a kid:
1. Punky Brewster
2. Silver Spoons (LOVED Ricky Schroder)
3. The Facts of Life

Three things I regret:
1. Not keeping up with my Spanish more after living in Costa Rica. I was totally fluent and am not anymore. :(
2. Not being more committed to one sport in high school...instead I dabbled and am now so-so at a lot of things
3. That's it....I actually live a pretty regret free life thankfully.

Hostess with the Mostess

As you know, I love to entertain. I think it's the only child in me that likes having people around. I'm generally pretty casual when it comes to guests - make your own pizzas, sundae bars, bbq's, etc. but love to do cute invites, centerpieces and favors as much as the next girl. Now that I've found Hostess With the Mostess I'm in serious trouble...just check out all of the fun ideas and themes for parties of all sorts...Mothers Day Brunch anyone? Needless to say, I'm inspired. Let the planning begin!

Monogram Heaven

As I've mentioned before I love all things monogrammed and personalized. When I came across the website for Lauren Nicole I was overwhelmed with the great choices - from jewlery and totebags to baby items and blankets! What unique gifts for all the moms, dads, grads, etc we need to buy for in the coming months.

Pink Loves Brown

Talk about a cute company name! When I saw these too adorable book plates from www.pinklovesbrown.com I knew this was a site I would love and really as always when there is cute stationery involved how can you really go wrong? These are perfect for book lovers of all ages...maybe a fun thing to give the Mother who has it all come Mothers Day? I know one who would love them!

Buckets Galore

I love to entertain and found a darling corregated tin bucket that I put drinks on ice in so that everyone can help themselves and feel at home. I usually just tie a ribbon around it to help it coordinate with the color scheme but now that I've seen these from The Macbeth Collection I may have to rethink this all together. They have everything from buckets and vases to trays and even cute clipboards and file folders for organizing in style...definately worth a look!

Polka Dot Challenge

Perfectly Pink did a fabulous post today on 10 fun polka dot finds under $50! She found some wonderful items and challenged anyone else who wanted to add to the list. So who am I to pass up a shopping challenge that involves polka dots no less?!! So here's my list and be sure to check out hers too! Anyone else feel free to join in on the fun!

1. Classic Bikini Top from Boden $34 (yes, I do realize that you'll probably need the bottoms too but that puts me over the $50 limit so humor me!)

2. Chocolate Brown Dotted Notepad from Lemon Tree Paperie. 2 pads for $32

3. Signature Dot Reversible Bucket Hat from Toss Designs for $19.95


4. Dotty Striped Chester Gift Labels from Expressionery. 80 Labels for $16


5. Preppy Polka Dot Calling Cards from A Touch of Whimsy. $12 for 30 cards.


6. Polka Dotted Apron from Sally Russell $44

7. Pink and Green Dots File Folders from See Jane Work. 6 for $11.95



8. Printed Jelly Flip Flops from JCrew $19.50



9. Dot to Dot Towels from Garnet Hill. From $8



10. Hot Spots Tinware Canisters from Kate's Paperie $4-$24

Lavender Gardens

I love fresh herbs. There is something about Rosemary that makes me happy, I honestly think I could eat it in anything. I also find Cilantro to be about one of the best things ever - just so fresh and crisp tasting! And Lavender....it's amazing how a single scent can relax me so much. Needless to say when I saw this Mini Lavender Garden at Chasing Fireflies I thought it was the cutest thing ever. I should tell you that I have killed ivy and a cactus, both of which are supposed to be fool-proof so I am no green thumb but I do love the idea and thought this could be a great hostess gift. This adorable website also has tons of cute things for the babies and kids in our lives.

Photo Find

It came to my attention at a recent girls night that not everyone knows about Costco's great photo store so here goes....as a Costco member you can upload your photos to their website from the comfy of home in your pj's and they will process the order and then send the finished photos to you free of charge. While I know the uploading from home aspect isn't anything new the free shipping is pretty nice. It certainly makes getting the mail more fun when I know I'll have a big shiny stack of pictures to look forward to and we can always use that money we would have spent on shipping for something fun like a new nailpolish (my favorite is Essie Ballet Slippers) or a fun drink at Starbucks.

Just Beachy

Appologies for my recent lack of posts. The twins and I have been busy with our sweet friends BN and MN from Chicago in town and have been enjoying some fun girl time! Anyhow, this one is worth the wait. As you all know, I love Coastal Living magazine. I feel like I've gone on vacation whenever I get the latest issue (I know, I'm a cheap date!) and I save all of my old issues to look back on whenever I'm feeling like a little bit of beach. Anyhow, the website www.beachdwelling.com has Coastal Living written all over it! I fell in love with these starfish...what a fun accent on top of a stack of books or on a coffee table (one in a house without one year old twins of course!) or even tied to the top of a gift. They also have great furniture, bedding, bath products and the list goes on. More fun stuff to come tomorrow!