Not So Black Friday

Thanksgiving has come and gone, It's my favorite holiday and so each year I tend to throw myself into the prep. The Friday after Thanksgiving is usually my day to unwind, and yes occasionally par-take in the discount shopping. But this year we had a family day instead. My husband and I took Leila to Kidspace Museum. It was fun watching her enjoy each  activity. Once we finished up we headed over Foster Freeze for Burgers and Ice Cream, Yum.  All in all it was a great day.

Picnic in The Park

This past week Leila was home all week, thanks to California School cutbacks. But I welcomed the time with my little diva. On one of our Mother Daughter days we went to the Park and packed a Picnic to eat while we were there. It was a perfect day and one I'll hold close to my heart.

Wounded in Battle

The Admiral has always had the privilege of playing outside. But over the weekend he came home with two large cactus thorns in the back of his leg. I thought I had successfully removed all prickers, but on Sunday my daughter came to me with my old iPhone (her new toy) and photo of our Admiral's Paw. One pricker which I had never seen was still stuck in the top of his Paw but this one looked bad. So off to the Vet we went. What I hoped would be a quick visit and a small fee turned into a Stay for the Admiral, Minor Surgery, and a WHOPPING bill.  It will be a while before he's a back to 100%. For now the Admiral is confined to the Barracks!

At Least I can Bake

So as I have shared in previous posts I may not be a domestic goddess but I can cook. And lately I've been hard at work with my cooking, actually mostly baking.
Just a few photos of items I've made recently:

Pumpkin Pie from Scratch, even the Pumpkin. 

Caprese Salad Prep

Toaster Pastries-Apple, Lemon, and today I made Cherry

Cupcakes for my Daughters Fall Festival

Scattered Showers

It's been a strange week here in Los Angeles. One day we have a heat wave and the next drizzles. It seems Fall hasn't decided whether it wants to stay in LA.  At the very least I snapped a few Rainy day Photos.

My Little Rainy Day Diva

Cleaning Frenzy

So of the many stages of pregnancy there is one stage that I would say I'm really crap at. Nesting.  I go through it like all women do but I am a terrible house wife. I lack the one major skill of a good house wife. I suck at cleaning the home. I can do all the bonus things great house wives do, I'm a good cook, a strong baker, I can Crochet a blanket, hats, and a newscarf for  everyone in the family, Heck I can sew a Ball gown for you, but when it comes to cleaning I just don't have the will. I have to state that when I do clean it's fairly thorough, the parts I actually clean that is. For example I have a Pile of Dishes that need to be washed and a Pile of clothes that simply need to get put away. I will wash the dishes till they sparkle but leave the pile for a week, usually longer. I commit to the one task but give up on the fifty others that have to be done. I'm terrible.  

Growing up I had chores and I learned to do them correctly but I waited till the very last second to do them. I have always hated housework. My parents didn't really believe in housekeepers, why should they when they had four children. Not till those children got older did my mother start getting help occasionally from a cleaning lady but even that was short lived. My Mother-in-Law is a different story. She does the house cleaning but still brings in a cleaning lady every week. She of course has a very clean and  put together home. 

Photo found Here

So back to Nesting. I am in the nesting phase of my pregnancy and so I have been working hard (for me) at cleaning the home. But it's not enough. So I called in reinforcements. I've never hired a cleaning lady before, as I mentioned my Mother barely had one so I had no real experience. But my Mother-in-Law does, and she has a great cleaning lady, Hilda. So I asked Hilda if she could come in and give me a hand. I got so much more then I thought I would from Hilda. I figured a little vacuuming, dusting, polishing the wood, you know cosmetic stuff.  She did that but she did SO MUCH MORE. She moved the couch and cleaned underneath (SCARY), she moved my Stove and cleaned all around (EVEN SCARIER), and then she cleaned my toaster Oven (Whoa!). I am dumfounded and I really wish I had known because I would have cleaned more before she came... : /  

Which brings me to my current state....TOTAL GUILT!  

I feel like a real bum for asking this woman to come in here at clean my families mess. I thought it would be ok that it would be such a small job. But with the way this woman cleans I feel horrible. I had no idea we were this bad. Oh well the deed is done. But now I know what real cleaning looks like and how miserably I've been failing at it.  At least I can Bake! 

Photo found Here

Maternity Clothing Nightmare

So I have never had much success in the Maternity clothing department. In fact I would actually dare to say I HATE maternity clothing options. I have yet to find a one stop company that I can load up on Maternity clothes. And the worse part is the fact that you really only need them for the last four months (which varies from woman to woman and with each pregnancy!). This pregnancy I am much bigger. Most didn't notice right away but I did. I was having issues with clothing in my Third Month. Swear my hips widened again! I think I was pushing the limits of my bottoms before the pregnancy and the moment I started growing even by a few centimeters I felt it in my waistband!

I can't exactly remember how badly I dressed while pregnant with Leila but the lack of photos during that time suggests it was bad. I didn't buy many items, that much I remember. Again I HATE most Maternity clothing. And of course the items I do like are in the $150-$300 mark. Sorry but NO WAY, not for an item with a short shelf life. I prefer clothing purchases with a little more bang for the buck thank you! To be honest I have qualms with items in the $50 dollar mark even, well at least a top for $50. I'm already dropping a small fortune on Baby prep I don't want to spend even more money on temporary clothing. And the evil catch of it all is that every maternity company sets there prices around the same range. They know that at some point  a woman has to give in and buy the belly pants at the very least.

Since this pregnancy I have a much larger belly, pointy as well (sure sign it's a Boy), I have had to give in to the maternity clothing devil. So I've been researching like crazy lately. And to my surprise I've had more success then I did in the past.  I have rediscovered Old Navy recently.  Now it's not very stylish but it's a perfect place to get my basics  and build on those. And the pants are not only very affordable but comfy, who knew?! So my basics are covered now the really hard part, Fashionable pieces. Here is where I hit a few walls. Sorry to those who love them but I really don't like Motherhood or Pea in a Pod. Just not nearly cute enough and the few that get close are outrageously priced. A girlfriend mentioned to me that H&M had jumped on the maternity band-wagon, but I can't find a store within the city that carries it and online they only show a total of 24 pieces. WEAK SAUCE! Then I made a huge discovery, ASOS.com! I love their selection of standard women's clothing and now they offer Maternity! The cherry on top of this sundae was that they were having a sale when I went on. So my shopping cart grew from a planned two pieces to 10 pieces, all under $175. SCORE!

Enough talk, take a look at some of the items I found. I even threw in sites I loved but wasn't really  up for buying.

This site has great stuff (SOrry no picture) but way more than I'm comfortable with Paying but check it out: rosiepope.com

This Site had really adorable piece, but again more then I was willing. 

All of the above were found at ASOS.com

Old Navy- simple Basics

Old Navy

Old Navy

Old Navy- a really good piece to work with.

H&M-  Again can't find it but they say it's out there.

Civic Duties

Election day is tomorrow and well I know I'm hyped up! I've always been a very political person with strong(not always perfect) opinions. And this election is no exception. First off to all possible Republican's reading this best you walk away now. I am most Certainly a Democrat. Almost a given since I'm Latin and in California. Los Angeles specifically so that just makes it a huge DUH. But I grew up with highly educated parents who had very strong Morals and beliefs and with that came what they felt was their responsibility to take part. They worked with Cesar Chavez when I was a young girl and we stayed with the United Farm Workers till Cesar passed away. Both of my parents work with the Gay rights group in our Church. And my Father gave up a Marketing career to become a teacher, because he felt educating the youth of our nation was a much more important job. So I had some really strong role models.

For a very long time I thought I would become a Lawyer. Even started on that path, but as you know got pulled away by Fashion. I haven't let go of my passion for Civics. Election years are when you really  see me worked up.  I couldn't get through any of the debates without yelling at the television. Yes I'm that person.

This election has me especially riled up because of all these "undecided voters". I won't get too in to this, but I don't think there could be two candidates so different from one another.  Surely one of them has to be closer to your ideal then the other.  I  also feel our President has been given a really bad wrap for the Economy.  This is the worst state our economy has ever been in and our President has done a lot of great work to get us out of it.  Sure it still sucks out there, I know first hand, but to blame him or to say he's not working hard enough just isn't true. And the snake Oil Salesman (Romney) is not going to do better. His lack of basic Math should be a dead give away.

I realize posting political views is a blogger no-no, but as I said strong political views. Forgive my rant, but hopefully I reached a few people out there. Don't forget to Vote tomorrow!

Fun Fact: Ever wonder where these symbols came from? It began in 1828 when Andrew jackson was running for President. His opponent called his a "Jackass" he embraced the name though. And then one day  a Cartoonist by the name of Thomas Nast used the democratic Donkey in his cartoons and made it famous. Then in 1874 he created the Republican Elephant.  I learned that HERE.

Photo Found Here

All New Adventures!

Hello Again!
So last I posted I shared I was prepping for a wedding. Well surprise to us a week before the ceremony we found out I was Pregnant. Holy Moses! It was a shocker but a good one. Actually to be perfectly honest there was one person who wasn't surprised at all. In fact there was a lady who knew there was a baby on the way and even knew it would be a little boy. Our Daughter Leila predicted the pregnancy long before we even knew. Apparently i have a Psychic in the family.

So now I'm a walking belly and actually living a very different life then before. The title of this blog should probably be changed to The Accidental House Wife. Unfortunately a week after informing my work of my pregnancy I was "let go". And so now I'm devoting my days to my Family. The timing may have actually been the best thing to happen to me, Leila started Kindergarten this past August and there has been some adjusting. Things have happened that I was certain were signs of the apocalypse.  I joined the PTA, I'm a room Parent (I'll explain later), and essentially I've become a helicopter parent.

I feel I have to explain why, within three weeks of school starting my sweet little girl was slapped in the face by a bully.  I immediately went to the school and tried to get my child justice with no luck. At that moment I learned if you aren't an active parent they don't give you much attention. So PTA it was! Along with any other event I could get into. All while growing a little person in my belly. It's been an Adventure for me.  Before I was a working Mom trying to balance family and work, now I'm all family and taking on things I didn't think I ever would.

I'm still a fashion Lover and so rest assured there will still be plenty of Fashion in this blog but there will be a new mix of content. I hope you enjoy!

My Life till now!

For details on my photos check out my Instagram Page! @accidentalfashionista