The Fabulous Life of Stefanie

I love a lot of things and I really like to share these things, so I am starting a new weekly post just to talk and share and maybe hear about what other people love. Love it! First of all, I hope everyone had a chance to reflect of the life of Dr. King today, whose words never become antiquated. Today more than ever his speeches, his work and his method of non-violence are great examples of how to fight for social justice. Every year I spend some of this day talking to Maddie about Dr. King's message and I can only hope that it helps form her and inspire her to be a change agent in her world. On to much less meaningful things now: five things I am totally digging. 1. Nars blush in Orgasm . I have had this on my to-buy list for ages and was forced urged by my husband to finally buy it Saturday afternoon before a date night. I love it. It is the perfect color, the perfect amount of shimmer and actually lasts the whole day. Sold. 2. Bastille Kitchen in Fort Point. Spea...

We left Boston last Wednesday when it was hovering just under the double digit degrees and when my nerves were well under a 10 on a scale of one to having it together.It wasn't until well into the third day of our vacation when it hit me how very badly I needed to be on vacation. Something about pulling yourself out of your daily routine really gives you the opportunity to look at how things are going, what things aren't working and where more energy needs to be allocated.  I've spent a lot of this pregnancy sick, which is really difficult for me; I don't do rest well and I don't like feeling unable to give life my all, which is exactly what bronchitis, pneumonia and a bit of pregnancy induced asthma created. So we decided to take a vacation; just a week and just the three of us to get away somewhere a little warmer with no house projects or work schedules or alarm clocks. Like I said, it took a few days for me to unwind. A specialist I saw put me on an extended ...

I wish I could say that I was ending the year on a bang, but really I am ending it on my sick bed (er, at my desk at work being sick). For the second time this pregnancy I have bronchitis, which is just as fun as it sounds. Luckily, I seem to be slowly getting better and not progressing towards pneumonia like had happened in September. It has definitely been the pits feeling crummy over the holidays and I feel sad that I haven't been able to play with Maddie and her new Christmas toys as much as she wants me to, but here is hoping I will be on the mend soon. 2014 was a pretty huge year for our family and I just wanted to do a little end of the year recap to say goodbye to a wonderful year and hello to another exciting one! The Big News This year we became homeowners! This was a goal that had been HUGE for us and while the process was anything but awesome, the day that we closed and opened the door to OUR home was amazing and (almost) worth all the chaos leading up to it. Then, ...

Even though this Christmas seemed to come and go at lightning speed, it was a really, really awesome one. At one point I was washing dishes and I thought to myself how awesome it was to be in our OWN home that we own forever and ever, celebrating Christmas with our little family. It was so comforting to know that next year we would be in this same home and have another little person to share in the magic of Christmas with! We didn't do anything over the top and the focus was more on Maddie than anything else, and it was perfect. She got lots of presents from all of our wonderful family and friends and seemed so truly thankful as she opened each one up. All she asked Santa for was a giraffe that was big enough to ride one, and when she walked into the living room Christmas morning to see just that I think her little heart soared right out of her chest. She turned to me and said "Mama, is that a giraffe? For me?"; it made my heart melt as I watched her hop on with her swe...

I can hardly believe that Christmas is just a week away! Life has been so very busy with the day-to-day but we are really trying to take some time everyday to enjoy the season and see the magic of it all through Maddie's eyes. It was a lot of fun to deck the halls of our new home and I am already excited to hit some of those post-Christmas sales to add to our arsenal for next year. Having such festive walls makes it pretty hard to forget that Christmas is coming, even when we are swimming in work, school and new baby preparations. I just wanted to pop in and share some pictures that I took the other night and wish you all a happy one week until Christmas! Our Christmas tree! We love getting Christmas cards! This year our hallways is a great place to display them.  The tattooed Nutcracker got extra tough with a Maker's Mark scarf this year.  Another gift from Maker's Mark; oh how I miss thee in my eggnog.  Maddie has her own tree in her room w...

It is pretty appropriate that I am sitting down to write this as snow flurries and super-cold temperatures are going on outside, with some sort of Nor'easter/winter storm headed our way, but it is very much winter, and Christmas is definitely on the way! I love this time of year and all of the beauty, magic and joy it can bring, and experiencing it with Maddie is like getting to see it through new, wondrous eyes, which is just so awesome. Pretty much from the weekend after Thanksgiving until Christmas we have at least one festive commitment each weekend with another option or two if we are feeling up to it. Here are some of the fun things we have been doing to celebrate the season so far: The weekend after Thanksgiving the Mayor and Santa rode around in a trolley making stops at different parks in the neighborhood to light trees; by some awesome coincidence the tiny little playground on our corner was one of them, so after dinner we walked on over to take part in the lighting. I...

Happy Thanksgiving! I feel like this year, as with all the recent years, I have a lot to be thankful for. Between the awesome fella that I married and this little lady we are raising, there is so much joy, love and laughter in our lives; even if there are tears, stresses and worries in between, the balance is definitely in our favor. Last year I managed to blog every single day in November about what I was thankful for and it made for an awesome perspective that entire month. I loved looking over the old posts and seeing that I remain thankful for so many of those things that are still a part of my life, and thinking about all the good stuff that has happened this year to add to my list! Without further ado, the top five things I am thankful for this year. 1. Our new house:  Buying a home to call our own has been a goal of ours for many years and this is the year that we made it a reality. It was an awful, stressful, nearly financially crippling experience but we made it out ...