Here’s a recap of what we’ve been doing the past 2 weeks…

1. Philly Day 2011 - we took our nephew Philip out on an adventure for his birthday.

First stop was the State Fair.

Too bad Philip fell asleep shortly after eating the biggest corn-dog EVER, cause he missed

the chickens

And a Bull with REALLY big horns!

But he woke up in time for us to also go to Build-a-Bear.

and build him a bear. Kung Fu Bear to be exact!

vanny seemed a bit bored with it all..

But in the end we were all smiles!

2. Birthday Party Sneak Peek- I started prepping for the big Birthday Celebration next month.

It included some of this..

A Balloon Wreath

And the Prince’s Throne.

3. Tile Demo Anyone? That’s right.  Bye-Bye Orange Tile!

4. Making a Halloween Costume- any guesses as to what I am making?

5. And Keeping up with my little dude!

I’ll hit you guys with more details on everything shortly!

Has a week already passed? Geez.. I started this post last Sunday.  My apologies that it has taken a week to get to ya’ll..

So My mom and I were non stop last weekend!  It was crazy!!

Friday night we finished the pelmet boxes. {Hooray!}

Saturday Morning we hit the greenhouse and got some plants for my front planter. {about Time!}

We also went to the Farmer’s Market and got some fresh veggies & DONUTS!! {YUMMO!}

And then once baby vB was down for a nap and safely in the care of his father, mums and I snuck out.  We headed to Joanne’s Fabric, Hobby Lobby, Target, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods in search of a pattern for boys pants, coconut oil, and something to put in the lanterns on my mantle. Quite a combination right?

Well the pants are for vanny B and I hope they turn out something like this..

Photo courtesy of Grace over at grace happens

The coconut oil was so we could make these..

Photo Courtesy of Darby over at Fly Through Our Window

And the something to put in my lanterns, turned out to be these..

I think it was quite a successful trip.  But just an FYI, if you try to make your own peanut butter crispies, cut the peanut butter amount in half. {1 cup vs the 2 they called for} Both my mums and I thought it was WAY too peanut buttery!

So now on to this weekend…

Mr. vB and I have to do some yardwork and some baby proofing.  You know, more baby gates and latches on the cabinets with the cleaning products.  Real Fun Stuff.  But anything to help keep this cute-patoot safe!

Happy Weekend!

Hope I didn’t scare you guys away with the title of this post…  But I learned quickly, while at the beach recently, that teeny bikinis and babies don’t quite mesh.  Not only is the body still a bit out of place from carrying a child for 10 months in-utero, but said child out-of-utero is quite likely to pull down cute bikini top exposing you know what.  I’ve been on the search for the perfect bathing suit since…

Today at Target this caught my eye…

Love Your Assets-Halter Swim Dress…$50

Okay- so I haven’t worn a 1 piece since I was a tween and I’m not sure if I’m ready to again or not.  But this one seems baby friendly.  Still fun and flirty, yet stable enough to chase after and carry vannyB.

And I forgot to mention that it is made by the same company that makes Spanx Undergarments, but this is their Target Line called Love Your Assets.  The bathing suit helps lift, tuck, and hide all the right places.  Convenient right?

What’s my hold up then??

Last week I was working more like 5 to 9 and I’m pooped!

I spent the majority of the week up in Baltimore for some work training and logged long hours either driving, sitting, or pumping.  You read that correct.  Being a working mom means I had to sneak away every 3 hours or so for a little one on one time with my breast pump.  Here is the end results..

30 or so bags of love for my little dude.

I also got to go to Ikea one night and spend an hour or two roaming the aisles for ideas.  Plus I picked up the new furniture for my office.  Remember that post? It’s finally coming to fruition! Now I just have to sell the existing desk and bookcase to make room for the new stuff!  {Any takers?}

Stay Tuned this week for a bunch of posts- I’ve got a ton of projects to up date you on.

I’ve finally finished the {awesome} pelmet boxes for the living room, got a few ideas up my sleeve for a mini bedroom makeover, and of course will be updating you on the office makeover!

Exciting Stuff Right?!

I’ve still got piles of dirty laundry to get to, but I’d rather report on the fabulous trip that Mr. vB and I just returned from.  {I tried to condense the vacation into as few words as possible, but this still might be the longest post to date.  Just Warning ya!}

As a “reward” for exceeding my sales goals last year, Mr. vB and I (along with 135 others) were treated to 5 days of pure luxury in the South of France by my company. 3 days in Monte Carlo, Monaco and 2 days in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France.

Let’s start in Monte Carlo.

We arrived on a Tuesday Morning just a bit groggy thanks to 2 Flights, one of which was overnight, teamed with a 6 hour time difference.  But none the less we were stoked to be on vacation!  We were then whisked from the Nice airport and taken to the beautiful Hermitage Hotel in the heart of Monte Carlo. {only about a 30 minute drive)

After checking in, we grabbed a quick {4 hour} cat nap and then got gussied up for the Welcome Reception.

Our Hotel room was the size of a postage stamp, but my teammate Toni’s room was ENORMOUS!  They even had a private terrace that overlooked the main harbour and Palace.  {that’s where the above photo was taken} Needless to say we hung out in their room ALOT!

Here are Toni and I in one of our many refined moments of the trip.

We were “raising the roof” and/or maybe patting ourselves on the back for winning such an awesome trip!

PS.  you can’t really tell from this photo but Toni is 7 months prego.  She was such a trooper during the trip and I think I complained more about my feet/back that she did!

After a great night of sleep we were up bright and early the next morning to go on our first tour.  We headed out to see the sights of Monaco as well as surrounding cities.

The Bay of Angels

Eze, France

What a view from this mountain top perch!!

St. Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco

(Where Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier}

And the Royal Palace..

{look the prince is home- the white flag is flying above the turret}

Then that evening we got gussied up again, this time for the Black Tie Awards Dinner at the Hotel de Paris.

What a fun evening!

We even caught a model photo shoot, just over the patio…we all gawked, but didn’t recognize either model.  Do you?

The 3rd day we trekked out again in the morning, but this time we headed into the city of Nice.

Did you know that Nice is the 5th largest city in France?  I didn’t.

While in the city we stopped at a few churches, a farmer’s market and drove past the Modern Art Museum.

Then once we got back into Monaco, we took a boat taxi through the harbour over to the Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium (Musee Oceanographique).

What amazing Architecture!!!

By the end of the day we were EXHAUSTED!!

All the energy we could muster up was to order room service and hang out in Toni and Mike’s {fabulous} room.

On our last morning in Monte Carlo, we walked around and took in a few more sites.

The Grande Casino

The Hotel de Paris

The Hermitage {our hotel again}

More models?

And then we were off to the Four Seasons in Provence!

Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur is about 1.5 hours from Monte Carlo and took us through the countryside of France.  We literally thought we were in the middle of nowhere until this came into sight.

The Four Seasons was AWESOME.

Instead of hotel rooms they had villa’s.  And you got to your villa via golf cart!  How cool is that!!

This was the door knocker to our villa.

And when I saw villa I should really say small house.  We had a foyer, a living room, a dining room, a patio, a bedroom, a closet that was the side of our hotel room in Monaco, and TWO full bathrooms.  Really???

We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the resort grounds.

The Spa

The Pool

The Crazy People from Virginia

And before we knew it, it was the last day of the trip.

We ventured out that morning to another town called Saint Paul De Vence.

It was really neat because they infused Modern art throughout the entire village.  But of course I didn’t get any good photos of the art to share..  So instead here are the vB’s and Eubanks…

And check out the view of the Alps!  {Hi Mike- Hi Toni!}

Once back to the resort, we had a lovely lunch and then I headed to get my relaxation on!  Someone had to test out the spa!

Our last evening was spent going into the City of Cannes for dinner.

The vB’s, The Eubanks and the Yare’s- looking good!

And then 24 hours later we were back home.  What an amazing week of seeing new sites and staying in luxurious places, but I was itching to get home to my boy vannyB!  He stayed with my parents at their house in Newport News.  Luckily we still got to see him twice a day…

So there you have it! Our trip in 874 words and a mere 70 photos.  Not bad!  Now the pressure is on to qualify for this year’s trip!!   Anyone need a chair or keyboard tray??

Don’t worry- I haven’t forgotten that I owe you guys a recap on our trip to France.  The post is almost finished.  It’s just taken WAY longer than I expected to condense a week’s worth of fun into a post that won’t take you an hour to read. It will be up by this weekend- PROMISE!

In the meantime we’ve been busy over here at Chateau vB.

The siding has started going up on the back of the house and it looks awesome!  Here’s a sneak peak through the guest room window.

We’ve also done a bit of landscaping in the front yard.  Here’s a sneak peak of that too!

Last but not least, I had a fabulous Mother’s Day!

Mr. vB and his mini-me took me out for a picnic lunch.

vannyB got his first spin in a swing..

I think he liked it.

The diaper bag wedged behind him probably wasn’t too comfortable, but otherwise he would have slid out!

This is one of the funniest photos from the outing…

If van had a text bubble over his head it would say something like, “What stinks?  Hope it isn’t me.”

And this is a favorite.

I’m normally behind the camera but finally a pic of me and my boy!

You can never get/give too many kisses right?

All-right let me get back to my France post… Bye!

Happy Mother’s Day to my Mums…

She is a beautiful, talented and amazing woman.  Some of her many talents include sewing, gardening, cooking, playing scrabble, and babysitting her grand-boys.  I hope that I can be half the mother to vannyB that she has been to me!

Also have to give Mother’s Day shout-outs to my Mother-in-Law, my sister’s-in-law, and my many girlfriends that are mothers or soon to be mothers!  I love you all!

So I was “off the grid” last week.. No TV, No Internet, No Cell Phone, No Laptop, No Email, No Blogging, Not Even Facebook {well, maybe only once!}

No I didn’t fall into a deep dark hole. I actually took a once in a lifetime trip with my hubby to the South of France courtesy of my company.  It was awesome!!  The only down side was that vannyB couldn’t go with us.  It was an amazing trip, but I missed my boy terribly.  Good thing I was preoccupied with the amazing scenery.  Here are a few teaser shots..I’ll recap the whole trip later this week!

So I popped into Wa-Wa today to grab some gas and break a $20 dollar bill.  That was when I was met face to face with the smoothie machine.  Have you seen this thing?  All you do is put the pre-made cup into the machine thingy and it whirls it into a fabulous beverage.

PS.  It also makes milkshakes.

This could be dangerous- very dangerous.  And all for $1.99.  You must try it for yourself.

And now begins the randomness, like it wasn’t random enough already…

Mr. vannyB turned 5 months on Monday.

His new favorite thing is his johnny jumper.  I think he seriously jumped for 45 minutes this evening!  He is also gumming some banana these days along with some oatmeal cereal.  I tell you things are wild and crazy here at the vB house!

I’ve also been busy working on some {interior} house projects, but haven’t had time to finish anything- hence the reason I haven’t posted about them.  For instance, I’ve been trying to make some black out curtains for van’s room out of a shower curtain I found at Target and some black out liner from Joanne’s Fabrics.

First try was a bust- the liner actually illuminated the light filtering in instead of blocking it.  Guess I grabbed the wrong bolt of fabric!  Thank goodness they except returns on cut yardage!

I am also working on some new Pelmet/Cornice Boxes for the Living Room Windows.  I have the boxes made, but the fabric is being a pain.

The windows are wider than the width of the fabric so I am having to piece it all together to make it fit properly. The boxes and fabric have been sitting like this on the dining room table for about 2 weeks now.  I think it is taunting me.

So I think that is all the randomness I have for you.  Hope you have enjoyed it and my grainy iPhone photos.

Maybe one day soon I will have a finished project for you!!

Happy February 15th everyone!

Hope your Valentine’s Day was better than mine and Mr. vB’s!!

We both woke with fevers, aches, chills and other unmentionable symptoms. {guess who never got their flu shots??}

Luckily vannyB was in good spirits and off to daycare he went while mommy and daddy spent the day in bed.

Today we are feeling somewhat back to normal.  I’m running a small fever and am terribly congested, but other than that I’m feeling just peachy!

Thought I would share some latest photos of the boy.  They make me smile and I hope they do the same for you!

I’m such a big boy now! I can play in my johnny jumper and my excer-saucer with the help of some extra blankets!

I can’t get over how red his hair looks in photos!  In person it has a twinge of strawberry blonde, but these photos make him look like he is a red head! {not that there is anything wrong with that!!}

Here’s to feeling back to 100% tomorrow!!