{4.14.12}

 We had a mini egg hunt at our home before breakfast.

I was so happy to find a chocolate cross to give Zion instead of bunny.

 In case you missed the haircut post…Zion had her first haircut!!  So much fun.

 I took Zion on a mommy-daughter date to the Central Park Zoo. 

Didn't take any pics with animals (impossible without a stroller)!

She loved her chicken strips and french fries.

Hubs gave me the afternoon off and I headed out for some retail therapy.

Decided to try some different looks on my skinnier body.

Should've nabbed the entire upper right outfit, but it would have blown my budget.

Instead left home with a pair of size 6 black jeans. 

(Smallest size I've worn since high school!)

{4.7.12}

 Decided to surprise Zion with a first visit to Chuck E. Cheese.

Most of the games were busted (seriously! ugh!) but we did get complimentary cotton candy.

These pictures were taken moments before a colossal toddler meltdown.

Note to self: cotton candy + toddler = bad idea.

 I went on a massive Ikea run on Friday.  

We (meaning my my husby really) hustled to put together our new dining table.  

Just in time for our traditional Passover dinner.

 We headed out to grab a few things downtown.  

We introduced Zion to Gray's Papaya on the Upper West Side.  

Can you say love at first bite?

The new additions:  Table & Chairs, Bed Frame & Linens, Toddler Bed & Linens!

We are loving having family meals at our table,  

enjoying sleeping above ground level,

but not so much transition from crib to big girl bed.

(A subject for an entirely different post!)

{3.31.12}

 A friend returned the exersaucer we'd loaned her,
and Zion decided that it was her new favorite toy again.

 My brother-in-law "T" came in for a visit,
we headed to Dallas BBQ for Dinner.

 On a beautiful day, we headed to meet the Hubs for lunch at Bryant Park,
and Zion rode the carousel.

I made perfect pan-grilled sirloin steaks with sautéed shrooms.
We had lots of yummy treats!

Exciting News!

Kick off May with a huge blog party:

JOANNA: BrockPaperScissors, LISH: Imprintalish, 

ELIZABETH: LoveIsTheAdventure & COURTNEY: Baxtron{Life}

ARE JOINING TOGETHER TO HOST A PARTY!!!

Here is a great opportunity to grow your blog!

We are bringing our reader audiences together!!

OVER 3000 FOLLOWERS

HOW DOES IT WORK?

You will link up on any ONE hostess’ sites above. 

Our links will be interlinked, meaning: 
your post will be displayed on ALL 4 of our sites!

Go to the links on any of the host pages beginning Tuesday May 1st! 

Link up any post you want to showcase your blog!

Make new friends!!  Increase YOUR readers!!!

GRAB THE BUTTON AND TELL ABOUT THE PARTY!!!!!

We can't wait!!!!!

XO,

<center><a href="http://www.baxtronlife.com/search/label/mayday" target="new""><img src="http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h446/baxtronlife/mayday200x200.png" /></a></center>

Help us promote the event and you could win a $20 Starbucks Giftcard! Come back daily to tweet about the giveaway for extra entries from now through the event!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Meltdown {v.15}

Progress! Points! & Breaking Plan!

Measurements:Chest: 34"Arms: 10"Waist: 25"Hips/Butt: 36.5"Thighs: 21" 

Weight Lost Since Last Weigh-in: 2 pounds

Total Weight Lost: 24 pounds

Inches Lost This Week: 0

Total Inches Lost: 35.5 inches

Points Earned:

This Week: 30

Points Balance: 372

I started this past week thinking that I would press through.  Then, Passover dinner came along, and I wanted to enjoy mashed potatoes and stuffing with béarnaise sauce with my family.  So I gave myself a cheat night.  Ate mostly back on plan on Saturday and then Sunday went to Easter brunch, where I gave myself more cheating…I actually had a piece of buttered bread.  It was the best bread I've ever tasted.  LOL.

Then we hosted a friend over for dinner that I hadn't seen in over a year, she just happened to bring in my nemesis…cold stone creamery ice cream cake.  I was like, ok, a little more cheating.  I didn't really feel guilty, as I had come to the conclusion that my body was in conservation mode.  I have been back "on-plan" with my eating since Monday morning.  I'm a bit suspicious that my 2 lb. loss is more water weight than anything else, but still, it puts me into the 130's for the first time in almost 3 years.  Yep, 139.  

As for exercise, I haven't seen Jillian in 5 days.  I am hoping to break my little exercise fast today, but again worried that exercise at this point could put me right back in conservation mode.  I just have 8 days of the shred left to complete to say I did it.  So now I am at the "to finish or not to finish" question.

This Week:

I'm proud of these choices:

I am actually proud of myself for allowing the cheating.  I know it helped me get back on track.

I'd like to work more on:

Keeping my food journal again.

Drinking half my body weight in ounces of water.

Eating all 6-7 of my daily mini meals. 

I totally cheated when:

I ate: mashed potatoes, stuffing, bearnaise sauce, brownies, bread with butter, fruit tart, strawberries, and ice cream cake.  And it was all delicious.

How did you do this week?

Want to catch up on my weight loss journey?

Muffintop Meltdown V.1-V.14

SAVE THE DATE

Details coming Friday!!!

Zion's First Haircut & $100 Visa Giveaway {Find Great Deals on SquareSpot}

Thank you to SquareSpot for sponsoring this post! 
Visit SquareSpot to find great deals and discounts on high quality family-centric products and services.

It was finally time to take Zion in for her first hair cut.  We've put it off as much as possible because her hair has been relatively easy to handle and beautiful, crazy beautiful even.  But Easter morning confirmed the need:

Luckily, I had just signed up to try SquareSpot, an online market providing great savings and benefits for busy urban moms on a wide range of high quality goods and services in New York City.  They just so happened to have a fantastic deal for a cute little children's boutique in Brooklyn called Mini Max.

I am always looking for reasons to go to new places and experience new things in the city, and haven't been to Brooklyn in who knows how long, so I new this deal was perfect for me.  For $15 I was able to purchase a $20 gift certificate which would cover almost the entire cost of Zion's haircut.  Plus, I knew they also carried a small collection of fun eco-friendly toys and couldn't wait to have Zion pick something out on our special date.

This morning, we ventured out in the windy but warm weather…on our special date to Brooklyn for her haircut.  We enjoyed the long relaxing train ride with relatively few transfers.  Getting to Brooklyn never felt easier!  We arrived at our destination where Zion was warmly welcomed and given her choice of kid show and salon chair.  She chose a Diego video and then a yellow cab to sit in for her cut.  (Such a NYC girl already!)  I, of course, hovered and took pictures like the paparazzi, just like any first time mom would do!

There have been so many big milestones this week, all blatantly screaming at me that my little baby girl is a full on little girl now…no baby at all.  It really hasn't all hit me yet, but I am sure it is just a matter of time, in fact I can feel the "they grow up so fast" tears just waiting to be released like a torrential Spring rain.  

After Zion's haircut we took some time to pick out a couple of new toys.  First she gravitated to the tea party sets, then to the musical instruments, but in the end we took home some cute animal bath toys and a new farm puzzle.  Prices were incredibly reasonable and we both had a great time.  My expectations were far exceeded for both Mini Max, for being crazy awesome, and SquareSpot for connecting me to such a great establishment through a great offer!

Shortly after I purchased the Mini Max offer on SquareSpot, I had to go back and check out the additional deals and discounts on high quality, family-centric products and services that were being offered to make sure I didn't miss out!  They rotate new deals in and out on a weekly basis.  

source

As you know I've been working hard at losing weight and getting in shape in my weekly Meltdown series, so I simply had to purchase the Moms of Steel offer for three Fitness "Bootcamp" Stroller workouts in Central Park for the price of one!  I haven't booked my dates yet, because I am still finishing up my current program, but after such a great experience with the first offer I tried, I am sure this is going to be top notch!

One of the things I loved learning about SquareSpot was that they test each product or service so everything on the site is hand picked!  They also offer a SquareCard program that gives you discounts off hundreds of New York City services and programs!  From what I have seen so far they are constantly adding more partners to their list.  The website is super easy to use and thankfully I don't have a ton of offer emails flooding my inbox.  If you are a New York City mama I totally recommend you check them out and sign-up for an account!

Thanks to SquareSpot, one of my lovely readers is going to win a $100 Visa Gift Card!!  Will it be you?

a Rafflecopter giveaway
You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway

I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all my own. #CGSquareSpot #spon

"Pinning!" Tangerino

Welcome to "Pinning!"

A Weekly Pinterest Link-Up

(Share pins, meet others who love "Pinning", get inspired!)

First timer?  It's simple just follow these rules:

 Please follow your hosts: Courtney & Kimberly

then

 Link up your favorite pins post for the week

and

Link back to the party

<center> <a href="http://www.baxtronlife.com/search/label/Pinning" target="_blank"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gbvryU40_Qo/Ty_cGnh2JNI/AAAAAAAAB9k/iwfB9OZ7SFo/s200/PinningHalf.jpg" height="150" width="150" /></a></center>

Each week a winner will be chosen to flaunt the title of "Pinning-est" for successfully wowing us with the best Pinterest find.  The winner will be featured/announced in the following week's post!

I had such a fantastic weekend!!  Friday I went on a giant IKEA run, Saturday I got together with Kristina {From City Corporate to Suburb Mama}, one of my favorite ladies for pedicures and lunch…which led me to the inspiration for this post!  I chose Essie in Tangerine for my toes, and I'm smitten.  I have a serious color crush!  Turns out I'm not the only one!  

 

essie tangerine                            watch: unknown     

shades: mango

via Hanneli

parlor chair: cb2

dress: halston

frames: upcycle via etsy {unknown shop/product sold}

shoes: ruche

Which Spring color are you currently obsessing over!??

THANK YOU for Linking up last week!  

Are you "Pinning"?  

Come on, everyone is doing it.  

Join us MONDAYS for weekly sharing of Pinterest finds.  

Also sharing with: Loves On A Thursday, Current Crush Thursdays & Oh, How Pinteresting!

A Quick Update / Ramble

Just a simple note because I've been far too busy the past several days to prepare anything with beautiful sparkly edited photos or carefully scripted words…

 This weekend was fantastic, and wonderful and in so many ways the "turning of a page" in our lives. I want to expand on all of the details and really hope to, but for now I'm just tossing thoughts onto this page so as not to lose them.

 Friday a great friend and I went on a crazy Ikea run. Several hours later I was home beaming with joy as my husband put together our dining room table set. This table deserves a story in itself, so I will share that Thursday! Also purchased: a new bed frame and linens for us, as well as a toddler bed for Zion.

 We bought Zion a toddler bed because she started flinging herself out of her crib and had hurt herself once doing it. I wrestled with the idea of whether she was ready for it, but in the end we just decided to go for it. We didn't set it up until today, and although she skipped her nap, after only 12-15 curtain calls she was fast asleep in her bed. It will be interesting to see if she makes it all night without getting up.

 Saturday, my lovely friend Kristina and I went to get pedicures and have lunch…had such a great and encouraging time with her (as always). :)  We do church on Saturdays for now, because our church rents space from a church that doesn't have free time for us on Sundays currently.

 Sunday we had breakfast at home as a family after a mini egg hunt. Zion really got into the hunt this year, and was all about the treasures inside the eggs. We were blessed to attend a fabulous brunch with some of our church family and then finished our evening by hosting a good friend for dinner that I haven't seen in forever!

 It has been a packed, happy, joyous weekend. I'm exhausted as I write this and looking ahead at a crazy busy schedule over the next week. No slowing down any time soon.

 Hope you had a lovely weekend. :) Courtney

Follow Along Friday! Hosted by {byAimee.com}

Welcome lovelies!  Here is a fun little video to get you in the mood for our party!

we want to connect with YOU!

this week we're focusing on building & connecting on twitter. every other Friday we want to connect with you on Social Media -- Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook…

  we are featuring five fabulous blogs this week: 

how to connect:

1: "follow" byAimee via Twitter AND THE FIVE lovely FEATURED HOSTS by clicking on their buttons above or the {hosts} linked up below!   2: Link up by following two EASY steps: 
Step #1: Fill out the "submission" form below & enter your TWITTER PROFILE URL into the "URL" section. Step #2: On the next screen, select "Upload from Computer". Consider selecting your brand or logo to help build brand awareness of your blog or business. {Or your pretty face is fine too!}    3: go to as many links as you can {tweet them a little intro - tag me in your post - i am SURE they will follow back!!} come back in a few days & check out a couple more! 
  4. IF you want to share our little get together, please tweet: “follow along with @byAimeeSki today at http://wp.me/p1yWH4-cw." or you can always tell your lovely Facebook followers too! 
  5. Come back and leave a comment at the end of our post telling us who your favorite tweetie-friend is... or the friendliest tweeter... or the sweetest product offerings... or the loveliest profile image. We will be featuring some highlights later on ! thanks for stopping by today. we look forward to following along with everyone that links up! 
 {don't want to miss another one of our fancy dancy Follow Along parties? sign up for email news in the sidebar!}