BIG NEWS!!!

The perks of (my husband) working at Google are amazing, but when you work your way up the ladder... sometimes the only place to go is to their headquarters. This is the pretty much where we are now.
Although we have put in a request to transfer to Austin, Texas... it looks like we're either staying put in Los Angeles, or move up to headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Oh, woe is me.

We are interested in Austin for several reasons:

#1. Ryan's family lives there. I LOVE being near family, the more the merrier, and since you couldn't pay me to move back near my family in Rome, GA (or any small town with nothing to do)... Austin would be it.

#2. Austin has Google Fiber. We're internet people. Enough said.

#3. We can build a giant humongous house for under $400K in Austin. With a pool. That is crazy-talk here in LA, a 2-bedroom built in 1970 can start around $400K here, that's ludicrous... I'm kinda sorta into the whole 'more bang for your buck' idea.

The truth is, if the option of moving to Austin actually does open up... we would seriously consider it. But the state laws and conservative people that make up Austin aren't exactly my cup of tea... I feel like if I'm not a conservative right-wing anti-Obama Christian with a garage full of guns, then I would be outcasted... and that's not where we want to raise our family. Those aren't my people.

Mountain View... well, meh.
Yes it's in San Fran, which is a really awesome area... but the homes start at $2Mil. Let me repeat that-- home prices START AT TWO MILLION DOLLARS.
LOLOL.
ANYWAY!

So, Ryan & I had a serious talk over the weekend about our options. We have decided that, unless Austin opens up...
 WE MAY POSSIBLY BE BUILDING A HOUSE IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA!!

My life is a dream.
The idea of having a house in LA isn't exactly ideal (unless you have a few million sitting around) so I was hesitant... until recently when one of Ryan's coworkers built a 3-story townhouse in Hawthorne, for under $500K! That's seriously unheard of.
So I began researching, and have found several companies offering this option. The townhouses are built to order, modern, spacious, 3 floors, and have 4 bedrooms.
AND a 2 car garage.
AND a laundry room.
AND it's near the beach.
AND it's not in Inglewood.
(if these seem like no-big-deals, you've never visited LA).
AND of course, they are in the ever-so-awesome city of Los Angeles.

So we're thinking. We're pondering. We're making plans. Can't wait to see where we go!:)

Google Family Day and DELILAH'S BIRTHDAY!

Okay, so I swore I was going to start this blog back up and suddenly 2 weeks went by without a new post. So this is me, getting into the habit of blogging again:)

This weekend was incredible! One of the best weekends we've had, as a family, in quite awhile. Everything went very smoothly, we relaxed, we celebrated, and even though something pretty terrible happened, we had a great attitude about it and didn't let it ruin our weekend... most importantly-- we celebrated Delilah's 3rd birthday!! Ohmygosh my baby girl is THREE!

In fact, it was an extended weekend! On Thursday morning, we woke up for Google's annual 'Family Day'... they are so much fun! This year, Google paid Santa Monica to close their pier so we could party! We took Delilah on almost all the rides, ate lunch and funnel cakes, played games and won prizes... it was just an awesome day!

Me & my Delilah Kate

I love this photo! It was Delilah's first non-kiddy ride... she loved it by the end:)

So after Google Family Day, we went home and prepared for the next day: Delilah's Birthday!!!

Ryan & I spent all night decorating the house, wrapping gifts, blowing balloons... here's the final look:

Cute, huh? Notice the balloons on the door, when Delilah opened the door, they fall out on her!

She woke up and loved everything! I made her birthday pancakes, sang her 'Happy Birthday', opened presents, went for lunch at Olive Garden (her fav!), and then went to a water park. She LOVED it. The day was perfect, I couldn't have planned it better myself.

 "I'm FREE!!"

The 'bad thing' that I mentioned happened this day, we were going to Hurricane Harbor Water Park, but we got a phone call saying that Ryan's passport was stolen (and likely sold on the black market)... so we needed to be by the phone around 5:30 for an important call, and so we visited Stoner Water Park instead. It actually ended up being a blessing, because instead of spending $100, we spent $8, and instead of driving 2 hours, we drove 20 minutes:)

The passport issue is still being handled, but what an unexpected twist of events! I've never dealt with identity theft before, and hopefully this won't escalate into something terrible. The main concern is dealing with this while still traveling often, if Ryan's name gets red-flagged it would be awful... he travels throughout the year, for work and leisure. He already has an awesome trip for Europe planning in August, hopefully this mess gets straightened out by then.

Saturday was a great day because we had some good quality family time, AND BONUS: Ryan & I had some extra-good quality time together to talk about future plans!!! We talked about moving, houses, each other, and a surprise which I'm not ready to reveal... it was just really nice. I love laying together and making plans with that man, I'm beyond blessed that we get to spend our life together. We had a MAJOR SUPER IMPORTANT discussion, and I'm super stoked about it... I'll post about it in the next post, because it deserves a post of its own.

Anyway, lots of hubby-bonding & family-time this weekend, a successful birthday party for the girl, a memorable Google Family Day, and a very laid back Sunday too (we ate at a new Brazilian restaurant, it was SO good, I actually ate MEAT! Then we walked around downtown pushing the stroller).

 I love my sweet family, they are my world.

Big major announcements coming soon:)

  

My New Beginning to this Blog (no, this time it's for real)

I've decided that my life is too awesome to not be documenting it more than I already do. I use various social media outlets to share some moments, but there's entirely too much going on for me to clog up Facebook all day. I need a place to share all these cool events, and moments, and special happenings...

My life is amazing.
I love every single day.
I love my family, my home by the beach, living in Los Angeles, my friends, I love my day-to-day life.
I'm grateful for every single thing I have... and I count my blessings every day.
With that being said, my beautiful life needs to be shared.

 For the longest time, I've contemplated starting my blog and thought "not yet, I need to make my blog pretty" or "not yet, I need interesting things to post." Yet here I am, I've been saying those lines to myself for about 2 years now... and I've traveled the world and raised my daughter in the meantime. So before I procrastinate any longer: I'm just going to do this!:)

I'm not into the big intros, I'm sure you'll get to know me and my family more as we go. I've been blogging since I was a teen, starting with livejournal... but I filtered my audience. This is a public blog and will remain a public blog, so enjoy!
[Side note: I couldn't shut this thing down if I wanted to, have you SEEN my two previous posts?! The number of visits those 2 posts get per day is insane... hi my name is Adrienne, and I know how to make successful Pinterest media.]

Anyway, this is my jumping off point... I hope you like it:)

How To Make a Father's Day Bookmark Gift

How To Make A Father's Day Bookmark

I created another fun, inexpensive gift for Father's Day (which is just around the corner!). 
This is a simple, easy-to-make project that's quick and personalized...especially if your 'Daddy' likes to read! 

Here's a step-by-step guide to make a cute, meaningful gift for this upcoming special day, or any day for that matter.

Materials Needed

• String
• Clear Packing Tape
• Photo
• Scissors / Blade

1. Print a photo of your child (preferably one of them reaching up towards the sky).

2. Carefully cut around your child in the photograph, removing all of the background:

3. Cut 2 pieces of clear tape and put them on the front and back of the photo cutout (you may need extra for anything the tape couldn't cover). Press out any air bubbles, and then cut around the edges of your photo. If you have access to a laminating machine, consider yourself lucky!

4. Punch a hole at the top of your photo cutout, I used a kitchen knife!

5. Using your string, make a bookmark tassel. The loop handle should be about 3 - 5 inches long.
      (You may have to search Google for a how-to tutorial, it's pretty easy.)

6. Thread the end of the bookmark tassel through the hole, coming from the back of the photo and out
through the front. Put the tassel through the loop and tighten.

Voila!

Happy Father's Day!

How To Make an Andy Warhol Pop Art Using Baby Pictures

How To Make an Andy Warhol Pop Art Using Baby Pictures

Need a cheap, unique, personalized gift for Father's Day? Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to make an extra-special gift with your child!

I was flipping through my latest issue of Parenting Magazine when I came across some fun and easy Father's Day gift ideas. I love making homemade gifts, the thought and "special touch" you can put into them makes it much more sentimental... not to mention, I'm a very crafty girl and love working on fun DIY projects!

I had a hard time choosing just one idea from the article, they were all so cute... so I picked 3 and gave each one a personalized twist to add more sentiment. My favorite project, the Andy Warhol Pop Art, took a little more time and effort than the others, but I love how well it turned out and would like to share how I did it.
You can find tutorials for the other two DIY gifts on my blog later this week.


For this particular project, I already had a few of the materials at home, and a quick trip to Michael's Arts & Crafts was all I needed to get everything I needed to begin.

Here's what you will need to have:

• Canvas (any size will do, I used an 8x11" canvas with a stapled back)
• 4 different colors of Non-Toxic Washable Finger Paint (I found a 4-pack at Michael's for $4.99)
• 4 printed photographs 
• White paint (for a primer)
• Paintbrush/spongebrush
• Glue (I just used a stick of Elmer's glue)
• Tape
• Scissors
• Ruler or measuring tape

I prepared my pictures first since that is the most complicated task. I have a photo printer at home, but you can take an SD card to CVS and print pics for just a few bucks!

I used 4 distinct photos to add a little variety (plus it's too hard to chose just one photo of that precious baby!). Try to chose photos with their entire body in the picture, since the background will be removed (it may look funny with an arm or foot cut off). You can add a filter to your pictures (like Instagram) to give it a colorful "pop!"... I also ran a sepia/black&white filter to fade them out a bit.

Here are the steps to create your masterpiece!

1. Using scissors, carefully cut around your child's silhouette and remove as much background as possible. Do this to all 4 photos and set the cutouts aside.

 2. Measure the length of the canvas and mark the exact middle with a pencil. Measure the width and mark the middle as well. Using your pencil markings as guidance, lightly draw a 'cross' through middle to form 4 equal sections, like this:

3. Place your tape across the penciled cross, this will be used to protect the canvas from any 'runaway paint'.

4. If your child has a hard time coloring in the lines (which isn't a bad thing!), tape paper over the sections you're not working on to protect the canvas from 'accident' paint and spills.

Tip: Before you begin painting - plan ahead! Play around with the pictures & colors and chose which section each color & picture will go in... I made a quick sketch on a piece of paper to remember my layout.

And now the fun part!!!

5. Setup an area for you child to get wild & messy!! I put a small table out on our balcony put a towel underneath. Be sure to have plenty of paper towels & baby wipes (a mother's best friend) on hand!

6. It's painting time! Choose one color of the non-toxic finger paint and let your baby go to town! There is no right or wrong, the more personal and 'child-like', the better:)

Just a thought: Give them a blank piece of paper to 'practice' on beforehand to help them get the gist. This was my 1-year-old's first time finger painting, so I let her practice a little!

7. Once your little artist has finished painting the first section, put the canvas in a safe and 'airy' place to dry. It doesn't take long for fingerpaint to dry, a quick 15-20 minutes and it was completely dry.

8. Repeat steps 4-7 until every section is painted a different color. Now marvel in your child's beautiful creation!

Remember, it's perfectly fine if the paints mix or go outside the lines... it only adds character.

9. Once the entire canvas is painted and completely dry, peel off the tape and remove any dried paint flakes left behind. Using a paintbrush or sponge brush, apply white paint over the cross where your tape lines are. You may need to add a second coat of white paint, especially if you're painting over gooey finger paint.

10. Apply glue to the back of your photo cutouts, and press the cutout onto its painted section. I placed a heavy book on top of each picture to add pressure until they dried.

Tip: If your picture is missing a leg or hand, try placing it along a border to give the illusion of your child 'peeking' around. 

Voila! 

Masterpiece complete.

Makes a fantastic, memorable gift... for Daddy's, grandparents, or even as just some fun deco pop art for the kids room! 

It adds a bright, colorful touch to my daughter's room, don't you think?!

Happy Father's Day, to all the wonderful Daddy's out there!

Happy crafting:)