FOUR

Have y'all seen the "numbered" posts going around blogland? In honor of April, the fourth month, I'm doing my very own fours...

FOUR of My Nicknames

Mande, Sugar, Wifey, Mommy (not sure if the last one counts as a nickname, but Parker has always called me "Mamma" and now half the time he says "Mommy" - it's like he grew up overnight!)

FOUR Jobs I've Had

Ice Cream Scooper at Baskin Robbins, Tour Guide/Orientation Leader for UCSB (Go, Gauchos!), Nanny, Elementary School Teacher

UCSB via here

FOUR Movies I've Watched More Than Once

Clueless (I'm sure I can recite this one from memory), Sixteen Candles, Roman Holiday, The American President

Sixteen Candles

FOUR Things in My Purse (for me!)

KIND Bar (my favorite is this one, yum), Wallet, Lip Gloss, iPhone

FOUR Things in my Purse (for my toddler!)
I have pretty much stopped carrying around a diaper bag now that P is a toddler and doesn't need half the things he did when he was a baby baby. Instead, I keep a few supplies for him in my (ginormous) purse, including...

Diaper, Snack Cup (currently filled with dried fruit and cashews), Crayons, Face Wipes

FOUR Places I've Lived

California, Washington, D.C., Arizona, and my new Sweet Home - Alabama!

FOUR Places I've Visited (foreign)

Tahiti, Mexico, England, Cayman Islands

Bora Bora - Diving with the sharks!

FOUR Places I've Visited (domestic)

Yankee Stadium - New York, Mount Rushmore - South Dakota, Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve - Hawaii, Yellowstone National Park - Montana

Hiking Yellowstone Canyon - It's Pink!

FOUR Places on my Travel Bucket List

Maldives, Italy, France, Galapagos Islands

Maldives via here

FOUR Things I Don't Eat
I'm pretty open to everything - especially if it's fresh and prepared well. Lamb, foie gras, raw sushi, beef carpaccio - bring it on! So what's on my "no" list? 

1. Fake Sugar - I enjoyed Diet Cokes and sugar-free yogurts up until I met my husband, who pointed out that they tasted gross. After tasting the "real thing" after many years of "sugar free", I totally agreed and switched to real sugar for everything. The funny thing is I lost five pounds after doing this. I'm convinced that fake sugar wasn't right for my body.
2. Nonfat Dairy - I'm slightly lactose intolerant. This is especially frustrating at fro-yo places when the best flavors are non-fat. Sigh. It's just real ice cream and gelato for me!
3. Margarine - I'm a butter fan
4. Shrimp Heads - While I'm slightly adventurous, I just haven't been able to eat one of these guys yet, despite the fact I know they are (supposedly) the tastiest part

FOUR Television Shows I Watch

Scandal, The Bachelor, Top Chef, Gilmore Girls

Even though we still haven't hooked up cable at the new house, Max and I manage to keep up with Scandal and Top Chef. The Bachelor will forever be my guilty pleasure, dating back to my college days of watching Andrew Firestone's season with my six roommates (though my love continued on via hosting viewing parties). And while Gilmore Girls sadly had its season finale many years ago, if I'm folding laundry and Sweet P is sleeping, you can bet that it's streaming on Netflix.

FOUR Things to Look Forward to This Summer

Visiting the Beach, Music in the Park, 

Growing Herbs & Veggies, Becoming an Auntie! (My sister Lindsey is due in July!)
Bring on summer!

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Southern Ladies Garden

It's spring in the South, and apparently this means it's time to "plant your annuals" - something this California girl is so not familiar with - along with tornado warnings and ginormous bumble bees. But the gardening was something I could get on-board with. 

Over the weekend, our Botanical Garden hosted its annual spring plant sale. I was forewarned it was busy and huge, but the place to purchase garden items. I headed over with my wonderful mamma (in from California), sweet toddler Parker, and drive-through Starbucks (because coffee is always a yes).

Little man was loving his wagon time and his special drink (whole milk plus a pump of vanilla syrup - he adores having his very own Starbucks!).

We ended up with pink and orange annuals (Celosias and Marigolds, love this color combo!), plus heirloom tomato starters, herbs and and a yellow kerria plant. 

 We waited for Parker to go down for a nap, then my mom and I tackled our small garden bed in the yard. It was mother-daughter gardening day!

We first had to clean the area up a bit. 

Next we got a shipment of dirt courtesy of husby and we were good to go!

These hot pink annuals have my name all over them. We used them as a border.

We planted herbs on the right, and the tomato plants are towards the back. 

I've really never planted anything before (the Scottsdale desert wasn't the most inviting place to start a garden) so I am twelve kinds of excited to see what happens in this little area!

Are you planting anything this spring??

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PCK - What's in a Name?

Today I'm linking up for Show & Tell Tuesday, telling all about how this sweet guy got the name Parker Campbell Klein...

I mean, naming another person is huge. I remember when Parker received his Social Security card in the mail and we were floored seeing the name we had chosen in writing. On an official document. Like it was real or something, that name we just fabricated in our heads. I still am just amazed when I see Parker' name printed on things we get like doctor's bills and packages - in part because, just like his name, he also seemed to spring out of thin air. 

So anyway, back to that whole naming another human being thing. As a girl, I had been dreaming up baby names since the day Max and I got married. Actually, who are we kidding, I was probably dreaming up baby names way before that. But once we were married, it seemed acceptable to talk about, ha! I had lists and lists of what I thought were fun and unique names. Once we were actually pregnant, I started throwing out these names for reactions. Y'all, my husband vetoed each and every one. I will never have a little boy named Hennessy (and I think the grandparents are all sighing with relief right now). I started thinking we would have a nameless baby. Throw into the mix that we weren't going to find out if we were having a boy or a girl, and our work was doubled. 

We had a road trip from Scottsdale to Sedona to attend a wedding while I was still in my first trimester (and no one really knew we were pregnant yet) and I remember talking baby names the whole entire trip. It was on that highway that we agreed on Parker! I don't remember whose list had it first or how it showed up there, but it was the only name we both agreed on and we both loved it. And Parker is so a Parker. 

His middle name was one of my crazy ideas that Max still went for, maybe because I was the pregnant one? I wanted our little one's middle name to have meaning, and I thought back to our very first date in the California town of Campbell! Campbell was also the city where Max proposed. I thought the name was adorable as well, so Parker Campbell was decided upon! We kept the name to ourselves for a bit to make sure it was the one, then began sharing it soon after as our option if we had a boy. I was in love with the name, but knew we wouldn't be using it since we were probably having a girl, or so I thought, ha! I was completely surprised when Max announced at the birth it's a boy! This sweetness? Totally a Parker Campbell!

How did you choose your little ones' names? Link up here!

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Lilly For Target/Pink Sunday

How many of you braved Pink Sunday, aka the Lilly launch at Target?? The prospect of so many super cute items had me out of bed and headed to Target with my sweet mom (in town from California) for the 8AM opening. Fun fact, we almost missed out completely because the last time I checked, our Target Sunday hours start at 10AM (we do live in the Bible Belt). Husby prompted me to re-check that morning and I saw they would be opening at eight, whew! Crisis averted and we arrived in time to see massive lines at both entrances. It was raining, and looking at the throngs of women I told my mom that I kind of just wanted to stay in the car. I really don't like confrontation, and would be way too nice to fight so many people to try to get anything. We wound up lining up anyway. I took note of the teenage girls at the front in rain boots and shorts, and the women my age in their monogrammed raincoats (note to self: I live in the South now and must get a monogramed raincoat. Plus a monogram for our front door - I think we might be the only house on the block without one). Anyway, eight o'clock rolled around, the doors opened, and I totally snapped into survival mode. My mom and I had made a plan while in line to head directly to the home and garden section (we had scoped out the empty display case the day before so we knew where it would be). I didn't think we had a chance getting any clothing with so many people, so we placed our bets on home goods. I grabbed a basket while entering the store and sprinted (I kid you not) to the Lilly home display section. I was the first one there! Granted, this is because most everyone else went directly to clothing. I started grabbing items for my basket and was soon enclosed upon by many ladies. My mom showed up with a cart and we kept filling over the next couple minutes. We headed to clothing, only to find this:

Y'all, that photo was taken at 8:09AM. It took nine minutes for every single piece of clothing to be snatched up. My. Word. Apparently, women swooped in, grabbed all they could carry, and were holding court at the dressing rooms, trading and bargaining for pieces. I mean, I'm sad I missed out on the Lilly dresses, but I would have never survived that. My mom and I strolled past the home section before we checked out and it was pretty much picked clean, too. Southern women are for real. 

I loved that I got to experience it all with my mom! 

And I totally adore all my loot. 

 Putting our matchy-matchy plates into the car - we both snagged a set! 

And Lilly at home! 

Now, dish, did you brave Pink Sunday?

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What I Wore Wednesday

I'm linking up with The Pleated Poppy today for What I Wore Wednesday!

My outfit was Pinspired of course. I'm convinced I looked 50% less cute pre-Pinterest. I just love browsing to get ideas of things to put together that I would never think of on my own. Especially when I already own all the pieces in my closet! Enter the outfit below that I pinned here.

A perfect spring outfit and it totally popped into my head when we were getting ready to take little man to the church sponsored Easter Egg Hunt at the park. 

I nailed it, right? I first saw the outfit recreated on Pinterest Told Me To about a year ago here. 

While both the other outfits went for heels, I opted for flats since we were going to a park and would be walking on grass. Find similar looks here!

What are you wearing today??



One more thing! My Cool Whip Dyed Easter Eggs post from last week is being featured here today! Click to check it out along with lots of other recipes, ideas, and DIYs!

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Easter Weekend

We kicked off Easter Sunday with a festive breakfast of yogurt and toppings inside Easter eggs. I just loved P's happy face when he saw the eggs! Being a parent is the best thing ever. 

The Easter Bunny made a visit as well...

Bubbles and books were both a hit!

This little critter watched on as Parker opened his goodies. We think he lives under the stairs on the deck and I think he needs a name!

My two favorite guys in the whole world!

We snapped a family Easter photo before heading to brunch downtown. 

Our little town square - adorable, no?  

 Perusing menu options with Dada. Such a big boy!

And wouldn't you know, the Easter Bunny visited while we were out and hid eggs all over the backyard!

Little man just loved finding them!

And throwing them, ha!

Parker had practice egg hunting the day before at an Egg Hunt sponsored by a local church. The event was held at the park at the end of our street, so we took Parker's new wagon out for a spin and walked on over. 

The church did a great job with the event and even had the eggs separated by age so Parker was able to take his time with the rest of the little ones and have so much fun!

Lunch was a potluck but Parker had to get in some playground time first!

Like I said before, being a parent is the best. 

Happy Easter from the Kleins!

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