Erin, Author at The Sunny Side Up Blog

Fashion

03.22.13

Fashion Friday

Fashion Friday! By no means am I claiming to be all that fashionable, but clothes are fun and we need a little fun on Friday, right? Right. Spring is in the air! I love Spring fashion. The bright colors are so HAPPY.

This is a top I bought at the Banana Republic Outlet last Fall, but I pulled it out this week and decided it was perfect for Spring too! This color of yellow works great for either time of year. And I’m thinking great for Summer too since it’s so lightweight. I love it when I find versatile clothes that work throughout the year.

Another look at this blouse in a poorly lit iPhone pic taken at the Cheesecake Factory last October. Oh my word. The Cheesecake Factory. Now I’m hungry. And it’s past 11:00 at night. I can’t eat something this late. Or can I? I might have to. :)

I have been loving my huge gold hoop earrings lately and have been wearing them a lot.

They make me want to tell someone their fortune.

Plus they seem to work with everything.

This dress cinches above the waist and I’ve mentioned this great tip before:

(get ready – great tip coming)

** it is always flattering to draw attention to the smallest part of your body. For most women that is above the waist at the rib cage. A little something I picked up from watching way too many episodes of TLC’s What Not to Wear. Thank you Stacey and Clinton! Now I just need to find a miracle outfit that also makes me look tanner. :)

And since March weather is notorious for being so fickle, here is a Banana Republic sweater I am still wearing on cooler days. My sister gave me this for Christmas because she knows how much I adore all things simple, grey, and with huge cowl necks. She nailed it. It’s a favorite!

Casual and warm. LOVE the open cowl neck with silver buttons.

And I love Fridays! The anticipation of a weekend and time to relax is the best feeling.

Even though the weekend comes and goes and relaxing doesn’t seem to happen around here.

That’s ok. I’ll take it anyway.

Enjoy yours!

xoxo, Erin

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Uncategorized

03.21.13

Two things

that made me happy today…

Cleaning out our “catch all” drawer for the girls’ endless art/school work.

And choosing the look/style for my inside window trim. My finish carpenter put this together for me to make sure he knew what I wanted. Aside from adding a wider shelf right below the window it’s perfect! I may have squealed. :) This is a peek of my mudroom.

And another peek. A wall of cabinets (locker style) – one for each person in the family.

Ok. Three things that made me happy today.

What’s making you smile?

xoxo, Erin

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Uncategorized

03.20.13

The everyday stuff

This is the scene I see from my kitchen every day. Six chairs at the table yet all three of my kids always end up parked together on one. Some sort of barbie, polly pocket, or stuffed animal living on the table along with our food. And leftover toast (from breakfast) and pasta (from lunch) which leads me to believe that on this day the breakfast dishes weren’t cleaned up before the lunch dishes. This wouldn’t have been the case six months ago but currently mom is busy so the bar is set pretty low.

After school pick-up. Hands down my favorite time of the day. Ad always races to see me and gives me the biggest hug and can’t wait to tell me about her behavior on the class behavior chart. Kole is overjoyed to see his sisters and runs around yelling “my Ellie! my Addie! come play!” El talks a million miles a minute informing me of all of the third grade gossip … “and she was like… and then I was like… and then she said… and then I said… and then the teacher said… and we were like what???” I hug Addie and smile and nod at Ellie and try to contain Kole and his overly excited energy and get all three kids (and several friends because I carpool) and all of their lunch boxes and backpacks loaded into our car. It’s complete chaos. But a happy chaos. :)

Typical after school snack.

My hutch in its current state. It’s a bit boring to me. Fine for now but I’m so excited to mix things up in the new house! I have so many fun decor ideas floating around in my head.

Just bought these pillows on sale from Joss and Main.

I’m not sure where they will go, but I’m sure they will look fabulous somewhere!

At my mom’s last time we were visiting. Kole is always sitting on Kenny’s lap trying to be like him on his phone or laptop. Or in this case, grandpa’s calculator.

My dad gave Kole the watch he is wearing and Kole is obsessed with it! He wears it all the time. Calls it his “cuckoo clock.” It’s so adorable that I just can’t bring myself to tell him it’s really called a watch.

El’s “can a character” biography book report on Princess Di. Perfect likeness, don’t you think?

The every day stuff is always the best stuff.

xoxo, Erin

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New House

03.19.13

House update

Ok. Time for my blog to wake up! It has been asleep for a few days while I have been a tad occupied. :) A few pics of some recent exterior progress…

To the left… to the right…. a bit higher… perfect.

Our vents are up! I had so much fun picking these out.

I may not live in Massachusetts, but I’m sure going to pretend I do. :)

One in the back…

And one in the front…

Our favorite siding crew has been working so hard and the siding is almost completely finished!

Rock will go up next week. I can’t wait until it’s time to paint the siding. I’m ready to see the grey house with white trim that has been swimming around in my head for so long.

Guys break for lunch. I break for a picture or two. Or three. :)

The paneling under my copper roofs are done too.

It looks like a checker board but will all be painted white.

And my favorite pic of the bunch.

Training for the newest member of the crew.

xoxo, Erin

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Birthdays

03.14.13

Good Friends

Thank you so much for all of the sweet birthday wishes everyone! Your fun comments on my blog and facebook pages just made my day. Or should I say week!? I am the queen of stretching my birthday out as loooooong as possible and this year was no different. The festivities started Saturday and (much to my dismay) ended today. But it was a fun while it lasted. :)

I especially enjoyed dinner with my darling friends last night.

(Some people ask the waiter for more water or diet coke. I always ask the waiter to snap a picture.)

I am so lucky to have these girls in my life (and a few who couldn’t make it and were missed!).
Really. What fun is life without good good friends?
Friends who you can laugh with and cry with (a lot of times during the same conversation).
Friends who know you inside and out and love you unconditionally.
Friends who drop a little something off (a few cadbury eggs perhaps) just to give you a hug and say hello and make sure you are hanging in there.
Friends who would do anything for you.
That is how I would describe these girls.
They are always there for me when I need them!

Time for a look back to celebrate my amazing friends.
Because that is tradition. And I love a good tradition.

{2009}

{2010}

{2011}

{2012}

{2013}

I love all of these girls so much.

And it felt so good to spend last night laughing with them!

Oh my word. It doesn’t take much to get us laughing.

SO many of you reading have also been such a bright spot in my life.

Some day I would love to meet and have dinner with all of my amazing blog friends as well.

We would just need a bigger table.

I am one lucky girl.

(Or should I say woman? I am 36 now you know…)

xoxo, Erin

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Uncategorized

03.11.13

Pic of the day

Happy Monday friends! Here is my pic of the day – Kenny and the girls icing my birthday cake. They look so determined don’t they!? We take our cake icing pretty serious around here. :) I’m 36 years old today (cough/choke!). Addison told me this morning I don’t look 36. I asked her how old I looked and then quickly followed it up with “think very carefully before you answer that question.” She took a minute and then responded with “21.” Good girl. Best present of the day.

We celebrated over the weekend. Shopping and a date night with Kenny (he was such a good sport – hates shopping but knows I love it) and dinner at the beach with friends from out of town. I have a date with girl friends on the horizon and one with Ad’s teacher for parent teacher conferences this afternoon. I had a hot date this morning with Kole and the laundry. :)

So happy for one more great year. So grateful for wonderful friends in my life. Love to you all today!!

xoxo, Erin

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Fashion

03.08.13

Fashion Friday – boots & stripes

Happy Friday everyone! So glad the weekend is upon us!

Sharing my favorite pair of boots this season! Woot Woot! :) Nothing like a great pair of boots. I bought these in the early Fall at Nordstroms (for a sweet deal!) and I have LIVED in them ever since. I love them because they have a small flat heel so they give me a little height (which I so need!) but they are still comfortable and perfect for every day running around (unlike most of my other boots that look good but are too high heeled for chasing my little monkey around). I also love the Taupe color. They go with everything!

Here are a few tops I’ve worn with these boots lately – all stripes! Seems I’m going through a bit of a stripe phase lately.

The striped top under this vest I bought at The Limited. It’s fitted and comfortable and the perfect thing to wear underneath vests or jackets or cardigans.

I bought this simple top last Spring at Forever 21 for $12. I kid you not! And I have decided it is the perfect sleeve length for San Diego weather. Not too hot, not too cold. I hope I can pick up a few more similar tops this Spring because it has become “that top.”

You know the one.

The one you just want to wear every. single. day.

I wear it with a with tank and boots in the Fall/Winter – sandals in the Spring/Summer.

You can’t tell in this picture, but my boots match this striped sweater perfectly.

(Banana Republic Outlet)

And a quick pic I snapped a few nights ago on my way to dinner with friends. My big camera usually hides my face so I didn’t quite know what to do with my face showing in this picture. Do I smile at myself in the mirror like a dork? Or try to look serious like I know what I’m doing? After a few pics attempting to be serious I started laughing at myself so a smile won in the end. :)

A lot of rain is coming our way tomorrow (I can hear it picking up outside right now!) so my plan is to hole up in my house in comfy sweats and organize something. And drink hot chocolate. And then organize something else.

Can’t wait. :)

Enjoy your weekend friends!

xoxo, Erin

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Parenting

03.07.13

The most important work

Isn’t this the best quote? I stumbled on it a few weeks ago and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. I was especially thinking about it today because I had so many things I needed to get done and instead found myself on the floor for an hour making letters out of train tracks. :) It’s so easy as a stay at home mom to feel like you are just spinning your wheels. Not being productive. Not getting anything done. Like your day consists of snack time and play time and meal time and park time. Because most days it does. Especially with a baby or toddler underfoot – phone calls are hard to make, e-mails are impossible to send, and you consider yourself extremely lucky if you can spend more than 5 minutes getting ready. Sometimes children can feel like distractions from things we “should” be accomplishing. But this beautiful quote reminds us that is not the case. Children are not the distraction, everything else is a distraction from them.

One way that I have tried to focus on spending quality time with my children while feeling like I am getting something done as well is to involve them in every day housework.

A few pics of Kole “helping” with the laundry today. :) My little assistant helps me sort the piles and put the clothes in the washer – all leading up to his favorite part – pushing the start button.

Sitting back to admire his work.

I know that one day in the not so distant future I will be able to make a phone call. And answer an e-mail. And spend more than 5 minutes getting ready.

And I am going to miss my little “distraction” terribly.

xoxo, Erin

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New House

03.06.13

drywall/front door

A few pics I took last week of the drywall going up in my family room. I love this room! But I’m afraid my fireplace mantel is too high. It’s way taller than I am. Which isn’t saying much since I’m only 5’4. Ok. 5’3 1/2. But still. I will have to stand on a chair to decorate it. Oh well. Everyone helping me insists it needs to be that high because of the tall ceiling. And so that there is room for the surround and molding. So I am rolling with it. Or trying to. :) Too late to change it now! I am in a place where I have to stop looking back and just keep moving forward. So I take that all back. My mantel is the perfect height!

Just keep swimming… just keep swimming…

The drywall is all up and they started mudding it today. I can’t believe how different everything feels. I’m so excited to be in this stage of the process.

A bit of door news… because doors have been a priority this week.

I love this front door shown on House of Turquoise so I used this picture as a starting point in the design phase for my front door.

I changed the top pediment to a straight panel instead of an arched one to match my windows. Then I added lines in the top transoms. I wanted the side transoms to be a little more private – you know – for when I peek through the door to see if I dare answer it in my pajamas :) – so I only kept the top half glass. I love the planks on the inspiration door, but decided to change them to inset panels and a shelf so that it will tie in with my dutch door. And done.

It was delivered today! :)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

xoxo, Erin

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fashion2

03.05.13

New duds

Had to have this for my little boyfriend. Dr. Love indeed. :)

And because my mini stud loves Dinosaurs this top had to leave Gap and come home with me too.

He requests his dinosaur shirt every day now.

This is us doing our mini dinosaur roar.

And our not so mini dinosaur ROAR!

We entertain ourselves quite easily around here.

xoxo, Erin

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Uncategorized

03.04.13

A blog plan!

Thank you SO much to everyone who took the time to give me some feedback on my post last week! Because of you I have a solution for my blog for the next 5-6 months while we finish building our house. And I’m so excited about it! For now, no guest posts because it seems the majority of you feel the same way I do about them. I’ll pop in with a re-run maybe once or twice a month because I enjoy looking back and it might be fun for those of you who are newer to my blog. The rest of the time (most days) you will still be hearing from me – just on a smaller scale. :) Several of you suggested just posting a picture or two a day – something simple – almost like Facebook or Instagram. I love that idea! That way I can still post often, stay in touch with all of you, and record things I don’t want to forget. But it won’t be as time consuming which is what I need right now. There won’t be a lot of organizing and decorating. And there certainly won’t be any scrapbooking. (Once we move into the house and things settle down I’m betting there will be an abundance of posts in those categories!) But for now, I’ll mostly be sharing pics of how the new house is coming along and every day family/life pics. I’ll also bring back Fashion Friday, but just share one or two things I wore during the week. YEA! I’m so excited to have a plan. You all know how much I love making a list and having a plan. :) Thank you again for your kind words and such a great solution! It’s almost as good as another solution a few of you came up with – to turn the blog over to Kenny. HA! Can you imagine!? His post titles immediately popped into my head… how he lives in the real world so that I can “float above it,” why there needs to be a ban on extra pillows on beds, all things related to Charger football, and countless quotes from Armageddon like “Harry doesn’t know how to fail.” I know. If that doesn’t move you to tears what will?

I think it’s safe to stick with a picture or two a day. :)

So here is my “picture of the day.” Even though it was taken a week ago.

Happy March everyone!

xoxo, Erin

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New House

02.28.13

Insulation, drywall, siding and a question

Just popping in quickly to share a few recent house pics. Sorry this week is house heavy on the blog. It is all consuming at this stage!

Two weeks ago everything was insulated. Above is a picture of the playroom and the playroom closet. A happy place for my kids to play and for me to organize all of their toys. :)

Soon after insulation a huge crew moved in and started drywall.

The drywall will be completely done by Friday and then another inspection. Just a few weeks and we will start installing bathroom tile and cabinets! We will also start the finish work! Then my house pictures will be a bit more fun to look at. :)

The outside of the house was completely wrapped and there are holes and tunnels all over the back and side yard for pool and landscaping.

My porch pillars are framed! In the back…

and in the front.

And one of my copper roofs is installed. Fun! Because of our coastal weather the copper won’t take long to patina so it will only be this shiny and bright for 3-4 months.

At some point it will be a nice blackish color.

At least that’s what I hope it does. :)

Then sheets of siding were brought in…

and installed! YEA! We have siding! And I know what you’re thinking – a yellow house? Not so much. Just the color of the siding before it’s primed and painted. The siding will be a nice grey at some point with lots of white trim.

The sides of the house are almost finished and they are moving around to the front and back tomorrow.

Kole’s pop out window. :) The siding is moving fast. It amazes me how much is done each day. I love to pop in to check on the progress.

And to shoot the breeze with these two. OK. I know I keep saying how much I love hanging out with everyone working on the house and how amazing everyone has been but I have to say it one more time. My siding guys are THE BEST. So friendly. And hilarious! I knew the second I met them we were going to get along famously. They are so happy and funny. They sing. And tell stories. And we ponder and discuss life’s mysteries. And then I ohh and ahh at their work. And offer to bring them food. But they never let me. Because they are so nice and hard working. And funny. Did I mention they are so funny!? They really are.

K – so I have a question for all of you and I would really love and appreciate your feedback!

Should I keep the house yellow?

No. I’m kidding. :)

Here’s the real question.

I’ve mentioned before a time or twenty that I don’t have as much time for my blog right now.

When the house is built (and new house stuff isn’t eating away so much of my evenings) I will be able to blog more, but for the next 5-6 months I have been debating a few options.

I will still blog as much as I can, but on days that I don’t have time to post which would you prefer?

OPTION 1 – a guest post – I receive emails often with people offering to guest post on my blog. I’ve been hesitant to start guest posting because personally when I visit a person’s blog I want to hear from that person, not someone else. But I’m wondering what your take is on that? Do you enjoy guest posts? (Obviously if I decided to do this it would just be once in a while and I would be selective and only post things I think you would enjoy).

OPTION 2 – a re-run – it is so easy to re-post something I’ve posted before. Are the re-runs fun or not so much?

and OPTION 3 – just post nothing. Crickets anyone?? :)

Just curious what your opinion is. Thanks so much for taking a minute to give me your two cents! I always love to hear from the incredibly sweet and intelligent people reading my blog. Am I buttering you all up in hopes to hear from you? You bet I am. :)

Happy Thursday friends.

xoxo, Erin

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