Cupcake's First Tea Party

The second portion of our vacation was spent in Illinois where we were able to visit Cupcake's other two grandparents, my mom and hubby's dad. We were all able to meet at my mom's house which was kind of in a central location for the boys to go dirt bike riding, and the girls were able to do girly things - like have a tea party!

Cupcake enjoyed being able to see everyone and play with new toys...

However, she was a little unsure of the bath time duck that her Nana wanted her to use...

On the day of the tea party, she put on her party dress and anxiously waited to see what was going to happen next! The table was set with all sorts of shiny things of interest to her...

She played shy at first when all of the ladies arrive, hiding behind a table leg in the living room.

After a few minutes she got acclimated to the room full of ladies there to see her, and decided to come out and play with some toys! She even brought her Fisher Price tea set from home to have some "tea" with the rest of the ladies! (Sorry, no other pictures of her playing with her tea set in the middle of the room... all of mine came out blurry! Hopefully my mom has some good ones!) Nana was very happy to be able to have Cupcake meet some of Nana's friends!

The Grandparent Tour 2011 was quite a success with all of the grandparents being able to come see Cupcake! We were excited to be able to see everyone in such a short period of time, but happy to get home to our own beds and back into a routine!

Florida Finds...

Well surprisingly I didn't really do much shopping while we were in Florida! (Shocking, I know!) I wasn't really in the mood, I was more looking forward to the theme parks with Cupcake... and the short time I was at shopping places I didn't really find much that called me to me and said "you must take me home!". So that was that!

I did go to the Premium Outlets one of the days I was there to also meet up with a friend for lunch. (Such a great time!) And enjoyed being able to walk around outside without a winter coat on! Although I looked in a number of stores, Dior... Coach... Juicy Couture... I just didn't really see anything of interest! Finally at the last store we went in, Banana Republic - I grabbed a couple of cute clothing items that I liked.

My two lone Florida purchases from the Banana Republic Outlet

I ended up getting a tan cardigan with twist edge details, and a orchid colored top with a cute ruching on the sleeves.

I think my loss of interest in the Orlando outlets might be because the area that we live in now has all of the same stores at an outlet mall close to my house, and all of the same stores at Mall at Millenia can be found at my local mall, Somerset Collection. So there really isn't any appeal of "new" stores to browse through, when I can pretty much get anything down there near home now. In any case, it's still fun to be walking outdoors amongst palm trees, instead of stuck indoors because there is snow on the ground!

Comme des Garcons

If you remember from my St. Patrick's Day accessories post, I have a fondness for the Commes des Garcons clover print accessories collection. I actually like the turquoise color the best, a bright robin's egg blue that would make you smile every time you open up your bag.

The large wallet is my absolute favorite, it seems so organized and functional on the inside, perfect for a vacation to keep everything in order.

www.tobi.com, Comme des Garcons Large Wallet in Turquoise, $368

The large pouch is my second favorite, as it's probably one of the most functional styles and would be great to carry bits in your handbag or even used to toss down inside of a diaper bag.

www.tobi.com, Comme des Garcons Large Pouch in Turquoise, $138

And of course this little mini wallet is probably one of the cutest items of all (albeit maybe not that functional) - the wallet has a little pouch in the interior that tips out and is perfect to keep coins in.

www.tobi,com, Comme des Garcons Side Zip Wallet in Turquoise, $101

All Comme des Garcons items are available at www.tobi.com.

Florida Fun! - Part 2

We were only in Florida a few short days, because we were also visiting the two other grandparents in Illinois in the later part of the trip. (We're dubbing this the Grandparent Tour 2011.) So one of the days in Florida we knew we had to schedule time to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As I became a huge Harry Potter fan when I was pregnant with Cupcake...

There was a lot of anticipation in the morning, because none of us had seen the new Harry Potter World yet...

Cupcake at breakfast wondering what exciting things were in store for her today!

Once we got there, we headed straight back to the Harry Potter area (as did most people in the park), the scenery was fantastic, and my pictures just don't do it justice.

Hogsmeade entrance, "Mind the spell limits"

"Have you seen this Wizard?" moving poster from my all-time favorite HP movie!

Hogwarts Express

Hogwarts Castle and also the home of the Forbidden Journey ride

It was a fantastic day, and my camera battery was dieing after not being charged... so shamefully I took more pictures of the Harry Potter scenery than Cupcake. (Ha!) Luckily my father takes great pictures and made a point to get some good shots of Cupcake.

Cupcake enjoying the sights!

And a my favorite group picture (taken by my father) of me, hubby, and hubby's mom.

Love the Hogsmeade background in this one!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is definitely a must see if you liked the movies, and the rides are pretty good as well. 'The Dragon Challenge' ride has two intertwining roller coasters that already existed in the park (used to be called 'Dueling Dragons') and it is the best roller coaster I've ever been on. The two tracks wrap around each other and at points in the ride, the cars from each track go around loops coming towards each other - it's a great thrill. The entrance of the ride has been redone with Harry Potter themed decor and has a lot of items of visual interest when you're in line, like floating candles in a dark corridor.

'The Flight of the Hippogriff' also was a ride that existing in the park already and used to be a Jurassic Park themed ride. It's a tame roller coaster for children that don't meet the height requirement for the larger coasters to have a good time on.

'Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey' is the new ride and main attraction featured in the Hogwarts castle. Waiting in line may be the most extraordinary part of the ride though, seeing the details of the castle like walking through Dumbledore's office and the images of Harry, Hermoine, and Ron talk to you in a classroom. The detail inside of the castle is fantastic, right down to the talking portraits of Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw.

I think the Harry Potter Wizarding World is a great addition to the Islands of Adventure theme park and I can't wait to go back to Orlando soon!

Florida Fun! - Part 1

Well, I'm still in catch up mode after getting back from our trip and just now getting around to blogging about the trip itself! Suitcases are still yet to be unpacked... my house is a wreck... but it was a fun week and worth all of the disorganization going on around here right now!

The first part of our trip was in Orlando, Florida, and of course you cannot go to Orlando without heading over to Disney World!

Personal picture taken from the Ferry Boat dock

Personal picture of Mickey & Minnie in front of Cinderella's Castle

Cupcake was excited (albeit tired) going into the park on the tram, because she could tell that something special was going on today!

Mommy & Cupcake on the tram into Walt Disney World

Watching Cupcake take in all of the new sights and sounds at Disney World was an absolute joy! I have to say, I think that going to Disney World with a child, may be even more fun then what it was like to go as a child. (Maybe.) In either case, watching her reactions and seeing what rides she liked the best was good fun! Two of her grandparents that live in Florida (my dad and hubby's mom) were also able to go into the theme park with us and take part in seeing their granddaughter's first Disney World experience!

Cupcake's first Disney ride! The Tomorrowland People Mover

Unfortunately, we did go during Spring Break season and there were quite a few long lines in the park... so we opted to go on just a few "Cupcake friendly" rides this trip, and save standing in the longer lines for the rides that were more for the "big kids" (i.e. us). Luckily the grandparents on hand were more than happy to go find a shady spot and hang out with Cupcake for 45 minutes, while the big kids rode Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and so on.

We also took in a few shows while we were there... we went in 'Carousel of Progress' during Cupcake's first nap time and it put her to sleep!

Cupcake asleep on Daddy after the 'Carousel of Progress' Disney show

The highlight of the day though, was Cupcake on 'It's a Small World', without a doubt - it was her favorite ride in Walt Disney World. She giggled and danced her way though it.

Cupcake bouncing her way though 'It's a Small World'

All in all, it was a great day at Disney and we all came out exhausted.... Cupcake crashed on the monorail on the way back to the parking lot.

After a long and exciting day, Cupcake was ready to call it an evening!

The next day we went to Universal's Islands of Adventure... primarily to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter! In tomorrow's blog post I'll share the experiences we had there!

Louis Vuitton Vernis Color Comparison: Rouge Fauviste vs. Violette

I received this request via Facebook, so I figured... why not just go ahead and do a blog post on it!

Rouge Fauviste and Violette are two similar (yet strikingly different) Vernis colors released by Louis Vuitton in recent years. Violette was released around the 2007 time frame and is now discontinued (no longer available in stores), while Rouge Fauviste was released in 2010 and is still available in your local boutique and online at www.louisvuitton.com.

Violette Sarah wallet (left) vs. Rouge Fauviste Business Card holder (right):

Purple and pink are my two favorite colors, with maroon being my favorite "grown up" color. So of course, Vuitton Vernis is a big hit with me, because it is available in so many gorgeous colors - especially those in my favorite color groups. I've had Violette pieces for a few years and they've held up extraordinarily well. I've used my Sarah wallet daily for two years and just recently had my first issue with the edge chipping (on my trip to Florida actually) in a very minor spot. So although I've now finally experienced what people mean when they say by the "edges chipping" on Vernis, I still wouldn't hesitate to buy more pieces of Vernis in the future - because all in all, with daily wear it still looks great.

Violette is a shimmery true purple color, that looks darker indoors and is a brighter purple in natural or outdoor light. The flash helps to bring out it's true color:

Louis Vuitton Zippy Coin Purse, Sarah Wallet, & Cles - all in Violette Vernis

Rouge Fauviste is a shimmery burgundy color - that has red and purple undertones. When in darker, indoor light, these two colors look more alike - but when they are in natural light (or under flash) their differences really shine.

Louis Vuitton Brea MM, Zippy Coin Purse, & Business Card Holder - all in Rouge Fauviste Vernis

So which should you get, if you're deciding between these two colors?

Well, really it comes down to personal preference of course - and I do love them both... I have to say though, that Rouge Fauviste is currently pulling ahead as my favorite Vernis color. It is pretty to look at and a light enough Vernis color that it can easily be found in bags with a dark lined interior. However, it's dark enough that you don't have to worry about wear issues like color transfer or yellowing. I like that Rouge Fauviste is a more subtle and sophisticated shade than Violette, which is a playful color but you probably really have to love purple for it to appeal to you.

Exterior: Rouge Fauviste vs. Violette

Interior: Violette vs. Rouge Fauviste

So the bottom line is, they are both great colors and have a number of beautiful items available in each color. It really comes down to which is most appealing to you, and if you like both equally - then whether you want to have to search on the second hand market to find a Violette item (which is no longer in stores) or if you would prefer to be able to buy something new directly from LV. I recommend getting something in each color!

Spring makes me think light leather bags...

I'm currently lemming for something taupe... light gray... or light tan in color. I love a lighter colored handbag when the weather gets warmer. I'm fairly unadventurous to what I actually wear, I tend to stick with neutral colors... A great purple or pink handbag always catches my attention - but I've found that I just can't translate them into my daily life.

This leather shoulder bag by Juicy Couture has ladylike details and the cocobutter color could be dressed up or down...

www.zappos.com, Juicy Couture Cannes in Cocobutter, $298

The Treesje Luna has a bit more rugged look to it and the darker charcoal gray color would be more dirt resistant...

www.museten.com, Treesje Luna in Charcoal Gray, $385

The Coach Kristin elevated leather round satchel is a mouthful to say, but the extra details on the bag make it more than just a plain old boring satchel...

www.coach.com, Kristin Rounded Satchel in gold shell/pink, $698

I have to say though, that my absolute favorite is the Rebecca Minkoff Morning After Mini in Taupe - it is a fun style to use and the color is absolute perfection...

www.lunaboston.com, Rebecca Minkoff Morning After Mini in Taupe, $495