Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Frozen Treats for Baby

As I was eating one of these:


I see my daughter drop what she is doing and starts crawling towards me.  I immediately try to finish my firecracker popsicle ASAP.  My daughter crawls towards me as fast as she can, determined to see what I am eating.  Once she is next to me, she stands up, sticks her tongue out, and wiggles it.  She wants a lick!  I hesitate since these things are pretty much 100% sugar, but I decide to just give her one lick.  After she licks it, she scrunches up her face. Yay!  She doesn't like it.  But then...she looks at me again and shows me her tongue...she wants more! 

I give her another and discover she loves popsicles, so I decide I'd make some for her.   I go online and look for ice popsicle molds.  Below are the molds I am thinking of getting:


Ultimate Zoku Pop Maker


Tovolo Green Star Ice Pop Molds


Tovolo Blue Rocket Ice Pop Molds




Annabelle Karmel Fill and Freeze Puree Pops





Tovolo Ice Cream Pop Molds

Tovolo Freezer Jewel Pops.  Wear a pop on your finger!

Kinderville Little Bites Ice Pop Molds


Will let you know which one I end up getting and will also share my own ice pop recipes! Stay tuned.....

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Something I wish I had when growing up.....Kay's Klips

Cupcake got these great clips and clip holder from a friend.  I love them so much I had to blog about it!
These are the creations of Tina who is the mastermind behind Kay's Klips .  She is a mom who started making hair clips for her daughter.  Then friends and family started noticing her unique and cute creations and encouraged her to start her own small business.  Thanks goodness for us she listened!


This is Cupcake's Klip Holder?  Isn't it nice?  I love how she can use this even when she's older to organize her hair clips. 

Kay's Klips come in different designs.


You can see the great detail that goes into each Klip.


The different ribbons Tina uses to cover each Klip and the cute embellishments coordinate perfectly!
The cupcake embellishment fits my daughter, since I call her Cupcake.


The panda Klip is my personal favorite.  I love pandas.  Wonder if I can wear this???


Tina's designs are unique, and you can't get these types of hair clips in stores.

I recently purchased a Klip holder and some Klips for a coworker's daughter who recently turned 1.  Tina was great and was very informative about which fabric for the Klip holder would match her nursery colors!  I also included the little girl's interests and she created Klips based on that!  She was very professional.  She even included a hand written thank you card!  Who even writes now?!   
   You can also check her out on her Facebook  page and follow her so you see her latest creations.



Monday, August 29, 2011

My Retreat

My bedroom! 


Okay....not  my bedroom yet, but trying to get there.  I saw this pic on A' la mode's blog.   She noted the source is Phoebe Howard.

I still need to find some wall frames, a headboard, and the lamps but I got the other stuff already.  


Got the the pearl embroidered duvet from PB.  I got it for $70!  Which is cheap considering I have a KING size bed.


I got pillow shams in this lovely blue and green paisley print from PB.  
This night table I purchased right after we moved into the house we are living in right now.  It's from Scandinavian Designs.


I also got these Restoration Hardware  Euro Shams.  They're old okay....I got them LONG time ago when I was still single and I was able to splurge on items.  I also got the coverlet too.


Still looking for lamps, but this is what I found so far.  Needed to get something with color since duvet is white.  I was thinking of silver though, but have to think about it....

Will share pics as soon as my Master Retreat is finished!

A Magazine Cover Life Inspires this Mom

As you all know having a baby is a lot of work and sometimes the home gets neglected.  I don't know about you, but my home was a lot more organized before I had a baby.  My closet was sorted out by color (still is, but less clothes hanging in it), shoe closet was organized, no mail piling up on the desk, laundry was always done before it spilled over the hamper, and I even mopped the hardwood floors every single day!

If you haven't noticed in our "blogs we love" section, one of the blogs I personally enjoy reading is A' la mode by Shelli Knoch.   She writes about how she attempts to live that magazine cover life while being a mom and wife.  Reading her blog inspired me to start focusing on the home especially with these pics of her Master Bedroom!


I don't think I need to explain why I fell in love with her bedroom

      So simple yet so elegant
Love the different patterns here.

             Here's a close up of that Ikat pillow which started this whole redecorating for me!


What did I tell you?  Isn't her Master Bedroom dreamy?!

I fell in love with those Ikat pillows in her Master Bedroom, so I got them too!  I also heart that Moroccan pouf too!  What's great about Shelli's site is she actually includes where she got all her furniture, accessories, and decor so anyone can go get them too!   Shelli has a lot of inspiring photos of her home. You can check it out here and here, but don't blame me if you end up redecorating your home too! Oh...and she even adds pics of how her style evolved and what she learned along the way.  This is SO helpful especially to people like me who are trying to figure out what to do with their junk furniture.

I am SLOWLY trying to improve the look of my home.  I probably won't even come close to what her house looks like.   This is what I've done so far:

MY LIVING ROOM or what's left of it since furniture had to be rearranged for a crawling baby:


This is the before pic

  •  The four wall prints are from my father in law.  I think he got it from a relative who visited China
  •  The 2 blue pillows with the bamboo buckles are from Pottery Barn
  • The 2 red pillows were made by my mom.  I picked up the batik prints from Malaysia (visiting in-laws)
  • The sofa is really really old!  I got it when I got my first house.  It has survived abuse by 2 cats who used it as as scratching post.  I don't plan to change it because I know it'll get abused by my daughter and dog.


This is the after pic.  Yes I know the wall color and the prints kind of blend together.  Need to contrast them more so it doesn't look so blah.  Painting the room will take a lot of convincing, so I am thinking of changing the frames and adding matting.  What do you think?



The lumbar Ikat pillow I got from Trendy Pillows on Etsy


I got this pillow from Pop O' Color on Etsy


  • I decided to keep the blue pillows from Pottery Barn.  Hey need to save some $ right?
  • I didn't want to much design on the pillows so I chose a lumbar Ikat from Trendy Pillows for the middle of the sofa.  Figured my sofa already has prints why add more.
  • I paired up the Ikat pillow and blue pillows with the Chartreuse Trellis pillows from Pop O'Color. I chose this color so the prints hanging above the sofa would tie in with the sofa.  
Isn't it amazing how pillows can change the look of a room?  These pillows probably would cost at least $100 if I bought them in a store.  I got these from Etsy which saved me money!

Thank you Shelli!  Keep on blogging because you inspire moms that it is possible to live that magazine cover life!

Friday, August 26, 2011

August Giveaway!

It's almost September! Can you believe it!?!  This year has gone by soooo fast.  It's also time for a GIVEAWAY!  Our August giveaway will be a Wall print from Cathy's store, Mateo & Tobias.  Mama D and Mama B love her cute designs.  These colorful prints are a great addition to any room in the house not just the nursery!  You really need to check them out!!


If you would like to win one of her Wall prints leave a comment on this post telling us which wall print you like.  You can take a look at more prints from her store by going to her website, Mateo & Tobias.  Make sure you leave your name and last name initial!

To enter more entries you can:
  • Like Urban Warrior Moms on Facebook and Mateo & Tobias and say you did this on our Facebook wall.  You must post this on our wall because that's the only way we know you have "liked" us.
  • Follow Urban Warrior Moms on Twitter and Mateo & Tobias and tweet that you did this, mention this contest and Urban Warrior Moms and comment below on our blog.
  • Subscribe to us and comment below that you did.  
  • Become a "Follower" of our blog and comment below.
There's a total of 5 different ways to enter!  This contest will end on Friday (9/2/11) at 11:59 PM (PST)!  So start commenting, liking, and following!  You have nothing to loose it's FREE!  

The winner will be announced on Monday (9/5/11).  The winner has 48 hours to contact us via email urbanwarriormoms@gmail.com.  We apologize but only folks living in North America can enter.



 



Thursday, August 25, 2011

Avocado Shake

I know for some of you, avocado shake may sound a little weird.  Believe it or not in Asia and Brazil, this delicious treat is very popular.  Here in California, you can order it in some restaurants...since avocado is very abundant over here.  Growing up, my mom would make us this avocado dessert with
  • 3 medium ripe Avocados
  • 2 scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream
  • 3/4 cup Condensed Milk
  • 3 cups Ice Cubes
  • 1 Cup Milk
  • Sugar to taste (Optional)


Sometimes she would serve it without the vanilla ice cream and just add sugar to sweeten the shake.  Either way...it's very yummy.  Just throw all the ingredients in a blender!


Well growing up drinking avocado shake, I decided to make a baby version for my Prince but in puree form.

  • half rip Avocado
  • 1 tbspn of breastmilk (you can add formula if you want)
  • 1 tbspn of ripe banana or sweet apple (this will add the sweetness to the Avocado)

After you puree the avocado and the banana,  add some breast milk/formula to make the mixture more smoother and thinner.  This can vary depending on how you want it.

So now you and your baby can enjoy this dessert during the summer!  Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Weekend Family BBQ

My parents had a BBQ over the weekend.  It was a blast!  The food was so AWESOME!  My mom and dad did a great job marinating and prepping all the meat before it hit the grill.  We had corn, pork ribs, chicken, and steak...oh I almost forgot we also had salad too!  After dinner the whole family walked to the neighborhood park, so our little ones can play on the swing.  Check out our pics below.



My dad's grill


Steaks and chicken 


Ribs


Cooked chicken


Steaks


Corn


Salad with a few ingredients from my mom's garden.


The ribs were taking way too long to cook so they decided to cut it up.

                                             The cook's refreshing reward for BBQ'ing


I picked out tomatoes from my mom's garden to use in Cupcake's meal this week.


A pic of my mom's tomato garden


Here Mama D with her prince.



Here you see Cupcake practicing the act of sharing!