Cleaning Out My Closet

There is nothing like moving to cause you to reconsider just what exactly you need to hold on to and what must be let go... 

I have this beautimous pair of El Naturalista leather desert boots that I purchased in Spain in 2011, but rarely wear because my arch is too high, making what are otherwise the most comfy boots on earth, slightly uncomfortable for longer periods of time. They are a Euro size 40, but run a bit small, so I believe they would fit a US 9 - 9.5 just right (I know there are other large-footed sistas out there)!

I bought them on sale for 90 Euros (approximately $115 USD), but they were originally priced closer to $200, full price. They are the prettiest shade of nut brown with two inch rubber heels. Super fun to pair with tights and a skirt or skinnies.

They are in awesome, nearly new condition. I would hate to just drop them off at a thrift store and they are taking up room in my closet. Please give these cuties a good home!

If you are interested, I'm selling them for $50. Just shoot me an email at sbradac@mostazaseed.com or FB message me.

My Handsome Men

I'd like to thank Alissa from the Printed Palette, one of our awesome sponsors, for sending over this cute Anchored Cardigan for Collin and super nifty Shave the Whales tee for Nick. The quality of Printed Palette threds is exceptional and they have the best designs for men, women and kiddos-- plus there are so many fun, sorbet-like colors to choose from (I have such a weakness for sorbet colors). Check them out here.

On Supporting the Little Guys and Poppin' Some Seriously Good Corn

There is a charming little True Value hardware store in downtown Joplin which we try to frequent as much as possible. It's much more convenient to buzz on over to the Home Depot, which we definitely do, but if we have the time and are up for some good old Midwestern hospitality, we head over to Pearl Brother's Hardware to support "the little guy" and meander through the crowded aisles. This place is such a gem. You truly feel like you have stepped back in time when you look up at the tin ceiling or have an extended, casual conversation with one of the sweet older gentlemen who run the place.

(Have no clue who this man is, but he's standing outside Pearl Brother's 

and that is enough to illustrate my story!)

It's the kind of place that sells everything from paint thinner to barbecues to kitschy lawn ornaments and candy. I'm pretty sure there are some products in here that have been on the shelves longer than we've been alive. The other day we went in with a list and came out with more than what was on said list. Namely, we are now the proud owners of an Orville Redenbacher Presto Popper!

Being that our kitchen is less than state of the art and our built-in microwave doesn't turn without winding and then when wound turns painfully slow, we decided to avoid the fire hazard that is microwave popcorn and go for a popper. We could have gone for a stovetop popper, you know the kind with the crank, but our electric stove is not so good at evenly distributing heat, so electric it was!

Sidenote- for all who are wondering, yes, at some point we will be remodeling the kitchen, but it's not our top priority, as of yet. We'll revisit the idea in a few years OR upon winning the lottery. ;)

I cannot begin to describe the goodness produced from our new popper. I've always known microwave popcorn is a feeble attempt at air popped goodness, and that it's chock full of unhealthy stuff, but now I am fully convinced I never ever want to go back to our old ways. Just a few small pats of butter and a sprinkle of salt is enough to season this fluffy goodness and you don't get that gross, oily build-up on the roof of your mouth, like you do with most of the microwavable variety.

(source)

So, today I am loving that for $2, we can buy a big bag of corn and have enough popcorn to eat every night for the next month, although I know that wouldn't be the wisest of choices, and I'm loving that we get to play a small part in keeping Pearl Brother's alive... Here's to old fashioned hardware stores and good old fashioned popcorn!

Family, Flowers and Fun

This weekend Nick's parents were in town and what a fun weekend it was. They spent lots of time playing with Collin and helping us with projects! I think Nick and I had hit a wall, so to speak, when it came to knowing what to tackle next on our endlessly long list of projects. Well, these folks are the most hard-working pair I know and boy did they just roll up their sleeves and make it happen with us. We are thankful!

One area, just one- haha, I have no expertise in is gardening. To be honest,  I've been afraid to tackle the overgrown jungle that is our yard, flower beds, courtyard, etc. Luckily for us, my mother-law is a gardener extraordinaire! I feel like I took a crash course this weekend. She can identify just about any annual, perennial or tree known to mankind and has such a gift for knowing where to place them so the landscaping looks nice in both summer and winter. I have to say, I've got the bug now! It's really fun!

So, Nick and Dad hammered out a bunch of projects while we spruced up the courtyard and front of the house. There is still a lot to do, garden-wise, but having someone who knows what they are doing helping me map out a plan, especially for the perennials, really gave me hope that we can make this happen!

The back of the truck after one of our nursery/Home Depot runs!

Collin just loved all the Grandma and Grandpa hugs and kisses and we enjoyed two extra sets of hands helping us give him baths, put him to bed, change his diapers and overall keeping him entertained!

How cute is this little play kitchen they bought him!? He is in love with it!

A highlight to the weekend was the chance to go out on a date with this handsome fella! We checked out a fun little Italian place downtown and when we came home, found our whole house vacuumed, kitchen cleaned and all my leftover tomatoes boiled, peeled and frozen for future cooking. Thank you!!! This weekend was truly a treat!

Happy Friday and Giveaway Winner!

Hope your week rounded off nicely! We've got Nick's parents set to descend upon Casa Bradac to shower Collin with kisses at any moment now! 

Wanted to announce the brass trivet giveaway winner! Drumroll please.....

The winner is Amanda!

Please send me a FB message with your address and I'll pop the trivet in the mail this next week. Congratulations!

And now, this Chicken Tortilla Soup needs some stirring.

Peace,

Steph

Naptimes are for Tea and a Giveaway!

How many other stay at home mammas can relate to the delicious freedom you experience upon laying your toddler down for their afternoon nap?

Napping came at a cost for us. Collin was never eager to nap, or ever go to bed for that matter. He has always been such a social butterfly (like his mom)! When he was about a month old, we put a schedule in place, using a modified version of Babywise and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. At eight weeks he started sleeping through the night, but the first year of his life consisted of measly little 45 minute naps during the day. We'd let him cry a bit, just to soothe himself back to sleep and get over the "45 minute intruder" mark, which sometimes garnered us another 45 minutes, but not always.

As much as I would have liked to let him sleep-in in the morning, so that I could sleep in, I would set my alarm for a specific time and get him up so that we could start the day out right and stay on schedule, capping the day off with a nighttime routine and bedtime, consistently at the same time every night. Needless to say, I was exhausted when bedtime rolled around, especially since I wasn't ever getting more than 45 minutes of time to myself. But, we kept with the schedule. I think I felt like I had worked so hard to get things where they were, that I feared what would happen if we went off course. (Now, I'm less worried if we deviate once in a while. Especially since he knows what to expect each day).

He went through a period of time, around 9 or 10 months, where he would pull up to standing in his crib at night and howl because he couldn't get back down. Thankfully that was just a phase. We've also had a few night terror incidents now and then. Also a rarity.

He has continued to sleep over twelve hours a night and is now taking at least an hour and a half, sometimes two hour nap, nap each day. I think I started to see things really change when he started walking at 13.5 months. The physical exhaustion that walking brought really set in and made for much better naps. He was ready to go down to one nap a day at 15 months (he is currently almost 20 months old).

There is so much peace for me in knowing what the day will look like and how to plan for it. I can tell, as much as he doesn't like going down for naps, that around his naptime he's expecting me to take him upstairs, close the curtains, sing him a song and plop him into his crib with his animals. I don't get more than five minutes of protesting ever. He's usually out before the five minute mark. If one day, he is just totally and completely not into napping, that's okay. He will still get put in his crib at naptime and I will come get him when naptime is over. That could mean he cries for half an hour and plays for the rest of naptime, but I still don't let him get up until it's time. On those days, he is typically ready to hit the sack by 7:30, instead of 8PM.

How about the rest of you? Have you had success with naps? Are they a source of contention? Do you get a good cuppa tea, or your beverage of choice, and some alone time? At least once a day? I hope so!

I also feel the need to say that if you are currently a mamma in the midst of naptime or bedtime nightmares with a baby or toddler-- take heart! It will get better. I know it's easy for me to say because I'm on the other side of it, but this season will pass. If I could go back and talk to myself a year ago, I would say, "Keep on keeping on, sista! Keep pushing for a routine-- even if it gets messed up every day. Stay consistent and strong and you will eventually see the payoff of a happy, rested baby!" Feel free to drop me an email if you have questions or need prayer!

On this cloudy day in Joplin, I'm enjoying some Plantation Mint tea out of one of my favorite teacups!

Okay, so I realize there are people reading this blog (I'm getting over 300 hits a day), but I rarely get comments on here. I've decided to do my first giveaway in the hopes of generating some online dialogue within this community. :)

Are you interested in winning this lovely, vintage brass trivet from Tinted Vintage? It's heavy and full of nice patina. If so, please leave a comment here and tell me about your naptime experiences with kiddos. If you don't have kiddos, tell me if you yourself are a napper! For another entry, take a look at Tinted Vintage's shop on Etsy, heart it and tell me. For yet another entry, please either go to my Facebook Page and become a fan and tell me you did so, or if you are already a fan, let me know!

I'll be announcing the giveaway winner tomorrow!

Plate Walls and Dinner Parties and Haircuts, Oh My!

Hi friends,

We've been busy around our house. I just finished up a blog design project for a client and can now get back to this ol' blog for a spell. If you have a chance, take a look at the blog and read about Hope at Home's amazing ministry to adoptive and foster parents.

Last week I tackled a project I've long been wanting to do, even in previous homes-- a plate wall in the kitchen! If you know me personally, you know I'm not exactly a measure it out kind of a gal. I typically just throw things up on to walls and play with their placement. 900 empty nail holes later, I have a a satisfactory configuration. This time, I decided to go out of character by tracing my plates on to butcher paper in order to create a bit of a non-comittal schematic.

And below is how it turned out! I have a few tiny, vintage plates currently missing in boxes, but once those surface, they'll go up on the wall too.

On Friday night we had some sweet, new friends over for tapas. Our whole married lives all we've ever had is a small kitchen table (which we crammed astounding numbers of people around and food on), so you can imagine the feasts our new, big table can hold! It was really fun to prepare a spread and still have room for everyone's place setting. This was, of course, the first of many dinner parties in our home. We do love hosting and toasting. I couldn't help but miss our dear Atlanta friends and wish I could somehow combine all of our worlds into one place. The pretty, white Anthropologie vase is a gift from the mother's group I was a part of in Atlanta, so it felt like they were with me in spirit! For all those reading this, feel completely and totally free to send me Anthropologie goodies whenever you feel the urge! Haha. ;)

Aaand, this week Collin got his second big boy haircut. I cannot keep the mullet at bay! His hair just keeps getting longer and longer in back and staying relatively short on top. He was such a cutie pie at the salon. The stylist gave him two combs to play with and that, coupled with the fun cape, was enough to keep him happy and distracted. Good boy!

Nick's parents will be in visiting for five days, so we are gearing up for some fun family time. I keep telling Collin Gooma and Grandpa are coming and he says "um hmm!" like he knows already. It will be great to have them in town. Then, we have a week of no visitors and the following week my parents come! It's going to be a good May.

Love, 

Steph