urban baby bonnets

about a month ago i began somewhat obsessively browsing urban baby bonnets website dreaming of the day i'd have a few spare dollars to splurge on a good quality hat for penny. see, this girl is a fair skinned, light eyed, little beauty so naturally we need to be aware of her sun exposure. also, she generally will keep any hat on for about 2.5 seconds... on a good day. 

enter the stork and the beanstalk giveaway. now i'm not one to enter blog giveaways often. only if it's something i've already had my heart set on, and it's not just something frivolous. and wouldn't ya know it, i got an email last week that i won! there may have been a happy dance or two around the living room, but i can not confirm or deny it. but i can confirm that within minutes of that email hitting my inbox, this hat was being added to my virtual shopping cart.

as soon as it arrived at our door i put it on penn's head. the thing about this lil' bonnet is that not only is it adorable, and well made, and a great bit of sun protection, but it also is held on with snaps. SNAPS! anyone who has a toddler will understand the appreciation of that little addition. penn put it on, and wouldn't let me take it off. we oooo'd, and ahhhhh'd in the mirror, and she got a real kick out of herself. so, to sum up my thoughts on it...

it's crazy cute, it's practical, it's super well made, and we hands down love it!

this is by no means a sponsored post. these are just one mama's honest opinions!

thanks so much for the giveaway Ashley & UB2!

instax mini

yesterday a little anniversary gift arrived on our doorstep from my parents... an instax mini! i've been coveting one of these babies for quite some time now. ya see, a few years back i had a serious polaroid obsession, but they discontinued the film and left me heartbroken! enter instax and see me a happy gal! it's so adorably cute and chubby, and so very much fun to play with. check out barkley posing all super sweet for my first test shot. he loved the noise it makes when spitting out the picture. silly pup!

i'm so stoked to fill up a whole box of these babies! three cheers for tangible pictures :)

here are some other fun instax things from around this here world wide web...

the dainty squids 52 weeks of instax...

elsie does some awesome things HERE and HERE...

a flickr group pool...

and a really clever flickr group pool...

anyone else really miss having photos to hold and flip through? evan and i are talking about printing out some of our favorite digital pics each month, just so as to start a little collection of our own. one of my favorite things is looking through old pictures and it's super sad to think that our kids won't have that same kind of experience. so let the archiving begin!

oh, and if you haven't already, be sure to enter the spring giveaway i've got going on now. such cute cute goodies to be won :)

dry shampoo review

the other day i used dry shampoo for the first time ever, and i'm kinda in love now. it's great for getting a second day out of a hair washing, or if your hair gets a bit greasy half way through the day. ladies with bangs, you know what i'm talking about! this sauve one only costs 3 bucks and from what i here from some pros, it works just as well as the expensive ones. gotta love a deal! it also has a great fresh citrusy smell that is oh so yummy...

side note... i'll be out of town for the next few days and am not quite sure how often i'll be able to check in. i'm heading up to ny for a bit for my cousins wedding. it's kinda surreal because she was always the youngest of all us cousins, and now she's all grown up and getting hitched! i'll be posting twitter updates for sure and of course checking in with my new instagram obsession. so feel free to stop on by and see me there, i'm monkeyandsquirrel on instagram :)

just bitten...

a while back you may recall that i had a brief love affair with red lips, and was determined to pull the look off myself. i finally found the perfect shade, wore it a couple times, and that was the end of it. i found that such a bold lipstick felt like more of a hassle to me then a fun accessory. so i gave up my dream of being the gal who could rock a red lip every day with even just some jeans and a t-shirt. that is, until yesterday!

it's not often that i fall victim to a commercial trying to sell me some new and improved beauty item, but for some reason i fell head first for this one. it's the new "just bitten" line of lip stains from revlon. what got me was that on one end of the stick is the stain, but on the other is a lip balm. not a gloss, a balm! i'm one of those folks that's absolutely hooked on chapstick and lip balm, so that was the kicker for me. i'm so glad that i got suckered in too, because it's fan-flippin'-tastic! i put it on as soon as i got in the car, and it literally stayed for hours. you can even keep reapplying the balm and the color still stays. ahhh, my lip life has been changed forever. it's these little things that keep me happy :)

new goodies for me!

while shooting product photos for my etsy goodies, i almost always take a couple artsy ones with my phone. you never know when you'll meet someone who wants to see right then and there what kind of items you make. being able to show a photo, is so much quicker then trying to explain it, and then you have the option of emailing it to them as well!

anywho... while shooting a new item yesterday, i decided to also take a couple shots of my two new favorite jewelry scores. i've been wearing these two necklaces interchangeably for the past week and i just LOVE 'em!

i did a little post about this arrow lariat from chainchainchained not too long ago, and am now so very happy to say that i am the proud owner of it! it's so amazingly unique and i heart it big time! thank you so much again regina :)

my other find is from gwendelicious, whom i've purchased from before, and i can't say enough good things about this necklace. the chain is incredible, the knife is badass, and it makes me feel uber tough when i wear it!

i'm just realizing, now that i have these pictured together, that these are both tiny weapons. hmmm... perhaps i won't look too much into that :)

the joy of new goodies!

i'm so stoked on my newest etsy purchase that i just had to share it with everyone. i can't say enough just how much i love this necklace!

a couple of weeks ago while delivering some Monkey & Squirrel goodies to Young Blood Gallery & Boutique in Atlanta, GA, i spotted some letterpress necklaces from a fellow etsy seller that i had been in love with for quite some time. these letterpress necklaces from Gwen Delicious are so simple and beautiful, and when i saw that they had a "j" in stock i new i just couldn't pass it up. since then i have been wearing it everyday... no lie!

a couple of days after returning home i decided to browse her etsy shop and see what other lovely treats she might have in store. that's when i spotted the "&" and also an "e". being a total nerd for love i couldn't say no.

when they arrived the other day i was busting with excitement!

perfectly packaged! (those adorable little black toes belong to one Monkey, of Monkey & Squirrel. he can never resist a photo op!)

the anticipation grows...

absolutely perfect! "e&j" = evan & jenn... told you i was a nerd for love :)

i can't say enough wonderful things about my new necklace. i'm almost tempted to start carrying around a little black stamp pad so that i can leave little j's and e's all over the place...

check out more from Gwen Delicious here...

comfy cozy!

on an impromptu shopping outing at target yesterday, i realized that i don't think i will be as sad as i originally thought i might, once we start feeling a bit of the chillier weather coming in. check out two of my very fall friendly purchases...

super comf sweater!

and thanks to target, i've finally found some vegan oxfords!

i'm really feeling the menswear inspired items out right now, and i also may try to harness my inner preppy side. we'll see what fall brings i guess...

romper madness!

i have a problem. i'm obsessed with (and i know i say that a lot, but this time it's true) the new rompers that target has right now. i think someone clued them in to the fact that their entire last collection was absolutely terrible, and they went ahead and got it right this time around! i am seriously taking $20 each week and adding a new one to my closet. these are the perfect go to summer outfit... especially in the swelteringly hot humid south!

ps... i'm actually wearing one right now. love!!!

all available at target!