Love at First Bite

I'm popping in to share a layout today! This one documents Ellie's first taste of fettucine alfredo--as you can tell from the title, it was "love at first bite." A girl after my own heart, indeed:) 

I used my favorite title combination here: Thickers + October Afternoon alphabet stickers + pearls for the "i"s. 

Most of these items came from a Studio Calico kit, but I can't for the life of me remember which. Maybe I'm getting old.

The pin is from Maggie Holmes' Crate Paper line!

And the full view!

And there you have it! I've spent a lot of time in the scraproom these past two weeks. I caught up on maybe two months of Project Life (I've been doing it and loving it, but not sharing--I think that part would throw me over the edge!) and created one of my favorite layouts of all time. Can't wait to share it with  you in the next few weeks.

What have YOU been making lately?

Final Israel Post

For those of you reading all these Israel posts so far, bravo! I'm here to share one final set of photos with you!

We spent a beautiful day at Ceasaria, which is an old Roman port city full of ruins and art galleries and beautiful water. I visited it years ago, and went with Steve again on this trip. It's a bit out of the way, but it's a beautiful place.

The scenery is absolutely stunning.

After touring the area, we sat down to eat lunch at a beautiful indoor/outdoor cafe near the water. AND IT WAS KOSHER. Gotta love Israel:) We got one of my favorite meals there, which was hot, crusty bread with maybe 15 different jams, olives, cheeses, and spreads. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

On our way out of town, we stopped at a juice stand. I LOVE the juice stands in Israel. They usually have every random fruit you can imagine (I can't even identify the ones in the photo below!) even though they work out of a little cart. They usually keep oranges and grapefruits refrigerated so you can have a cool drink (perfect for a hot day!).

And speaking of fruit, little E became OBSESSED with peaches on our trip. She ate a full one every day, which took about an hour and caused a huge mess but was great for her and fun for us to watch!

As a random aside, she wore the most adorable strawberry swimsuit (although she was too scared to actually swim!)

E and I also enjoyed a coffee date!

With a lot of people watching:)

Before leaving town, we stopped at the Kotel to say goodbye. So much has changed since my last visit to Israel 7 years ago, and I wonder how much will change before I can get back again.

It was a beautiful time and a beautiful trip. Can't wait to go back again.

What is YOUR dream trip?

Israel Photos--Part 3

I have a few more photos from our Israel trip to share!  Here are bits and pieces of our time there--it already feels like too long ago.

E fell in love with the two shekel rides in the mall--it was so cute to watch!

We also REALLY got used to being able to buy kosher snacks and drinks in the malls--I'm missing that here in America!

This coffee was as good as it looks:)

We tried to take a few family shots, but with one uncooperative subject!

One day, we went to Yaffo (Old Jaffa), which is a really cool port town near Tel Aviv. There's a fun artsy district near Jaffa, which hosted this cute coffee shop with the mismatched furniture.

The Old City of Jaffa is beautiful--artsy and quirky and interesting. The history of this area is really cool--everything from Roman ruins to Ottoman architecture, all mixed in together.

Just a brief note on the cats--there are SO MANY CATS in Israel. They generally dig through the trash and aren't that pleasant to interact with, but I couldn't document a visit to Israel without recording them:)

Loved the beautiful little touches in Jaffa:

We also met up with friends and family (and babies!)

And took family shots:

More to come in my next (and final) Israel post!

Do YOU have any questions about Israel? Let me know and I'll try to get to them in my next post!

Winner & A Pregnancy Update

First things first....I have the winner for the BPC class!

HeatherAugust 17, 2013 at 2:58 PM

Love the look of the new blog! I can always use help with journaling, thanks for the chance to win!]

Congratulations, Heather! Email me at keshet.starr@gmail.com for your class code!

_____

I've been meaning to do a pregnancy update for a while, so here we are!

How far along are you?

21 weeks!

Symptoms?

Thankfully, no more morning sickness, although it stuck around until 17 weeks or so. Feeling VERY tired, but otherwise good. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss

Er, not sure how I feel about this question:) I kid. I think I'm about 10 pounds up so far. 

Maternity clothes?

Um, yes. I know a lot of people have negative views on maternity clothes, but I am ALL ABOUT embracing the elastic waist for 9 months! I love my maternity wardrobe and am glad to be back in it. Most of my clothes are from Motherhood Maternity because I like many of their styles and the price point is fantastic. I'm currently debating picking up this top:

Stretch Marks?

Not yet!

Sleep?

This one has been a bit tricky. I have the same restless leg thing I had when I was pregnant with Ellie, and that can keep me up some nights. But after reading a lot of suggestions online, I've started eating a banana every night before bed and it's helped so much!

Movement?

Yes, especially when I wake up in the morning!  Baby has been more quiet the past day or two and I'm freaking out a little bit, so hoping it picks up today!

Food Cravings or Aversions?

Not too many cravings, but I'm still rarely in the mood for chicken. And I still looooooove my red meat:) 

Gender?

We know, but we're keeping it a secret! We found out via a tiny gender reveal cake for just us:)  Can't wait to share the photos of it once little Peanut has arrived!

Baby Buys?

Nothing yet, but I've been heavily researching double strollers and baby carriers. If anyone has advice on those topics, I'll gladly take it!

And because I think this post needs another picture, here's a recent shot of my firstborn baby!

Doesn't she look BIG?

What's on YOUR mind this week?

A New Design and Giveaway!

Welcome to the blog, in it's new form! I was ready for a change in my design, something new and fresh (like a new school year!) I worked with Erika from The Fairy Blogmother and highly recommend her!

I also have a fun giveaway ready for today!

The wonderful Angie Lucas is doing a 4-week writing workshop called Grammar Free Journaling through BigPictureClasses and one of you can win a seat!  To enter, leave a comment on this post by Sunday, August 18th.

And even if you're not the winner, use the coupon code WRITERIGHT to save $5 on the glass! This code is open to everyone and can be used until August 21, 2013.

And a sneak peek of the class content:

Enter the giveaway below--and I'll be back soon to share more!

Old City

I am in love with the Old City in Jerusalem. It's such a funny mix of ancient and modern, different faiths, etc. I was so happy to visit and can't wait to show you a little bit of it.

The Old City is filled with lots of winding roads and alleyways.

There are a ton of beautiful, old buildings

There are flea market type stalls filled with so many random items

Delicious looking foods....

Funky T-shirts...

Judaica items, and other religious paraphernalia....

And, of course, bamba--a classic Israeli snack that art sort of like cheetos, but with peanut butter. And awesome:)

We walked through old gates and archways on our way to the Kotel, the Western Wall.

The Kotel is the holiest place in the world in Judaism, the site of the Temple that was destroyed thousands of years ago. When we went to the Kotel for the first time this trip, it was just a few hours before the beginning of Tisha B'Av, where we mourn the loss of the Temple. Being at its site was beautiful.

On every Israel trip, I thrill at the first sight of the Wall:

Our family (plus bump) by the Kotel

There's a custom to put notes in the Kotel with your prayers on them, and the crevices of the stones are packed with bits of paper.

So there's a little peek at the Old City and Western Wall!

Where is YOUR favorite place to travel?