Get Pin-Spired #19

It's Friday!!! 

I have survived the first week Back to School.

The first week back is always a little bit brutal...waking up early, new schedules, new routine....lots of change.

In the summer, my wardrobe is pretty basic....swim suits, swim suit cover up, flip flops, or shorts & a tank top.

But, now that school has started back up, my outfits are more fun!

And, I love using Pinterest for outfit inspiration, especially Back to School inspiration!

It's time to link up your Pinterest Inspired outfits with me, Sheaffer & Shay!

  

Earlier this month I was on Pinterest looking for Back to School Outfit Inspiration and this is what I pinned:

I just couldn't seem to get enough of Kelly Green & Navy Blue.
I was drawn to it and kept pinning outfits with these colors.
I decided to take a look at my closet and put together some outfits with these colors.
Turns out, not only do I like to pin this color combo, but I also have a lot of it in my closet!
Here are some outfits I wore this month that I was Pin-Spired by!

Outfit #1 : Navy & Lace Tank with Green Shorts

 Shirt // Shorts // Earrings // Sandals

I loved this outfit! Before I had been wearing the navy/white lace tank top with white shorts....boring! Loved it with the green!

Outfit #2 : Navy Polka Dot Skirt & Green Tank
 
 Skirt // Tank // Shoes // Earrings // Bracelets

Can I just tell you how much I loved this outfit? LOVED it.
When I got this polka dot skirt in my last Stich Fix, I knew I had to keep it!
I was originally going to wear a white shirt with it, but after seeing some of my pins above that had polka dots with navy paired up with green, I knew I had to wear a green shirt with this outfit. And, I am so glad I did! LOVE!!

Outfit #3 : Green shirt & Skinny Jeans

Shirt // Jeans // Earrings // Bracelets // Sandals

I wore this outfit last weekend when Kevin and I went on our date night for our 12th Anniversary.
We were riding our cruisers to dinner, so I couldn't wear a skirt or a dress.
I wanted to wear this new green shirt that I got in my Stitch Fix, so I paired it with my darkest skinny jeans and I wore cognac brown sandals. I love how cognac brown goes with navy & green!

Outfit #4 - Belted Navy/Green Dress

Belted Dress // Earrings // Heels

 I love dresses. I love wearing them to school.
I especially love comfortable dresses.
Since I wear dresses to school, they need to be comfortable & not revealing.
This dress fits the bill.....and it was under $30!!!
I wore it to school on Wednesday and I got SO many compliments on the dress from co-workers!

What I love about this dress is that it comes with the belt (yes!) and I also love that when the weather gets colder, I can wear this dress with my denim jacket (this one) :

and with THESE boots.
 
I think that will be a super cute outfit as well, don't you?
I can't wait for it to be boot weather...I got those boots last year and wore them 2-3 times a week!

So, there you have it....my Navy & Green Pin-Spired Outfits!
What color combinations are you loving this Fall?

If you are new to my blog, thanks for stopping by!

Feel free to follow along! 

You can find me on Bloglovin or Facebook.

I also have a $100 AMEX gift card giveaway going on that ends in a few days!
Enter {HERE} if you haven't done so yet!

If you have outfits to link up, feel free to grab a button to add to your post.

Can't see what you link up!

<a border="0"href="http://www.thelarsonlingo.blogspot.com/search/label/pin-spired" target="_blank"><img src="http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n191/mlarson17/pinspiredmel_zpsdf4a5059.png"/></a>

The linky will be open until September 5th.

Your link will show up on my blog, Sheaffer's blog & Shay's blog.

My favorite part about linky parties is checking out other people who have linked up! 

Go find some new blogs & leave them a comment letting them know you stopped by...and get Pin-Spired by the outfits other people linked up! 

Hello, Kindergarten! Hello, 2nd Grade!

I am in serious denial that Summer is over and that School has started.

I am pretty sure that was the fastest Summer of my life.

It is always bittersweet when Summer ends.

On one hand, I am so sad that our lazy days of sleeping in, lounging around in our pj's, swimming, no schedule & staying up late are over.

But on the other hand, I do crave routine and structure, so part of me is like, "Bring it on School Year!" 

Plus, I love the beginning of school anticipation.....finding out your teacher, shopping for new school supplies & outfits and getting back into a nice routine. 

The end of summer also means that FALL is almost here!!!!! My favorite time of year!!!!

Speaking of anticipation about finding out teachers, I was SO anxious about finding out who my girls teachers were going to be.

I found out at the end of last school year that the teacher who Kate had for Kindergarten 2 years ago was going to be teaching 2nd grade this year. Kate absolutely ADORED her in Kindergarten and we loved her! As soon as I heard she was going to be a 2nd grade teacher I immediately started praying that is who Kate would get this year. I didn't know anything about the other 2nd grade teachers, but I knew we wanted Mrs. W again! 

We didn't find out teachers until last Friday, so all Friday morning I was at meetings at my school and I was counting down the minutes until the Elementary School posted the teachers.

I may or may not have screamed with excitement when I saw that Kate got Mrs. W again.

I also may or may not have gotten a little teary eyed because I was so happy & relived!

Then I checked Claire's teacher and it wasn't the one that she was hoping to get, so I knew she was going to be dissapointed.

Sure enough when I got home and told the girls who their teachers were, Kate was screaming, jumping on the couch and just so excited.

Claire on the other hand was pretty bummed out. She had tears of sadness and it made it worse that Kate was so excited. Ack. So hard. I gave Claire a little pep talk and told her 2 of her best buddies were in her class and that made her cheer up a bit.

Monday morning rolled around and both girls were so excited about the 1st Day of School.

 Kate was just beyond excited. She also has 2 of her best friends in her class and she told me that this was going to be the best school year EVER! I can't believe she is going to be in 2nd grade. That is total big kid status...and a long day at school...8:30 until 3:00! Her class has 18 boys and 7 girls (last year it had 17 boys and 7 girls) I have a feeling they put Kate in the boy heavy classes because she is a really good listener and can stay on task. Her teacher is a Saint for having to deal with all those boys!

And, did you notice?!?!?!
KATE IS WEARING JEANS!!!!
This is life changing. Seriously.
Both my girls have refused to wear jeans for the past 3 years.
They have said they aren't comfortable & they will only wear "soft" pants like leggings.
This meant they would only wear skirts, dresses & leggings.
It made buying clothes for them so hard.
But, when we went Back to School shopping,  Kate wanted to try on these crop jeans, and she loved them.  We got these ones. We bought her white, light denim and dark denim.
Claire also decided that she wanted some. So I bought her 3 pair also!
I can't tell you how happy this makes me!
 #it'sthelittlethings

And, here is Claire Bear....our Kindergartner.

 It's so crazy to me that I was SOOOOO emotional about Kate going to Kindergarten.

I remember crying the night before she started Kinder and crying that morning

Of course, I was only 2 weeks post partum when Kate went to Kindergarten, so my emotions were on overload.

With Claire going to Kindergarten, it has felt totally different.

I think that is because she was in Transitional Kindergarten last year....at the same school and they did a lot of the same things that Kindergarten did. 

So this year, it doesn't feel like such a big deal...she is at the same school for the same amount of time.

Also, I think it isn't as emotional when it isn't your first kid you are sending off to Kinder.

I was so scared with Kate, but now I know that Kinder isn't a scary thing. 

It is an awesome thing.

The school is amazing and so are the teachers.

I didn't even give it a 2nd thought that Claire was going to Kindergarten.

At our school, the parents stay for the first hour on the first day. Since I also had my first day of school, Kevin went with Claire. I had a little "working mom" guilt that I was missing it, but Claire is such a Daddy's Girl that I knew she would rather have him there.

I didn't think Claire would be nervous at all for Kindergarten.

Let's just say I was WRONG.

She had tears on the first day when the parents had to leave.

She had some tears yesterday as well.

It puts a pit in my stomach that she isn't so thrilled about school.

She didn't have tears today, so I am praying that continues.

I was not anticipating this from her AT ALL. 

#momfail

Despite the tears, I still hope & pray it will be a great school year for both my girls!

Blogoversary Winners, End of Summer, 12 years, 40 years and 6.0

What a whirlwind this past week has been.

School started today (more on that later this week!)

Last week was spent in my classroom getting things ready for school and also trying to soak up every last minute of Summer with my kiddos.

So, obviously, blogging was not a priority last week!

 And, I can't believe I haven't announced the winners of my 6 year Blogoversary Giveaway!

Here they are:

Giveaway #1

Bip & Bop  $50 Shop Credit Winner is:

Jo

If you didn't win, you can still support Bip & Bop here:

  Shop * Facebook * Instagram

Giveaway #2

Number Banner from CM Handmade Winner is:

Amanda
If you didn't win, you can still support CM Handmade here:
Blog * Shop * Facebook * Instagram

Giveaway #3:

  $25 shop credit to Geo Fox Apparel Winner is:
Denissa
If you didn't win, you can still support Geo Fox Apparel here:
Shop * Facebook * Instagram 

  

Giveaway #4:

A pair of Hello Moccs Winner is:

Lee G.

If you didn't win, you can still support  Hello Moccs here:

Shop * Facebook * Instagram

Giveaway #5

$100 Shop Credit to Serendipity Hill Studio winner is:

  Ashley P.

If you didn't win, you can still support Serendipity Hill here:

Shop * Facebook * Instagram

Giveaway #6

Ruby Pendant necklace from Rebekah Gough Jewelry winner is:

Jumi

If you didn't win, you can still support Rebekah Gough here: 

Blog *Shop * Facebook * Instagram

 

Giveaway #7

 30 Day Insanity The Asylum Workout DVD Series Winner is:

Emily K.

If you didn't win, you can still support Haus of Girls Fit Family here:

 Blog * Shop * Facebook * Instagram

Giveaway #8

$50 Shop Credit to Crystal Faye Winner is:

  Paige

If you didn't win, you can still support Crystal Faye here:

Shop * Facebook * Instagram* Pinterest

Giveaway #9

$25 Shop Credit to She Does Justice winner is:

Sharon K.

If you didn't win, you can still support She Does Justice here:

Shop * Facebook * Instagram

Giveaway #10

Rodan +Fields Sunless Tanner Winner is:

Lindsay W.

If you didn't win, you can get R+F Sunless Tanner and other products {HERE}

 Congrats to all the winners! 

Please leave a comment with your email so I can get in touch with you about your prize!

And, again, if you didn't win, please support these amazing women & small business owners!

I also have 2 other giveaways going on right now!

$100 American Express Giftcard Giveaway {HERE}

$100 Visa Giftcard Giveaway {HERE}

************

Here is a sneak peak about what we have been up to the past week

We had a Kindergarten playdate at the splash pad for Claire:

Helped some of our friends move into a house less than a mile from ours:

 

 Went to the circus:

Kevin started on a house project.....Demo of our current Fireplace. Nothing like starting a home reno project the last week of summer. Yikes!!

Completed the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge:

I read my final book of the summer...(I finished it in 1 day....SO good!!)

Drank a lot of coffee getting amped up for Back to School...thanks for the wisdom Oprah:

I dragged my kids to my classroom for several hours so I could get things organized for this week:

Not only was last week the last week of Summer, but Kevin and I celebrated our 12 wedding Anniversary!

Our actual anniversary was yesterday, but we decided to celebrate it on Saturday night instead.

(Having a date night on a Sunday night before the 1st day of school would not be relaxing!)

For our date night, we did one of our favorite things.....rode our cruisers downtown for drinks & dinner! 

 Gotta love a selfie while riding a bike. #skills :)

Yummy drinks:

Pork Chop & Balsamic Glazed Peaches....YUM.

 Filet Mignon. So good. YUM.

 Creme Brulee for dessert. Amazing.

 Love date nights. Can't believe this was our first date night of the entire summer...and it was on the last night of summer.

And here we were 12 years earlier. Babies!

Kevin and I share an anniversary with my parents! They celebrated their 40th anniversary on Sunday!

Here is a little flashback to their wedding day in 1974:

 After our date night on Saturday night at 3:20 in the morning to an Earthquake. It was a BIG one.

One of the biggest ones we have had since 1989. It was a 6.0 Earthquake. It lasted a looong time. 

Ugh. Earthquakes are no fun. The epicenter of the quake was right outside Napa, and it hit Napa hard.

Here is a photo from one of my friends who owns several restruants in our town and he has 1  restaurant in Napa.

 This is a photo he posted on FB showing some damage to his Napa Restaurant....all of their wine....crashed to the floor.

Ironically, we were at one of his restaurants just hours before on our date night!

Lots of prayers for those in Napa, there was tons of damage throughout Napa because of this Earthquake.

So there you have it....a random recap of our last week.

School started today & we are trying to get back into the swing of things!

I can't believe summer is actually over. 

It was one of the fastest summers yet.

Have your kids started school yet?

Luke's Train Party {Choo Choo Luke is TWO!}

Luke's 2nd Birthday Party was on Saturday.

I knew that I wanted to throw him a train party.

First, I can't resist a cute rhyming slogan like  "Choo Choo Luke is Two"

Secondly, Luke loves trains. Loves them. He loves Chuggington, he loves playing with trains & he loves saying "choo choo" 

His actual birthday was the 9th, but our families were out of town, so we had his party this past weekend. On his actual birthday we took him to ride the steam trains. It was a blast, he loved it.

Here is the invite that I made for his party:

{Invite will be available in my Etsy Shop when I re-open for Fall}

Since Luke is only 2 & doesn't have that many friends,  I promised Kevin that I would keep his party small, so his party was just family...but that was still almost 30 people since everyone is local....Both sets of grandparents, Aunts, Uncles & Cousins. And, we also invited a family that we are best friends with and they are basically like family.

This was a fun party to decorate for. I have had lots of ideas swirling in my head for the past few months.

Decorations:

As you walked up to our house, I had a "train track" that I made out of black electrical tape.

It was time consuming to make, but I loved how it turned out :)

I made a sign on our porch that said "The Larson Station"

I also made 2 signs for my flower pots, instead of putting RR for the Railroad sign, I put LL for Luke Larson

And, instead of Railroad Crossing, I put 2 year old crossing.

 The front entrance:

For appetizers, I had Veggies & Hummus and I made a train out of the containers:

I had one of these old school Fisher Price Trains as a kid, loved it! I got one on ebay a few months ago for Luke & it worked out perfectly for my Veggie Train :)

I added black wheels with construction paper to the containers.

I loved how it turned out!

 Other appetizers I had were Onion Dip:

And Corn Dip {Recipe HERE}:

The appetizers set up on our island:

I hung up some paper lanterns:

 I also made an "All Aboard sign:

I loved using red, blue, yellow & lime green for his party, such a fun color combo!

For drinks, I set up the "Fueling Station" outside:

 Chugga Chugga....get it?

 The party started at 4:00, so we served dinner. Here was the menu:

 I set up the dinner food where I had the appetizers:

 

My tortelini salad is one of my go-to's for parties:

 {Recipe HERE}

Yum!

And, of course....I always have a Dessert/Sweets Table at my Parties!

 Close up of this cute banner I bought {HERE}

I love Dessert Tables!

Close up's of what was on the table:

 Again, I had LL instead of RR.

 I made the cupcake toppers as well.

A dessert table always needs some candy!

 We love licorice!

And, sugar cookies:

 If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that my mother in law makes amazing cakes for my kids birthdays.

 The train one might be one of my favorites! She made the cake look like the train I used for the invites/cupcake toppers/food labels. She is amazing!

Her cakes not only look good, they are also delicious!

For the favors, I set up "Baggage Claim" .  

The red "L" is from Luke's bedroom and the clock (like Grand Central Station) is from my Family Room.

 I made a bunting out of train conductor hats (Oriental Trading) and I had leftover bandanas from Claire's Cowgirl Party.

Luke wouldn't wear a bandana or hat, he kept ripping them off, but look how cute my nephew looks:

I had a variety of favors at the Baggage Claim. A bandana & hat for all the kids and I also had wooden train whistles.

Note to self: Whistles are annoying. Never again. LOL!

For the 3 kids under the age of 5, I had these books for them to take home:

For the older kids & adults, I had train cookies:

 I get all my favor cookies made from a local bakery.

Close up of the cookies:

  I made the tags....."Thank Choo for celebrating Luke"

  I also bought a nice version of "The Little Engine that Could" and had the guests sign it:

 Luke loves books, especially Choo Choo books.

I love that we have a keepsake from his party!

I was happy with how the Baggage Claim turned out. It was a last minute idea.

  Party Activities:

 Since Luke has a summer birthday, I am pretty sure most of his parties will include swimming. 

Gotta love a Train themed swim party :)

Final event of the party....Cake Time!

 I used the vintage high chair that I spray painted red for his One year old Nautical Party last year.

{Banner made by my friend Heather}

 Close up of his shirt:

 

  Me & the Birthday Boy! {Please excuse my top bun & no makeup. It was a swim party after all!}

 Happy 2nd Birthday Luke!

I hope you had as much fun at your party as I did!

Can't believe you are TWO!