A little of this, a little of that.

Finally - a naptime where I am not tied down to a chore or project! A week and a half ago I was in major spring cleaning mode - organizing, decluttering, washing windows. It feels good to have things in order.

I hosted a CAbi party earlier this month and it was awesome! It was the best attended of the three I've hosted. A few of my friends have become fans of the brand and were excited to spruce up their spring wardrobes. That meant a good amount of half priced clothing items for me as the host. Some people are pretty negative on the home party thing - I get it - expensive stuff, pressure to buy, etc. I personally am not a fan of the trinket/home décor parties because I find that stuff is no different than the stuff you can find at Target for a fraction of the price. But with CAbi the clothes are really good quality and they're unique (the prices are about the same as Nordstrom or boutiques). Also, as a mom with young kids, I rarely have the opportunity to shop for myself because it's near impossible to take my little ones along. The in home party with a rack of sample clothes is a fun way to check out the latest styles, hang out with friends and drink wine all at the same time :-)

CAbi clothes are well designed and intentional to fit "real" women's bodies with attention to detail, pleats, and ruching in all the right places. It's also fun to get a chance to try on clothes I may not pick in a store myself, but at home with a trained fashion consultant I'm more open to trying some different colors or styles than my usual choices. I get complimented on my CAbi clothes way more than any others. I find there is less pressure to buy at a CAbi party because 1) everyone is paying attention to themselves trying things on and deciding what they like so they aren't focused on whether or not the gal next to them is placing an order, 2) I've never had someone come to party and not fall in love with some of the pieces. I have had friends come and either not buy anything because it's not in the budget, or they only order 1 thing that was their favorite because of their budget. One of my friends came to my party last spring just to hang out and ended up buying 7 items! I now "save" my clothing allowance and birthday money for my twice yearly CAbi party and rarely buy clothes anywhere else (we do have a great consignment shop in the neighborhood I stop in at once and awhile).


Speaking of clothes....I have a bone to pick with Nordstrom. Last summer when I was almost at my weight loss goal I went in to Nordstrom for a bra fitting. The gal measured me and said I was a 34D. I was like, "WHAT?! A D? Are you sure?!" Seriously folks, me boobs do not look like D's. After nursing two children there is nothing left. But I figured the bra fitter knew what she was talking about. I ended up buying two 34D bras. Less than a year later I have never felt like these two bras are quite right. They give me bra bulge which I hate (fat spilling over the straps). A friend had told me about these great bras at a store called Soma. I decided to go check them out this morning. While in the store, the clerk asked me what size I was looking for. I told her I was a 34D. She smile politely and looked at my chest and said, "Honey, you are not a D. I'm sorry." She took my measurements and declared that I am actually a 36B. She gathered up some bras for me to try, and holy cow what a difference it makes - the right size is amazing! No bulge over the straps, and the cup actually fits and makes me look uh, perkier than before. I wish I could take my two $70 each bras back to Nordstrom and tell them what a joke their fitter is.

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There's a lot of stuff in the media about overscheduled kids and how stressed out kids these days are. I realize that on the outside it may look like my kids are pretty scheduled for being 2 and 3 1/2, but they are both doing great and thriving with the activities they are a part of. If at any time I felt like it was too much for either of them I would scale back. M2 is doing a Monday morning ballet/gymnastics class (30 minutes of each back to back), play group at church Wednesday morning, soccer class on Wednesday afternoon, preschool on Tues/Thurs, Dutch class on Saturday and church on Sunday. She loves all of these activities and never complains. P5 is now doing ABA therapy on Tues/Thurs/Friday for 2 hours each day, and he has an hour a week of speech therapy. He also attends the church childcare center on Wednesday and Sunday.

When I was growing up, my parents encouraged us kids to try every sport or activity to figure out what we liked. I tried many sports and ended up sticking with soccer. I did ballet, gymnastics and jazz dance for many years. I tried music but sucked at singing and piano, and I got kicked out of band in 5th grade for hitting a girl with my flute (she was Mormon, and she picked her nose, so really she kind of had it coming to her; but I digress).

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Speaking of P5's therapy, it is going really well. We love his program manager, she is a great fit for him. She is young, super enthusiastic and patient. He seems to really like going to therapy, and his communication skills are improving. He is now putting two words together - this is huge considering that at Christmas time he had less than 10 words in his vocabulary. He has gotten really into cars and trains and spends a lot of time playing with them.

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*My opinion about CAbi is strictly my own - I was not compensated in any way for my review.