Haunted Pumpkin Patch - NYBG

Nothing ushers in the fall like reddish-brown fallen leaves,  fresco weather and Halloween costumes. Last year, was my Yum Yum’s first Halloween and boy did I have some ambitious goals... gotta love the unrealistic expectations of a first-time mom.

Heart of India

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to India as part of my grad school final project. It was a year long project that took us (3 classmates & I) to the heart of India. We were required to conduct extensive research and analyze our findings - a learning opportunity of a lifetime. 

I have to be vague (i know annoying) because I am not sure how much information I can share (confidentiality n what not). The short version is that, I had an amazing experience I got to meet the nicest , kindest people who persevere despite the daily hardship characterizes their lives.

I did not to do any sightseeing which was a big downer - we came to work, and that was exactly what we did;  LOADS of it. Another trip to India looms on the horizon and I figured i'd share these pics to capture how different these two experiences might be. 

Yum Yum's Bookcase

The past couple weeks have been unbelievably busy with preparing for winter and the launch of I+E.  Only few people know what I+E is but I’ll bring you up to speed on that very very soon J

Since I’ve got all my creative juices oozing lately, here’s  another  DIY post.

DIY: Entryway Furniture Makeover

I was hoping to restart my apartment makeover this summer but somehow didn’t get around to any of the projects on my list. Now that summer is over, I find myself running helter skelter trying to  get it all done before the weather turns cold and miserable – gotta love procrastination. 

When we moved into our apartment last Oct, I looked evarrrrrywhere for the perfect foyer / entryway table but kept running into 2 problems - What I liked was outside my budget and I hated everything within my budget.

I ended up settling for an Ikea Micke desk which works nicely for us. We covered the cable hole with a letter holder and use the 2 drawers as a his&hers holding place for keys and other random crap.

Cost ?  $59 and a little imagination – I don’t think Ikea still has this but you can find it’s close cousin here 

Grace & Elie

You know how you have those friends that despite time and years, you’re able to pick up on your conversations from where you left off ?! Grace is one those people for me. She was my grad school “sibling”; the university had a program where second year students were assigned to first year students, to serve as peer mentors and she was/is excellent at it.

Through the years, our relationship has morphed into that of the prodigal sibling. We don’t get to talk as often as we used to but when we do, our conversations are deep, purposeful and raw. And often times, involves me picking her brain for advice on motherhood, marriage and entrepreneurship. 

Motherhood and precious Elie were the impetus behind Grace starting her eponymous baby clothing line “Grace & Elie”. The collection is predominantly inspired by her African(Ghanaian) heritage, so naturally, its full of prints and colors that tickle the senses. She worked on this collection right after her son was born – can I say Superwoman! 

When I became a mom, Grace showed up in style and showered Yum Yum with the most beautiful pieces from the collection. Here are few things my Yummers scored from Aunt Grace:

Onesie –  the cotton of the onesie is unimaginably soft and is simplistically designed with a cut out imagery of a dinosaur from a print fabric.

Bib – The bibs were my absolute favorite! The prints are vibrant and colorful and sure to make any spit-up look like a design, lol, more importantly, the back is made of an absorbent terry fabric. I always wiped YumYum’s mouth with the back for obvious reasons, I also loved the fact that all that messiness was nicely hidden.

Dresses – These spring/summer dresses are just gorg! see for yourself! In waiting for the perfect summer event for YumYum to wear them, summer has almost passed me by smh. Anyway, besides obviously being beautiful and comfortable, they  Adjustable!!!  So even though YumYum got them in 18months sizes, she can wear them well past 24 months by adjusting the shoulder ties and the purple dress can be worn as a skirt! How smart is that! Told you she’s superwoman.

Tuck in the straps and you have a skirt! 

I swear to you she wasn't prompted to twirl :) 

Check out more of her designs at Grace &Elie

Emma says thank you Aunt Grace!!!

We are very proud of you.

Healthy Lifestyle Update - July

Written last week in July. 

T’is the end of the month meaning another healthy lifestyle check in. If you’re curious about how my mankofit challenge went… well… whad had happen’d was…

I got bored of coming up with recipes and I fell off  the challenge... yea i know...wha whaaa... I later got back on… but did not entirely follow the grocery list - I had a yogurt here n there, then some chocolate and it went south from there.

My first couple weeks of following the challenge strictly brought my weight down into the 130’s – I’m currently swinging between 138-139 and I kiss 140 on a bad day. Although I didn’t lose a ton of weight, I’m getting closer to my pre-pregnancy weight (134-135) – I feel the need to add that I’m trying to make a lifestyle change here, so I make a conscious effort not to be too hopped up on the numbers and the goddamned scale. Here are some recipes I’ve tried since.

Brown Basmati Stir-fry: Rice/ Chicken/ Kale/ Portabella Mushrooms/ Balsamic Vinegar/ Salt