Maman Verdant

52 Weeks

Sunday, June 8, 2014

3 maybe 4, that’s how many weeks I thought I may have missed in my project. Seven. May came and went faster than you can say WildAboutMusicToyJoyAustinRocksTexasRealAustinGifts. But don’t fret, I took pics of D, just haven’t had time to load them up. Life has been so blissfully hectic, I’ve had to take a hard look at myself and really prioritize. Unfortunately, Maman Verdant got sent to the very bottom, ok maybe seeing the dentist is at the very bottom, but I’m trying really hard to deny it, can you tell? Anyways, please forgive the onslaught of Doiron pictures but here is a snapshot for every week since April 20.

17/52: A Disappearing Act

18/52: Splashing at the Y

19/52: No Words Needed

20/52: Batman, always Batman.

21/52: Because sometimes you need to lay on the sidewalk and play trains.

22/52: So small and yet so big

23/52: Not sure the whole fire inside is a good idea, at a Japanese Steak House

23/52: Not sure the whole fire inside the restaurant thing is a good idea, at a Japanese Steak House

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f r o z e n

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

I’m going to invite y’all a little deeper into my life. I am THE proverbial kid in a candy store. Three and a half years ago I moved back to Austin to work full time in my parent’s long standing store, Wild About Music, in that time we have opened a fashion boutique, Austin Rocks Tx, acquired Toy Joy, and are working hard on yet another store slated to open in a few days. It should also be stated that I have the self control of, well, a two year old. Every bright and shiny piece of clothing or now, toy, that comes through our stores, finds its way into my hands. Regardless of the fact that I by no means need it, and in most cases, can’t really afford it. Yup, here I am airing my dirty laundry for all who wish to read.

In our current environment of facebook, instagram and pinterest, I am faced hourly, or maybe minute-ly? with an onslaught of needing more. More babies, more clothes, more decor, more more more. In the course of trying to keep up with the Joneses I’ve racked up quite a bit of debt, and now that actual things I need are arising, such as a car, dental work, and another baby (yes, I do need one 😉 ) I can’t afford it because I still haven’t paid for some things that I bought in college. It’s quite overwhelming, and it may sound light hearted here, but it is weighing heavily right now as I try to figure out this whole adult thing that’s happening. And so, I have elected to put myself on a spending freeze. Originally, I was only going to do a month and see where that got me. But let’s be honest, it will get me just about nowhere. In doing research I came upon andthenwesaved.com, the author knocked out her debt in one year due to eliminating frivolous spending. And so, from here on out I. will. not. buy. clothes. eat/drink out. or, brace yourselves, go to goodwill every. week. for the duration of this year.

My first step was to outline all of my debt and percentage rates, then make a list of all the things I’m unable to do/have and finally a list of items I must pay for monthly, and those that I will be cutting out. I’m sure there are many more, but this remains with me at all times and so I will continue to add to it, and refer to it when I’m feeling weak. This is going to be extremely challenging for me, I’ve already failed twice as I’ve had to work late and hadn’t planned a dinner, but I did succeed in keeping my dinner’s around $3 vs. the normal $10 of a downtown meal, and paid cash. My plan is to do the best I can, and document things here to keep me honest. I will have some hiccups but I’ll take any and all victories I can get. So, here we go, wish me luck, and maybe a little good fortune.

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52 Weeks

Sunday, April 20, 2014

There has been so much, too much, going on in the last few weeks. Sometimes it’s felt like there wasn’t enough time to breathe, but its all been so amazing and exciting and so, so much to share! But first, lets get caught up in my 52 weeks project. It wasn’t hard to pick photos for these three weeks because there just wasn’t many to choose from, but I’m still proud and feel they do a great job reflecting this time in our life.

14/52 Doiron Dale: Batman was his favorite game, chasing us through the house grunting

15/52 Doiron Dale: enjoying the spoils of mommy’s new toy shop

16/52 Doiron Dale: monkey see, monkey do, enjoying our first saturday together in three weeks

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13/52

Sunday, March 30, 2014

52 Weeks // a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014

Doiron Dale: happy bug in the morning sunshine

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c a m p

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

My family purchased a used pop up camper a few weeks ago . . . my mom and I have dreams of turning it into our gypsy trailer. We haven’t done any renovations to it yet, but a few good coupons and sales at World Market plus some fantastic finds at Goodwill, made it quite cute and comfy for our first excursion, and Doiron’s very first camping trip. My absolute favorite childhood memories are of camping with my family and it makes me down right giddy to think of the memories we will be forming with Doiron and future bebes to come! Pictures are worth a thousand words so I’ll let them do the talking, à le camping et l’aventure!

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12/52

Monday, March 24, 2014

52 Weeks // A portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014

Doiron Dale: helping daddy with our new camper (camp pics coming soon!)

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11/52

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

52 Weeks // A portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014

Doiron Dale: Getting bigger each time a blink . . . so hard to believe and so amazing.

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v ê t u // #2

Saturday, March 15, 2014

We had our first clothing tantrum this week. When D put on his snazzy new car shirt he was very excited, he figured nothing goes better with a car shirt than car pants, right? Lightning. McQueen. Pajama. Car Pants. I compromised by letting him hold the pants while we put on his jeans, he was still dissatisfied but dealt. Just a small dose of what I dished out to my mom for 5+ years arguing every morning to wear my leotards and tights to school . . . I might be the only second grader you know who repeatedly had the teacher telling them to put their clothes back on, as I would casually unbutton my denim shirt to reveal the swimsuit I snuck under my agreed upon clothes. I remember my mom leaving explicit instructions for my grandmother when she went out of town, stating she was not to allow me to wear spandex to school . . . . yup I snuck it, poor grandma. . . poor mama. Anyways, this morning after I got D dressed in his red Skinny pants he went running into the other room and returned saying “booz booz booz!!!!” no folks, he wasn’t asking for a mimosa, he was carrying his red emus featured in our first vêtu, booz is toddler talk for boots. I thought about trying to convince him to wear his cons as I feared the red on red would be a bit much, but it turned out pretty cute. I always told myself I would let him wear whatever he wants, not sure he’ll win the pajama pant argument too frequently but I’m sure I have many a negotiations in my future. After we were fully dressed we headed out to our favorite neighborhood park, and the rest is history . . .

Skinny jeans and corduroy Jacket// Old Navy Born Free Lion shirt// Austin Rocks Boots// Emu

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10/52

Monday, March 10, 2014

52 Weeks // a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2014

Doiron Dale: lots of cuddles and free kisses from this one lately. cherishing every moment.

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P L A Y

Monday, March 3, 2014

I haven’t felt like Supermom at all lately. Between a five day business trip to Las Vegas a few weeks ago and having felt off ever since I got back, there just hasn’t been time or energy for anything fun. So I thought I’d slip in a post from a while back when I had a Supermom moment and made play dough from scratch! You may not know this, but before my mom ran Austin’s coolest stores she moonlighted as a pre-school teacher and she learned a couple neat tricks. A few years ago she made this amazing cookbook for me of our family’s favorite recipes and in back are some special additions such as this play dough recipe as well as one for bubbles and a self portrait I drew in Kindergarten, I’ll have to share those some other time. I was amazed how quickly the play dough came together and Doiron seemed to enjoy it, for about 15 minutes, I stretched it out to a good half hour when I showed him that his trucks can play too. Also, I was pretty impressed that I managed to subconsciously make it the same color as my kitchen, you know I love to match! Give it a shot sometime, I personally can’t stand the smell of store bought play dough and I’d venture a guess that this is much cheaper . . .