Summer Lately

I never intended to neglect this family blog but it seems to look that way. Judging by my pics, we've been a little busy lately. The first month of summer flew by so fast and pretty soon we are gearing up for the new school year and fall! 

Lots of good times, travel memories we've had this past month or so. We have a few trips planned next month before we slow down and focus on school. In the meantime, you can catch me in my instagram (@swankychicfete) or my other lifestyle blog for what's going on around here....!

A Lego Weekend

This is where we were this past weekend. A quick trip to the little guy's favorite place on earth. His favorite Lego characters and friends were all present ~ he had a grand time! 

It was a bit cold with an overcast on Saturday and Sunday in Carlsbad. But there was no rain, so we enjoyed the cooler weather. We just got back and the reality of 95+ deg warm humid weather jolted us back to hometown Houston. 

But it's great to be back home. 

How was your weekend? 

4th of July Parade

Summer camp's 4th of July parade was last Tuesday. Everyone were dressed in their red, whites and blues and all the kids and babies were just adorable!

They started the parade in the school's hallways then proceeded outside for a quick round and ended in the sanctuary. It was earlier in the day, so the heat was still bearable and they didn't stay that long outside. Overall, it was fun and the kiddos get to strut and showoff their DIY project streamers and marracas and pinwheels! So fun and festive! 

Here's our little guy breaking up the line as he spotted mommy and showered her with hugs and kisses! 

4th of July at home was quiet and simple. We started early with a moviedate with the Amazing Spiderman. Then we grilled BBQ at home for dinner and watched the fireworks on TV! 

Bummed that we all have to go to work the next day :(

And here's my last minute patriotic tablecenterpiece I put together using my stand-by pantry staples. To check out the complete post, visit my other blog here! 

Daddys of Summer

Here are more lost pics from our San Antonio trip this past May. 

Ode to the daddies who sweat and swam it out that hot humid weekend! 

Hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating all the dads in your life this past weekend! 

Instagram Lately

It was a pleasant summer week this past week. In between work and vacation bible school for the little boy, I have a lot in my plate. Literally. Either it's summer corn and lobster salad from Neiman Marcus or my favorite afternoon treat, a cup of frozen yogurt - flavor of choice : low-fat dulce de leche and tart mango with fresh mangoes, strawberries and cheesecake bits. And of course, the usual demands of my work.

I got a few surprises this week too. I received an adorable mini-bunting by the seriously talented Jenny of hank and hunt. When it came in the mail, it just made my day brighter. I also picked up a little belated gift from Sephora - fresh sugar lip balms that i'm currently obsessed with.

We are moving to a new office before the month ends and we are excited and exhausted just thinking about it. To calm my senses, I indulge in a little at-home mani and paint my nails pink. And lastly, I dressed up more girly last night for a friend's birthday dinner and opted to go out in bright fuschia and aqua - more daring than usual.

I hope your week was fun and i'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend with the men in my life for father's day!

Summer's Last Hurrah

It will be sad to say goodbye to lazy summers but it will be so much nicer when the cooler weather is her and fall is upon us. The past week we have been busy preparing for the beginning of a new school year and it's been exciting for the little one as he enters preK! 

We start next week so Aston has been sleeping early to get used to the schedule unlike his laid back summer days. Waking up to cartoons and getting extra hour up awake at night will be replaced with a more strict schedule of early bed and early mornings!

The other day, I treated him to a cupcake and milk break over at Crave while we waited for daddy to finish his work day. Of course, I have to have my treat too. He had the red velvet, I tried the cranberry/mandarin. Yum-o!

Another window shopping trip the other day ended up with some major shopping spree at Williams-Sonoma where they have Marvel comic characters baking and kitchen wares. He has been obsessed with action heroes ranging from Spiderman to Incredible Hulk and he loves their display even if they're far from real toys. We ended up staying a good 45 minutes browsing and enjoying the collection. Thankfully, they still have some Star Wars collection on sale and had to get him the tin box (which can be used as lunch box) filled with Star Wars character sandwhich cutters (under $10!). Great score!

As a kid, I loved scribbling and doodling and I wished Aston would be too. This summer I had him practicing his letters and tracing his name. The pen grip is still awkward and the letters are far from recognizable but I'm sure he'll get the hang of it. 

Blogger friend Rebekah of A Blissful Nest shared some back-to-school free printables on her blog this week and I was dying to use them for Aston's teachers treats. I printed them on sticker paper and used them as labels for the hand sanitizers, pens/notepads and the bags of butterscotch I baked for them. 

This boxed butterscotch from Williams-Sonoma are soo good and I packed a few bars for the teachers to try. I hope they liked them as much as we all did at home!

That's all for now. I will have full report of his first day of school next week! 

Legoland in July

We have another trip planned there for next week and I realized I never shared the rest of our other photos from our visit last July. The little guy is excited to go back and this time we will try our best to visit their famous zoo as well (if we can get him to get out of Legoland). 

4th of July Weekend Part 1

We took a quick trip to San Diego last weekend for a much needed break and thoroughly enjoyed the stay as we soaked on the beautiful weather. That was something I was really looking forward to ~ escaping the Texas humid heat even for just a short time. 

We stayed at this beautiful resort hotel right next to Legoland and we loved the convenience of how near this place was to the park and the nearby outlet mall. They even have their own private entrance to the resort which was a brief walking distance away. 

Aston right away jumped in the pool for an afternoon dip the day we arrived. It was difficult to get him out of there. We had to bribe him for a day at the waterpark if he gets out in time for dinner. 

Dinner was at the hotel's restaurant grill as it was Tapas Thursday night. Yum!

Next stop will be Sea World. 


I hope you all had a great July 4th weekend celebration as well!

Sweets and More

The long weekend of Memorial Day brought us to our favorite hang-out outdoor shopping and entertainment destination, City Centre, by the Memorial-Town & Country area. We stumbled upon this charming tiny bakery called Sweet, boasting with yummy cupcakes and delicious french macarons.

The little guy had a hard time picking out a treat!

He settled with a red velvet cupcake (highly influenced by mom) and a truffle!

We can't wait to go back!