The Mini Social-Melissa and Doug and Kayce Hughs Sales

Hi Friends!

Just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know The Mini Social (similar to Rue La La, but it is just for kids stuff) is having a Melissa and Doug and Kayce Hughs sale today! I LOVE both brands. The Kayce Huges sales has some great items for little girls. I ordered 4 different things for Baby J from the Melissa and Doug sale. Stock up today on Christmas gifts and gifts for birthday parties! I love their products and the prices can't be beat today! Email me at magnoliasmarriageandmanhattan@gmail dot com and I'll send you an invite if you aren't already a member! Happy Cyber Monday!

More on life and Thanksgiving later, but couldn't wait to pass these great deals along!

Garment Bags

Hi friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We went to the park on Saturday and a great lunch...oh and watched our Crimson Tide win AGAIN! Roll Tide Roll! We're two games away from a sunny vacation in California. We are either going to the National Championship or the Sugar Bowl and I can't wait. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Pasadena, but there is a tough road ahead with Auburn and Florida. Yesterday we took Baby J to the Central Park Zoo and Petting Zoo. It was a blast! I'm busy getting the apt ready for A's sisters arrival.

Quick question though, does anyone know where I can get garment bags for under $100? A's parents both want them for Christmas. His Dad just wants a plain black one and his Mom's only request was a working zipper. She's not very Vera Bradley or the grosgrain ribbon type (like me) so I'm at a lost. I've checked Lands End and LL Bean and nothing...any help much appreciated!

Hope all is well!

Christmas Tree Skirts

A friend of a friend sent me this link for handmade Christmas Tree Skirts. Thought y'all might enjoy:

Site Name: Claire and Kathleen tree skirts
Site URL: http://claireandkathleentreeskirts.shutterfly.com/

Pretty cute!!

A Note from The Monogram Swap

Hi Readers,

I got this note a few weeks ago and Lauren explained things pretty well, so I'll let her introduce you to her fabulous concept herself! Enjoy!


MMM


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


Hi Mrs. MMM!

I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading your blog. I grew up in Alabama and love seeing your baby in UA outfits:) I wanted to introduce myself and also let you know about a website that I think might be of interest to your blog readers. It is called The Monogram Swap and is an online place to buy and sell pre-owned personalized goodies. A lot of people invest money in monogrammed items and this is a great way to get a little more out of them. We take children's clothing, bags, backpacks, linens, baby stuff, sporting goods, accessories, etc. If it's got 1 letter, 3 letters, or a name, we'll take it.

The address is http://themonogramswap.com if you want to check it out.We just started a few weeks ago, so we don't have a ton of items for sale yet. I'm hoping to make some connections in the "pink & green" network:)If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you!

Lauren

Misc Hodgepodge

We've experienced the circle of life this past week. Saturday A's cousin/J's Godfather got engaged to a fabulous girl in Paris! A friend of mines Grandfather died last Wednesday. A friend's healthy baby girl was born on Thursday. Another friends healthy baby girl was born on Friday. Last night we lost a wonderful family friend to stage 4 lung cancer. My heart is full of happiness and sadness this week. Please keep all of these families in your prayers.


What have we been up to? A's parents were in town Sat-Tues and then Baby J's Godmother and one of my best friends was in town this past weekend. We had a great time with everyone!

Baby J decided to not honor daylight savings time in the morning. My perfect 7pm-7am sleeper decided to wake up at 5am, 5:45am, etc the past few weeks. The past two days we are finally back to 7am, but I am no early bird and those mornings were killing me. His top two teeth are almost in so I'm sure that had something to do with it to.

What else is he up to? He is the cutest thing in the entire world, but he is the reason for my lack of blogging. He's 10 months old today and he is into EVEYRTHING! He is crawling, cruising and standing on his own for about 15-30 seconds. I feel like those first steps are coming soon. He has a great personality and smiles so much. He loves to go for long strolls and he is OBSCESSED with Daisy. The two of them together melts my heart. He'll be ONE in two months !

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. We are staying in the city and A's sister is coming to stay with us. We are going to watch the balloons be inflated in Central Park and go to the parade on Thursday! So fun! Are you doing anything interesting? What's on your menu? We need to start planning ours. Anyone have a great dressing or cranberry sauce recipe? I want to mix it up this year.

My sister is graduating from Alabama on December 12th so Baby J and I will spend 1/2 the month in Alabama going between the Gulf Coast and Birmingham. I can't wait to visit with friends and family! We will be in the car a lot though! Any tips for THREE long car rides with a 11 month old and 2 plane rides? We have got to move closer, this travel is killing me.

For those of you that have kids, what are your favorite 12-18 month toys? I need to make a list for the Grandparents for Christmas and Birthday! Can't wait to hear your suggestions!
We're thinking about getting this or this?

It's time to start planning Baby J's first bday! Any suggestions on themes? We'll probably just do it at our apartment since it cost like $1000 to rent anywhere in the city and it will be too cold in January to have it in the park! Yikes!

I've been busy with Junior League. Email me if you live in the city and want to get involved! We have a great holiday shopping thing coming up soon. Check out the website for details or email me.

I got another check from ebates this week! Y'all they have sent me $430.00 this year!!! How awesome is that! If you have not signed up, you are crazy. Click here and get started. (You get $5.00 and I get $5.00) If you have any questions, let me know. Basically if you can remember to go there and then search for whatever store you are about to make an online purchase from, you will get cash back. The big fat checks get paid every few months. I use it the most for diapers.com and ebay. It's just one extra step, that pays! Do it for all of your Christmas shopping and you can treat yourself to something!

That's it for now. I need to take a shower before the little one wakes up. We have music class today! I love Little Maestros!

Thank You Grove Gals

This is months and months belated, but so goes my life these days with a crawler/cruiser/almost walking TEN MONTH OLD (today) who has a passion for dog food and opening toilets! =)

The Grove Gals never cease to amaze me with their generosity. They did not ask for a product review, only thought of my sweet Baby J and his Mama's love of the Alabama Crimson Tide and decided he needed this sweater to add to his crimson/white collection. How great is this sweater? And since it is in our last initial it may be the only thing that a future boy child can wear since everything else is monogrammed J. =) So, even though they didn't ask...please check out Pineapple Grove Gifts today! It's a great little online store and I'm sure you can find some holiday gifts there. The link has been in my sidebar for awhile, because they also offer MMM readers a discount of 15% with code MMM15!

Yummy Weight Watchers Quiche

This is REALLY good, we made it the other night and I added a little ham to make it a little more hearty!

Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche

POINTS® value | 5 Servings | 8 Preparation Time | 20 min Cooking Time | 45 min Level of Difficulty | Easy main meals | Who says real men don't eat quiche? It's really just an omelet in a pie crust. Make it for the whole family.

Ingredients

• 6 oz pie crust, 9-inch, refrigerated
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup(s) red onion(s), chopped
• 1 1/4 cup(s) part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup(s) low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 large egg(s)
• 2 large egg white(s)
• 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp table salt, or more to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or more to taste
• 10 oz frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and well-drained
• 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375ºF. Press pie crust into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch, removable-bottom tart pan or a 9-inch pie pan; refrigerate until ready to use.
  
  
• To make filling, heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Transfer onion to a large bowl and add ricotta cheese, cheddar cheese, egg, egg whites, mustard, oregano, salt and pepper; mix well and fold in broccoli. Spoon mixture into prepared crust and level surface with a wooden spoon; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
  
  
• Bake until a knife inserted near center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces. Yields 1 piece per serving.

Notes

Not a broccoli fan? Substitute spinach in its place.

Giveaway Winner

I said I would draw yesterday, but the inlaws are in town and we ended up having an impromtu Bama party. Roll Tide! The baby has been up since 4am (we are getting our top two teeth) so Mama is behind on life in general. ANYWAYS, on to the important stuff!

The winners of The Paper Cafe and Donovan Design contest are:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:10 34
Timestamp: 2009-11-08 22:17:11 UTC

Congrats to number 10...Elizabeth KS

Congrats to number 34...Whitney Walker Alexander


Please email me at magnoliasmarriageandmanhattan@gmail dot com and I will get you in touch with The Paper Cafe!


Thanks so much to The Paper Cafe and Donovan Design and thank you readers for entering!

Last Day To Win Free Stationery!

Click here for more details. The contest ends tomorrow!

Baby Gift Ideas

How cute are these signs that my friends make! I know I've shown you them before, but I am going through old drafts so forgive me for the random posts.

If you need a unique baby gift be sure to email Two Girls and a Glue Gun. S is Baby J's Godmother and she made him a custom birth annoucement that matches his nursery and also did his name in blue letters with white polka dots. I wish I could share, but you know A's rules about sharing our names for the entire world to see. =) These signs are great for baby showers, doors to the hosptial or nursery decor.

Check out Two Girls and a Glue Gun's blog here or email them at twogirlsandagluegun@gmail.com. You can get all of your baby gifts and Christmas shopping done with one email to the girls!

They have some great Thanksgiving/Christmas/Football signs too! I've got to take my Trick or Treat sign down and put up my Gooble Til' You Wobble! Of course, our Roll Tide sign stays up year round as does our "Welcome Y'all!"

BTW, have you signed up for our giveaway? The Paper Cafe and Donovan Designs are giving away a set of notecards and notepads! Click here to enter and get all of the rules. Donovan Designs also has some great baby gifts.

These bagtags are awesome for the stroller or diaper bag!

Another great baby gift would be a set of notecards for the Mommy to Be or for the new baby. I've loved using all of Baby J's stationery and we went through A LOT because of our generous friends.

Fall Giveaway from The Paper Cafe and Donovan Designs!

The Paper Cafe &

Thank you to everyone that attempted to dress me. I am going to go to JCrew and try out all of your ideas on Friday. The baby boy is going to backup daycare at Daddy's office and Mama is hitting Jcrew!

So, it's giveaway time again! Yeah!


The Paper Cafe is giving away TWO prizes to my sweet readers. The rules are pretty standard.


RULES:

1) Go to The Paper Cafe website here and check out the AMAZING Donovan Designs

2) Pick your favorite. Good luck with that one...there are SO MANY!

3) Come back here and post your favorite

For additional entries (please remember to post your additional entries in separate comments or they will not count):

1) Become a follower or let me know you are a follower

2) Become my follower on twitter or let me know you are follower on twitter (I promise to update more now that I have a new laptop)

3) Tweet about this contest

4) Blog about this contest

That is a potential for FOUR additional entries and there will be TWO winners.

The first winner will receive a set of Large, personalized notepads (comes wrapped and tied with a cute grosgrain ribbon) of their choice. The second winner will receive 25 personalized note cards/envelopes of their choice (also wrapped with ribbon).These are the perfect stocking stuffer, teacher gift, gift for a friend, etc. Or, you can keep your prize for yourself. I won't tell.

Here are a few of my favorite Donovan Design products. I would pick one of these sets of note cards for myself:

Baby J said he would pick one of these precious designs for himself:

Now, what are your favorite products? Can't wait to see. I'll show you more of mine tomorrow! Happy Tuesday. I've got to go run before the baby wakes up. Don't forget to vote if you live in NYC!

Dress Me Contest

I have a last minute request for my sweet readers. I need something to wear for our portraits in Central Park on Saturday! This is what Baby J will be wearing:

It's light blue corduroy from Bailey Boys and Emory monogrammed it. Cute, right?

So, what should I wear? I'm definitely going to do jeans and either gold/silver Tory Burch flats. I really just need a top. A classic sweater? Something with ruffles? A button down with pearls? Something classic, something trendy? Something pink or something black? If you can help me create my picture outfit TODAY by posting links in the comment section here, I will pick one of your options, order it today and send you a little thank you surprise! Thanks in advance for your help!