Quarantine Weekend Themes – Easter and Indoor Camping

Posted on April 27, 2020 by sara

Some people think half of the fun of traveling is in this planning- and I’ve tested this theory the last couple of weekends in quarantine.

The first weekend was a bit of a fluke as it was Easter. We dressed up for high tea, did a couple of bunny crafts, dyed eggs, hunted for eggs, had a nice Easter lunch then beautiful dessert and charcuterie boards for dinner. It was a lot of fun and we barely felt limited by staying indoors.

We thought we’d try it again the following weekend with an indoor camping theme. I put together a schedule, we planned the menu, researched crafts and decided on a movie.

Saturday morning, after the kids (ages 3 and 5) came back in from outdoor time, we started with snack time. We pulled out the nuts, dried fruits, coconut chips and chocolate and we made trail mix- and ate it. Then it was time for placemats- which took me right back to my Girl Scout days. I cut up the paper ahead of time and kept it fairly simple for the little ones, while challenging myself with a more complex design. (I generally followed this tutorial)

We took a break to watch a camping themed episode of Sesame Street, a lunch of sandwiches and chips and naptime, then we were back at it with filling and baking apples and making rain sticks by pouring rice into a toilet paper tube (find out the secret here) before the spider hunt.

I printed out a bunch of spider clip art on pinterest and added a bit of gold glue to help them shimmer in the flashlight. I hid them around the house, gave the kids flashlights, and they went on a spider hunt. I taught them to hold the flashlight by their eyes and look for the sparkle, and they ran around the house, collecting spiders. It was the most fun.

Then it was time to “make the campfire” with Daddy. They made rocks out of paper and painted a fire-like structure (a wire pyramid with paper over it). While the paint dried, we sang campfire songs (with Barney, I’m embarrassed to say!). The kids were so excited to for the sun to set.

We took a “hike” around our condo grounds, collecting nature items (sticks, leaves, flowers) that we later used for our centerpiece. After a proper camping dinner of hot dogs and corn on the cob, we had s’mores. We warmed a bowl of chocolate squares with marshmallows and served it alongside homemade graham crackers (recipe here), because hoarding has officially moved to cookies. S’mores are a family favorite and the kids were in heaven.

After bath, we collected around the “campfire,” sitting on our mats to tell stories. The plan was for them to sleep in the tent together, but that didn’t quite happen for a variety reasons. They did “sleep” in it for naptime the next day (just so I’m clear, no napping happened).

I’m not gonna lie, we were tired that night! The next day we had a special breakfast of French toast, then the kids took a visit to the “swimming hole” – a unicorn kid pool on our tiny balcony. The kids spent more than an hour in that tiny bath!

After swimming, we made bird houses—coloring the roof, and hot gluing the popsicles sticks on the ends.

After a lunch of BBQ chicken (the kids ate the drumsticks) it was naptime (for mommy!) and in the afternoon, we watched Charlotte’s Web before eating pizza.

We had fun, and the kids haven’t stopped talking about this week. When asked what they are grateful for, they mentioned the s’mores and the spiders, and they haven’t stopped singing the songs from Charlotte’s Web. This weekend we are going to try a Singapore theme.

So why not try it? Maybe it’s not a whole weekend but maybe it’s a French dinner and watching The Artist, or negronis and an Italian countryside puzzle— it just has to be planned a bit in advance, so there’s something to exciting on the horizon. How else will we get through this pandemic?

Modern Animal Nursery

Posted on February 4, 2017 by sara

I know I promised this blog wouldn’t become a kids blog– but this is my life currently (along with spit up and sleepless nights). I am working on my daughter’s second birthday coming up in March, so hopefully there will be some party updates coming soon.

Anyhoo, if you follow my on instagram you know that our baby boy was born in November. He’s a sweet little boy, our Rush Elias.

As they say, we weren’t quite as organized with the second baby. For our daughter, her nursery was ready a month early. Rush’s nursery has just come together, 2.5 months after he was born.

When we found out we were having a boy, I figured the new baby would take over East’s room, so I brainstormed on how to use her arrow linens. In the middle of the night (when all the best ideas come) I decided on Woodland Animals. Turns out woodlands animals are out and safari animals are what’s trendy right now, so I had to be a bit flexible with my animal choices. It still turned out cute, I think!

Don’t these animals look like these popular (and expensive) heads? I looked all over for something that wouldn’t cost tons for shipping to HK and was able to find these on TaoBao (the Mainland China Amazon/Ebay). The site is only in Chinese, so my husband’s work colleague had to assist us– in return she saw them before I did! But we were able to save hundreds of dollars (and who knows– they could be the Chinese supplier of the fancy brand!).

Hong Kong isn’t always the most stroller friendly place, so we have tried nearly every baby carrier. We have quite the collection and I need somewhere to keep them organized and accessible. I loved this arrow hook panel from Target.

Aren’t those little animals cute? I did get some woodland creatures in, with this cute bowling set from Etsy. That sweet picture of my hubby as a chubby little babe, with his favorite bunny kills me every time. And who can resist an inspirational sign (also from Target)?

Even though the room has built in closets, I needed additional storage, particularly drawers. So we got IKEA dresssers (not our first choice– ah, the joys of living in a big city!) so I thought I’d customize them a bit with some washi tape. The blocks on top are from my baby shower with sweet messages from friends.

When we moved, my first purchase was a rocking chair for nursing. I used it a lot when I was pregnant due to being so uncomfortable, so we moved it to the living room. So now we have 2, one in each room. And who’s that sitting in the chair?! Right under a picture of himself, the cutie pie! (By the stuffed animal basket is a mat I use to lay him on for stretching and tummy time).

And finally, here’s a pulled back picture of the room. I’m pretty happy with how it came together. What do you think?

(It was a rainy dark day, so please forgive the dark pictures!)

Baby East’s Modern Nursery

Posted on May 2, 2015 by sara

If you’ve known me for 5 minutes or longer you will know that I don’t like pink. I am the youngest of 4, all boys proceeding me, so the family was pretty excited when a girl finally came along, drowning me in pink. Finally at about 12 I said no more pink and I haven’t looked back. So there was no question my daughter’s room would not be pink.

I wanted to create something peaceful and modern using mint, gold and a touch of coral. {please forgive these iphone photos. I had hope to take some better pictures, but it’s just not happening!}

I ordered the fabric from spoonflower and got it made into a cushion, some bedsheets, pillows and a changing pad cover. I applied the decals on the wall over 2 weekends– it really didn’t take too long, and I’m hoping it comes off easily when we move.

We added a bar to the shelf to create some hanging options {and who doesn’t like to look at cute baby clothes?}. That cute picture on the dresser is her daddy when he was a baby. His mom sent this, along with his childhood bunny.

I love this quote from Kate Spade– I can only hope that she will embody these qualities! I couldn’t find it in print any longer, so I ended up making this. I cut out the letters with my Silhouette, painted them gold, adhered them to painted cardstock, and framed it.

Our little girl was due right around Chinese New Year (a big deal here in Hong Kong) – although she ended up being a bit late. This year on the Chinese zodiac is year of the sheep {or goat, or ram, depending on how you translate it} so when I saw this big fluffy stuffed animal I couldn’t help but get it for my little sheep. The turtle and the rabbit were given by friends.

She’s still sleeping in a bassinet in our room, but I’m hoping she loves the room as much as we do when she moves in.

Little Gifts to Show We Care

Posted on July 15, 2014 by sara

We are back from our US adventure, jet lagged, tired, but full of love. I’m trying to get back on schedule, but that 12 hour time difference kicks me in the pants.

While we were gone we asked some friends to stay in our apartment to take care of our cat {she’s needy and hungry}. To say thank you we left a little welcome gift of Japanese chocolate covered potato chips. I wrapped them up with ribbon and a note.

For our friends and family in the US, we wanted to share a little taste of Asia. The green tea taste has won us over, so we got some mini green tea KitKats to hand out. I added our contact information to each package. I attached the strips with special edition washi tape of the Hong Kong Star Ferry and skyline.

We hope everyone enjoyed our gifts!

New Obsession: Quince

Posted on April 1, 2014 by sara

As you all probably already know, I tend to get obsessed with something {particularly food} for a bit. For awhile, everything seems to be about that dish. Right now that obsession in quince.

I’ve heard of quince before, but until Australia this Christmas, I’m not sure I ever really came across it. In Melbourne we found this quince tea that we now make iced tea from every weekend, and this amazing smelling soap. It’s become my new thing- I look for it every where. Because the scent is sweet and spicy, it would be a great hostess gift or new flavor to your next party.

Artisan quince syrups.

What a quince looks like.

Quince paste, which is quite tasty. They say it’s good with cheese.

This is the brand of soap we found. Smells so good!

T2 teas are all the rage in Oz. This quince tea is perfect, it doesn’t need any sweetener.

I bet this body moisturizer smells amazing, too.