The Preppy Pit Bull

Pink Swap!

2012-02-01T12:58:00.002-05:00

Hi all!

This year I asked to be a part of the Pink Swap hosted by Hopsy and I got paired up with the fabulous Paige of monogramsandmargaritas!

Paige COMPLETELY spoiled me and I am SO thrilled that I was matched with her.

We started off with a few emails back and forth getting to know each other, and the next thing you know she can read my mind!

I hope I did half as well on her gifts as she did mine, and a BIG thank you to Hopsy for such a great pairing!!

So, this gem was on our front porch when Little Pit and I got back from our morning adventures.

How cute is that, she even sent it in a PINK box! I was NOT that creative!!

This is everything out of the box. I wanted to tear into it, but I made myself slow down and take a picture so I could enjoy the beautiful wrapping!

And these were the amazing items inside. First there is that adorable bow keychain (from Kate Spade!!!) Something I adore but would have never gotten for myself, I LOVE it! Then the awesome Lilly cocktail shaker, so cute with the monkeys. It will look FAB on the bar :) Then the adorable pink and green pencils as well as the adorable cupcake note pad. Last but certainly not least the to-die-for pink and white apron. SO perfect for Valentines Day, I can see myself in it already baking something yummy for Mr. Pit!

So, a HUGE thank you to Paige for my wonderful presents. What a great idea the Pink Swap is! I am so lucky to have been paired with such a great partner, and hopefully I gained a new friend as well!

Hope everyone else involved has great partners as well. Thanks again to Hopsy for hosting!

Little Pit is napping now, but then we're off to the park for a playdate when she gets up because it's practically spring here with beautiful weather and lots of sunshine!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

What we've been up to...

2012-01-27T14:56:00.004-05:00

Hi friends!

Little Pit and I have been exceptionally busy this January, as I refuse to let the winter weather keep us cooped up indoors. (We've actually had an extremely mild winter so far, I can't believe we've only had ONE snow storm!!)

Anyways, I have been doing some spring shopping, and Little Pit has made out like a bandit. TJMaxx has had some amazing Polo dresses for sale, so she got a few of those, as well as this gem of a dress from Harajuku Mini at Target. (4th of July is always a big deal for us, and I just couldn't resist this dress for the long weekend!)

I got this cute sweater for myself thanks to a 25% off sale at C Wonder . It came home for $30! Since it's not so heavyweight I thought it would be great going into spring.

Otherwise, Little Pit is 21 months exactly today...and the fact she is a mere 3 months from being 2 years old is completely astounding to me. I honestly don't know where the time has gone. I heard a phrase recently that I just love...The days go slowly but the years fly by...and it couldn't be more true. Where did my 7 pound tiny little nugget go? Now I have a walking, talking, running, climbing, giggling KID!!

Also, my BFF is due with her first baby ANY day now, and I am SO excited for her and her husband, and both of their families. This baby has it ALL when it comes to awesome people to love and care for it, and I just can't wait for him or her to make their arrival! I am also DYING to know the name, but my friend is being SO good and not spilling the beans...and I have absolutely NO version of a guess at all for either gender...but, time will tell, yayayay!

This weekend we're pretty busy, tonight Little Pit is having a dinner date with her friend B, who is the son of neighbors up the street. They are of course coming for dinner too, but we'll feed the kids then set them up for some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so we can get some catch up time in while we eat. We're also trying a new recipe tonight, a slow-cooker chicken taco recipe I found on Pinterest. The chicken has been in the slow cooker for about 2 hours now and it smells DIVINE. YUM YUM! Then tomorrow night we've been invited to my parents house for a dinner party with their neighbors (who we also adore) so that will be fun. Little Pit is also going to sleep over there and we'll come back and get her in the morning. YAY for Grandparents!!

Anyways, that's our news. We're debating putting our house on the market, but that is an entirely different post for a different day.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and don't forget to check out C Wonder for their awesome online sale (Code is 25off).

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Lilly Sale WIN!

2012-01-03T14:48:00.004-05:00

Hi all,

So, as you know, I am lucky enough to live about 2 miles from King of Prussia, PA, which is the home of the headquarters of the one and only Lilly Pulitzer.

This means that I am lucky enough to have 2 retail stores within easy easy driving distance, and have been to every warehouse sale since it started (I used to take a vacation day from work back in the day...I'm a dedicated fan!)

Anyways...so the last warehouse sale was great, but I ended up putting back the "Just a Little Knotty" wedges for $99 because I couldn't justify a 4" heel with a toddler at that price.

Fast forward to today though, and the Lilly online winter sale didn't disappoint! I got the wedges for $54 AND free shipping! This price was much more reasonable for something that I might be lucky to wear a few times a month in the summer.

I am not one to wear heels around the house or to the store, I have to be at an actual event to warrant it, hence my love of flip flops, sneakers and low heeled boots...I also chase a toddler all day which would kill me in heels... but, I digress. I have loved these wedges since I first saw them, and I am thrilled to add them to my (very well pared down) collection.

I was thrilled to see so many great prices on things, and I even scooped up a bathing suit for Little Pit. At $19 it's still not exactly cheap, but it will be adorable for all our days at the Y pool this summer. (Can you tell I am wishing summer here ASAP, it's 29 degrees here today!!)

I hope you all had luck at the sale as well. I know the West Coasters got kinda screwed with the 8am start time, and I too was victim of the inoperable website for a few minutes there, but overall, for what I wanted it was great.

Sending everyone lots of warm thoughts today!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

A very Vineyard Christmas

2012-01-02T11:58:00.003-05:00

Hi all!

Christmas has come and gone and I can't believe how quickly it flew by!!

Little Pit had a fabulous time opening her gifts (if not a bit overwhelmed by all the family and activities in a short amount of time!).

We had a great holiday season but I can't say I'm sad to see our world get back to it's regular rotation. Little Gym started again this morning and I think both Little Pit and myself were happy to get back to our regularly scheduled Mondays.

Here's a little photo after we opened our gifts...someone LOVES Vineyard Vines!

Hope everyone's holidays were great!

xoxo

Mrs. Pit

The Wonder of...

2011-12-19T13:20:00.006-05:00

C. Wonder!!!

Last week I was in Manhattan for the day (doesn't it sound sophisticated when I say that?!) and since my best friend (since we were 9!) B had some extra time between wedding dress appointments (she found THE dress, it's GORGEOUS!) we headed down to SOHO to check out C. Wonder.

I had been on the website, but NOTHING does this store justice other than in person. From the bright green doors as you first walk in, to being greeted by the friendliest guy EVER...it was an amazing experience from beginning to end.

As you all know, I'm a Virgo, and us Virgo's are known for wanting things organized, categorized, and color coordinated. The ENTIRE store is color coordinated people. It's like they went digging in my brain about the exact kind of store that I would love, and they popped out with the most amazing thing. Sure, there are a few stores where I like a lot of what is there, but I honestly wanted to buy this entire store, rack by rack, hanger by hanger, pack it up in my car and drive home.

Due to our time constraint, we didn't have ALL that much time to browse around (but honestly, probably better for my Visa that we didn't).

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the back right corner of the store is a MONOGRAM shop. Yep, you heard me, you can leave your items to be monogrammed RIGHT THERE! I mean seriously, it doesn't get any better than that.

I came home with two little goodies I can't seem to find on the website, (cool stud earrings and gorgeous purple gloves with the special smart phone fingers!), and left wanting the following. Maybe Santa will just write me a big check? Or maybe a C. Wonder gift card? Don't worry Santa, I'm not picky!!

Ruffled Sweater Dress ($98)

Pink Patent Ballet Flat ($78!)

Ribbon Rain Boots in Orange ($78)

Tunic Top with Silk Trim ($58)

Collegiate Cardigan ($128)

Skinny Jeans in Pine ($78)

And in the store I wanted even more. What gets me the most is not only the colors (which are rich and bold) but the price point of everything. I swear I couldn't find anything more than $200 which is a really nice change from some of the other more expensive stores.

All in all I just wish I had more time, and that I had won the lottery the day before :)

A great trip to NYC (though the next time I'll take the train, the Holland Tunnel is for the birds!)

Hope everyone is having a great week and are enjoying your holidays! I can't believe it's only 6 days to Christmas!!

XOXO Mrs. Pit

P.S here's a little preview of Little Pit in one of her (way too many) Christmas dresses :)

Warehouse Sale!

2011-12-09T13:34:00.006-05:00

Hi all!

So today was the first day of the winter Lilly Warehouse sale, and I have to say I am SO impressed with the new space and this years collection for the sale. They had lots of items that have just recently been in stores, and I was impressed at the speed of the line (I only waited a half hour) and how nicely spaced everything was. I didn't feel crowded or pushed AND I had Little Pit with me in her stroller and that worked out really nicely too!

I bought most of the stuff for Masha of Preppy Girl Meets world, and she made out like a bandit if I do say so myself! I got her 3 polos (white, green and pink) a Lana slub top in Pink, and an Adalie in Pink Tomato Standing Ovation...cute right?

I got myself a Jodie Sweater that I have been lusting after, and then I got my Mom three things for Christmas, yahoo! Little Pit got a dress (I just couldn't say no to a pink seersucker shift!) and I was out of there for less than $400 total!

Here is the sweater I got myself :

And the dress I got for MRM!

I was thisclose to buying myself the "Knotty Wedge" in Navy and the Gold wedge as well, but I think my days of wedges are kind of gone for the moment seeing as I have to keep up with Little Pit...but, if you want a great selection of shoes, they have them there!!

Anyways, I had a great time at the sale and can't wait to send MRM her items :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Oops, I did it again...

2011-11-29T12:11:00.004-05:00

Well, it happened. Again. I tend to do this every year, but it's worth it.

I like what I like, and I like getting a bargain on top of that...

Here's what happened.

I asked nicely for these boots.

These are the Jane 14L boot by Frye.

I love them.

Ever since I laid eyes on them a few months back I knew I had to have them.

And, I asked nicely. I was told by Santa (more than one Santa in fact) that I would not be getting these boots under the tree. (Something about having too many shoes, blah blah blah).

So, when I saw that Macys was having 25% off today on a Friends and Family deal, and that this discount code in fact worked for these boots, in the cart they went!

I didn't get the color I wanted originally (I was lusting after the Redwood, but got Natural) because they were out of the 9.5 in that color...but for this deal (a savings of $75!) I had to have them. I am going to see if the brown works, it looks like it will. If it doesn't, I'll return them and hopefully by then they will have the Redwood or Dark Brown in stock to exchange.

So, again, the number 1 thing I wanted for Christmas I had to buy myself. Oh well. It was better than getting them on eBay when you never really know what you're going to get.

Oh, and if you want to use that Macy's code it's MACYSFF for 25% off everything. Ann Taylor is also doing 50% off their entire site and everything instore, and that code for online is MONDAY.

Hope everyone had great Cyber Mondays!!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Oh, and here's an extra picture of Little Pit this past Saturday, walking my in-laws dog :) She's such a good helper!

A Christmas Card Preview...

2011-11-28T14:14:00.002-05:00

Hey all,

I just finished designing and ordering our Christmas cards for this year and thought I'd give you a little sneak peak :)

I don't have our proofs yet from our photographer from the Outer Banks, so I had my Father-In-Law take our picture over Thanksgiving so I could get onto ordering these cards.

I got 25 free thanks to winning the awesome Muffy Martini's giveaway last month, and the rest were 40% off thanks to the Cyber Monday sale...booyah!

They said I saved $88 with my coupon codes, yahoo!

If you need Christmas cards, order them today, seriously!! It doesn't get much better than 40% off!!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I'll post more pictures later this week.

xoxo

Mrs. Pit

Oh, and if stuff is still pictured in the old blogs, it's still for sale!!

Blog Sale Part 2

2011-11-21T12:38:00.005-05:00

Ok guys,

Here's more!

If you want detail pictures (tags, etc) just email me or comment on the blog and I'll email them or post them a bit later.

The Burberry skirt and the Lilly shoes sold, but I have lots more for you!

Lilly Pulitzer 3/4 sleeve pink mock turtleneck with gathering at center neck. Size medium Asking $25 shipped.

Lilly Pulitzer Striped hooded beach cover up with ties at sleeves. Size medium

Asking $50 shipped (purchased for $138 worn once)

Banana Republic short sleeve pink cowl neck blouse. 1/2 Cashmere 1/2 wool Size Medium Asking $40 shipped.

Lilly Pulitzer striped dress shirt with floral detail on cuffs and collar. Fresh from the dry cleaner. Asking $25 shipped. Size 10.

The Limited Tan 2 button suit coat. Fully lined in 100% silk. Size 10

Asking $40 shipped.

Tweeds madras jacket. Size 10. Asking $30 shipped.

Lilypod Pink quilted button front jacket. Size medium. Asking $35 shipped.

Brand New with tags Dakota Martin Grey and Pink cape with toggle closures. Purchased for $160. Asking $75 shipped.

Lauren by Ralph Lauren Navy Raincoat with toggle closures. Size Large. Asking $45 shipped.

Ann Taylor faux shearling jacket with hook closures in front. SUPER warm coat, perfect for the winter. Purchased winter of 2009, worn only a handfull of times. Asking $70 shipped.

Remember, all prices are negotiable, I am just trying to clean out my closet!

Email with any questions to Preppypitbull@gmail. com or comment on the blog.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! We're headed up to NY to spend the week with Mr. Pit's family tomorrow and we're really looking forward to it:)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

BLOG SALE

2011-11-17T12:03:00.013-05:00

*UPDATED TO DELETE WHAT HAS SOLD!*

So, I have been told by Santa, that unless I clean out my closet a bit, he won't look at my Christmas list.

Meany!

So, here's my attempt to do so.

There's a ton here, and a ton more coming tomorrow. To purchase anything, just email me at Preppypitbull@gmail.com and we'll do paypal from there. (My paypal account is under another email). Any questions about anything, email me there too. All prices include shipping!

Happy Shopping!

(Oh, and a lot of these downloaded in the wrong order, but you can kind of get the drift, right?!)

Lilly Corderoy Mini Skirt with some stretch. Size 12 $30 shipped

Lilly Sweater Dress Size Large. Purchased for $198, $50 shipped

Etcetera dress with collar. Size 10. Purchased for $175, $50 shipped

JCrew V Neck Dress with silk sash. Size 10. $40 shipped

Lilly Cocktail dress, fully lined, size 10. Purchased for $198, $60 shipped

Vineyard Vines Blue Mini Skirt. Size 12 $40 shipped

Banana Republic Khaki Pencil Skirt Size 10. $30 shipped

Lilly Pink Golf Skort Size 10. $35 shipped

Anne Klein Riding Boots (inside zipper). Size 9 1/2 $40 shipped

Anne Klein Gold Pom Pom Flats. Size 9. Purchase for $98. $35 shipped

Simple Sneakers. Size 9 1/2. Worn only a few times. $25 shipped

Boden Purple Silk Open Toe Heels. Worn once. Purchased for $198. $60 shipped.

Again, there's more questions. If you want anything or have questions, please email me at Preppypitbull@gmail.com. I have lots of Lilly sweaters and blouses coming tomorrow as well as some outerwear (North Face fleece, Merrell Snow boots, get excited!)

Thanks!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Busy busy!

2011-11-14T15:34:00.003-05:00

Hi there,
Sorry we've been MIA, Little Pit and I have been trying to be outside every chance we get since this Fall weather has been so mild in Philly.

We ended up at Valley Forge National Park last week for a walk through the leaves with our friends P and H, and here are some pictures of the fun we had.

Otherwise we've been all over the place, to a birthday party, to an oyster roast and this week we have 3 open houses at 3 different pre-schools. YIKES! Little Pit will go next Fall, but apparently you're supposed to sign up almost a whole 9 months before, sheesh! So, we're going to check out 3 pretty close to our house and that have gotten great reviews from friends, and hopefully we'll like one and there will be enough room in the one we like best.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

I won!

2011-11-01T13:05:00.005-04:00

You guys, I never win ANYTHING. Seriously! But, in the last week I won not 1 but 2 blog giveaways!!

The first was from Muffy Martini and it was for $25 worth of cards from Shutterfly !

THEN, the one I won this morning was from Nautical By Nature for a $250 giftcard to Vineyard Vines !

I absolutely can't believe either! I am so excited to make our cards from Shutterfly, I am just waiting to get our proofs back from our photographer in the Outer Banks.

I already did some 'window' shopping at Vineyard Vines today, and this is what I picked out so far...(I have to admit though that I am waiting for their Holiday line to come out, and also to see if they have another 'Whale of a Sale' anytime soon. I think they probably will in the next month, so I'm crossing my fingers!)

This is what I would get if I HAD to spend it today...

For me: Thames Street Argyle Sweater $89.99 (on sale!)

For Little Pit: Shep Quilted Shoulder Shirt (this matches the one I have, I mean, what could be cuter?) $59.50

For Mr. Pit: Yankees Boxers $24.50

So far we all get something and I still have money left over for someone or something else!

Thanks again Kate!!

Hope everyone is having a great day, Little Pit and I had a lazy morning but we're going out to Valley Forge National Park this afternoon to play and take a nice fall walk :)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Oh Hanna Andersson!

2011-10-28T13:59:00.006-04:00

Ok, so these posts are getting a little shopping heavy, but I keep getting the BEST catalogs in the mail!

I just received the Hanna Andersson catalog in the mail, and again, I want to order the entire thing. Front to back. Every outfit.

It's all SO darn cute!

I love that the girls (and the boys) clothing is classic and covered and appropriate and all that good stuff.

Here are some favorites:

Yes, these are adult pajamas, and yes, you bet I want them for me AND Mr. Pit!

Classic pajamas for Little Pit...too cute!

Sweater dress...I die...perfect colors, perfect pattern, and SO cute in that teeny tiny size!

I can just imagine her at the playground in this, or in preschool...A.DORABLE!

If this doesn't scream Christmas in Sweden I don't know what does.

That's all I have for now, Little Pit only took a 2 hour nap today instead of 3, so we have an extra long afternoon ahead of us, yay!

Hope everyone stays warm and dry this weekend, we're supposed to get snow tomorrow!!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

18 Months

2011-10-27T14:52:00.003-04:00

Today Little Pit is exactly 18 months old.

I can't tell you how quickly the past year and a half is gone. The last time I looked around I was setting up her nursery in the middle of a huge snow storm and then all of a sudden it was Spring and them BAM! she was here! April 27th was and will always be a day full of amazing memories.

A little status report, as of Tuesday's 18 month check up, she was 24 lbs 10 oz, 57th percentile, and 31" tall. Also, amazingly, 57th percentile. Her head is still huge, like her Dad, 18 3/4", 80th percentile.

She is walking, running, climbing, sliding, pulling, tugging, pushing, rocking, opening and closing everything and falling a lot, though I am told no more or less than any other toddler, hence the name TODDLER. This makes me feel better because I went through a phase where I felt like she was just really clumsy and the house was a death trap...but now I know she's a toddler and we've done everything we can to baby proof.

She's a bit slow with the words to come out, but her comprehension is through the roof. We can ask her to bring us certain stuffed animals or puzzles or our shoes or her hat and she gets it right every time. So, we know there is nothing wrong with her brain, she's just slow to form words and though the pediatrician is a bit worried, I know she'll come around and be speaking in sentences soon enough. Plus, anyone who knows me in real life knows that I don't stop talking very often, so she could feel like she can't get in a word edge wise. We'll see, I have a feeling we won't be worrying about this for long.

She's also going through some pretty serious separation anxiety, and I'm told that this is Round 2 and could last for as long as a year...yikes! I thought it was only when we left her with a sitter, but I left her with Mr. Pit for the evening on Tuesday so I could take a photography class, and apparently Mr. Pit got the short end of her fuse and she cried for me for an hour. SUPER yikes. Here's to hoping she gets over this quickly :)

Otherwise, she is a funny, sweet, daring, loving, smart, athletic little nugget that I am madly in love with.

Here's a little preview of her in her Halloween costume at The Little Gym. She'll wear it again for Gymboree tomorrow and then again Monday for actual Halloween.

ROAR!!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

2 months to go...

2011-10-25T14:29:00.004-04:00

Today is October 25th, which means we're 2 months from Christmas, yahoo!

My Christmas list is a bit long, and a bit fancy, but that's what lists are for right? So you can fantasize about what you want...I have what I need, believe me!

Here are a few fun things I wouldn't mind under the tree...

This Eryn dress in Chorus Girl. I have loved this dress since I saw the preview for it in the summer. Plus, at $198 it's a downright bargain for a Lilly. Do I need it? Absolutely not, but it's so pretty!

An Erin Condren Life Planner. I love calendars and regularly use the one on the fridge as well as synching up my online Google calendar with Mr. Pits. This however is SO cute and I feel like I could stuff everything into it, including invitations and check up cards that are currently taking over the fridge.

Ok, so this isn't for me, but how cute would this be for Little Pit? It's actually on sale in the latest "Great Big Toy Book" from ToysRUs...and I'm hoping Mr. Pit will let me splurge on it for her. She would have a blast in there.

I'm not eligible for an upgrade from Verizon until August of next year, but that doesn't keep me from wanting an iPhone like none other. I was impatient and bought a Droid and I loathe it...so I'm counting down the days to my 20 month anniversary and I can upgrade!

That's it for now. I could list a whole lot more clothes and shoes and silly stuff, but you've all seen my Boden post, so you know I have that covered. Honestly, at this point I want Little Pit to start talking (the pediatrician was a wee-bit concerned this morning that at 18 months she only has about 4 words) and to continue to be healthy. The child has a crazy tendency to fall down, I mean FALL down every day, so I wish her to be more stable and balanced and we can all rest a bit easier. I want Mr. Pit to continue to be happy in his position at work (he's been there 18 months and is SOO happy which is so awesome) and I wish that our house and cars stay well so we don't have to drop our savings on repairs. (2011 was a notoriously bad year for both our cars). I want a snowy winter so we can play outside, but not so snowy or icy that we can't get to where we want to go.

Am I asking too much? Hope not!

Hope everyone is having a great day, Little Pit is 2 1/2 hours into her afternoon nap and shows no signs of waking soon, yahoo!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Chicago

2011-10-24T13:49:00.005-04:00

Mr. Pit and I got back yesterday afternoon after a whirlwind adventure in Chicago, and it was a blast.

With Little Pit safely ensconced at my parents house for the weekend, Mr. Pit and I hopped a Southwest flight to get out to Chicago mid-afternoon on Friday. We checked into our suite at the W-City Center, and it was awesome. All of the W's lobbies are cool, but this one was amazing. They had these HUGE 20 foot tall lamps in the middle, and I definitely didn't feel like I was cool enough to be staying in such a swank hotel!

A few hours of rest later, we headed over to The Aviary and again, felt WAY not cool enough to be going into this bar. We actually got to sit downstairs in what they call 'The Office' and we enjoyed super cool cocktails and managed to get a tour of their ice room at the end of our visit. They have one person whose entire job it is to make ice. ALL.NIGHT.LONG. He can make ice spheres, ice coatings on the inside of the glass, ice infused with the liquor inside...I can't even explain. SOOO cool. Check out the website, it is definitely worth a look if you like cool cocktails. One of the drinks even comes with a sling shot that you have to use to break open your cocktail filled ice ball!

Then we were off to Blackbird , which is the first Michelin rated restaurant I've ever eaten in. TOTALLY delicious. The menu was a bit overwhelming at first, but I ordered the duck, and a fun basil infused cocktail and I was totally blown away by how great everything tasted.

I also have to say that the service at both the Aviary and Blackbird were phenomenal. A LOT of Philly restaurants should take note of how they do things in the midwest. They were helpful, friendly and always there without ever hovering.

After dinner we went straight back to the hotel and my friend N and I went up to bed while the boys stayed up WAY too late drinking at the hotel bar. The next morning was an early one though, so I was glad I went to sleep when I did.

The next morning Mr. Pit and I went to breakfast at Lou Mitchell's which we were told was a Chicago breakfast institution. I have to agree with all the feedback we got and the line was definitely worth the wait. The best part is that they give you Milkduds on your way out of the restaurant. A place where I can eat and then they give me my favorite candy as dessert, sign me up!

After breakfast we headed down to the lobby to get in the car for the trip down to South Bend. Having never been to a large college football game (and since my Alma Mater had a whopping 3400 students TOTAL), this was the most amazing part of the weekend. The tailgaiting setups for home games at Notre Dame are just amazing. Everyone has custom made flags that they put on these HUGE flagpoles near their car and they fill up parking lot after parking lot of cars and cars and cars and people eat and drink and hang out ALL day. I know I sound like a complete idiot when I explain it, but seriously, I've never seen anything like it. I know all the girls from the South are probably saying...well DUH, that's how the SEC does it...but you have to understand...outside of the NFL, the largest football game I have been to was Princeton/Penn, and that doesn't get 1/1oth the people that Notre Dame gets at EVERY home game!

Anyways, the tailgating was awesome, walking around campus (even in rival USC gear) was really fun and everyone was incredibly friendly. The game was great (yay Trojans!) and we didn't even get yelled at even though we were flies in the milk (the ONLY two people in our section wearing Red in a sea of Green and Gold).

Then less than 12 hours later we were back at Midway to get on our flight home to see Little Pit. She had a great time at my parents house and though exhausted, my parents said they had a wonderful time watching her.

All in all a GREAT weekend!

A new fav...

2011-10-20T15:03:00.006-04:00

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Kearsley Lloyd, who is the brains and creativity behind Tipsy Skipper or, my new favorite brand.

The flats are SO cute and the little "Captain Morgan" Bags are to die for. She also makes Flip Flops in kid sizes AND adult sizes so Little Pit and I might have to get a Mother/Daughter matching pair :)

Kearsley couldn't have been nicer last night and I had the best time learning about how she came to having her own company and how she talked her way into an internship at Lilly. If she lived around here I swear we'd be good friends :)

Check out her website, they have super cute things, perfect for the holidays or any occasion.

Hope everyone's having a great day :)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Shipley Shops

2011-10-19T14:06:00.004-04:00

Tonight is one of my FAVORITE nights of the year...it's the Shipley Shops Preview Party!!

Shipley Shops is the annual fundraiser for Shipley and it features food, drink and all the best vendors around. As Shipley is my Alma Mater (as well as my Mom's, my Grandmother's and both of my brother's) I am always happy to support my school, and the vendors each year get better and better!

Last year I got a fabulous bag for myself (Thanks to my Mom who bought it for me as an early Christmas gift) and a ton of cute stuff for Little Pit. There was a vendor there who sold a whole bunch of stuff from the Macbeth Collection and I went a bit bananas. I love all their stuff.

Anyways, that's what we're doing tonight, can't wait! The babysitter is coming at 6:15 and I can guarantee Little Pit will NOT be thrilled about that (she's been super clingy lately, I've been told this is phase 2 of separation anxiety? Oy) But, we'll get through because we always do.

Hope everyone has a lovely night!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Lust List

2011-10-18T14:56:00.006-04:00

You all know I have certain weaknesses. Tasty Cake Cupcakes, Lilly, Scout Bags...and Boden.

I just went to the Boden Warehouse sale last weekend and wasn't impressed. It was SO crowded and by the time I got to the tables, the crazy women that just scoop up whatever is on the table in front of them had been there first and there was little to nothing.

However, I got my catalog in the mail today, and I have earmarked almost every other page. The winter collection is absolutely perfect.

Here are a few of my favs :)

Long Applique Cardigan $188

Favorite Crew Neck Cardigan $78

Stripy Jumper $98

Jasmine Dress (Limited Edition) $218

Ribbon Trimmed Coat (Limited Edition) $398

Fair Isle Cardigan $88

Kate Dress $188

Embellished Collar Top $114

British Tweed Blazer $224

Rainy Day Mac $174

Hamptons Tee $38

Lamby Pullover $78

Colour Block Cuff Top $98

I can't find this sweater to save my life on the website again...but it's cute, right?

Colour Block Tunic $89

So, there's my online virtual shopping spree at Boden for you. I only dropped a few grand right? Ha, Mr. Pit would have me by the ears if I did all that shopping in real life!

Hope everyone is having a great day. Little Pit and I had a great morning at the Philadelphia Zoo and she's still napping and it's 3:40, yahoo!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Every two weeks

2011-10-15T13:02:00.004-04:00

Or so, right? That's how often I've been keeping up with this thing? Sorry about that.

The trip to OBX was great except for a few things that I'll air out here and then I can stop talking about it.

Remember how I was all excited about the hot tub and heated pool? Yeah, they didn't work. We got all kinds of apologies and this and that, but they never got either working in the time we were there. This made me one SAD Momma. The neighbors were nice enough to let us use theirs, but it wasn't the same. We are getting money back from the company, but in all honesty, I don't want money, I wanted to sit in a hot tub!

Secondly, both Little Pit and I got horrible colds while we were down there, and 10 days later we are still suffering through. I haven't been able to smell or taste in 4 days and for someone that LOVES food, this is awful. I almost cried talking to my doctor. He gave me a Z Pack thinking that I might have a sinus infection, but otherwise it's a virus and we have to let it works its course. I have also tried every freaking decongestant known to man and NOTHING works. NOTHING. Zyrtec, Claritin, Benadryl, Sudafed, Advil Cold and Sinus...nothing. None of them stop my head congestion, my coughing, my runny nose or any of it. Blah.

HOWEVER, the trip was awesome. Little Pit had an awesome time on the beach, as witnessed by the below photos. What you don't see is me absolutely freaking out when she ran, yes RAN into the ocean and cried when we tried to pull her out. She wasn't afraid of ANYTHING. Not the waves, or the cold water...nothing. I am glad she's not afraid of much, but on the other hand, having her barrel into the ocean was terrifying! When do they learn cause and effect? Soon I hope!

Here are some pictures from the week. Our professional photos should be available soon, I am hoping next week but I think that's pushing it. I absolutely LOVED our photographer and she was a great sport to get 3 families with 3 kids in under 2 hours.

This week was pretty uneventful, Little Pit and I were just trying to recover each day and she's gotten better and I've just stayed the same or gotten worse. This morning I left her with Mr. Pit so that I could go to the Boden warehouse sale. Unfortunately, it was a mad house but I did get a pair of pants that I love and a pair of shoes that I plan to wear in Chicago next weekend.

Ok, so here are some pictures from the trip. I'll post the professional ones when they come in too. Our photographer was Kirsten Lewis and if you're ever in the Outer Banks I would recommend her!

Driving on the beach up to our house. We were only a mile and a half from the VA border, 9 miles from the closest road and 15 miles from town.

RUNNING into the water. We went through about 4 outfits a day not including bathing suits because she would just take off for the water.

She loved the sand that had been driven over. She was fairly obsessed with the tire tracks. I was obsessed with making sure she didn't get run over, even though there was very little traffic on our part of the beach since we were so far up.

The buckets and shovels were the favorite toys of the week. SO simple and SO entertaining. This bucket was a gift from my friend P for Little Pit's birthday. It's so cute with her name on it. LOVE.

This is what we found outside our door every day. You aren't supposed to get within 50 feet of the wild horses, but when they come up to your front step you can't really help it!

This one was my favorite, just a baby. He was so cute and would lay in the sun to warm himself. Adorable.

They purposely fence in the yards so that you can't park your car and ruin the landscape for the horses.

It took the baby a little while to work up the courage to step over the fence.

Our baby completely passed out on the way home last Sunday. Vacation is tiring!

We have some pretty great outlets near us and my friend P and I took the kids yesterday so they could run around a bit and we could shop. This toy was a big hit, as was the ride on pony. We didn't even have to put money in the toys, they just wanted to sit in them!

Anyways, that's our last two weeks in pictures. Next weekend Little Pit is spending the weekend with her Grandparents (my parents) and Mr. Pit and I are going to Chicago with friends for some fun and the USC/Notre Dame game in South Bend on Saturday night. Not that I want to leave Little Pit, but it certainly will be nice to have a kid free weekend (and a king size bed at the W!)

Oh hey!

2011-09-28T14:19:00.006-04:00

Long time!

So, we've been quite busy here in the Pit house so I'll go through a little list of what we've been up to.

We went to Linvilla Orchards which is this awesome orchard (obviously) pretty close to our house. They have all sorts of wonderful food (the donuts are delicious!) and tons of pumpkins and all sorts of fun fall treats. Little Pit wasn't so sure about sitting in the pumpkin pile, but we'll try again in October. That same day we went from having yummy donuts to having Little Pit try her first ice cream cone. It was a hit and she didn't even get that dirty! (Mini cones from Trader Joes)

The weather has been really awful around here lately. Super humid, really cloudy and rainy and just plain no fun. So, instead of going to a park with a friend, we did a play date at Target. At one point we blocked off the entire toy aisle with our carts and let them go to town. It was hilarious and they had a great time playing with all the toys. We then had to put everything back, but it was worth it for killing almost 2 hours on a rainy morning!

We finally got a nice day on Monday afternoon so Little Pit and I ventured up to the park. She used to hate the swings but now that she knows how to hold on she loves them. I am pushing her Grandparents for a swing set for Christmas, but even if that fails the park is nice and close :)

Friday Little Pit and I are doing a girls day in Manhattan to visit my best friend B. B is a PhD candidate and has very little time between classes, her thesis and her clinical work, so we're going up there to spend one of her few free days with her. We are really excited about it and I can't wait to catch up with her since I haven't seen her since our anniversary party in June. We've been friends since we were 9 and know each other so well that it shouldn't take anytime at all for us to fall back into the easy friendship we've always had.

THEN...Sunday we go down to the Outer Banks for a week. We are going with 5 other couples and will have 3 children and 2 dogs too. It's a 9 bedroom house up on the 4x4 beach and we have a heated pool and hot tub, booyah! I can't wait to sit in the hot tub with a cold beer when Little Pit goes to bed every night. The baby monitor will of course be right next to me, but this mama needs some DOWNTIME. (No one ever told me that staying home with a child would be this fun but also this tiring!) We are having a photographer come to the house on Tuesday to take pictures of all the families and we're hoping to get both our Christmas card picture out of it as well as presents for the Grandparents, the Godparents and anyone else who wants pictures of Little Pit!

This is the house we're staying in. Amazing isn't it?!

I am so flipping excited for vacation I am astounded at myself that I haven't started packing yet. My excuse is that it's so hot and humid that I don't want to start packing shorts and shirts that Little Pit and I will want to wear in the next couple of days, so I'll do a big laundry day on Friday and pack Saturday and head down Sunday with clean fresh clothes ready to play on the beach for a week.

So, that's what's been happening. Tonight we're headed down to my parents house to celebrate my older brothers 35th birthday. We're hopefully grilling if the weather stays cooperative, and I love any excuse to hang out with my family during the week (we also see them every Sunday for dinner).

Hope all has been well with everyone, apologies for not posting more, we're just too busy having fun over here!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

10 years ago

2011-09-11T09:42:00.002-04:00

I remember September 11th, 2001 like it was yesterday.

I wasn't in New York, or DC, or in a field in Pennsylvania.

I had just turned 21 and was starting my senior year at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.

I had just moved into an apartment by myself.

My then-boyfriend lived in Newark and had graduated the year before.

I remember thinking what a beautiful morning it was as I walked to my engineering class.

I remember being really confused when my professors first words to me were "If you have family in New York you can leave to call them". I had NO idea what he was talking about. I hadn't watched the news that morning and had no idea what he was referencing.

I remember them making an announcement that closed the campus for the day. I remember thinking, oh fun!

I remember a few minutes later walking by a TV in the library and stopping to watch. I felt immediately guilty for thinking that it would be a fun day off.

I remember frantically calling my boyfriend to see how he was, to see how his brothers and sister-in-law were as they all worked in NYC. I remember his response "We're all fine, I don't know what you're so upset about". I remember thinking I should break up with him, but I would wait as maybe he was just in a state of shock. (Turns out he was just an asshole and would continue to be for the next year I dated him).

I remember calling my mom and just sobbing on the phone with her. Between the two of us we didn't know any of the victims personally, thought we both felt as if we were victims ourselves by the fact that we were American citizens.

I drove home on the 12th up an empty 95 and stayed home until the next weekend. I was glued to the TV for the remaining days.

I still cry when I see footage on TV, though that hasn't stopped me from watching the entire coverage this morning.

It doesn't matter at all where I was, or who I knew or didn't. What matters is that I remember.

I will never forget.

Dilemma

2011-08-22T16:48:00.003-04:00

Hi guys,

So I have a dilemma for you, well, not really a dilemma, but I have been thinking about it.

My birthday is in 2 weeks, yahoo! However, I can't think of anything I want besides running shoes (and I already sent Mr. Pit the link via Zappos, hee hee!)

Anyways, so as always I was thinking of things that Little Pit might need in the future, and it got me to thinking about strollers.

We have one of these, an Uppa Baby Vista. It's awesome. I have used it almost every day for the last 16 months. However, it's getting tiresome to get it in and out of the car, and I seem to be using it less and less.

So then I was thinking about getting one of these...a G-Lite, or a G-Luxe (the Luxe reclines and the Lite does not)...is it worth it to have another stroller? Do I need the recline?

Help!

Also, the Lite is only 8 lbs...that's WAY less than the Vista (which I believe weighs close to 20!)...but will I use it? Or should I just get a free with purchase umbrella stroller from Babies R Us when they run that special? Ugh, I need guidance!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Little Pit just woke up from her nap, so I'm out!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Sometimes...

2011-08-16T15:32:00.005-04:00

I can't help it. I think my daughter is really stinking cute.

So I'm showing off pictures of her in Lake Placid and on Winnepesaukee.

Inspecting the rough around the 9th hole at the club. She deemed it playable. Phew!

Sitting pretty on the steps before dinner.

Eating a peach at the freestyle show in Lake Placid. She refused to be held so she sat on the ground in protest. One of the many perks of having a toddler...

On Daddy's back at the top of Whiteface Mountain. It was 82 at the base, 64 at the top. Brrr!! (That's my father in law in the background...doesn't he look just like Santa Claus? I love it)

That's all I have for now, we didn't take as many pictures as I thought we would, and we have a whole lot like this

Don't get me wrong, the freestyle show was AWESOME, except I'm not exactly going to frame a picture of a junior olympian that I don't know (sorry junior olympians you are still amazing!)

I might have something REALLY big in store next week as well, but it's 100% pending at this time, so I'll let you know. And no, Little Pit will not be a big sister, get your head out of the gutter!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Guster: In Concert

2011-08-12T15:10:00.002-04:00

Last nights Guster show was AMAZING. I had many hopes for the evening, and all of them were met and exceeded.

The crowd was really fun and into it (and not as young as I had feared, so I didn't feel like a TOTAL tool while I jumped up and down and sang the words to absolutely every freaking song). The weather was so perfect it was almost too good to be true, and to be able to watch the moon rise across the river was pretty sweet as well.

Ra-Ra-Riot opened for them, but we completely missed their set because we went out to dinner on Liberties Walk in Philly. Fun, and not so bad Mexican food. Jack's Mannequin was next and while a great set, they played FOREVER. Guster didn't come on until 9:25ish. Seriously, and not to sound so old and fuddy-duddy, but 9:25 is late no matter how you cut it. When the doors open at 7, you don't think you'll have to wait 2.5 hours to hear the headliner. Anyways, besides that it was perfect.

The set list was this:

Barrel of a Gun

Architects & Engineers
This Could All Be Yours Someday
Satellite
The Beginning of the End
Airport Song
Diane
One Man Wrecking Machine
On the Ocean
Come Downstairs and Say Hello
Do You Love Me
Demons
Center of Attention
Hang On
What You Call Love
Manifest Destiny
This is How it Feels to Have a Broken Heart
Amsterdam
Happier
Careful w/ Andrew McMahon from Jack's Mannequin
Cover of Peter Bjorn & John's "Young Folks" by Guster w/ Andrew McMahon from Jack's Mannequin

Do you see in the middle where they played Demons, and then Center of Attention and then Hang On...this is the part of the concert where I almost fainted out of sheer amazement that my 3 all time favorite songs of theirs were being played back to back to back. I was screaming like a 9 year old on Christmas morning who just got a pony. Better than that, I was screaming like I just won the lottery (which would have been nice, thanks for nothing Powerball)

Anyways, the concert was amazing. Most of you (well, the two of you that read this thing on a daily/weekly/monthly/never basis) are probably thinking who the EFF is Guster? That my friends is something you will have to find out for yourselves. Get yourself logged into your iTunes account and get to purchasing.

Buy all the albums. Nope, I'm not kidding. You have to start from the beginning.

Goldfly

Lost and Gone Forever

Keep It Together

Ganging Up on the Sun

Easy, Wonderful

By the time you're done with Goldfly you'll be hooked. When you get to Ganging up on the Sun you'll be buying tickets to the next show no matter how far you have to drive to get to it.

I don't get all that obsessive about stuff very often, so take my advice and go, buy, listen and love.

Thanks for a great show Guster. This will carry me through the boring month that is August and onto our awesome fall of birthday celebrations and our trip to OBX.

Hi, Remember me?!

2011-08-10T11:13:00.005-04:00

Hi there!
It's been a bit crazy over here at the Pit house, we were out of town for 10 days, and I spent yesterday afternoon recovering from a migraine and so today I am doing everything i was supposed to do yesterday, like 4 loads of laundry!

Anyways, now that we're back, and it's August 10th, that means that it's LESS than a month to my birthday, yahoo!!

This year we are celebrating BIG TIME because we got the UNGETTABLE GET...we got a reservation at Talula's Table .

As one of the hardest reservations IN THE COUNTRY to get, we had to call last year on September 3rd to get the reservation for THIS year on the same day. Mr. Pit was a total hero and got up early that morning and was the first one to get through. Did I already tell you he's awesome, because he is.

Anyways, so we are taking 10 of our friends and family to dinner with us, as the farm table hold 12. It's BYOB and it's a chefs tasting menu for 8 courses. YUM! We are also splurging on a limo so we can all have some fun and then we'll spend the rest of labor day weekend celebrating with our families. (Oh yeah, forgot to tell you we're celebrating BOTH our birthdays, Mr. Pit's is September 2nd, and mine is the 6th. Also, my Mother In Laws is August 31st, so really it's a tri-celebration since the elder Pit's will be joining us too)

Little Pit isn't invited, as the start time for the dinner is the exact time as her bedtime, she'll have to celebrate with us later, I'm sure she'll understand :)

Anyways, so since we're going out to dinner I need something to wear and the Lilly fall collection totally BLOWS MY MIND. I haven't been this stoked by them for a seasons collection in a LONG time, well done Lilly!

Here's what caught my eye...

The Eryn Dress. I fell in love with it when it came in pink and yellow, but this pink and navy combo...oh yes, YES PLEASE!

The Cody sweater. I love the navy and white, but the kelly green and navy is even better. absolutely LOVE it.

These wedges. I don't know what they're called but I love them. I wish I had anywhere to wear them, or any desire to wear them as 'regular' shoes...but with Little Pit RUNNING around these days, these wedges will have to stay as a fantasy shoe, oh well.

I have pictures of Little Pit from vacation, but don't have time to upload them now so they'll come later this week.

Oh, but my other fun piece of news is that we get to go see THESE GUYS tomorrow...

Guster has been my favorite band since college (it was a tight race between them at Pat McGee Band while in college, but post college, Guster reigned supreme). I love every song, and I love the lyrics and the way I can put them on the iPod while cooking dinner and even Little Pit bounces and moves to their music from her high chair.

We'll probably be the oldest people there by about 5-10 years tomorrow, as we were the last time we saw them in concert, but I couldn't care less. I dance around like a 20 year old, buy beer out of plastic cups (and I still get carded b/c I look like I'm 17) and I dance the night away. The concert is at the Festival Pier down on Penn's Landing so hopefully the weather will hold and not break into a crazy thunderstorm like the last time. Either way though I haven't been this excited for an event since Little Pit came along and I sort of want to leave and camp out there tonight but I'll hold my horses and wait until the gates actually open at 6 tomorrow night.

So, that's our week, I'll no sooner be done all this laundry than the three of us will create it all over again, but such is life.

Feel free to buy any of the above items for my birthday :) Just kidding, well, not really, but yeah, just kidding.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Vote for Little Pit!!

2011-07-08T11:07:00.002-04:00

click HEREto vote for Little Pit in the Parenting Magazine Cover Modeling Contest!!\

DO IT!!!

She's so stinking cute right?!

5 years ago today...

2011-06-24T11:29:00.003-04:00

I married Mr. Pit!!

Interestingly enough, the weather was almost the exact same.

REALLY HOT, REALLY HUMID and a chance of thunderstorms all day.

It thundered and lightninged and rained during our wedding ceremony, and then it was just foggy and super humid for our reception.

Turns out even bad weather couldn't keep us from having an amazing time. People ate, drank and danced ALL night and to this day we still get compliments about what a fun time they had. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

We're headed to the Phillies game tonight and then up to Brooklyn for the rest of the weekend to go check out a friends new restaurant. (I hear the pizza is the best in NY, yum!!)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

What I ended up with...

2011-06-09T22:06:00.006-04:00

...was a little different from what I planned, but I am still happy.

I hit up the Lilly Warehouse sale after my tennis match today (I lost 7-5, 6-2...grrr) and was determined to shop my sadness away.

I am pretty sure I did it too!

The Jillie dress ended up not being a good look on me (it made me look like I was expecting Little Pit #2, which I'm not, so no good)

Here's what I ended up with...

The Shauna Tunic (which I loved from the moment it came out)

The Paley Cardigan in a print I had never seen!

And for little pit, she got a shift (not this one, I couldn't find a picture of the pattern I got) and this little hoody, how cute is that??!

I also randomly ended up with 2 picture frames...they aren't crazy cute or even patterned, just white wood, but they were $5 each and I figured they would come in handy somewhere in the house at some point. Plus, I also figured I could decoupage them with Lilly wrapping paper if I really got bored, but the white wood is fine with me.

I hope everyone who went to the sale had a good time and got what they wanted :)

Oh yeah, and I hope you all survived the crazy heat we had today, yowza! My car said 98 degrees, but I think it was low by a few, it was insane.

Talk to you all soon!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

What I want...

2011-06-08T09:33:00.004-04:00

...at the Lilly Warehouse Sale this week...

The Jillie...per Lilly's Facebook page it's on sale for $69!!
And maybe a Basket Case Bangle or two...($19!!)

And then probably a lot of Minnie Shifts for my Minnie Little Pit :)

I am not getting up early to go on Thursday, I have a tennis match at 9:30 and will go after that. I used to be the 5 am-er but I just don't need anything THAT badly that I would have to get up THAT early to go. Plus, we're a little short on funds since we just got the deck refinished (it looks awesome but it wasn't cheap!)

I hope all is well with everyone...it's supposed to be 98 degrees here today, so Little Pit and I are headed to the pool at the Y with friends, yahoo!!!

Have a great day!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

She loves...

2011-05-29T22:29:00.002-04:00

to grab for the camera...check on the growth of our little seeds...
To show Daddy the new flowers...
and just generally help out :)
Hope everyone is having a nice holiday weekend!

We're taking it low and slow here, the heat and humidity make it a bit hard to be outside for long stretches, but we're trying!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

13 months

2011-05-27T10:14:00.004-04:00

Little Pit is 13 months old today.

I can't tell you HOW quickly this year and then some has gone by.

I am normally not one to recap Little Pit's every move, but I figured I might as well give a little update on her progress.

She measured in at 20lbs 8oz at her 1 year appointment last month, so I'm thinking this month she's between 21 and 22 pounds. And believe me, carry her around for a few minutes/hours, you think she weighs a lot more!

She is fully walking now, and jogging/running when she feels comfortable. This all terrifying to us, and we have done our fair share of cringing when she falls. She gets right back up though, and when there are tears, they are quickly forgotten with a quick snuggle.

She also LOVES to get up and down from furniture and is pretty good about turning around and letting her feet go first. I will say she has not mastered this 100%, but we're getting there.

The girl also loves to eat, much like her parents ;) She is a fruit maven and loves any kind of berries, bananas, apples, peaches, pears, prunes...you name it, she probably loves it. Her new love is also sandwiches with grape jelly. You'd think we hadn't fed her in her whole 13 months the way she gobbles it down, totally hilarious. I have also fed her eggs which she loves. Controversial, I know, but she is completely fine and loves them. I have held off on peanut butter but I doubt we'll make it as long as they recommend. There are absolutely NO allergies in my family or in Mr. Pits, so I have a hard time thinking that she'll be allergic to anything, but whatever, I don't want to risk it.

She is also a kind soul, very willing to share at Gymboree and at daycare. She is the youngest at daycare but is regularly sharing her toys with the older kids and doesn't put up much of a fuss when they inevitably steal whatever it is she is playing with. She is really starting to snuggle too and loves to rough house with me and Mr. Pit. She adores going upside down and being swung by her arms or her legs, and I have a feeling she'll love roller coasters when she's older (which would absolutely THRILL us, since we are both coaster FIENDS!)

(Look Mom, no hands!!)

She loves loves LOVES all animals, but especially dogs. This is so fun for me because I get an excuse to pet almost every dog we see, saying of course that SHE wants to. She squeals with delight when a dog is on TV or ahead of us on a walk and screams the one word she really knows..."Dah!!!!!!" which clearly means dog :)

Her favorite toys around the house are her soft blocks and her stacking cups. She also loves to carry around my headbands and giggles hysterically when I put it in my hair. She also has a soft car on wheels that she likes to push around, but the soft blocks are the go-to toy for sure. We have been working on 'putting back' things when we're done playing, and she's good at the putting away, but has no idea that they are then supposed to stay there. She would much rather just unpack whatever it is we just packed...oh well. She does with this laundry too, which is awfully fun for me.

Anyways, that's her in a nutshell. She is sleeping 7pm to 8am on a pretty regular basis and is still taking two naps a day, so I really have nothing to complain about and I will happily refold every bit of laundry in our house if it means she'll keep this up :)

(Helping me water the plants outside...yeah, not so much)

Hope everyone has a fabulous holiday weekend. We are in the area and going to lobster night at the club tonight, and then a bunch of chores around the house this weekend and back to the club for a cookout on Monday.

xoxo Mrs. Pit

A request...

2011-05-19T20:38:00.002-04:00

A request has been made to see more pictures of Little Pit, and of course, I am HAPPY to oblige :)

Enjoy!!

Here she is playing with a balloon last week at lunch with her grandparents. Thank GOODNESS for balloons, it kept her occupied the entire meal!
Sitting pretty at the golf club for Mother's Day brunch...

Hope everyone is having a good and dry week! We have been getting rained on for 4 days straight and relief is finally in sight for Saturday, I can't wait!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Just like her Mama...

2011-05-18T15:37:00.003-04:00

The girl LOVES shoes.

Our pediatrician recommended that I pick up a good pair of sneakers for Little Pit so she gets a sense of figuring out how to walk in more than bare feet. Bare feet are still ok for around the house, but she has to figure out how to walk outside eventually too, so off to Stride Rite we went.

This is what she picked out.

(and by picked out, I mean screamed hysterically at the top of her lungs because the nice woman tried to measure her feet, god forbid!) She cried the entire time and I picked the first pair we tried on as we were rapidly scaring other customers out of the store.

The woman who worked at the store told me I should assume they will fit her until August and then she'll need another pair. Only 3 months?! Eek, stop growing already!!

Outside of the hysterical crying in the mall, we're having a good week. We're off to DC for the day Saturday for a friends baby shower and then Sunday we might go to a Phillies game, yahoo!

Hope everyone's having a great day :)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Christmas in May...

2011-05-13T14:57:00.003-04:00

Oh yes, you read that correctly. Christmas in May.

Whatever do I mean, you wonder?

It means, that I found 2 dresses for Little Pit for Christmas 2011 in a store yesterday, both marked down from $64 to $4.99.

Hartstrings HOOKED us up.

You gotta love the clearance rack, right?

How cute are these??

Now all I have to do is make sure I REMEMBER that I bought them so she can actually wear them come December!!

Hope everyone is having a great day. It's supposed to rain starting tomorrow all the way until Thursday of next week, blah...so we're planting EVERYTHING we have to today so it will get nice and fed in the coming week.

Enjoy the weekend!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Shoes!

2011-05-06T15:04:00.004-04:00

As any girl knows, you can never have enough shoes. Much to Mr. Pit's chagrin, I take this statement seriously, and as a result, have a LOT of shoes.

In this house we were lucky enough to be able to make an entire bedroom into a walk in closet. It should really be a guest room, or Little Pit #2's room whenever he or she comes, but as of now, it's a closet, and I love it.

If we hadn't gotten the custom closet installed like we did, I would have most certainly gotten this storage unit to house all my pretty shoes and bags.

Well done Ballard Design, well done. Once again you are RIGHT on target. My only complaint is that it only comes in one color, but the idea is SO good I would paint it if I had to.

Click HERE to purchase one of these units on Ballard Designs . It's a bit pricey, but hey, if you have this many shoes, it's worth the money to store them properly, and to display them too.

Hope everyone's having a great day!

Little Pit and I are off to look at some houses with our realtor today...I'll keep you posted :)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Now part of BlogLovin'!

2011-05-05T20:50:00.001-04:00

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Baby names and REALLY dumb people...

2011-05-05T20:37:00.003-04:00

Ok, so you know that I love to see what names are the most popular each year, and I also love that Little Pit's name is NO WHERE on that list (however, when #2 comes, both names I like for a little girl or a little boy are prominently in the top 25, oh well).

What gets me this year about this list is the note at the bottom.

Popularity in 2010
Rank	Male name	Female name
1	Jacob	Isabella
2	Ethan	Sophia
3	Michael	Emma
4	Jayden	Olivia
5	William	Ava
6	Alexander	Emily
7	Noah	Abigail
8	Daniel	Madison
9	Aiden	Chloe
10	Anthony	Mia
11	Joshua	Addison
12	Mason	Elizabeth
13	Christopher	Ella
14	Andrew	Natalie
15	David	Samantha
16	Matthew	Alexis
17	Logan	Lily
18	Elijah	Grace
19	James	Hailey
20	Joseph	Alyssa
21	Gabriel	Lillian
22	Benjamin	Hannah
23	Ryan	Avery
24	Samuel	Leah
25	Jackson	Nevaeh
Note: Rank 1 is the most popular, rank 2 is the next most popular, and so forth.

Are they serious with that note. I mean, when do you learn how lists work, 1st grade, maybe 2nd? They really find the need to explain how a ranking system works?

It makes me sad for ALL of America that the Social Security Administration would find the need to explain how a list like this works. My head hurts just thinking about how people might not understand this list at first glance.

Oh, and the #25 name for girls, no. Just no.

Retail Therapy

2011-05-04T16:38:00.004-04:00

THIS is a kind of therapy I can get into!

I had to make a return today to the Lilly store, AND I found a gift card in my wallet (holla!) so I picked up THIS beauty for the summer.

It's called the Kelsi, and is this awesome light weight cotton.

At $148 and SO comfortable I feel like I will be wearing this one, a LOT :)

Hope everyone had great days, the rain has moved out, the sun is out and Little Pit is napping, a wonderful afternoon if you ask me!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

A little hurt...

2011-05-03T19:36:00.002-04:00

As many of you know, I take Little Pit to Gymboree every week, and have since she was 8 weeks old. I got tons of recommendations to go there through friends with older kids, and I have enjoyed my experience for the last 10 months...until recently.

Everyone knows moms can be cliquey. I have made some friends via Gymboree and generally liked everyone and thought they thought the same of me.

(as an aside, I know me, really, I do. I know I can be hard to take some times. I have opinions. Lots of them, that I will probably share with you whether you want to know or not. This however, has not impeded my friend making ability thus far in life, it just takes a certain kind of person to like me I guess)

Anyways, the last month or so, and more so in the last two weeks, I have been excluded from 2 birthday parties and many other occasions happening either before or after Gymboree or on the weekends. Normally this wouldn't bother me, except that the people who excluded me talk about the events as if everyone were invited and openly talk about the plans before, during and after class.

I sit there kind of dumbfounded that the whole group would get together and so blatantly talk about it knowing full well they didn't include me.

(another aside, I know you can't completely censor your life all the time, but come on, have SOME tact!)

Now, I am also not sure that I am the only one not invited, and I am not trying to throw myself a pity-party (oh, ok, I am)...I am just surprised at how thoughtless an entire group of people can be.

My mom and Mr. Pit have both pointed out that I shouldn't want to be friends with people like that anyways, but I do. I came to Gymboree so that Little Pit and I could make friends together. I thought that everyone liked me, I had no idea there were all these social gatherings happening, and no idea until recently that I wasn't invited.

Anyways, just had to vent. I am not saying these people aren't nice. I thought they all were, I thought they thought I was nice. I am just sad to not be included.

In other news, we didn't even go down to look at that house. We decided that since we're in such a good school district now, it would be crazy for us to change (plus, the house needed $100K of work anyways...not exactly something we want to take on at this time).

I have my first tennis match this week and I'm playing singles, eek! My forehand and serve have gotten a lot better recently though, so I am hoping that it will stay that way through Thursday.

This weekend we are headed to Talula's Table for lunch with friends and then going to my 2nd Mother's Day brunch :)

Hope everyone is having a nice week!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Dream House

2011-04-26T13:25:00.002-04:00

So, you find your dream house.

Your center hall stone colonial.

The one with 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths.

ON a cul-de-sac.

For less than what you paid for the house you live in now. WAY less.

Only it's not where you want it to be. Same county, wrong township and school district.

I ask you...

Is it still your dream house?

She likes cake!

2011-04-25T21:32:00.004-04:00

Hi friends.

We gave Little Pit her Birthday party and cake 3 days early, and let me tell you, the kid LOVES cake.

Once she figured out she was allowed to eat it, she went at it as if it was going to be her last meal ever...hilarious.

She also seemed to love the Easter Bunny. After all the tears at Santa, I never thought I'd see the day!

Enjoy the pictures.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Sneak Peek...

2011-04-22T09:24:00.003-04:00

Here's a sneak peek at what Little Pit's birthday fete is going to look like.

Considering we're only having family and her two godmothers, I decorated as if we're having a 100 people and a live band. I am only baking for 12 though, which is more people than we're having, but I figured someone can have 2 cupcakes right?

I am making cream cheese frosting today, and baking cupcakes and 'egg' cakes tomorrow. She'll do her 'smash' cake after lunch at the club on Sunday, and then hopefully take a nap. (I so KNOW that is not going to happen, but a girl can dream right?!)

Hope everyone is having a great Easter week :)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

In one week...

2011-04-20T15:38:00.003-04:00

...this teeny tiny little human will be 1 year old.

1 year.

The fastest freaking year of my entire life.

Filled with more joy than I ever could have imagined.

Oh, and Sunday is my Mom's birthday and it's Easter and my in-laws will be in town.

We will do her 'smash' cake on Sunday, 3 days early, but what's better than cake?

Cake with an audience to watch you eat it, that's what!!

Hope everyone's having a great week :)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

I fell for it...

2011-04-12T15:23:00.002-04:00

So, I am sure you all got the same promotion from Lilly Pulitzer that I did.

Spend $150 in Lilly buying 'Minnie' clothes, and you get a free Lilly Printed Bunny.

Then later an email came saying, just kidding, spend $150 anywhere in the store and get the Lilly Printed Bunny.

Naturally, after Gymboree and a lunch at the club with Mr. Pit, we headed over to Lilly to buy what we had to, to get that bunny.

I came home with a short sleeved Jonnie Shirt, SO CUTE!

And Mr. Pit came home to an Easter present as well (he reads the blog so I can't tell you what it is, but I love it!).

And, since Little Pit has WAY too many animals, the Lilly bunny is going to my Mom since she is the whole reason I love Lilly in the first place, and she LOVES bunnies.

Oh yeah, and I worked all day Sunday, and I spent exactly as much as I made Sunday working as I did in the store. Yikes!

Hope everyone is enjoying this cloudy yucky day (blah!).

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Phases...

2011-04-07T20:22:00.004-04:00

I go through phases where I feel the need to clean out every part of the house. I usually start off with my closet, go through my clothes and shoes, then I tackle the coat closets, and this week I even managed to get into the cupboards in the kitchen. I threw out two water bottles with no caps, as well as 2 broken umbrellas, a few broken hangers, and well, you get the idea. I have the desire to spring clean like NONE other.

There is a consignment sale this weekend and tomorrow is the day to consign the clothes. I have 87 items going to the sale. 87. About 10 are Little Pits clothes that still have tags on them, and about 6 are duplicate toys or books that we have gotten for her and I don't have anyone to regift them too. The other 70ish things are all from my closet.

Now, before you think I am a total clothes horse (which I can't even begin to deny), it is a LOT of my old work clothes. Since I no longer work in an office, I didn't find the need to hold on to 6 business suits and about 10 pairs of dress pants and coordinating dress shirts. I kept some, but the majority of them I am consigning because they are in great condition and I don't think that I'll be working in an office anytime soon.

Now that I have rid my closet of excess, I of course want to infill it with lots of pretty nice new things.

On a side note, I am a real sucker for white sales. Bedding, sheets, towels...you had me at hello. I can't get enough. I LOVE changing our bed around. Switch up the sheets, put new pillowcases on...that's my idea of an awesome day. So, in lieu of buying a whole new wardrobe...I really want to buy new sheets.

These imparticular...LOVE!

Both are from Garnet Hill, and both are Lilly (obvi). I love them, but at $188 for the duvet cover alone, I don't think I'll be buying these anytime soon. Sigh.

In other news, I actually WILL be working this Sunday. There is a lacrosse tournament nearby and I offered to help a woman who owns a local business since she has a tent at the event. She sells a lot of Scout stuff, so it's really easy for me to sell for her since I already know the brand so well (and I was the one to sell it to her wholesale in the first place) Looks like it will be cloudy on Sunday but it's supposed to be in the 60's at least, so hopefully we won't freeze.

Hope everyone's been having a great week!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Oh, and here's the latest from Little Pit. She LOVES raspberries!

Progress!

2011-04-01T11:00:00.002-04:00

Hi all,
Just wanted to show off the progress of our spring flowers :)

Since some of the seeds recommend being pre-sown indoors, I got us a little kit from Burpee that comes with 72 pods for growing, and growing we are!!

So far everything is coming up but the tomatoes...but, we'll give them time, it hasn't even been 7 days.

In other news, it was snowing here this morning. In April. It is now just a light rain and we're actually supposed to be in the 60's next week, come on SPRING!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend, we have absolutely nothing planned, which is nothing short of perfect if you ask me!

xoxo
Mrs Pit

A Cobra Tweets...

2011-03-29T15:38:00.002-04:00

As all of you have probably heard, the Bronx Zoo is missing a deadly venomous cobra from the reptile enclosure. (yikes, glad I don't live anywhere near there!!)

However, the escaped cobra has taken up tweeting to pass the time while he roams the city.

Check out his twitter feed at @bronxzooscobra

If you want to laugh outloud, check it out now.

My favorite tweets so far have been these:

BronxZoosCobra (Bronx Zoo's Cobra):
On top of the Empire State Building! All the people look like little mice down there. Delicious little mice. #snakeonthetown

BronxZoosCobra (Bronx Zoo's Cobra):
Not a fan of G.I. Joe.

AH! It's so brilliant.

Hope everyone is having a good day, Little Pit is completely tuckered out from Gymboree and is currently taking an afternoon nap (knock on wood that I didn't just jinx that!!)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

TOO FAST!

2011-03-28T11:13:00.002-04:00

Little Pit is growing up WAY too quickly!

Yesterday was her 11th month birthday, which means in 4 short weeks she will be 1, yikes!

Here are some pictures from the weekend, as you can see, there is NO need to buy your children toys, just give them cardboard boxes and hats and they will play for hours :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I played tennis this morning and we have a playdate this afternoon, busy busy!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

SO CUTE

2011-03-23T11:38:00.002-04:00

Preppy Plates is on Zulily Today!

These personalized plates are so adorable, I kind of want to order some for myself AND for little Pit!

These are my two favorite patterns, hello, navy and pink, so ME!

Click http://www.zulily.com/invite/amlinar690/preppy-plates-032311.htmlt=1300894216?tid=referral_email if you want to go to Zulily and check out how cute these plates are and what great prices they have today, yahoo!!!

Sorry it's so ridiculous with that long link, I can't get the HTML to work right, urgh.

Hope everyone has a great day, Little Pit and I are trying to find something to do this afternoon, but she's been so hyper and cranky and I am afraid to take her anywhere, yikes!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Thank you!

2011-03-22T19:53:00.002-04:00

Big ups to Trish of Pink Preppy Lilly Lover who told me I was thinking of Magnolias, Marriage and Manhattan .

She threw the most adorable 2nd birthday party for her son and I just had to see her resources since Little Pits 1st birthday is coming up in just over a month, eek!

So, thank you to Trish for your help, I found the post I was looking for, horray!

Hope everyone is having a great day.

Oh, and the Lilly Scarf didn't sell on eBay, so if you want it, let me know!!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

HELP

2011-03-22T16:22:00.002-04:00

Hi there, I need some help from you other bloggers and blog readers out there.

I was editing my blog, see, isn't it pretty now? And I somehow managed to delete some of my blog roll with blogs I like and used to read regularly.

One in particular was a Mom in NYC with a son, and he recently had his 2nd birthday and she did a taxi cab theme...she used a lot of printables and had the world's cutest party...does anyone know who I'm talking about? I feel like her blog had the word PREPPY in it, but I can't find it...

Any help would be great!

Thanks! Mrs. Pit

The Burpee Order :)

2011-03-20T19:47:00.005-04:00

Hi all!
The Pits had a great weekend, starting with Little Pit's 3rd swim lesson on Saturday morning, to installing new lighting on the pathway this afternoon and filling our bird feeder for our local feathered friends.

We also made a rather large order from Burpee for seeds for our garden this summer.

Among the notables are green beans, squash, basil, dahlias, salvias and asters.

I can't wait to see how it will all look!

I am also planning on doing some containers on our deck this year for the first time, so cross your fingers I can do it successfully like my Mom (she's a TOTAL green thumb). I am just hoping ours can be 1/10th as beautiful as hers always is :)

Dahlias, SO pretty

Aster

Salvia

What our green beans will hopefully look like...

And we can only hope for a zucchini plant to be this happy!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

The two madras bags are sold, and the Kate Spade bag has a bid on it on eBay, so I can't take it down, but it's still really reasonably priced, so feel free to bid! (comment on this post and I'll post the link for you if you're interested).

The Lilly scarf is still available though, so comment or email me if you want it!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

2011-03-17T21:37:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

I still have all the items left from the blog sale available.

The Lilly scarf and the Kate Spade bag are also on eBay, so make me an offer and I'll gladly take them down :)

Hope everyone is enjoying St. Patricks day and this gorgeous weather!

Little Pit says hi!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

BLOG SALE!

2011-03-14T10:16:00.006-04:00

Hi all, I'm doing some spring cleaning here at the Pit House, and I have a LOT of extra stuff that you guys might enjoy! Email me at Preppypitbull@gmail.com if you're interested!

All items will be shipped for $5 via USPS. Happy Shopping!

First up...Limited Edition Breast Cancer Awareness Lilly Pulitzer Murfee Scarf. Retails for $118, yours for $90. This has never been worn, still in the box I got it in. I am also listing this on eBay, so if you want it email me quickly!

Next, Coach Signature Demi Bag. Carried a few times, in great shape, I just don't carry it anymore. Yours for $30.

Next, Kate Spade Blue Leather Bag with Black and White Silk interior. This bag is absolutely gorgeous, again, I just don't use it. Purchased last winter for $300 something. Yours for $60.

JCrew Madras tote. Yours for $15.

Mini Madras tote. Yours for $10. If you want both madras totes, I can do both for $20.

That's it for now, I have TONS of clothes I'm trying to downsize as well, so if you're looking for Lilly stuff, chances are I have it!

Hope everyone has a great week! Little Pit and I are off to Gymboree this afternoon, fun fun.

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Oh, hi!

2011-03-11T11:09:00.002-05:00

Hi there,

Our ski trip was great, and Little Pit had an AMAZING time with her Grandparents. I can't tell you how lucky we are to have parents like ours who are always so willing to help out watching her and keeping her happy. She barely even noticed we were home to pick her up on Wednesday, and my Mother-in-law said she didn't cry once for the entire 4 days. Of course she's been home with me for a day and a half now and I've had my fair share of tears...oy.

Anyways, I feel like quite the athlete this week because we got back from skiing two days and I went straight to playing in my tennis clinic yesterday afternoon. I picked up playing tennis again after almost 20 years off the court, because I wanted to do something for myself and running on the treadmill and doing classes at the Y wasn't keeping my interest like I wanted it to.

Since I have started playing again I have fallen back in love with the sport. My first few lessons were tragic at best, but now I'm into my 6th week of playing and I feel a lot better about my game.

And of course with a new sport, comes new gear! I finally ordered some tennis shoes and another skirt this morning, because running shoes were not cutting it on the court. I felt like I was going to twist my ankle at any moment, and wearing regular mesh shorts made it very difficult to hold an extra ball while serving.

Sports Authority came through with some awesome sales, and paired with Ebates I made out like a bandit :) Hopefully they will be here soon!!

Oh, and if you want to sign up for Ebates, just click on the button on the side of my blog. It is been a really awesome site for me to use since so many of my purchases in the last 10 months have been online! I have gotten almost $100 back, from doing all the shopping I would have been doing anyway...and I don't have to lug Little Pit in and out of the store!

Anyways, Little Pit and I are going to go to the grocery store this afternoon, unless the sun comes out and then we might opt for a long walk.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and please pray for the people in Japan affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

xoxo Mrs. Pit

SWIMMING!

2011-03-05T15:33:00.004-05:00

Little Pit had her first swim class today, and Mr. Pit was MORE than happy to get in the water with her. (He loves to swim and looks a heck of a lot better in a bathing suit right now than I do!)

My heart was melting the entire time, it was SO cute to watch Daddy and daughter together, swoon! Plus, the other kiddos in the class were adorable as well.

Here is a picture of our morning adventure.

I am typing this from the in-laws house in New York, and tomorrow morning Mr. Pit and I are off to Vermont to ski until Wednesday. Little Pit is staying with her Grandparents for 4 days, yahoo!

I am nervous to leave her (not that her Grandparents aren't great), but it's the first time and well, I just am, so sue me. I am sure she'll have fun, and I'll do my best to have fun as well and really enjoy the quiet and fun with Mr. Pit.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Ah, to do it all over again...

2011-03-01T10:19:00.004-05:00

Mr. Pit and I will have been married for 5 years in a short 3+ months, and believe me, time FLIES when you're having fun!

What I can't stop doing though, is imagining all the ways I would do my wedding again if I were getting married this June or next (I would marry the same man, that's for certain!!) I still love looking at wedding magazines, and I think bridal dresses get better with every season as well as bridesmaids dresses.

The Eryn dress from Lilly Pulitzer just came out this week, and if this had been out 5 years ago you can bet your bottom dollar that my 7 bridesmaids would have been wearing it...how cute! And preppy! And pink! I ADORE it. It is a LOT more expensive than the dress I asked them to wear, but I think it's versatile enough that would have all jumped on it...ok, maybe not...but a girl can dream right?

It just screams summer wedding to me. I love love LOVE it. Too bad Mr. Pit and I don't have any friends getting married in the summer of 2011. We have a dear friend getting married in November, but the wedding is in the evening and it's downtown, so I doubt I can get away with Lilly, oh well.

And I have to admit if I had to pick a dress again I might go for something like this...TOTALLY different from what I wore, but I love it. Maybe we could have a night time wedding "this" time...ha :)

In reality, I loved every minute of our wedding (except maybe the thunderstorm and crazy humidity that followed) but at the end of that day, Mr. Pit and I were married, our friends and family ate well and danced their butts off...and people still say how much fun they had celebrating with us, so a total win!

Hope everyone is having a great day, Happy 1st day of March!!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

MORE thanks to Up North Preppy!

2011-02-25T15:20:00.005-05:00

The lovely AEOT at Up North Preppy posted a new kids shopping site today called TOTSY and posted the exact dresses I was considering for Little Pit for her birthday...brilliant.

Since the price was SO good I got her 2 dresses in two different color ways...and I am SO pleased. Not sure which one she'll wear for her big 1st Birthday celebration, but either way she'll be stinking cute!

Thanks again to AEOT who always has the BEST ideas :)

Oh, and these are the colors I purchased, yahoo!

Pretty sure I will get both of them monogrammed in pink, and I am leaning towards the navy, white and pink for her birthday, but we'll have to see how the weather is...come on spring!!

Hope everyone had a great week, thank goodness it's Friday :)

Have a great weekend,

xoxo Mrs. Pit

What I find hilarious

2011-02-22T21:05:00.003-05:00

I have a bit of a quirky sense of humor, to the point that Mr. Pit laughs at ME laughing at jokes I only seem to find funny.

You must read THIS blog. It's called Hyperbole and a Half and is absolutely the most ridiculously funny blog I've ever read. The author Allie doesn't post that often, but when she does I can't get through more than 2 sentances of her posts without laughing outloud and getting weird looks from Mr. Pit. Her illustrations are to die for funny and though a little quirky, I find the whole thing hilarious and right up my alley.

My second favorite blog is DOOCE and I am sure if you know anything about blogs you have already read Heather's daily updates and seen her daily photos of Chuck :) I also find her hilarious, perfectly irreverent and I kind of want to be her best friend. She is also a crazy formidable business woman with over 1,000,000 twitter and blog followers.

So, in case you need MORE blogs to read, those are my two recommendations for the week.

Hope everyone is enjoying the week, we got 4" of snow last night, I was hoping Spring was right around the corner...oh well.

xoxo Mrs. Pit

SCOUT SALE!!!

2011-02-21T10:21:00.002-05:00

Scout is 40% off today and today only.

It is also good for sale items, what what?! Go, now, purchase, quickly!!!

Click HERE!!!

NOW!!!

Questions...answered

2011-02-19T10:16:00.003-05:00

I took these questions from Up North Preppy and thought I would give them a whirl.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

I have to copy off AEOT a little here, and say that I would LOVE to have our whole family together for the summer at our lake house in New Hampshire. Mornings spent taking hikes, afternoons on the dock, nights spent having cocktails on the front porch with the occasional trip to Fun Spot for mini golf and go carts :)

What is your greatest fear?
That either myself or Mr. Pit will die while Little Pit is very young. I have nightmares about it.

Which figures do you most identify with?
Definitely hourglass figures. I am back to my pre-baby weight, but things have shifted and everything fits differently...I've never been skinny and I've always been fine with my weight and body, but this new shape takes some getting used to!

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Definitely my judgmental-ness. I am far from perfect but my snap judgments about people still come out more than I'd like. I was also kind of a mean girl in high school, and there really was no reason for it.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Name dropping and bragging. I probably do it too and don't even realize it, but some people can't get through a conversation without it and it drives me batty.

What do you most value in your friends?
Their ability to pick right up wherever we left off. My best friends who don't live near me (read: MOST of my bridesmaids) are so awesome about this. No matter if I see them in person or talk to them on the phone, it's like we just talked yesterday. It is SUCH a good feeling knowing you can just fall back into step with people.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Seriously, that's cray-cray (my version of that's crazy), Oh Goober! And there are probably a lot more, I'm not very creative, and I always repeat my stories as I can't remember who I tell what. So, sorry people I repeat stuff to!

What is your favorite journey?
Again, I agree with AEOT on this, Motherhood, by far. My life is SO different than it was a year ago, and WAY different than it was 2 years ago, but I've never been happier.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Patience...just kidding, well, not really. I'm really an instant gratification kind of person, but again, I'm working on that too.

What is your favorite occupation?
I love being a Mom. It's more work than I ever thought possible, but I am also pretty amazed at how I've taken to it and have really enjoyed watching Little Pit grow up and learn. My old job certainly paid better, but I love being at home with Little Pit at this point in my life.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My stomach for sure. I've NEVER had a flat stomach, EVER, but one day I'd really like to have one!

What is your greatest regret?
This sounds superficial, but really, it started a downward spiral...I cut my own hair when I was 10...so then to fix it I had to get a super short cut and I got CONSTANTLY made fun of for it. The mean boys on the bus used to call me "Pat", the character from Saturday Night Live and tell me that I shouldn't wear my kilt (my school had a uniform) because I was a boy...it was awful and it took SO long to grow out and I think that entire episode was not helpful in my childhood and it all started because I cut my own hair because I was bored...I was such a dummy!

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Definitely Mr. Pit. No one else in the world could put up with me like he can (seriously, all my ex-boyfriends would second this). I am a lot to handle at times and can be a complete pain in the ass. I used to be super jealous and possessive too, hence the downfall of many a relationship, but Mr. Pit has put me at ease since the moment I met him. I trusted him from the second we met, and it has made ALL the difference.

When and where were you happiest?
Pretty much anytime I am at our house in NH, my birthday is always a happy day, Mr. Pit proposing to me in August of 2005, our wedding day, our entire honeymoon, signing our closing papers on this house in 2007, finding out I was pregnant, seeing her on the sonogram for the first time, holding Little Pit for the first time, pretty much anytime Mr. Pit is home and we can hang out as a family.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Superficial yes, but I would have myself lose all my midsection weight.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Hands down, Little Pit. Every time I look at her I cannot believe that we made her. It is absolutely a miracle. You hear it called that all the time, but then you have your child and you realize how true that statement is. Actually giving birth to her was a miracle as well, I can't even believe I want to do it again, but I do! Thank God our brains are wired to not remember the pain part, otherwise everyone would be an only child!

What is your most treasured possession?
Hmm, this is hard. My engagement ring and wedding band, our wedding photos, my Grandmothers gypsy rings that she gave me the last time I saw her. I think if our house were burning down those would be the first things I would grab, after of course Mr. Pit and Little Pit were safe.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Thinking about all the what-ifs in my life. What if I had transferred out of my university when I was miserable that summer after my freshman year? What if I had broken up with my idiot boyfriend at the beginning of my senior year in college like I should have instead of making my entire senior year a living hell? But then I think that everything happens for a reason, and if I did anything differently I wouldn't be here now living the life I live...but I hate thinking about it.

Where would you like to live?
Oooh, I know this one! In a 5 bedroom classic center hall stone colonial at the end of a cul-de-sac with a huge back yard and a pool. I want a white kitchen with black counter tops, and a 6 burner stove. I want it to be a cozy house where we can have friends over and I want our kids to have friends over all the time too. I want to be that house where people LOVE going. As far as where that house is...I am pretty stuck on staying on the Main Line, but I would consider other states, I love Colorado, and Boulder has an amazing amount of sunny days (we could have solar panels on the roof!) or maybe Sun Valley, ID. I like the idea of San Diego as well for the weather, but I think I like seasons too much for me to last long out there. I would also consider Switzerland, and definitely Australia or New Zealand.

What is your most marked characteristic?
My voice I think. I HATE how I sound when I hear myself, but at least I know it's unique!

What is your greatest extravagance?
Our closet. We converted an entire bedroom into a walk in closet. It was kind of an insane expense, and now we're kind of kicking ourselves because if we have another even littler pit the kids might have to share rooms because we don't have enough closet space if we take it out and convert it back to a bedroom. And yes, I am well aware of the fact that I could just downsize our clothing amount, but that's WAY easier said than done. You know the theory that you fill whatever space you are given...yeah, we've done that and then some.

What are the qualities you most like in a man?
Kindness and loyalty. Being generous doesn't hurt either.

Who are your favorite writers?
Barbara Kingsolver, Dave Barry (always good for a laugh)

How would you like to die?
Quickly and without pain. I would NOT like to drown. Or die in a fire. No no no.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Urm...no clue. I'll get back to you on this one.

Who are your heroes in real life?
My parents, and Bill Smith. He runs Main Line Animal Rescue and is SUCH a champion for animals.

What is your motto?
Everything happens for a reason.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! It's crazy windy here today, not sure we'll be outside much! Too bad too because yesterday was 70 and gorgeous!

xoxo

Mrs. Pit

REALLY important stuff...

2011-02-18T07:47:00.000-05:00

Nah, just kidding, but I do want your help making this decision!

You see, Little Pit is turning 1 in April and I want to get her a cute dress to wear to church on Easter and then to the club for the Easter Egg Hunt. We are also having her birthday party at the club at lunchtime, so this dress is doing some serious double duty.

Now I need your help...which dress is cuter? The second one comes with hot pink trim too, so I am thinking of getting that instead of the light pink...but do I go trim vs. sash? HELP!

Thanks!!

hi!

2011-02-17T10:54:00.005-05:00

Hi there friends, sorry I've been SO bad at blogging lately, who knew an almost 10 month old could keep you SO busy!? She is an amazing little person already, and knows exactly how to push my buttons already as well. Oh, I'm not supposed to touch this or go near that? Guess where I'll station myself for the next 10 minutes then...aaah! She's too cute and WAY too good to ever get really upset with though, so I'll take my frustrations with a grain of salt and keep on baby proofing!

Last night I ran into my 2nd set of parents while picking up pizza. You see, growing up my best friend C and I spent a LOT of time together, so much so in fact that I had a bed IN her room because I slept over almost every single Friday night...for years. Seriously. Years. Her parents did as much parenting of me as my parents did, and I LOVE them to death. So, when I pulled up behind their car last night (they have a vanity plate that anyone who knows them knows) I was SO excited. They are headed up to Maine today, so I hope they have a safe trip! And, it's instances like that, running into REALLY good friends while picking up pizza, that make me SO happy that I live where I do. Some people may think it's kinda lame that I live less than 10 miles from where I grew up, but I love it. I always call this area my 'epicenter', and it truly is.

On that tangent...I am also obsessed with looking for houses. I love our house but I know this isn't our forever house because 3 bedrooms and 1.5 baths isn't going to work for the long run, so I'm always casually checking things out. I found a 5 bedroom 3 bath house in a GREAT school district near us last night, so my plan is to do a drive by today and then call our realtor (who is more or less on retainer b/c she knows that I like to look at about 2 houses a year) to see if it's worth going inside...and never mind that we JUST refinanced in January...

And lastly, a little blog sale for you. I bought this sweater because it was in the LARGE pile. It is not large, it is medium. It is brand new and still has all the original tags on it. It is gorgeously soft and I love the color, but it's a bit snug. I paid full price for it ($135), it's yours for $75 + $10 shipping or your best offer. Email me at Preppypitbull@gmail.com if you want it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T11:29:00.003-05:00

Love, Little Pit

(She's calling all her friends to tell them Happy Valentine's Day!)

Our DIY project gone wrong...

2011-02-02T14:47:00.004-05:00

I managed to talk Mr. Pit into renovating the bathroom, promised him I'd do most of the work, along with my awesome handy brother Z, and told him it wouldn't cost more than $500.

How wrong I was.

It all started off well enough, we got the old ugly medicine cabinet off the wall, only to find a VERY large hole left by the old homeowner that they had just covered up and never fixed.

1 trip to Home Depot for drywall, 2x3's and tape,spackle and screws later, we filled in the hole and waited to take out the vanity while we painted. I love the new color, it's SO much richer and I love how it looks with the mirror and light fixture.

The ugly huge vanity that I COULDN'T wait to get rid of. It left us absolutely NO room to move around in there at all, I am so excited about the pedestal :)

Upon taking out the vanity we learned that the drain pipe was COMPLETELY corroded and had to be replaced. We went to the hardware store, again, and when we showed them our pipe, the guys there laughed and told us we needed to hire a plumber asap.

The plumber FINALLY came today and fixed the broken drain line and installed the pretty pedestal that I had found online and sparked the whole process.

I LOVE how it turned out, I just wish we didn't have to spend almost twice our budget and have it take more than twice as long as I thought. Oh well.

Oh, and Mr. Pit says no more DIY projects for the house at all. Ha!

So, there it is! Finally finished and I absolutely love it. It all started with me finding the sink on Overstock.com and then all heck broke loose. I think the money we saved getting the sink for cheaper than we would have at Home Depot or Lowe's went STRAIGHT to the plumber, but it's all hooked up and I couldn't be more pleased.

Hope everyone is safe from all this yucky snow, rain and sleet we've been getting!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Snow

2011-01-27T10:51:00.004-05:00

So, as most of you know, Philadelphia got DUMPED on last night and yesterday with two pretty significant storms back to back. We got about 6" yesterday and another 16" last night...it's insane.

Really pretty, but insane. It reminds me a lot of last winter, but now that I am not working and don't HAVE to drive anywhere, my anxiety over snow has changed into loving it. Especially since Mr. Pit can now work remotely when he needs to, it's nice that he can be home (even if he is on work conference calls all day, he's still here!)

Anyways, we are hunkered in for the day, we might take a walk to Wawa later for hoagies for lunch, but otherwise I did laundry last night and ran the dishwasher today...exciting!

Here are some pictures of what we're dealing with!

The view out the back deck...the snow is almost up to the bottom of the chairs!

The view out the front door, you couldn't even tell you have to step down to get to the front walk!

And one last picture just for fun...this is where I found Little Pit this morning when Mr. Pit was out shoveling the driveway...too cute!

She is always SO interested in where Daddy is, it's totally adorable :)

Hope everyone is having a great week, and enjoying the snow if you have it!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Trying to decide...

2011-01-12T14:43:00.004-05:00

if we like the snow...

at first...not so much

Ok, so it's not SO bad when Mom is holding me and I don't have to be IN it...

Ugh, they are going to take pictures of me no matter what...I give up!

Happy Snow Day!

Little Pit's Christmas

2011-01-07T06:55:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to share a few pictures of Little Pit and her Christmas extravaganza :)

She really didn't get a lot of presents, but the ones she did get she LOVES.

She loves her walker/ride on pink car

She's not big enough to really walk behind it, but she likes to pretend with our help

What you can sort of see in the picture is her Leap Frog Groove and Learn music table. She is pretty much obsessed with it, and I think it will be a great learning tool for her for the next few years :)

Anyways, gotta run as Little Pit is up in her crib NOT happy that she is supposed to be napping...have a great week!

A day at Longwood

2011-01-06T10:45:00.006-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, my parents, Little Pit and I took an adventure to Longwood Gardens . Located in Kennett Square, PA, it is certainly a property worth visiting, especially during the holidays!

In short, it was magnificent. I had always heard that the Christmas lights were amazing, but I hadn't realized how intricate they would be and just how much time and effort it must take to get all those lights up on ALL those trees! And to get all the wreaths made, and the HUGE Christmas trees in the conservatory...it must take DAYS to decorate!

So, here are some pictures from our trip, I didn't bring our good DSLR camera, so the pictures aren't great and the flash is WAY too bright, it was better in person, so next year you should go!!

They decorate a ton of trees outside, and then they have a "Christmas Tour" through the indoor conservancy.

Some of the lit trees as we were leaving, isn't it romantic?

These trees had SO many lights wound up them, and they went SO high, I was marvelling at the engineering of just getting the lights up there! (and that's Little Pit all bundled in her stroller, you can't even see her face but you can see one of her little ears on her hat ha!)

One of the many indoor trees

Lillies, my FAVORITE :)

This picture doesn't do this hanging basket justice, it was HUGE!

Same with this picture, this fern was taller than me!

The main room of the conservatory, isn't it awesome?

So, that was our trip yesterday, I am glad I finally went, after 30 years of living less than 20 miles from it!

I am hoping we can make it back around Easter, apparently they just have acres and acres of tulips and hyacinths, it must smell delicious!

Hope everyone is having a great week :)

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T10:26:00.004-05:00

Hi friends,

2010 was an AWESOME year for the Pit Family (with of course one very sad occurrence in December)

We gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl in April.

We got to vacation in gorgeous New Hampshire and North Carolina, oh yeah, and Vegas last February!

Mr. Pit got a fabulous new job that he loves after graduating with an MBA from Villanova!

We saw lots of friends and family and we couldn't be luckier to know and love all of them.

We are hoping that 2011 brings lots of health and happiness to everyone (including Little Pit who is STILL on the mend from a bout of Pneumonia from earlier this week).

Hope you have a great night tonight, be safe! Mr. Pit and I will be home eating cheese fondue and drinking Champagne, yum!!

I will leave you with a picture of our little monster Little Pit :)

Oh NO you didn't!

2010-12-21T10:51:00.003-05:00

Come on New York Times you did not honestly put THIS story into your VOWS section.

The story chronicles the wedding of two people who met at their children's preschool. They became friends. The spouses became friends. They went on family vacations together. Then they apparently fell in love and left their spouses to be married to each other.

I believe VERY much in vows. In promises. I am proud of the vows I made to my husband. My husband is AWESOME.

I don't believe that every marriage can work out. I don't believe every marriage SHOULD work out. People change. Circumstances change.

However, I don't like the tone of the above story. I think it is almost celebrating the fact that these two people broke up two perfectly good marriages because they liked each other better.

I think people need to take more personal responsibility when it comes to things like this.

I have no issue in you ending your marriage because it's not working, you've worked on it and you still can't fix it. I have no issue with you getting married again. I of course want everyone to be happy. Happy is great. Marriage is proven to make people happier, I'm all for it.

What I don't like is the sort of dirty side to the above story. How hurt the respective spouses must have been. How confused the children must have been and probably still are.

If this is your life, then that's great, I just don't think it belongs in the vows section of the New York Times.

Onwards and Upwards...

2010-12-20T09:56:00.003-05:00

So, moving forward in the Pit household without our pup has been hard, but we have been trying to keep busy and get ready for Christmas.

Little Pit got a few early Christmas presents (and to be honest, she's only getting one thing in her stocking and we'll let her unwrap our presents for us, we didn't buy her any toys*)

One of the big things she got was a new car seat. The snugride was supposed to fit her until she was 22 pounds or something like that, but the straps were getting way too tight and her little feet were already starting to hang over the bottom. Plus, it was nearly impossible to lift the car seat in and out of the car, so we decided to move her up into the convertible car seat a bit early.

We went with the Britax Marathon which got the most overwhelming recommendations when I asked around about it, and it gets great safety ratings so to Diapers.com we went and purchased. I ended up going with the Alison pattern since this car seat will really be Little Pit's and Little Pits alone. She should be in this seat for quite a few years, so I figured up I could girl this up for her (and me!). I think it's adorable and Mr. Pit had it installed in minutes.

Other thing Little Pit got from Diapers.com as an early Christmas gift was sippy cups. She has no idea what to do with it yet, she likes to hold on and shake it around, and to gnaw on the spout, but so far I don't think she's gotten any liquid out. Oh well, all in time, right? She turns 8 months in 1 week, so I figured it wasn't too early to start with the sippy cup, we'll just have to teach her how to use it over time, just like everything else right?

Ok, and now onto why we aren't getting any gifts for Little Pit this year:

1. She's only 8 months old. She doesn't get it. She has no idea why we have a large tree in our living room. She doesn't know who Santa is. She has no idea why we have 'socks' hanging from the mantle.

2. She will have no idea why we will go to church on Christmas eve to see the pageant. She will have no idea that I am disappointed that she is too big to be the Baby Jesus this year.

3. I buy her 'gifts' almost every other day of the week/month/year. She gets new clothes all the time. She has enough toys for us to run a day care in our house.

4. She has 2 sets of Grandparents and 3 Godparents who already have and will continue to spoil her.

5. SHE DOESN'T GET IT!

She LOVES paper. We will let her play with as much wrapping paper as she wants on Christmas morning. We will sit by the tree and open presents and listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas record like we always do. She will have no idea that she didn't get any gifts this year from us. Her gift is sitting in the back seat of the car (that Marathon didn't come free you know) Her gifts will continue to come throughout the year since she is growing like a weed and already has two huge tupperware bins full of clothes she has outgrown.

I do not feel guilty for not buying her specific Christmas presents this year. She will have YEARS of getting lots of special presents from us in her lifetime. At this point it's more important for us to put money in her 529 than it is for us to get her one more thing that is plastic and makes noise to entertain her.

Even without a lot of presents for her or us under the tree (we got each other memberships to the YMCA and new smartphones already), it will still be a wonderful happy day filled with family and a lot of love. You can't ask for any more than that can you?

Hope you have a great last week before Christmas!!

xo Mrs. Pit

D-Day

2010-12-15T15:23:00.003-05:00

Hi friends,

well, today was D-Day...drop off day for Lil' Pup. Main Line Animal Rescue found him a foster home, YAY! and I dropped him off this morning and he was going to be picked up at noon.

I did pretty well until someone asked how I was, and then I lost it. I feel SO guilty for doing this, but even the two people who work at the kennel that I saw today said that it was the best thing for everyone involved. If Lil' Pup ever did anything to hurt Little Pit we would all be sorry, and he most likely would have to be put down, and it never got to that thank goodness.

Lil' Pup didn't seem to notice anything, as soon as he realized he was in a place where he could smell other dogs he didn't pay ANY attention to me whatsoever, and when Megan took his leash to bring him to the back, he didn't even turn around. I think it's all for the better though, had he turned around, or if I had to say some sort of formal goodbye I think I would have lost it even more than I already did.

What did cheer me up (The people at MLAR are good!) was the little of AKC certified Black Lab puppies that were dropped off yesterday. 8 puppies. 8 weeks old. 8 ADORABLE fuzz buckets. They said we could have one. We could pick it up Saturday. Girl or boy, our choice. Anyone we wanted. SATURDAY.

Mr. Pit said NO. Shocker.

I think it's for the best though, I can't really imagine trying to wrangle a crawling/pulling up almost 8 month old AND trying to house train a puppy in the middle of winter...but, I'll keep you posted if Mr. Pit lets his guard down and says yes!!

Oh, and apparently there are 12 yellow lab pups on their way and should arrive tomorrow. Anyone want a FULLY CERTIFIED PURE BRED Lab for Christmas? They have 'em!

Email me if you're interested!

Thanks for all the support over the past few weeks, it really has helped me through this very difficult decision making process.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Oh, and Little Pit can sit on her own, can fully crawl (AND FAST!) and is pulling up on everything she can get her hands on, eek! Here's a pic since I haven't shown her in awhile.

xoxo Mrs. Pit

update

2010-12-07T11:04:00.002-05:00

Mr. Pit called the rescue where we got Lil' Pup, Main Line Animal Rescue and they understand our situation and are as saddened by the events as we are. They are a fabulous no-kill shelter known around the country for their love of all animals and all the work they do to shut down poorly run puppy mills.

Currently they are looking for a foster home for Lil' Pup as no one wants him to go back into kennel life with lots of other dogs as we know it was super stressful for him.

Hopefully we will have something by the end of the week, and hopefully someone is willing to foster him for a few month before they can put him in a forever home.

Thank you for all the support, the emails and messages I have gotten this morning have really made me feel much better about things and I really appreciate it. I am glad you understand how hard this was for us, and how hard it will be moving forward without him in the house, but we know it's for the best.

Mrs. Pit

VERY sad news...

2010-12-06T22:14:00.003-05:00

So there has been a few things going on at home that I haven't told you guys or blogged about, mostly because it is so heartbreaking that I can't even talk about it without crying.

When we brought Little Pit home, Lil' Pup wasn't thrilled, but he was seemingly ok with it. We did everything they tell you to do, introduced him to the nursery, let him sniff all of her clothes and bedding and all that stuff. We brought the receiving blanket home for him to sniff once she was born and did our best to prepare him for what was coming.

Unfortunately, Lil' Pup is just not a fan of hers. Especially now that she is crawling, he really can't stand her and growls at her whenever she gets near him and has snapped at her a few times, once coming really close. Since she will be toddling soon, and probably falling over a lot while trying to figure out how best to walk, we are just really concerned about any future interaction. He doesn't react well when he's startled, and with a falling infant, we really believe that this could get very dangerous for her very soon.

We of course did our best over the past 7 months to get them acquainted and tried to get Lil' Pup to understand that she was part of the family and that he should treat her like he treated us. However, he has not gotten any better and now that Little Pit is really starting to move, we feel that it is in her best interest, and our best interest being her safety, that Lil' Pup goes back to the rescue.

I can't tell you how hard it was to make this decision. There have been tears. LOTS of tears over this decision, but we just can't knowingly put our daughter in danger with an unpredictable dog.

You all know how I feel about rescue dogs, and how happy I was to rescue him knowing how hard it was for him at the kennel. You know that my motto is that there are no bad dogs and only bad owners.

I truly do not feel that he is a bad dog, I just think that he really needs to be a true ONLY dog and ONLY child, and that is not a situation that we can put him in. If only we got him as a puppy and had any control of his life before we found him.

I hope you all don't hate me or Mr. Pit, we really worked so hard and for the past few weeks have been exhausting all the resources we can to try to help him and our situation, but what most trainers tell us, is, that if it were their daughter, and he was their dog, they wouldn't hesitate to remove him from the house for her safety. Also, we have worked really hard over the past 3 years to give him the life he deserved and really worked on his dog aggression as well. We have spent countless hours and thousands of dollars on trainers and methods and they have just not had the overall effect that we have wanted them to.

It truly breaks my heart to think that we have to give him back, but it would break my heart more if he ever hurt Little Pit and then we'd have to relocate him after that anyway, and at the rate he is going, an accident is going to happen sometime soon.

I know that some of you may be thinking that we can just separate them for the day, but that is no way for him or us to live. There is no point in having a dog if we can't interact with him, and to lock him upstairs or in his crate for the day isn't fair for him either. He deserves a family, just one without kids that crawl or toddle after him like Little Pit does.

I don't know exactly when we will give him back, we made the final decision tonight after talking to yet another professional dog trainer that said sometimes dogs and kids just can't mix no matter how hard you try, and that it is just too dangerous to risk it.

What I also want to stress, is that I don't want this post to discourage anyone from ever rescuing an animal in the future. I don't think that we did the wrong thing by rescuing him, I am happy that we could give him a loving home for as long as we did and I am so hopeful that he will get rescued by another family that is better suited to the lifestyle that he needs sometime soon.

I truly believe that rescuing animals is the right thing to do, and that there are GREAT dogs that need homes. Little Pup is a GREAT dog, he just isn't kid friendly and a lot of pure bred dogs aren't kid friendly either. I don't think this has ANYTHING to do with him being part Pit bull either. Pit bulls are KNOWN for being great with kids, I think this has much more to do with his puppyhood which unfortunately neither us nor the rescue where we got him has any clue about. He was rescued from another rescue, so his first few years of life are completely undocumented. We think he may have been abused as a puppy but we really have no idea.

When we got him we didn't think he could hurt a fly, but with his behavior towards Little Pit bordering on really dangerous, we were sadly proven wrong. He reacts so badly whenever she gets anywhere near him, if he were a true older sibling it would be called severe jealousy and we could combat it, but we can't seem to train the behavior out of him no matter how hard we try.

Anyways, so after the highs of this past weekend, here is our biggest low of this entire year.

I will cry every time I walk by where his water and food bowls were, as well as his bed and all his toys. I am crying as I type this because I feel like a complete and utter failure as a dog-mom. I feel that I have failed him in the most basic of senses, as I was supposed to rescue him from a life in the kennel and now all I am doing is giving him back. I know it is for the best, and that we HAVE to put Little Pit first, she is our flesh and blood and has to be protected, that is truly my job as a mother. I just wish I didn't have to protect one thing I love from another.

Please please please no nasty comments. I don't think I could take it. Please believe me that we did everything we could and that this decision is the hardest one we've made in our entire marriage.

Thanks, Mrs. Pit

My Best Friends Wedding

2010-12-05T22:03:00.003-05:00

My best friend got married this weekend and it was SO amazing.

She planned the entire weekend down to the second, and every bit of planning completely paid off, as it was a flawlessly executed rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, pre-wedding, wedding and reception.

She looked absolutely stunning, I mean, COMPLETELY breathtaking. I think *I* looked good on my wedding day, but holy cow, this girl could be on the cover of ANY wedding magazine in the world.

Her dress was amazing, her hair and make up perfection, her shoes were to die for, but above all, she handled herself with grace, poise and beauty the entire time. (Me, on the other hand, had a near nervous breakdown the night before the wedding as well as the morning of). C was cool, calm and collected the entire day, through the ceremony and then danced her bum off at the reception and seemed to have a fabulous time.

I cried more than once over the weekend, but all happy tears since I was SO happy for her. I had fielded more than one phone call over the years when she was single and I promised her that she would find a great guy who deserved her love, and would dote on her and adore her as much as she would him.

And let me tell you guys, her husband IS that guy. He absolutely adores her, you can practically SEE the love pouring out when she walks into a room. They were SO cute all weekend and I was SO happy that she found someone that loves her SO much and it was awesome to see them both so happy.

I believe at this point they are either in LA for the night or currently somewhere over the Pacific on their way to Fiji for the first week of what sounds like an incredible honeymoon. Mr. Pit and I spent the day recovering from a lot of dancing and fun having, and now I'm off to bed, but first a few photos of my amazing, stunning best friend, the kindest most wonderful friend a girl could ask for.

Married!

Her awesome MOH and her sister A looking SO pretty! (She also gave an awesome speech!)

Mr. Pit and I at the end of the night (PS, I know the camera adds 10lbs but dear lord, how many cameras did I have on me! Ew!)

Cut that cake!

Dancin' the night away!

Congratulations C and S! Hope you have a wonderful honeymoon!

Hope you all had a great weekend like we did!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

SALE!!!

2010-12-02T12:01:00.003-05:00

Have you guys been to Scout's website lately? Because they have a TON on sale!

6 out of 13 patterns of the Junque Trunk are on sale, and they are really cute patterns to boot!

How about how cute the little Napolean bags are?

ALL 3 patterns for Bin There's are on sale too!

Go HERE to order them now! Go go go!

Hannukah has started and Christmas is in 23 days!

OOH, and you want 20% off you say? You got it! Use code :AMANDALAX10 and it's yours :)

Can you tell I really like the French Twist Black? It's my favorite pattern!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, now get to shopping!!

In Honor of Cyber Monday

2010-11-28T21:08:00.002-05:00

You guys use EBATES right?

No? You don't?

YOU SHOULD!

I just signed up a month ago and I already have $15 coming my way. Not a whole lot, but as my Dad says, better than a sharp stick in the eye.

No joke, he says that, a lot.

Click HERE to sign up.

I love this site.

Seriously, it only adds like 10 seconds to every purchase, and you get coupon codes too that you might not have seen before.

DO IT!!!

And in other news, we had a great Thanksgiving, and Little Pit got her first tooth and turned 7 months old, yahoo!!

Hope you had a great weekend,

xoxo Mrs. Pit

All I want for Christmas...

2010-11-28T10:26:00.003-05:00

are these boots from Target...
They are the Merona Kamischel Suede boot in Brown. In 9 1/2. Except I can't find them ANYWHERE.

We have 3 local Targets, NONE have my size. Online they only have 5.5 and 11.

If someone can find me these boots I will pay for them, obviously, plus shipping, PLUS I'll send you a little something something from Scout...sound fair?

Let me know if you can find them, they are SO cute!

Thankful

2010-11-24T20:34:00.003-05:00

I am thankful for SO many reasons this year.

2010 was a banner year for the Pits, and I am so lucky to have been surrounded by so many amazing friends and family.

To recap what made and makes this year awesome:

I had a great 2nd half of my pregnancy, an amazingly short labor and of course, we were blessed with a healthy happy Little Pit.

Soon after Little Pit was born, Mr. Pit graduated from Villanova with his MBA and not long after started his new job, which is subsequently LOVES.

I became a full time Mom and I couldn't be happier. I love being home with Little Pit and seeing her grow and learn everyday.

Before I had Little Pit I worked on a construction site and nearly completed an amazing project down at CHoP, one of the best Children's hospitals in the world. I liked working on a project that would house some of the best and brightest minds in the country, and I am convinced someone in that building will cure cancer one day.

We took two great trips this summer to New Hampshire and the Outer Banks and I can't wait to go back next summer! I fell in love with the 4x4 beaches at Carova. We were so lucky to get there for a week this year.

Little Pits Grandparents LOVE her more than they or I can describe. She is showered with love, clothes and toys at every turn :)

Little Pits Godparents love her too. Her Godmother C bought her a Christmas dress, and her Godfather Z is supposed to get her a pretty cool ride-on walker as well, spoiled Little Pit! Godmother M is full of Christmas ideas for her as well, I can't wait for her 1st Christmas!

Our home is warm, cozy and full of love and I couldn't be happier.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Lilly Warehouse Sale

2010-11-19T19:35:00.004-05:00

Though the warehouse sale this time around was small, REALLY small, I still came out a winner.

I had tried on the Wayles dress back in October in the Outer Banks, and I knew that if I ever found it on sale it would come home with me, but the bank account prohibited me from dropping $268 on it while on vacation.

I was going to go at 8, but cancelled the babysitter in lieu of waiting for Mr. Pit to get home to watch Little Pit and I could run in and out and be back by the time she was up from her afternoon nap. So I ran out the door at 3, convinced that absolutely nothing good would be left by the time I got there.

So, you can imagine my surprise when not only I saw the Wayles on the large poster going IN to the sale, but I was THRILLED to find it in my size almost 8 hours after the show had started today!

I was also lucky that they didn't have more items I just had to have, because that would have meant dipping into the Christmas funds that are meant for other people.

So, without further ado, I present my prize for the day, and all for $99!

YAY! I can't wait to wear it...I am thinking I will either wear it on Thanksgiving or to my BFF's rehearsal dinner, oh wait, maybe I'll just wear it to both!

Hope everyone else found what they were looking for at the sale if they went, otherwise I know a LOT of store are doing similar sales online and in stores while the warehouse sale is going on.

Have a great weekend!

XOXO Mrs. Pit

Oh, how I LOVE thee!

2010-11-15T11:55:00.003-05:00

Scout that is!

I did a home show this weekend, and as a special present to you all out there in blogland, I am extending the home show incentives to you!!

So, click HERE to go to the Bungalow website.

Pick what you want, and what pattern.

Email me at Preppypitbull@gmail.com and let me know your order, or you can order from Bungalow directly by phone at 1-877-639-6287.

If you order from Bungalow directly, make sure you say you are part of Amanda's home show, and you want to make sure you get your incentives!

If you spend $100 or more, you get a free Counterfeit bag, in Scout Signature.

If you spend $2oo or more, you get a free Pill Popper bag, in Scout Signature.

If you spend $300 or more, you get a free Life Support, in Scout Signature.

So, you get those for free, (A life support is regularly $38!) and you support Scout, such a GREAT company!!

Start buying those Holiday presents everybody! The more the merrier!!

xoxo Mrs Pit

A HUGE DEAL FOR YOU!

2010-11-14T12:48:00.003-05:00

Hi guys,

SO I have a SUPER SECRET code that you can use for a HUGE Scout Discount!!

You all know how HUGE a fan I am of Scout, and of course I am obsessed with their new Scout Sport line! If I was still playing field hockey or lacrosse on a regular team I would have ALL of these bags :)

As a treat for you, Scout is offering YOU 15% off any of the Scout Sport line until November 19th :)

Just use the code AMLAX in the coupon code when you order and the discount will be applied.

Have fun and shop big!

xoxo Mrs Pit

Shopping

2010-11-12T14:36:00.003-05:00

I am now a PRO shopping with Mommy :)

Have a great weekend!

xoxo Little Pit

Big girl!

2010-11-10T14:55:00.004-05:00

SOMEONE is getting REALLY good at sitting up on her own, and that same someone also sat ALL BY HERSELF in the grocery cart today!! (she was a little propped up by my jacket behind her, but still, NO car seat!!)

Posing nicely for Mom...

Ok, I'm done posing, let's go!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T20:48:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween from Little Pit, and of course us!

Here is our Little Lamb :)

We're 1/2 way...

2010-10-27T15:19:00.002-04:00

to Little Pit being 1 years old! She turned 6 months old this morning, and if she was allowed to eat a cupcake or something I would have totally given her half of one!

So far though, her diet is formula, green beans, acorn squash, banana and rice cereal, pretty good for 6 months eh? She is a good eater while she is interested, only that doesn't last long so I have to make sure we both stay focused and when she's done I have to just give up. If I try to make her eat any extra there are tears and she starts sucking her thumb in protest. It is the cutest thing ever, and while frustrating, I have to remember that she's little and eating off a spoon is something new and TOTALLY different from nursing.

Other than that though, she is absolutely delightful. She laughs and smiles the entire time she is awake, and she is a great sleeper and has been getting better and better at taking naps.

Here are some pictures of the big girl :)

We have some fun plans this weekend including a lot of golf for Mr. Pit and a fun dinner with a big group of friends AND a Halloween party!

Hope everyone has a great week!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Guess who's coming to town?

2010-10-25T15:41:00.002-04:00

That's right! They are opening a new location about a mile from our house and you'd think it was the first food in MILES the way Mr. Pit and I are so excited. They officially open on November 3rd and I am counting down the days. I love their chicken soft tacos SO much, I am hungry just thinking about it!

Plus, they use all naturally raised meats, and all of their veggies are organic that they buy locally, so not only is their food delicious, they are good people too :)

If you live on the Main Line, this is just the best thing ever right? (And don't tell me that there is already one in Ardmore, I know there is, but that is 100% less convenient and always SO crowded) Not like this one won't be crowded, but it's closer so therefore it wins.

It really stinks that the Phillies lost, I was really looking forward to a 3rd World Series in 3 years, oh well, it was not to be. We played golf yesterday afternoon and the weather was gorgeous so that helped. Little Pit has not been a good napper the past few days, so today I am trying to make sure she gets two good ones in so that she is a happy girl when her Dad gets home. Believe me, NO ONE wants a cranky Little Pit at 6pm!

Hope everyone had great weekends!

xoxo
Mrs. Pit

Tomorrow is a holiday, did you know?

2010-10-22T12:55:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow is National Pit Bull Awareness Day!!

This is the 4th annual Pit Bull Awareness Day, and I for one, think that it is a great tradition!

Here is why it's important:

As breed advocates, we have an obligation to show the public what the media will not -- the truth. As responsible pit bull owners, we can no longer be willing to be judged, discriminated against, and criminalized by the image set by the visible minority of irresponsible, negligent, and careless owners. The media berates our dogs daily. Legislators have labeled pit bull owners as the "criminal element" who only own pit bulls to enhance their macho image. The time has come to set the record straight, and the National Pit Bull Awareness Day campaign is just the place to start.

In order to change the negative stereotypes that surround the American Pit Bull Terrier, we must take the initiative to educate people in our communities on the real pit bull. The search and rescue pit bull...the therapy dog pit bull...the K9 police pit bull...and, of course, the family companion pit bull. Its an opportunity to open dialogue and to show people first hand that there is no such thing as a "dangerous breed" of dog but, rather, that problem dogs are the result of problem dog owners.

In addition, participating in National Pit Bull Awareness Day gives you the opportunity to network with other responsible dog owners in your community. You can discuss issues of importance where you live, and work together to make changes to create a better environment for citizens and animals living there.

This is SO important to bring breed awareness to the masses! Too many people just assume that all Pits are evil and will eat their children. This couldn't be farther from the truth. As I've said 100 times, there are NO bad dogs, ONLY bad owners.

Take the weekend to hug your pet no matter WHAT breed they are, and hug a Pitty if you see one!

Me hugging my very own Pitty, Lil' Pup :)

Mr. Pit and I are trying to get tickets to the Phillies game on Saturday but otherwise it's a pretty quiet weekend around the Pit house. Hope you have a great one!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

So many dresses...

2010-10-20T14:48:00.005-04:00

SO little time!

Mr. Pit and I get pretty social this time of year with all sorts of holiday parties and charity soiree's...and what do I need for all these events....dresses of course!

Lilly has really been hitting it out of the ballpark lately with their fall collection (I also just went into Anthro this afternoon and holy heck if I didn't want to spend my entire bank account in there!)

So, without further ado, these 3 are on my list. Not holding my breath that they will be on sale at the warehouse sale this year, but we can always hope, right??!

This is the Wayles. I love it. It even comes with that cute belt...paired with brown boots, so cute!!

This is the Mae. I am not one for strapless dresses at this point in my life, but this one may be too cute to pass up. I love it.

And this is the Kaya. I love a dress where I don't have to wear jewelry. AMAZING.

So, that my friends, is my Wednesday Wish List. (of course as I sit here while Little Pit naps, I am wearing jeans, uggs and a long sleeve tshirt. oh well)

Hope everyone has a great day!

We're off to the Shipley Shops preview party tonight, can't wait!

xoxo Mrs. Pit

Vote for Little Pit!

2010-10-18T18:06:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

So I am asking for your help :)

I entered Little Pit in the Gap Casting Call, and we need your votes! It is pretty late to enter her, her entry number was something 614___, meaning we are behind more than six hundred THOUSAND kids, yikes!!

Anyways, please vote for her, she's stinking cute right?!

Just click HERE to do it, it will bring you right to her little page.

GO LITTLE PIT GO!!!

Thanks all!

xoxo

Mrs. Pit

The Preppy Pit Bull

Pink Swap!

What we've been up to...

Lilly Sale WIN!

A very Vineyard Christmas

The Wonder of...

Warehouse Sale!

Oops, I did it again...

A Christmas Card Preview...

Blog Sale Part 2

BLOG SALE

Busy busy!

I won!

Oh Hanna Andersson!

18 Months

2 months to go...

Chicago

A new fav...

Shipley Shops

Lust List

Every two weeks

Oh hey!

10 years ago

Dilemma

Sometimes...

Guster: In Concert

Hi, Remember me?!

Vote for Little Pit!!

5 years ago today...

What I ended up with...

What I want...

She loves...

13 months

A request...

Just like her Mama...

Christmas in May...

Shoes!

Now part of BlogLovin'!

Baby names and REALLY dumb people...

Popularity in 2010

Retail Therapy

A little hurt...

Dream House

She likes cake!

Sneak Peek...

In one week...

I fell for it...

Phases...

Progress!

A Cobra Tweets...

TOO FAST!

SO CUTE

Thank you!

HELP

The Burpee Order :)

BLOG SALE!

Oh, hi!

SWIMMING!

Ah, to do it all over again...

MORE thanks to Up North Preppy!

What I find hilarious

SCOUT SALE!!!

Questions...answered

REALLY important stuff...

hi!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our DIY project gone wrong...

Snow

Trying to decide...

Little Pit's Christmas

A day at Longwood

Happy New Year!

Oh NO you didn't!

Onwards and Upwards...

D-Day

update

VERY sad news...

My Best Friends Wedding

SALE!!!

In Honor of Cyber Monday