Tuesday Giveaway

Today we have another amazing giveaway from the lovely Julie over at Coco and Cocoa blog and shop. Julie loves to knit, crochet and eat. She is a mom to three boys, including hyper-active twins and a fearless toddler.
Go visit Julie over at her blog and say Hi!

Julie is giving one of you this lovely crochet chevron necklace. It's in one of my favorite happy colors: turquoise!! It's the perfect pop of color to add to your outfit on a cold and dreary winter day.

To enter the giveaway please do ALL of the following:

Follow The Forge via GFC

Follow Coco and Cocoa via GFC 

If you tweet about this giveaway to get the word out there, you will receive 10 entries for doing so !! :)) Please play by the rules or your entries can not be admitted. Thank you :) 

Giveaway ends on Tuesday the 29th at midnight EST. 

Open to US and Canada residents only!

GOOD LUCK! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

soo-y and i missu (yeah you read that right)

It is Monday and I woke up with a sore throat and a runny nose. Yay for me!! 

While temperatures outside are dropping by the minute, we spent the morning admiring the snow flurries from the window seat. Then we huddled up inside Logan's tent and did some fake napping and block building (because that's what tents are for) until the little guy got up and reached for my hand with his usual "ha, ha" (hand), manuvered us around the sleeping pups with several apologetic "soo-y's" (sorry) and then threw in a few "I missu's" (I miss you) for good measure, making sure his mama's heart was melted into one giant ole' puddle on the floor. 

So yeah, that's what we're doing this Monday. How about you?

PS: Two giveaways coming your way this week, including one from Shabby Apple so make sure to stop back!

recipe: guacamole grilled cheese

I don't know about you, but I love petty much anything that involves avocados. Whenever I make guacamole I make a ton and end up having to find other ways to use it than simply as a dip with pita chips. One of my favorite lunches is a simple guacamole grilled cheese that is quickly made and very filling. 

What you need: 

Guacamole (pre-made or homemade)

Bread

Fresh Spinach 

Mozzarella

A few cherry or grape tomatoes

Butter or Cooking Spray

First, sauté the tomatoes for a couple of minutes. Put aside. Spread some butter on the outsides of your bread or just use cooking spray. Layer your cheese on both insides of the bread, spread the guacamole on top and layer some spinach and tomatoes in between. Grill on a low temperature from both sides until cheese has melted.

Enjoy! 

Birthday Giveaway!

Now onto the giveaway.

The lovely Nicole from Young Love Style has graciously offered to give away 2 pieces of original artwork painted by her. 

Up for grabs are your two favorite 6x6" pieces that you will get to pick from the 8 paintings above. 

Super sweet right? 

Read what Nicole has to say about being an artist and what inspires her:

I'm a painter and illustrator living in Kelowna, BC. I'm currently in my third year of my BFA. My work is very process based, and focuses a lot on colour. My inspiration comes from many of the things around me, particularly books, movies, music, people, locations, and found objects. One of the things I find most inspiring is just seeing other people being creative. Right now I am focusing on changing the way in which I create art. I've recently discovered that I have come up with a recipe for the way that I make my work, using the same structure to produce my art over and over again. I'm looking to break free of this recipe and find new ways of doing what I do.

Also visit her website where she posts more of her artwork and leave her some feedback, won't ya? 

On top of that I am giving the same person this cute bow detail beanie, perfect to keep your head nice and toasty for this coldest part of the winter. 

 To enter:

Be a GFC follower of The Forge and Young Love Style

Additional entries will be unlocked once you complete the mandatory entries :) 

Giveaway ends Friday 1/25/13 at midnight EST.

Open to all US and Canada residents. 

Good luck!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Birthday Reflections

So today is my birthday and over the past few years this day has made me want to reflect more than it used to. See, in my early to mid twenties I was so busy with life that I barely took the time to think about where I was going. I felt pretty rooted and being in college gave me a sure outlook on what was to come in the close future.  I wouldn't say that birthdays are a huge deal to me, I've never paid much attention to the number but 28 feels kind of funny.  So what is it that seems to be changing inside of me? why do I feel so unrooted and sort of anxious all of a sudden? 

I mean, I do notice one or two more wrinkles here and there, and the gray hair has been out of control since I was 16. Nothing new there... but on the inside I suddenly feel like I don't have it figured out at all. 

I moved out at 21, across an entire ocean no less, got a college degree while building a house, adopted two dogs, traveled a ton and finally got pregnant with that beautiful little boy at 26. 

My 20's seem much more grown-up on paper the computer screen than they actually felt (so far, at least). 

Becoming a mom has been the most wonderful experience by far but it has also made me wonder about who I am as woman, aside from the mom and wife part. Over the past year a longing to be more than just that, to no longer just dream but do!, has slowly crept up inside of me. It is easily covered up by the busyness of everyday life and the responsibilities that help rationalize all those wishes and aspirations away into a tiny little room in the back of my mind. Close the door and only take a peek once in a while. But as I get closer to 30 I feel like I need to not let more time slip away from me and then I reprimand myself for having such thoughts when I am so extremely blessed with what I already have, every day. I mean, why am I so confused and why the heck at 28? Shouldn't this have happened a long time ago? 

This feeling is so hard to put into words and maybe you have no idea what I keep rambling on about. That's totally ok ;) I don't really have a good conclusion to this post other than there is an awesome giveaway following. That's always good, right? 

So there you go, confused birthday ramblings are done until next year.

Happy Birthday to me and may I figure it all out this year ;) 

Extremely funny faces, folks!

Vest: h&m, Shirt: American Eagle, Sweater: Esprit, Leggings: F21, Boots: Hunter 

Ok, just one but isn't it a great one? This is what happens when my husband (aka the photographer) tells me to "work it gurlll". And check out that nicely pointed leg to top it all off.

No words!

Now that we covered that, let's move onto the anatomy of this outfit, shall we?

I am in love with this vest. I almost bought it back when I was in Chicago in September but just couldn't bear to spend the $50 at h&m. I ended up thinking about it for months and then while we were in Germany I happened to come across it again and it was on sale for 20 euros which is about $25 or so. So score! I thought ad bought it. Finally. You will be seeing a lot more of it, I promise. (and if you follow me on instagram you already have...) 

The leggings aren't my favorite but Jason obviously liked them, as he repeatedly told me. I don't really think leggings should be treated as pants, unless you are under 12 or weigh less than 110 lbs, but I think they're ok if your butt is covered up. Then they're kind of like tights. Or not?

What are your thoughts on leggings? When, where, how? Do's, Don'ts? 

And lastly, I sometimes wish I would have just gotten a plain pair of Hunters instead of these... but then again, wouldn't that be boring? 

Well, those are my thoughts on this outfit for today. 

It's my birthday tomorrow and I have a giveaway planned so you should totally come back for that!

28? Yikes! 

The last of Paris

Today I just wanted to share the last of the pictures from Paris. I can't believe it's been almost a month since we went! Half of these pictures are from the day it rained all morning and we walked down the Champs- Élysées, through the Tuileries (which I am sure are gorgeous any season but winter) and spent half the day at the Louvre. The other half were taken the afternoon before we took the train back home, in the Marais district. I wish we had gone there earlier because we couldn't spend nearly enough time. So many gorgeous little shops, galleries and boutiques to browse. We found the cutest and smallest toy shop I have ever seen. For such a tiny place it was buzzing with people trying to get the last of their Christmas shopping done. I loved how all their inventory was displayed on shelves that reached clear up to the ceiling. It was one of those places that simply oozes the magic of childhood through every crack and crevice. 

Overall, Paris right before Christmas was busy but wonderful, all that was missing was some snow. On the other hand I am glad we didn't have to freeze and got to spend most of our time outside exploring. 

Next time we will make sure we get the full Paris in the summer experience though :)