What next?

So after a wonderful vacation, of course we couldn't have a nice, calm, normal week back to the grind. Right?

  We got home on  Tuesday evening. Wednesday was hectic because I had to work, foodshop, unpack, etc. Thursday I finally got around to doing some laundry. I went down to the basement, where our laundry room is, and found quite a large puddle on the floor. The hot water heater was leaking--from the top AND the bottom.   We've had this happen once before (in our condo), so thankfully I knew who to call without having to bother Jon at work. By Friday at 11 am we had a new hot water heater and were a bit poorer. We considered ourselves lucky though, because we fixed the problem before we had 40 gallons of water all over our basement.    Fast forward to Monday. We'd been home for nearly a week and I was still playing catch up with the cleaning and the laundry. I ran down to the basement to throw in a quick load of laundry before heading to work. And, what did I find? Another puddle on the floor in the basement. I hadn't even touched the washer yet, so where the heck was this coming from?   My mom arrived to watch Gia & I showed her the problem. She thought something was wrong with the washer--and even though I hadn't yet used it when I saw the water--that it was the culprit. Turns out she was right. So this morning we bought a new washer.   

    But wait. I'm not done.  It's not over.    Before we went on vacation we ordered custom roller shades and a coordinating cornice for the triple window in our family room. They arrived while we were gone and were supposed to be installed yesterday.     You know where I'm going with this, right?   The cornice was 2 inches too long to fit in our window frame. The "home designer," who came over to consult with us and help us pick fabric and do the measuring, messed up the measurements and it doesn't fit. They're making us a new one, but we have to wait 2 more weeks for it to get here.
Sigh.  

This is the look we're going for: custom cornice & roller shades. We chose a striped fabric and cream colored roller shades.

     None of these things is a really big deal. But, all of them together? It's just really frustrating.  Sometimes I hate being a homeowner.

St. Thomas

Ahh, the Virgin Islands...   I don't even know where to begin with this post because we had such an awesome time.  

Secret Harbour Beach

    Jon & I went to St. Thomas on our babymoon back in 2010 (when I was 6.5 months pregnant), so this place already held a special place in my heart. To go back with Gia was like coming full circle.  

  My mom and stepdad rented a condo on the beach in Bolongo Bay.  We rented 2 cars and spent the next10 days jetting around to all the best beaches St. Thomas has to offer. And they are just gorgeous.

  Gia played in the sand and in the water and had herself a wonderful vacation.  

 

Gia even had her first ice cream cone while we were there. 

Gia loves my mom and stepdad so much. 

One of the days they took her the whole time so we could take the car ferry to St. John and hang out at Trunk Beach kid free for the day. It was heaven.

My stepbrothers Zach & Ben

Jon and me at Trunk Bay

And of course there were the silly photo shoots on the beach. It wouldn't be a Gonda/Quinn vacation without one (or two)!

2013 glasses!

St. Thomas t-shirts made by me!

Where is the love?

RIGHT HERE!   Yesterday was Valentine's day and it was such a fun day that I couldn't resist doing a whole post about it. Eventually I'll find time to upload and edit my 350 vacation photos and post them here, too. For now, check out the St Thomas Update post. I fixed the pictures so now you can actually see them.   Gia went to school yesterday morning. I made pink heart-shaped sugar cookies for her little school party. I have an awesome recipe with a secret ingredient that keeps the cookies super soft and makes them taste extra delicious.   (Want the recipe? Go to my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheQuinntessentialMommy like the page and then leave me a message and I'll send it to you.)

I spent an hour decorating them with icing and and M&Ms and forgot to take a picture. And then, on the way home, I put the Tupperware container of leftover cookies on the hood of my car and drove away with them up there. Oops.  I went back later that night and there was no sign of the container or the cookies. I gave up cookies for Lent, so perhaps this was God's way of keeping them out of my house? (Yes, giving up cookies is actually a sacrifice for me. I love love love cookies.)   I also sent little treat bags for Gia's classmates. I included the heart-shaped crayons, a few chocolate kisses (Gia's favorite) and some heart-shaped stickers.     

    Gia and I wore our matching shirts all day, which she got a kick out of. She said, "Mommy, you're the same!"

    At school Gia made Jon and me some Valentines. They are the cutest things ever and I totally teared up just looking at them.       We went out for dinner -- to our favorite Mexican restaurant. We were serenaded by the guitar playing waiter, and Gia loved it.      

      Then we came home and opened presents.   

    We usually just do very small things, but this year Jon let me pick out a special present (or two) from the Gucci store in St. Thomas. The prices were amazing and there was no tax. I saved about 15%. I wasn't allowed to have the stuff till we got home though, so yesterday I was thrilled to get my hands on my new wallet and new iPad case--both GG Shiny Leather in Bordeaux. Gorgeous! I also got an awesome shirt from St Thomas--one that I'd been eyeing all week.

  We got Gia a new cartridge for her Innotab, the movie Tangled and a Tangled cup. She had more fun ripping through the wrapping paper than she did with the actual gifts.      

      I got Jon a Christmas ornament in St. Thomas (we collect them), headphones for the gym (normal ones bc he hates earbuds) and....     I made him a heart shaped collage.  And had it framed.

  He loved it. (I have an Etsy shop --with nothing in it right now-- and plan to sell personalized versions of these in the very near future. Make sure you've like the FB page for updates!)    Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!