Death By Chevron Print Overkill

Ladies, we need to chat.

Ummm...Chevron Print.

Thanks to Pinterest, DIY blogs, Pinterest, and all things cute and crafty (Pinterest), we have a bit of an overkill going on over here regarding the trend du jour, Chevron Print.

Yes, I admit. I have seen a few chevron-y things that are kinda cute. But it's gone too, too, too, oh-so-far, far. I've seen entire walls of rooms c-o-v-e-r-e-d in Chevron print complete with matching bedding and DIY curtains and accent pilows. (And no I'm not linking to it because you'll pin it to your "All Things Chevron" Pinterest board!)

Ladies and Gays, hear me out - it's venturing into this sort of obsessive/compulsive, life of it's own, pre-teen-puppy-love-OneDirection-JustinBieber-OMG!-JenniferLawrence-just-cut-off-all-of-her-hair-Beyonce's-secret-album-drop-is-that-a-Jennifer-Aniston-baby-bump-ten-year-reunion-rumor-Black-Friday-Deals-starting-in-the-summertime-and-lasting-all-month-gotta-have-it-gotta-have-it-gotta-have-more-stuff-more-stuff-more-and-more-and-more-more-stuff-can't-function-until-my-life-is-totally-utterly-completely-plastered-in-some-crappy-Charlie-Brown-T-shirt-zig-zag-print-from-the-70's (minus the drab colors of course.)

Not that I really have any issue with it, of course.

A Crafty DIY: "I'm Over You Chevron Print/You Can Go Now" Picture.

Let's move on people. There's nothing to see here.  

BTW: if you make a youtube video of yourself reading the above rant in one breath I will make you a chevron print decorated sugar cookie that will be totally Pinterest worthy. 

Love,
Coco Cana

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Holiday Hilarity

I have been having a little too much fun creating those funny, terribly sarcastic someecards. It's kind of right up my alley right now because each picture is like a perfect little writing prompt. Great for when I have writers block and need a lil fix o' funny. I have a lot of them so I have decided to start blogging them into categories just for fun. Here is my Fall/Winter Holiday edition. 

If sarcasm is your jam then check out my other someecards on my Pinterest board called: My Funny One Liners

Here is some Holiday Hilarity for you:
















Hope you got a laugh! I'm not going to say "sharing is caring" because that's lame. But you know what to do.

Happy Holidays!

Love,
Coco Cana

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Enjoying Fall Through the Eyes of My Child

We don't get much of a Fall here in Southern California like most places as far as the crisp snow-like autumn air and all of the fiery colors go but there are still many natural things to enjoy. I love experiencing life through the eyes of my children. When we slow down long enough and take in the sites that mother nature is so willingly offering us we can experience a different world that is often times right under our nose. 

My little guy and I were off on a chilly adventure just the two of us to find "tiny things." Well, chilly for us anyway. We did have our long sleeves and fuzzy boots on even though he was wearing shorts and was walking around barefoot most of the time. We scrunched down to explore the Earth, to discover new bugs and we searched for itty bitty flowers and baby pinecones hiding in the grass under the fallen leaves. Since it's the unwritten Toddler Law that a child cannot, under any circumstances, leave the park without finding a really cool stick, we found a really cool stick and made our own tree with different leaves that were scattered about. 

It's fun when you present an idea to a child - "let's go to the park and explore some Fall" and then you turn over the reins to them and let them call the shots on how to go about it. It's never what you were originally planning to do...

"Let's find really super tiny fings, Mama!" Said with big, excited eyes. 

 ...and it's always so much better. 

Keep in mind that this is the itty bitty palm of a 3 year old, so this is a very small flower and a brand new sliver of baby grass. 

Crawling around on the grass near the base of a huge tree we discovered this beautiful little seedling thing. Smooth and perfect as only Mother Nature can make and yet funny and silly with "twisty hair sticking all out." A perfect thing to huck through the air we discovered. 

Having fun throwing a pile of leaves in the air. If only you could hear the squeals of laughter that went along with this photo. 

The clouds growing dark and coming in quickly told us it was time to go home, curl up with a warm blanket and sip some hot coco. 

Until our next adventure!

Happy Fall!

Love,

Coco Cana

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Top 10 Things Never to Tell a Pregnant Women During the Holidays (or anytime!)

Pic credit: Barginlifestyle dot com

It's the holidays and you're out and about feeling merry and bright with your most precious gift - your baby belly - when sure enough someone makes a Grinchlike comment that dims your holiday glow. In the spirit of giving, share this list, and help make the world a better place!

1. “You're looking quite jolly in that red dress.”

2. “Are you hiding an elf under there?”

3. “Are you sure you aren't having twins? (This really has nothing to do with the holidays.)

4. You: “Hey Babe, does this white maternity snow jacket make me look too fat?”

Hubby: “No, it's cute. You look just like a snowman.”

5. “Too bad you can't have any wine right now. We're drinking the bottle we just brought back

from that little winery villa we stayed at in Tuscany." (Holiday or not, this is So-Not-Cool!)

6. “You know you can't eat that raw cookie dough, right?"

7. “How cute, when you laugh your belly shakes like a bowl full of jelly.”

8. “Are you sure you want to eat a third piece of pumpkin pie after you raided the refrigerator at midnight and finished off the rest of the turkey and mashed potatoes? You've been complaining a lot about heart burn, insomnia, swollen ankles, gas and constipation. You can't blame everything on the baby.”

9. “It looks like the bird has been stuffed already.”

10. Your Husband: “Honey, I just got the menu for my holiday work party. They are serving candy cane martinis and cranberry sangria, all you can eat sushi, and sashimi, goose liver pate, oysters on the half shell, deli meat tray with brie, camembert, goat cheese and port cheese, authentic Caesar salad, swordfish or Thresher Shark with veggies covered in hollandaise sauce, and a dessert tray with spiced rum cake, dark chocolate mud pie with espresso ice cream, custard tarts, Grand Marnier and Bailey's filled chocolates, homemade eggnog, hot buttered rum, and Irish cream or Kahlua coffee.”

You: "Looks I'll be making scrambled eggs for dinner again.

Did an interaction with a stranger (or loved one who should know better) leave you feeling Scrooge'd this holiday season? Tell us your awkward pregnancy comments below, and let us revel!

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*This was originally posted on December 23 for mom365. Click here to read more of my Top Ten Lists on Mom365.

Gorgeous Fall Sunset!

My kids and I were enjoying the beautiful So Cal sunset tonight! I love this time of year. The sunsets are amazing!

My kids were playing in the living room and my daughter said, "look at the sky mom!  It looks like pink and purple marshmallows!"  By the time we grabbed the camera and ran out front it had already started turning dark red, orange and gold. Awesome!

Coco Cana

Give Back: Family Christmas Project: Holiday Mail For Heroes

This weekend my family and I took some time to make out some Christmas cards. The kids colored and painted them with watercolors and added colorful Christmas stickers (and my lil guy insisted on putting some of his Disney Planes stickers too), we wrote long, hand written messages and included a beautiful quote about bravery and courage. This isn't too far from the norm during this time time of year when our Christmas cards get written, only this time we weren't including little tidbits about the kids and how we spent our year and there wasn't a family photo of us at Disneyland or riding our longboard at the beach. Actually, we don't even know the people we are sending them to. We were writing letters to active duty service women and men serving in the US Military during Christmastime for the Red Cross Holiday Mail For Heroes project.

We've had many military men in our family from our grandfathers on both sides of my husband's and my family who fought in WWII to uncles and my father-in-law who fought and served during the Vietnam War and cousins and my brother who served in various branches of the military protecting this great country of ours. In the late 90's my brother was in the Military Police - K9 division and he and his trusty bomb sniffing dog, Tanja would work alongside secret service helping to protect then President Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton (then First Lady) and then Vice President Al Gore who were speaking or visiting in a particular area. 

We consider ourselves to be a pretty red, white and blue loving, patriotic family and love the beautiful USA so writing Christmas cards to women and men serving our country and helping to protect our freedom was a perfect thing to do as a family, especially since they are away from their families, friends and loved ones at Christmas. I found some silly cards from Trader Joe's I bought last year in one of the Christmas boxes we had gotten down to decorate our tree. (We were really on top of it this year and decorated everything the weekend of Thanksgiving!) I had 6 cards left so I decided to write out 6 in order to get them mailed off today so it will make the Dec. 6th deadline. 

My husband and I figured it would be fun to get a silly card and a picture the kids made for them. I found a beautiful quote by Alexander Hamilton on bravery and wanted to include that as well. I considered typing everything up and pasting it into the card since I do not have the best handwriting, but I wrote them by hand instead. I think it will mean more that way. My husband actually has very beautiful handwriting so I will get him to write some out next year. This time he was helping me by entertaining the kids with hanging Christmas lights and decorations around the house. Our goal is to double our card load next year. I'll be sure to stock up on cards during the after Christmas sales and will get an earlier start. 

You still have time to send out your own cards. They need them in their P.O. Box by Dec 6th. So if you send it today it will probably get there. It only takes one card to make a difference and brighten someone's day!  Here are some specific guidelines from the Red Cross website that they would like you to please follow:

Card Guidelines:

Every card received will be screened for hazardous materials and then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers working around the country.

Please observe the following guidelines to ensure a quick reviewing process:

• Ensure that all cards are signed.
• Use generic salutations such as “Dear Service Member.” Cards addressed to specific individuals can not be delivered through this program.
• Only cards are being accepted. Do not send or include letters.
• Do not include email or home addresses on the cards: the program is not meant to foster pen pal relationships.
• Do not include inserts of any kind, including photos: these items will be removed during the reviewing process.
• Please refrain from choosing cards with glitter or using loose glitter as it can aggravate health issues of ill and injured warriors.
• If you are mailing a large quantity of cards, please bundle them and place them in large mailing envelopes or flat rate postal shipping boxes. Each card does not need its own envelope, as envelopes will be removed from all cards before distribution.

All holiday greetings should be addressed and sent to:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

The deadline for having cards to the P.O. Box is December 6th.
Holiday cards received after this date cannot be guaranteed delivery.

 These are the cards we made for them this year. 

This one is my favorite. 

This is what we wrote on all of our cards this year. 

This was the bravery quote we chose this year.

The cards get removed from the envelopes so I stuffed each envelope with 2 cards and didn't decorate them with stickers, etc. like we would usually do. Next year when we send more I'll just put them all into one puffy mailer without any envelopes to make it more efficient. 

This is the masterpiece colored by my lil guy who is 3 years old. And of course the Disney Planes movie stickers he wanted to add. 

This was one of the watercolor masterpieces my 5 1/2 year old made. She is really into black cats right now. I think it's a hold-over from Halloween. I normally give her free reign with her artwork, but for the sake of this being a cheery Christmas card I was "strongly encouraging her" to add a little color to lighten the mood!  haha!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you!  May you have fun spreading some love, joy and Happy Holiday wishes to people around the world who could use a little extra love.  We are all so fortunate and have so much and it doesn't take much to give to others. Sometimes (like these cards) all it costs is a little of your time. I hope this inspires you to Give Back this year. Please let us know what you did as a family in our comments section!

Here are some more ideas to inspire you! 

Peace, Love & Light

Coco Cana

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