Tomorrow's To Dos

Signs of the season

Posted on November 1, 2013 by tomorrowstodos

Scare Us Hill was another success last night. I even walked away with the prize for funniest costume!

Can you believe that it is November 1st? I know I can’t. That means Baby B comes next month! Ca-razy. I have always been that person that can’t wait to officially start the holiday season and this year is no different. Especially because all of the red and green popping up everywhere means that I’m that much closer to meeting our little guy.

It’s hard not get into the spirit of the season with all of these things:

[Crate & Barrel holiday pop-up store at Jordan Creek]

[Starbucks red cups are back!]

[Holiday catalogs and cozy Christmas jammies from Hanna Andersson]

[getting prepared for our first Christmas as a family with Land’s End stockings]

Posted in Baby, Holidays | Tagged Christmas, costumes, Halloween, Scare Us Hill | 1 Comment

I ain’t afraid of no ghost

Posted on October 30, 2013 by tomorrowstodos

My birthday was filled with all sorts of goodies…

[birthday breakfast in bed compliments of my husband]

[my co-workers love me so much they tp’d my cube]

[a visit at work from the bean, I mean Ariel]

[birthday flowers from my sister]

If this is what my 30s are going to be like then BRING IT ON!

Tomorrow is the big event – Scare Us Hill at Terrace Hill. Need a ride?

Posted in Birthdays, Family | Tagged birthday, Scare Us Hill, thirty | Leave a comment

Bye bye twenties

Posted on October 27, 2013 by tomorrowstodos

This weekend sure did go by fast, but I tried to enjoy every last minute of it.

[a successful conference on Thursday/Friday]

[a pregnancy favorite]

[scare us hill sneak peek – you can still get tickets here]

[getting into the Halloween spirit]

[early birthday present from my sis – a pre-natal massage at Sahar’s]

[new dad rite of passage – building the crib]

[Branstad family Christmas card photos]

[birthday brunch tic-tac-toe with my niece]

Today is the last official day of my 20s and you know what, I’m not that bummed about it. I’ve had an excellent past ten years, but I am definitely looking forward to all that is to come in my thirties – including becoming a mommy!

[Christmas card photos turned into a mini maternity shoot]

Posted in Baby, Birthdays, Family, Uncategorized | Tagged Halloween, maternity, Scare Us Hill, Social Brand Forum, Sprecher, thirty | 1 Comment

Tricks and treats

Posted on October 21, 2013 by tomorrowstodos

Another weekend and another beautiful baby shower for our little guy. My lovely hostesses created such a darling fox-themed event that I couldn’t help but snap all kinds of photos.

I’m overwhelmed with how much stuff we now have. How can he possibly need it all? Time for some serious nesting!

It’s that time of year again when pumpkins are perched on porches and little kiddos get all gussied up in colorful costumes to do a little trick-or-treating. Growing up here in Des Moines, we take the trick part seriously. When going around house to house you must tell a joke first before receiving any treat. No trick, no treat in my book.

This Friday, Terrace Hill is opening its doors for all little ones to come and do a little trick-or-treating trial run. The Scare-Us Hill Family Trick-or-Treating at the Governor’s residence is a one-of-a-kind family event that features hundreds of carved pumpkins, costumed participants and a variety of spooky activities.

The scares will start at 5:00 p.m. at Terrace Hill (2300 Grand Avenue) and continue until 7:00 p.m. Kids ages 3+ are $3 and adults accompanying are $5. You can purchase your tickets online or at the door.

[If you are an adult and want to have just as much fun as the kids at Terrace Hill, then be sure to secure your tickets to Scare Us Hill Pumpkin Ball taking place on Halloween night!]

Posted in Baby, Holidays | Tagged Baby B, baby shower, Halloween, Scare Us Hill, Terrace Hill, trick-or-treat | Leave a comment

Get tagged

Posted on October 18, 2013 by tomorrowstodos

After drooling over everything on Rifle Paper Co.’s website and picking a few faves, I realized that I could create one of them on my own – the holiday gift tags.

I hand wrote the words ‘Merry Christmas’ with a Sharpie then scanned it to my computer.

I pulled the image into Illustrator to trace and add the ‘to’ and ‘from’. Here is the end result:

[download gift tag PDF]

While I was at it, I also designed some ‘season’s greetings’ tags within Illustrator. I can’t wait to use them when wrapping up gifts this year. Let the Christmas shopping begin!

Posted in Gifts, Holidays | Tagged Christmas, DIY, gift tags | 3 Comments

Paper crush

Posted on October 16, 2013 by tomorrowstodos

I feel like I’m stitching everything in sight these days. On top of the dish towels for my co-workers, I managed to finish Baby B’s first embroidered sleep sack. I’m only going to share a sneak peek as we’ve decided to keep the little guy’s name under wraps until he makes his debut 🙂

Every since I first laid eyes on this company years ago at a Paper Source, I was in love. Rifle Paper Co. makes some of the most fabulous stationery and paper goods products using whimsical designs which often include hand-painted illustrations and lettering. Pretty much all of their items would make the perfect gift, but I’ve curated a list of faves below that I wouldn’t mind receiving as a birthday, Christmas or any time present.

[ornament card // poster // gift tags // iphone case // journals // to do list notepad]

Posted in Design, Gifts | Tagged Baby B, monogram, Rifle Paper Co., stitching | 1 Comment

All stitched up

Posted on October 14, 2013 by tomorrowstodos

What a perfect fall weekend we had!

Dinner with friends on Friday night, a Kegnancy party (yep, exactly what you think it’d be: keg + pregnancy + baby shower all rolled into one) on Saturday afternoon and a little outing to the Madison County Covered Bridge Festival on Sunday.

[a little morning meow to go with my pumpkin spice latte]

[nothing like an old theater]

[it’s true]

[Cedar Bridge in Madison County]

I know I’m jumping the gun here, but with Baby B due at the beginning of December, I’m starting to pull together ideas for Christmas gifts. I put the wheels in motion for my co-workers gifts this weekend after snagging these great dish towels at IKEA.

Stitching onto any towel is super easy and I guarantee that anyone can do it! I usually print out the monogram/letter/image that I want to stitch and use a lightbox to transfer it to the cloth using a water erasable pen.

After the outline is ready and the cloth is secured in the hoop, I use a simple back stitch to follow the entire pattern. In no time flat – you have a personalized gift!

Posted in Craft, Holidays | Tagged Christmas gifts, covered bridge festival, DIY, stitching | 3 Comments

It’s only Proper

Posted on October 11, 2013 by tomorrowstodos

I’m officially 32 weeks as of yesterday and here are a few things that I know:

1. Tying my shoes is quite difficult.
2. Our little guy loves the sound of his daddy’s voice.
3. I have very little self control around anything sweet.
4. He better be darn cute for all of the beauty sleep he is sucking away from his mom!

As the weeks go by and we get closer to his due date, I’m getting more and more excited to finally meet him. Now, question is, will he be punctual (like his mom) or fashionably late (like his dad)?

I never win anything – well, until now that is. I entered a contest over on the darling blog a sequin dress at breakfast for a pair of fabulous Joules wellies and WON!

Kiley, the owner of the blog, is actually a high school classmate of mine and is doing big things in Des Moines. Besides posting some of the cutest (and sparkliest – that’s a word, right?) outfits on her blog, she is the face of new pop-up shop, Proper. The store’s finely edited labels include classics such as Barbour, Baldwin and Clare Vivier. If you live or are visiting our great city anytime soon, put stopping by this shop on your to-do list.

Proper will be popping up over the next couple of months at the following locales:
The Fleming Building: 10/17-10/26
West Glen: 11/6-11/10
Eden: 11/30-12/8

Posted in Baby, Blogs, Fashion, Local Spots | Tagged a sequin dress at breakfast, Baby B, Joules, Proper | 4 Comments

Obsessed

Posted on October 7, 2013 by tomorrowstodos

I had a great weekend with the ladies running around the suburbs of Minneapolis. Just as expected, Baby B made out like a bandit! I even picked up his first Christmas gift from IKEA.

[checking out giggleBABY for JCP]

[favorite place for dinner in Minneapolis: Grand Cafe]

[tasty decaf latte at Colette]

[Baby B’s expanding shoe collection: babyGap, H&M, Little Maven]

[a little treat I whipped up after I got back from girls weekend]

To kick off the week I thought I would share with you a few of my newest (and rekindled) obsessions:

Ever since the Target Cartwheel app came out, I’ve been converted to ‘couponing’. Who doesn’t want to save an extra 15% off of items already on sale in their weekly ad?!

giggleBABY for JC Penney is the newest collaboration for the box store and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for me and fellow moms-to-be. I’m obsessed with their cute one-pieces and wooden toys.

Domino Magazine is back and dare I say better than ever. After stopping the presses four years ago, the cult mag has returned and upped its game. Readers can now shop the featured products on their website simply by adding items to their cart when they see something they like. Love it!

I had heard about Belgian Eggwhite facial soap before, but ran across it at the darling store Gather in Minneapolis and finally picked it up to try out.

Posted in Baby, Beauty, Decor, Travel | Tagged Cartwheel, Domino Magazine, Eggwhite soap, giggleBaby for JCP, Minneapolis, obsessions | 2 Comments

Tomorrow's To Dos

Signs of the season

I ain’t afraid of no ghost

Tricks and treats

Get tagged

Paper crush

All stitched up

It’s only Proper

Obsessed

C O N N E C T

F A C E B O O K

C H E C K

S U B S C R I B E

S E A R C H