I'm on vacation!

Well, kind of. It was a very un-planned vacation but a long overdue one, that's for sure. Sadly, my time at Anthroplogie came to an end last week. I'll be heading back to Betsey Johnson in a couple of weeks. Although the transition leaving Anthro and going back to Betsey is somewhat bitter-sweet, I am excited to be back in my element and I am really anxious to have more time to spend with my family and a more consistent schedule. Oh yeah, and getting to wear bright lipstick and my glittery shoes again will be pretty sweeeeeet.

I will say though, not working for the last week has been incredible. With the exception of me being sicker than I have been in quite some time, the days that I have spent with Mike and Quinn have been absolutely wonderful. I don't think I have smiled, laughed, hugged and kissed this much in months. I have been taking each day slow and lazily, enjoying each moment without staring at the clock and worrying about how the time is slipping by too fast and it will be another week before I have a day off.

The mornings are my favorite. The three of us lay in bed and play. Quinn crawls around while Mike and I watch her proudly and examine her little toes, her funny hair, her goofy smile. I clean the house while the baby naps. We take walks around the neighborhood. We play with Rigby on the floor. I watch Quinn play with her toys and scale the side of the coffee table and couches. We are practicing new sounds like "fish" and are learning how to wave hello and goodbye. Today I took Quinn to the park and enjoyed our time with a friend and her baby.


At night after Quinn goes to sleep, Mike and I spend time together relaxing and giggling. We hung out on the porch until five a.m. the other night, drinking beer and watching the stars. Some nights we watch movies and fall asleep on the couch together. Some nights we play board games. We played Monopoly a few days ago and I DOMINATED.

My side...


vs. Mike's side... (this is why I handle our finances! hahaha!)


Mike and I decided to get out of the house and take Quinn out to a couple of SXSW shows Friday evening. We saw Joan of Arc play (it's about time!) and she was totally digging it. Don't worry...we bought her some ear plugs!


She spilt five of our friend's beers and danced her little booty off. It was a great time and we were so proud of our little girl for being such a fun, well behaved baby while we were out and about that night.


Something else that happened this past week - I had deliriously brought Quinn into our bed the other morning while I half-asleep fed her and sat with her while she laughed at Spongebob. She really likes the intro when the pirate guy with the weird mouth says, "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....." It's pretty creepy but she seems to think it's hilarous. Anyway, at some point, I accidentally fell back asleep and awoke to Mike shouting, "Tara! Where is Quinn?!" I immediately jumped up in a frantic frenzy. We patted down the bed as if she was hiding under the covers or something (we were dilirious!) until Mike looked over through the doorway and spotted a tiny baby sitting indian style and staring at us from outside of the bathroom. She had this gummy smile spread across her face. You could tell she was enjoying her roaming freedom! We couldn't figure out how she crawled off (or fell of??) of the bed without us hearing! Mike rushed over and picked her up. We examined her closely and managed to pull a few clumps of fuzz out of her mouth. I have been paranoid that there is some foreign object like a dog bone or a q-tip lodged in her esophogus...but she was all smiles and totally proud of herself for being a sneaky stunt baby at the time and has been fine since. Eeeeek! That was a close one! Add that to our list of terrifying, poor parenting stories...

With the exception of us letting our baby roam free without supervision, this past week has been so much fun. I have been loving my time with Mike and Quinn. I feel a calm that I haven't felt for...well...as long as I can remember. I am just embracing this time with them until I go back to work at the end of the month. My madre is arriving on Wednesday and I am excited to spend time with her. It'll also be fun to have a few date nights with Mike! Whoohoo!

Until next time!

Chatty Cathy!

My sweet sweet girl...

Tomorrow is the day!

Bq and I are on our way to Dallas in just a few moments...tomorrow is our big day! It's the first round of judging for Texas Next Top Designer! I think we have everything in order and are ready for our moment to show them what we've got. It's been a long two months of preparation so we are MORE than ready to meet the judges. Let's hope we make it to round two!


Mike has been in Dallas all day today working so he is going to find us a hotel room and spend the night with us there. Tomorrow is his birthday so hopefully we can find some fun things to do in Dallas to celebrate!

Keep your fingers crossed for us, everybody!!!

When will we get to slow down?

We have been asking eachother that question so often lately. You would think that being as tired as we are would make the days drag by, but it doesn't help life slow down. It just helps you get through each day in a foggy, heavy-headed trance. Each morning, my first concious moments begin by listening to Quinn cry from the room across from ours as I drift in and out of sleep. I'll stare at the alarm clock, watching the minutes fly by. 4:00am, 4:37am, 5:02am, 5:30am, 5:46am. My thought process is always, "Oh, awesome, it's only 4:00. I still have a ton of time to keep sleeping." But before I know it, it's time to get up and get ready for work. Sometimes if there is time before I have to leave, we will all pile into the bed (including Rigby) and play together, grasping onto those few fun moments with the baby before we have to start working. Lately, Quinn is loving her newfound ability to stand up. She climbs on top of us as if we are little ladders, so proud of herself once she pulls herself up into a standing position on top of our stomachs or other random places on our bodies. She is interested in everything, always wanting to stick her curious findings into her mouth. She is fascinated by my hair. She grabs onto it and tries to eat it. We are working on being gentle when we pet the animals. She is full-blown running in her walker and crawling across the house. She talks like crazy, always chatting away!

And then I go to work...and it seems like forever that I'm away. And when I am away, I feel lost and uninspired. I feel stagnant and unencouraged. I miss when I used to learn something new each day. When the people I looked up to were incredible mentors who taught me valuable skills that improved not only the value of my work but the also the value in my life. I miss inspiring others and feeling like I make a difference.

If I had that kind of meaning back in my life, it wouldn't be so hard to be away from my family.

And after going through the world each day in a foggy daze, with nothing exciting to snap me out of it until I get home and get to love on my family....life still seems to be going by so quickly. Quinn is developing so fast and it reminds me that I am missing out on so much. I have a few hours each day when I get to watch her turn into the blossoming girl that she is becoming and I think about all of the moments that I miss and can never get back.

Mike is working so hard on his business so that he can support us and help us lead a fantastic life. For the past few weeks it has been constant 16 hour days. Traveling across the state of Texas or trapped in his office....it has been tough for everyone but I am so proud of him for working so hard and diligently. I wish I had something that felt as meaningful, productive and worthwhile.

Having a child has completely turned my throught process around. A year ago I would have been fine with the place that I'm at. But these days, I just want to be around her to inspire her and develop her as much as I can, and if I'm not with her, I want to be doing something that will inspire me and develop me as much as possible so in turn I can pass that all onto her some day.

Ahhh. Tara. What to do, what to do.

Texas Next Top Designer

One of the dresses that BQ and I designed for our clothing line Bonjour Biqui was featured in a fashion show held at Zouk in downtown Dallas last month! The Dallas Observer photographed our yellow reversable bird dress. Here are a few photos.






And here is the dress reveresed...


We have our first round of interviews for the competition on March 5th in Dallas (which also happens to be Mike's b-day...sign of good fortune? MAYBE!) We are so excited to present our collection to the panel of judges! B and I are going to drive up there on the 4th so that we have the evening to get prepared, go over our presentation and get all of our looks ready for the big day. If we get through the first round of interviews and are invited back for a 2nd meeting, we will be just that much closer to winning $30,000 to start our own fashion line. I am keeping my fingers crossed! And if you have time, "Like" our facebook page! www.facebook.com/bonjourbiqui

Gotta protect the ladies!

Happy 7-months to Quinn!

....and I still can't believe I even have a baby. Haha! I wonder when that feeling goes away. Does it ever? It's an exciting/anxiousness/terrifying/incredible feeling that I am not sure I will ever get used to or be able to explain. I am having so much fun with her though. Her sixth month was one of my favorites so far. In just four short weeks she has developed so drastically and has turned into her own little person. A customer told me the other day that she sees qualities in her six year old's personality that were there when her child was an infant. Distinct only to her. So I am looking at all of the tiny things that Quinn does in a new light, embracing them and jotting them down so I can look back in six years to see if they were there in her early days.

Quinn has a charasmatic smile that is unique only to her. It is a crooked, open-mouthed, gumless smile that she beams always when I tend to be concentrating on something intently, like changing her diaper or struggling to get her noodley arm through a sleeve when we are running late to be somewhere. She looks up at me with her big doe eyes and makes that goofy smile. My intense focus suddenly turns into gushy loviness and I can never help but laugh right back at her. The same thing happens at night when we are doing our nightly bed-time routine. I fight to keep her in a swaddle. As soon as I get one arm locked in and am working on holding down the other one while I wrap her up like a burrito, she pushes with all of her might and breaks open the swaddle with full force. She then immediately flips onto her stomach, looks at me with that goofy smile and starts cooing, as if she wasn't just rubbing her eyes and crying moments earlier. As frustrating as this can be (especially after it happens six or seven times at three in the morning), I laugh every time. Often times, I laugh while I cry (out of exhaustion) but she knows how to get to me and it is so funny and new. It's like she does it on purpose when she knows I am about to reach my most fragile point. This goofy, pink gummy smile. I love it.

At seven months, Quinn does what Mike calls "The Italian Lady", where she jabbers loudly making loud "AYAYAYAYA" sounds while she flails her arms about and blows rasberries, usually smacking some kind of plastic object against something hard.

She can sit in a high-chair at restaurants and loves being a part of our dinner time. She is really interested in eating and wants to try everything we are munching on. She stuck a bread stick in her mouth at Olive Garden the other night, haha. She is so well-behaved and loves people watching. She was flirting with some guys in business suits sitting behind us a few nights ago. She kept opening and closing her mouth at them as if she was silently saying "mama" over and over again. We couldn't make her stop!

There are so many things that blow me away every day. I wish I could be here to spend more time with her. Until that day comes, I am enjoying every moment I have with her. Here are a few videos of two huge six month accomplishments!

Fun pictures via Steven and Antonia!

Motherly instinct

Quinn contracted a nasty nasty virus called RSV. It is most common in babies, elderly people or anyone with a weakened immune system. At first it started out as a runny nose which I quickly dismissed since Quinn is teething and her nose was running right before her first two teeth popped out. Quickly, the infection began to worsen and she developed this horrendous deep cough and fevers that wouldn't break. We took her to the doctor on Monday and they tested her for all kinds of things that came back negative. Our pediatrician decided to test her for this virus and it came back positive. She was incredibly dehydrated, her little legs were white, her face was one giant crust. She couldn't keep her eyes open. It was so upsetting. The doctor told us to really watch Quinn's breathing and symptoms closely because the virus quickly develops into pneumonia. Ahh! Six restless nights and emergency room visits later, Quinn is doing a little better today. She has been on a breathing treatment machine at home since yesterday morning which is helping to open up her lungs and help her get all of the mucus and awfulness out. I don't think I'll ever forget how panicky I felt when she would cough so hard and choke herself, unable to breathe for a few tense moments. I have been so exhausted with only an hour or two of sleep here and there each night. Yesterday I tried to get my shift covered but I was told that I had to come in...it was definitely a test to my motherly instinct. I was having such a hard time potentially leaving Quinn at home and being gone all night (which is when she gets worse) and I was doing math all morning trying to figure out if I could just not show up to work. But then the moral side of me kicked in and I couldn't leave the girls at work in a bad place. I went to work afterall, feeling so achey and sick with a barely-there voice. Feeling like such an awful mother. Thankfully, one of my coworkers was so nice to come in for me and I spent the rest of the night with Mike and Quinn...all of us up until 1am, and then 2am, and then 5am, and then 7am. It's funny what getting no sleep and worrying constantly can do to you....I feel like I did when I had pneumonia in NYC two years ago. So exhausted. I called in to work today, I just couldn't do it. I feel so anxious when I think about the repremanding that I may face come Monday. A part of me really doesn't care though. Quinn comes first, being a mom comes first. It's the first time since being a mom that I've really understood what that truly meant.

Quinn in my lap at the doctor's office.

Happy 2011!!

Whew, it has been over a month since I have written on my blog. That's ridiculous, but I have a good excuse....THE HOLIDAYS!!

Check this progression out:

I started the new job and finished training right before black Friday. Then came Thanksgiving - mmmm, turkey. Christmas season rolled in and so did my Mom, Mike's mom and Dad, his two brothers, brother's girlfriend, Mike's cousin and grandma. My birthday (Quinn had a fever all day) but it was fun overall! Christmas!! more working. New Year's Eve - worked. New Year's Day - worked some more and everyone left back to Florida and BAM now it is JANUARY 9TH. Crazy!!

In the midst of all the hub-bub around our house, we had a beautiful first Christmas with Quinn and all of our family. Our house looked like Santa and his elves exploded inside of it and we were the most decked out house on the block. Quinn was showered with so many gifts (One word: TEDDY RUXBIN!) The best gift for Mike and I was to spend Christmas with all of the family.

Some favorite moments from December:

-Quinn's Ugg boots and Christmas dress
-Cuddling up outside in front of the chiminea and drinking beer.
-Feeling stealthy one night when I hopped into the car with Mike, his dad and Sean with the saw at midnight. We quickly drove down the road in the dark to hi-jack some fire wood from the forest down the street. Our entire trunk was loaded up!!!

-Quinn's new fish tank that Mike and I bought her for Christmas.

-Quinn drinking a SLURPEE! (Thanks a lot, Grandpa!) Haha.

- Grandma Diane and Mike discovering that Quinn laughs when you say "Chamomile" and "Ginseng".
-Quinn riding shot gun at the animal drive-through park

-Mike and I making our first purchase together - A new car!!!!
-Quinn's new car!!!!
- Rupert climbing up the Christmas tree and getting stuck.
-Rigby eating three mini cheese cakes and being in a food coma for approximately three hours.
-My mom kicking all of our butts in the game Apples to Apples!!!
-Quinn's first time meeting Santa!
-Jess and Steve spending Christmas Eve with our family.
-Turning 26!
-The awesome x-mas eve dinner set up in the garage that Susan made (hey, we don't have a lot of room!) and everyone eating dinner with paper crowns on.
-Quinn's excited face while we unwrapped gifts Christmas morn.

-Our day trip with everyone to Mt. Bonnell


-Uncles playing with babies!




-Mom and Robby hanging out and playing.

-Always waking up to people in the living room and fresh coffee! We miss that.

We were sad to see everyone leave and sad to return to normalcy. Since then, it has been long work weeks and nights filled with sewing and Quinn-cuddling. I have moments of daydreaming constantly....wishing I could stay home with her each day and work on my own design projects instead of working so hard (and what am I REALLY contributing after-all?) for another company.

2011 will be about new opportunities and exploring my entrepreneurial skills as much as possible. Cheers to new endeavors and Quinn never being able to say that her parents weren't around enough to help her learn and grow.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!