A Very Hamptons Halloween

When most people think of The Hamptons they think of large, expensive houses with fancy boutiques, restaurants and people. When I think of The Hamptons I think of those things as well, but I mostly think of small town USA at its absolute finest. The East End is made up of the most charming main streets where our friends, family and neighbors have endearing shops that sell goods native to our beach towns. We do holidays right out here. We gather our family's and head to our community to celebrate together. That usually entails a street being closed from incoming traffic and a parade down our streets where we all applaud and appreciate each other. Today we ventured to Elm Street in Southampton after naps. The street was closed and protected by our police officers who patrolled the street in fancy beach cruisers. There was no need to knock on any doors because our neighbors set up tables on their well manicured lawns and garnished their driveways with blow ups, cauldrons and pumpkins galore. Long live small town USA!

THE place to trick or treat today

The Tanger Outlets is the safest, quickest and most enjoyable place to trick or treat  for ALL ages! Park in front of the Disney store outlet because they provide cute trick or treat bags and enjoy your stroll. Here is a list of places you need to hit up as the Mama:

* Le Creuset has 50 % off roasters (think thanksgiving!)

*Disney store had tons of buy one get one free sales ( think Christmas!)

*Kate Spade is my favorite and was 50%-60% off all with an extra 20% off the total

*If you live on the East End, our Lulu Lemon outlet is open!! 2 pairs of shorts for $40

*Jcrew was 50% off most of the store and my favorite buffalo check was EVERYWHERE!

Enjoy those treats!

'Twas The Night Before Halloween

'Twas the night before Halloween and all through the town every creature, gobblin, princess and ghostbuster was boogieing down. They marched down Main Street straight from their schools and were greeted with candy by every store owner dressed as goblins or ghouls. They whooped and they giggled as their goody bags filled, while their mamas chatted sipping coffees that were chilled. Dancing began as they neared  the end of the street, the dj was rocking and had all on their feet! Then the block party ended and we drove out of sight. Happy Halloween to all and trick or treat safe tonight.

Sneak in family time

Sometimes the day gets away from me. The bigger littles have school and then naps last until dinner making time and then the Alaskan Assasin (the hubby) walks in halfway through dinner and I feel like we didn't get any quality time in. The littles have been on strict routines since 4 months of age and are bathed and read to and prayed for and tucked in all before 7 p.m. Which means that after dinner it's almost time for bed. So on the days where I feel I didn't love them all enough, we throw the pugs and littles into the jeep after dinner and  get to the beach.  We walk and run and dig and splash and get some family time into our day. Here is a peak of my clan in our element:.

Easy Snacks to Take to Class Halloween Parties

Pumpkins:
*Peel clementines
*Stick in little cut up celery sticks

Witches Brooms:
*Cut string cheese into thirds
*Peel the bottoms
*Stick Pretzels in

Spider cookies:
* Follow the directions to make any kind of peanut butter cookie. ( I like Duncan Hines mix)
*Roll the dough in sugar before putting in the oven
*As soon as you remove from oven stick a hershey kiss in the middle (wrapper removed)
*Draw black legs on the cookie with frosting

Monsters:
*Take mini babybel cheese and rip the string off the front (its the mouth)
*Use a knife to cut any teeth or funny shapes to the mouth
*Stick on candy eyes or use frosting

Ghosts or Tombstones:
*Buy already made lemon bars
*Dust powder sugar on the top
*Use food coloring to write RIP or to make two circle eyes and mouth for a ghost face

Pumpkin muffins:
*Use Trader Joes yummy mix and enjoy

Ghost Bananas:
*Cut in half
*Stick chocolate chips on for the eyes and mouth
*Stick in a Popsicle stick

Always cut up fresh veggies and serve with  Trader Joes onion dip mix and sour cream!

Your Halloween Itinerary Completed for You

HALLOWEEN IS 3 DAYS AWAY! Have you made it special for your littles yet?! You don't want to attend a crowded party at the Children's Museum? 

You don't want to take them to the Quogue Wildlife Refuge Enchanted Walk and carry them the last .5 miles? 

You don't want to interrupt naps to make it to the library activity of the day? 

You don't want to have your littles friends over for a bobbing for apples party?

You don't want to drive 40 minutes to attend a friends party?

You don't want to decorate Halloween cookies at the Beach Bakery?

Don't fret my pet, I have the perfect celebration just for you. Tell your children that you would like them to throw YOU a halloween party at home and sit back and enjoy the merriment. My almost 3 year old, Riley, picked out the Pottery Barn tutu pumpkin dresses from our dress up closet and the party began. It included every tea set we owned and of course our wooden Melissa and Doug birthday cake and candle because who doesn't sing happy birthday at their Halloween party?! Let the festivties commence!

Teaser Of My Best Friend's Malibu Wedding ( More to come!)

https://vimeo.com/143707124

Roberta Roller Rabbit Jammie Jams

Roberta Roller Rabbit is having a sale on my favorite jammie jams ($39 marked down from $65), but there is something super important you should know before you purchase... The sizing is whack! I think that is why they are on sale? The cuffs on the sleeves and the legs are extra tight. I actually like that in jammie jams because they don't ride up on the littles at night, but you need to buy a bigger size. My 8 month old, Shay, is wearing the size 2. I got my almost 3 year old a size 6. You are welcome!

Taking Back My House

Getting your children the latest and the greatest toys is exciting! You bring it home. They squeal in delight at the shiny new toy wrapped up in the impressive packaging. They tear into it and you cut off eight million choking hazard zip cords and then they play with it for eight to ten minutes. Then its over. It's dropped on the ground as they search for the next toy. As their parent you realize very quickly that the thrill of a new toy ends so abruptly that you tell yourself to stop buying them toys. They have enough! Then your sister, brother, aunt, uncle, mom, and dad visit and bring more toys. They have birthday parties and get more toys. They go to a birthday party and leave with a goody bag filled with toys. Pretty soon you are buried in novelties and trinkets and dolls and knickknacks and baubles and games. You try to organize them into cute Skip Hop bins and store them in adorable Land of Nod cubbies, but they keep dumping them out! Pretty soon you are just throwing them in any bin and running out of storage. So you buy a Pottery Barn toy box and the pile of toys mounts well above the top of the box. You put the kids to bed at night and you see the toys everywhere. This is where parenting gets overwhelming for me. I like playing with them and will gladly take them anywhere by myself, but the cleaning is too much. EVERY SINGLE DAY you have to pick those toys up and throw them somewhere. So I took a sitting room we never used and called a carpenter and had him build in shelves and a window chair. I took every single toy we owned and put it outside so I had to look at each toy and really decide if it deserved to re-enter the house. I donated 13 bags of toys to kids in need. Then I headed to Target and grabbed some pretty bins to hide the toys that didn't fit in the built-in. I also grabbed a ridiculously adorable bull head to mount above the window.       Now I can shut the cabinets and have EVERY toy out of sight and out of mind. Problem solved.