Dallas Symphony Orchestra Gala 2014

Hi all!

I had been looking forward to September 13th ever since I found out that world famous violinist 

Itzhak Perlman would be playing at the DSO's annual gala.

I wasn't sure how much fun I would have considering I am 5 months pregnant and I knew the Mr. would not be able to go with me. I was sooooo glad I ended up going because unlike the past two years I attended, this year was more special for several reasons...

1. My babies got to listen to one of the best violinists in the world, from the womb

2. This month marked the 25th anniversary of the Meyerson Symphony Center which is a very special place to me considering I played countless concerts there in my youth, I got to play a solo my senior year of high school on that stage, I worked there as an usher in high school, my students now get to perform on that stage, and it is one of the original Dallas Arts district buildings!

3. My sister, who had never been to the symphony before got to come with me

4. I got to see my old viola teachers and tell them the news about my babies

5. Before the symphony played their first piece, they played the Star Spangled Banner and the audience in the hall sang along, it gave me chills it was so cool.  

But enough of the talking, here are the photos I took starting with the master himself

Itzhak Perlman and Maestro Jaap Van Sweden

The entire DSO, crazy because there are so many members!

The dinner part of the gala set-up, stunning!

After Party deserts, from The Original Cupcakery

More sweets and gorgeous table-scapes

Me and the bump

Michelle, Tiffany, and I

Me, Tiffany, and Kirsten

My loubies were killing me by the end of the night, so foot massages compliments of the Ritz was just what the doctor ordered

It is tradition in the Mexican culture to take flowers from a party, so I did.

I dont think anyone minded since there were thousands everywhere!

Amazing night with amazing music.

So glad I got to experience it!

Thanks for stopping by,

~Mrs. S

#Simmondsbabies2015

Hello all and Happy Labor Day!

The first week back at school was a great success, 

but having today off is a nice treat if I do say so myself.

Football season has started, and I am so disappointed in the SMU loss that happened last night against Baylor. Nevertheless, I can't wait to cheer on my Ponies this season. 

Today's post is dedicated to all things Simmonds babies since at 18 weeks we have been preparing and buying stuff getting ready for their arrival.

We started on their nursery already and although I would love to show progress, I am more of a "get to point and show me the finished product" so I will wait till its done. I will tell you that we went with a light yellow as a gender neutral color, the window wall has horizontal stripes, we changed out the light fixture for a gorgeous IKEA chandelier, and we started on the board and batten walls that we are slowly taking our time with. 

Although we will be grateful for any gifts given to us at our baby showers, we don't expect people to purchase certain items since there will be two babies and we wanted to get started on buying stuff right at around 8 weeks.

So far anything we have bought has been because we got a great deal, or received an additional item we would need for free.

The first big item purchased was a Fisher Price Snugamonkey Baby swing from Target

I read on my FB newsfeed that Target was offering a free sleeper or rocker (a $60 dollar value) if you purchased a swing, so we dashed there and were able to snag both for the price of just the swing!

We went with the rocker...

Next on the list was a stroller, we decided to spend a pretty penny on one since we knew we would have it for a long time and we didn't want one that would wear easily.

We researched and found the Contour LT at Buy Buy Baby, and went ahead and got it.

A few weeks later we were at a Burlington in Tulsa and found the exact one for $70 less so we purchased that one (which was a better color anyway) and took the Buy Buy Baby one back. 

We love it!

With all the Labor Day sales going on this weekend, we knew there would be sales for some car seats. 

We went to BabiesRus first and found some beautiful Graco car seats at $25 off, plus we would get a free color monitor with each one (a $100 value)!

These will actually last till the twins are 2 years old, and we loved all the extra padding, and the colors!

How adorable are these!

 

The Mr. and I paid separately so that we could get the 2 free monitors, and of course he couldn't wait to try them out, and they are awesome!

So anyway, that is the latest update on all things baby in the Simmonds household. Stay tuned for some bumpdates and pics of my ever growing belly!

~Mrs. S