“I guess you can call it ‘Turning Two with Winnie the Pooh,'” I said, thinking that she had probably already thought of that.
“That’s absolutely brilliant!” Anne exclaimed.
Remember when I posted about Anne’s interest in cake decorating? Well, her Winnie the Pooh cake definitely “took the cake” (excuse the pun…LOL). I was absolutely stunned when she texted me this picture. Can you believe that she has only decorated a few cakes in her lifetime and hasn’t had any sort of formal instruction?
My niece, Ana (or “Girlsy,” as we call her) loved the cake. Anne tries to limit her daughter’s sugar intake, so eating an entire piece of cake was a huge treat for Ana.
Even the snacks and drinks were Winnie the Pooh themed…
Anne loves to decorate with chalkboards (or chalkboard paper tacked onto bulletin boards). She created a chalkboard of Ana’s current favorites.
For those who haven’t heard, Anne and her husband are expecting their second child, a boy, in October.
Cute! I have had the privilege of seeing the real Winnie and friends in the NY Public Library, main branch in NYC, children's room. Check them out online sometime. All are there except Roo, who was lost. The toys were well-loved!
I just looked that up online. How neat! I'll have to text the info to my sister in law. Maybe she can take her daughter to see them sometime.
Ellie
What a a wonderful way for a little girl to celebrate turning 2 with Winnie the pooh!! The cake is beautiful. Love the chalk board with her favorite things. Also looking forward to updates on the new addition when he arrives.
Thanks, Shela! I'll look forward to sharing updates once my nephew arrives. 🙂
Ellie
What a cute party! Happy birthday to your niece!
wow simple but looks awesome love it
Thank you. 🙂
Ellie
Cute party. The balloons are adorable. Love the cake.
I just got Winnie the Pooh dishtowels for Xmas last. I'm Tigger fan.
I still have my Tigger stuff animal that I got when I was 3 years old. I also have the Winnie the Pooh sheets on my bed.
You're definitely a dedicated fan! Did you ever read the books? I read some as a child and enjoyed them.
Ellie
Yes I have read the books. I also have a Tigger magnet.
So cute! I love Eeyore.
Thanks!
Ellie
Just discovered your blog, and have been reading through it the past few days – you two are so cute! One thing I noticed is that you're both incredibly frugal (I think a good deal or money saved is mentioned in nearly every post). Even though your husband is a dentist, you don't seem to live a dentist's income lifestyle. Can I ask why? Maybe you could do a post talking about your financial goals, and what steps you're taking to achieve them. That would be incredibly fascinating to me.
I'm curious what you think a dentist income lifestyle entails? Fancy new cars, splurging on lots of things not really needed? I know my opinion wasn't asked for but in my opinion I don't call it incredibly frugal, I call it smart living! America is so hugely in debt overall that anything anyone can do to save money is incredibly smart no matter what their job profession is! Can I get an Amen?!
Origional poster here. I'm not saying that being "incredibly frugal" is a bad thing at all – I actually think it's great! But to answer your question, yeah most dentists I know live in large homes and drive nice cars (nothing wrong with that either). All I was asking was for the Nashville Wife to consider doing a post on frugal living and financial goals. She talks a lot about being thrifty, so I thought it would be an interesting perspective for her readers who may not be familiar with that way of living. No harm meant!
Hi there,
A post about our financial goals would be a good idea. I will have to ask my husband if he's OK with that. 🙂
We are hoping to maintain a debt free life, which is a very difficult thing to do these days. That's why we are currently renting instead of living in a home that we own with a mortgage. One thing that my husband has learned so far in his career is that it really is a misconception that all dentists are wealthy. In fact, he has found that the good dentists who really care about doing quality work are often not wealthy. Unfortunately, he has also realized that there are more dentists out there who care more about making money than doing quality work. I hope that sort of answers your question. 🙂 we are also hoping to have several children. Raising them and putting them through college, should they choose to go to college, will take quite a bit of money, so we figure that we might as well learn to live frugally early on in our marriage. 🙂
Ellie
Just curious – Do you or your husband have student loan debt from college? So many young people these days do, and the amounts can be staggering. It's especially expensive to get a degree in any medical field, including dentistry. Maybe you can address how you handled college costs and if they are having an impact on your life now, after college.
Hold Your Horses! Whoever replied so sharply needs to think before they speak/type and assume best intentions. WWJD?
We were both blessed to have parents who offered to pay for our undergraduate education, although we had to pay for dental school. Considering the costs of education, buying a house, starting a business, and raising children, we have decided to make frugality a permanent lifestyle. That doesn't mean we don't/won't do fun things and "splurge" every once in a while, but we're going to seek to be frugal wherever we can.
Ellie
I just read this message exchange and find the topic very interesting, when dealt without judgement of others' choices. 🙂 Which seems to be the case here.
If that's interesting for you too, there's a blog (and youtube channel) I discovered a few months back that's really great. It's called "The Financial Diet", it's run by two girls in their twenties and it's all about being financially responsible. I think that both Ellie and the first poster would find it interesting.
Anon, even millionaires can live frugal lifestyles. That's how some of them/us became millionaires. No sense overspending when you don't need to, no matter what your income. There's the old saying, "Take care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves."
Original poster here. Yeah, I absolutely agree. I think it's great that the Nashville Wife lives a frugal lifestyle. I was just curious about her perspective on spending and saving, and long term financial goals. I thought it would be an interesting perspective for those of us who live within our means, but may not quite go to that extent. For example, I'm curious why they decide to rent vs. own. Not that there is anything wrong with either option, but most dentists I know own homes. Maybe they want to pay cash for a home, and not go into any debt. Maybe they just like renting. Maybe their still paying off student debt. I was just curious about their decision-making process here, and on other financially-related topics and thought it would make for an interesting post.
With interest rates so low right now, it's making it less desirable to rent, if you intend to stay somewhere for awhile. But some parts of the country, house prices are skyrocketing and inventory is low, making it harder to buy. Houses can be on the market 3-4-5 days and get umpteen offers, some above asking price. I've seen it happen on my street.
Mr. Handsome is a dentist but he hasn't been out of dental school for very long (just a year if I remember correctly), so maybe they are still saving up for a down payment. It can take awhile to save up enough so that you don't have to pay PMI, and it's smart to rent until then (as well as building an emergency fund first).
We were lucky – no college debt & thanks to military service, a VA mortgage that required very little money up front and no PMI. Those were the days when mortgage interest rates were around 12%, and it was hard for a young couple to buy a house. But VA mortgage rates were always lower then. We eventually refi'ed our way down to a percent in the 3's and didn't need a VA mortgage any more. But it sure came in handy when we needed it to help us get started.
I am glad this was brought out about living frugal. I have been thinking the same thing-that don't dentist make good money. But I want to address renting. Yes, you are in debt when you have a mortgage but at least it is your place you are paying for and you get tax right offs. Paying rent is paying for someone else's place. Imagine the money you are putting out in rent going to pay for your home. As the 8:20 post states-interest rates are low and home prices are going up. I know here in California it is better to buy now with about a 3% rate that rent at $2000.00-$3000.00-and that is an apartment.
That is very true, and different people have different opinions on that. 🙂 I suppose one of the other reasons we are avoiding buying a house yet is that we haven't lived in our area long enough to know exactly where we want to be permanently (in the country, in town, etc).
Blessings,
Ellie
What is the cake supposed to be? Is it a hill? I can't tell.
The 100 acre wood?
Yep, it's the 100 Acre Wood. 🙂
Ellie
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_(bear)
There is some real history to Winni the Pooh.
How fascinating! Thanks for sharing that link. After reading the history, I really want to watch the movie ("A Bear Named Winnie"). Have you seen it?
Ellie
I did not know it wasa movie. Thank-you for telling me about it. Now, I read about but online and would like to see it too.
They have the Tigger Movie out and a Piglet movie out too. Their might me other out too.
Are you hoping to go back to work, Ellie? I guess I don't understand why you would go to college and then not use your education…
That's a good question. I thought about it earlier this year, but my sudden wrist pain prevented me from pursuing that option any further. My wrists are doing much better now, but I've since been spending time working on a book, in addition to blogging. Writing books has been a dream of mine since childhood, so I would really like to make that work. It would be great to turn that into a career because it is something I can easily do from home when we have children. My education was in journalism, so I'm definitely using it with blogging and writing. 🙂
Ellie