Tales of Me and the Husband

spring style.

 

outfit 1: romper + gladiator sandals
outfit 2: turtleneck + jeans + sneakers
outfit 3: dress (i love!) + gladiator sandals

 

outfit 4: chambray top + white jean + metallic flip flops + straw hat
outfit 5: chambray dress + wedge espadrille + scarf
outfit 6: tassel shirt + jeans + shoes

the changing of seasons always makes me want to buy, buy, buyyyyy! (which is not okay.) it’s just that the trends changed, steve! high-waisted flares are back and i only have skinnies! peplum’s totally out and now i need more off-the-shoulders! (hypothetical conversation.)
i do buy a few pieces with the changing of season, but i don’t go crazy. at least, i think i don’t go crazy. do you? are you? favorite spring purchase so far? mine is this vest. i know, broken record at this point, but i just loooooove it.
so, since i have full shopping carts at a few choice online retailers, i decided to take those pieces out of hiding and, at the very least, splash them across my blog for the day. i don’t foresee many of them making their way to my doorstep but, it’s fun to put these outfits together anyway. do you have a favorite? i can’t decide between 3 and 4 — but those sneakers in 2! (and, those gladiator sandals are $23 if you’re in need!)
bad influence, right here.

Denim by day, denim by night.

 

by day
jeans: uo // shoes: shoemint // top:  h&m // lipstick: maybelline
by night
tee: h&m // jeans: uo // shoes: nordstrom
blazer: h&m c/o schoola // clutch: c/o providence story
 lipstick (a new favorite): maybelline
schoola is a new to me online consignment shop with a unique edge to it: 40% of the proceeds go towards schools (the school of your choice!). shopping with a cause! fundraising at its finest! donating to schoola could not be easier. you request a PREPAID bag, stuff it with your gently used clothing that no longer fits, or is no longer being worn, and send it off to schoola. tell them what school you’d like to raise money for, and 40% of the sale of your clothes goes towards the school of your choice. do a school-wide clothing drive! send tons of bags full of clothing to schoola and get money back for your school! it really couldn’t be easier (or more genius). i sent off my own bag of clothing to schoola for the malala fund. see my donated items here (some pieces have already sold!) and interview here (alongside two other great bloggers).
schoola gave me the task of creating a denim by day and night look. since i have taken these jeans off about five times in the three weeks i’ve owned them, that was easy. my favorite easy sweatshirt tee plus booties by day, and this pretty blazer (from schoola by h&m!) with some heels by night. oh and a beautiful clutch (from my friend’s shop!!) in place of my normal diaper bag. shop all of schoola’s denim here!
this post is sponsored by schoola. thank you for reading!

weekend links.

You know how Facebook is a dirty temptress with all the ads for things you’ve been looking at, or things like the things you’ve been looking at in the sidebar? Well they nailed me with this one. GIVE ME. (But cha-chiiiiing.)

This video on someone coming to your door in the past vs. the present is hilarious and so true.

Stop telling me I should have kids. Joy Bryant talks about her decision not to have children!

Benefits of drinking lemon water!

Organic, cage-free, free-range: what all the labels on your eggs mean. (In conclusion: cage-free isn’t as good as it sounds.) Also, an egg scorecard.

Been wanting to try overnight oats for awhile. This amazing post is just the thing to get me started.

This chambray swing dress would be an all-the-time summer dress. (On sale now, too.)

I love this home, especially that bedroom.

Parker is more interested in drawing these days, and some of those step-by-step drawing books are super complicated. Here’s one that’s on the simple side for kids.

Have a good weekend!

Sharing apples and such.

A bite for me, a bite for you, we milled about the second floor of the house yesterday getting things done and sharing apples, Anders occasionally crawling around with his in his hand which, imagine it, means that apple is getting pressed into the carpet and picking up bits of fuzz or hair. Parker and I look at him, look at each other like, “Okay Anders, that’s your apple now.” 
I followed behind, cleaning up the bits of apple that were being dropped and thinking about how it’s a really good rule of mine that declares food not be allowed upstairs but it was one of those days where there were no rules. It was like martial law. Anders napped for ten minutes–I should mention here that it’s not entirely his fault. The house was a mess. I hadn’t slept more than 3 1/2 hours the night before. There was snow on the ground. It’s April. There were no apples (no more apples!) in the house and, finally, my bowl of Raisin Bran had way too many raisins. That is a thing!
This is starting to sound like Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.
I think I’ll move to Australia!
There’s just so much to do right now that I’m doing nothing well. The messes, the emails to respond to, the food that needs cooking–everything is growing faster than I’m able to check any single one off the list. And what I really wish I’d do is just throw in the towel, let the mess grow around me, pour myself a mug of tea, and sit and read story after story with the boys and make them the happiest ever. But instead, I try to do this, do that and then the day is gone and I’m not sure what I accomplished. Slowly ticking away at something without seeing it through to completion is not my strong suit and yet it’s sort of happening all the time. I suppose this is just called life. You could all probably join the chorus of this sad song.
The house is relatively clean today. There are still no apples, so a grocery store visit is an absolute must (the lack of apples is always my litmus test for how important a visit to the grocery store is; what’s yours?). But otherwise, I’m going to do three things: Get myself ready (this is something I’m selfish about and always happier when it’s done), play with the boys (read stories, build a fort, color, sit and chat), make sure a good dinner is ready when everyone else is home (any major winners these days at your house?). 
Those are the days that I’m happiest about when I tuck myself into bed each night. I can’t have them every day but I can have them some days.

taking stock / 12

Making: pot roast. The same one that I made for Easter. This time with roasted veggies and egg noodles. There’s something satisfying about going to a butcher and telling them exactly what you want: “3 pound chuck roast, please.”
Cooking: The same as above, I guess?

Drinking: if you follow me on Snapchat, you’ll know I love my Spindrift seltzer (with or without red wine–the latter being a lazy sangria!)
Reading: Hop on Pop. I’m just being honest.
Wanting: these beautiful shoes.
Looking: for a missing shoe of Anders. His feet are so tiny that the shoes practically vanish into thin air. Where is it?
Eating: Dark chocolate with caramel from Trader Joe’s that I hide in my car. There’s a lot of time spent in the car waiting out Anders’ naps, so sustenance in the car is a necessity, not a luxury. Oh! And duck eggs. Bigger, but otherwise, very similar to their chicken-friends, I think.
Wishing: that I had more time in the day. To read, to write, to talk to the kids, to cook food, to do the laundry, to work out, to meditate.
Enjoying: these days, and wishing they would never end. Sometimes I wish these days wouldn’t end so much that it makes me cry.
Loving: Hipstamatic again. Throwback. I clicked on it the other day and went to town. For those who were fans, it’s gotten even better.
Hoping: spring comes AND STAYS. (Looking at a few inches of snow on the ground right now.)
Listening: Nathaniel Rateliff, Paul Simon (always)…
Feeling: forever nostalgic; was talking to my sister the other day and we both concluded: being a mom is full of so much heartache. Such wonderful heartache.
Wearing: this short-sleeved sweatshirt, like every day. I even dressed it up fancy to a date the other night.
Watching: Girls! For the first time.
Bookmarking: This haircut. I am always going back and forth on cutting my hair and end up doing it like every year.

the perfect tee.

I’m on a perpetual search for the perfect t-shirt (also for my iPhone, the baby monitor…). I’m talking loose fit, non-pilling, casual and fancy potential, drapes perfectly shirt. They’re weirdly illusive, right? At least for me. I’ve got a long torso, so they’re often not long enough. They’re sometimes too boxy, too stretchy, not stretchy enough, v-neck not deep enough, too deep, too see-through, pill too quickly. I got two of these for Italy: gray and black (wearing the black one here, and the gray one here; I wore them all the time.). Pros: super stretchy (pull-down friendly for nursing and keeps its stretch), soft fabric, perfect v-neck, casual/fancy flexibility. Cons: it’s begun to pill (but I also wore the shit out of it for months so, maybe that’s to be expected?). 
In fact, now I’m thinking it was the perfect one and I should just end this thought-provoking post and order more.
Through this search, I’m also realizing that I’m really fussy about this stuff. I bought a few from Everlane, and thought surely they’d fit the bill and they all went back! A bit boxy for my taste (that sentence should be said in the most pretentious voice possible). Next I’d like to try some of these. Those colors! And this one is a strong contender as well (but not sure I love the shape of the v-neck. You see what I mean?! FUSSY.). 
Enough for now. Carry on.

weekend links.

What are you up to this weekend? We’re looking at two upcoming days that have snow on the forecast, so beyond trying not to cry in my coffee, I’m going to get a lot of laundry done and maybe watch some Lost with William and Lindsey (introducing them to the series!). Party!

Do you remember the girl who speaks gibberish with different accents? In case you never saw it.

A newer lip color that I’m liking. It smells good too.

Love this outfit.

Filtering cheap vodka through a water filter?

This shirt is so pretty.

This Utah hotel is unbelievable.

White tile. It’s everywhere and for good reason. But here’s some ways to spice it up.

Embrace aging.

I love these sneakers.

Mortgage-free by 37? Sounds like a serious dream (and something that also makes me crave a real budget).

This guy doing impersonations is AMAZING. AMAZING.

Have a good weekend!

Uploading, documentaries, and chambray.

 
I’m finally uploading (downloading? I think it’s up.) three computers worth of pictures to a Dropbox account with a whopping terabyte of storage. How specific should these folder names get? Computers 1 through 3? By year? By season??! I need a Supernanny (was she the British one who had the TV show? Or did that go by a different name?) for my technological life. One who will come in like a Mary Poppins–In every job that must be done there is an element of fun, you find the fun and snap! The job’s a game–sweeping through the front door, straight to my computer closet, and click-click-click, a snap of the fingers, and poof! Years of pictures are colorfully scrolling through in slideshow form while we all sit around the computer in a circle formation pondering our old memories. It’s not a game and it’s not that fun but getting them loaded to an accessible place is one of those things that’s remained high-priority on my checklist for… ever. (Side note: photos have been backed up on hard drives, but what good are they to me? They’re there, and they’re virtually no good to me. Just collecting dust in a closet.) I’ll be so glad when it’s done. 
Netflix has a really impressive collection of documentaries. I’ve added several to “my list”. Cooked is a really good one–a five (or four?) part series–and, solidifies my opinion that Michael Pollan is one of the best things that happened to the clean, whole food movement. He boils the whole thing down to something that feels tangible to those intimidated by the whole thing. “Eat what you want, just cook it yourself.” If I’ve had a recent dose of Michael Pollan, I always feel really good about spending a large chunk of my day in the kitchen–something that’s pretty much inevitable with a big family. It no longer feels like a waste of time, but more like a tangible way I can show love to my family. Fed Up is another one that’s worth watching. And I’m hoping to watch The True Cost soon too. Any to add?
I would wear chambray every day. Or denim? What’s really the difference between a chambray and a denim shirt anyway? My last chambray/denim shirt was from Old Navy and now has actual holes in it. I’ll still wear it until those holes are so big they make me indecent because it falls and fits just right and somehow doesn’t require ironing out of the washer. It was time to have a backup though, and this one (I’m wearing above) is more than doing the trick. It’s thicker (and more expensive) than its Old Navy predecessor but is so great. It’s got the looseness of your husband’s shirt without being terribly baggy, or boxy (I got one from the tall section) and also (!!) doesn’t require ironing out of the wash. And just the slightest slits up the side, but not so high that any skin is showing. It’s basically perfect and I’m reaching for it every day. Cost per wear will end up being like 52 cents because I will wear it to death. If that one’s not in the budget, this one looks pretty awesome as well. 

Anders at 16 months.

I found out I was pregnant with Anders on April 1. April Fools Day two years ago. In fact, I went to CVS on the way home from the beach with Parker (in this picture here) to get a pregnancy test and then took it, nerves rising, in the first floor bathroom of our old house. I was sure that I knew it’d be positive, I wanted it to be positive so badly. Would it be positive? My boobs were sore! I think I’m late? I was grossed out by my scrambled eggs two days ago!
Here we are. Anders is almost 16 months old and I love him so much. I kissed his face, his head, his belly about a hundred times yesterday. When he woke up I crept into the room excited to get my hands on him again. I got on the bed on my stomach, put my head right up to his body, and he wrapped his chubby arms around me. He even does a pat-pat-pat while he hugs. He pulled away to look at me, and hugged again. We did that for close to five minutes. The other night I went up to check on him and he was sort of on his belly, arms above his head, lips all puckered, asleep. I just stared at him in awe (and then, woke him by kissing him. An accident!). I whisper in his ear sometimes, “I’m so glad you’re here.” When Steve pulled away from the house to go to work, Anders stood there in his footie pajamas at the back door, waving at him. Steve and I looked at each other like This kid! This kiiiiid! When he walks, he’s got this wide stance rock-back-and-forth sway and you’re pretty certain he’s going to go down just as he rights himself, over and over. During dinner prep yesterday, he walked away towards the front of the house, just in a diaper, and I followed him over and saw him there sitting with his back to me, red socks on, and a book on his lap. I don’t know why these completely insignificant things are heart-crushingly adorable to me, but they are. Anyone else reading through them will think “Get to the point” but this is it! This is the point. These are the points! Everything this tiny person does is so sweet to me. I pause a million times a day to exclaim to myself, to anyone who will listen: he is so cute. Gosh I love him so much.

easter 2016.

Anders’ Easter basket! Instead of jelly beans and chocolate, he got raisins and Ella’s bars. 



click to read more for the rest of the post!!

All I need in my Easter basket.


Anders’ foot on the table here kills me.

blueberry muffin, orange cranberry scones, and a hot cross bun! 
(somehow, my first hot cross bun ever. i liked it.)

bacon, fruit salad!
and scrambled eggs to round the whole thing out
Easter egg hunt!


Easter in top ten form:
1. the food!!!! wait. this needs to be more than one. let’s start with… breakfast! baked goods and eggs and fruit and coffee and mimosas!
2. being just about on time for church and singing one of the best hymns ever: Christ the Lord is Risen Today
3. everyone watching Money Pit while I cooked (I actually love cooking if I am left alone with a glass of wine and some good music.); also, I used to watch Money Pit all the time growing up, so it was fun to show the kids. (Bathtub scene never gets old.)
4. Easter egg hunt. Parker was so excited, genuinely confused (and delighted) to find Easter eggs hiding all over his yard. I put no more than three (stingy with candy!) jellybeans in each egg. Anders found some too which was, as you can see, adorable.
5. dinner. dinner was so, so, so good. i made this pot roast, this mac and cheese, and a spinach salad. such comfort food. make it. you will not regret it.
6. getting a family picture!! i asked everyone to get outside so i could just get a pic of all the kids but then steve went to get the tripod and I’m so glad he did. we don’t get nearly enough opportunities for a family picture.
7. playing balderdash. lindsey comes up with the most ridiculous ones, jordan and nathaniel take it seriously (and get competitive), steve varies between silly, and competitive, and definitions are not william’s strong suit (so, that ends up being pretty funny.), and i end up being the reader of the definitions. you can imagine there’s a lot of laughing.
8. parker and anders in bow ties. i could’ve eaten them for dinner.
9. the Easter baskets. i got the goodies way far in advance this year so i wasn’t scrambling at the last minute and i think i did a pretty good job.
10. being together. cheesy but true.
also, how throwback is this courier new with different colors?!
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