Blue Zebra

Sometimes every single photo I get out of a shoot looks like a still from The Wonder Years. What can ya do? Instead of tossing the whole lot, I decided to embrace the auto 70s vibe. This dress has been in my closet for at least five years. I bought it off the clearance rack in Target and have been wearing it year-round ever since. I love how it lends itself to black sandals in the summer, leggings and a long sleeved tee in the fall, a chunky cardigan with tights and boots in the winter, and a short sleeved tee over or under in the spring. Sure, the fabric is a bit faded and the print is a little confusing (leaves, zebra? I have no idea.), but this dress is definitely here to stay and I look forward to remixing it when the weather is even cooler.

dress/leggings/flats: Target, tee: Old Navy, belt: New York & Company

I've been stomping around in these aged commuter flats from Target for so long! They're the only black flats I have and I grabbed a pair of pointed toe black flats last week, but... they have to be returned. I tried on the left shoe, which was a size 7. When I got home, the right shoe was a size 6! They weren't boxed, but were strung together and tagged together. So frustrating. 

The Littles Have a Paint Party

Rarely will I show you photos of our house before I've cleaned. I mean, c'mon, I clean for guests and technically, I'm inviting you in. However, this little impromptu paint party was just too cute to miss and sometimes, the mess can wait. Sadie was teaching Norah how to use water color paints, and while Norah ate quite a bit of it, some of it ended up on her little paper. I'm so proud of my little artists and how much they love spending time together!

Hubs and I are both artistic. Well, he's artistic. I'm crafty. It warms our hearts, so much, to see our girls embracing art and working with their hands. They sat here for at least 30 minutes, talking about colors and paintbrushes. I wish I'd have caught a photo of Sadie standing over Norah's tray, helping her put the brush from the water, to the paint, to the paper. It was so adorable that my heart just about exploded.

Leaves are Changing

I went through about two weeks of wearing nothing but ill fitting jeans and long sleeved or short sleeved Old Navy t-shirts. After I got really sick of looking like a frump, I decided to punch it up with a ton of bright colors and threw on this new orange printed dress with some maroon layering pieces (tee and tights). It's been a little chilly in the mornings, but the afternoons are still pretty warm, so cardigans and sweaters haven't made their way into my routine quite yet. Layering 3/4 sleeved tees under warmer weather dresses and adding leggings or tights has really allowed me to extend my wardrobe beyond the hot months. This dress is on clearance at Target for $12.68 right now. You're welcome.

 dress: Target, tee: Old Navy, tights: c/o We Love Colors, boots: Soda/Shoe Department

In retrospect, I wish I would have added my yellow bubble necklace to this outfit. The top really leaves something to be desired, but I know for next time. I look forward to adding different colored tights and layering pieces with dresses like this throughout the fall and winter.

Pumpkin Chocolate Muddy Buddies #FundayMonday

Y'all, I have been a terrible bloggess over the last week. Both girls were so, so sick with high fevers and all the other ugly things. Apologies for leaving the blog on the back burner, but sometimes, when I'm changing a diaper every thirty minutes and snuggling a Bug with a 103 temperature, nothing else really matters. AND, today, I'm cohosting Funday Monday with Molly and Carly! Shame, shame for posting so late! I even had this all ready for you last night, but forgot to schedule. Neither here nor there, because all you'll care about after reading on is stuffing your face.

I volunteered to make some sort of "mix" to sell at my school's fall Umbrella Market next week, so, naturally, I chose to make muddy buddies- something I've never tried my hand at before yesterday. We have a week to perfect my recipe, but these turned out so well that I don't think I'll change a darn thing. I scoured the internet for a perfect fall muddy buddy recipe and couldn't find any that sounded good to me, so I decided to use wet ingredients, Chex, and dry ingredients of my choice and hope for the best.

Pumpkin Chocolate Muddy Buddies

Ingredients:

- 1 box Cinnamon Chex

- 1 jar chocolate hazelnut spread (I used JIF)

- 1/2 14.5oz can pumpkin

- 1/2 c. white chocolate chips

- 1 c. powdered sugar

- 1-2 t. pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Melt white chocolate chips.

2. Stir in chocolate hazelnut spread and pumpkin.

3. Pour in Chex and coat well.

4. Dump powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spice into a 1 gallon zip closure bag and combine.

5. Pour Chex mixture into bag, seal, and shake.

6. Pour out onto cookie sheets and let dry.

7. Enjoy! Or you can store in air tight containers for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. 

Are you drooling, yet? These are seriously mouthwateringly delicious. Norah kept walking back to me, saying, "Yummy? Yummy. YUMMY!!!" We are going to put 2 cups of the mixture into cute little plastic bags and tie a recipe tag on with a festive ribbon. So cute! Let me know if you try these!

And here's some more awesome information about Funday Monday! Please join us!

Thanks for stopping by, and welcome to all our new friends from IFB.....we are stoked to have you!

 

A few of our favs from last week:

/ Rainy Day / Garlic Cheese Muffins / Fall Attire / Boom, Baby! /   

The Rules for #FundayMonday Link-Ups:

1. Follow your hosts Molly @ still being [molly] , Carly @ Lipgloss & Crayons , and your guest hosts for the week Dani Rose of Sincerely, Dani Rose and Kimberley Anne of A Little Bit of This. 2.Grab a button and / or post a link back here in your BLOG POST (NOT your blog’s main page) so your readers know what all the #fundaymonday-ness is about. We love you guys linking up and we do go through and read all your posts… so if you do not give credit, we will have to remove your link. That’s no fun, right? Right. So be nice and share a link! Pretty please?  3.  Link your blog post up using the linky tool below! It can be ANYTHING! An outfit post, a giveaway, a story, a recipe, whatever. Why? Cause it’s #fundaymonday! 4. Visit a blog or four that you’ve never been to before and leave a #fundaymonday comment – you never know, you might “meet” someone new that you will lurve! 5. Have fun! Cause it's Monday!

Want to cohost #Fundaymonday? We are currently accepting weekly cohosts..........please email us at carlybrydon@gmail.com for more info!

 

Baggy

It never occurs to me, until I see myself in an outfit photo, that my clothes just don't look good. This is a perfectly good outfit in my mind. And even in the semi-dark, rushed morning, quick glimpse in the full length mirror, I thought I'd put together a pretty little ensemble. But these photos tell me what I constantly fear about these jeans. They're supposed to be those super awesome trouser jean things that people just die over. I even paid a pretty penny for them! But I've got to get it through my thick skull that trouser jeans (or trouser cut pants of any kind) do not belong on the rounder petites. Don't say anything mean about my sweater. It's here to stay and I promise to wear it with skinny jeans next time!

 sweater: LC Lauren Conrad/Kohl's, cami: c/o Maurices,  jeans: New York & Company, boots: Old Navy

Someone seriously needs to teach me how to use another setting on my camera. I don't have a fancy schmancy camera! It's a Canon PowerShot SX30IS (For non-camera people, that sounds fancy, but it's not. For camera people, this should be easy, right?). I use the Auto setting. That's it. And the stupid timer because I don't have a remote. I'm not even sure if my camera has a remote option. I'm determined to get better photos with what I have because there's no SLR in my near future!

Y'all, I'm sad. I'm looking at these photos and really realizing that these jeans probably have to go. Know how much that pains me? And it's not because I love them and think they're awesome. It's because it's one more thing I won't see in my closet. Totally pathetic, right? Do you get sentimental about things that aren't even important?

Liebster Award

I have to say a huge "Thank You" to Shannon of A Day in the Life of an Officer's Wife for nominating me for the Liebster Award! What an honor! I love Shannon's blog and have been reading it for almost two years. We have the common ground of being mommy to a little girl (or two, in my case)! She's also sister-in-law to one of my dearest, sweetest, long-time best friends! It's been a very long time since I've been nominated for any type of blog award, so this warmed my heart and made me feel like there's still someone out there reading, despite my wonky blogging schedule over the past year or two. Thank you so much, Shannon!

11 Random Factoids About Moi:

1. I'm 4'10.5". I've been telling people I'm 4'11" for many, many years. I found out that I was lying about a year ago.

2. I love reading magazines from start to finish. But, ain't nobody got time fo dat.

3. The bane of my existence is doing/putting away dishes.

4. I'm really bad at grooming my shih-tzu and often feel guilty that I don't make time for her.

5. I have a perfectly good working chore, grocery, and "me time" schedule that I never, ever use.

6. I think I'd rather hang out with preschoolers than adults most of the time.

7. Even in the summer time, I rarely leave the house without a tank top under whatever else I'm wearing.

8. I've had my camera for 3 years and still don't know how to use any setting except "auto."

9. If I could eat the same thing every single day, I would have ham, pineapple, and green pepper pizza.

10. My eyes are blue, green, grey, and yellow all at the same time. They don't really change color, but the shade gets darker and lighter.

11. I'm hyper crazy neurotic when it comes to dental hygiene. If I hadn't slept in 18 days and finally had a chance to lay down in bed, I wouldn't sleep without brushing first. 

Shannon's Questions: 

1. What is your very first memory? This is tough! I think the first thing I clearly remember is sleeping at my Nana's (my mom's grandmother's) house, in a yellow and white adorned twin bed, waking up at 3 or 4 am, and driving to Nags Head with my mom's family.

2. Favorite guilty pleasure show? Bachelor/Bachelorette - I also love Parenthood, but I don't feel like that's technically a guilty pleasure show. It's awesome!

3. All time favorite band? Oh, jeez. Probably Journey and Maroon 5.

4. What is your most treasured possession? I'm guessing by "possession," Shannon means "inanimate object." I don't really possess my kids, but if I did, I'd say them. Inanimate possession, though? Probably my engagement ring and wedding band. If I can only pick on, my wedding band. If the house were to start burning down, I'd get the kids, the dogs, and my rings. In that order.

5. Vanilla ice cream or Chocolate ice cream? Chocolate!

6. If money was no object, where would be your next vacation spot? Venice

7. What is your favorite holiday? Why? Christmas, hands down! It's beautiful, happy, has the best (in my opinion) weather, the spirit of Christmas is warm, fuzzy, and amazing. I love celebrating Jesus and teaching my kids what Christmas is really all about! I love the decorations and the food, but most of all, I really love gathering with family and making new memories!

8. Tell us the story of how you met your hubby. In October of 2002, I was on my way to a Halloween party. It was my freshman year in college and I went to my friend's dorm to pick her up first. Her room was across the hall from the laundry room and I looked over at this guy doing his laundry while I was waiting outside her door. I thought to myself, "What a loser- Why is he doing laundry on a Friday night?" Then he turned around and I thought, "What a CUTE loser!" I was a superficial jerk for a while. I asked my friend if she knew him and she said that she did, but that he was interested in someone else. Eventually, she gave me his AIM screen name and I mustered up the courage to message him. We talked (and bantered) back and forth for a few months, but he was clear that I wasn't the kind of girl he was looking for. I was pledging a sorority and did more than my fair share of partying. In April of 2003, my dorm had a late night fire drill and I headed over to his dorm to hang out. He asked me on a date the next weekend, but nothing really came of it. We went out a week later to work on a photography project for one of his classes and were outside in a field most of the day. I am superficially allergic to grass and was breaking out in hives, but didn't say anything. When it got dark, we laid on the hood of his car and he said, "Isn't this nice that we're friends, now, and there's no pressure to kiss or anything?" I'm sorry, I just broke out in painful, itchy hives all day for my FRIEND'S photography project? Oh man. He took me back to campus and we didn't hang out or talk again before school got out. We started talking on AIM over the summer, then on the phone. He said, "I love you" to me on June 10, 2003 and we met up at school (we lived 3.5 hours from each other) on July 26, when he asked me to be his girlfriend.

9. Cat or Dog? Why? Dog. They're way more loving, not alpha, and they don't use the bathroom in the house.

10. Morning person or night person? Night! I hate, hate, hate mornings. But that's started to change with my new job. I wake up earlier and happier and I get to bed by 10 or 11, usually. Preschool is exhausting!

11. What do you love most about blogging? I love being able to use my blog to share things that I do and love, as an outlet for my hobbies and emotions, to document life with my family, to remember things that I'd otherwise forget (like recipes or outfits that I want to repeat), and I love connecting with fellow bloggers and creating lasting friendships!

My Liebster Nominees (Rules say 5 or 11 and I did 6. I'm such a rebel.)

Bekah @ Matters of Merrymaking

Natasha @ Tasha Delrae

Brittney @ A Day in the Life Too

JoAnn @ Sidewalk Chic

Ashley @ A Fashion Fixation

Kimmie @ Blue Paper Lanterns

Your questions from me:

1. What was the best birthday celebration you've ever had?

2. What is one thing you can't leave the house without doing (excluding using the bathroom)?

3. If you were a kid, what would you dress up as for Halloween?

4. All time favorite song, ever?

5. When you get home, do you stay in your outfit from being out/running errands/working or do you change into something cozy?

6. Name one makeup product (including the brand!) that you can't live without and tell us why.

7. What's you biggest pet peeve?

8. Favorite junk food?

9. What is your most worn piece of clothing?

10. Favorite blog?

11. Tell us a guilty habit!

{Liebster Award Rules}

Rainy Day Plaid

My best friend called me, last night, and left a message. I missed her call because I was putting the kids to bed and I didn't check my phone until this morning. Her message was so sweet, letting me know she was thinking about me and my new job, wondering how the girls and Hubs were doing, and talking about how chilly it was in DC. She told me that the cold weather was alright because she could happily wear plaid. So, thank you, best friend, for picking out my outfit for today. 

 top: Old Navy, cardigan: New York & Company, leggings: Target, shoes: Ross

I started my morning with this outfit including skinny jeans, but quickly changed into these thick leggings because I wasn't feeling so skinny. My job also requires me to get up and down off the floor all day and I wasn't feeling the glove-like fit of those babies. My shirt is *barely* long enough for me to feel comfortable wearing leggings. But, let's be honest. I don't think my preschoolers really pay attention to all that business. For a cool, rainy, fall day, this outfit was perfectly cozy and served me well in the comfort and ability to move lots departments.

I'm really looking forward to wearing this plaid shirt several other ways through fall and winter, so don't be surprised if you see it eighty zillion times. It's the only one I've got!

Black on Black on Funday Monday

There's not a whole lot of fun happening in my FundayMonday outfit. To make you feel better, though, I actually wore this lacking of fun outfit on Friday and didn't get a chance to post it. It looks like I was mourning the arrival of the weekend, but that wasn't really the case. Although, sometimes, I enjoy the work week more because I forget that I'm not getting to see the Hubs as much. During the weekend, he's gone all day and I'm left to remember that he's not around. Someday, he won't be working a zillion hours a week.

 dress and tank: Old Navy, leggings and flats: Target

I'll try and wear make-up next time I do outfit photos. Keyword: Try.

Hope you're all having a great Monday! I was excited to get back to school and see the kiddos this morning. And my girls were happy to be back on schedule. I swear that weekends completely throw us off, no matter how hard I try to stay on beat! Both girls are pretty much losing grip right now, so I foresee an early bedtime tonight. Have a great rest of your day! I hear banging and crying, so that's my cue!

Disney on Ice ReCap

There's nothing like watching a four-year-old, princess-crazed, wide-eyed little girl take in an experience like Disney on Ice. This particular show was themed "Celebration," and Sadie was excited to dress as Ariel. Our sweet neighbor brought over a bunch of her old dance recital and halloween costumes and this dress just happened to be an Ariel dance costume. Sadie fell in love with it and was stoked to don her new threads to the show. I'll tell you that I barely saw 50% of what was happening on the ice, as my eyes were blurred with tears from enjoying Sadie's pure joy, excitement and awe. Norah was antsy, but still captivated, which was adorable. From Alice and the Mad Hatter celebrating everyone's Unbirthday to Mickey sweeping up with the enchanted brooms of Fantasia, princesses dancing with their princes to Mickey and Minnie doing some world traveling, Jack Skellington celebrating Halloween with villains the likes of Maleficent, Cruella, Jafar, to a Christmas party with the whole gang, including Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Rex and more from Toy Story, we loved every moment. More than anything, though, I wish I could've bottled up Sadie's untethered excitement and complete appreciation for what was going on. No one could ever take those memories from any of us!

Pumpkin Spice

First, please note my keys in the doorknob. Great photo prop, yes? 

I've taken notice of my boss' style, at work, and we're very similar in the sense that we like to be comfortable, but visually interesting and creative. She is a master layerer. Er er er. Er? I'm big on cardigans for the cooler months so that I can still wear my tanks and shells, but thought I'd take her lead and try layering something under a shell for a change. I'm really loving how comfortable this outfit turned out to be and how I didn't have to worry about getting too hot with a sweater and then bearing my arms. I'm not one for tank tops in a teaching environment, but that's just because I'm not comfortable with my upper arms. I just picked this top up at Target last week for $16.99. I'm really loving the gorgeous, rich pumpkin spice color. And it's just long enough that I'm comfortable wearing some thick leggings!

My favorite thing about this top, other than the color, is the contrasting fabrics (show on right). There's a rayon panel in the middle of the polyester. It's all surprisingly soft and breathable, but I guess fabric has come a long way since the 70s. I hear polyester was hot and itchy back then. I wouldn't know, though. Heehee.

I'm definitely looking forward to more fall colors and doing some more layering for the cooler months. What do you think about this way of layering a sleeveless top? Would you do it? Have any other suggestions?