10 Photos

I got the idea to post the 10 last photos on my phone from Anne, who got the idea when she saw Kait do it. I loved it so much because it’s just a fun little thing to do to give some random insight into my day to day life outside of the outfits I sometimes decide to put on before I head out the door for the day. I hope you have as much fun reading as I had putting it together! 

Disclaimer: I drafted the post on Friday afternoon but because I'm me and the weekend/beginning of the week was really busy, I'm just getting around to posting it. I'm a pretty frequent picture taker so there's more recent pictures on my phone now, but we're still going with the pre-Friday round up. :)

So here we go, left to right by row!

1. Trying an eyebrow powder and snapping a picture of the instructions since I didn’t find them on the container – haha! I don’t wear much make up and I’ve always thought that if I only have time for one type of make up to apply then mascara will make the biggest difference, but I think I’m close to saying giving your eyebrows a boost is right up there too.

2. Relaxing on my parents’ front porch, one of my favorite places to be. I wish it didn’t take a two hour drive to get to this change in scenery and company!

3. Jacob at my parents’ house, trying to figure out what it’s like to be able to have space to roam around in.

4. Playing in the fountains at the outdoor mall near our house, sticking close to momma at first.

5. Finally getting braver!

6. With his new favorite stuffed animal, the big tiger he keeps calling “kitty kitty”.

7. A picture of a picture – this is my favorite picture of my dad. Candid shots are my favorite!

8. Hanging with my favorite guy at our favorite bar, grabbing a drink to celebrate Father’s Day.

9. In REI, where his favorite thing is all the bikes! They’re even hanging from the ceiling, which is what he’s pointing out to my husband.

10. I like to organize and get really sentimental in times of stress – the most recent byproduct of that being a re-arranged office, complete with a coloring/play area for Jacob and framing the map that used to live in my car as a teenager with the route to my aunt’s house highlighted for me by my dad. A nice little reminder of what life used to be like before smart phones could always give you directions!

Do You Think Anyone Will Notice?

tee & sweater: Target / pants & shoes: Discount Fashion Warehouse (Express brand) / belt: H&M

Although warmer weather has had me gravitating toward some lighter and brighter options, a black t-shirt and black jeggings will probably forever more be my go to uniform. Thank goodness for layers in the form of cardigans, blazers, and denim jackets and of course some good accessories, but my current favorite way to switch the black on black pairing up is with shoes! Flats are what I wear the majority of the time, so although I felt a little bad about adding 3 pairs to my closet last month I knew that they were fun enough to feel like I’m adding a little personality to a look that really could get boring if I’m not careful. Maybe it'll prevent my co-workers from realizing I wear the same thing over and over again? One can hope! 

Looking for Balance

shirt: thrifted / blazer & shoes: Target / shoes: Discount Fashion Warehouse (Express brand)

Let me tell you, there’s nothing that stops the standing in front of my closet wondering what in the heck to wear faster than a toddler standing at my feet demanding to be picked up and held. On this particular day I was feeling like my options were limited, but that’s probably because I’m behind on laundry and half my closet may be either in the dirty laundry hamper or clean and piled up beside the drying rack. ;) I had bought this blouse back when I knew I was pregnant but was in that stage where you want everything to be a little forgiving because you haven’t told your co-workers you’re pregnant yet and didn’t want a growing belly to be obvious. It has the perfect amount of swing to it and the style feels pretty light and flowy, especially with the almost embroidered detail. Looking for a little balance, I went for more structure with a striped blazer. The ponte blazer style from Target has been my favorite – you get the structure of a blazer but so comfortable that I’ve never felt constricted the way a blazer can sometimes make you feel!

Thrifting Gold

tee: H&M / denim jacket: Old Navy / skirt: thrifted / shoes: Target

I feel like I struck thrifting gold with this skirt. The comfort level is unreal, I love the length of it (I can hike it up a bit for an above the knee look or wear it lower below the knee if I want), and the print is perfect for summer. Skirts had been really high on my priority list of things to buy and this one totally fits the bill. Here’s hoping my good luck continues and I find some more great options!

Jacob: 18 Months

I started drafting this post when Jacob turned 18 months, and to probably nobody’s surprise by the time I’m getting around to posting it he’s already 19 months. Either way, here we are having survived the first year and a half so I wanted to share a little bit about what he’s like since we’re at an age where his personality and his strong will are developing quickly! So here we go, 18 things I’m loving lately about my 18 (now 19) month old:

1. Twirls his hair when he’s sleepy, and even grabs my hair to twirl too when we’re laying together at bedtime.

2. Has told me “I lub you” once – heart melted!

3. If he wakes up early enough, goes running to the couch if he sees his dad getting a bowl of cereal for breakfast and makes him share.

4. Loves to be outside.
5. Will put his dirty clothes in his laundry hamper if I ask him too.

6. Is obsessed with puppies so it’s probably disappointing to him that we don’t have one.

7. Doesn’t like to leave the house without a toy car in each hand.

8. Gives us “kissies” when we ask him to.

9. Is always on the go.

10. Likes to help me with laundry because I let him hit the buttons on the washer and dryer.

11. Tries to sing “Toooodles” back at Mickey when he watches cartoons.

12. Charlie Brown Christmas will calm him down immediately and will never be deleted from our dvr.

13. Runs at me with his arms wide open and then wraps me up close for a hug.

14. Although I don’t always find it so cute if I’m ready for bed, he’ll wiggle down from our bed and take off running loops through the upstairs bedrooms while laughing like crazy.

15. Can do the hand motions to the Itsy Bitsy Spider if you sing it to him.

16. Is really attached to his mother. ;)

17. Loves to climb onto things, most recently the coffee table which was equal parts funny and terrifying the first time we caught him hanging out on top of it!

18. Gets really excited and points and shouts anytime he sees a car drive by or happens to notice an airplane fly by. 

On Lowering Those Expectations

tee: Sam's Club / jacket: Marshall's / pants: Discount Fashion Warehouse (Express brand) / shoes: Payless / necklace: Target
*outfit from the night of our anniversary, taken on my lunch break the following week because apparently my work wear and date night wear are interchangeable - ha!

My husband and I recently celebrated our 5 year anniversary and I was really excited because it landed on a Saturday and I was feeling like I could finally bring myself to plan an overnight trip away from our 18 month old son. So we coordinated my in-laws coming to our house that weekend to stay with Jacob and then pretty much nothing went as planned.

I had really high expectations for our night and wanted to do something fun that we haven't gotten to do since becoming parents. First we thought maybe we’d head up to Cleveland for the night and hang out downtown like we used to do (my husband lived there when we met and then we always planned a night spent downtown once a year for something sports related after he moved to Columbus) but then I wrecked my car that’s been paid off for years and had to buy another one, so we were on the fence about spending the money on a night away. Once we figured out that the Cleveland marathon was the next morning we landed right on the other side of the fence and discarded that idea because we knew a hotel room would be difficult to come by, expensive, and downtown would be a major pain when we tried to leave the next day.

So that left us with the incredibly rare childcare arrangement but back to no plans. We thought about getting a hotel room in Columbus and maybe a dinner out at a non-kid friendly restaurant we hadn’t been to, but then we still hadn’t made a final decision on the morning of our anniversary and all of a sudden had a toddler on our hands who basically lost his mind if he wasn’t attached to me. And then he wouldn’t sleep, and then the weather was pretty much miserable – think lots of rain and freezing cold in mid-May.

Basically that left us as 2 very cranky and frustrated adults with zero plans still made, and no way were we going to get a reservation anywhere by this point. I’ll admit that when we finally left the house, still with no idea where we were headed, I snapped a little bit and finally owned the fact that I felt overwhelmed by choices because I guess I literally have no idea anymore what people do for fun in Columbus at night without kids ;) and also that I really didn’t care what we did as long as we spent some time together.

That led to the most random of date nights, which looking back on our relationship I think has always been when I’ve had the most fun. We just wandered around, having drinks and splitting an order of wings at our old favorite bar we always went to before having Jacob, then going to Melt and snagging a seat at their bar because fried mac and cheese bites sounded amazing, and then decided to end at Cap City Diner because we wanted dessert and one more drink.

I think we would’ve headed back and crashed sooner if not for the fear that Jacob would still be awake and we really wanted to avoid the normal routine (since we feel like we’re a bit too attached to that), but it was totally worth it and I’m so glad I forced myself to let go of those expectations I had set and just go with it for the night rather than getting caught up in the idea that our anniversary had to be this grand celebration. Maybe we’ll give that another go in another 5 years, but for now I’ll celebrate in a less grand way, probably with a drink and a victory cheers in our pajamas once we finally get our kid to bed for the night! ;)

Moving Slowly

shirt & pants: Discount Fashion Warehouse (Express brand) / denim jacket: Old Navy / shoes: Payless

On days when I’m really tired, moving slower than usual getting out of the house to start the work day, and I just don’t have time to do anything more than throw my hair in a ponytail it feels a little too easy for me to want to throw on something equally as casual as a ponytail, like a plain black tee with my black jeggings. I finally decided that throwing on a button up is just as easy and actually just as comfortable, but makes me feel like I look way more pulled together than I actually am for the day. Sure I brought the level of casual down quite a bit by adding the denim jacket, but still prefer to embrace the thought of the more pulled together I look, maybe the more pulled together I’ll act. ;)

Currently

I swear it always seems to be something, but we’re just coming out of another rough patch that left me feeling not mentally capable of maintaining anything other than my full time job. While I’m still not sure if the severe sleep struggles Jacob was having were related to teething, a developmental phase (because the attachment to momma issues are so fierce right now), or just a funk I’m just glad we’re finally emerging from it and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate a return to writing than joining in with the Currently link up with Anne and Jenna again!

Planning...

A presentation at work last week on the topic of ex-offenders in higher education. For the first few years out of college I worked for an agency supporting ex-offenders, and then spent another couple of years working for another agency that didn’t exclusively work with ex-offenders but it was frequently a barrier for the clients I worked with. I felt a little rusty and it’d been awhile since I had done a presentation of any kind so my nerves were definitely at play. I’m proud of what I put together though and think it went well – now I’m just glad it’s done!

Enjoying...

Finally getting some time back home last weekend. We live in a subdivision in the city/edge of the burbs and my parents live in the country on a little more than 2 acres. After multiple weekends of spending outdoor time at our house having to redirect Jacob out of a neighbor’s yard every 2 seconds, I was craving a trip back home and letting him just run. We got to do that over the h

holiday weekend and it was so refreshing to just relax and take things slow for a day!

Buying...

I’ve been drawn to pastel pink and floral patterns lately which is such a shift in my preferences! Maybe I’m sick of all the black, or ready for the weather to finally start acting like it’s spring/bordering on summer. :)

Craving...

Iced coffees, loaded up with lots of almond milk, a little bit of Trader Joe's dairy free vanilla creamer, and just a touch of Torani's s'mores flavored syrup.

Pinning...

Any look I can find that involves a loose fitting tee and a cozy sweater it seems. I think I could live in that style! Now that the weather is warming up, I’m craving all the lightweight sweater options that help transition coming in from the heat to the cranked up air conditioning both at work and at home.