All I Want for Christmas is You

Dear Santa,

 

I really don't require anything for my December birthday or Christmas this year.

 

However, for the benefit of those people in my life who may refuse to adhere to this request, here are a few items that, if received, would be accepted with a smile.

 

{1} 

MacBook Air. I've wanted one for years, ever since my iBook kicked the bucket.

 

{2} 

Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette. Oh, so pretty!

 

{3} 

Paris Purse. Super cute, made by Thirty-One, my current obsession.

 

{4} 

All About The Benjamins Wallet. Because I'll need the matching wallet. Obviously.

 

{5} 

Seahawks Pep Rally Pants. I can always use more Hawk Gear!

 

{6} 

Double Duty Caddy. I'm such an organizational nerd.

 

{7} 

Victoria's Secret Gift Card. Because sometimes it's fun to buy some pretty, expensive undies.

 



Happy Black Friday, everyone!

 

Weekend Update - Wedding, Football, Wardrobe

Whew, what a whirlwind weekend!

 

We attended the wedding of one of Stew's co-workers on Saturday evening, which meant bringing Ryder down to Olympia to spend the night with my parents. Seriously, I don't know what we would do without their help and support (probably not attend five weddings in a single summer, that's for sure).

 

The wedding was at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, and it was absolutely beautiful. The reception was filled with delicious food, drinks, dancing, and lots of friends, so it was a great opportunity for Stew and I to have a night out on the town.

PHOTO BOOTH FUN

 

 

The beautiful bride and groom.

 

Congratulations Jordan and Chelsey!

 

 

And don't worry, Ryder also had a fantastic evening with the family. Not only did he get to see Grandpa and Nana, but he saw his great grandparents as well as some uncles and aunties.

 

Playing with Great Grandma G.

 

On Sunday morning we checked out of the hotel bright and early so we could collect Ryder from Olympia and get home before kickoff...

 

The 2015 Seattle Seahawks football season has officially started!

 

Of course our favorite tailgate buddies, Haley and Brett, were there to start the season with us.

 

Following the Seahawks loss (did anyone else feel like they were watching the Super Bowl all over again?) I co-hosted a clothing swap in the evening with some friends.

 

 

This is the second time I've hosted a swap, and it was so much fun! Basically everyone cleans out their closets and brings any unwanted items. Then everyone gets the opportunity to sort through all the clothes and shoes and take home whatever they'd like.

 

It's shopping for free!

 



 

I snagged quite a few fabulous new items, and I think I actually took home more than I contributed... not necessarily the best thing, because I'm trying to clean out my closet. But I sure do like my new wardrobe!

 

How was your weekend?

 

My Weekend Postpartum Shopping Haul

Well hello there, and welcome to the first day of April!

 

I apologize to anyone who was sucked in by my April Fools Day birth announcement on Facebook... but come on guys, did you really think I'd actually name my son Marshawn? You'll find out soon enough...

It's official, we can start saying that Baby Boy will be here NEXT MONTH!
 

I've been obsessing quite consistently about Baby Boy's upcoming birth lately. And I realized that I've been so focused on getting everything ready for him that I forgot I'll need some things for myself as well. Luckily my very dear mommy friends have been extremely helpful in sharing their postpartum knowledge with me, so I've been developing quite an extensive list of things that I'll need after he's born. And this past weekend Cailin was kind enough to spend the day with me shopping for some of the necessities. 

As you can see, we mainly focused on clothing. At Destination Maternity I picked up a seamless clip down nursing bra, two V-neck pull down nursing tanks, and three sleeveless clip down double opening nursing camisoles. Then at Macy's I picked up a super cute, soft, comfy robe (because I don't plan on wearing that nasty, stiff gown they give you in the hospital), as well as two more nursing bras and two nursing night gowns that should be prefect for summer.

With all that stuff, my ta-tas should be readily available so I can be Baby Boy's personal milk factory.

So now I'm feeling pretty good about hospital and lounge wear for those first few weeks, but there are definitely some other items I still need to check off my list. Most of them I won't share with you here because my poor husband reads this and he doesn't need to hear about granny panties, sanitary and breast pads, nipple cream, laxatives, and Preparation H (sorry babe). 

But what I wasn't able to find over the weekend was slippers. I need some nice, soft, comfy ones that I'll be able to fit my hobbit feet into, but apparently Macy's doesn't carry them and we were running short on time. I hear Costco and Sears are good places to look though...

Other than that I spent my weekend seeing friends, relaxing and nesting. Stew was in Vegas for Matt's bachelor party, and it sounds like they had a blast. They only took about 2.5 photos so I don't have much to show you... Typical boys. Unless they just deleted the evidence prior to getting home (more likely).

He did send me one photo early on of the Lamborghini he drove, though. Pretty cool.

Anyway, please let me know if you have any postpartum favorites that you think I should check out!

Live & Learn -- What Not to Wear

Welcome to another edition of

Live & Learn Thursday!

Join the party... follow your hosts and link up your post!

Today I'm kind of doing a combo Throwback Thursday post, highlighting some of the more tragic moments in my fashion history. Get ready for a giggle.

And please excuse the quality of all images... these are scans from photos that came out of boxes and old crappy photo albums in my den. Also, if I had time to get a hold of the albums at my mom's house... whoa, would you be in for a treat!

Ah yes... here I am in San Francisco on a trip vising my aunt when I was about seven. I think we're actually on a tour of Alcatraz Island. There are so many radical things about this outfit. Let's start at the bottom with my laceless black KEDS over white athletic socks. And although you can't tell in this photo, those jeans are actually dark purple, and I'm wearing some sort of pink clasping belt. Of course, its kind of hidden by the extremely amazing, electric colored FANNY PACK that I am rocking! And the pink Batman shirt? Who knows where it came from because I don't even remember being into Batman, but I obviously wore it loud and proud. My hair is accessorized by one of those thick puffy headbands that were so popular at the time, and then a magenta windbreaker tops the whole thing off. Stylin'.

Although I'm sure I could share a lot more '80s awesomeness with you, those photos are at my parent's house, so let's fast forward to about thirteen years old. Here I am in Port Townsend on vacation with my darling friend Brooke (remember our recent trip to Denver?) looking fabulous. Cut off, high-waisted jean shorts and what I remember calling "baby doll tees." Also, notice how my hair is pulled back using those little plastic barrettes that are made for infants. That phase lasted for about a year I think. Awesomesauce. 

And here I am at about fourteen. Apparently my style changed some between seventh and eighth grades. As awful as this baggy monstrosity is, honestly... think about it. Wouldn't you rather your daughter leave the house dressed like this (with all her bits covered up) instead of how teenage girls are dressing now, with their butts hanging out of teeny tiny shorts and their faces slathered with more makeup and self tanner than Kim Kardashian? Also, I am cracking up seeing all my posters of Andrew Keegan on my bedroom wall... Oh, how I loved that guy.

Aaaaaand... here's where my dad started to get annoyed. Really though, this is not a good look for anyone. Those were my absolute FAVORITE jeans when I was about fifteen, and I wore them to school most days. They were probably a size seven and I needed a size zero. But honestly, everyone was rockin' that "boxers showing underneath your pants" look, so I really didn't look that out of place, I swear! This was also during the epitome of my Calvin Klein phase -- I'm wearing a Calvin Klein Jeans t-shirt and I probably bathed in CK One before this photo was taken. Life was very serious for me at this point... can you tell by the expression on my face?

At least I look a little happier by this point (likely freshman year of high school), but as you can see I'm still hanging onto the baggy bottom, teeny tiny top look. Except now I'm wearing overalls (yee-haw!) and apparently the ugliest shade of dark red lipstick I could find. And I can't even look at my eyebrows without cringing... Somebody get that girl to a waxer ASAP! If you look closely you can also see that I'm wearing multiple rings on every single one of my fingers. Yet I have no earrings on... Odd.

About halfway through high school I decided baggy jeans were no longer attractive, and by the time freshman year of college rolled around, I had apparently decided that the tighter and higher, the better. Good grief!! Stewart calls this style of jeans "long butt" which I think is the same thing as "mom jeans." Why, oh why, didn't someone tell me that wearing skin tight jeans up to my belly button was not a good look? Especially paired with teeny tiny tops that didn't even cover my midriff. Eyeyeye.

So there you have it... just a few "What Not to Wear" moments from the first couple decades of my life. I'd like to say that things have improved since then, but to be honest I'll probably look back at photos of myself now in about 20 years and cringe just as much as I am right now.

Live & Learn, people.

Trunk Show

After having such a great time at another Stella & Dot Trunk Show earlier this summer, Alissa and I decided to host our own.

We gathered a bunch of our best gals at Alissa's place last night for an evening of wine, appetizers, laughter, friends, and JEWELS. The event was a huge success and I've added quite a few things to my ever-growing Stella & Dot wish list.

If you missed out don't worry, you can still place an order by clicking here.

Stew and I are off to Cabo San Lucas on Sunday to spend the week with some good friends, basking in the sun and drinking our cares away. It will be a much-needed break from the stress of simultaneously buying and selling a home, and we can't wait to hit the beach. See you all soon!

Stella & Dot

Last Friday Alissa and her friend Erin hosted a Stella & Dot Trunk Show featuring bites, beverages and beautiful jewels. We got to try on the entire new fall line while drinking wine, eating yummy appetizers, and socializing with fabulous ladies. This was seriously an awesome way to end my week.

If only we got to keep all that jewelry we're sampling!

There were SO many pieces I wanted to buy, but I couldn't really justify hundreds of dollars of jewelry impulse purchasing, so I settled on a pair of earrings that I really liked... in gold, which is a big step for me! I already have so much silver, but I'd really like to start wearing gold as well, so the girls convinced me that starting with one piece and building is the way to go. Next I have my eye on a killer bangle which looked so cute with a Pyramid wrap bracelet (eegads, it's on sale!!), and I am also dying for the Luna wrap bracelet. There are about 10 other things that I'm also in love with, and I pretty much plan to start purchasing all of my Christmas and birthday gifts for people strictly from Stella & Dot. Great, just what I need, another reason to shop online, Stew is going to be so thrilled...

I think I'm going to host a Trunk Show in the fall, so be there or be square, ladies!