white picket fence

february recap

Let's not talk about how it's already March 8 and I'm still talking about February, okay? Oookay. 

A little shopping. For as many tops or skirts I have from Anthropologie, I've never been able to find a dress there that actually fits, is flattering, and seems worth the 3 digit price tag. I did end up with a cute sweater though. 

Thrifted sheet fabric, soon to be part of some new art journal packs in my etsy shop. 

I assigned myself some memory work as part of my Lenten daytime internet fast, something to take up time I usually spend online. A psalm a week seemed like a doable amount but I'm behind already. My confirmation memory skills have obviously declined since I was 13. 

Kids on the Amtrak on our way to Minneapolis. Our weekend there was so fun, we enjoyed walking around downtown, and of course seeing all my family at the wedding was fantastic. Oh, my family! All so funny and quirky and comforting to be around. I wish we didn't live so far away. (I do highly recommend Amtrak for medium-length trips with little kids. It was amazingly better than being stuck in the car for 8 hours, and you know David just went nuts for it.)

One, or rather two, downers about the trip: I took most of my photos on my iPod. . . . which I left on the train on the way home. Bummer. And we're pretty sure Mike's iPod was stolen sometime in the train station. Bad weekend for our family's technology collection. 

My paper Valentine's Day garland, which was left up for weeks after Valentine's Day. I really liked it though. And guess what? I'm an adult, I own this place, and I can do whatever I want. Boom! to that. 

why i love fashion blogs but could never actually be a fashion blogger

Starting in January, I decided to take a, more or less, daily self-portrait. This started out as part of a Project Life / scrapbooking thing that I think I am probably abandoning. (I admit to being terrible at following or obeying directions, and I have bad attention span and not great follow through, so a year-long scrapbook project is probably not for me.) Either way, it's been an interesting challenge and diversion for me, so I'm hoping to continue it for a while. 

At one time I read a LOT of fashion blogs. The numbers have dwindled a little bit but I still love a lot of daily wardrobe / what I wear kind of websites. Like a lot of other ladies I know, a small part of me always thinks "oh man, how awesome would it be to become a popular fashion blogger and have people send me free dresses and shoes? How hard could it be to take a few pictures of yourself every day?"

And, as it turns out. . . it's kind of hard.  I always feel like a weirdo taking my own photo. Like, GIANT weirdo. There is no way around feeling totally goofy while doing this. How do people that post photos of themselves every single day not feel like just a giant toolbox, seriously? 

So here are some of my shots from late January / early February. Please note that I only took a photo if I put on a decent outfit. Days of wearing gym clothes all day or bumming around the house in super holy jeans are not pictured. 

I love that chambray dress but seeing in a photo. . . oh man it is not that flattering. 

Realization: I wear a lot of navy and white striped shirts, or plaid shirts. My color palette stays the same too: gray, blue, red, brown. 

 

Oh, hi David. And my favorite bird sweater that MIke got me for Christmas!!

Norah makes an appearance too. Also, I think I look like a headache medication model in the second photo, but really I was just trying to think of something. 

So there's my little tiny foray into the world of fashion blogging. If I find the stamina to keep up with this project, I'll share more of these as the months go on. If you'd like to check out others, I'll suggest my two favorites right now: What Would a Nerd Wear and To Be Worn. 

sunday in the park (a steppin' out saturday post)

I've been meaning to link up on one of Mandy's Steppin' out Saturday posts for a while, and she's doing a giveaway this week. . .so that was the little nudge I needed. 

Yesterday afternoon we all headed out to a park nearby. Cantigny Gardens was the estate of some old rich guy that was really into war, so it's a really beautiful park and gardens. . . filled with old World War 2 artillery and tanks. It's weird but the perfect place to take little kids. David had a blast and Norah slept through the whole thing (too bad because her cute little face is missing from all these photos. Babies! What can you do?)

I'll most likely be wearing a variation of this outfit for the next three months straight. That striped t shirt is from Anthropologie and I'd wear it every day, except I don't really want to look like a obsessive weirdo. I stalked that J. Crew cardigan until it went on sale last winter. Boots are my beloved Fryes. 

My favorite shot of the day.

Look, a corn! (dumb family joke) Also, I painted my nails! Somewhat poorly, but whatever. Target had some of the newest Essie polishes that are sold out online so I couldn't resist.

We had a truly great weekend overall, lots of quality family togetherness. Church, farmers market, long walks. . . our storybook little suburban life. The weather was beautiful, I cooked lots of good food, and the kids were great, well, for the most part anyway. ;)

How was your weekend?