Living in Salt Lake City, we have so many easy and fun places to take athena to just run around and be outside. There is no shortage of parks but we also have places like the Tracy Aviary within Walking distance.
A few weekends ago we walked over to the Aviary which is situated on the perimeter of the already massive Liberty Park. We especially like the Aviary because it's free admission for teachers and little ones so it cost under ten bucks for the whole family to visit.
Since I knew we were going to walk I wore this comfy outfit with sneakers to get us there. I love this ruffled top (down to just $19 right now) and bought it primarily for work but tried it out layered under my new favorite shortalls, and it totally worked. Totally made them feel a little more grown-up.
And just a little FYI, I did not put Athena in a Kate Spade dress to go to the aviary. this was her church outfit and anyone who knows what its like to fight an 18 month old in and out of an outfit knows it just ain't worth the wardrobe change.
Bed is my bestie! I love my bed, my beautiful king-sized bed. Always have. But now I dream of it. Count down the hours and minutes 'til I get to dive in there and close my eyes. It's my own little slice of heaven. That is, until the alarm goes off at 5 AM. Ugh.
Have good friends who get it and get you. Don't waste your time on anyone who doesn't think you are awesome, wonderful, smart and special and you think the same of them. I love my friends and think they are pretty much the coolest people around and I'm lucky to have so many women I look up to and can count on.
Being a working mom is hard. Like, really hard. I feel like I hit the ground running for hours even before the baby is awake and then I'm go-go-go all day until well after she goes to bed. And moms who teach little children is like next-level momming, in my opinion. You leave your own kid to go care for 30 other kids, and then go back and get your kid. It's a whole day of various children in need of your constant guidance and attention. It sucks you emotionally dry in a way I can't explain. Luckily, I love being a teacher or I would find myself a job where I got to sit down for more than two minutes at a time.
Comfort takes on a whole new meaning. There are sweatpants, and then there are your comfy pants. You know what I mean? The ones you would pick over all the others. They may even be really ugly (I know mine are) but sometimes you need to take it up a notch to mega comfort when your days are nonstop movement, and you want to come home and put on your best and coziest. I am kind of a snob about my lounge wear this year and as you may have seen on my Insta stories, adult onesies are my jam. Two pieces that topped this list this year are these two variations of the same thermal shirt, crew neck and cowl. I may even be wearing one right now. Shout-out to my Ugg slippers that are ugly as eff but so comfy I sometimes accidentally wear them out in public.
I have enough stuff. This is one I have been working on and plan to continue working on. We really want Athena to not grow up in a house full of clutter so we do a really good job of limiting her toys and the amount of new stuff we bring in. I want to work on this for myself too. I am at a point where I kind of have all the things that I really need, so as for new gadgets, furniture and even clothes, it feels unnecessary. I am trying to be really thoughtful of any more clothing purchases I make. It does make blogging a little harder because I won't have a bunch of new clothes to show you but when you do see me buy/rave about something, you know it's something I really value. Like this sweater jumpsuit I'm wearing in the post that I literally wore out of the package!
On that same note, THANK YOU to everyone who reached out to me this year about appreciating how real and honest I set out to be. I really do value my integrity as a blogger and will never sell you on something just to make money. I love that you guys trust my recommendations because you see me using the things I recommend day in and day out and know I actually stand behind them. I love this space and I'm so happy you all come back for more, even if it takes me a month and a half to put up a new blog post. Thanks for being real right along side me!
Happy fourth of July! It also just so happens this is the day that my Athena Boo turns 8 months old too. As you can tell from the pictures she is beyond thrilled to be taking pictures with her mama...
I decided today would be a pretty great day to give you all an update on this crazy baby!
1. We are pretty sure we are about a million more times fond of her than she is of us. She is not a snuggly baby and we joke that she is only lukewarm on her own parents. Even though she's an independent lady, this does not stop us from giving her a million kisses a day! Her personality ought to be interesting to see how it plays out in daycare.
2. She also doesn't seem to give much thought to other babies. As I mentioned before, I take her to Little Gym classes so I can get her acclimated to other kids and adults. She's always the first to want to leave circle time and get to climbing! Now THAT is her jam! She always leaves the circle and goes to the parallel bars and waves at the people in the circle like "hey suckers, this is where the real fun is!" It's actually pretty funny.
3. She is incredibly strong and determined. She can pretty much do any of the climbing tasks independently at Little Gym and anything that involves jumping or hanging! She's like a tiny body builder and she ain't got time to chit-chat with other babies! Once she learns a skill she is dead-set on learning the next! I am in shock of the things she can do and accomplish, daily.
4. She said "Mama" last Sunday and this weekend said "Papa" and it melts our hearts! When she talks it looks like she has a mouth full of marbles and it's adorable! She's very good at mimicking what we say or feeling our mouths and watches them move to practice making sounds.
5. She loves to talk with her grandpa on Facetime and does her signature wave to him through the phone all the time.
6. She can climb the entire staircase by herself, and really quickly too might I add! She started this at about 7 months and hasn't looked back. Don't worry, we are always right behind her.
7. She loves to make out with herself in the mirror or in her reflection of the dishwasher or stove and it cracks me up every single time!
8. She is not exactly a smiley baby as you can see in these pictures. Seriously, getting her to smile in a picture is pretty hard. But she is really silly and makes us laugh all day long.
9. She appreciates her sleep and always sleeps a solid 12 hours at night. However the last week she has been trying to only take one nap a day and it is exhausting keeping up with her all day! She is just way too into living life!
10. She loves to watch her mama get ready. watching me brush my hair and then brush her hair is a morning ritual. She stares at me when I put on makeup and get dressed. This gives me hope that I have a future shopping buddy and spa partner on my hands.
I have the tendency to unintentionally dress us alike. It's happened on several occasions where I haven't noticed till strangers in public are like "Aww, how cute, you match!" Then I look down and realize we are both in stripes.
This outfit matching was intention and her outfit was one of the very few clothing items I bought before she was born. I remember seeing this little gingham Gap romper on lots of my friends kids last summer and loving it so much I just had to get it.
My top is only $21 and my jeans are MAGIC! Honestly, I am in love with these jeans. The pockets have flaps made in that attach all the way to the zipper and hold you in in all the right places. My girlfriend Briana told me about them 5 months ago after she had her baby and I'm not sure what took me so long to go try them on. Needless to say, we both think they are the perfect mom jeans and they smooth out that dreaded "mom pooch" like magic!
After talking with some of my non fashion obsessed yet still totally-down-for-a good-online-shopping-bender friends, I discovered that many of them have either never had heard of Shopbop or simply thought it was full of stuff that was way out of their price range.
Turns out even a teacher on a budget like myself can afford a Shopbopshopping spree, so I'm guessing you can too!
Pictured below are some of my favorite brands that Shopbop offers at surprisingly affordable prices.
By the way, I love searching the sale section with the filter set to "priced low to high" by clothing category! You can really find some great deals that way! Especially the handbags!
Adia Kibur: Most pieces ring in at just around and some quite under $100 which isn't much for a statement piece you can wear forever!
Baggu: I mean who doesnt love a quality leather clutch that comes in classic shades as well as brights that ring in at just $54!
Madwell: Yep, THAT Madewell! the one you know and love but always sells out in store of that item you have your hearth set on! It's here for you to shop as well!
Last week I went to the Madewell Spring Preview event. It was hosted by the adorable Liz, who blogs over at Sequins and Stripes, who was just the sweetest ever!
While shopping the racks, I always tend to gravitate towards the sale items. I tried a few on and they just weren't doing anything for me. To my surprise, a very well-placed table of leggings jeans were right outside my dressing-room door, where I spied these almost-to-dark-to-be-considered-jeans pair of legging jeans.
I thought to myself that they were just un-jeanlike enough that I could get away with wearing them on days other than just casual Fridays. They were just too good and too incredibly soft to pass up. Of course they had to be full price, but with the event discount I got them for 20% off.
If you are in the market for some super-comfy legging jeans that actually have a high enough waistband that you can squat down with confidence, you should get over to Madewell and try these on!
OK people, put your sunglasses on because it's about to get bright in here!
Any chance I can, I wear my pink soulmate of a jacket: my J. Crew Symphony jacket!
I planned to wear it to dinner with my husband but then realized I had no pink anywhere else in the outfit. So I added pink shoes to the mix... and a necklace with pink accents... and pink lips, and that is how a really neutral outfit became very "Jill appropriate!"
Lately at work it's become so cold I almost feel like I should be wearing my coat indoors. In fact it even came to that one day last week! So the very next day I wore some creative light layering that didn't look bulky but still had enough layers to stay warm. This is the result of a blazer-layering-strategy-dress-up party I had the night before! A few more layered concoctions are coming soon!
On a recent trip to Madewell I fell in love with this Parisienne Storyteller Scarf . This tends to happen whenever I go in that store! Their scarves are beautiful, unique and of such amazing quality. I hoped there would be a sale and I wouldn't be subjected to pay full price for my new love.
And then there behind a scarf rack was a sign for 25% off! True love? Oui!
Boots: Ivanka Trump
Leggings: TNA via Aritzia (my favorite leggings EVER!!!)
I do not have Hunger Games fever but I do look like a girl on fire in this outfit, just like Katniss. And since a coworker of mine is pretty much obsessed with the books, even time I looked at her in all her Hunger Games gear it was easy to think of a name for this post!
I really haven't worn this necklace in a long while. I feel like I've been seeing variations of it all over the place lately and decided to give it a comeback since its been in my collection for a few years now.
I was very happy to finally wear my new J Crew "perfect shirt" because lets face it, the name says it all. I got this on major sale a couple weeks back but it's been so hot I waited to wear until I was drowning in AC at my new school! It truly was perfect!
