You can now find all of my adventures over at Nash and Russo. As I begin shifting into my new business, I felt it was time to for a new name, and a new place to grow and share. Can’t wait to see you there!
4 Months
I still feel like we juuuuust brought the Cub home, but here over 1/4 of the year has passed! In other ways, it feels like he’s been here forever. In the last few weeks, Cubby has really taken off. He’s nearly twice his birthweight (8lbs 1 oz to 15 lbs 13 oz), which is not at all surprising since I feel like he just eats all day long. Actually, these days he spends more and more time playing in his baby jungle gym, rolling over from his stomach to his back (still working on back to stomach), watches his older brother with great focus and concentration, and smiles, giggles, and desperately tries to talk. He likes to hang out in his swing, watch the ceiling fan whirl around. He’s sleeping in his own room finally (now that we don’t have a steady stream of houseguests to occupy it), and we’re slowly creating art to decorate it with art projects we created just for him . He sleeps through the night too! I do not sleep through the night since around 2:30 every morning he stirs enough to realize he’s lost his pacifier and usually need a diaper (if not full outfit) change. Overall though, he’s a super chill little dude.
We took him on a long car ride and trip away from home for Easter to meet my Grandma for the first time, and he performed wonderfully. Patiently enduring being in a new place and being passed around and fussed over by new people. The Bear takes to that well too, but he’s used to being spoiled with love and chocolate by his grandparents. Speaking of the Bear, he oscillates between totally ignoring the Cub to coming over and giving him kisses and high fives. Despite his ambivalence, if I am in another room and Cubby starts crying, the Bear comes running to me and declares, “Mom! Cubby needs help! He needs chomp!”, or if Cub gets upset during a car ride, Bear will chirp up, “It’s ok, Cub, it’s OK.” Which is sweet and melts my heart and makes up for the multitude of challenges these two hand me throughout the day.
Over the last four months we’ve really adjusted to being a family of four. We do our best to make the most of this time because we know it will be short lived. We know that our kids will always love us, but may not shower us with their smiles and kisses and declarations of it as they get older. I would slow this time down ever so slightly if I could, but instead I’m just learning to be ok with a messier house, unfolded laundry, and cluttered table tops. Like all things, this too shall pass.
Friday Favorites
We got a little taste of summer yesterday, and as you can see, the Bear totally loved it. My mom stopped by for a visit bearing gifts of baby formula and this Little Tykes water table (made in the USA!), which Bear calls “waterfall” and wants to play with it regardless of the weather. He’s totally a water baby, just like his Mama. We’ve got some adventures lined up soon, but in the meantime, this little table has been great for getting our dude outside and running around. Also, the Cub is totally fascinated by it.
Here’s a great article on A Beautiful Mess about prime lenses and focal lengths for you budding DSLR photographers.
Oh no! Turns out I’ve been doing planks wrong this whole time.
Amy cleaned out her closet, and you totally can too!
Love, love, love, that Kaela over at Local Kitchen is injecting some science and good ol’ fashioned logic into the great sugar war.
I also love the inside of couture dresses. Here’s a pic of Dita Von Teese’s Zac Posen gown from the Met Gala.
So glad to see Wendy Mullin is still making awesome clothes.
Have you visited Mother yet? It’s a new project from James of Bleubird and journalist Katie Hintz-Zambrano for stylish moms like me (and you!)
Have a fantastic weekend!
xo, S.
Wardrobe Architect: Week 12
Week 12 of Wardrobe Architect was probably posted a month ago, but it coincided with what felt like the busiest month of the year so far. This week we’re talking about accessories, which are pretty much my favorite. As I’ve gone through these exercises over the past few months, I think it’s pretty obvious that I like to keep my style really simple. I want my closet to be filled with classic pieces that I can wear year round by changing up the layers. Of course, that can get a little boring sometimes, so I keep everything fresh with accessories. From a maker stand point, I love accessories because they are almost always quick and easy projects to execute. From a consumer standpoint, I look at my accessories as investment pieces. Your clothes may not always fit but your bags, scarves, and shoes usually will. Accessories are also way more portable than clothes, and as someone who has to move every 3 years, they make the packing process a little easier.
Accessories can be a little dangerous though. It’s really easy to just walk into any fast fashion store and get everything from scarves to earrings to shoes for under $20 a piece and the next thing you know, you’ve got a closet full of uncomfortable shoes and a box full of earrings that make your lobes itch every time you wear them. Their low price point makes them attractive to folks who want to try out trends but don’t want to drop a lot of coin doing so, and as a result we have landfills full of this poorly made crap. Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox because I am totally guilty of having tons of crappy shoes and costume jewelry, ect ect. In recent years, I have gotten rid of most of those cheaper things and started to favor buying quality pieces that will last for years. To that end, last summer I noticed that I’m missing a lot of staples, like a nice pair of dressy sandals, a good leather tote, and some lightweight cotton scarves for nights like tonight where it’s cool, but not wooly cool. So, this year I’m investing in my accessories. This means nicer shoes, leather handbags, and some lightweight scarves. I’m going for things that I really love and will keep and wear for years to come.
The scarf in the lede photo is from Blockshop Textiles. I had spotted it on a couple of blogs before Christmas, and it was definitely on my wish list, but I wasn’t quite ready to commit to the price tag. Then it sold out, and I realized that I missed out on a really great piece that I would get so much use out of. It came back and then sold out again almost immediately. Finally, around my birthday it was available for preorder and I pounced. Blockshop hand prints these scarves in India and each one is little unique. I love mine, and now that their spring collection is out, I may have my sites set on another great pattern. The belt is from Banana Republic back when I worked there, and it’s hiding a multitude of postpartum body sins. I’ve also become a big fan of wearing glasses. I’ve gotten my last 3 pairs from Warby Parker (I’m wearing the Linwood). I have two that I switch out from time and time, and I’m thinking of getting a pair of sunglasses.
I also recently bought this tote from Annie Williams. I love it! It’s similar to one Madewell makes, but the leather has a beautiful hand, and it has a zipper. It was definitely my major accessory purchase for the year and I know I’ll have it forever and ever.
Friday Favorites
This week has definitely felt like it disappeared before it ever started. That happens when you start it off by traveling. We took a short vacation to visit my dad in North Carolina for Easter where we ate lots of chocolate and barbecue and homemade doughnuts. I immediately ran to Costco when we got back to load up on greens and veggies. Our CSA starts in about a week, and we’re super excited for all the experimentation it will bring to our kitchen. This weekend we’re planning some major spring cleaning. Now that we’ve been in this house for a while, we see several areas where we can streamline, reduce clutter, and implement better storage. I can’t wait for DB to get home so we can chow down on nachos and get things moving around here.
All this spring cleaning has triggered a big itch to do some DIY projects around the house (I made the blue pillow cover in the photo above). In my stolen moments, I’ve been watching classes on Creativebug and Craftsy, as well as dreaming about the links below.
Design Sponge offered up this simple and beautiful tutorial on fabric covered photo mats that I love.
Sharpie paint pens + terra cotta pots = genius!
Grainline Studio featured a tutorial on how to mod her Scout T-shirt to look like this Madewell denim t. I love it because it goes hand in hand with fashion revolution day (which was yesterday).
A house full of tiny bears totally calls for some Bear string art.
Brooklyn Tweed just released Wool People 7. I love the beautiful simplicity of this scarf. Also, chevrons!
Colette Patterns released their Guide to Sewing with Knits, and two lovely new patterns. I’m pretty excited to make myself a pencil skirt.
Hope you have a creative weekend!
xo, S.
Wardrobe Architect: Weeks 10 & 11
I feel like the further I get into Wardrobe Architect, the more clothes I find myself pulling out of my closet to get rid of (maybe I’ll get around to photographing them and getting them up on Threadflip this weekend). Even though I like to think I maintain a minimalist closet, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I have some magpie tendencies that drag my eye and my wallet towards details and silhouettes that are beautiful but just not me for one reason or another. Amongst the things I’ve pulled out of the closet, there is lace (totally not me), dirndl skirts (so not flattering), and other experimental pieces either in shape, hemline, or color that I could just never get to work. I definitely won’t miss their absence in my closet.
For week 10, we revisited the palettes we made in week 6. I kind of already did this in the week 9 exercise, where I decided to focus my spring and summer wardrobes with crisp white, black, heather grays, navy, and red. It occurred to me that the palette is a bit nautical, but I don’t intend to go out in lots of stripes and bateau tops. I’m going for a more active, comfortable mom look than a preppy yacht club one. I plan on sticking with this and maybe adding lighter shades of blue to the mix. So this week, we’re talking about what clothes we want to make or buy based off the silhouettes and color palettes of the preceding weeks.
For the most part, I created my capsule collection based off things I already have in my wardrobe. I’d love to make myself a new skirt and some tops, but given that my size is a still a variable, I don’t really want to spend the time or materials on making things that won’t fit in a few months. I have bought a vintage denim wrap skirt (adjustable waist is key!), and I’ll likely one or both of the shirts pictured above. I’m also on the prowl for dark brown leather sandals (Any suggestions? I haven’t found any that have really wow-ed me yet). I’m really loving these eyelet dresses from Madewell and Boden, but I’m not sure about those dirndl skirts, or the expense, or the size…hoping for a big end of season sale on one of them.
Lately
Since the end of February when DB had to go on an exercise for a few weeks, things have been a complete and utter whirlwind. It’s been a constant slog of both of us working, a revolving door of parents coming in to help, working out, and doing our best to spend as much time hanging out with the kids at the cost of leaving the house in a pretty messy state. I hear this is normal for parents of young children, but that doesn’t always make me feel better about the piles of laundry in our bathroom and all the bread and cereal crumbs around the house. What I really miss right now is having time for creative pursuits. My sewing machine is buried under stuff. A sweater I started in January hasn’t been touched in 6 weeks. I did manage to eco out about 15 minutes to play guitar on Sunday, and I really enjoyed that. Luckily, we’re headed towards a break from all this in the next couple weeks. Time to get some serious spring cleaning done, but more importantly, get outside and enjoy these warmer but not oppressively hot days.
These photos were all taken with my iPhone and most had a little help from VSCOcam (favorite app!)
bro time // i cobbled this outfit together to go to a work fundraiser // do you like my hat?// a window in Georgetown // sweet face for mom mom // along the Potomac // dress blues day at work // dimples! // sunday morning // we went on a date. i wore new shoes // a rare moment of calm
Friday Favorites
Another whirlwind couple of weeks has just FLOWN by. We’re taking a break starting this month, regrouping as a family, taking a little road trip, and generally just doing our best to go outside and enjoy the weather before the oppressive humidity and crazy bugs start showing up. Oh spring, you are such a brief but lovely window. Hope you’re warming up and getting some much needed air wherever this weekend finds you.
This article is exactly why I’m not concerned about how long it will take to lose weight, but instead focused on adopting and keeping healthy habits for me and my family.
Rashida Jones has natural beauty down pat.
I want to visit Victoria Smith’s San Francisco.
Also, Paris!
Made a version of this pizza a couple days ago…perfection!
How utterly gorgeous are these embroidered portraits?
I haven’t had much opportunity to knit recently, but obviously I should. This is your brain on knitting.
Tintypes on found cans. So beautiful.
Mint and red is always a favorite.
Have a great weekend!
xo, S.
Wardrobe Architect: Week 9
This week the gals are all talking about creating capsule collection. For me, this translates to the foundation pieces that create the building blocks for the rest of my wardrobe. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know at this point that I love my basics. I like to keep my wardrobe concise and augment it with colorful accessories like scarves, jewelry, bags and shoes. When I worked in retail I was surrounded by clothes and I bought them all the time. I always had too much, and I always was wearing the same 3 skirts, 1 pair of jeans, and layered v-neck t shirts every day. Now that I’ve moved away from that life, and grown up a bit, I really see the value in investing in high quality, reliable basics. When it comes to things like jeans and t-shirts I strive to buy American made because you can really find great quality made by folks who are paid fairly and care about what they do. It’s easy to run to your big box retailer and buy 10 shirts for $5 a pop, but we all know they don’t last and if it only cost you $5, think about what it cost the person who made it…yikes. Ok, stepping down from the podium.
I really enjoyed this week’s exercise because it gave me some pause to think about what I want to buy and how I truly want my wardrobe and myself to look. My body is still going through a major transition, so I’m not likely to invest in too many pieces for at least another 5-6 months, but for now I think it’s important to dress the body I have, and still look and feel good about myself, even while going through this phase.
Truth be told, I hate summer (though, I’d like a break form the frigid cold!). We live in a terribly humid place and summer signals the return of flies in the house, ants in the kitchen, black widow spiders in the back yard, and that really special feeling of walking out of your house and getting smacked in the face with a really dirty sauna. Ugh. And since I’m a gal who likes to layer and is not a huge fan of shorts, this can be a challenging time for me. So, I kept things really easy. 3 silhouettes. Cropped leggings with loose and layered tanks, Slim fitting cropped jeans with a tomboy style plaid shirt and Vans, and a full skirt with a crisp white t-shirt and strappy sandals.
I also kept the color palette in with my favorite heather grey, black, and crisp white combo with red accents. I do so love red, but I can always trade it out for something else bold. I’d bring in color more with cotton scarves and a bold handbag.
I mentioned a few weeks ago not being a fan of super loose or boxy clothes, but in this case I like things that will show my shape without feeling clingy. I also, tried to think about things I already have and like wearing for summer, like my lighter weight Vans, cropped leggings, and ribbed tanks. I’ll also be cycling through my old jeans as I fit into each smaller size. So now that just leaves me to buy some looser tanks (I really love this one), a short sleeve shirt, and a full denim skirt which I’m hoping to either find a nice vintage one or find some time to make one myself.
So there you have it, a nice little collection to build off of as the weather (hopefully) turns away from the polar vortex and (unfortunately) into the sweat vortex.
Walking Around: Satellite Beach, FL
Since my aunt departed so abruptly from our lives, mourning her has been a process that occurs in bits and pieces. Like early in the morning when the Cub is doing something quiet and I take a picture and then she’s not around to “like” it on Facebook. Tiny things, small moments, that I wish I could still share with her. When I was 12 she moved to Florida, a dream she had talked about as long as I could remember, finally realized. She lived in Satellite Beach on the space coast. A sleepy town that housed snow birds during the winter, but was also full of vibrant locals and lots of karaoke. Maybe not the most exciting place for me to visit, especially as I moved into my 20s, but still interesting and beautiful in its way. I always loved to take walks along the beach early in the mornings, or during the evenings, watching rockets take off from the Kennedy Space Center, and sitting by myself at dusk and watching the waves roll in and out. I was hoping I’d get to take one more stroll on the beach when I went down to say goodbye for the last time, but the weather was not cooperative. Instead, I managed to take in a few miles of the main road during sunset.
Plaid Skirt 