treasure & bond

Shirt (sold out, similar) I wear a small in their shirts and they're still generous, so buy accordingly.  // Jeans // Booties // Necklace // Tote // Sunglasses

Confession: I bought this shirt in two colors.  It's hands down the most comfortable, best fitting, softest button down shirt I've ever owned!  I'm learning that I'm a HUGE fan of this brand, Treasure & Bond.  Like, consider me officially a hoarder of all things plaid that they make.  I've got my eye on this, this, and this.  I have this already (previously see in a blog post here.)  Also THIS is adorable.

I'm done.

I swear.

(This too.)

Plaid shirts are just BEYOND easy, for mom wear.  They hide a multitude of stains, unbutton easily for nursing, and are oh-so-comfy.  These jeans are also a repeat favorite of mine - they were $19 (yeah, NINETEEN DOLLARS) at Nordstrom Rack so definitely check there if you have one locally before ordering online, because I have worn the heck out of them.  Size down too!  I'm wearing size 26 here.

pink all over

Sweater // Tank // Jeans // Pumps (identical and less expensive) // Glasses (old, but they have lots of cute new styles) // Tote (similar less expensive) 

Today's look is a lot more typical for me, day to day.  These jeans were purchased on sale an Anthropologie for less than $100, and they've more than paid for themselves by now!  The wash has this funky variation in color that acts as a hiding place for toddler handprints and nose wiping.  It's genius!  Also, they run realllllly big.  Size down once, maybe twice - these are size 25.  

As for why I'm wearing glasses, well, some kid in Claire's class had pink eye recently and although she managed to bypass it, I seem to have acquired the germs.  Feeling supppppper cute with one eye all jacked up which is probably why I'm a one pose wonder in these shots with the oh-so-bashful "looking down with my hand in my hair" happening in all three.  I just wanted to save you having to see my eye!  

On another note, I got a box of goodies in the mail this week from Dermstore, and wanted to share my favorites since they were kind enough to send it to me.  You can get your own box ($100+ worth of beauty products for as low as $12.48, which is pretty rad!) by signing up for BeautyFIX now and get free shipping at DermStore.com. 

I've tried quite a few of these boxes out, like Birchbox, and this one definitely gives the most bang for your buck as far as skincare.  

I'd heart great things about the Dr.Jart BB cream, but alas, the Garnier I usually use seems to top it, at least for me.  I'm obsessed with all things Avene (actually, make that all French pharmacy brands) and this rich moisturizing cream is no different.  My skin just felt better the morning after I used it.  

My favorite was probably the Nick Chavez shine spray - that packaging probably wouldn't have grabbed my attention offhand, but it smells amazing and made my hair crazy soft and un-frizzy on what normally would have been a messy bun day due to the rain and humidity.  I linked to these and a few other favorites in the widget below!  

*portions of this post are in collaboration with Dermstore x Shopstyle Collective, all opinions are my own

the weekender

Oh man, what a weekend!  First of all, let me start by saying that obviously this weekend was fabulous, because I got a new sister-in-law and my baby looked THIS CUTE.  But let's back it up a little bit!  (more photos of our weekend after the break, because I had trouble narrowing it down and there are a LOT.)  

Fit for Fall Charity Challenge: Who's With Me?

If you follow along with my Weekender posts, you may have noticed that September has been a crazy busy month for us.  So crazy in fact, that I've been running only three times this month.  THREE!!! It's September 21st!  That's just not okay, and let me tell you my clothes are telling me it isn't as well.  

Frankly, when I get busy and have an extra packed schedule my diet and exercise routine are the first to feel the slack, and while it's easy to rely on breastfeeding to keep me in my size, it can only take me so far.  I need to reinvigorate my motivation, so when I got my Tone It Up email this weekend and saw the Fit for Fall challenge, I knew I needed to sign up.  

Tone It Up is basically an online fitness coaching website like any other plan out there - I don't advertise for them, I just like their workouts and upbeat attitude!  You could probably compare them to a Jamie Eason or Beach Body type website.  The plus side is that all of their workouts are free, and you can't beat that.  I was getting the emails just as a way to get notified any time they had a new workout video up, but not really following their plan at all.  

And okay, I know bikini season is over, but I should pretty much do whatever they say fitness wise.  Because I mean....they look like this.  

They post a weekly workout schedule every Sunday evening and it is a commitment, but somewhat easy to follow - usually a combination of 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training to equal an hour of working out each day.  Here's the thing that really drew me into this challenge though: 

Charity Miles.  I honestly had no idea what this was, and I'm so glad I found out about it!  

Charity Miles is a GPS app you turn on when you run the record your miles.  For every mile you run, a sponsor donates to a charity of your choice (notable corporate sponsors include Johnson & Johnson, Humana, and the donation is roughly 25 cents per ran mile - more like 10 cents for biking.)  

It sounds small, but a LOT of people are joining the challenge as Tone It Up has a huge readership, and we could potentially donate a million dollars to charity if 40,000 people complete the 100 miles the challenge requires.  Crazy! And great motivation, am I right?  

You can sign up for the "Fit For Fall" #charitychallenge right here and this week's workout schedule is already posted here!  I'm getting started tomorrow, including a trip to the grocery store to revamp our cabinets.  Let me know if you decide to do it too!  I'll try to be accountable and post how it's going every once in a while, and I figure now that I've posted about it there's no going back!

Also, because I tend to be motivated by cute workout clothes, I linked a few of my favorites in the widget below!

*ps - I'm not sponsored by Tone It Up in any way whatsoever - I just decided to take this on and share it with you all so I'd be making a more public promise.  I'll also try to post any great recipes of theirs I try and love!

friday link love

(photo via here)

Can I just say how excited I am for this weekend?? (Really excited.)  

My brother in law is continuing the Hayes family tradition and marrying his high school sweetheart and I am THRILLED for them!  They're truly a perfect pair, and I'm a total sap about weddings, probably because I've seen the magic true love can create in my own life....and like whoa, that got serious fast, huh?  

Before I start getting weepy into my coffee, here are this week's favorite links!  

This was hilarious - is Socality Barbie just a parody of us all?  

YES.  This article is kind of everything.  So well written, so important for parents of girls.  

Some musings on the luxuries of motherhood (not what you might think.)  

I'm currently on sort of an obsessive hunt for the perfect sandy suede boot, and tied between these & these.  Help me pick!  

Also unsure which of these scarves I need....or both?  These are my struggles, people.  

This was so interesting!  Little bits of psychology that can be helpful in everyday life.  

I would have love love loved for this to exist when I was in college - an app that walks you home.  

Fascinating if not a bit strange - this couple lives every detail of their life like it's still the Victorian era.  

Finally, I'm not sure I could give this advice without sounding like an asshole, but it's the best I've ever read about marriage: "The wedding toast I'll never give."  

loufest day 2

 

Dress (on sale!) // Booties (Similar colors in lots of styles under $100 on this site as well!) // Sunglasses // Bag

This was my outfit for Loufest day 2!  Since it was a bit warmer for Sunday's shows, I opted for more traditional festival wear and went with a flowy Free People dress.  I can't count the number of times I've worn Free People to a music festival, it's always a solid choice to nail the boho vibe of a festival and their dresses are just so comfy and easy to dance in.  

Sam Edelman releases these booties every year and they've been my favorite for (not kidding) almost 5 years now.  They just seem to never go out of style and the low block heel makes them insanely comfortable.

I even wore them in an (embarrassingly old and hilarious) outfit post here in 2011!

loufest day 1

Shirt // Jeans // Belt // Sunglasses // Tennis Shoes // Bag

I thought I would share my outfits from Loufest on the blog this week!  While my usual festival style leans more in the direction of crop tops + cutoffs, the temperatures this weekend were only in the 60s so I had to switch it up in a major way.  This was comfy and more importantly, warm enough for the evening shows when I topped it off with a leather jacket (that of course, I forgot to include in these pics!)  

I'm pretty obsessed with these jeans - they're Gap's new "Resolution" line of denim and they really, truly don't bag out - one of my biggest pet peeves in a pair of denim.  They were also under $60 which is a total win in my book!  

the weekender/loufest edition

We had such a fun weekend these past few days - we went to Loufest music festival - St. Louis' own, and it always feels perfect that we end the season here in our town.  It was unbelievable weather, in the 60s both days and perfectly sunny!  We had promised Claire to the grandparents for the weekend, although we missed her so much!  With the amazing weather we could have taken her with us easily, and she's at one of my favorite stages ever right now, so snuggly and smiley and curious.  As I write this, she's just been dropped off at daycare by my mother and I'm counting down the hours until I get to pick her up after work.  

After my parents picked her up, we got ready and made up a pre-festival brunch.  

These were supposed to be muffins, but I'm not a grown up apparently and realized once I got the batter made up that I don't own a muffin tin.   I made a blueberry cake instead and it was still delicious!  

Obligatory pre-festival group picture, photobombed by Gatsby.  

Once we got to Forest Park, we had a little car/bar party until the first show we wanted to see.  

And that's all there is folks!  I wish I had more pictures, but it was a successful Loufest all around and I magically ended up not being too tired today.  

lace ups and leopard

Dress ($10!!) // Jacket // Shoes // Scarf // Sunglasses

This outfit is just a mash-up of all my best steals and deals from the good Labor Day sales!  Seriously, it's such a fun weekend to shop, and Lake of the Ozarks has an amazing mall (we went twice, oops!) 

Some details, because I love reviews....

This jacket runs a size big, I'm wearing an XS and it was on sale for $65!  An insane steal for something classic I'll probably wear for years to come.  Same with the dress, which is from Chinese retailer "She Inside."  Their clothes are a pretty big gamble, and while I think the quality is surprisingly awesome for a $10 dress (including shipping, crazy) it did not run tight like lots of Asian clothing does - I wish I had ordered my usual small.  That said, I see myself wearing this a lot because it's such a versatile transitional piece.  The same could be said for this scarf, which is going to be a go-to!  

I'm totally loving the trend of funky flats for this fall, and I really hemmed and hawed over purchasing these Topshop ones for a while.  In the end, they were the best quality "knockoffs" of the Aquazzurra Christie flats, which are out of my budget for something so trendy!  I love these and am totally glad I bought them, plus they're super comfy.  But size up a half size, for sure.  

Lastly, I have a serious addiction to sunglasses but these are hands down my new favorite pair - Sunglass Hut had a $40 off promo for polarized sunglasses, so Darrell and I each got a new pair and I am kicking myself for not only owning polarized sunglasses!  The clarity is unbelievable, especially with the glare on the lake.  I'm not sure I can ever go back!  

the weekender/labor day weekend

In case you had reason to fear we didn't have enough fun this weekend, let the record show that it was a perfect holiday! 

However, our last week was a whole lot of sad, bad, awful because Claire got the croup at daycare, so we were feeling pretty deserving of a break by Friday!  The poor thing had horrible trouble breathing to the point of needing a steroid shot, and we were worried sick/exhausted from being up all hours of the night and anxious as could be about her overall state.  Think lots of periods of just inconsolable crying....yeesh.  I am so grateful that she has been really healthy overall, because there's nothing worse than seeing your baby sick.  

We left for the lake mid-week and Claire felt so much better the morning we woke up there - obviously we maxed out on happy giggles and snuggles in light of her improved mood! 

We had gorgeous weather all week, so we took advantage of our built in babysitters (my parents) and had friends down for the weekend to mostly swim, sunbathe, and drink Peach Bourbon slushies on the dock.  

Cue 50687 photos of us doing just that: 

I mean, that face! 

We even got a perfect group pic!  Even if Claire was a little pissed off about wearing that life jacket....

We got back pretty early on Monday and when I was getting ready to go to the grocery store, Darrell snapped these adorable pics of Claire "helping" me get ready.  She is definitely getting into the stage of wanting to copy everything we do (which is a little scary but mostly just incredibly adorable!)  

In that same vein, Darrell sent me these pics while I was grocery shopping, and I figured that was probably the best way to end this post if my goal was to brighten your Monday-ish Tuesday.  

I hope you all had a fantastic labor day weekend too!