friday link love

Happy Friday!  We have a weekend of not much at all planned out, maybe taking Claire to the children's museum and DEFINITELY to the park, a yoga class or two, and Darrell is brewing some beer!  Basically perfection.  It is finally cooling down today after a heat wave - it was 80 degrees yesterday, Claire stripped down to a diaper and got in at the splash pad a the park, how crazy is that?!  

I'm looking forward to enjoying some cozy sweaters and hot coffee.  I hope you have a lovely couple of days!  Here are my favorite links from the past two weeks....

Every conversation between a parent and child ever.  YUP.  

Possibly the next time we're hard up for a babysitter?  

This little girl's CVS themed birthday party is amazing.  Kids are so awesome.  

Why Millennials are leaving, leaving, leaving for new jobs. 

Claire didn't care much for co-sleeping, but this amazing Ikea hack is any successful co-sleeper's dream!  

Bored at work?  Play with "The Nostalgia Machine" for a bit.  

As the mother of a very girly girl who loves all things sparkly and pink, I appreciated this essay "defending princesses."  

And last but not least, this cracked me up.  

siri says

Hey guys!  It's been so long since I've done a Siri says, I have a phone full of pictures I wanted to share that didn't really fit into a "Weekender" so get ready for some cute, some outfit details from Instagram, and well, a whole lotta randomness...

This one just killed me!  This kid is very opinionated about what she wears lately and this day she did NOT want her hair done...which is why all I managed was this top of the head ponytail.  

Randomly decided to work on my makeup a little harder this day....lipstick is Ofra cosmetics "Miami Fever" and I am obsessed with it for fall!  Also loving this hat, which goes with pretty much everything!  

Breaking it up with a super duper cute baby bath photo that obviously needed to be shared with the world.  

Over the knee boots here, dress is from Target.  

Amazing over the knee boots under $150, leggings, similar sweater, similar scarf, similar vest.  

Frye boots old, but these are current and SO similar.  

I realize my face looks WEIRD in this photo, but I'm obsessed with this hairstyle for fall.  

T swift grainy selfies and stuff..

Okay let's end with a baby in a hat, because why not.  

Hope your week is going lovely, have a happy Wednesday!  

the weekender

Can we just talk about her overjoyed face in this photo?  Slides are apparently Claire's love language. This is pretty much all we did all weekend (plus a date night dinner at The Shaved Duck.)  Playgrounds, farmer's market, so so so much walking because we could hardly stand to be inside and a trip to Ikea that helped me to reorganize our whole kitchen.  All in all, a major success.  

She would walk over to this and say "up up up!"  She has ZERO fear, and thus this may be the last time we hit up this playground, instead sticking to the age 1-4 play place at the other end of the park.  This one has too many edges for her to potentiallyd jump off of, so we both circled the entire thing or climbed with her while there.  

I need to post an updated stroller review soon!  I used to love ours, but the older she's gotten I hate that she can't sit up straight, and it doesn't steer very well with her this heavy.  And hello, strollers should last until they're like 5!  

Farmer's market apple hand pies got a solid thumbs up!  

Okay, STL fall status report ovvvvvvver and out!  

#hayesetchair - my first braid tutorial!

Hi everyone!  

Today on the blog, I'm really excited to share my very first hair tutorial.  I know I have a long way to go with my filming and editing skills, but I figured the best way to learn is to do so I just went for it!  It's so strange to post a video of myself knowing that many of you have never seen me in "live action" (and crossing my fingers you don't find my voice too terribly annoying) but I had so much fun doing this and definitely plan to do more, and better, in the future.  Let me know if you try it out and make sure to post a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #hayesetchair!  

Now, without further adieu...

#coloringclubstl

Dress (under $25!) // Plaid // Bag // Boots (very old but Frye also released this similar style) // Lipstick

Last Thursday my creative and talented friend Jess  hosted St. Louis' first "Coloring Club."  If you hadn't yet noticed the books with intricate pages lining the checkout aisles of your local bookstore, I'm here to tell you that coloring is kind of the new knitting, it seems like everyone is doing it!  She was shocked that over 250 people replied "yes!" to her e-vite and we all filled Urban Chestnut Brewery nearly to capacity to doodle and drink.  I got dressed in a 90s inspired outfit for the evening, and was excited to wear this faux-suede dress I found at TARGET (home of all things affordable and cute, right?)  I had fun incorporating autumn's grungy makeup trends with this super dark and dramatic lip.  I linked an Anastasia lipstick in the widget but this one is actually from Colourpop - a new company I'm completely in love with!  They're an LA based cosmetics company making the highest quality shadows, lipsticks, and highlighters I've ever found at their price points.  Definitely check them out!  

Darrell is quite the "artiste" and frankly his coloring sheet turned out far better than mine did, but I have to admit that I picked up a book of pretty pages also at Target and I've been filling them in bit by bit when I have a smidgen of time to myself in the evenings.  I have to admit, one of my biggest challenges since becoming a parent has been deciding what to do with the little free time I have.  Sleep?  Coloring? Blog?  Read?  Journal?  Yoga?  Running?  Zoning out in front of Netflix?  

Yeah, it's a lot of options and I usually have time for one, maybe two things each day.  Sometimes I squeeze in my "reading" with a podcast or Audible book during my commute.  I always hope that I'm not losing my ability to be well rounded and still managing to keep myself informed and involved without compromising any time I spend with Claire or Darrell.  Okay, I'm rambling now but moms, you get me right??  

the weekender

As is the tradition of all families in the fall, we went to the orchard this weekend to buy pumpkins to carve, eat kettle corn, and take home way more apple butter than we will probably ever eat.  Also, apple cider donuts, duh.  Read on for more photos of our weekend trip to Eckert's!  

I mean, that is pure happiness right there.  

This face just kills me.  

Isn't that row of trees picturesque?  I had plans to do family photos there for our potential Christmas cards, but sadly the apples that had fallen to the ground made the air reek of vinegar and Claire picked this moment to throw a tantrum AND the sun was in a really inconvenient spot so...another day?  

Playing in the stacks of pumpkins pretty much made her life though, I think.  

Then two of our dearest friends got married this weekend and threw a fantastic bash, as expected!  We had so much fun and are SO SO happy for you Jake & Cori!  

(Also, doesn't my mom look like a total babe??  Her dress was everything, and I wish you could see it better in this photo!)  

Ending on a rare photo of the two of us.  Autumn status report, ovvvvvver and out!  

friday link love

Happy Friday!  Honestly, we are starting this weekend off not with a bang because we have gone out the past two nights!! Unheard of for us, but it was a busy week with one of our favorite bands in town, a friend's event last night and then we have the wedding of some close friends Saturday, plus a trip to the pumpkin patch and YEAH!  Plenty of exciting stuff this week, and also some fun links I've collected for you so please enjoy and have a great weekend!  

Our friend's wedding is tomorrow night, and to avoid a hangover I should apparently be eating these for breakfast?

Apparently the Republican candidates can't even name two historically important American women?

This Instagram had me completely in stitches the other day.

Crystal Rose did an amazing DIY floral canopy for her daughter's bedroom that I am just itching to try for Claire....and let's be real, possibly myself as well.

The best wine for every type of temper tantrum.

This poem about being a refugee completely broke my heart.

This map will help you plan your fall travels by letting you know where the leaves are at their best!  (Oh, and sorry Floridians.)

This walk thru is kind of amazing for those of us who forget to take care of ourselves sometimes (coming from a mom who once let herself get "severely dehydrated" for absolutely no reason other than that I was too busy to drink water. Yeesh.)

leather, suede, fur

Sweater // Leggings // Boots // Vest (similar) // Bag 

There are a ton of textures in this outfit, more than I would usually mix together, but I had a suspicion that it may all work if I kept them all in black (although Darrell would tell you there may have been an excess of trips from the closet to the mirror and back.)  I know this is the ringing chorus of all blogs right now, but I'm loving the cooler temps, it's making it so much more fun to get dressed!  

I hope you are all having a fabulous week!  

xo

Mary