favor? and fashion smashion

first off- a little bird told me about a voting going on for the Top 25 Mom Photogs.
i'm no pro- but i love taking pictures & i'd be honored if you feel that i'm worthy of voting for.



so if you feel so led- clicky the button & then click Vote next to my entry. click 1x per day for the next 7 days! gracias!
(i'll put it in my sidebar)

and moving on:
i'll be the first to admit that i don't put a whole lot of thought into what i throw on in the mornings.

it's clean. it fits. it's on.

however, i wouldn't say i'm a complete ignoramous when it comes to fashion. i do have an idea of what's "in" these days & i know where to go to purchase these things.
but i am incredibly lazy & terribly cheap. not a good combination for a fashionista.

i guess than even bigger issue is that i think most of the "in" things are simply terrible (to me). i'm not a fan of chunky heels & wedges. i can't stand super flowy tops, tons of flowers & excessive ruffles. i also dislike jewelry & weird looking belts.

and don't even get me started on random vintage finds. i mean, my God. i'm down with vintage- it can be cute & classic- but some of the stuff people wear in the name of vintage leaves me scratching my head (not to mention my eyes).

i'm pretty sure that gold brocade grandma skirt wasn't cool 30 years ago & it sure as hell isn't cool now.

and then lets move on to 97% of the items in the Urban Outfitters catalogue.
cropped t shirts? denim tank tops? mom shorts? what?
here's an example- 6 outfits that i found via the UO website:




w.t.f.

did i miss a memo somewhere? and none of these items are below $35. wrap your heads around that.
i'd usually say to each their own- but really?!

and i guess the final issue is that many of the things out there that ARE super cute & awesome simply don't look good on me.

i'm short. currently top heavy (mommy milk). weirdly skinny in some places. weirdly not skinny in others. not oozing the aura of effortless awesome.

some people can wear anything. i am not one of those people.

BUT- i'm trying. i'm trying to look like a presentable member of fashion society.
i'm not on the fast track to being in the top 25 fashionable mom's circle or anything- but at least i won't be on the "People of Wal Mart" website with fupa inducing mom jeans & an animal print tank top.
i'd love to be able to outfit myself in threads from Anthropologie & J Crew. but hello- i have bills to pay.
thankfully i'm a fan of the more affordable H&M & Target. and when i get a mind to brave the warzone- Marshall's & TJ Maxx give up a few gems as well.

as for online stores- ModCloth & Ruche are pretty swell- but again, i'm a cheapo & $34 for a top still kind of makes me balk.

however- on Mon i did manage to throw together an outfit that i was proud of & didn't break the bank.




top: Marshall's: $14.99
shorts: Converse (Target): $25
flip flops: so old i don't even know

not bad if i say so myself. the top is flowy but not pregnant esq. the short are linen & SO comfy. and the flip flops are so broken in that i could happily wear them to bed.

now- i'm not saying i'm fashionable & everyone else is not. because that would be a straight up falsehood.
i'm just stating that i'm going to try my very best to dress like a decent human being again in the hopes to once again feel young...or at least not older than i really am.

but until that time, here are a list of very fashionable ladies that make it look easy:
- miss james (she makes things- that i would never in a million years consider wearing- look good)
- mandy (everyday friendly attire)
- nienie (i'm pretty sure 75% of her wardrobe is c/o Anthro. jealous)
- kelle (i think we all know who kelle is. and i know i want to hate her for her perfect post baby body)
- melissa (she looks perfect always. always)

and those are just a handful. there is nice little listing found here: fashionable moms
and when i have a minute i like to go & get ideas...

i won't lie- even after getting inspired i usually wind up throwing on my trusty jeans & knit tee. but it's the thought that counts- right?

whirlwind weekend

what. a. weekend.

it was jam packed with awesome.
from a saturday at home (just the girls & i), to father's day @ the Roger William's Zoo, to Rita's, to an awesome GTG in Boston on Monday- so much fun.

i'll break it down for you though- let's focus on the GTG from Monday (which'll give me another day to finish editing the Zoo pics)

thanks to the internet i've met some pretty awesome people in my lifetime.

back in the day, i also met some less than stellar peeps guys who probably had my parents praying that they wouldn't have to put my face on a "Have You Seen This Girl?" poster (p.s. not every guy in a band is hot. and most of them don't have jobs or cars.
but that's neither here not there. )


anyway- back to the awesome people part. 4 years ago, while struggling to get pregnant i found myself relating to a group of women on thebump.com.

all of us barren. all of us bitter. all of us in need of something to take our minds off of what we could not have. so we banded together & became fast friends.

since that time the majority of us have had the babies we craved & then some. also, instead of drifting apart we've become even closer. i think it has to do with the fact that we're all very, very real.

real. honest. blunt. logical. loyal. loving. bitchy. snarky. hilarious. ridiculously good looking. good at making cute babies. obsessed with bacon.

to sum it up: all of the above qualities put together = super powers. and to have super powers you have to be a super hero woman. and to be a super woman you have to be really hot. and have great boobs.

so yeah. we kick ass. and 1x per year we get together for an epic B-town time.
this year we dragged our lovely littles (and one husband) to the Children's Museum in Boston.

one of us had twin girls & a hand out of commision. another had a toddler melting down + a squirmy bebe (um, that would be me). another, a child hell bent on escaping. and etc etc,

but being awesome, we made it work.
- while i toted alex back & forth to the bathroom (amidst her melt down), my ladies swooped in & took care of brynn.
- i changed several poopy diapers- and some of them didn't belong to my girls.
- noses were wipes. faces were washed.
- snacks were shared & fights over grapes & goldfish ensued.
- homemade french macarons with nutella filling induced comas were had (you're welcome)
- lunch @ Flour was purchase & consumed & shared.
- pictures were taken (mamarazzi style).
- little girls shrieked, played, hit, hugged, giggled, fell, cried, helped, shared, stole- the works.

it was amazing. and tiring. and a little sticky- but mostly amazing.
and we have forever proof & memories in the way of pictures.
enjoy:



this was the best group shot.





perhaps the children..?



FAIL! (lol @ brynn)






mamma love time.



the one brave dad (he thinks we're all "weirdos" because we're interwebz friends. psha)








this cup made it's rounds. it holds the spit of pretty much every little girl in attendance.



nemo goes everywhere








tis' not a cage...but i can dream. wait, what?!



alex did not want to leave the bathroom. kid level sinks = euphoria.




the mamarazzis.

fin. (you can see all the fun on my flickr page)

seriously the best day ever. the count down begins for next year's epic gathering. so. much. estrogen. ha!

oh, you want to see those french macarons i mentioned? (the recipe'll be up in my food blog pronto)




get in my bellah.


via Instagram

what a way to end the day.

it's time

i strive for structure. i love schedules. i have a way of doing things.

usually (during the week) this involves: getting up, going to work, getting home from work, feeding the girls, bathing the girls, getting things ready for the next day, playtime, bedtime.

most days, all of the above is completed by 6:30 (minus bedtime) and i sit back & sigh.
yes- there may have been some tantrums & screaming but at least everything is how it should be & i'm on time.

go me.

but lately i've come to the realization that my schedule isn't do or die. for example:
i got home yesterday & the girls were in their swimsuits. but the swimsuits were dry.

KB (our nanny) informed me that the plan was to spend the afternoon swimming- but alex had slept until 4 & they hadn't gotten a chance. so they were ready to go out now.

ok, cool! wait...what?!

swimming @ 4:30 was NOT on the schedule. 4:30 is dinner time!

i stood there (rather stupidly) with my mind racing.
"it's 4:30 now. then 5:15, 5:47, 6:10....AHHHH!"

then alex started in- "outside? outside? MAMMA! OUT!"

i stared at her for a minute & then i'm pretty sure i felt something break inside my brain. like legit- snap. tis' broken. has ceased to work. is no more.

and all of sudden i realized that it's 4:30. it's sunny. it's warm. there's a pool outside. there is a very eager little girl looking at me. there is another little girl crapping her diaper.

there is also no law that says we can't go outside for an hour. or 2 hours. or whatever.

so i grabbed my camera, my phone, some towels & my children & we headed outside.

now i'm not saying that schedules & structure are a bad thing. they're actually pretty kick ass & almost required for every day life.
i'm not going to suggest you start waltzing into work @ 10am, because i'm pretty sure your boss will be like, "eff you & you're epiphany- work starts at 8 you hippie!"

and even if you don't work outside of the home- i'm pretty sure your kid still needs to eat in the morning, nap in the afternoon & go to bed before midnight. (kids thrive on structure- tis' a fact)

but i am suggesting that if the very thought of wavering from your daily schedule throws you into a mild panic & you're so irked by the slightest change in your routine that you wouldn't even stop to pet a puppy, then maybe you should consider trying to break something in your brain.

relax. enjoy. go with the flow.

stay in bed for an extra 10 minutes. brake for a coffee. go to Target on your lunch break (on second thought, the magical world of Target makes time disappear & your cashflow seem endless, so you might want to avoid this suggestion). stop at a yard sale on your way home. go to the park at 5:45. eat ice cream for dinner at 7.

it's all good. like a can of Coke or a Toblerone Snickers.

and to prove to you that i'm not making yesterday's revelation up- bam:




"i am insane for the pool!"


"mamma, read puss!" (that means octopus)


should i have stopped her? cause i didn't.


crocs. darling on children- side eye worthy on grown men.









"oh hai"


she's trying to wink. i kid you not.



see? it happened. and i survived. and i still got to work on time this morning. hallelujah.


weekend news:
we are headed to the Roger William's Zoo on Sunday (fathers get in free) and i'm stoked for a stop @ Rita's on the way home (i will OD on a Geladi. this i promise you).

Monday is a gtg (get together) in Boston with dear, dear friends (who i met online- go figure. see, not everyone on the interweb is a creeper) & their bebes. i'm totes excited out of my head.

have a wonderful father's day weekend!