FEATURED on Baby Blackbird!

One of my favorite style blogs of all time is Baby Blackbird.  She does all these great celebrity outfit posts and mini style where she features her adorable kiddos King and Harlow.  One of the super cool features she does is called Mini Street Style where readers submit photos of their stylish kids.

So, I did what any good mommy/fashion blogger would do...I submitted my kiddo!  And this morning I woke up to an email from Brandy saying today was the day for Nash's post!  Woot woot...so go check it out!

Friday's Fashion Wrap Up - vol. 8

My apologies to all those out there who enjoy reading these posts every week...I haven't done away with them completely, I was merely taking a break.  Yes, it's true - even I get worn out trying to put new outfits together every day.  Perhaps in the future this feature will morph into something different, where I extensively feature one or two outfits a week...really focusing on the details.  Something more along the lines of Love Maegan, which I love (whose latest fashion entry was the inspiration for my Friday look).  Although she definitely has better pieces, aka more money, than I do!  And if you haven't checked out the images of her closet...do so! 

So, for all my fellow fashionistas out there, here we go!

Monday

Pants: Express
Tank:  H&M
Vest: Charlotte Russe
Shoes: Jessica Simpson (which are so desperately falling apart, I'm sad)
Earrings and Cuff:  Aldo Accessories

Tuesday

::gasp::  I left my camera at work...my bad.

Wednesday

Skirt and Vest:  H&M
Tank: Pacsun
Belt and Earrings:  Charlotte Russe
Wedges:  Target
Bangle:  Gift

Thursday

Pants:  Charlotte Russe years ago
Tank: Express
Cardi:  Target

Friday

Jeans, Blazer, and Jewelry: Charlotte Russe
Tank:  Express
Shoes:  Shoedazzle

So there you go...another week of fashion fun!  I have to admit, I dress way better when I know I will be taking these pics, so I really should just keep up with it.  Sometimes life gets to be a bit much, and taking those extras minutes to match something (or not match something if that's the look I'm going for) just doesn't seem the best use of my time.  But not to fear!  FFWU is here to stay!  So thanks to all of you who took notice and said, "hey chick, where's my fashion?" 

Side note:  Let me know what you think of the new blog design!  I'm playing around with a few new things, but I'm open to suggestions/tips/tricks, etc...!

Growed Up

I'm reaching an interesting post in my, ahem, career as a blogger.  Although I have yet to really take off (like I don't get that many visitors or have sponsorship offers flooding my inbox), I feel like I'm growing and learning and might even end up making something of all this.

You see, I just ordered my first set of bloggie business cards.  I have cards for my full-time job, my Army job, and for when I network with other mommies, but I never really pinned down a concept for my self-employed professional cards.  Since I do a number of different things (i.e. blogging, graphic design, photography, writing, etc..), it's hard to bring all of those things together as one professional venture.  Basically, I didn't want to have a half dozen different business cards - one for each project.

Then, along came about.com.  Not the about.com that has all kinds of DIY information...as in the site you can publish how-to articles for.  No, about.me.  It's a site that basically just creates a page for you that houses links to all of your other sites...be they Twitter, Blogger, Flickr, or your own personal page.  I thought, GENIUS!  Now, I can have a landing zone for all my inquiries...and create a business card directing everyone there.  Even better, when you set up an about.me page, you get an offer for 50 free business cards from Moo.com!  And those cards come already equipped with a handy-dandy little QR code that leads potentials right to your about.me page.  Pretty freakin awesome, if you ask me.

image via moo.com

So I took some time to find an image (via Shutterstock), uploaded it, entered in all the deets, and BAM!  I've got 50 cards en route to my house...  Plenty of time left to beta test them before ordering a bunch in preparation for BlogHer 2012, which I am attending!

So, I've got websites, I've got business cards, I'm networking...

The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.

Start. Over.

It's been a while since I really put myself out there on this blog...allowing my emotions to spill out.  Probably since March of last year when I flew to DC for a week during a REALLY rough time in my life.  I think that trip, and those blog entries, may have saved me.  You see, I used to have a LiveJournal (back before Blogger and Wordpress when only emo teens had "blogs").  It was my venting ground...my private little portal through which my feelings came out in a safe, but extremely cathartic way.  It's been a long time since I've truly "journaled."  I feel like those thoughts are private, and perhaps better left in my head lest the wrong person stumble on them and think things, or worse yet, take them personally.  But the end result is a bottled up life.  Corked under pressure...and sometimes it has to come out.  Like today.

Today I start a two week vacation.  Not a real vacation, but a vacation from life as I know it.  I'm 3 hours from work, from laundry, from financial concerns, from all responsibility.  I'm a million miles away from the stress that has been mounting and a dozen steps closer to the girl that once was.  It will be a welcome two weeks.  Fourteen straight days of me, me, me.  Sounds bad, but I'm learning you absolutely need that every once in a while.  I can work out whenever I want, eat whatever I want, paint my nails, blog, read blogs til all hours of the night, sew if I want to, nap if I want, watch youtube videos if I want to.  Sure I have to go to training during the day, but that seems minute compared to my average workday.  I have no meetings, no color print jobs stacking up, no impromptu please-allow-me-to-throw-a-monkey-wrench-into-your-perfectly-prioritized-day requests. 

Work sucks right now.  It's so stressful, it's alienating.  It's a struggle every day...and it really doesn't have to be.  Family life is not much better.  With all the stress that's flowing between the four of us in the house, I'm surprised we haven't imploded already.

Don't get me wrong, I love my family.  Like, LOVE them.  But I've been under so much stress lately, and with a baby, a husband, and a mother to take care of, there is never any time to take care of me.  And it's been wearing me down...little by little.  I'm moody, I'm bitchy, I'm depressed.  And I fail to see one ounce of the girl I used to be.  A girl I actually liked.  These two weeks are a chance to reconnect and return to my family refreshed...with a renewed sense of myself and a desire to make the most of every day I have with them.

Joe and I keep saying this year has to be better.  We've had such a rough go of it this last year, that Karma owes us big time.   Let's hope so.

Week in iPhone Pics #8

I took a lot of pics this week, but the majority of them are so blurry and craptastic. It's tough trying to catch my little man long enough to take a pic...he n.e.v.e.r. stops. Like ever. So I chose the best ones of the bunch and think it represents our week pretty darn well. Linkin' up with Amy over at a good life...her blog is one of my faves, so give her some love too.  And here we go:

 

I started the week off right with an early morning run and a protein shake (protein powder, strawberries, bananas, spinach, flaxseed, and kiwi).  After hitting the work hard in the am, I met my favorite crew at the mall for some food and friend-making.  Nashman took 2.2 seconds to head on over to the big kids and say, "hey, wanna hang out?"  After lunch, I headed back to work (boo!) to finish working on some super cool projects for our upcoming rating period (it's like sweeps week, but for radio).

I was so excited to spend some time with Nash since I didn't get a weekend, so we snuggled, got a clean and yummy in our bath, and then hit the sheets.  Daddy and Tabby (kitty #1) snuggled in bed too...  She usually takes my side of the bed as soon as I get up...you can see her waiting for me to leave...

Tuesday featured some incredible retail therapy at my favorite little shop...you may have heard of it.  I snagged some sweet things...one of which was featured in my FFWU yesterday.  But the website crashed!  So I couldn't browse for more Missoni stuff!  While I was out spending the moolah, Daddy took Nash out to play in the yard and he was one happy baby.  

When I got home, we gathered up the crew and ran over to Roadhouse for dinner (we are still spending the gift certificates Joe got for trade).  Nash did great...ate tons of food (and was serious about his snacks) and even made some friends.  Afterwards, we hit up our local fave Del's Freeze  Best. Soft serve. Ever.  Period.  Bubs tried some of Mimi's chocolate cone and (needless to say) he loved it.

I forgot my wallet at home on Wednesday, so I had to head all the way home for lunch.  It ended up being awesome because I got to spend some time with Nash, who is working on walking with his, er, walker.  He's getting so darn close to this walking thing, we're literally holding our breaths each time he stands up and lets go.  The rest of my day was consumed with decorating my office (again), graciously accepting compliments on my brand spanking new Missoni for Target dress (love love love), and waiting for when I could go home and scrub-a-dub-dub my little man.  After some high-level toy analysis, we sat down for a good book and some milk.  

Nash slept great Thursday, so we ran in to get him around 7 am and we laid in bed drinking some milk before Mama had to get in the shower.  Nash has been wanting to feed himself lately (even though he's seriously lacking in self-feeding skills), so I let him man- baby-handle his own toast.  He managed to not shove too much in his mouth at one time.  

My day was uber hectic and I forgot my cell phone at home, so I didn't get a chance to take any pics during the day.  I did, however, manage to capture the awesome little bubble family that set up shop on top of Nash's head while we were in the bath.  Those things don't pop!  Since Joe works on Thursday night, I crawled into bed with a good read and relaxed until my eyes fell shut.

Friday was one of my co-worker's birthdays, so I brought in some homemade margarita cheesecakes for everyone (did I forget to mention all the time I spent slaving away making these yesterday?  Yeah?  Oh damn, must have been blocking it out).  I also hit up Joann's at lunch to snag some supplies for an upcoming super secret awesomeness project that may or may not include peeps and spiderwebs.  

I spent my night hanging with the little man (daddy had to work early tonight), so we played, ate dinner and cheesecake, and took selfies (Nash loves to take pics of his, er, hand).  He had some trouble falling asleep (didn't get a good afternoon nap), so I spent about an hour in his nursery just letting him try to fall asleep on my chest (he was super fidgety).  Poor little man...we so need a bed in his room.

Well that's our week!  Lots of excitingly ordinary things, I think...hope you don't think it's dull or whatever.  K, thanks.

Week in iPhone Pics #6

I missed a few weeks!  I kept taking pics, but never got a chance to put up an actual post, so it feels great to be back to posting!  See what chaos at work and a not-so-relaxing vacation does to you!!

Anyway, here are the deets:

We woke up in NJ Monday, ready to head back home after 9 long days of vacation (ever thought you would hear that??).  After playing a little "hey, how are you" in the headboard mirror, we packed everything up and headed for the airport.  Even though he was a little bit rowdy at the beginning of the flight, Nash managed to settle down for a 90-minute nap while on the plane!  I kicked back and tried to sleep too, but man, was it uncomfortable!  Nash loves to travel and REALLY loves the tram!

Once we got home and officially relaxed, Nashie settled back into his routine and LOVED playing with his "old" toys.  There's no place like home.

I was a little depressed to be back to work on Tuesday, so I didn't take many pics.  Just a quick selfie and then a shot of my newest venture, for accountability purposes.  I officially signed up for the Long Doggers Beach 5K on the 17th and I stumbled upon a Melbourne marathon!  I would, of course, only do the 8K since I am running the Disney Half just a few weeks later...

Back to work for me and sweet camo heli jammies for Muffin!  Gosh, I love that man.  Work work work, but I did manage to pop over to Target at lunch for some retail therapy.  I picked up a few new frames for some of my fave vacay pics, some thank you cards, cute little pink clips, and a teal picture clip thing.  After more work (ugh), I was finally able to get home and hang out with my men.  They were sitting around watching movies, so I just sat back and smiled.

Thursday was relatively low key at work, so I was really looking forward to my lunch time date with Nash and Joe.  After eating our usual lunch at Nature's Table (and one little man managing his squeezy pouch of broccoli, pears, and peas all by himself), we headed to the play place.  He was crazy!  He was crawling around at warp speed, chasing all the bigger kiddos, and making friends (thank god).  No Mama's were emotionally harmed during the taking of these photos.

Friday just felt like a vibrant day, so I paired my rather brisk black ensemble with some bright coral lipstick.  It wasn't quite the look I was going for when I went lipstick shopping, but it ended up working great!  5pm came and poof!  I was back at home!  Nash showed me all his tricks - clapping (making sound now), standing/cruising/falling, giving kisses...and we made some silly faces into the phone (which he promptly snagged and dragged around with him).  While daddy got ready for work, we knocked out our bath, drank some milk, read some stories, and snuggled with Mama.  I spent the rest of my evening cleaning and preparing for my mother, who officially moves in with us tomorrow!  More on that later...

Week in iPhone Pics #5

This is the week, folks...  Linking up with Amy at a good life.

Since my job sucks the big one, I didn't take very many pics on Monday.  I did, however, snap this oh so cute one of my muffin man playing at the mall.

Tuesday began with a quick prayer for fortitude.  While I slaved away at the office, Nashie got to spend some time with Daddy (aka hanging out in the jumper while Daddy watches ESPN). 

I did manage to sneak away at lunch for some quality Target time, where I ran into an old friend and pined over the totally adorbs little girl clothes.  Husband!  Must procreate ASAP!  But then I came home to my sweet little boy and he's all I could ever need (for now).

I started Wednesday off right with a 2-miler around the neighborhood and was pleasantly surprised to have the hometeam cheering me on at the finish line!  My babes was sporting a nice little scrape from a nightstand incident the previous evening (he truly is a boy). 

When I got to work, I found that my building had been painted and the fumes were so bad, the boss sent us all home for the day.  So, I hooked up my trusty laptop and knocked out some work with the best little helper ever as close to my side as possible.  When he went down for a nap and the nanny arrived, I popped over to Panera for some lunch before knocking out some more work. 

As a treat, we packed up the fam and headed to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Nash was so cute, but kept screaming while we were trying to eat, so we had to eat quick before we got kicked out.  One woman even came up to us and said, "Your baby is so...animated!"  So true.

Thursday was my baby's 8th month berfday!!!!  We celebrated with some pre-work cuddles and smooches...and yes, he's sporting the halloween jammies in August...that's how we roll.

Nashie spent the whole day with Daddy while I worked worked worked, but we did get to go to the mall playplace for lunch.  I would have pics, but I gave Joe my wallet (with my phone in it) to put in the diaper bag and we thought he lost it.  After a minor  major wigout and finding the wallet, all was well.

We got to spend some more time in the evening hanging out, shirtless.  Nash has perfected the art of devouring snacks and loves to pick up, eat, smoosh, cram those little organic puffs into his mouth as quickly as possible.

Friday was a good day.  The Big Bad VP was out of the office, so everyone was in a light mood.  I had Nashie on the brain after getting a pic of him holding a bunny's foot hostage, so I hit up Once Upon a Child and got him a few new clothes and toys (including one that's just like the toy at the mall that he loves).  In the afternoon, I moved my office (again) and I think I'm liking this one...

The evening was filled with new toys, wrestling/giggling/hanging out with Daddy, and some naked time.  I took a ton of pics, a bunch of videos, and truly enjoyed my night with him.  Now I'm sitting on the couch (Joe's at work) and getting ready to knock out some chores in prep for our super busy weekend.  Love.

Week in iPhone Pics #4

My blog has been noticeably silent this week...it's been hell.  In case you aren't up to date, read this post.  Anyways, no more whining...let's get into the goods.

 On Monday, I had to go back to work of course, but not before spending some quality breakfast time with my man.  He looks so cute in his jammies.  At work, I began going through the mountains of crap that has been dumped in my office and came across some old momentos from way back when.  Missing some people...

After work, I raced home to cuddle with Nash before he headed to bed.  We snuggled and played and smooched...what more can a Mama ask for?!  After he crashed, I whipped up a delish veggie beef and broccoli casserole for Joe and I.

Tuesday I kept up the tradition of early morning play sesh with muffin man.  He was super cuddly, so we got some sweet shots (love the nerd glasses, mama).  The rest of my day was work, work, work...but I did pause to snap a pic of myself rocking the red lips.

 

Wednesday began with smiles from my BFF!  What's better than that?!  I worked my a** off that morning and had to run out to do some errands during lunch, so I foolishly stopped at Wendy's for a bite.  Nasty.  Who decided it was a good idea to put two slices of disgusting, fake american cheese on a midget little burger?  Nasty.  At least their fries were good.  Oh yeah, and it made my car stink.

The rest of the day I couldn't stop staring at the pile of paper I still needed to go through.  Does anyone know what all this crap is??

Thursday was the highlight of my week.  It began with love, smooches, and family photos early in the am.  Around 10, I decided to check the track of T.S. Emily and learned she was still on a direct path to Florida...greaaaaat. So looking forward to my drives to Orlando this weekend.

Joe and Nashie met me at the mall so we could have lunch and run around the playplace.  He was so excited to finally be able to crawl around, play with the toys, and just interact with the kids.  Before he could just sit there, but now he's all over!  He was super serious about this flipping card thing.

After lunch, my coworker and I tackled the piles...trying to alphabetize and sort this much stuff is not easy!  I needed some quality muffin love by the time 5:30 rolled around so I ran home to watch him terrorize a pink rubber pig.

Friday was a nice change because I had to work in Orlando to cover an event for the Army.  A small group of Soldiers returned from a year in DC and finally got to be with their families.  Two girls even had babies while their husbands were up there!  Couldn't imagine doing it all on my own!

At lunch I found this insane book at Urban Outfitters...bacon, really....  Gross.

Since I got home around 3:30, I got LOTS of baby love.  We decided it was best to just hang around with no pants on, eat real-people crackers, and say "Mamamamama" over and over again.  Talk about making my week.  To top it off, I stayed up late baking a fresh peach-pluot crumble for my favorite little peach freak.  Yum!

Til next week, lovies!




Help a busy Mama out and show some baby love!

Week in iPhone Pics #3

This week was the first week I had to spend all 5 days of the week at Army duty, so boo on that.  Joe kept me up-to-date on what was happening at home by sending me pics of the little man.  He's gotten so good at the getting up thing that all he wants to do it sit up, stand up, pull up...

 Joe took him on a little road trip into work (which is a rarity for him...he doesn't usually like to take the baby places on his own).  Once I got home, we laid a blanket out in the back yard and hung out until Nash got fussy.  He gave us some cute faces so I whipped out the iPhone real quick!

Tuesday started off bad.  While getting gas in the morning on the way to work, I noticed that I had put on two different pairs of flip flops.  Sweet.  Despite the ridiculous heat, I decided to do a circuit workout outside.  Short run, then some upper and lower body exercises, and a short run back.  Ouch.

 At lunch, I used my trusty iPhone Maps application to locate the nearest Barnes and Noble, which was insanely close to Chipotle (where I eat everyday).  So I stopped in and checked out some photography books...nothing like sitting on the floor and reading books without paying for them.  To satisfy my need for baby love, Joe sent me a cute pic of the little man going for a walk. 

Hump Day!  I did some P90X Yoga on Wednesday to combat all the soreness I was experiencing.  Nashie spent time with Daddy in the morning and had a blast looking out the window at all the things passing by (standing up).

I didn't really do much work in the afternoon, admittedly.  After yesterday's photography reads, I decided to find some good websites and learn a few new things about my camera.   Since I'm a Public Affairs Officer, I consider it professional development.  I venture outside of auto all the time, but it's really just trial and error...I don't really know what I'm doing.

That night, Joe and I put the Muffin to bed, ordered some pizza, and cuddled on the couch.  Love.

Thursday was boring.  Just a fact.  So boring that I needed a Diet Coke at 10 am.  And I spent time surfing MacLife.com where I learned all kinds of things about my phone and computer...  Makes me wanna get into all this geeky nerd stuff!

Back at home, the little man was rocking the camo just for Mama (along with some sweet drool spots).  Before bed we spent some quality time practicing our stand up skills (again).

Friday I tried to make up for the lack of pics during the week.  I started the day with some yummy homemade banana bread courtesy of one of the ladies in my unit.  At lunch, we all hit up the Alehouse to say farewell to our beloved 1SG...and I ate the spiciest damn sashimi tuna salad EVER (can we say overdose on the wasabi ranch)...

I got out of work at 4 (yes!), so I rushed home to hang out with my man.  Joe had to work early tonight, so it was just the two of us.  We played, shared some chipotle and crushed mangoes and peaches, and then took a naked stroll around the house before bedtime.  After putting Nash to bed, I cleaned the whole house (my friend Sandra is coming tomorrow and we don't want to look like slobs) and even rearranged the whole baby play area.  I basically gave him the whole right side (which is like a dining room).  I painted my toenails, tried out that no-heat curls thing that's blowing up Pinterest, and caught up on some tv.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my week in review...it's fun trying to remember to take pics every day and looking for cool new things to capture for you guys. Linking up with Amy at a good life again!

Blog Hop with One Sweet Story

One of the girls I met during Army ROTC has an awesome blog called One Sweet Story.  I love reading all about her cute little girl, Zaelynn, and oogling over her insane sewing projects (she has picked it up soooo fast!).

She just hosted her first ever Blog Hop and we are totally getting in on it!

Rules are: you have to follow this blog and two others, then get in on the hop! Have fun!

We're Featured on As We Grow!

I've been reading this little bloggie called As We Grow for a while now and had the chance to become a Featured Mommy, so I totally jumped on it!  Here it is (Click Image to go to Post):

Thanks so much to Kaity for our feature...and if you want to be featured on her blog just email her at tuck2011@gmail.com.  And leave lots of love on her super cute blog!

We Need Your Help

I feel like lately all I've been doing is petitioning for my kid. Photo contests, magazine covers, weekly cutie, you name it. I'm beginning to feel the pains of politics and want nothing more than to crawl back into my safe little world and forget about my pushiness.

However, there are times in life when votes are needed, and thus must be asked for. You see, in the competitive world of blogging, anyone and everyone can jot down some thoughts and have a blog. Only a few ever really make it, and all us newbies sit back and aspire to be like them (See my favorites here, here, and here).

Well, lately I've been trying to be more proactive in getting our little blog out there, in front of people. I'm truly excited to share our humble life with anyone who is interested, and love reading about everyone else's lives as well. One of the ways we all are able to stumble upon the blogs of others is through a little site called Top Baby Blogs. Anyone can list their blog, as long as they meet the requirements, and then it's all up to the voters. We rely on those who read, and love, our blogs to support us so we can keep going (even if it's only a mental accomplishment and there's no monetary gain).





So, if you like reading blog, please take a moment (I know we mommies don't have that many free moments) and vote. You can vote everyday...or just every time you stumble upon one of our posts. Vote for every post or just the ones you really like...each vote means the world to us. So thank you. For reading. For Blogging. And for Voting.

Tears.

I just read the most gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, soul-shaking blog entry ever.  Like E.V.E.R.  The story is incredible, honest, painful, and beautiful.  Just don't read it while you're at work, like I did.

Photo from Enjoying the Small Things

Read it...I'm telling you, it's incredible.
http://www.kellehampton.com/2010/01/nella-cordelia-birth-story.html

Change is in the Air

We're switching things up around here, so hang with me while we update!

Blog Updates For the New Year

In the spirit of the new year and keeping to my resolutions, I've decided to amp up my blog content.  In order to accomplish this, I have come up with some regular topics to post on each week, so that I always have something to write about.  Also, it will let everyone know what to expect each week, in case you find one particular segment interesting and want to make sure you keep up with it.

So, here is my tentative schedule:
Monday:  Menu Planning Mondays.  This is where I will detail what I plan to make for that week (I do this now in order to keep up with grocery shopping and never be left without a plan).  I will also look back at the previous week and talk about what I did/didn't like and how things turned out.

Tuesday:  My Life as a Wife and Mom.  This is where I will talk about my daily adventures/struggles/reflections on being married and having a new baby.  This is the family topic! 

Wednesday:  Workin' Wednesdays.  This is where I will discuss my professional endeavors.  Since I have been looking for a job for a full year now, it will likely begin with discussions about where I am applying, interviews (hopefully), and what else I am doing to further myself professionally.

Thursday:  Free post.  This is where I get to write about a random thing that inspires me that week. 

Friday:  Foto Fridays.  This is where I will post my favorite photo (or photos) from the week.  One of my desires for this year is to get a fancy schmancy new camera and improve my photography skills.


Saturday: Day off.  I am allowing myself one blog-free day of the week...this way I won't get overwhelmed.  And I can spend more time with my family!


Sunday:  Sewing Sundays.  This is where I will blog about what I have sewn or would like to sew...will include links to projects/blogs I like, so all my fellow crafters/seamstresses out there, keep your eyes peeled for this one!  I may not start this right away since I haven't had much time to sew lately with the baby and all.