http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/7117399553/

Oh dreamy weekend outfit, I am in love with you!! I would like it to be high 70’s and to be shopping around flea markets in this outfit. Yep, that sounds pretty perfect to me.

My favorites around the internet this week:
1. I am dying over how pretty this dress is!
2. BEST.POST.EVER!!
3. This cheery skirt in on it’s way to my front door.
4. Head over heels for this outfit from Amanda.
5. Totally doing this (although it won’t ever come out as pretty as this!) whenever there is another nursery to be made one day.
6. Remember to vote for which design will be the next Theit Camera bag! You can vote once a week.

Happy Weekend!!

I have never been a huge fan of plain pizza. I am however a huge fan of what I like to call “fancy” pizzas. Can you tell how non-fancy I am that I think pizza with anything other than cheese on it is fancy? Remember this pizza I shared with you a while ago or maybe even this one? Mmmm so good. We had friends over last week and I wanted to make 2 different kinds of pizza. I made the nectarine pizza and then I wanted to make a pizza that had honey on it. I had a pizza in Austin one time that had honey on it and it was the best thing ever. I decided to make a pizza with caramelized onions, fresh parmesan, gorgonzola and honey. I made it again for dinner yesterday and this time I also added strawberries because well, I felt like it. It’s delicious either way!

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Pizza Crust (I use Bobeli)
1 Onion, sliced
Olive oil
Butter (optional)
Salt
Sugar (optional)
Fresh Parmesan Cheese
Gorgonzola
Honey
Strawberries (optional)

Directions:
1. Heat a little bit of oil and/or butter in a pan. When hot, add the onion to the pan and stir to coat onions. Reduce heat to medium and let onions cook on stove with out burning for about 10 mins. Stirring occasionally. You can add a little bit of sugar to help with the caramelization if you want. Cook for about 10 more minutes.
2. Once onions are cooked spread out evenly over pizza crust. Let cool just a bit. Then cover with parmesan and gorgonzola.
3. Drizzle with honey
4. Top with strawberries if you want.
5. Cook at 450 for about 10 mins.

Yesterday was kind of the worst day in a long time. It was also not the greatest day to take outfit pictures. The wind was not my friend and neither was the sun. Every time I would set the exposure and go to take a picture it would instantly change. The sun kept coming out then in seconds it would be so cloudy it looked like it was going to pour buckets any moment. I know it’s silly to complain about taking pictures of myself so I’ll stop. Well, one last complaint… I even took the time to curl my hair today. Stupid wind blew it straight and stringy looking in a matter of seconds. Grrrrr!

Bad conditions aside- I was in LOVE with this outfit yesterday. I bought this J.Crew shirt the other day and no joke I have worn it every day since. It is the perfect weight and goes with everything.

The wind was up to no good…

Adventures, Nontraditional Schedules & the Great Outdoors!

I have never been someone that enjoys siting around. In fact, I pretty much hate it. I hate sitting and watching tv, I don’t like the idea of lazy Sundays (or any day for that matter) and staying inside all day makes me go crazy. When I was pregnant, I was so afraid of how having a baby would change all that. I thought we wouldn’t be able to do anything anymore or that I would change into someone that would think going out with the baby was too much trouble and I’d just stay home instead. As a result I was determined not to let anything change. I thought we could just charge ahead when Rowan came and could stay the same. The truth is that things do change. There is a whole heck of a lot you can’t really do anymore. There is no driving 2 hours to the beach in the middle of the night just to sit and listen to the ocean for an hour (yes, we have done that before). There are no 3 hour dinners at your favorite restaurant anytime you want. There is no doubt that having a baby changes a lot of things.

BUT! Little did I know that what it would change into was about 100 million times better than I ever thought. I still hate lazy days and staying in all day — those feelings didn’t change because I had a baby. If anything my love for adventures has just been heightened because now we get to take Rowan with us. The types of outings and adventures are all different. Things need to be a little less spontaneous and a little more thought out, but that’s ok. Adventures can still be had! Since Rowan was born we have tried to find the perfect balance of schedule and spontaneity. I think because of that, Rowan has become a super happy, adaptable baby. She doesn’t have to be home to take a nap. Her nap doesn’t have to be exactly at a certain time. Her bedtime varies from about 7:30 to beyond depending what we’re doing that evening. She is social, loving and carefree.

There is nothing greater than experiencing new things with Rowan. I am always so thankful that my parents where able to travel so much with us when we were little. We moved around a bit too. They instilled this idea that the world doesn’t have to seem so big. That nothing has to stop us from achieving our dreams and that we did’t have to settle for our situations if we weren’t happy with them. They always encouraged our passions and nudged us just a bit to accomplish more. They had the right amount of support but also enough distance to let us figure things out for ourselves when we needed to. This molded me to who I am today. I dream big and I try hard to go after what I want. I want to travel everywhere. I want to experience everything. I love life, fresh air and playing outside.

I was a lucky girl to find my perfect match in Kev. He dreams bigs, he loves being outside more than I do and we both are dying to share just how much life has to offer to sweet little Rowan. I want Rowan to grow up full of passion and excitement for life. Being able to take her to things like Museums, concerts, the zoo, bike trips, picnics, different cities, etc… has become our new passion. Seeing her eyes light up as she gets to experience something new makes it worth a late bed time or the planning and stress to get us all there. This is our little family we are creating and I want Rowan to look back on her childhood and remember all these special moments we have created with her. What an absolute joy it has been  and will continue to be  to share these things with her.

The hints of warm weather have my legs screaming to be out in the open. As soon as there is one warm day I instantly feel like it is time to ditch the tights and jeans. It’s a litle premature though as yesterday smacked me in the face with temperatures in the 30’s. Brrr. I was able to wear some jean shorts last week on some of the warmer days. I love jean shorts! Do you? Hope my white legs aren’t too blinding. They desperately need a date with the sun.

Operation Long Bangs is going ok. I haven’t been tempted to cut them, but I just kind of hate the length at the moment. I am trying, trying, trying to get more creative with hair styles to help like them. It isn’t working so well, but here was my attempt to french braid my bangs in to my hair and then in to a side pony tail…

For the past few months, us girls over at The Style Mentors have been working with the super awesome company Theit to design their next camera bag. Umm, how cool is that? I am pretty dang excited. Theit already makes one of the hipest/resonably priced camera bags out there, but later this year will be adding one of our designs to the mix!!

Here is the extra fun part! Melissa, Brandy and I each designed our own dream camera bag and you guys get to vote which one you like the best! Which ever bag gets the most votes will go into production later this year. Head over to The Style Mentors to cast your vote now!

p.s. You can enter to win the winning bag by leaving a comment on either Melissa’s or Brandy’s posts. Go win yourself a new camera bag!

GO VOTE!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/6952875358/

1. I love bringing Rowan to experience new things. On Tuesday, Rachel, Addy, Rowan and I went to one of the beautiful old churches in Troy to listen to a Jazz Concert. Once a month the church brings in a band for a free concert for the area. This month was Jazz. It was awesome. The music was wonderful, the church is breath taking (think old churches in Europe) and it was just so cute watching the girls dance and clap to the music

2. The weather has brought out the best in us. We go for walks and bike rides as a family every day. They are by far the best moments of the day. I wouldn’t trade that time for anything.

3. The love that Rowan has to share is just beyond the best thing ever. She is so affectionate. Little kids, her stuffed animals, Kev and I, she just wants to hug and kiss everything. I love it.

1. There is always good and bad with getting out there and bringing your little one places. I try to never let the bad out weigh why I bring her, BUT there is always a level of stress that goes along with having a toddler with you. We had a ton of fun at the concert but I left pretty frazzled. Rowan kept yelling “addy” really loud at really quiet times, as well as yelling “poop” when Rachel was changing Addy. There was a balloon sharing issue, crying, getting cream cheese all over the pew, and lots of squirmy little ones.

2. The word “No”. Let’s just leave it at that.

3. Picture this scenario if you will… I get all dressed up, get Rowan all dressed up and we pack our things into the car and head over to the Montessari School open house. After I put her in her car seat, I decide to give her a granola bar to eat while we drive there. We drive the 25 mins over to the school. I am already nervous because well, it’s a weird thing to go check out a school for your kid. You want them to like you and think your kid is a genius of course. I go to get Rowan out of the back seat, I look at her and she is completely covered in chocolate. I gave her the wrong kind of granola bar (I had brought 2- one chocolate chip and one peanut butter) I didn’t even notice when I gave it to her because we were in a rush. Her pretty dress, legs, face, hair, everything was completely smushed with melted chocolate. She was a complete mess. Thank goodness for baby wipes and a spare sweater in the car. Whoops. I could’t help but break out laughing. Such a funny situation.

Sorry for the lack of outfit posts lately. Sometimes (most times) it just doesn’t fit into the day. I am trying to be more relaxed about blogging. When it feels natural and right I blog and when it doesn’t, I don’t. Makes for much less stress during the day.

Honestly, I have worn this outfit twice already this week. It’s easy, comfortable and I feel put together in it. I keep getting drawn back to wearing it. This chambray skirt is an allstar in my closet. It gets worn a lot!

What is your closet allstar?

OUTFIT DETAILS:
Blazer: Target
Eyelet Top: American Eagle (similar)
Belt: Target
Skirt: jcpenney (similar)
Bette Wedges: c/o Kork-Ease

and one of little Rowan…

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What a ham this one is! She has developed such a sense of humor (and a love for wearing sunglasses). I can’t get her to keep anything in her hair, but she loves wearing any kind of glasses, belts and my bracelets and necklaces. When she gets excited she just squeals with laughter and excitement. Her favorites things are going to the park and seeing her two best buddies. There are 2 special little girls in her life that are becoming her very best friends.

Her vocabulary is growing so much! She can pretty much mimic any word now a days. Not always the most clear but as her parents we know what she is saying. She loves saying animal noises. She is pretty good at about 15 or so animals. It’s really cute when you say “what does a so and so say?” because she has these little actions that she does that goes along with what animal it is. She is starting to say a few words together to make simple sentences. Her new favorites are “Where’s Dada?”, “Who’s dat?” and my personal favorite “it’s stuck”. I think that one is her favorite too. She walks around the house pulling things to see if they move or not and then asks “it’s stuck?” with a little tilt of her head.

When she runs I honestly have to try now to keep up. Before you could just walk fast and there was no way she was getting away from you. I have to keep my eye out because there is only a certain small distance I can let her go before I know I wouldn’t be able to catch her quick enough. She has the most animated little run! So cute.

We are thinking about putting her in a Montessori toddler program in the fall. We went to an open house this morning and we both loved it! I think it will be really good for her. I know it wouldn’t be be the best fit for every kid that age, but for her I know she would LOVE going so much. It’s only 3 mornings for a few hours. Have any of you enrolled your kids in a Montessori or Waldorf school? I would love to know how things are going? There is an outside Kindergarten at a Waldorf school around here and I am kind of thinking when she is that age it might be something we consider. I have read lots of articles on them and honestly it just seems magical. I grew up playing in the woods and have such fond memories of it. That is few years a head of us still and maybe its the teacher in me but I am just really excited about the idea of school and learning.

At 19 months I feel like we have entered into the home stretch till age 2. Which totally blows my mind. Every day I want to slow down time to enjoy each new stage a little longer. As much as I plan and dream for the future I am seriously trying to be in each moment because they pass in a blink of an eye. She is the brightest part of everyday. We just love her so much!

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We spent a lovely afternoon at Hoffman’s Playland with the Naylor’s last Friday. There is really nothing better than watching your little one experiencing new things for the first time and just have the best time! Can’t wait to go back again soon.

p.s. I am still in shock that Rowan is old enough to ride little rides by herself. Omgosh!
p.p.s Thanks to Rachel for the picture of all 3 of us.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/6926432252/

I have been having a very hard time not making big huge online shopping carts full of spring and summer clothes. Everything is so bright and beautiful. Here are some of my most favorite items right now. Aren’t they just the cutest?

Here are some of my favorite posts from my favorite blogs this past week:
1. I know everyone has seen these photos but they are just so beautiful. I really want to try to take more picture together with Rowan instead of just of her.

2. Good golly I would like to eat this cake.

3. Seriously! The Books Elizabeth makes are unreal. So freakin’ cool!

4. This is one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen. Jentine looks like a million bucks!

5. A funny picture of Rowan.

6. Love these puppets. I am totally going to make some for Rowan.

7. Mmmmmmm need to eat these stat!

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!

Kev left for his soccer game the other night and I decided to get a little crafty. He came home to find a million little nail holes in the wall and the saying “home sweet home” written on it. I am pretty in love with this cute project. I free handed all the letters using a ruler and the width of the level to mark them all. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, you could print out letters from the computer and tape them up to the wall. Then nail the nails in the corners and around the curves of each letter. I tied the yarn to one of the nails and then just started wrapping. I wanted the string pattern in each letter to be different. That was my favorite part, it was like being a kid again. You could write anything you wanted really. How cute would it be to have the abc’s written in a nursery? or your child’s name? The possibilities are endless!

p.s here is a picture I posted on twitter from when I was drawing out the letters…

For Easter I wanted to make Rowan a dress. I was going to just wing it, I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like in my head. Last second though, I bought a pattern to use as a base. I wasn’t super confident in my sewing abilities. I am no Megan Nielsen that’s for sure. haha. I wish I had just winged it though. I made the smallest size based off the measurements but it still was like 5 times too big. When I was finished, I put the dress on Rowan and she seriously looked like she was wearing an old lady Hawaiian moomoo. It was the worst thing I had ever seen. It was floor length, way too big and just not flattering. I hacked off about 6 inches, trimmed the sides about 4 inches and tried to turn it into a somewhat cute dress.

With a sweater and some tights it serves it’s purpose but it was not easter material.
Haha. I have higher hopes for my next sewing endeavor…

I also made her a little skirt with some extra fabric…

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I am pretty particular on the toys we buy for Rowan. I try to stick to toys that don’t have thousands of flashing lights and crazy noises and take all imagination out of playing. Of course, she likes what she likes and I can’t control everything so we do have some of those toys. You have to have a little wiggle room (or a lot) when it comes to your expectations and real life with your kiddo. Anyway, we are at the age now where she is getting old enough to play house and play with babies. It blows my mind that we are here already but, here we are! I was on a mad search before Easter for a non creepy baby doll. I highly recommend the one we got. It is actually pretty cute and the perfect size for Rowan. Over the next year for her birthday and Christmas I’d like to get her some of this cute pretend stuff.

You can see more of our on going Amazon wishlist for Rowan here.

Do you have any pretend kitchen or baby doll toys that are your kids favorites? We’d love to hear what they are!

I always think of wearing a floral dress on Easter but this year I decided to change things up. I went with monochromatic in pruple with a pop of neon. I wish it was a touch warmer yesterday but it was such a beautiful sunny day. We had a great time sharing the day with friends and family. Rowan was a little under the weather and trying to get a family photo all together was just not going to happen. She loved her little baby we got her though and spent the afternoon feeding her, putting socks on her and putting the baby down for a nap. After everyone left Kev, Rowan and I headed out for a super long family walk. Going for walks all together is my most favorite thing to do together. Fresh air, laughter and family time- it doesn’t get better than that!

OUTFIT DETAILS:
Checkered Shirt: Modcloth
Neon Belt: J.Crew (similar)
Vintage Skirt: Swapped from Julie
Ava Sandals: c/o Kork-Ease

1. Pretty blooming trees | 2. Half Marathon training | 3. Running in the stroller puts her to sleep | 4. A mess of shoes | 5. New shoes racks to organize everything | 6. Playtime with Dada | 7. Playing school | 8. A morning sing a long | 9. Easter | 10. Reading with Grammy | 11. Easter basket goodies | 12. Easter lunch tradition | 13. Grandma and Great Uncle Dave | 14. Too many presents 15. Seriously too many presents

p.s Thanks to Annie and Jacob for Rowans awesome Canadian leg warmers.

…just sharing some artwork I did for our church for today.

Hope your day is filled with lots of family and love.
One of my favorite old easter hymns:

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sov’reign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!

Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine—
And bathed in its own blood—
While the firm mark of wrath divine,
His soul in anguish stood.

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
’Tis all that I can do.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/6987782311/1. We had some epic tantrums this week. I think I spent about 20 mins more than a couple times this week trying to get her car seat. Everyone that passed our car must have thought we were crazy as she was screaming at the top of her lungs and I tried to convince her to sit.

2. We also started doing small little time outs. I know people will differ on this but for us it was time. I knew full well she understood what I was saying and what she was doing. They only lasted about a minute and I guess so far so good. I hate doing it. I cringe but I guess that’s what I will always feel like as I learn to discipline her.

3. Eating this week was a big huge disaster. For the last little while I feel like we were moving leaps and bounds with eating but this week she just was not up for much of anything. I literally feel like she didn’t eat anything all week. I tried really hard to not let it bother me. The doctor has told me over and over she will eat when she is hungry but ?? that is a hard thing to let go for a mom who is very concerned with eating healthy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/6841673840/1. When she wasn’t having screaming fits this week she was just so bubbly. Giving these little toothy grins and hugging and kissing and tickling you every 2 seconds. She loves, loves, loves giving us group hugs. I love it too of course! I hope that never goes away. It’s just so dang cute!

2. She is getting so good about telling us when she needs to be changed. She will run out and yell “poop” then run into her room or she will bring me a cloth diaper and say “poop”. Poop just means she needs to be changed in general (wet or dirty). I am hoping in the next little while we can help her understand to tell us before she goes. Potty training here we come!

3. She is obsessed with pretending to be a little mommy. When we were over at a friends house a few weeks ago, I sat in amazement as I watched her take care of a little baby doll all night. I had no idea. We don’t have any of those kinds of toys. They had doll strollers, highchairs, fake food, a little kitchenette and tons of dolls. She feed the babies, pushed them in strollers, laid them all down and covered them with blankets saying “nap,” and carried them around hugging and kissing them. It was just about the sweetest thing I have ever seen. I have been on a mad search the last week to find the least creepiest baby doll I could and ordered it for her for Easter. I gave it to her a few days earlier and all week she has taken care of this little doll. Oh my goodness it makes my heart explode.

The last 2 days I’ve been working on making some Easter baskets for Kev and Rowan. I wasn’t planning on making a DIY post, but I had a few requests from my instagram feed so I am going to try my best to talk you through it. I don’t have any pictures to show the progress but hopefully you’ll catch the idea. They were quite easy. I just made them up as I went along.

I used 6 pieces of felt (8.5×11) for each basket (not including designs on baskets). 4 to make the basket part and 2 to make the bottom. You really only need to attach 2 sheets of felt to make the circumference of the basket but I made it double thickness. I machine sewed the bunny and dinosaur designs on first then sewed the sides together. I used a plate to trace a circle and cut bottom shape. I hot glued two circles together to make the bottom a little sturdier. Then I hand stitched the bottom to the cylinder shape of the basket. I cut a long strip of felt for the handle and hand sewed to the side of basket with a button on top for decoration.

You could really get creative with your designs on the the baskets. I went with a little bunny for Rowan and a Dinosaur bunny for Kev. I can’t wait to fill them with their Easter goodies on Sunday. We do little presents in our house because Rowan doesn’t eat candy and Kev doesn’t like candy (crazy I know). At least I get all the candy for myself.

Happy Easter.

Let’s talk about beets shall we? Do you like beets? I LOVE them. Have you ever had pickled beets? MMMMMmmmmmm!!! When I saw this “Beet it” tote on Modcloth I had to have it. It is the perfect mix of tote and nice purse. I have been wearing it around doing errands and thinking of beets ever since.

I got this dress from Forever 21 last summer and all winter I’ve wondered whether it was a good purchase or not. I tired it on the other day again and decided I love it. So easy and comfortable. Come on warm weather, I am rooting for you.

OUTFIT DETAILS:
Dress: Forever 21 (similar)
Jean Jacket: J.Crew (similar)
Belt: L.L Bean
Earrings: Target
Leopard Flats: Target
Beet Tote: c/o Modcloth

I don’t know what it is about the idea of moving, but all the sudden I am dead set on getting this apartment the way I have wanted it to be for the past 2.5 years. I am trying to finish up every project I’ve wanted to do, so we can spend however long we have left in here feeling like it is finished. It was one of my goals on my 30×30 so it’s been on my mind for a while.

With that said, we have had an old canvas that was painted over with gesso hanging on our wall for like ever. Last week when Rowan was taking a nap, I decided to get out all of my oil paints and go to town on it. It’s not my favorite thing ever, but I like it. It is colorful/abstract but full or florals. It brings some new life to our living room. I think I am a little too embarrassed to post a whole picture yet. I am not sure it is finished.

I love, love love botany illustration books though. This one is one of my new favorites (it’s a good source of inspiration)…

Happy Monday All! I love the week before Easter. I feel like it is so exciting! New dresses to get, lots of candy, easter egg making, gathering goodies for easter baskets, getting all the decorations together for our church services. It is just an all together fun week. Plus, I think the sun is going to be out all week. Bonus!

We spent yesterday going to a million different open houses. We are thinking of taking the plunge again into home ownership. haha. It’s been almost 3 years since we sold our first house. We have loved living in our loft apartment but I am ready for a yard and a basement! Especially with a kid- we need some more space. We are actually looking into building a house. Everything is new and just ideas but it’s all exciting and scary at the same time.

Well, this post actually had nothing to do with this outfit. Whoops.
I am loving colored pants just like everyone else…

OUTFIT DETAILS:
Jean Jacket: J.Crew
Stripped Blouse: J.Crew
Cranberry Jeans: Forever 21
Sandals: Blowfish (last summer)
Necklace: Forever 21
Purse: Foley and Corinna (c/o last summer)

Not too much to share this week. Just a few favorite moments and some sneak peaks at craft projects I’ve been working on. If you are in a bookstore this month make sure to peak in Ladies Home Journal and see my Easter Egg picture from my DIY post last year. Always cool to see your stuff in a magazine. You can also see it up on their website.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekends.