How is everyone’s week going? We have been hanging out with family and doing a little bit of house hunting. I always feel like I have to dress a certain way when I go to see houses. I feel like I already look like a teen, so I wear a blazer to make myself feel a little more professional looking. I am crazy, I know. I don’t think a blazer will stop me from getting carded for buying spray paint, cough syrup, or rated r movies at walmart. I once even got asked (last year) if I was old enough to sit in the exit row on the airplane. I laughed and said “how old do you have to be?”. The flight attendant said “16″. Seriously? I don’t even look 16? I am not complaining. I would much rather look younger than say 90, but when I am out with Rowan I would like to not get so many teen mom looks from old ladies.

DETAILS:
Dress (similar)
Blazer (similar)
Boots (similar)
Belt (similar)

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Rowan climbed her first mountain on Saturday! My cousin and her husband drove down from Canada this weekend to celebrate their wedding anniversary in Boston and to visit us. On Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go for a hike. Rowan loved scaling all the rocks and picking up walking sticks. Although, she wasn’t all that skilled at climbing up the side of a mountain. Ha! There was lots of piggy back rides and hand holding to get her to the top. She loved every minute of it though. There was quite a lot of screaming on the way down because she didn’t want to leave.

Being outside in the fresh air is truly good for the soul. It is so refreshing! There isn’t much that I love more. What is your favorite thing to do outside?

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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!!

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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…

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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!!!

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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.

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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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