So first let me say this has been a crazy school morning. I never like when fights happen at school but this morning was like nothing I have been apart of before. It was crazy. I def. had to back off at one point because well I care more about being pregnant then breaking up a fight. Some teachers got pretty hurt and have since gone home. It was like 4 fights in one. It was mayhem. Whew!
OK, on to overall’s!! So as I posted on Friday I fell in love with Lulu Letty’s Styling ideas for a pair of jean overalls last week. Then on Monday she posted an outfit post where she was wearing one of the outfits and of course she rocked it. So amazing! Anyways, I was determined to try to style my jean overalls too. I just loved how cute she had styled “The Dandy” set so that was where I started. Its fun to try to recreate something with your own wardrobe. I think it came out pretty cute. If I didn’t feel so uncomfortable and large wearing jean overalls while being pregnant I might have worn this a lot longer than I did on Saturday. I have since tucked them away to save till after baby comes. I love jean overalls!
I got an email from Melissa sharing with me she just got her very first teaching interview at an Elementary school and she needed some help with an outfit. I was really excited about this one because yay! I love teachers. I also hate typical teacher clothes. I definitely dress more casual as an art teacher but if I was going for an interview I would want to look very professional without being unfashionable, but still showcasing my own personal style. I love all the new spring looks from J Crew and Anne Taylor LOFT. They are so soft and feminine and the colors are just gorgeous.
I would wear a pencil skirt just because I love them. This one from LOFT has cute gathering details at the pockets which set it apart from your standard pencil skirt. I love the vibrant coral color of the blouse from J Crew and the ruffles on the front are just too pretty. If you felt uncomfortable with having your arms bare or if it was still chilly out you could wear a cardigan. I also paired the outfit with a super bright yellow belt. I love the punch it adds to the outfit. If it was too much for you, you could always wear no belt or just wear something toned down a bit. Last but not least…. Who doesn’t want a pair of Seychelles t straps? They make the most adorable shoes and really anything they make would be awesome with this outfit.
What do you think? Is this a good Interview outfit?
So first off, my apologizes to Taumi who has been patiently waiting for me to get this to her. I am sorry! But, a while back a got an email from Taumi explaining that she was the matron of honor in her friends wedding that was taking place in HAWAII!! How amazing right? She needed an outfit that would have an island influence without being over the top “Hawaiian” or filled with hibiscus flowers. I know her troubles because when we lived there you get so sick of seeing Hawaiian print on everything.
She wrote she needed a dress for a Bridal Breakfast. They are going to a great restaurant that over looks the ocean and then heading to the pool for a day of lounging and fun (remember to wear lots of sunscreen girls!) As I started looking around for dresses, my first thought was of course florals, but then I came across this Billabong dress and just fell in love with the colors and pattern. I can just picture being with all my girlfriends, celebrating on a lanai that over looks the ocean, drinking mimosas and eating pineapple. Ahhh now that is a good thing to picture. I wish I was part of this wedding party. hehe.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
4 cups butternut squash puree (about 1 large butternut squash)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon sage (chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound pasta (I used whole wheat)
A few handfuls of baby Spinach
Puree:
1. Cut butternut squash in half long ways. Scoop out seeds
2. Place face down on a baking sheet. Place into a 400 degree oven for 30-60 mins, or until you can scoop insides easily with a spoon and mash.
Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the onion and saute until tender.
3. Add the garlic about 1 minute.
4. Add the butternut squash puree, cream, cheese, nutmeg, sage, salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes. (If it is too thick you can add some water or milk. If it is too thin, let it simmer for a while to thicken.)
5. Meanwhile cook the pasta as directed. Before you drain the pasta place your baby spinach in the strainer and then strain your pasta over the spinach. Mix pasta and Spinach.
6. Serve. Place pasta in bowl (you can add a few more leaves of baby spinach on top. Spoon Sauce over top and sprinkle with cheese.
The one thing I am struggling with the most being pregnant is the exhaustion I am feeling. It is seriously like nothing I have felt before. It is beyond being tired. As I had mentioned yesterday we had a pretty laid back weekend which was good. Every weekend I look forward to being able to catch up on sleep and even dress more laid back. I got this dress from modcloth a little bit ago and I really just love how comfortable it is. It’s also super versatile. You can wear it dressed up if you want- the silk ruffled bottom half really lets you dress it up or down or you can wear it in a more relaxed way as I did this Sunday. I love the large exposed zipper, it really adds that special touch. I have already worn this like 3 times since I have gotten it. I have worn it with tights, leggings and now jeans. I am on the taller side at almost 5’9″ so it lets me wear this easily between a tunic or a dress depending on how daring I want to be.
Garden Edge Dress: Courtesy of Modcloth
Black Skinny Jeans: Urban Outfitters
Jacket: TJ Maxx
Love Birds Necklace: Figs and Ginger
Flats: Target
I know by now you have all heard of modcloth, but I really just want to say a huge Thank You! to them. They really are a great great company with quailty merchandise. They truly value bloggers and have such great customer service. They are so good with you if you need to return something. They are seriosuly the first place that I go to when I need to find an outfit for something. They have everything! A section I just started stalking is their apartment section. Have you ever been there? They have THE CUTEST things in there. I love it all.
In short- THANK YOU MODCLOTH!
I have to say I feel very Alice in Wonderland in these pictures. I love the vines growing up the wall behind me- I think it adds to the fairy tale in my head that I am Alice. Has everyone seen that movie yet? I was counting down the days but now its here and I have yet to find time to go see it. Some day soon hopefully.
I got this dress at Beacons Closet when I was in NYC for fashion week in February. It was below my knees when I tried it on but I loved the sleeves and peter pan collar and knew if I hemmed it it would be super cute. It just takes me forever to hem things. It came out great though. I love this little dress. I think I will only be able to wear it for like 1 more week though. haha. There is a pretty obvious baby bump under there.
This weekend was pretty low key. Friday we went out to our friends Gallery opening in Troy. Oh my gosh her stuff is so beautiful. I hope to share all the pieces with you this Friday for a special post on Good Friday. I feel so inspired lately to create art. I love my talented friends and husband and well all you artists out there on the internet. The ideas keep coming and I am getting so excited as to what is coming together in my head for a show.
I also made some stuff for my etsy shop this weekend. Not to be proud, but I made some really awesome necklaces this weekend that will be up for sale on Thursday this week. Also some brooches and headbands. I am really excited about them. Very spring like and beautiful! I got sucked into a House marathon last night on USA and could stop watching. I ended up moving a bunch of craft stuff out of my craft room to the floor of the living room so I could do both- watch House and make brooches. That show is addicting and I am not even a House fan. How was your weekend?
So I have been really excited for this day to come! The always amazing Modcloth sent the Delightful Dozen this Dynamite Dress to style up and I have been looking forward to seeing everyones take on it for sometime now. I think it is so so fun to see how everyone is styling it. Everyone got their own dress so we could all style it and then post about it today (a few will be posting soon, if not today). How cool right? I love the contrast of colors in the dress. I cant wait for it to be a bit warmer so I can wear it without a jacket. It was pretty cool the day I styled it for this post. Let’s just hope it fits over my growing belly then. Anyways, I just love this dress- its seriously perfect for the warmer months that our on their way.
Make sure you check out the other delightful dozen girls take on the Dynamite Dress today as well!! If you have this dress or are thinking of getting it, I would love to see your take on the dress as well. Send me your pictures! Happy weekend everyone!
Well its Friday! This week has been long and I am just exhausted. I think I could sleep this entire weekend if I wanted to. I am going to try to paint a little this weekend and make some more stuff for my etsy shop. Its been awhile and I am starting to miss creating goodies for my shop. I think this time I will include some of my little paintings I have been making. Here is a snippet of a painting I made the other day.
Later today I will be posting an awesome Delightful Dozen outfit along with the other girls that are in it. So check back soon!
For now enjoy some of my favorites from around my google reader this week…
4. Can I please be friends with these 4 girls?!?!?!!!! Dressed so lovely and having so much fun!
5. Don’t these little pudding cakes look adorable and delicious. I think I will make some for dessert this weekend!
6. This inspiration outfit post single handedly made me go out and get a pair of jean overall shorts from savers. Look for my take on Lulu Letty’s 2 outfits next week!
7. I know everyone loves this girl, but seriously how could you not? So adorable!
Dear Baby:
How are you in there? I can’t feel you yet and you aren’t making me feel sick anymore which is good, but it makes me feel sort of disconnected from you. Like if I didn’t think about being pregnant that I could go all day feeling like I wasn’t. I don’t like that. Not that I don’t think of you because I constantly am, I am just dying to feel you roll around (or as we like to say dance because that is what it looked like on the last ultrasound). I can’t wait. Every night when I am laying in bed and I feel something, anything I wonder, was that it? was that you? I know you are growing fast and soon enough you will be kicking me. hehe but I honestly can’t wait.
This week has been sort of tough on us. We have been very busy and have been going to bed very very late. I am sorry that I haven’t been resting up enough for you. I have been trying to make up for it by eating extra healthy but if I am so tired do you feel that too? I hope not. I have been listening to tons of music lately. Do you hear it? Maybe you can, maybe you can’t. But in my head I think if I am enjoying what I am listening to and its making me feel good than you must be calm and happy too. I also hope that when you arrive into this world that the music I like will calm you and make you feel safe and warm because the sounds will be familiar. My ipod has been glued to my side because I always want to play it when I have a chance. In the car, at work, at home. I want music to be a big part of your life, like it has been for mine.
I just want you to know that I am so proud of your Dad (hehe its funny to write that to talk about Kev- its the first time I have written that) He really has stepped up to this whole idea of being a parent. He has been taking such good care of me. He is always making sure I am feeling good, eating enough, not stressed, and relaxed. He makes me laugh when I am sad and can comfort me like no one else when I am upset or scared. I know he is going to be the best dad to you. I can’t wait to see him hold you for the first time. I have been thinking a lot about the moment you arrive and we get to see you for the very first time. It makes me all teary thinking about that exact moment. The range of emotions and love that will be there and the looks on our faces as we look at each other and at you. I hope you know how loved you are going to be and how loved you all ready are.
On a funnier note. We have one picture of you so far. Its from a long time ago. You don’t look like much (hehe I know that’s not your fault though). We made a song up about you- we like to sing it to ourselves. It makes us laugh, it’s pretty funny. We also have an impression of your ultrasound dance moves and your dad likes to talk to me in your heartbeat sound. We have your next appointment on Wednesday. I am hoping we can find out if you are a Boy or a Girl shortly after. I can’t wait!! I am so so excited!!! I will love your the same either way but the anticipation is killing me. You have grown so much lately that I can not wear my regular pants any more. Well I can but I don’t really enjoy wearing my pants unbuttoned/unzipped. Its not a natural feeling and it makes me feel uncomfortable all day. I bought my first pair of maternity pants the other day. They are awesome!!! I got them at H&M, they are a skinny, dark wash pair of jeans. They are honestly the best fitting jeans I have ever owned, also the most comfortable. Why aren’t all pants made with a thick, soft and stretchy cotton band at the top??
Well for my first letter to you baby I sure have written a book! I could go on forever because well, I think of you all day long and our days are forever changed (in a good way) because of you. I just have lots to tell you and share, but I will stop here for now and write some more next week.
Love,
Mom
(also the first time I have written that about myself, crazy!)
p.s. please have hazel eyes like your dad because I love them. (photo by our friend Jon)
Who’s excited it’s Spring?? I am, I am!!! I feel like I have a different mentality now that it is officially spring. This winter was brutal! That is why I was pretty excited to hear about the Weardrobe contest with Pacsun for the best Spring look. When they asked me to be part of the Spring break crew I was psyched because the thought of having to dress up in spring looks was a much needed source of inspiration. When this BB Dakota dress came in the mail I couldn’t wait to wear it. It was pretty mild this weekend and I knew this was a day to sport this cute dress. I loved the color combo of my bright orange sweater with light blue the http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenloveskev/4286483564/ so I knew it would look great over this sort of Chambray dress. These are by far my favorite shoes and have been in the closet since last fall- they were begging to come out for a walk. What do you guys think? Is this a good Spring look?
One of the best things about the weather turning warmer is the return of our “Hooded Sweatshirt walks”!!!! Anyone a fan of Bright Eyes? The line is from a song we like and we always seem to walk with sweatshirts on, so now that is what we call them. It is one of my favorite things to do together. They are always after work, sometime late, sometimes right when we both get home. They always lead to great conversation, adventures and laughter and sometimes just a good time to share frustrations about work or whatnot and each other being able to listen and share advice. Not that we dont talk at home about the same stuff but on these walks it always seems special. I think its the holding hands. hehe. Maybe we just need to walk around our apartment holding hands and wearing sweatshirts and see if its the same? Sometimes if its still chilly we will make homemade hot chocolate and take it travel mugs as we walk. They are seriously like the best thing. Its such a simple thing we do together but yet these walks mean so much to each of us.
Keeping up with the Maple theme of the Over the Weekend post here is our delicious Maple Flavored dinner. It was delicious and I am even pretty picky about tofu. The marinade gave the best flavor to the tofu and asparagus and I love roasting tofu and veggies- its so much better than fry it up on the stove.
I am even including a picture of Kev’s dinner which I usually never do- because ewe it has meat in it. hehe I made him some steak that I seasoned and then heated some of the marinade, thickened it a bit and poured it over top when they were done. I found the recipe here.
For Marinade:
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon peanut oil
zest of 1 lime and a little juice
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
minced jalapeno, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
For Garnish:
sliced scallions
chopped roasted peanuts
1. I actually doubled the marinade for the tofu and then made a separate batch for the asparagus. I wanted a lot of left over marinade.
2. Mix the marinade together in a dish. Add tofu cubes and allow to marinate for half an hour or more.
3. Preheat oven to 450F.
4. Coat a large baking pan with non-stick spray and spread marinated tofu and asparagus in a single layer. Pour any of the remaining marinade over top.
5. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until browned as desired, flipping the tofu and asparagus over halfway through cooking.
6. Serve roasted tofu and asparagus garnished with peanuts and scallions, if desired. Serve over rice. (I picked a brown rice pilaf)
I have a habit of buying things from the goodwill with the intentions of hemming or reworking them but then when they get home they just hang in my closet for months. Well I actually decided this weekend that I would finish up 2 of those dresses so that I could actually wear them. One of which was this dress. It used to be super long- very Laura Ashley like. I thought it was super cute when I saw it and knew if I shortened it I would really really like it a lot, and you know what I do! The dress is really comfy to wear and of course I love the little puff in the shoulders. There were some massive shoulder pads in there but I took them out. It looked better with out them.
Did everyone have a good weekend? I hope you had beautiful weather. We had gorgeous weather Friday and Saturday and then an ok Sunday. Friday night we had a laid back night hanging out with friends. I love nights like that! Saturday we woke up and got ready to drive out and explore Maple Weekend. Since Maple Syrup is the first harvest of the year there is a whole weekend for it in NY. Maple Farms all over the state open for tours and tastings and lots of good farm cooked food. Kev and me drove up north a little big to a farm called Nightingale’s Maple Farm. We meet the owner and his son and got a tour of the whole production. It was awesome!!! Its so much more advanced now a days- hehe. All the trees are tapped and lined together with tubes that collect all the syrup- no more pails. It was really cool to see all the syrup running thru all the tubes into the sugar shack.
After we spent sometime at the farm we drove into Saratoga to walk around and explore. What a cool town! I had never been there before but I am looking forward to going back a lot as the weather gets warmer. We ate at an awesome crepe restaurant called Ravenous. We ordered to share a Large Pomme Frites, the daily special crepe (which was a falafel in crepe form- MMMM) and then a dessert crepe with strawberries, nutella and powdered sugar. It was so delicious. I loved it there.
Did everyone have a good week? I did. It was nice to have a day off in the middle. I think every week should be like that. Anyone have any good plans for the weekend? I think we are heading out to explore Maple Weekend around NY state. I am pretty excited! I love real maple syrup!! It’s also suppose to be beautiful out tomorrow so it will be a good day out and about farms in the area. I also found this awesome sounding crepe restaurant that I want to try out in Saratoga. Maybe we could fit that in? We will have to see.
The last 2 days I have been dying to paint something- anything! I have always had a fascination with medical illustrations and old botany illustrations/etchings (I have always wanted a floral tattoo styled after those etchings) I think I want to mix the two and do some small paintings that maybe I will put up in my etsy shop to sell. I just need to do something!!
Anyways, here are some of my starred posts this week from my google reader. There is just so much inspiration out there. I love it!!!
1. There is nothing that impresses me more than things that are letterpressed and that are amazing. Look how wonderful these wedding invitations are!!! I love every single detail about them. I love how they are roped together, how they addressed each envelope, even the vintage cactus and flower stamps they used. So good!!!
2. I hope when our kid is old enough to sit at a table our table will be like this. I hope we pass on our creative spirit to our kids! How awesome to have colored pencils at the table!! I can picture our table always covered in white paper with little drawings all over it. I get so excited now as a 27 year old when we are at a restaurant with white paper and crayons to draw. I know we always give the waiter or waitress a good laugh after kev and me leave one of those places. We cover that entire thing with ridiculous drawings.
3. Man, I wish I would look this cute in a pair of trousers rolled up. What a great outfit!
4. I saw this on another blog this week and I starred it because it was so cute, but then I saw it being used on Making it Lovely and knew I needed to have this for our baby things once the baby arrives. It would totally match our kitchen and look super adorable! What a great idea for a baby dish rack.
5. Next time I am in Boston (which I hope is very soon) I want to find this homegoods store. It looks so fun!
6. When I see this picture it reminds me of how much I want to live in Paris. This girl is absolutely adorable. I don’t even know if she is from France, but in my head she is and if I lived there I could look as cute too! haha. I love it there! I love this girl!
7. I love these pregnancy photos that bluebird vintage has been taking. They are just so cute!!
8. I love looking at interior design sites and I found this bathroom picture this week and really just fell in love with it. Its so fun and modern looking. I think Kev would like this a lot too. I really like the fish bowl with the toilet paper in it. Its a cute detail!
9. Umm Cats spinning above your head? YES PLEASE!!!! haha I love this!!
10. Last but not least… This artist I am in love with!!! I was so inspired by this artwork that I instantly wished I was at my parents house around band saws and drill presses because I want to get to work!!
p.s I do know how to spell “tell” in the title I dont know why it is cutting off the letters?
Hi Guys.
Here we are a week later. I can’t believe it’s been a week already since we shared our first pictures. I think by doing a weekly photo shoot it’s going to make the time go by so fast. I don’t really think my belly has changed all that much- it all depends how I am standing, what I have eaten and what time of day it is. haha. It’s really funny because right now it kinda just looks like I have gained weight (which I have- 8 pounds to be exact/ YIKES!) more so than being pregnant and when we touch my stomach I think we both think it’s going to be kinda squishy but its crazy how firm it feels. Kev thinks its crazy how firm and likes to tell people to touch it. I usually then have to look at the person he just told and shake my head like “no, please dont.” haha. He is cute. He rubs my stomach for a while every night before we go to bed.
I think the weight gain at the beg. of pregnancy has been a hard thing to adjust to for me. Its a weird feeling because things don’t fit but at the same time you don’t really look pregnant. So its hard to keep remembering this is suppose to be happening. I have been going to the gym 3 times a week still, which I really enjoy and of course helps the mental game of gaining weight. No, I am not trying to lose weight but I want to keep going to the gym through out because it makes me feel good and I know it will be really good for me and baby. I had to give up running now, which was sad. No marathons for me this year, but I have been walking for 40 mins every time at varying speeds and inclines. Its a good work out.
We are dying to find out the sex of the baby. I have my next appointment on April 1st and I am hoping that we will be able to find out soon after that. I am counting down the days till the next appointment. I want (need) to hear the heart beat again. Its so hard to go a month between your visits when there is nothing really apparently pregnant happening to you. There is not a giant belly or little kicks that are telling you “hey I am still in here and doing ok” so the farther I get away from my last appointment the more worried I get that everything is going ok. I mean I know I have past the crucial time period but still, all you want is the best for this little baby growing inside of you and its nice to hear some reassurance. The last time we were at the doctor the midwife was going to use the doppler thing to listen to the heartbeat and said “it might take a minute” as soon as she touched that thing to my stomach you could hear this strong super fast little heart beat. It is the cutest most heart warming sound ever. Kev is always so cute at the appointment. Afterwards, he was like “I am so proud of you. Did you hear how strong it is” He always tells me that he is proud of me because of how healthy I am trying to be and how well I am taking care of myself for the baby. Its very sweet.
Ok on to my last point. As you can see I feel like I have a lot to say and share about this journey. I am thinking of starting a separate blog for baby. I know jenloveskev is already more of a lifestyle blog than just fashion, but I feel like I have so much more to share about pregnancy that I am not because it just makes too much for one blog. I really like the focus of jenloveskev right now. Yes, some things will overlap. I will still talk about us and baby on this blog as it comes up, but I like the idea of a more focused baby blog as well. Any thoughts? I’d love to know what you think!!!
Have you been over to Ruche lately. They launched their spring lookbook last week and I have to say it is just beautiful! Kev even came home last week and asked if I had seen it because the pictures were so awesome. The photos are taken in San Miguel de Allende and are just so romantic- the backgrounds complement the clothes so well. You can shop each outfit from the picture and see the different pieces that make up each shot. I love the summer dresses and sandals!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!! I am actually at home today. yeah! Day off!! But this is what I wore to school the other day. I think these are the end days for some of these skirts. haha it’s hard because all my skirts I where high on my waist with a shirt tucked in, but my expanding middle is not really liking that so much. I have already had to say goodbye to a few of them for now.
Caitlin from To Be Determined sent me this skirt and as soon as I opened the package I knew I loved it (I guess I am continuing with the big bow theme this week!) I tired it on with like 5 shirts, all that I really liked but ended up wearing this kinda mixed match blue blouse from Forever 21. I liked the mixed matched patterns. I also love the bright blue of the blouse. The kids at school really liked the skirt as well. I got lots of compliments from them the day I wore this.
Well I hope everyone has a terrific St. Patrick’s Day!!
Does anyone out there work at H&R Block or at any other tax service company or is a CPA??? Or know someone I could email and ask a question?? I just have 1 question I need answered before we send in our taxes. I have tried to find the answer everywhere and I just can’t seem to get a straight answer from anyone.
My question…
If we received the $7500 1st time home buyer tax credit on our 2008 tax return but sold the house in 2009, what do we need to do for our 2009 taxes? How do we go about paying it back? Do we have to pay it back? Does the repayment depend if there was a profit or loss on the sale of your home?
Any insight would be beyond greatly appreciated!!
Please email me at jenloveskev@gmail.com
So I woke up Sunday morning and decided I needed to wear a big bow in my hair that day. I plugged in my glue gun and made this ridiculous headband. I felt like Minnie Mouse all day but I think I love it. I asked Kev if I could still wear a bow like this if we had a kid. hehe. I don’t want to feel like I have to change the way I dress to fit a “mom” style. hehe I will just make the same headband for my kid and we can match. hehe.
I wore this to church and out to lunch with friends on Sunday. Our church is in a bar/concert hall called Revolution Hall. Its pretty sweet. There is the most Amazing Brewery next door called Browns Brewery. They have some of the best beer!! Mmmm. I love all the decorative beer taps for their beer in Rev. hall. Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s day and every year Brown’s asks our Pastor Ed to do a blessing of the bar. Its pretty awesome. Like 300 people come out from around Troy and Albany. The news is there, the Major and lots of bag pipes. I can’t wait!! I am just bummed I can’t have some beer along with everyone else. (Don’t worry little baby you are totally worth the wait to drink some again).
Peach Top: H&M
Skirt: Old Navy
Headband: Handmade
Flats: Steve Madden
The Last nights dinner recipe will be posted late tonight. We had no power last night so we went out for dinner instead, so I am cooking it tonight for dinner. I am pretty excited. It has to do with maple syrup in honor this up coming Maple Weekend here in upstate NY. Mmmmm!!!
and all I have to say after taking the birth center tour last night is, wow we still have lot to learn! and oh yeah to private rooms!! We are getting more and more excited everyday. I love this little baby! As we were laying in bed last night Kev leaned over and said I am really excited about being a Dad. Hearing that warms my heart more than you know!! He is going to be the most amazing Dad ever.
I just want to say a huge huge Thank you to everyone that reads this blog and leaves such sweet comments. It really means the world to me and all the congrats on our baby news really touched my heart. So much encouragement- so THANK YOU!!! I may not always be able to write back or leave comments on everyones blog but I try and I def. go and check out your blogs and see what everyone is up too. You are all such sweet girls and it means so much to me that you read jenloveskev!
Did you have a good weekend? My parents came out on Friday night till Saturday to visit. It was so good to have them around. It was kinda crappy weather out but we still went and walked around the big Boat Locks in Waterford and checked out the Cohoes Falls. Then they helped us finish up some stuff in the apartment (shelves, pictures hung, etc…) It was sad when they left.
My outfit post might be more of a mix of non teacher outfits and teacher outfits coming up because I have lots of things I want to wear and share before my baby bump gets out of control. Like this outfit. Not a teacher outfit! hehe. But I love it just the same. I feel a little sandalous but I think wearing thigh highs just make me feel like that and who says you can’t feel fabulous at 4 months pregnant right? This lace tunic is suppose to be a dress. I saw it on the forever 21 website worn as a dress and I fell in love with it but when I went to try it on at the store it didnt even cover my bum. I am not that tall am I? Oh well, I just wore it with a cotton black mini to help cover my behind.
This necklace was sent to me special by Courtney of Dolly and Boy Jewelry. I had told her about how one of our wedding songs is a Mates and State song who’s chorus is “and I will be your anchor, drop my in the bay and I will hold you steady.” When I got my package and opened it to see the anchor and ship helm made out of recycled bullets. I was beyond excited!! I have been wearing it non stop since.
Lace Tunic/Dress: Forever 21
Cotton Mini: H&M
Anchor Necklace: Courtesy of Dolly and Boy
Thigh Highs: Target
Heels: Chinese Laundry
p.s. We are doing our first big baby thing tonight! We are going to an open house and tour of the child birth center at the hospital. I am pretty excited. haha is that weird? oh well. Its fun! We get to meet all the midwives as well. We have only had appointments with 2 of them so far.
This is a picture of my family from 2 years ago over Christmas. We were in Canada if you couldn’t tell. hehe. I was searching all over for it this morning because I wanted to see it. It’s one of my favorite pictures of us just because its so funny and there are a lot of fun memories associated with that picture. My whole family is not together very often so when we are it really means a lot to me. Being pregnant really makes me miss my family that much more! I love them so much and I am sad that I don’t get to see my sisters like ever or my mom and dad. I want them to be around but at the same time I am so proud of everyone. We all have such adventurous spirits that I know my parents encouraged growing up and we are scattered about as we each follow where are dreams take us. So I wouldn’t want to change that, but would someone just invent the teleporter please!
So I have been enjoying my Friday posts lately where I share some of my favorite things from the interweb. I think I will continue doing that on Friday’s. Its sort of like show and tell when you were little except its more like “share and tell”. Hmm maybe that’s what I will call it! Yep, it’s now called Friday’s Share and Tell.
My google reader has crazily been taken over by baby blogs. I love looking at baby stuff now and I also love blogs about young couples that have babies. Its super encouraging to read others stories and experiences. My starred section in my reader is now filled with pictures of nurseries for ideas. I love it!
Anyways here are some of my favorite things this week(only a few are baby related)
1. I love this girl- The first picture with the train blows my mind. One of the best style shots ever in my opinion!
2. I am excited for a boy or a girl but this little girls nursery is just so precious I can’t even stand it. I love the pale pink with the bright yellow. So gorgeous!
3. This video had me balling, even when I was telling kev about it I was getting choked up. Its not the fact that the baby is so cute (which she is!) but its the parents reactions and what she writes underneath it. My heart is beyond filled with love listening to them because I know that is going to be Kev and me in a few months and I cant not wait to feel so much love and joy as we can hold and play with our little baby.
4. How Sweet and Simple is this birthday surprise. Its so cute and I have stored the idea away!!
5. I have to say I think it is pretty freakin’ awesome that one of my favorite magazines is called LULA. I mean that is my last name!!! (in case you didn’t know, Lula is my maiden name. I am having a hard time letting go of it, whoops!) I think kev thinks its pretty cool that their tag line is “girl of my dreams” I think he would agree. hehe.
6. I think this outfit was one of my favorites of Jessica’s. Her Alice themed outfit was just perfect! how cute is she?
7. Drooling over these TBA dresses for Urban Outfitters UK! How precious. That first dress with the peter pan collar and beaded detail is beautiful! I can I have it please!
8. This girl is beyond California cool. I mean look at her! Even her laid back days are crazy gorgeous. I love those shoes!
9. I think other than the mixed matched rugs and pillows Kev would kill to live here! That book shelf is amazing!!!
10. I love these wall hangings for the babies room. Could be really awesome since we can’t paint (or can we?? hehe jk kev don’t worry) I think I could make things like this in objects we wanted. Hmmmm. Idea stored.
So the stuff over atThreadsence is already priced super low and affordable for all the cute stuff they have, but this weekend they are having a 25% off Sale!!! Hop on over and check out all their awesome dresses and put that coupon to good use!! Sale runs today thru Sunday!
Yay! Its Thursday! I look forward to the weekends so much now a days. Being pregnant and having to get up extra early and then drive an hour to work, teach all day and then drive an hour home makes for a really really long week. I am so exhausted by the end of the day. I find myself being in bed with Kev and falling asleep while he is in mid sentence telling me something. Remember because we posted about the baby stuff on Monday this week, I will not be making a baby post today. Thursdays will generally be dedicated “baby day” on jenloveskev.
On to clothes! I recieved in the mail a couple weeks ago the new LOFT lookbook as well as some of their spring goodies including this beautiful scarf and gold cuff. I was pretty excited to open the package and find out what as inside. The scarf is so so pretty. Perfect for spring! I couldn’t wait to put together an outfit to wear with it. I wore my orange pinstripe button up and some wool brown shorts. It’s still chilly out so I wore some brown tights and then added my favorite shoes. I got them at platos closet a couple months ago. I have loved platos closet for a while now but the other day made me want to boycott them.
I decided to clean out my closets because they were becoming a jungle. I filled 2 garbage bags full of lightly worn, brand name clothes (just like platos closet says) that I was sure they would take all of. I dropped them off and came back 3o mins later to find out they were only going to give me $30bucks and could only take like 5 things. I honestly was a little pissed. Their exucses were so lame and then were like do you want to donate the rest of the stuff to the goodwill. I of course said yes because I really didnt want the clothes back. As I was driving home I was convinced that is the game they play because of course people are going to donate clothes and then I bet they sell the clothes anyways now that they didnt have to shell out cash for them. Ok thats my rant. Sorry for being negative.
Lets look at how pretty the scarf is…
Button Up: Old Navy
Scarf: Anne Taylor Loft (Courtesy of Lucky)
Wool Shorts: H&M
Tights: Target
Wedges: Platos Closet
Gold Cuff: Anne Taylor LOFT (Courtesy of Lucky)
I just wanted to take a quick minute and welcome my sponsors for March. Its a great bunch of shops and I am truly proud to talk about each one. I hope that you guys will take a minute or two and look thru their sites and see all the amazing stuff they have to offer.
Have you checked out Modcloth’s “Exposure your Love for Zippers” Section on their website? They have some awesome clothing items in there all with exposed zippers on them. I being a fan of zipper details had to ordered the dress in the middle (above) which came in the mail yesterday. I love it!! I had to wear it as soon as I opened the package.
Ruche has so many beautiful things for spring and summer right now. I can drool over their selections all day. I am finding too that I think I can get away with a lot of regular dresses and tops well into my pregnancy without having to buy too many maternity pieces. For example the pieces above I think are adorable and would like super cute on a pregnant girl. Plus I am just loving the color of those sandals!!
We have 2 prints from Roll and Tumble Press but I have been eye balling these ones as well. The quality of their prints are awesome and I hope to add our collection. I really love the Sweet Dreams one. I think it would be perfect for a nursery. How cute right? Or what a perfect addition to your kitchen with the salt and pepper shaker prints.
I really love browsing thru KDikio Vintage. There are so many different pieces. All varying in sizes, colors and themes. All I can think about it pairing each piece with different outfits. I really love the 3 pieces above. Each has its own unique feel to them.
I just love the recycled vintage skirts at To Be Determined. They are so fun! I have a plaid one and its become my go to skirt. I just love it. I also love the vintage pieces in the shop like this Pink Blouse or the woven sandals. How perfect would these sandals be for summer? They would look darling with a flowery sun dress.
I actually wore this outfit over the weekend. I thought it was warm enough for no tights, but I was quickly mistaken. I braved it anyways and dealt with goosebumps on my legs. I first saw this dress on the lovely Krystal of This Time Tomorrow. This is the dress Modcloth named after her when she was the Blogger of the Moment. I loved it when I saw it and I knew I had to have it as well. Its the perfect dress for Spring and into summer. I love that the top is a super soft cotton and that it is a racer back. I really like racer backs for some reason. I am excited to one day wear it with out a sweater. I wore my plum Banana republic sweater with it to keep me warm.
Our apartment is in an old old mill building and right now there are like 100 loft style apartments. One of which we live in. Anyways, the building is giant and there is still more than half the building that is run down. They just started a second phase and are making another 100 apartments, a pool, and park area outside. There are lots of cool places to explore when the workers leave. Lots of things torn down and lots of old rooms exposed. We went for a walk on sunday to check it out and to take some pics. We were having a good time until Kev stepped on a nail. Doh! That is why you dont walk around construction zones. Whoops. He is ok- now worries. We did take a picture of the nail though.
So we are back to regular outfits. I packed my hawaii suitcase full of summer clothes because I know I wont fit in to any of it by the time summer comes around. My due date is, well they have told me 2: August 29th and Sept. 3rd (the day before my 28th b-day). So I guessing sometime in between. I am totally enjoying this sort of warmer weather lately here though. It doesnt sound like its as warm as NYC but mid-40’s is something I wont complain about either.
I am totally diggin’ thinking about dressing for spring. I love spring coats! My favorite and a classic is the trench. It’s funny how no matter what you are wearing underneath as soon as you put a trech over top you instantly feel chic. Well at least I do. I pulled this plaid shirt from Kev’s side of the closet and wore it over top a pair of Jeggings (did i really just use that word?) and then pulled out my peeptoe flats that I thrifted when we lived in Hawaii. They have been hiding away since last fall. I love this early spring look!
Brinner (breakfast for dinner) it’s definitely one of my favorite dinner ideas right next to anything tex-mex. On my way home from the gym last night I stopped at the grocery store to get stuff for the week. I have always tried to eat healthy but especially now since I am pregnant. Every week I try to get 3 different kinds of fruit and make sure we are eating a good amount of vegetables with dinner and snacks. Last week I got Blueberries, Clementines, and strawberries. This week I decided to get Bananas, apples and Mmm my favorite Blackberries. Then my mind starting rolling on what to make for dinner. Mmm I remembered this recipe I found in Cooking Light for Banana Cinnamon Waffles and I knew that’s what we HAD to have to dinner.
I like ice cream but I have always been a smoothie girl over ice cream. I just love fruit. So I decided to use some of the black berries to make a smoothie as well. I always keep the freezer stocked with frozen fruit to make smoothies. Let’s just say this dinner was AWESOME!!! Kev woke up this morning and even said “I just have to say dinner last night was soo good.” I think we were both wishing this morning that we could be eating the waffles again for breakfast- as I quickly chugged down a breakfast protein shake. Blah!
First let’s say- none of our cats were harmed in this post. We did not actually put our cats in bags. hehe
Ok, Ok, so we have been keeping a very very big secret for the last 3.5 months! I am Pregnant!!!
Crazy!
Crazy!
We are super excited and of course a little nervous!! It has been super hard keeping it a secret for so long. We found out over Christmas while we were in FL. We wanted to keep it quiet to make sure everything went well with my first trimester, but now that I am safely into my 2nd and my expanding belly is getting harder and harder to hide in my style files- it was time to tell you all!!!!
We will be doing a photo series once a week on Thursdays, dedicated to documenting my growing bell (just like the one below) but other than that Jenloveskev will go on as normal. Recipes, home decor, I’d wear thats and of course daily style files. No worries I will not bombard you all with baby things. I will keep it to a minimum. I plan on keeping style files going until the end. It’s going to be a whole new challenge for me because well I have never dressed a pregnant belly before. I am excited though! So, I hope you will all stick around and join us on this journey.
This week our photo post comes a little early. I am 15 weeks…
Usually these posts will come on Thursdays.
Hi guys! Did you have a good weekend? We had a very productive one, so it was nice to get so much stuff done. I went to bed last night feeling very accomplished. So here is my last Hawaii style file. Sorry I had so many, but you will see why I wanted to take so many pictures with my summer clothes in the next post.
This is one of our favorite spots on the island as well. Its up on the North Shore. Its super country out there, with beautiful mountains and the air just smells so sweet. There are hundreds and miles of Pineapple fields up there. I love it. It’s so different from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki.
So, the one of the coolest etsy shops around is obviously Roll and Tumble Press, I have said it before and I will say it again I am head over heels with their prints. It’s going to start being a Roll and Tumble press Gallery in my house soon- hehe!
They graciously sent us some prints a little while ago and we couldn’t wait to get them framed and hung in out new place. They look awesome! We still have lots to do in our place (having a hard time with such high high ceilings and not being able to paint) but we are getting there. I am really excited to start sharing pictures as we get things finished.
Here are a few sneak peaks of our Roll and Tumble Prints hung by the best book shelf (the expedit) ever. I love that thing. It holds so much. You can also see a little of our bedroom, with my favorite thing in there- our fake fireplace! I can not fall asleep with out in on. The sound lulls me to sleep every night.
Yay!! Its Friday! and I woke up this morning with a fresh new outlook and feeling ready for the day and the weekend!! Thanks to everyone who left a comment yesterday it was really inspiring to read them all and think about what each of you said. I am glad that it seemed like others maybe found comfort in the dialogue as well. I really do LOVE THIS BLOG and I know the reason I do it and that is why I do it in the first place. Kev was right when he said. If you are doing something you love than you are successful. So true!!!
I wanted to share a few random things with you…
I know Couturious.com has been up on other blogs but I have just been slow to post about it. When I got an email a while back asking if I could try it out and make some looks, I wasnt really sure what I was getting myself into. Lets just say, when I logged on for the first time I was thinking I would sit down and do something really quick but ended up playing around for like an hour because it is so fun. Seriously, it is like playing dolls with cool clothes. I can’t stop. I am totally addicted. Have you played around with it yet?
Also are you part of Weardrobe? They are having an awesome new contest that lets you win some beautiful spring clothes from Pac Sun and to be a part of the Spring Break Crew. The crew is made up of me, Julie, Indiana and other awesome bloggin’ ladies. Its going to be lots of fun so upload your best spring break outfit to weardrobe today!
Also I wanted to share a few of my favorite links from this week…
1. Tieka styled my Rainbow Raw Honey Modcloth dress this week for the Delightful Dozen and she looks amazing!!!
2. I am totally in love with this artist. Every painting she post instantly makes me want to get out my water colors and try to paint something as beautiful. I just love this maid picture she posted…
3. Trashy! Who doesn’t love recycled clothing? This party seemed like a blast and totally inspired me to make a senior art project out of it!
4. Spring! Spring! Spring! Can I please look as cool as this girl. I need those yellow shoes!
Happy Weekend my Friends. Make sure you hug someone that is special to you. Or even not. I love hugs. I like hugging as a greeting instead of handshakes. Way better in my mind.
I have a date to night with a special someone and we are going to try try try to sneak our way into Alice and Wonderland. Here’s hoping!
Also one last thing. There has been some exciting things going on for jenloveskev. Monday I have some really great stuff I can finally share!!!
So there is just something so comforting to me about wearing a sundress. They are flowy and usually made out of light weight fabric and I always feel so pretty in them. I have never owned a plain white one before because I am always around paint of some sort and well, I am just an accident waiting to happen most days. I saw this one at AE last year and I took the plunge. So far I have been able to keep it pretty clean when I wear it. I love the simplicity of it. When we were in Hawaii I wore it with a scarf around my neck. It was like my summer tunnel scarf.
Honestly, this week has been rough. I am glad we had these extra pictures from hawaii. It has freed up some time for other things. Sometimes it hard to not let this blog world get the best of you. I love all the readers (you ares are seriously the best!) and all the friends I have made but it is hard to not see it as a competition sometimes. It was my new years goal to not let that happen and I have been really good but I am not perfect and this week has been hard. I don’t know why I am sharing but I guess I need to get it off my chest. Does anyone else struggle with things like this with their blog?
* don’t get me wrong I love my blog and I love blogging. I also love taking pictures of my outfits each day. Its very inspiring and super creative which I love. I in no way wish I was more like someone else or am comparing myself to particular people. I love my life. I want to be me. I am just wondering others thoughts on the whole competition feeling of blogging.
Update: Thank you so much to people who are leaving comments. I really like that we can all talk about this. That was my intention. I was worried about writing I was feeling that way but I knew others had to be feeling it too. I just wanted us to be able to share and learn from each other. I appreciate each and every comment. The link left by MsAmanda is a good one. Keep the conversations going!
So a while back I found this great etsy shop called Paper Sparrow. I loved everything in there, but I especially loved all the oh so cute pendants she was selling. I was totally drawn to the panda one. It is so freakin’ cute and I can’t stop wearing it. When I look down and see it around my neck it makes me smile.
Paper Sparrow is having a spring clearance right now and all the pendants are $6 bucks!!! That is just crazy- what a deal! Head over and check it out!
So, as of this morning I think I am offically growing out my bangs and will be wearing them to the side. haha- big news right? I am hoping that if I say it out loud I will stick to my plan. I always say I am going to grow out my bangs but then I don’t, I cut them a couple weeks later. Since Hawaii I have been wearing them to the side instead of straight across and I have been enjoying the change. Although, I loved my straight bangs! I know when the summer comes I will be glad I grew them out. It gets so humid here and I have a hard time keeping bangs flat and straight instead of puffy and 80’s. Here’s hoping…
I got this tee at H&M and I love the sailor feel to it. I am really diggin’ the nautical themes out there right now. I knew I wanted to match the navy with red and gold. Please excuse my unpainted toenails. haha I debeate about putting that picture up because who really needs to see a close up of my feet. The week before vacation I told myself I cant wait till next week so I have time to relax and paint my nails. It did not happen as you can see but I had high hopes of having some nice red nails. One of these days…
We were running a little low on time last night after the gym, grocery shopping, changing out license plates from MA to NY, doing laundry, bills, uploading and editing photos, and regular cleaning things that had to be done. It was one of “those nights.” Anyways, I wanted to cook something that was pretty easy but tasty. My default for these kinds of meals are usually a soup of some sort. I have never made a Tortilla soup before so I was pretty excited to try this. IT WAS DELICIOUS!! I loved it!! I think it was a new thing for Kev but he is always a good sport and ate it all and said he liked it. I grilled him some chicken with some chilli powder on it and then cut it up and added it to his soup.
I think my favorite part was the handmade tortilla strips. They added so much and were so much better than added like corn chips or something. I do with there was a magical spell to ripen avocados right when you need them because it always seems like the grocery store never has ripe ones when you need them. I am not that good of a planner to get them days in advanced to let them ripen.
Tortilla Soup:
1 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (optional)
1/4 teaspoon chili powder (or to taste)
4 cups vegetable broth
2-3 cups water
3 cups pinto beans, cooked
salt to taste
6 corn tortillas
1 large lime, cut into 6 wedges
1 ripe large avocado, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
4 cups chopped spinach, chard, or kale leaves
1. Add can of tomatoes to a blender.
2. Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook till brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Pour it all into the blender along with the chilli powder and process until smooth.
3. Pour mixture back into sauce pot and heat on medium. Stir consistently for about 5 mins. Let thicken. Add broth, water, oregano (if using), and drained pinto beans. Bring to a boil, then adjust heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes.
4. While the soup is cooking, prepare the tortillas. Preheat oven to 375F. Cut each tortilla in half (can be done in a stack if you have a sharp knife). Then cut each half into 1/4-inch wide strips. Place the strips in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt,pepper, a little chilli powder or cumin if you want. Bake for about 15 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven.
5. Add spinach (or chard or kale) to the soup. Cook, stirring, until the greens are wilted, about 2 minutes or so depending.
Serve the soup topped with avocado and tortilla chips in soup bowls. Serve with lime wedges. It taste awesome to squeeze juice of 1-2 lime wedges in soup. MMmmmm Enjoy!
So something that I have been in love with lately is plastic jewelry. I just love the Lucite like pieces, especially when they are in bright colors. Julie found this necklace at H&M when we were shopping in NYC. We both ended up getting it because, well it’s awesome! I will say the next time I wear it it wont be against my skin because it’s a little pokey. The points kept stabbing me. Pain for fashion right? haha
I was also really happy I got to wear this little flutter shoulder shirt in Hawaii. I saw it at forever 21 and thought it was just really adorable, but didn’t want to have to wait till it was warmer to wear it. Spring will you please come to New England!!! Well it is March 1st, so I guess it’s right around the corner right? Last week didn’t feel like it so much but I have high hopes for March.
Did you watch the Hockey game yesterday? I am not a sports girl. I really hate all professional sport (sorry) but hockey is another thing all together. Can you blame me? I am from Canada! Anyways, Kev’s Dad went out in the morning on a mission to find us little American and Canadian flags. It was really sweet and we had a blast watching the game with them. I got to wave my Canadian flag proudly in the end! It was such an AMAZING GAME!!! I can’t even believe it. The announcer was cracking us up right before OT started. He was so worked up and excited. So good!
Welcome to my personal lifestyle blog. It features topics such as motherhood, family life, fashion, cooking, and all sorts of adventures. I hope you enjoy what you find!
