This outfit is pretty basic, but that’s not a bad thing.  It’s more or less an everyday outfit for me.  A nice flow-y top, a cardigan to anchor the structure a bit, dark jeans (they’re blue jeans, despite the picture) and some nice knee-high boots to keep me warm in this ridiculously cold winter.  I’m ready to go to work or the grocery store and feel totally comfortable. 

Ready for whatever comes my way

Sometimes though, a nice basic outfit can feel...blah.  Especially if you wake up feeling a bit blah.  For some people, when you wake up feeling less than awesome, they reach for stretchy pants and a hoodie.  That's all well and good, but I think that if you want to feel better, start by looking better--while still feeling comfy.  When you’re wearing a cute but basic outfit, you need to ramp up the accessories to feel fancy-schmancy.  And you should always reserve the right to feel fancy-schmancy, even if you’re just running out to get some milk and eggs.

I feel better with every addition.  

A big shiny headband, a rose quartz necklace, a pink pearl ring and of course my wedding set, and this ordinary blouse and cardi combo are elevated to pretty lady wear.  

What do you do to amp up an outfit?  I always want to wear scarves but never seem to be able to combine them with clothes in a way that I like.  Any tips?

I love my dogs, Henry and Aza, but sometimes I don’t know why.  They let Atticus take their toys away with no objection.  They sit (kind of) patiently when he wants to feed them one piece of dog food at a time.  He crawls on them, pulls their ears, pushes them away, jumps on them when they’re sleeping, and they just lick him.  

Sweet little doggies.

Henry loves to dress up in clothes.  He prances around the house like he owns the joint.  I mean, more so than usual. 

Ready to hustle.  Another day, another dollar.

He was even happy to dress up as a clown for Atticus’s first birthday party:

Funniest looking clown I’ve ever seen.

Aza is a big sugar lump, she’s so sweet.  She’s always concerned with how Atticus is getting along. 

Is your heart melting yet?

She’ll lay in front of the stairs so that he doesn’t try to climb up...although now a days Atticus just climbs over her and she watches him go.

How about now?

Obviously these are good dogs  So why are they they worst good dogs?

Oh yeah, it’s because they pull crap like this:

Oh, you guys are home early!

I guess it would be funnier to me if this was the first time we had come home to a hole in the door, but no.  

He looks so proud.

Aza isn’t much better.  When we leave, she destroys things... mainly pillows.  When I was pregnant with Atticus, she would pull things off the kitchen counter... like glass jars, my insulin medication, and ibuprofen.  You know, the usual stuff dogs pull off of counters. 

I could go on about why they're so bad, but I could also continue to list why they're so lovely. 

I love these sweet, ridiculous, destructive dogs, but some days it’s easier to do than others.  Tonight I’m letting them sleep on a king size feather bed mattress cover, so you tell me how I’m feeling about them tonight.  

Do you have pets, and more importantly, do you question why you love them?  Tell me about it in the comments!

The three amigos, watching the snow fall.

Once in a while, my gold will turn my skin black.  I’m talking real, high-quality jewelry, not costume jewelry.  

Gangrene? Frostbite?  Charcoal?

It’s just a shadow on my middle finger in the picture above, so I took the liberty of showing you the reaction on a different part of my body:

Uhh, you’ve got a little schmutz on your face, dear.

I’ve always heard an old wive’s tale that if gold makes your skin shadowy, it means you have low iron.  This used to make sense to me because I had iron trouble growing up, but lately it’s been fine, so now I’m questioning the idea.   I’ve tried and tried to find a real reason why it happens to some people, but I can’t find anything that sounds legit.  I’m not allergic to any of the metals mixed with gold (If you don’t know, no gold jewelry is 100% gold because it’s too soft.  It’s mixed with alloys--other metals to make the jewelry more durable.)  It’s not makeup, lotion, or soap because it happens anywhere on my skin, clean or dirty.  It happens with yellow gold or old white gold (new white gold jewelry is made differently than old jewelry). 

Since I'm a curious mind, I want to know: why is this happening to me? So I’m reaching out to you all... does anybody know--like, really know-- why this happens?  Have you heard that old wive’s tale about the low iron, or maybe some other reason?  Also, just for funsies, try it on yourself.  Don’t worry, it wipes or washes off really easily.  Share your knowledge with me!

One last thing... I did this to my face and waited for Sean to come home from work.  He’s a lucky man to come home to this every night.  

Welcome home, Sean.

Friday is a big day.  February 14th.  My half birthday!  Why it’s not a national holiday yet is beyond me, but don’t worry, I’m working on it.  You can leave me half birthday wishes in the comments. 

I’ll assume my card is in the mail.

On a less important note, it’s also Valentine’s day. Sean and I are planning to buy a huge box of Godiva chocolates and watch season two of House of Cards on Netflix.  I know, the romance is practically dripping from this post.  

Are we the world’s most glamourous and romantic couple?  Probably.  

Whether or not you have plans with a significant other, family, or friends, allow me to suggest one more way to celebrate:  do something kind.  It could be a big gesture or one small act.  Some ideas:

There are tons of other nice things you can do, and unless you sold your soul to the devil, you can probably think of a few other things on your own.  Let me know some of your ideas in the comments!

On this day which focuses on romantic love, widen the lens a little and spread some good old-fashioned kindness around.  Not only will you brighten someone’s day, but you’ll start to focus on all the little good things that happen in your life day to day.  It’s a good way to live.  You can thank me later for inspiring you to make Valentine's Day just a little more important than cards and flowers. 

Let me end by saying I really appreciate everyone who reads the blog.  It’s a silly little project that helps me feel like I have somewhat of a life, but I brightens my day to hear feedback and comments from you guys.  Thanks for following! 

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! XOXO

Last week, I asked myself, “Hey weirdo, wouldn’t it be nice to actually take advantage of this little responsibility and make something, since you like making things?”  So I looked on my Sweet Treats Pinterest board and saw the incredibly easy looking two ingredient cookies. 

Looks yummy and just two ingredients?  I’m in!  Source: CookiesandCups.com

One can of pumpkin, one box of spice cake mix.  That’s it! 

When I told my mom about my brilliant find, she suggested I just make it like a cake, and obviously that would be less time consuming than scooping little dough balls onto cookie sheets, so I tried it.

My apologies; I should have styled this picture somehow to make it prettier.  Maybe cut the cake into pieces and stacked them on a nice plate.  Live and learn. 

I baked the cake at 350 for about 18 minutes, but my oven runs hot.  The dough was very dense and spread out very thin in a 9x13 cake pan--like, less than half an inch tall.  I was afraid the dough wouldn't rise and I was going to end up with biscotti instead of a cake, but it came out fluffy and delicious! 

Nice job rising to the occasion, cake.  I'm hilarious. 

In the future, I might add a lil sum-sum to the batter-- maybe mini chocolate chips or a whipped topping as frosting. But they really were delicious.  Almost the whole pan was gone by the end of our coffee hour, and what came home with me didn’t last more than a day.  

My verdict is an absolute pass.  Extra credit for only being two ingredients!  Points off for the dough being super dense though.  I mixed it with a beater, and I still had a few little specks of batter that didn't incorporate evenly into the pumpkin.  No one seemed to notice though, and I didn't find any weird try textures in the (many) pieces I ate.

I see you there, you little ball of dry mix.

Any good, quick recipes you can share?  I love anything quick and tasty to add to my repertoire!  

Also, if you have any little things you want me to try, send them my way!  Food, DIY projects (easy and cheap please), beauty tips, miscellaneous things you’ve always wanted to know about, let me know!  I’m an experiment waiting to happen!

Sometimes you’ve just gotta get girly.  I wore this to work one day and my co-worker immediately said how pretty I looked, and the rest of the day I walked with a little extra bounce in my step.  It’s funny how one little comment can do that.  If you get a chance today, brighten someone’s day by giving them a sincere compliment, and know you’ve put a little extra sparkle into the world for the day. 

I feel so sweet and comfy!

Nothing I’m wearing is particularly new or fancy.  The dress is from Target years ago, and so are the tights and the pearl necklaces.  The cardigan is from Kohls as is the belt (I separated it from a dress).  My total outfit costing less than $65.  Nothing expensive, but I felt lovely.

No better way to class up an outfit then with a string of pearls. 

Take a look at the necklaces again. I’m particularly fond of these because they were on a deep clearance when I bought them.  They’re actually two strands of pearls, one long that I wrapped around my neck twice and a short one.  Can you get more ladylike than pink pearls?  I just love them so much!

What’s your favorite way to femme up an outfit?  Let me know!

Before I became pregnant I always said I wouldn’t breastfeed.  I didn’t really know many people who did it and I just felt weird about it.  But pregnancy gives you vivid, emotional dreams, and I would have dreams about breastfeeding.  That’s when I realized breastfeeding aligned with one of my dearest personal mantras:  always take advantage of free food.  You might think I’m kidding, but I’m so serious right now.  It’s almost like a moral code for me.

I honestly don’t care what other people do.  Breastfeed, bottle feed, do it in public, in private, under a cover, out in the open... none of it makes me uncomfortable or gives me an indication of what kind of parent you are.  If you’re feeding your kid when he or she is hungry, you’re making the right choice.  End of discussion.

Atticus doesn't care either.  Do what you want, y'all.

However, as I was going through the process of learning how to breastfeed, I would sometimes have to confront some negativity or false information.  Here are some lies I learned about breastfeeding:

Breasfeeding will come naturally.  False.  Breastfeeding was hard work at first.  Maybe because I only knew a couple of people who breastfeed, but I looked up videos, articles, and other resources, and in the end I still saw a lactation consultant a few times.  Apparently it wasn’t totally natural for Atticus either, because we used a shield for a few months to help him latch well and feed well.

If you’re doing it right, it won’t hurt.  It hurts a lot at first.  You have this area of sensitive skin that’s going to be suctioned to a hungry little vacuum mouth every two hours for more than fifteen minutes at a time.  It takes time for you to desensitize to that new force.  And even afterward, if you have to endure a “cluster feed” when the baby just wants to eat all the time, that can hurt, too.  Imagine someone giving you a hickey on your inner arm skin for an hour.  After a while, it’s just downright uncomfortable.  

You don’t really ever need to supplement when you breastfeed.  Well, sometimes you do.  I had gestational diabetes and Atticus was born with low blood sugar, so it was really important to stabilize his blood sugar after birth.  He had to eat regularly, and at first he wasn’t getting enough from me.  We supplemented for the first few days to make sure he wasn’t starving.  

You don’t need anything to help you breastfeed. Sike!  You might need nothing, or you might need a ton of supplies.  I used a shield, disposable breast pads, nursing bras and tanks, a pump, freezer bags, coolers, freezer packs, lanolin, gel pads, and a privacy cover.  People with different lifestyles may get away with less, but as a mom working just one day away from home, I needed all of this.

You’ll lose weight really quickly and you’ll need an extra 500 calories to maintain your supply.  This is probably true for a lot of women, but not for me.  Atticus was exclusively breastfed until we introduced solids at 6 months and didn’t get milk until almost 12 months.  I was watching my calories and eating about 1800 a day. After nine months I weighed myself for the first time since my postpartum checkup and I had lost... eight pounds.  Basically, less than a pound a month.  Dang.

Breastfed babies don’t sleep well.  Not to brag, but Atticus started sleeping 8+ hours around three or four months.  He ate every two hours during the day though, so that was a bit of a tradeoff.  I know this isn't true for every baby, but don't let the supposed sleeplessness scare you off if you're considering trying.  

Sleeping the night away.  Also, so small. 

It’s just weird after three months/six months/they get teeth/they start talking/they start walking/one year... It might be weird for someone else to nurse after these milestones, but if you, your baby, and your doctor are comfortable with it, do what works for you.  Personally, I couldn’t see going past two years old to nurse a baby, and if you’re trying to force feed your breast to a child that’s unacceptable, but I’m not going to put a timeline on someone else’s parenting style.  

Breasts are sexual.  I know some people who will vehemently disagree with this and say that they’re only sexual because the media sexualizes them, but I totally disagree; breasts are sexually attractive.  But how many other organs, appendages, and body parts do we have that serve multiple purposes?  You use your mouth to breathe, eat, talk, whistle, kiss...the body multi-tasks and that’s one of the amazing things about humans.

Breastfeeding will make your kids perverts who are obsessed with breasts.  I’m pretty sure that before the development of bottles and formula, not everyone was a sex demon.  If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for anyone who wants to try.

You should be comfortable breastfeeding anywhere, or You should only breastfeed in private.  No to both.  You should do what makes you comfortable.  Don’t go out of your way to make someone feel awkward, and that includes yourself.  If you need to breastfeed on a bench in the park open to the world, great. If you need to use a cover, do it.  If you need a private room, go for it.  One of my other mantras is don’t do anything that makes you uneasy.  And remember that you’re the only one who decides what makes you uncomfortable when it comes to your body.  Always.   

Atticus is 17 months and hasn’t nursed for about a week now.  It’s bittersweet.  I feel like I don’t have to share my body with him anymore, but at the same time, he doesn’t need me to share anymore either.  Sometimes parenthood is beautiful and painful at the same time, and this is one of those times for me.  

It's funny how when I look at him I see all of these stages in one sweet, loud, stubborn face.

Anyone else have breastfeeding lies you had to endure?  Or how about the opposite end-- any bottle feeders have a lie they’d like to debunk?  Let me know in the comments and remember, if you’re feeding your kid, you’re doing it right!

This is my frustrated face at 12:12 a.m.

But let's find the silver lining in our despair--it gave me an excuse to test the Blogger app. And I give it a hearty meh. it's getting the job done I suppose. The real test will be when I see it on a full screen, but I can't change the font style, size, or allignment. And I swear I've tried to add my picture within the body of the text at least four times but it keeps jumping to either the top or bottom of the post and I have no clue why.   Points for allowing me to use italics and bold though.  Not a complete failure. 

 For the sake of authenticity I think I'll just leave this post however it turns out, unless it turns out completely unreadable. 

Tomorrow my post will be all professionalism and entertainment, but today I'm too frustrated to try to re-type my original content on my phone so I will leave you with this thought: always have extra little miscellaneous items in your hunk drawer, including assorted  batteries and a wireless mouse. 

If there are any tricks for the Bligger app, please share! 

If you know me, you know I love reading.  I’m the weirdo who would stand in line for a book release.  My credit card rewards me with Amazon gift cards.  I asked people to bring a book to Atticus’s baby shower instead of a card.  This is my basement:

Must. Buy. More. Books. 

Four floor to ceiling book shelves.  All full.  It's OK to be jealous.  This room might have the most potential in our house.

There's also old comfy chairs, a sectional, a fireplace, and a door wall down here.  I know how lucky I am.

I pride myself on being well-read in all age groups.  If you want a book suggestion, I've got one for you plus 8 more lined up.  But I’ve been finding it hard to find the time to read a book for my own pleasure lately.  I think I’ve read three books in the last year, not including great little reads for Atticus like Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle, or I Want to Be Somebody New by Robert Lopshire.  If my son gets anything from me, it’s my love of reading.  Also, his good looks.  

Only three months old and reading by himself.  Genius. 

Like pretty much every pleasure in life, I feel like I don’t have the time to indulge.  But by golly, if a book is an indulgence, what has my life become? So I’m going to read a book this weekend.  Specifically, I’ll either be reading Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James or And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, whichever comes in the mail first.  My friend Samantha and I are starting our own two-person book club which will probably meet via text or phone call since we live on opposite sides of the state (unless I can convince her to move back this way... it’s a work in progress).  I think we have pretty similar tastes in literature so I’m pretty darn excited to start reading.

I’ve also got another book club opportunity with some friends from high school, but since I’ve already read the choices for this month, I’m skipping this first meeting.  If you’re interested, the choices are The Giver by Lois Lowry (wonderful young adult literature) and The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling (crime novel, not really my style).

This weekend, you should read something for yourself.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be a new book, or a novel, or an “adult” book.  Heck, I’ll even allow a magazine if you promise to read the articles and not just flip through the pictures.  Pick something you’re interested in and make the time to lose yourself in someone else’s storytelling skills.  

If you need ideas, check out my Pinterest boards Books I Love! and Reading List.  Check them out. You’ll thank me later for all of the good ideas.  

Let me know if you've read anything great lately!  I'm always excited to hear what people are reading. 

Last week I said I would again be cheating in my Pass or Fail posts by writing about something I did a long time ago, and not a current experiment.  Well, I’m not going to disappoint you, because we've had this in our living room for ages.  I also didn’t actually create this little decoration craft.

Not my actual blanket ladder. Source: Potterybarn.com 

See that cute five foot ladder from Pottery Barn?  Want one?  It’ll cost you $179.  Uhh, that’s almost $36 per foot.  Really, Pottery Barn?  I get that you’re Pottery Barn and most of the stuff you put out is lovely, but I just can’t justify that.  Not when we had just picked up an old ladder for free from Sean’s cousin.

I’m told this was incredibly easy to create, but I must confess that I didn’t do any of it.  Sean used a circular saw to cut the ladder in half.  He propped it against a wall and eyeballed the angle at which he’d have to cut the legs of the ladder so that it could lean comfortably against the wall.  That’s it!

Boom. Done. Lovely.

The ladder was so long that we had enough to get two pieces that go floor-to-ceiling, so we have one in each corner of the living room. Score!

Before Sean made the ladders for me, I had blankets just lying around on the couches and chairs in the living room.  Sometimes I’d try to fold them nicely over the back of the couch but they never stayed.  Aw, who am I kidding?  I’d usually be too lazy to even try that.  I’d just fold them haphazardly into a pile and leave them on a corner of the couch.  Now that they have an actual place to live, I take the time to fold them and put them away.  

Well, not all the time.  I can’t lie to you.  But when I do put them away, it’s so cute!  Don’t you think?

This project definitely gets a pass from me!  It was easy (so Sean says), the ladder was free (you can find them pretty cheap at thrift shops, estate sales, etc.) and looks great.  You could make it rustic by roughing up the wood, vintage by painting it a funky color, or classic by staining the wood.  

There are tons of ideas for ladder projects floating around the internet.  I’d love to do this project using a ladder as a shelf, maybe in my dining area.  Do you have any cute and thrifty DIY projects you’ve done or that you wish you’ve tried already?  Let me know!

More ladder DIY projects, if you're interested: http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=ladder