My Own Road

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day

You let Haley watch Yo Gabba Gabba when you'd rather watch your favorite TV show.

You marvel at the little ways Connor grows each day.

You can always get Haley to smile when she's upset.

You make sure to give goodnight hugs and kisses to both of the kids every night.

When you walk into the room, Connor gets a huge grin on his face.

You call Haley a princess because you believe it's true.

You know just where to tickle Connor's tummy to make him belly laugh.

You celebrate with Haley when she uses the potty.

You kiss every boo boo, even when they're fake.

Happy Father's Day to the best husband and father I know

Friday, June 17, 2011

I want a door.

Bulletin Board via 101 Living Ideas

chalkboard via Bridge Designs

Table via Ready Made

farmhouse-style headboard via Dreamy Whites

props for a vintage wedding via Style Me Pretty

a secret getaway via Apartment Therapy

storage via Apartment Therapy

picture frame via View From My Front Porch

I'm just sayin'....I think I could find a good use for it.

Not that I'm hinting at anything my dear, sweet, most wonderful husband in the whole wide world.

All photos were found using Pinterest. You can follow me HERE.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Shopping in Shannons Closet

I have a favorite store where I like to get my clothes. The fashions are always up to date, everything is just my style, and the best part? All the clothes are free.

Because they come from my sister-in-law, Shannon. I always get compliments from other people on what I wear, and it's usually because 85% of what I'm wearing belonged to Shannon at one time or another. Growing up, I've never had a sister to share clothes with (and I think my brother would have been a little weirded out if he saw me wearing his jeans and polos). Now that I have 2 wonderful sisters-in-law, I'm discovering a whole new world of girly-ness that I missed out on.

I still have a pair of jean shorts from middle school. There's a possibility that I still wear them every once in awhile....you're welcome to contact Stacy and Clinton on What Not to Wear, I can think of a lot of things I'd buy with $5,000. Thankfully, I now have Shannon to guide my fashion missteps.

Shannon was the one who introduced me to leggings and skinny jeans (which I wear constantly now). Her love of shopping means when she gets bored of clothes, I get her hand-me-downs. It's like the best thrift store ever - except everything is cute and the clothes don't smell like feet.. Each time we visit Pittsburgh, she usually has something new (or old?) for me - and this past vacation was no exception.

I wanted to show you some of my favorite pieces I scored from this last trip.

1. This pleated taupe and gold tank:

I paired this taupe tank top with some skinny jeans from Target and gold flats I bought last year at Old Navy. When I bought the flats, I didn't know how much I'd wear them but I've actually worn them a ton! They're not really walking shoes, but when you sit in an office all day, they work just fine :)

Here's a close-up of the detail on the bodice. I love the gold stitching! You can't see it in the pictures, but there's also gold stitching along the bottom hem of the shirt. (PS, are you getting bored of my blue wall yet? It's kind of the only wall where there's decent lighting.)

I'm new to the whole taupe thing, so I'm not sure what else goes well with taupe but I'm loving it anyway!

2. This striped tank and blue skirt:

I love how versatile this shirt is! It's easily just a casual tank top, but I dressed it up by adding a coordinating blue skirt, chunky belt, and flats. Oh and my long necklace, can't forget that. I'm in love with long, dangly necklaces.

You like my casual pose? Like you happened to catch me the middle of pondering my life goals while standing in the entryway ;)

Here's a close up of my belt. Have I mentioned how much I'm obsessed with chunky belts?

They're my new favorite thing. I got this one for half price at New York and Company, and I've already gotten my $12.00 worth. Yes, I'm cheap.

I might have to start doing installments of Shannon's Closet each time I come back from Pittsburgh. I came back with an entire garbage bag full of stuff, including a lot of super cute winter things I can't wait to wear when the weather gets cooler around here (which is probably never).

Thanks for dressing me, Shannon!

Linking up:

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The (neutral) Hospital Survival Kit

Don't forget....there's only one more week until Button Down Rehab begins! Grab your old button down shirts, and come back here some much needed rehab and refashions June 20-July 1.

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I wanted to thank everyone for all of your wonderful comments on my Hospital Survival Kit I made for new mothers! I hope you all are able to bless some other new mamas with some much needed goodies to make their stay at the hospital more comfortable too.

I'm so happy to tell you that my friend that I made the kit for had her sweet baby girl, Annabella, on June 7th. When I went to visit her in the hospital, my friend was wearing the headband I gave her and told me the box of granola bars I included in the kit was almost gone. I was so happy to know I was able to help her out in my own way.

And just look at this adorable baby!

Have you ever seen so much beautiful hair on such a little person??

I think she has more than my 6-month-old! Holding that tiny baby kind of made me want another one now. My husband vetoed that idea right away. I suppose I should focus on caring for the two that I have at the moment - at least for another year or so :)

I had a reader post a comment over the weekend that she wanted to make a kit for some of her friends who didn't know their babies' gender yet, so could I make some neutral colored tags as well? Why didn't I do that in the first place??

I updated my post on The Hospital Survival Kit to include gender neutral printables as well as the pink or blue tags.

You can also click HERE to go download them directly.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Teething solution

My poor little guy is working on getting his first teeth in, which means anything he can get his hands on goes directly into his mouth. Fingers, stuffed animals, toys...nothing is safe from the wrath of his sore gums.

Connor is noticeably annoyed by the fact that his gums feel like they're going to explode. He gnaws and gnaws on toys, and starts to get fussy when nothing seems to relieve his pain. I wanted to find some way to help him feel a little more comfortable, then I got an idea when I found these ice cube trays at IKEA:

Ok, so I was recently introduced to the awesomeness that is IKEA when I went to Pittsburgh on vacation. Everyone was horrified when I told them I had never been to IKEA. We don't have an IKEA in Tennessee or in Virginia where I used to live. I know, tragic. My sister-in-law, being the shopping fiend that she is, made sure that I became the newest IKEA convert.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN??

It's this magical land of inexpensive decorations, furniture, and housewares. Oh and did you know they have food there? There's a restaurant inside that serves hot food cafeteria-style (they're big on Swedish meatballs and pasta in the shape of a moose), and they also have a soda fountain with lingonberry juice. It tastes like some kind of cranberry-like fruit, and it's delicious in any kind of pop (or soda to the rest of the world).

Oh, AND they have fabric. Need I say more?

Back to the teething thing. So anyway, I came home with the green starfish rubber ice cube tray and filled it with apple juice (you can water it down some if you want), and stuck it in the freezer for about an hour.

When the cubes were frozen, I popped them out on a plate and got these cute little starfish juice cubes:

Then you just take one of these little mesh baby feeders, which you can find at your local grocery store or Wal Mart, and put one of your juice cubes inside.