Heart Wall And Heart Eyes

 

I had all the heart eyes for this fun wall mural in Charlotte. I mentioned in my favorites that my sister, mom, and I were headed for a little girls weekend to spend some time together, explore the city, and relax. I'll share more about our stay and what we did while we were there in another post, but for now, let's talk about some heart love.

I can't take credit for finding this one because my sister brought it to my attention when searching through the goetag for Charlotte on instagram. She knows me all too well and that I can't pass up a fun spot to snap some pics. I mean really though, who doesn't love a fun backdrop.

Several years ago Eric and I took the boys to NYC for Valentine's Day and also came across a heart wall where we captured some of my favorite pictures with my little guys. It was fun to see this one and how the artist decided to present theirs.

At first this wall wasn't the easiest to find because it's tucked away on a side street walkway. The address is 1930 Camden Rd and it's down the street from Jeni's ice cream in the South End area. Thankfully it only took a few minutes for us to realize where it was.

The South End area had so much going on and was a lot of fun. It's filled with tons of restaurants, breweries, and plenty of street art. My outfit wasn't really thought out specifically for this because at first we weren't sure if we were even going to make a visit. My sister and I were back at our hotel room and decided to take a nap. Hey, a tired mama with a hotel room and no kids, how could you not take advantage of that????

Once we got a quick power nap, we woke up to the sun shining and thought it was perfect to head out. I'm glad we did because we loved the South End area. We had a lot of laughs, great food, and good company.

You can always tell when you made a good purchase when you get a lot of compliments on something. I was apprehensive about these jeans at first because they seemed, hello 80s to me. I mean nothing wrong with the 80s, I am an 80s baby after all, but they are just different from my typical basic skinny jeans with either a dark wash or distressed looked. These are button up high waisted resembling a white wash look. And you know what? They are fabulous! Like, I'm kind of obsessed, fabulous. You'll probably see me wearing them all the time and I am making no apologies for that. I threw on a sweater, booties, and a hat and was set to explore. 

One Dress Styled Three Ways-Striped Midi Dress

Most of you know that I am a deal shopper. It's rare that I pay for something full price unless it's from Marshalls where they don't really have markdowns or I think it's a good deal in general. I enjoy the excitement of feeling like I'm getting a deal and using my money wisely.

I shared a few weeks ago that I got this striped midi dress on a major steal for only $11. And guess what? It's still on sale! I know it's sleeveless and can also have a spring and summer vibe to it, which I love (who doesn't love a transitional piece you can wear for multiple seasons). I thought about how I can wear this in the fall and put together a few options.

When in doubt a classic denim jacket would be great with this and there's no reason you couldn't wear it with sneakers to give it even more of a casual look. Bottom line, this dress is super comfortable and versatile. I don't usually get too excited about things, but this one you can obviously tell I really like. Mix in comfort, quality, and a good deal, and I am sold.

Random fact, these pictures were taken right at our yard. We're surrounded by over 650 acres of preserved farmland, and I guess you could say our neighbor, even though we can't even see their house, grows corn. Their corn goes to the edge of our property and made for some fun exploring this fall.

It was the perfect sunny yet crips fall day, and the boys thought it was so fun to walk through the rows of corn. The baby was kind of a handful because he just wanted to pick the leaves and the corn off, and we certainly didn't want to mess with their hard grown crop.

I love an oversized cardi for fall and like wearing them with jeans, dresses, or even jumpsuits. I decided to belt this one to give it a more defined look. To be honest, I think this might have been my least favorite of three looks, on me specifically. I've always been on the curvy side, particularly when it comes to my, backside. I embrace it. I never really had a problem with it even when curves weren't really a thing back in highs school. But here, I'm not so sure this looks the best on me. It could also be that I'm extremely awkward looking when it don't have a kid on my hip and I'm trying to figure out what to do with my hands. Now I see why so many people reach for that token iced coffee cup in pictures. Anyway, For someone else who isn't pushing as much junk in the trunk (just saying), I think it would look really cute on!

Next I went with a basic sweater over the dress. I shared this look several years ago and have loved it every fall. It's such a simple way to extend the life of the dresses you already have in your closet but might not be weather appropriate for fall. I remember the first time I wore this in the office and everyone loved it. Sure enough, guess who was wearing sweaters over their dress in the weeks to come. I'm sharing it again because I can always appreciate getting inspiration from others and hopefully these looks help you getting ideas of what to wear.

The last look I went with was a simple long sleeve tee that I knotted in the front. As I mentioned before my curves have never bothered me and I actually felt the most comfortable in this. Sometimes things that are more form fitting on me are what I prefer. In a completely non-trashy way, of course. I couldn't resist my pair of black booties and a staple hat to help bring the whole look together.

Animal Print For Fall-Falling For You

Oh fall, can you stay this sweet for a little while longer? Our leaves are just starting to change, and while I'm so excited to see those bright bursts of beautiful colors, I'm also sad to know what comes after that. Leaves falling, the trees looking bare, and then I'm kind of over it until spring gets here.

In the meantime, we are enjoying the joy of this season and the special moments that we create together. Since we live in the garden state there are a ton of farms and fall activities around us that are easy for us to take part in. I recently read somewhere that others were having a hard time on social media seeing all of the fall fun a lot of us have been posting because they haven't had a chance to visit a pumpkin patch yet, or don't live in an area where they have them, or don't get a chance to do a lot with their kids during this time of year. That made me so sad to hear, but also left me feeling at a bit of a crossroad.

I never come on here with the intent or want to brag about our life. If anything, I want to share these moments as a way for me to relive these family memories years down the road and also share experiences with all of you that we can connect with each other and relate to each other. I am also a firm believer in that you create your own happiness. Yes, for some of us it can be picking apples, eating apple cider donuts, or visiting numerous farms around this time of year. But happiness can also be found in simple joys. Things like raking a pile of leaves and jumping in them, doing a fun fall craft with recycled items from your home, or just walking around and enjoying nature. While I won't hold back on sharing our family moments, I will encourage you to find joy in your everyday experiences, because we all deserve to feel happy.

My cousin recently mentioned a local farm that she used to go to when she was younger and thought it would be a lot of fun to take the boys there. It happened to work out for us to be able to go and my sister was also able to meet us there. Like most things on the weekends, it was crowded, but it didn't feel overwhelming. They did a good job at having different areas where you could buy things and kept the lines moving. They were having an apple festival that had so many things for the boys to do. They enjoyed feeding the animals, bouncing around, and working their way through a hay bale and corn maze.

While the boys were enjoying some yummy cornbread (I snuck a few bites, it was sooo good) us adults sipped on a glass of wine from their winery (cheers). I opted for a glass of their apple wine which was a white wine that was not too sweet or bitter. It was a nice mix of both and quite refreshing. We also enjoyed some lunch and were able to snag a picnic table near the live band they had playing.

After we finished our food we made our way over to the pumpkin patch area and the apple orchards. My sister wanted to grab some apples to make apple muffins and of course we couldn't pass up walking up and down the rows of trees and letting the boys run around. We even got some smiles out of the baby, so you know it was a good time. And since we had someone else with us, that always makes snapping some fun family pictures a lot easier. For as long as I can remember the boys have always loved, one, two, three, weeeee! I'm just hoping I can multi-task and get the baby up on the other end of me when it comes time for him to want to join in. How awesome would it be if we somehow had a third hand. I know a lot of situations where that would have come in handy (hehe, get it).

When we showed up to the farm my sister and I were walking towards each other and realized we were unintentionally matching. Clearly great minds think alike, and animal print is a hit for the fall.  After I got several compliments on my sweater, I decided to take a few pictures wearing it and I'm glad that I did. It was funny, earlier that morning at church, I was in the bathroom with little nugget because we wanted the boys to go before we got in the car. You know how that can be, five minutes later and they're looking for a bathroom break. Anyway, a woman walked in as we were washing our hands, and said, oh I love your sweater. I smiled at her and thanked her. Little nugget turned to me and said, mommy, did you hear that? She really likes my sweater. I couldn't help but giggle and told him, you're right buddy, I'm sure she really does like yours. Even though he wasn't wearing a sweater, that little compliment that might not have been meant for him, sure made him smile. He even ran out to Eric and told him, hey daddy, this lady really likes my sweater.

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What I do love about this animal print sweater is the fit. I have been all about oversized sweaters and more of a chunky look, but this one is so simple and perfect that it just works. I think the bigger animal print on it with the mix of the solid tan color really makes it stand out a bit without being loud or obnoxious. It's also great for layering since it's not chunky or oversized. I love when a sweater can fit under jackets or a cardigan and be worn all throughout the winter as well.

I think this makes a great transition piece that I can also wear in the spring. I also think this would look really cute with a skirt and sneakers. I love a simple sweater that makes a statement and you feel like you can get a lot of wear out of it. Of course I couldn't help wearing it with a pair of my distressed denim (similar), booties (similar), and my favorite accessory, a hat (similar).  Do you have a new favorite you've added to your wardrobe? This one might be it for me. 

Knit Cardigans For Fall

Fall is one of my favorite times for fashion. There's just so much I love about it. From sweaters, cardigans, boots, hats, you know, all the basic things that make me happy. Here's the thing, I don't really consider myself a fashionable person. I'm just an average girl getting dressed everyday to get the day going and feel good about what I put on my body. I don't think I'm breaking fashion trends and most of you probably don't run to my blog for the latest and greatest picks. And that's ok.

What I love about the flexibility of having a lifestyle blog, per se, is sharing what makes me happy.  So here we are, my average fashion finds that hopefully some of you can relate to and maybe get some inspiration from. And since this is my favorite time of year to share some outfit inspiration, I hope you'll stick around for when I put together some more every day outfits.

Many of you know we recently went apple and pumpkin picking as a family and shared in the moments of baby C's first experiences. My expectations for how I thought it was going to go ended up quickly going down the drain and we enjoyed our time together for what it was. You can read more about our picking adventures here.

I recently found this knit cardigan and knew I would get so much use out of it for fall. Not even just for fall, I thought about the winter months as well, and I can also see myself wearing it in the early part of spring. I love getting pieces that can transition over from season to season instead of sitting in my closet and not getting worn. I also love pieces I can layer, because boy has this transitional weather been tricky.

I love the color of this cardigan and knew I had some tops and tees that I could mix up to wear underneath. I'm linking some of my favorites here, here, and here. It's no secret that hats are one of my all time favorite accessories and probably one of my favorite things to break out in the fall. I found this one in the Target dollar spot area for $5. It's a tad big on me, but for that price, there was no way I was leaving it behind. I wish I could link the exact one for you but that's Target's way of in-store marketing and getting you to go in and visit the store (kind of genius if you think about it). Don't worry, I found some similar ones you can check out here and here.

I'm headed to another orchard tomorrow with one of my good friends and I'm hoping maybe this time I can get some smiles out of the baby. I also have another basic fall outfit planned so stay tuned for that. Happy fall, all!

Summer Stripes and Boardwalk Nights

I mentioned recently that I've been trying to be a lot more intentional with my time with the boys. It's crazy how quickly the summers go by. Before I know it A will be starting school, little nugget is turning four in a few weeks, and baby C will be one in the fall. Sometimes life can pass us by if we don't stop to take some time to enjoy it.

These boys are such little beach boys so we've been trying to squeeze in some sun and sand for them. One of the things they also love is playing games on the boardwalk. I mean, they really light up and get such a thrill out of it. You might remember that I mentioned a few years ago that A has a love for claw machines. Well, I am reporting that it's still a thing with him. We've already played a ton this summer and have more stuffy friends then we probably need. He does sleep with a lot of them and they've also served as dog toys for Coaty who's claimed a few of them. On a side note, our dog is so goofy. He makes it a personal goal to rip the eyes off first, he never eats them (thank God), but it's always what he goes for. Anyway, Little nugget is into any type of game where you can throw a ball. He's up for skee ball, basket ball, you name it.

I've said it many times before that I am a sucker for stripes. There's something about those lines that get me every time. For the most part I've been keeping it super casual this summer, and comfortable. I have to admit, it's been really nice not having to get dressed up every day and walk around in heels. I'd much rather throw on something comfortable with a fun pair of sandals and save the heels for special occasions. These shorts (similar here and here) have comfy written all over them. I've worm them with a tank top, a tee shirt, and also a sweatshirt for those cooler summer nights. Although, it doesn't seem like we've gotten very many of them lately.

I have a feeling baby C will be wanting to play games right along with his brothers and enjoying all of the boardwalk sweet treats. We might have let him have a tiny taste when we were in Hershey and his reaction was priceless. Enjoying these firsts and fun summer moments are what it's all about.