GOBBLE, GOBBLE & HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Adelaide and I were playing around with the camera a couple of days ago after our first attempt at a Christmas card picture (which explains the red)... note the word first. 

Now, I know I said that I was going to try to steer clear of the obvious in the things I share for which I am thankful for this year, but this is one that I have to share, obvious or not. It's the thing I am the most thankful for this year. I am thankful for each and every day that I have been able to share with Adelaide over the past few months. Becoming her mom is without a doubt one of the best things that's ever happened to me (even with all of the hard times). Pretty much every day I get to see her do anything new or adorable (i.e. every day) makes me thankful that I was able to stay home with her. I'm not going to lie, it's hard sometimes and more than anything, I know it is hard on Jordan to take on the full financial burden of providing for our family. I am beyond thankful for the sacrifices he makes so that I can home to raise Adelaide. And I am beyond thankful for every moment of every day that I get to spend watching her grow up. Every moment is fleeting and precious. She is growing and changing so fast, and I am so thankful to be around for as many moments as possible. 

And here, I am going to say thank you to Jordan. It is 100% because of you that I am able to sit here going on and on about how thankful I am to be home with Adelaide. If it weren't for you, it wouldn't be true. So thank you x1,000,000. We love you ;)

I KNOW, I'M LATE

Sorry I'm so late with this post and for the lack of photos! Yes, it was "date day" and I was planning to wear something special in honor of it, but we rushed out this morning for a crepe breakfast (thanks to a Groupon that I bought months ago that was about to expire). In my hurry to get dressed, the lure of the brown riding boots and cozy sweater was more than I could resist. So, it was nothing special and when we got home from breakfast, I filled Adelaide's nap time with Thanksgiving preparations. So, even if I had had time to spruce up the outfit, I didn't have time to takes pics or even get to the post until now. I would've just skipped today, but 4 days worth of sharing things I'm thankful for is already so few. So here it is...

Today I'm thankful for having two families that come together for Thanksgiving every year. This will be probably our 5th or 6th year to host Thanksgiving for both of our families. Every year I am so grateful to fill our house with both  of our families in one big group. It's crowded and the preparations for such a big meal are hectic, but I look forward to it and love it every year!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

DEAR GOOD HAIR DAY, I LOVE YOU

Sweater & Jeans: Target, Shoes: Toms

Nothing special on the outfit front today, but I have had the best hair days (in my opinion) I've had in a loooong time today and yesterday, so I had to get evidence of it. I am always trying for messy hair a la Carrie Bradshaw, but rarely achieve it. The good and bad part about this hair is that I pretty much woke up with it looking like this yesterday... About 3 minutes for the bangs and taming a couple crazy hairs and poof! Good because with very minimal effort, I ended up with hair that I loooove. Bad, because it's kinda hard to recreate something that just happened on its own. Oh well... 2 days is better than none!

Now I think I just need to convince Jordan that we really need to take our Christmas card picture today, before I have a wash my hair and am incapable of creating a hairstyle that I really like for weeks.

And now for something I'm thankful for.... Adelaide's outgoing and extremely social personality. She must get it from Jordan, because I tend to be shy and reserved. I've never been much good at making friends. Adelaide, however, makes friends everywhere she goes. Waves at everyone and gets excited about every single kid she sees. The biggest concern I had about staying home with her was that she wouldn't know how to interact with other kids, but she has clearly proven that she is great with other kids, whether she spends every day with them or not. I am so thankful for her ability to transition seamlessly from being alone with me to interacting with other kids.

2 days 'til Thanksgiving!!

AND THEY ALL FALL DOWN

^^She wasn't entirely sure if she was having fun or not :) ^^ 

The super windy day made for a perfect impromptu photo op yesterday. Adelaide had a good ol' time playing in the leaves, as did the rest of us ;) 

And in honor of the holiday, I thought I would share something I am thankful for each post this week (I really should've started this sooner). I am going to try to stay away from obvious or broad statements, and really think on these things. It's easy to get distracted with the turkey, and the upcoming shopping and the pie (for me ;), so I really want to give the holiday the thought and reflection it is intended to inspire.

Today I am thankful for Jordan's easygoing nature. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to meet self-imposed expectations as a mom and wife. But Jordan never does that to me. He is always appreciative of what I do, and never even gives a single thought to what I don't (at least, not that he ever makes me aware of ;). He has such a better understanding of which things really matter and which things can just wait.  I have learned and could still learn so much more from him that would result in a much more mellow, relaxed and happy life. He's kinda the bees knees if you ask me, and I am so thankful for him.

SHOES AND CELEBRITY CRUSHES

Tee: My mom's, Jeans: Old Navy, Heels: Ross, Moccasins: Minnetonka via Journeys

^^What I'll actually be wearing ;) ^^

I'm really liking the heels and t-shirt combo. It's kinda fun to add a little pizzazz to an otherwise plain outfit sometimes. 

On a sidenote... How about that shirt? Genuine vintage my friends. My dad bought it for my mom at Six Flags(?) back when they were dating(?) I believe. Mom, you'll have to confirm the details for me. 

Of course, I won't actually be wearing heels today as we head to the park, to start our Thanksgiving shopping and to pick up pecans... that'd just be silly. But, if everything goes as planned, Jordan and I are going to have a little day-date next Wednesday to see Horrible Bosses 2 (soooo excited to see it!!), and that just may be the perfect opportunity to put together an outfit like this and really wear it! haha Have you seen Horrible Bosses? It's hilarious! One of my favorites, for sure. Yall can have Channing Tatum if I can have Charlie Day (don't judge). I may be a married woman, but there's no shame in calling dibs on a celebrity. Everyone's allowed that, right?

I'VE GOT A REAL LITERARY GEM FOR YA RIGHT HERE

Shirt, Jeans & Shoes: Target

I didn't come prepared with any sort of topic today. I could always go with a good ol' standby such as the day's weather, or the upcoming holiday, but I think I revert back to that too often as it is. But is it really my fault that those are the most important happenings around here most days??

How about the fact that my just-trimmed bangs remind me a bit of Dumb and Dumber? Or that I've never actually seen Dumb and Dumber and about -25%  of me has a desire to ever see it? 

Okay, maybe let's finish this incredibly thoughtful post off with just a teeny bit of holiday talk... 1 week 'til Thanksgiving guys! Gobble gobble. 

And with that, I'm going to load up the little chick and head to the park (here's where the weather would come into play).

BUT DO YOU NEED IT?

Shirt, Cardigan, Jeans & Shoes: F21

Soooo, Jordan and I have decided to make a major lifestyle change upon learning of Mr. Money Mustache. A friend of Jordan's told him about this site during a discussion about investing. The goal: early retirement. As in 7-10 years in our case. A lofty goal, but the goal nonetheless. 

Here's how it works in a nutshell: Eliminate as much wasteful, unnecessary and frivolous spending as possible. Learn to live on as little money as possible, thereby maximizing money saved, and then smartly invest savings. 

It's an entire lifestyle change really. It's not about deprivation, so much as it is about appreciating things like time with family and only having to work as much as you choose. How much you have to work is a direct reflection of how much you choose to spend.

The cutting out on wasteful spending part is going to make this whole thing easy and hard for us. As it is, we don't live an extravagant lifestyle. Due in large part to Jordan (Mr. Responsible-Realistic-Hard Worker), we've been able to keep our debt to a minimum and really work at living within our means. That's good, because we don't have a lot of waste as it is. That's bad, because we don't have a lot that we can cut out. 

To start we're going to: 

#1 Cut back on eating out. That's probably our main unnecessary expenditure, eating out probably three times a week on average. We're going to try to only go out when we have gift cards, and if we go out any other times, keep it as affordable as possible, i.e. Little Caesar's ;)

#2 It's gotta be clothes for me. That's my biggest downfall. Luckily, we've got family that loves to buy for Adelaide (I even get to pick out things to be bought for her). She's always got more than she needs, so I have to accept that I really don't need to put much, if any, extra money into Adelaide's closet (tears threaten to fall as I type that... oh Baby Gap, I will miss you so). And of course, it's not just Adelaide's closet. I do a style blog, so clearly shopping for myself also accounts for a decent bit of money. Forever 21... I'll be seein' ya. 

We're having a really hard time saying goodbye to our 250 or so channels, even though we only watch about 1/10th of them. Don't you just hate the way they package certain channels so that you have no choice but to buy the ridiculously huge TV package when you only really want 2 channels (Science & DIY)? Shiesters. So, we haven't pulled the plug on that yet, but I'm already wondering if Rehab Addict & Survivor Man (and a few sports stations for Jordan) are really worth all that money we're flushing down the toilet each month.

We've been of this mindset for just a couple of weeks, but so far it's going over like gangbusters. Having a goal in mind helps dampen the sting from the lack of post-shopping endorphins for me I guess. 

Okay, this post has already gotten out of hand long, so I'll stop here. And I'll keep you posted on our progress, since I know our monetary budgeting is riveting content.

This may be a game changer when it comes to my personal style...

MY KIND OF WINE

Shirt & Watch: Target, Vest: Wal-Mart, Jeans: Ross, Shoes: Dansko via Amazon

Anybody want a fall lipstick recommendation from yours truly? Not that I am any kind of expert or anything, that's for sure. But anyway... this is definitely my new favorite. I got it from Target about a month ago, and I have to fight myself to keep from wearing it every day (although I don't really know why I see any reason why I shouldn't, now that I think about it). Aaaaanywaaaay... it's a new matte lipstick from Maybelline in Divine Wine. I wasn't searching for a matte specifically, just a wine color and this one fit the bill perfectly. I feel like maybe mattes seem to have more staying power? Although I haven't had any luck with reapplying. It gets a little cakey on dry spots and just doesn't seem to look as good the second time around. That's probably got more to do with my novice application and complete lack of any sort of lip care than the lipstick itself though. 

Here's a link if you wanna check it out.

IT SNOWED!

^^Hi moon!^^

^^Hi Dad!^^

I was so excited when I spotted a little dusting of snow on the ground this morning! Snow on the ground today and in the 60's by next weekend. Whatever Texas :) 

I had to take Adelaide out for a couple of quick pictures in her very first snow. I know some of you may be thinking, "First snow? Don't you remember last year? Days on end without electricity for some people, ice everywhere?" Key word there: ice. It was all ice last year, and this is snow! 

P.S. Like the super baggy PJ's? She not quite ready for 18 months yet.

A NOD TO FALL

Outfit pics aren't in the cards today. And since all things fall will soon be replaced with all things Christmas (around here at least), I thought I would share a few favorites from our trip to New England a couple of years ago. It was absolutely the best trip we've taken in my book; the fulfillment of a (nearly) lifelong dream for me. And possibly the only place I've ever visited that completely lived up to my expectations. I can't wait to go back, especially now that I've gained a little bit of knowledge of photography. I'm really hoping that we may be able to go back next year... it just depends on how we think Adelaide will fare. That's gotta be one of the big things I'm looking forward to as Adelaide gets older- being able to take her to all of the amazing places we've been lucky enough to visit over the years, and seeing new things with her. 

13 days til Thanksgiving... 13 days to revel in fall!

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

Shirt & Cutoffs: F21, Tights: Kohls, Sweater: TJ Maxx, Boots & Scarf: Target, 

"Socks": cut off sleeves from an old sweater!

I need to get to working on my shopping list for Thanksgiving dinner. I love making list after list every year for Thanksgiving and watching the ads for Turkey sales... speaking of which, we forgot to get the mail yesterday, which was Wednesday. Know what that means? That there's about 5 grocery store fliers just sitting in there waiting for me! 

Excited about store fliers and shopping lists.... how perfect is stay-at-home-mom life for me? Mailbox, here I come!

MAKEUP... TO WEAR OR NOT TO WEAR, THAT IS THE QUESTION

Shirt: Old Navy, Sweater & Jeans: F21, Boots: Target, Necklace: Dollar jewelry store

I'm not particularly fond of this outfit, but in lieu of forgoing a post all together today, I figured I'd go ahead and share. How do ya like that red nose? Attractive as hell, right? Now shall I delve into a long story about makeup stemming from that ever lovely red nose that you see there?

The main reason I wear makeup is so that I can pretend it camouflages my ever flushing face. The speed at which my face can turn red for little to no reason at all is impressive really (not in a good way), and I am incredibly self-conscious about it. Makeup has kind of become my psychological security blanket (even though I really doubt that it actually does much to hide any redness that pops up) but since I like to pretend it does, it still helps a little.

So, I've been going back and forth lately on the make-up front. For the past several years, I have been on the makeup wearing band wagon. My thought process was something like, "If it makes me feel good and more confident in myself, then it must be a good thing, right?" Fast forward to the past few weeks, and my thought process has been changing to more of a, "Why should I have to hide anything? I am who I am, and I shouldn't count on changing what I look like at all to feel good or confident in myself!" Aaaaand, I would so rather be spending that 15 minutes still sleeping, reading a book, perusing Pinterest, or like, 10 other things. I admire Jordan so much for his ability to be ready to go for the day in under 5 minutes. Guys really have it made in that way.

So anyway, that's the long story. I have been going with minimal makeup (concealer, mascara and sometimes lipstick) a lot lately (today being one of those days, hence the red nose), and I think it might be a good compromise most days. I guess it's not necessary to make some blanket decision that has to apply every day in every situation. 

I don't have a lot of readers, and I rarely get comments, but I'd love to hear thoughts on this.... anyone who wants to share??