goals, activities, and outfits

This post is going to be very all-encompassing. Let's begin with the goals I set for myself last week. Actually, let's just blow through them because they are kind of boring: 

1. daily Word- Check.

2. post- Check.

3. master closet- I'd rather not discuss that right now.

4. workout- Check.

5. simple meals- pretty much. 

6. gosling pictures- see above. (There are only two left. Don't want to discuss that either.)

7. meal plan- Done.

Okay, now that that is over, here are a few highlights from last week...

We met up with my cousin and her two boys at the Zoo on Wednesday:

I think these may be the first pictures I have of myself with all three children! (No matter that Judah is mostly hidden, at least he is present.)

The kids and I spent Friday with my mom in Multnomah (the adorable area of SW Portland where I grew up).

We played at Gabriel Park:

And look! More pictures of me with all my children (Judah passed out again. He can only take so much excitement.)

my hat is from the three dollar bin at Target, fyi

We had lunch in "downtown" Gresham on Saturday. James and Elle are both super into accessorizing lately, and that day it was western theme, apparently:

Church outfit (still working on dressing better consistently):

That's all the rambling for now.

Happy Wednesday friends,
Ashley

PS one year ago: we still eat this at least twice a week!

a week of real pants

So this is kind of a strange post for me to do, since I am always taking pictures, but never in them, and all of a sudden I am posting a million pictures of myself. Let me explain. 

I was first inspired by this gal, who is adorable, has great style, and an amazing wardrobe. I decided that maybe I should start to actually attempt to put outfits together on a regular basis and not just a couple times a week (church and community group night, typically). Or at the very least, I should try to wear real pants everyday, rather than running or yoga pants. Also, I need to clean out my clothes closet so badly, but I am not sure of what to keep and what to toss.

Lately, I have made a lot of excuses for not truly getting dressed each day. Many of these excuses have to do with the weight from baby number three, which has been far more stubborn than the previous weight gains. Also, nursing makes many clothing options tricky, or flat out impossible. Then there is the issue of time. If there isn't enough time to do the dishes, should I really be spending time getting ready in the mornings? On top of all of this, I think I have always felt pretty incapable when it comes to fashion, make-up, hair, and all that other girly stuff that goes into appearance. But the truth is, I would like to be better at it. Maybe this could be a start. 

All that to say (and I could say more; this post has SO many disclaimers) here is my past week, in outfits:

Tuesday: It was overcast and a bit drizzly, so I opted for tights and layers. I ran errands (aka coffee shop and Costco) with Elle and Judah while James was at preschool, and later took the baby with me to meet a friend for happy hour at Edgefield. Pictures below are of me with my dinner date. In the first photo I am saying "What?! I am smiling! Take the picture!" to my poor husband who has been so patient to take a photo of me everyday. (He is good at many things, but I am generally the photographer in our family.)

Wednesday: stay-at-home day! I didn't leave my house until after seven at night to go for a run. For sure had slippers on the whole day, but at least real pants!

Thursday: Another busy day. Judah, Elle and I visited friends while James was at preschool, then we ended up hosting our community group in the evening. Our group took a break from our usual Bible study to work on projects for our church's upcoming VBS (in July). So it was basically a big pizza party while we did crafts and listened to records.

Friday: A friend and her baby came over for lunch. I stayed in slippers. 

                                      

Saturday: Lane went shooting in the morning, so I took the kids to run errands, to the park, and the library. I wore a messy bun with headband, jeans, t-shirt, and hoodie. Funny enough, I saw another mom at Target wearing basically the exact same outfit. Is this the errand-running-mom uniform?

Sunday: Church. I even wore a necklace.

Monday: A crazy-fun and busy day. I had a couple friends stop by, and ended up making mac'n'cheese for eight kiddos for lunch! Then we went to the park for the afternoon. When Lane came home we grilled and played bubbles after dinner. It was such a beautiful day!

Tuesday: Rain again. Grocery store and lots of playing at home.

 

... all in all, this was an interesting experiment for me. I realized a couple things about myself. The first is that I am so critical of my appearance. I am so quick to look at the pictures above and pick out every detail that is not perfect (and there are many). I also can see some styles that work, and some that just don't (I'm lookin' at you jean cut-offs, pink tank, and awkward thermal). Overall, I think that taking daily pictures could be really helpful, but I need to get a full length mirror so my poor husband doesn't have to keep taking them.

Thanks so much for reading and happy Wednesday friends!
Ashley

bridal shower outfit

I had Lane snap this picture quickly on Saturday as I was running extremely late to my cousin's bridal shower (please ignore the tupperware of play food in the background, the disheveled, wet hair, etc). 

As I stood and "posed" for the picture, I asked myself "Why do I do these outfit posts?" and I realized you may be wondering the same thing.

boat neck shirt- Old Navy (from a decade ago)

jean jacket- American Eagle (from highschool?)

skirt- thrifted

awesome bag- France (gift from Katie!)

necklace- Uganda (gift from another friend)

(also wearing black tights and flats)

After some soul searching (not really, just thinking), I came up with several reasons we do this. I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat, so here they are:

1. I am a stay-at-home mom- It's true, some days I don't leave the house... or really get dressed. I'll be honest, although I wish I put outfits like the one above together for library story time or a park play date, I do not. I am more likely to be wearing jeans and flannel, or running pants. So, when I do put a little more thought into my outfit, I would like to document it.

2. I, like my children, don't have a huge wardrobe- I probably have more clothes than I need, but most of my clothes have been given to me, are second hand, really old, super cheap, or all four. I actually find it fun, and a bit of a challenge, to put an outfit together using what I have rather than going out and buying something new. Having a personal style doesn't mean you have to spend a bunch of money on clothing.

3. This is a girly outlet- I am at the stage in life where I don't have enough to time or energy to paint my toenails or even blow-dry my hair (as evidenced above), so it is nice to talk about clothes and feel a little bit like a girl.

As I was driving to the shower, it hit me- is it taboo to wear black to a bridal shower? The wedding is next month and I was going to wear a black dress with pops of color- is that kosher? I so don't know these things, please clue me in if you are style-savvy!

Thanks!

Ashley

ten tips for building your child's wardrobe on a budget

I consider my children to be well-dressed. As in, they are appropriately dressed for the season and the occasion. I think they always look pretty darn cute, even though they don't have the hippest clothes out there. The most amazing part of this is that I hardly ever buy them clothes, and when I do I don't spend much at all. Here are a few tips I've learned over the last 3.5 years that have helped me to keep the clothing budget low:

1. Keep this in mind: it's okay to not have the trendiest kid on the playground.Your kid may be the cutest, but if you're on a strict budget, your children will not be donning the adorable vintage dresses or Baby Gap onesies that the other children do. And that's okay. A child can have just as much fun in second hand Osh Kosh as they can in Baby Boden.

2. Say "yes" to hand-me-downs. Always. No matter what. Say "yes". Whatever you don't use you can always give back or hand down to someone else.

3. Ask to borrow specific items you need. Luckily for me, I have a lot of friends with kids who are open to sharing and swapping clothes back and forth. When I need to fill in particular gaps in my kid's wardrobe, I usually ask my friends who have older kids if I can borrow the item I need. For example, I needed dress shoes to go with Elle's Christmas dress (a hand-me-down). I asked a good friend who has three older girls. She not only had the perfect little pair of shoes in Elle's size, but also offered tights to match. Money spent on Elle's Christmas outfit = zero dollars.

4. Shop garage sales over consignment stores. From my experience, consignment prices are always too high. However, people having garage sales are usually in a purging mood and will generally just want to get rid of all their kids' old clothes.

5. Splurge on important pieces. By "important" I don't mean those size 2T True Religion jeans you want for your toddler. "Important" means the practical stuff. Buy good cold weather gear, for example. I was able to splurge on a nice new pair of Bog boots for Eleanor so she can go puddle jumping with James. I justified spending forty dollars on a pair of kids shoes because we hardly ever have to buy clothes for Eleanor; when I have, they have been second-hand and extremely inexpensive.
Tip #1 is important to keep in mind here, because practical and trendy do not always go hand-in-hand. Sadly, Bog boots do not come in hipster chevron or bohemian tapestry, so Elle is stuck with neon pink. But, her feet are warm and dry on our outdoor adventures.

6. Remember: kids do not need as many clothes as you may think. After all, they will grow out of their current outfit in about five minutes. Even when my children have a chock full closet, they always end up wearing the same few outfits over and over. You really only need a few basic, comfortable pieces for them.

For when you absolutely must go out and shop for clothes for your kids:

7. Make a list. Like you do with groceries. Write down exactly what your kids need in which sizes and how many. Do not stray from your list.

8. Go straight to the clearance section. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars.... because you will spend it. Shop the clearance. We have had great luck with Old Navy clearance. James has about a half dozen long-sleeved shirts we bought for as little as $2.50 a piece.

9. Don't be fooled by coupons. Often times they exclude clearance, or even sale prices. Coupons also usually have a minimum, so you will end up buying more than you need.

10. Shop online. If you shop from home, it may be easier to stick to your list than if you go into the store and get distracted by all the cute clothes on half-sized manikins. Additionally, there is generally better availability of items online versus at the store.

Are these tips helpful? Are they things you already do? What tips do you have for buying kids clothes?

I would love more advice as my kiddos get older and need more and more clothing!

Thanks,
Ashley

layers for the ladies' dessert

Last Thursday I was able to meet up with a few lovely ladies at Papa Haydn's for dessert. 

It was so refreshing to get chat and laugh with other moms who know what I am going through. At the end of the evening I thanked them for inviting me and declared with a smile "It was so nice to have some time away from the kids so we could all get together and talk about our kids!" They laughed, and agreed.

It was also an excuse to dress up, just a little. Here's what I wore:

dress: Gap (thrifted)

belt: old, no idea

jean shirt: H&M

jacket: Levi Co (hand-me-down from mom)

vest: J. Crew (bought on super-duper sale)

boots: Etienne Aigner (thrifted)

I had in mind to take a bunch of awesome pictures while I was kid-less and in Sellwood, but I became way too busy conversing and eating. Here is the only (terrible) picture I took of what I ate which, sadly, was not Boccone Dolce because they marred it with bananas, but, happily, was every bit as delicious: Creme Brulee.

Do you get dressed up when you go out with your girlfriends?

Thanks so much for reading!
Ashley

PS stop by around dinner time for a simple and delicious throw-together dinner recipe

the oregon coast + my uniform

Last week we got away to the coast for a few days with Lane's family. The weather was cold, but beautiful.

One afternoon we decided to take James on a "special adventure" since poor baby Elle had the flu while we were there. Our original idea was the Hatfield Marine Center, but they had closed early so we enjoyed the views from the harbor at Newport and ate sour taffy instead.

I also had Lane snap a couple quick pictures so I could write my first official style post. 

(Let me be clear: these are not fashion posts I will be doing, by any stretch of the imagination. These are style posts. After all, who knows my style better than I do?)

As previously mentioned, my uniform is jeans and a plaid shirt. I am going to try to branch out, which is part of the goal of the style posts. Also, I think they are just plain fun and I enjoy reading them on other people's blogs- so I figure: this is my blog, why not?

sweater: hand-me-down from my mom

plaid shirt: thrift shop

t-shirt: threads for thought

jeans: old navy (therefore, they only reach to about mid-calf)

boots: thrift shop (cha-ching!)

What's your uniform?

Thanks for reading!

Ashley

a fashion question: what in the heck should i wear for date night

First and foremost, a disclaimer: I am not posting a bunch of pictures of myself, from the chin down, in various outfits because I think I'm cool.
It's quite the opposite actually: I am not in tune with fashion whatsoever. But when a date night comes along (as they do about every four months) I try to step it up a bit. And I need help.

Other disclaimers: bad lighting, bad background, bad photography (sorry, hun, I know you did the best you could with our little cannon point and shoot!)

Moving on... the date is to the OBT's Nutcracker dress rehearsal which my husband obtained (free) tickets for through work and secured grandparents to come babysit all without my knowledge, which, obviously, is getting him some major amazing husband points.

Onto the outfits:

#1. I thought this would be my favorite, and it so was not. It is comfortable and I love the necklace, but I definitely felt a little Fräulein Maria, if you know what I mean.

shirt: thrift store

necklace: thrift store

pencil skirt: Costco (woot, woot!)

flats: Born (my mom decided they weren't her style and gave them to me)

clutch: Alfani (?) Macy's sale forever ago

#2. A couple issues with this one: first, the blouse is just long enough to be tucked in, so I couldn't put my arms up at all without it becoming un-tucked. Which probably wouldn't be a problem because you don't have to reach up for anything if wearing heels makes you an amazon woman. 

Other problem is that I may break my neck if I attempt to wear the heels.

shirt: thrift store

jeans: Citizens via my mom 

(do we know each other well enough for me to admit to you that I am a jean snob? Jeans are the only thing in which I have expensive taste.)

heels: Nine West

#3. By far the most comfortable (can you tell this is a priority for me?). My mother-in-law gave me the top when I was eight months pregnant with James and I wore it all I could for the rest of my pregnancy. To say something is flattering on woman who is about to deliver a 9lb 5oz baby is saying a lot. 

Also, can we just talk about the flats for a minute? I love these shoes, but they have poinsettias on them. (Yes, as in the bright red Christmas flower.) Which makes them wearable about one month out of the year, the very month where it is way too cold to go out without wool socks on. Thus, it is very exciting for me that this outfit incorporates them.

sleeveless top: gifted (Thanks, Shir!)

three-quarter length cardigan (under the top): Target

flats: from some little shop on 23rd, purchased forever ago

So, I am serious about this, gals! I will wear whatever you vote for. Feel free to mix and match also, as I may not have put the pieces together in the way they should go. 

With much appreciation for your style help,

Ashley

five gifts for your practical/frugal wife who's also a mom (okay, my wish list)

From Cup to Cup's 2013 Holiday Gift Guide: We believe that gift-giving should be done out of joy and excitement for the holiday season, and out of love for the recipient of our gifts, rather than the obligatory consumerism that so often plagues this time of year. It is our genuine hope that this guide will be helpful in finding just the right present to bestow upon the special people in your life. 

1. reliable slippers (these from Land's End $39)
I actually owned these slippers at one point and wore them as, well, more than slippers. So they became a little worn down (as in holes in the bottom and too dirty to walk on carpeting). But I promise my next pair will only be worn as intended- in the house. And maybe just to grab the mail. Oh, and take out the trash. And just for quick trips to the store...

2. 2014 planner with lots of room to write lots of things for each day in big handwriting. (this one $13.49 on Amazon)
I need this because my handwriting looks like that of a ten-year-old boy and is just about as big. Also because I have to write absolutely everything down in one central location or I will forget to do things like shower.
I looked over a bunch of them, but some didn't have enough room to write all the important things I need to do (such as shower), others looked so complicated they most likely come with operating instructions, and others were too goal oriented, which I found to be just too much pressure. (Although the one pictured above does have "Do it all planner" printed on the cover, I figure I could just put a sticker over it. After all, it apparently comes with stickers!). This one seemed organized, but not overly elaborate, and also has tear-off pages for shopping lists, pockets, as well as "charming quotes start each week off in an upbeat fashion". Sold. 

image via

3. Coffee dates for your wife to go on with herself.
If you get her anything, get her this: buy twelve gift cards (one for each month) to her favorite coffee shop ($5-$10 a piece) and set up dates (write them in her new planner, see #2) for her to go on with herself. You will watch the kids or find someone else who will. Just make sure to have dates and times, otherwise it won't happen. Trust me, this will be a hit. I will come babysit for you myself if this gift doesn't bring tears to her eyes.

4. Pajamas. (these Boden on sale for $30.80... still too spendy for a cheapskate like me)
Oh, how I need PJ bottoms. I have started sleeping in leggings or warm-ups, which is a problem because I wake up and design my days' outfit around them so I don't have to change out of them and into real pants. Wow, TMI, but you probably now agree that I need some jammies.

5. Pretty everyday earrings. (these $40 from Upper Metal Class)
I actually have one of the earrings similar to these, but square. Yes, just one. The other was torn from my earlobe in the pool during a series of "jumps" James did, during which I was supposed to ensure he didn't drown. But I miss that little earring that matched everything I wore perfectly and received all sorts of compliments. I would love to have the triangle pair above, but the circles are quite pretty also. And even us practical/frugal/mom/wives like pretty things.

Happy wishing,
Ashley

PS Will someone please email this to my husband?