Friday, May 30, 2014

Anniversary Style and Vacay!

Hello and happy Friday!  Today I am not actually at work.  I'm off to get ready for our big trip - I can't believe it's finally here.  We've been planning it since Oliver was born and at the time, June seemed sooooo far away - and now almost six months later, here we are.  Which means we will have a six month old in the house - say what?  I'll have his usual monthly recap up next week along with some other posts I've pre-scheduled, so hopefully you all won't miss me too much!

In the meantime, I thought I'd round out the week here by sharing my anniversary outfit from Tuesday.  I wore it to work all day, but I picked it out specially because the Pants Monkey loved it when I put it on for him when we went thrift shopping on Mother's Day.  



I love it too, the color of this shirt is too much fun.  I had been looking for a black lace skirt for awhile too, so I'm so happy to have one now!  This entire look may have been a tad bit too much for work maybe, but I guess maybe I was just giving off the hot secretary vibe?


Shirt - Express (thrifted), Skirt - Wet Seal (thrifted)
Bag - Tiganello (thrifted), Shoes - from cousin



I look forward to styling both of these pieces in other ways, but I had to wear them together for my wonderful hubby!  Speaking of my wonderful hubby - I mentioned that he and Ollie gifted me a spa day for Mother's Day - well I'm kicking my vacay off with a bang and using that today.  Get myself all relaxed before we head out of town (though maybe it would be better used after we get back, ha, but I wanted that mani/pedi now!)  I hope you all have a great week - I might not get around to your blogs, but as I said, there will still be some posts up here during the week.  I'll be Instagramming our journey as well, so feel free to follow along there!
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Thursday, May 29, 2014

Thrift Style Thursday - Like, totally 90s

Once again I thought I might have some trouble pulling together something for this week's Thrift Style Thursday - our theme is Nineties Nostaglia and while I am a total 90's girl - I didn't think I had much in my closet that would fit the theme.  Oh how wrong I was.  I set to playing around with a few things and realized this was easier than I thought. This was fun to put together!


So this sundress isn't necessary something that screams 90's - but then start adding pieces like the denim vest and we're getting there.  For fun I also added floral sandals, a daisy necklace (I seem to remember daisy things were big then) and a butterfly barrette in my hair ala Sarah McLachlan in her Lillith Fair days. Oh and we can't forget my tied flannel shirt - had to throw in some grunge too.  I always had a flannel tied around my waist in the 90s - even in the summer with my shorts.  I never said I was cool back then!  The whole outfit is finished up with one of my vintage Coach bags (that I'm pretty sure is a 90s era bag - makes me old to call something from my teen days "vintage").  Overall I think I'm pulling a pretty good mid-90's era feel here!

Sundress - thrifted, Vest - Vintage Lee (Mighty Swell pop up sale)
Necklace - Butterfly Boutique, Flannel - Old Navy
Sandals - Merona (Target), 
Bag - Vintage Coach (Tandem Vintage pop up sale)


And funny story - while I was driving Oliver to my parents this morning, the radio station I was listening to was doing their daily "guess the celebrity birthday" game - and it happened to be Melanie B (aka Scary Spice) from the Spice Girls birthday today.  So then naturally they played "If You Wanna Be My Lover" and my transformation to my teen years was complete.  Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

Head on over to these other thrifty gals blogs for some other 90's flashbacks!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Weekend recap in pictures

So, it's already Wednesday of a short and crazy week and I'm just now getting around to recapping the weekend.  I just have to though, it was pretty epic and amazing.

Let's go back to Friday - I did get my bonfire!  We had a nice early evening with Oliver first, went for a walk, played for a bit and then he went to bed pretty nicely.  We grilled ourselves some brats, cracked open a beer and then Mr. Monkey built us a lovely fire out of a bunch of the branches and things that have fallen in the yard since last year.  It was a great way to get rid of that stuff instead of having to bundle it and drag it into the front yard!  We streamed some light jazz music (the Pants Monkey's favorite) on my iPhone and just enjoyed a beautiful evening.  He did have to keep feeding the fire, but it worked out well, when we were ready to be done we didn't have to wait for it to burn out.


Saturday morning I got up nice and early with Ollie, we had a fun morning of playing and then I packed him up in the car and headed to Como Zoo and Conservatory to meet Miss Lori.


I freaking love the Conservatory - especially the Sunken Garden room - everything is in full bloom in there right now, it smells amazing and is just lovely.


This was Oliver's second time at the zoo, and the first time I attempted a trip like this without the help of daddy - he did pretty well and so did I!  I was excited that he even fell asleep in his stroller, gives me hope that we can do some sight seeing in St. Louis when we're there and he'll be able to go with the flow pretty well!  He woke up in time to see some animals - though he's still not too into them quite yet.  We'll keep going back though!


And let's talk about this lady for a second here - I stole this picture from her - I cannot believe in just a few short weeks she's heading to Chicago for good.  I am so happy for her - but sad for me!  She's one of the greatest friends I've made through blogging that I've had the pleasure of meeting up with in person.  I definitely consider her more than just a blog friend now!  I will miss her like crazy, but thank god for social media for keeping in touch - and I see a trip to Chicago in our very near future as well!


After the zoo, we came home and hung out on the deck for a bit with Mr. Monkey - but before that Oliver had to get in some quality time with his BFF.  I love how he loves Taylor and how she loves him.  Taylor was the cat we were more worried about, we seriously thought she would have trouble with Ollie, but she's really taken a shine to him.  Pippin doesn't not like him, but she still is unsure, so he's still unsure of her.  We'll keep working on it.


Sunday morning I got up early for church but got in some quality time with this sweet face before I had to go. He is becoming more and more of a little person every day.  He's not quite crawling yet, but will pull himself up on our laps if we sit on the floor with him.  Later in the day on Sunday we had dinner with my in-laws and worked out the remaining details for our St. Louis trip.  I can't believe the trip is almost here!  I'm still a little nervous about it, but mostly I'm getting excited now.  It's going to be great to see the relatives there and I'm excited for Oliver's first vacation!



Monday we did Oliver's six month pictures - I can't believe he will be six months next week.  We're almost halfway to his first birthday and that just blows my mind!  We did the pictures outside and it was a little bright and warm, but he was a trooper I think.  We had lunch outside after that, then he had a visit from his auntie since she'll be gone before and after we're gone.  We all more or less crashed Monday night then!  It was a busy, full weekend and if it's any indication of how the summer is going to be - I'll take it, even if I had sunburned arms and was totally wiped by the end of it - my heart was full and happy!  Happy summer!!
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Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Eight

I've much to share about the weekend (it was great) and things coming up (there is a lot), but today I'm taking time out to celebrate 8 years of marriage with this wonderful man here.


It's amazing how far we've come in 8 years - several jobs, hellos and goodbyes to friends and family and pets - and the biggest change of all in welcoming Oliver to our life.  I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.  I used to joke that I would have ten million of Justin Timberlake's babies - but hands down I'd have ten million of the Pants Monkey's - I mean come on, the one we have is pretty cute already.


Happy anniversary babe - the ride continues and I never want to get off.  Here's to many more years to come!
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Friday, May 23, 2014

Cheers to the freaking weekend

Friday before a holiday weekend.  Such a joke.  I get the feeling it will be very slow today.  I have also been told I can take time off and go home early if I wish.  I am actually slightly torn on that because I have an upcoming long vacation coming up - but I think in the end it just might be a no-brainer - it's freaking gorgeous outside today.


I have already informed Mr. Monkey that after the baby goes to bed we are sitting outside all night long, we will grill dinner, play cards on our deck and maybe even build ourselves a bonfire.  And drink a beer.  I didn't get the bonfire and beer experience last summer since I was pregnant, so I need to make up for lost time!

Shirt - F21, Skirt - Gap (thrifted)
Bag - Urban Expressions (Lulu's), Shoes - Target
Necklace - Lia Sophia


We actually have a few things going on this weekend and lots of trip preparation to do before next weekend, but tonight is all mine.  I cannot wait!  Happy weekend to you all!
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Thursday, May 22, 2014

Thrift Style Thursday - Brilliant Blazers

I worried I would have to sit this week's Thrift Style Thursday out - I didn't have a blazer I felt was "Brilliant" and I was having some trouble finding one - until we went to the thrift store on Mother's Day and I found this one!  It's one of the boldest things I own now and even a little out of my comfort zone -  yes I love orange and peach and those shades - but this is definitely more bright/neon than what I usually go for!  The Pants Monkey said it looked good though, so I had to give it a chance!

Blazer - Sweet Child (thrifted), Dress - American Eagle (very old)
Shoes - Dr. Scholl's (DSW), Necklace - teether necklace (Zulily)


Then after I got it home, I worried I wouldn't find something to wear it with - then I realized it goes with basic black if nothing else and actually, I think I have some other ideas too, but I went the safe route with black for today.  Mr. Monkey said he liked the combination this morning, so I always feel pretty good when I get his stamp of approval! 


Oliver is digging this blazer too - it was almost a little too distracting for him when I was nursing him this morning!  I'll have to make sure I pull it off later before feeding him.  He's super into colors right now, so I shouldn't be surprised!

Make sure to stop by the other Thrift Style Thursday blogs to see other brilliant blazer looks!