Here in North Carolina, we are jumping into week 5 of the stay-at-home order.  To be honest, it's been incredibly difficult to find a good cadence for everyone between work, Liam's school, and the general needs of two nearly-three-year-olds, but we are learning to give ourselves grace in the chaos and also learning that maybe those items that we thought would make or break our parenting isn't truly that. (Screen time for all!)

The other thing that I have struggled with is getting ready each day.  Most of it has to do with the fact that I'm getting up much earlier to get some work done before the rest of the house wakes up and then by the time they do, we are at a full court press to bedtime leaving me little time to get myself ready.  None-the-less, I am determined to take a minute to at least wash my face and change out of my pajamas and to that end, I thought I'd share some of my favorite stay-at-home looks from over the past week that aren't entirely extra.  Though I do appreciate a good extra look, I also acknowledge that I am not (nor are many people) in a very 'extra' mood these days.

Hi. Remember me? I can't believe that I haven't been back to this space since May.  MAY.  Yes, I know for someone who used to blog more regularly, it seems like years.  And truthfully it felt like both years or mere seconds, but that's how life goes these days. 


[ dress (size up, this is a medium) // booties (size up by half a size & on MAJOR sale) // sunnies]

I could wax poetic about how I needed to take a break (though I did) and refocus on our (very chaotic) family (which I did), but the truth of it is, the days got away from me.  And days turned into weeks and weeks into months and now we are the day before Thanksgiving.  Navigating life as a family of 5 with an active second grader and a set of two year olds has been a lesson in grace and patience with myself.  It's been fun, it's been challenging, it's been soul-crushing, it's been hysterical, it's been crazy, it's been hard, it's been beautiful, and it's been (very) messy.  It's a time in our lives that I simultaneously don't take for granted because I know the days are long but the years are short, but also make me want to chug a bottle of wine and slather myself in CBD oil at the end of the day to calm down.  I've come to appreciate that this is the juxtaposition of life and particularly motherhood.

In terms of what I'm going to be doing with this space next, I can't exactly say.  I want to get back into visiting it more regularly and I hope that you do too.  (You can always keep up with our shenanigans over on instagram if you don't already).  In the meantime, take a gander at this dress & booties.  The dress is super comfortable (and I'll be sporting it this Thanksgiving) and the booties are on constant rotation in my wardrobe these days.  It's really the perfect mix of comfort and edge to make it through the holiday (with room to spare for all of the extra goodness I'll be eating). 

During last week's Mom Talk Tuesday, some of my insight I give is about finding your tribe of people.  It's something that, though I only devoted a few sentences to it, I couldn't live without.  I've been fortunate enough in my life to be surrounded by truly incredibly people.  People with different backgrounds, experiences - some with no kids, one kid, a few kids - people who have loved & lost and all of them have lent themselves to me.  They are insightful, hilarious, forgiving, and beautiful people both insight and out.  I'm eternally grateful for them.

And I had an opportunity to hang with some of those amazing humans a few weeks ago for a mother's day brunch at Josephine's gorgeous new home.  There's something about time with friends that is just good for the soul.  There were a lot of laughs, amazing food, & scrumptious drinks.  Not to mention beautiful decor & florals.  It was the perfect way to kick off the season & also a great idea to celebrate the other mothers & friends in your life. 

Leopard continues to be everywhere right now and I simply fell in love with this skirt when I saw it.  Having a traditional leopard print skirt already in my arsenal, finding one that was an alternative color, to me, justified an additional one.  But let's me real, I can justify practically any purchase if I try hard enough.

With last Wednesday being the first official day of Spring, I was more than eager to break out the florals.  Though I stand firm that florals belong year-round, with the sun being out more now it just puts you in a particular mood for florals.  Even though they aren't groundbreaking for spring, they still are a fun and playful way to dress for the season in a very easy way.

Or maybe not-so-new me given that we are already half-way through January and my holiday hiatus has ran a little long.  Regardless, I wanted to share this dress - which is a stunner and comes in a tremendous amount of options or prints.  I wore it to the Justin Timberlake concert here in Charlotte last week with sneakers.  Yes, you read that correctly - SNEAKERS (which sadly are no longer available, but I've linked a similar pair below).  So maybe that's the new me.



Temperatures were unusually warmer so I didn't have to wear tights with it, but since the weather has dipped a bit, I plan to pair it with tights and OTK boots or booties. I suspect this dress will be one that I'll continue to reach for over and over again.