My Favorite Things

Here are my favorite things and any one of these things will make for a great day, add all of these together and it is pretty much an amazing day!

1. Creme de menthe blended mocha in the summer, and hot mochas in the winter.

2. Carmex chapstick with a pretty lipstick over top. My fave lipstick is by Mary Kay,  my color is appleberry. Carmex has been my stand-by chap stick for years!

3. OPI Nail polish! I love pinks, but I have a dark purple called vampsterdam that I want to try!

4. Jeans! I spend the majority of my time in dress pants, skirts, and dresses.

5. Purchasing actual CDs! I jam out in my car with LM. I have listening to Christmas music recently on the radio but will be switching back to alternating between Jason Gray and Taylor Swift

6. Sleeping in!

What makes your day that much better?

Five Ways to Love on Your Mama Friends!

I am a new mama, and I will be the first to admit that this is one of the hardest gigs that I have ever had. I have had a lot of jobs over the years... Some days I feel like a rock star, but most days I feel like I am the worst mama in the world. I don't have it together and I have a lot questions about things that other parents magically know. This post is inspired by a conversation that I had with acquaintances that don't have kids or weren't sure how to weather the newest things going on in their friends life... here are some ideas that I had about how to love on your friends who are new/ first time parents.

1. Leaving my house on a Friday night is too much work! After a crazy work week quite honestly it is the last thing that I want to do most weekends. However, I would love it if a friend wanted to come to my house! There are a lot of things that we can do after Little Man goes to bed... TV marathons, watch movies, craft, or even just surf YouTube and Pinterest together. Quite honestly any movie that you want to watch that has come out since 2013-- I probably haven't seen it yet. Bonus points if you bring pizza, a snack, or wine.
2. Send your friend a text/ Facebook message, or call them on your lunch break. If their lunch times doesn't align with yours leave a fun message. I am not always great about contacting friends, because I feel like half of my brain is missing most days, but I feel so loved when someone takes the time to connect.
3. When my son was three weeks old one very brave friend came for the weekend. She was there to meet my son and help me out. She did things really basic things like washing dishes or snuggling my son so I could shower or nap. It was phenomenal! She even volunteered to get up and feed him a bottle one night so that I could have extra rest. This was a huge thing for me, because part of recovering is trying to figure out how you are going to do it all. Ask her specific questions like can I vacuum for you or do you need milk at your house. It makes all of the difference in the world.
4. Invite your friend and her kid(s) out do something. The reality that a lot of people won't get out of the house without their kid(s) very often... your friend needs adult conversation! IF you invite may family to some sort of gathering, you are providing them with an outlet and that much needed adult time without the guilt.
5. Make a conscientious effort to talk about something that has nothing to do with be a parent. It is great to get advice on that stuff but sometimes I just want to talk about anything else. I don’t want to lose sight of who I was before my bundle of joy entered my world.

Nothing lasts forever, and this zombie like state that your friend might be in will eventually disappear. What kinds of things do you do with your friends who are new/ first time mamas?

A New Year means new fashion?

The New Year is suppose to be a time of reflection and hope... looking back at the year that is wrapping up and looking forward to a new year. We can big events coming,  but we didn't necessarily see all of the details as to how it will play out. An example of this i when Little Man was born this past March. We knew that he was coming, but we were unsure of how it was going to go. There are so many different variables. We have loved being parents, and Little Man is definitely someone to cherish. Parenthood is also an example of constantly evolving. We are not the same parents that we are today as we were hen he was born and we will continue to evolve.

The same thing could be said for a closet-- my closet will continue to evolve, and not just because I am continually purchasing new clothes. Honestly, I don't have time for that despite what others seem to think.I can remember very clearly what happened while wearing certain pieces from my closet. They will forever be a part of that memory, but there other times when it was nearly as important.  I have had some really beautiful and creative outfits that I have loved and have worn repeatedly. I also have those outfits that are not my favorite and probably will never wear again, but at least I  tried something new. That is the nice thing about my closet. Things are remixable and can be worn several different ways. Not just in the outfit that it was purchased for. This last year has been a year of learning-- in 2013 I needed to create a remixable wardrobe because I was pregnant and I couldn't wear larger non-maternity clothes anymore. They didn't it right and they were uncomfortable. I translate that knowledge into my 2014 wardrobe, thankfully some of my clothes still fit after I had my son, but unfortunately some did not. I have realized that it is not a race and have been slowly working on building my wardrobe. My plan is to add another pair of jeans, maybe two pairs. I have one pair that fits and that I like, but I spend a lot of my time in work clothes, so I don't need a ton of pairs-- but it would be nice to have more than one pair. I also am lacking sweaters. Which I find interesting. I live in the midwest, but in fact do not own a lot of sweaters. I do not know how that has happened, so I will be adding a couple sweaters to my wardrobe. Especially now, as all winter items are on sale!

I felt unsatisfied with my closet before. It didn't feel very chic or impressive-- I often feel like I didn't have anything to wear. My clothes need to make sense for what I do everyday! For me feeling  chic doesn't necessarily mean sky high heels and little black dresses. My clothes need to reflect that the majority of my time is spent at my job, teaching children... and when I am not at my job I am with my son who is just now figuring out that he likes to "Move it! Move it! Move it!" I spend a lot of my time on the floor, dancing, and all sorts of other things.. so I need movable and flexible clothing. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy a beautifully created ensemble-- even though it might not be easily washable or practical. 

I feel like I have a really solid base, other than my jeans and sweater situation. They are pieces that are easily added in. I will probably have to replace some items and I am on the hunt for some shoes to add to my collection. This year-- my goal for wardrobe is to conscientious about what I am purchasing and making sure that these items are remixable and are easy to care for.

I hope you join me as I learn how to make my wardrobe work for me! Happy New Year, Friends!

Mrs. Bookworm in 2015!

I always mean to blog, and than all of the sudden it is the 29th of December and I haven't blogged in 28 days... because life gets in the way and the thing about being a working mama is that I am super exhausted in the evenings and I just want to hang out with my son and eat supper and be mindless for a couple of hours before I go to bed and start my day all over again.

I was looking at my blog posts too see what caught every one's interests and what I found out was interesting. You guys are interested in what I have to say about mamahood fashion, my house organization, and my working mama thoughts. These are the topics that I was planning on continuing to write about because being a mama is a pretty constant thing, but how I go about life is constantly evolving. Don't be surprised if throw in some recipes or some our zany adventures in sporadically too. Just like everyone else we got to eat and fairly consistently weird things happen to us-- most commonly Little Man and I, but The Doc has some interesting adventures as well.

My goal is to post on Mondays and Fridays... and if the blogging bug hits any other time during the week I will wander back and catch you up on our week here. You can find us on Bloglovin' and so head on over and follow us. Also, make sure to comment on any topics you would like for me to cover.

I have this idea for a monthly series about various things that I have learned as a parent--- the kind of stuff that every one just expects you to know, even though nobody tells you! Man oh man have we had some adventures!

I hope you all are enjoying the last few days of 2014 and your 2015 starts out rocking!

XOXO,
Mrs. Bookworm & Little Man (he has been playing with my phone and stylus on my lap as I type this.)

Day 31: Closing Remarks

It is the first day of December and I think that this going to be as good as it gets for my 31 days of Real Life, but that is okay. I have learned a lot through this writing experience and I am glad that I chose to complete this project. Even if it did take me two months to complete it. Motherhood is hard, but reflecting on it helped me to see what i was doing right and what areas I still needed to learn from... motherhood is a process and as Little Man continues to get older I will need to continually adapt to do what is beast for our family!

Today is being spent at home, I am pushing through all of my laundry-- because I wanted to make sure that everyone else was ready for our three day work week and then our long weekend away from home. I have rounded up the majority of my clothes and have them all color sorted! The biggest challenge is always getting them put away. I have so many other things that I feel like I need to focus on that this is the least important.

If I can get through all of the laundry today it will make this week so much smoother and we will have less laundry that needs to be done next week. December is always a busy month for us with Christmas parties, the Doc's birthday, and other holiday happenings.

Life continues on, whether we are ready for it or not. Thank you for joining with me on this almost 31 day journey.

Day 30: Sick Baby!

Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging... and that is just how it has to be. Little Man caught a stomach bug from daycare. The last two days have had a lot of snuggles, diapers, and pedialyte.

Day 27: What's a Family to Eat?

We are on day 2 of snow days... so Little Man and I didn't go to work. We stayed home and as of right now we have chicken in the oven. I was going to make baked chicken until I realized that I did have rice crispies or special k at my house... so instead I dipped the chicken in chipotle ranch dressing and backed it for 15 minutes and then checked it and poured a little more dressing and then put some butter in the dish to keep things moist. I am baking it at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes. It smells delicious, but that has led me down a path of destruction before. Dinners have about a 50/50 chance of turning out. My philosophy is keeping and open mind and trying new things.

Feeding my family more than frozen pizzas or cereal and pb sandwhiches is important. Though, it is going to take a little longer to be able to find balance and keep this going... I think we are on the right path.