I thought I’d share some of that inspiration with you here today.

First, there was this outfit. So simple, so pretty. So me.

I dug in my closet, pulled out a pair of jeans with a hole in them, a flowy beige top and a turquoise necklace and stole one of hubby’s brown leather belts and I was dressed. Easy peasy. Cuter and more put together than plain jeans a tee in the same amount of time.

**You’ll have to forgive me. I am really bad about being all, “Here take the camera and get an awkward photo of me posing for it”, so almost all of the pictures of me are ones that just happened to get snapped of me living life instead of posing.

Next, there was this.

on pinterest

This is Florida, and some of those accessories are too fancy for me. So, I went with the tank that I have that’s similar, a belt and jeans and skipped the sweater, scarf and going out earrings. We were only going to the park!

And then this:

on pinterest

Okay, I know I am not Reese Witherspoon. She’s cute and blond and short and I’m…not. But I loved the simplicity of her sweater with dark jeans and brown boots. It is still not scarf season here, so yet again I went with what is appropriate for where I live and what I’m doing. This was at fall festival.

Okay, I’ll stop torturing you soon. One more.

on pinterest

How easy is this outfit? Jeans, a top and a drapey cardigan? I can do that! I was feeling more casual and just went with a thrifted Jcrew market tee but still felt put together. Maybe that’s just the “I look sort of like a pinterest pinboard” effect and I really don’t look put together.

Are you on Pinterest? Follow me if you are and I’ll follow you back.

Friday, I got the pleasant surprise of hubby getting home early and taking me out to brunch and to walk around our sweet downtown area. I wore a newish to me dress that I hadn’t had a chance to wear yet. It’s an H&M dress, but I scooped it up at a consignment shop here for $11. I am sure it would look really cute with red shoes, but I don’t have red shoes, so I don’t know for sure.

I love dresses – they’re easy, breezy and I don’t have to worry about matching a top and bottom. I love Rachel’s take on Stylish Dressing With a Small Summer Wardrobe.

Sooooo attractive, right? Ha.

Or, I’m in jeans and a tshirt and flip flops. Boring. I realized that jeans and a tshirt had become my “nice” clothes when I joined a friend for brunch a couple months ago and she said “Oh! You look really nice!” and I realized that most of the other times she’d seen me, I was still in my exercise clothes. Not great. I know there are bigger issues in life than what we wear each day, but I also know that when I take the time to put myself together a bit more, I feel better, I act better, and I find the time taken worth it.

While I still fall back on jeans (or shorts) and a tshirt, there were 5 (yes, FIVE) days this week that I wore a dress. What is easier than a dress? It’s one thing, so I don’t have to match it to anything. And since I am now hearing that the rest of the U.S. has caught up to us here in Florida and is hot hot hot, you all will understand now what I just love the dress for these hot summer days. So, this week, when I wasn’t in a bathing suit or my running clothes, I took the time to put myself together a bit more and it felt good.

On 3 out of those 5 days, I forgot to take pictures, but here are two of them:

Dress: Anthropologie – gift from my mom from a recent stop in San Fran

Dress: Banana Republic found on the dress rack at Goodwill for $6 last summer.

To see a whole slew of people who actually know how to get dressed nicely in the morning, check out What I Wore Wednesday at The Pleated Poppy.

There are many more of these around my house, in my purse, and my car. I love them. I almost never bother to put makeup on, so these are my saving grace. At least I think they are. Maybe I am fooling myself.

Coffee. In a cute mug.

Sleeping kids.

The beach. Feet. Two of my favorite things. I am always taking pictures of my kids’ feet. Yes, I’m weird.

What are some of your favorite things?

When I first began communicating with people online beyond email, I joined an online group of women who were all expecting babies at the same time as I was expecting my first.  It was weird to try to explain to friends and family what it was. I found comfort in other women going through the same process that I was for the first time. I couldn’t believe when I read that it was totally normal for me to be completely exhausted at only 5 weeks pregnant. I found comfort in online community and as time passed, I found that it was a great way to find people with the same interests and form bonds over those things. I don’t have friends in real life who fix up houses with their spouse. I felt very alone on remodeling road until I found the world of house blogs.

One day a few years ago, after many wonderful friendships and bonds were formed with wonderful women over the common thread of us all having babies in the same month of the same year, I lost my ability to share of myself completely without worrying what others thought. I shared ridiculous embarrassing things about myself, scary things, hard things, sad things, funny things. Pictures. You name it, I shared it and I shared it openly and without fear. The first time someone I had never met criticized me online, that all changed. Not because I was so affected by one person’s opinion but because for the first time I realized from my tiny little sheltered corner of the internet that people are not always nice. Sometimes they will hide behind fake names and say that who you are and what you’ve done is ugly. Or they won’t hide and will just say something mean because they think it’s the truth and needs to be said. It has to be my non-confrontational, get shaky when someone is mad at me, don’t say anything if you can’t say something nice self, but something about the realization that not everyone has that same filter shut me down.

I started to think too much about the words I used, stressing about if what I meant came out right. The written word can be tricky. I stopped sharing myself freely. I reached out to the people I knew were really my friends and talked to them privately instead of putting all my stuff out there for everyone. I found that it was easier to share myself when I knew the few people I shared with were in my corner, to be supportive, and not to say the brutal truth if it would do no good.

Then I started a blog.

A blog that publishes to the world wide web for anyone who comes across it to read. A blog that is a creative outlet for me to use my words and pictures and ideas. Over the 3 1/2 years of this blog, my comfort level with that has shifted many times. I love it, I hate it. And every time I hit publish I worry about the invisible – the person somewhere who might not like it, who might not say something nice. And it changes what I share, or if I even share at all.

I started this “A Photo a Day in May” in hopes of gathering up my courage and getting over that. Making myself publish something, anything every day for a month whether it is boring or dumb or whatever. Just doing it.

There is art in me in many forms and it needs a way out. The biggest barrier to expressing that for me is fear. What if it’s not important? What if they don’t like it?

The greatest encourager I’ve found in this wonderful online world in the expressing of art is Emily. When she writes things like The Grace of Art and how to make time for art when there’s no time for art, I can take a deep breath and allow myself to express myself with the art that lives inside me even if some days the art comes in the form of stacked laundry piles, dirty bathroom floors and sweaty running clothes. Or a picnic at the park. It’s all art. Everyday art. Beautiful art that is important and necessary and big. When I read her words, it feels less silly sharing the boring, mundane of a day.

Until I can find a yoga class I like (I wish I lived near her so I could take her class!), I’ve been reading. Finding moments of quiet to shut off my own head and listen to someone else’s. I love witty non-fiction from other flailing their way through life women who keep it real. It has made me laugh and cry this week to pick some of these books up again and to be encouraged. Throw in some fiction from other authors I adore and I am filled up.

Talk about not being focused though. Who reads 5 books at the same time? I do, that’s who. Maybe goal #1 for focusing my head and heart will be to pick and finish one. And when I have finished them all, I’d like to know…what are you reading? And what should I read next? Recommend away!

So, with all that spare time on my hands, I gave my blog a little makeover. If you’re using a reader I hope you’ll stop by to see it and maybe while you are here, say hi. It’s too quiet with my 5 year old maniac gone.

How’s your Monday going?

I was proud of myself to have made, ordered and sent my Christmas cards in a 24 hour period this week. There were lots of terrible outtakes.

not only is he picking his nose, he has red nail polish on

Somehow we miraculously ended up with this

As the week went on, I spent time at various school events, helping kindergartners make gingerbread houses

and watching my son “perform” . This is while he was supposed to be singing and dancing. He sat and smiled very well.

Here are better pictures of the Christmas dress

Today, it rained

So, I spent the afternoon inside trying to finish making gifts that need to be sent like yesterday.

while I made photo tiles, my daughter made random ornaments with glittery scrapbook paper (as close as I will come to letting glitter enter my home) and rub ons.

And now, while my kids watch Frosty, I am going to pretend there is nothing left to do and sit and drink hot chocolate.

Aren’t I festive?

Adding to Get Your Craft On at Today’s Creative Blog

I love mornings. It’s the time I get to myself, in the quiet, without a full day’s worth of events racing through my mind. A blank slate. A time to think about what lies ahead, what I want to accomplish. A time to center myself, and to prepare for the day mentally.

I take care of lunches and lay out outfits at night so that when morning comes and I roll out of bed, I can sit quietly with my coffee and my thoughts.

Each time I get up for another cup of coffee, I can check on the kids who inevitably are in my bed, arms slung around each other, holding on in moments too sweet to capture in words or photo. I smile. I count my blessings. I ask for just a few more minutes of quiet and settle back down in my favorite chair and watch the world around me become lighter as the sun rises.

This time of year, I sit surrounded by white Christmas lights – strung across the french door, and gracing the pergola outside. I always say I love the white lights so much I want them to stay up all year. This year maybe I’ll actually do that. They are peaceful and so much better than a harsh overhead light at 6 a.m.

Slowly, I sneak through my bedroom and begin to get ready for the day. I love the times that I am fully dressed and they are still asleep. I climb into bed and snuggle with them. Wake them up in fits of giggles and welcome their headlock hugs.

Their day begins. Our day together begins.

I am thankful for days when I can sleep in. I am thankful for mornings that I am up early and can have quiet moments to myself. I am thankful for the ability to run. I am thankful for days off from running. I know my kids are not the most appreciative beings ever, but I am grateful that they say thank you when given something, from a gift to a meal. I am thankful that my family has a home, a paycheck or two and more than we need. I am thankful that my family and friends make each and every day more special. And even if my son is going to erase my chalkboard full of things that I am thankful for minutes after I write them, it doesn’t change that I am thankful. For all of it.

So pleased with himself, he is.

I think if you asked him at that moment, he’d say he was thankful for paintbrushes used as erasers. And trains – just because.

One day until thanksgiving. If you need some inspiration, here you go:
Thanksgiving Turkey Table Decorations
Thanksgiving Banner
20 Attitudes of Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your day!