Constellations

I think this summer The Monkey will be old enough to stay up late and look at stars. I bought a deck of constellation cards along with a Smithsonian book about how to find constellations and where they are in the sky. There's also some awesome free constellation apps too. 

We live in the city so stars can be difficult to see from our house but we live close to a park with a very large sledding hill so I think I can take a blanket down there some night later this summer and we can look at stars. 

I have no idea how interested she is - sometimes she can be pretty fickle and other times she says she's interested because she knows Bimmer Man or I am interested in something. So we'll see if this summer activity is a hit or if it's a total bomb!

OOTD

Dress: Mud Pie

I'm testing out how dresses work in my life today. So far...so good. Later this afternoon I may have to wear running shoes for school pick up, which I'm not thrilled about because it means I'm running up to school and then back home after Baby Chewie who will be ripping down the street on his Strider. It really irritates me because it makes pick up/drop off so stressful and honestly, I just want this time to be down time for The Monkey. Baby Chewie wants his wheels and I want to rip them out from under him because they make me hate this part of the day. 

Vertical stripes look weird. But I bought this because I'm vertically challenged and it makes me seem a little taller, or so I'd like to think. Once a month I used to stop at my favorite boutique not far from here and I would buy something, this happened to be my something a few months ago, then I learned they were closing and I'm still so sad. It's not for a bad reason though, the owners decided to retire. But I loved shopping there, it was an old home that was turned into a boutique. So neat to wander around the rooms. I'm going to have to find another boutique to replace Lily & Violet that's close by. 

OOTD

Open Cardigan - Old Navy

Striped T-shirt - Madewell

Jeggings - Old Navy

Socks - Probably Target and probably Hanes

Meh, I don't really need to add "Mom" to OOTD anymore. I don't want that to be my defining word. That doesn't really encompass my whole self, that's just one part of me and if there's something that I'm wearing BECAUSE I'm a mother, then I'll point that out in the future.

I need to get rid of all the cardigans that I own that are not open cardigans. All of my cardigans that button or snap just hit me in the wrong places and aren't friendly to my figure. I don't know why I never noticed that before. OH WAIT, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE OWNED A FULL LENGTH MIRROR. It's like I'm seeing myself for the first time! So I'm adding that to my list of things to do this summer - DITCH ALL THE CARDIGANS. Our local emergency program is going to end up with a shitload of button up cardigans that I should have never been buying in the first place. 

Mom OOTD

Navy blue crewneck sweater - Gap Outlet

Green V-neck T-shirt - Gap

Blue pull-on shorts - Madewell

I'm in the middle of sizes right now. I'm a bit angry about that because it means that half my clothes are too big, and the other half are too small. My shorts are too big - but they were also purchased secondhand and so the elastic is a bit worn out. It seems like someone squeezed themselves into the shorts daily and figured out they aren't stretchy anymore so threw them out. I just happened to buy them without noticing. 

That's a problem with buying secondhand - people donate and get rid of clothes that have been worn so much that the clothes need to be recycled but donation places don't notice how badly the clothes are worn. I'm struggling with buying off of ThredUp lately because of this issue. So be warned.

I've been working out quite a bit lately, but I really miss my cardio workouts. I'm ready for some really good sweat this year and I think I want to try the YMCA again this summer with The Monkey and Baby Chewie. I want to get on the bike and on the Elliptical machine and sweat. The Greenway in Minneapolis is closed for the next two years so I'm going to have to bike on more roads and safety really concerns me. Americans HATE driving by cyclists and don't give space, I've almost been hit several times now. I don't want to end up in the hospital but I also LOVE my road bike. If I could stick it in a bubble or maybe put a flag on it that sticks out 3 feet, that would be amazing. But usually when I do cardio my weight drops by 10 pounds and that's where I'm at right now - I need to do more cardio to drop the 10lbs so I can fit into half my clothes. Let's be honest here - I like my body, I like how I look, I just want to fit into my awesome skinny jeans! 

Mom OOTD

Flowered Bomber Jacket - Esprit (Good luck finding Esprit in the US! This is from Paris)

Pink T-shirt - Gap

Dark blue skinny jeans - Gap

Finally, spring has sprung here. I can wear my really bright clothes from Europe last year. I can wear everything that I bought when I was in a deep dark place over the winter. This jacket is just the beginning! 

A few years ago for New Year's Resolutions I decided to become more "stylish." I followed so many blogs - some now I know really aren't my style (like having capsule wardrobes...um...no...I like choices and this is Minnesota, today I'm probably going to shed this jacket and then find a skirt...maybe...we need clothes for four seasons in one day!). I cut several of them from my blog reader, especially the ones with too many ads and the minimalist wardrobe blogs. I love seeing what people can do with 30 items, but I'm not that person and I don't fit into that mold. I was thinking at one point I could totally pare down my wardrobe and closet but I realized that I really do wear a lot of my clothes. And I continue to enjoy looking for awesome pieces of clothing that fit me and my personality and that go with what I have. 

Happy Sunday!

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Mom OOTD

Gray sweater - Gap, found on ThredUp

Gray/White striped tank top - Duluth Trading Company

Polka Dot pants - Madewell, found on ThredUp

Baby Chewie:

Red striped top: Burt's Bees organic pajamas from Target Winter 2019

Yellow striped pants - Hanna Andersson Wiggle Pants

Right now I just told Baby Chewie not to chew on a cord that is connected to an electrical outlet. That's right, when you're a parent of a toddler you're always on what I call "Suicide Watch." These kids will straight up electrocute themselves, drown themselves, or throw themselves off of very high platforms at parks just for the fun of it. I feel as though I'm always screaming no or stop. Unfortunately I don't think that will ever end with Baby Chewie. So be it. 

I re-pierced my nose after being hit in the face with a toy. Now my left eye won't stop twitching. I'm having a week where it seems not much is going right except for my meal planning and I AM WORKING OUT, though to be quite honest my heart isn't quite in it this week and I'm feeling a little fluffy (though the whole point of me working out is really to show my kids how to be healthy and to WANT to exercise). I bought a few new plain T-shirts at Gap last week because I realized I don't own many plain T-shirts and the plain ones that I do have are exercise and fast-dry tops. Meh. Whatevs.

Bimmer Man was out of town last week and I barely got by. By the end of every night I was ready to PEACE THE FUCK OUT. Baby Chewie only woke up during the night once, which was fantastic because I really needed the sleep. This week the weather is nice which means I can run him like a dog outside and seriously tire this kid out. TODAY my plan is to bring him to two different parks. 

I can't wait for summer to start. It will be so nice not having to be somewhere daily, though I'm pretty sure I can pat myself on the back because The Monkey hasn't been late to school yet this year!

Happy Wednesday!

Mom OOTD

3/4 Sleeve Sweater - Lou & Grey (this is several seasons ago, found on ThredUp)

Striped Tank - Madewell (also from several seasons ago found on ThredUp)

Jeggings - Old Navy, seen here too

Plus mom accessories like a Fitbit and socks from Target AND a messy room! HA!

I got a new full length mirror. The only spot for it in our upstairs is to hang over a door, otherwise I wouldn't actually be able to see myself in the spots where we could hang it on a wall. I tried on the outside of the bathroom door but I leave the door open to pee and it's so weird looking at yourself while you pee, I didn't want to try it pooping. I really didn't. So it's not in the best spot for lighting for taking photos but I have one! I've never had a full length mirror before so now I'm wondering what terrible fashion decisions I've made that I now have to slowly weed out of my closet. Yikes. That will be a summer project for sure. 

Also to note, I link to all these places for your browsing fun, I make no money from linking to these stores, just simply sharing where I found everything. Personally, I HATE ads on blogs. They irritate the shit out of me and I don't go back to blogs with an insane amount of ads or pop ups. You won't find that shit here. 

Enjoy!