Summer is in the air! Even though it doesn’t officially start for a few more weeks, it’s already hot as a dickens outside and I find myself reaching for my shorts, sleeveless tops, and hats. I’ve put away sweaters, scarves, and boots and I’m ready to sit poolside in my swimming suit, sipping mojitos. In the meantime, I’ll have to settle for running errands, grabbing lunch, and going for walks in these cute green shorts.
A few weeks ago, we got a babysitter and went to dinner for Nick’s birthday. We ate at St. James Seafood Restaurant and Raw Bar in Durham, one of Matt Kelly’s (of Vin Rouge and Mateo’s bar de tapas fame) newest food sensations. Seriously, I love all of his restaurants and would let him cook for me for the rest of my life. Anyway, we went there for my birthday in December and Nick liked it so much that we went back for his. We had just started the Whole30 diet at the time and we were going to try really hard to stick to it, but as soon as we saw the fried oysters, we threw the diet out the window and didn’t feel the least bit bad about it! It was totally worth it.
Birthday Boy!
Since I’ve started staying home with Sebastian, it’s become really easy easy for me to “forget” to change out of my pajamas and wear them all day long. Other things I sometimes forgot to do: brush my hair, shower, and brush my teeth. The first two weeks weren’t pretty, people! But, at least my messy bun was on point!
It’s not that I forgot to do these things, really, but I was preoccupied with figuring out this whole stay-at-home mom thing. What am I supposed to be doing? What is Sebastian supposed to be doing? It wasn’t as easy as I had imagined. Luckily, it didn’t take us long to settle in and create a routine. We’ve established regular nap, meal, and play times so our day is pretty predictable. We also went through a major overhaul in January and cleaned out a lot of drawers, closets, and rooms in our attempt to minimize the clutter in our lives, so now my house stays cleaner longer. Although, it’s almost time to do this again. Most importantly, I don’t feel like I have to use the few precious hours of nap time for cleaning; I can use it showering, getting dressed, and blogging (it does feel good to be back!).
All that to say I’m back to putting together cute outfits to share with you, dear friends. Here’s a compilation of outfits I’ve been wearing lately.
These first two outfits were worn to meet Nick for lunch and then run errands. I’m so glad it’s finally Spring and I can wear cute outfits again!
Chambray top: Old Navy | Pixie Pants: Old Navy | Sandals: via Payless
Jacket: Gap | Tee & Pants: Old Navy | Shoes: via Rack Room
This next outfit was simply worn around my house, playing with Sebastian. It’s pretty comfy, especially barefoot.
Tee: Target | Necklace: Old Navy | Jeans: Banana Republic | Flats: Ross
I wore this one out with friends for drinks. It was a beautiful evening so we met up at Bull City Cider works with our kids (they have a son the same age as Sebastian) and enjoyed the warm sun and cold hard cider. It was a great day.
Blouse & Necklace: Old Navy | Jeans: Banana Republic | Flats: Ross
I worry that it will take me a lifetime to figure out who I am and what I want to do with it, and by then, it’ll be too late. I’ve always been envious of folks who seem to have it all figured out. Those who have somehow always possessed a sense of who they wanted to be and what path they had to take to be it. Disciplined, ambitious, eager. You must embody those principles to achieve your goals. This is how I would like to describe myself but my mid-twenties seemed to knock those words right out of my vocabulary. I find that life just keeps throwing curve balls and when that happens, you have to widen your stance, maybe choke up on the bat, and stay focused. This is where I am now, trying to stay focused on what my life is and how to drive it to where I want to be.
So, anywhere, here’s an update on my life lately.
When your wind-blown look is on point.
It’s been four months since I quit my job. I’ve started casually looking for work again since I do have student loans that need to be paid, but if I’m completely honest, I’m not ready to go back. I love staying home with Sebastian and having the freedom to run errands whenever I want to. But I’m taking comfort in the fact that I’m trying to find something more fulfilling, making the transition a little easier.
Day of birth | One year old
Sebastian turned one earlier this month. This little dude definitely keeps me busy and I’m loving every minute of it – although I do wish I were better at time management so I could blog a little more. The year has definitely flown by but we’ve had a lot of fun (and stresses) during it.
Wearing red in February to support hearth health.
I’m almost a year out from my heart attack (May 27) and I’m feeling pretty good – better than I thought I would be at this point. While I still have some anxiety every now and then, I’ve learned my triggers and how to manage them, and my responses to them. My anxiety mostly manifests itself physically in the form of the heart attack symptoms I experienced last year (basically a mild form of PTSD) and it’s exacerbated when I don’t sleep well for several days and I try to make up for being tired with drinking too much coffee. So I do my best to get enough sleep and reduce my caffeine intake, and that usually works pretty well.
The beautiful sunshine and warmer breezes have inspired me to take more outfit photos. Getting to wear my cute spring clothes definitely helps, too! See what I mean:
Crochet top, floral cardigan, and purple pants mean Spring is here!
Light sweater, distressed denim, and cute booties. Hello, Spring!
I’m planning to get back to regularly posting outfit photos to don’t forget to follow along. Stick around to find out what else happens in this life of mine.
I know, I know.
I can’t believe I just said (typed) those words either, but friends, I think it might be true: I’m might be falling out of love with Target. At least their women’s clothing & shoes options.
It actually started a while back when they completely stopped carrying my shoe size (5.5). I used to be able to find so many shoes and would spend longer than necessary trying to decide which pair to buy, but now I don’t even look because I know they won’t have anything. I suppose they’re doing me favor considering my knees and ankles have been telling me for a while now that I need to invest in some better quality shoes with good support, and Target’s shoes are not that. It seemed to slowly go downhill from there.
One of my favorite shirts from Target’s ‘a new day’ line
These days, I don’t have much time (or money) to shop but the few times I have tried stuff on, it just didn’t work for me. Dresses fit weird, pants and shirts are too long, and the shoulders seams don’t line up with my actual shoulders. But, to be fair, I’m short and petite so garments tend to fit weird everywhere I go, unless they’re specific to smaller gals. Tailoring gets expensive so most of the time, I don’t even bother.
Target maxi that looks awesome, even though I had to hem the shoulders.
Naturally, I’m pretty sad about these latest developments. I was very much looking forward to their new lines and had already purchased a few things that made me feel pretty awesome. It hasn’t all been rainbows, though. There was a cardigan I purchased that was less than stellar because once I wore it, I discovered that the cuff of the sleeves stretch out A LOT if I pull them up at all, so I would pull them up around my elbow and they would fall back down immediately. All that pulling and tugging got pretty uncomfortable so I just don’t even wear the cardigan anymore. Sad.
Still loving this blouse from Who What Wear from Target
When I do find myself in Target (which is most weekends, actually) I’m drawn to the children’s clothing. I do love all of the cute little pants, tops, and jackets for Sebastian! It’s kind of funny how I’ve gone from wanting all the clothes for me to wanting all the clothes for him. He barely even leaves the house most days but I want him to look super dapper at all times. At least I can still count on Target for that.
I haven’t given up hope. I’d like to try on a few more things and see what their spring and summer lines have to offer. Maybe we can salvage our relationship but, at the very least, there’s still all of the other departments I can look forward to (I’m looking at you, home and bath!).
What are your thoughts on all the new changes Target has been implementing recently?
Hi, I’m Nikki. This is where I blog about my life and style. I’m a wife, a new mother, sushi lover, coffee drinker, and a social justice warrior. Welcome to my little corner of the world where I try to lead by example!
