Dear Mayhem's Mom -- I get it.

Dear Mayhem's Mom, 

I can't remember where I read it first. I had so many people send me the link to the article about "the mother who makes paper dresses with her 4 year old fashion guru," that I lost track. 

As many close to me have known, my now 5 year old daughter has also expressed a similar love for fashion at a very young age. I believe she began dressing herself around the age of 2 1/2 and I quickly gave up the battle of matching outfits, and let her little mind create whatever she wanted to wear from then on. Now she spends her free time drawing outfits hoping the designers will create someday. I don't have this gene, so I'm not sure where she gets it. lol. 

I showed her the article and all the photos of the dresses you and Mayhem created. Her eyes lit up in the most glorious way and in an instant she was off to draw the first dress she wanted us to make. 

We made our first paper dress together that day. 

But I got more than just an idea for an outlet for my daughter's creativity from reading that article. 

I sit here today overwhelmed with how much I get it. 

You have capitalized on a precious time period in your daughter's life that will never be forgotten. You found a way to capture these sweet, innocent moments where deciding on her next dress is the biggest decision she has to make. 

As a mommy of 3 little ones, the days are long, but the years are short and soon enough the days of paper dress making will be behind us. Mayhem will grow, and you will one day tape together your last paper dress, but this memory that you have made will never ever fade. 

You helped your child's creativity blossom. 

You stepped into her world and brought it to life. 

You selflessly took time from your day and spent it by her side creating memories that truly will last a lifetime. 

A mother that didn't begin something for her own gain, but a mother that chose to get on the floor with her baby and spend the time with her, someone noticed and something big came of it. 

The love you have shown your child by your dedication and presence is what I saw. 

This is why I immediately went to follow you on Instagram and overloaded your website with clicks. 

I saw something that was truly special, and I know I'm not alone. 

An innocent and creative outlet for you and your daughter. 

Yes, your dresses are amazing, but that was just the outcome of a love that could be felt by the hundreds of thousands of people that saw that post. 

We could feel the love, the real love that would make a mom spend countless hours putting together dresses to be worn for 5 minutes a day. 

That's the beauty. 

This world LONGS to see love like this. 

And I'm just a mom touched by your story. 

I get it. 

Beauty in the simplest way. 

Time spent on your little one's passion. 

Selfless. Fun. Love. 

I pray you keep creating, keep spending those moments with her on the floor during the craziness that has now become your life. 

I know I'm not alone when I say I'm inspired. 

Inspired to find my own outlet with each of my kids as I watch them grow and see their own interests unfold. 

Mayhem's Mom, thank you. 

I get it. 

♥ 

#inspiredbymayhem 

blog design update & WIW

My little blog is in the middle of a redesign by the awesome Danielle at Changing Lanes!! 

I'm beyond excited.

 I remember the first email I sent her and told her I wanted her to help me with my design. I was completely  clueless and she graciously offered to take on my blog with little to no direction at that point. 

Slowly, I started finding more blogs and I was inspired. I love simple. I love green. I love the combination of burnt orange and gray. {Those are actually the colors of my walls in my home!} Well, not green. But shades of gray and accent walls of burnt orange.

I feel like my little corner of the world just got a little brighter. 

She is incredibly talented. You can check her out here or click on her under my sponsors.

Please feel free to grab my button!!! YAY! I can finally say that! Or type it? LOL!

♥     ♥     ♥

So... while the design is still in progress why not a little WIW post?

I wore this outfit yesterday to church and then out for a little Christmas shopping trip with my sisters!! Okay, the part where I said "little shopping trip" was a complete lie. We were out for about 8 hours. WHAT? Yes, it was ridiculous! We had two different breaks for "snacks" and by the time we left our last stop at Target, at about 9 pm, we were so delerious we were laughing about, well... everything. 

Thank you hubby for hanging with the kids so I could get a serious start to the holidays!!  

Because shopping with a 3 and 1 year old is pretty much impossible in my book. lol.

Believe it or not, these boots that obviously I'm obsessed with if you have seen any of my WIW posts lately, held up the entire shopping trip and did not even get uncomfortable. You can't beat them! I think they were $30 at one of those cheaper shoe stores in the mall. Best purchase so far this fall. Hands down.

Shirt: Nordstrom Rack

Cami: Target

Pants: Jolt {black} - Nordstrom Rack

Watch: Michael Kors

Scarf: Cute holiday boutique {$10}

Earrings: Kaemaloche Jewelry 

Necklace: I won at The Anderson Crew!! It's the Stella & Dot "Together Forever Necklace." 

{If you love the necklace check it out here}

Spray tan: Raving Tans of course.

 And while at Target last night... I couldn't resist these cute toddler mittens and beanie in the dollar section!!

Can you tell we live in San Diego and the kids have never put on a pair of mittens? lol. 

$3 and I had some really happy campers this morning. ☺

{Linking up here, here, here,  here, here, here}

WIW {to church}

 The church I go to is one that I like to call "come as you are."

Honestly, you will see every walk of life, every age of person there, and I absolutely love it. One of the pastors has full sleeves of tattoos. Another pastor used to rock the most awesome dreadlocks I had ever seen! A few years later, he cut them, but I will never forget it. 

The diversity of this church, that I now call my home, is one of the things that initially drew me in. I don't think it's wrong by any means to dress up a bit more when going to church. I love dressing up a bit sometimes, but I don't feel like it's something necessary to worship God. He meets us where we are at.

Full suit and tie, jeans, flip flops, Hawaiian shirt, tattoos and ear plugs, you name it, you'll see it at my church.

Last week I woke up in one of those, there is no way I'm going to be able to wash my hair and fully get ready days. So, I threw on a hat, some Target essentials, and a pair of earring with a little turquoise flare and viola! 

My kids wanted to jump in on the pics this week. I love it!

Wow, I'm realizing I really need a tan. It's bad when the spray tan tech is sporting a new shade of white...lol!

Hat: Marshalls

Sweater: Target

Striped Tank: Target

Jeans: Nordstrom Rack - Jolt

Boots: Reference {I have been living in them!!!}

Watch: Michael Kors

Earrings: Kaemaloche Jewelry

WIW {wine tasting}

 We live about 20 miles from a pretty amazing row of wineries. I don't know about you, but I love a crisp, not too sweet, chilled glass of wine. I love red as well, but white always sounds so refreshing. 

This weekend I met a dear friend up at one of the local wineries. We used to cheer together in college and even moved to Hawaii together for school. We are both back on the mainland now, but cherish those memories and catch up as often as our busy lives allow us. 

The winery we went to was absolutely beautiful and I'm really annoyed at myself for not even taking an instagram photo. What was I thinking! Ugh.

But this is what I wore wine tasting... and I had a little fun and messed around with the editing process and used a color technique called cross process. I thought it made quite boring photos look a little more fun. haha. Oh the simple things... 

I also sported the messy bun inspired by the always lovely Casey Wiegand and notice the Momma Rake headband! LOVE.

Top: Marshalls {cheap!!}

Jeans: Jolt {Nordstrom Rack}

Boots: Reference

Necklace: Kaemaloche Jewelry

Headband: Momma Rake

Watch: Michael Kors

photographer: the awesome hubby

{Linking up here, here, here }

What I Wore. {baby dedication}

Recently I've decided to branch out farther than my usual Target v-neck pocket tees. 

My husband is actually quite excited about this. He always compliments me, but I can tell he is liking this whole blogging thing. So far it has meant new fun looks and fun recipes! haha.

But it's true... I've been inspired... and I've realized that it's actually kind of fun to put random outfits together even from the clothes that I already have. 

And it's not as hard as I thought...

By no means have I become a fashion expert overnight, but I'm ready to at least try to be a little more creative.

So this is what I wore to my son, Sawyer's, dedication at church on Sunday.

This dress was inspired by the lovely Marissa of Momma Rake who is ALWAYS looking fab and the hair wave was thanks to the technique I learned by Meredith over at Everything Espey! 

The Michelle Money Curl!!! 

Dress: Target, Belt: H&M, Boots: Reference, Watch: Michael Kors

I go to a non-denominational, Christian church, have been for almost 6 years, you can read about that here... but instead of doing baby baptisms, we do baby dedications. There were babies from only a few weeks old to a couple years old that were with their families and getting dedicated. It was awesome. Basically, the pastor prays over each family. 

Actually, there is kind of an awesome story that goes along with Sawyer in regards to being dedicated.

I decided to get baptized in the summer of 2009. I had already been baptized when I was about nine years old, but this time, I really wanted to re-dedicate my life to God and in doing so, get baptized again as an adult. My sister and I both got baptized on this particular day. It was July 23rd. I don't know why I remember that. Come to find out...

I was actually about 4 weeks pregnant with Sawyer when I got baptized and had no idea.

I found out I was pregnant only a few weeks after this event. We were so thrilled when we found out about Sawyer...he has been such a blessing to us. I can't wait to tell him when he is older that we shared this event together. 

Kinda cool huh??

Here are pics from that baptism back in 2009 {yes, I was blonde. I tend to mix my hair up all the time. lol!}

My sis and me. About to get baptized!!

Our awesome pastor, Jeremy {he married me and hubby in 2007}.

4 weeks pregnant with Sawyer and I had NO idea!

And back to what I wore this weekend.... This is so awkward for me to pose. 

Thank goodness it's my hubby taking the pictures. lol!

 And here it is again! Michelle Money Curl!! Thanks Meredith!!!

 Best part... this dress was on the clearance rack!!! $9.98!!! Not too shabby!!! Oh I love you Target!

{ Linking up here, here, here, here, here! }