Modcloth "Uniquely You" Challenge

I'm trying something a little bit different today, y'all. Last week, Modcloth approached me and asked me to participate in their Uniquely You challenge. They asked me to put together an outfit built around their Staple of Your Style Dress using Polyvore, and I was happy to oblige!

I create style boards once a month (most months!) for Morgan over at PDB, so I'm familiar with Polyvore and love using it. It's so fun! I really love the dress that Modcloth chose for this week's challenge. It feels very Mad Men to me, so I wanted to build an outfit that lends itself to that particular era, while still feeling modern. Here's what I came up with:

I picture a red lip and a blow out for a night out with the girls. What do you think?

Thanks for including me Modcloth!

P.S. I'm adding that clutch and those earrings to my Christmas list. Someone tell my husband..

Moms Just Want Clothes...

I came across something interesting on Facebook today. My good friends over at A Mama Collective posed the following question on their Facebook page, and the response was incredible!:

Post by A Mama Collective.

That's 137 comments in 4 hours. I've almost never seen that kind of response to a post on Facebook written by a blogger. 137 mamas (and counting!) answered that question, and their answers were really something. They were just what I expected, but surprising at the same time. The most common response was one that I expected to see: clothes. These mamas just want clothes that fit. That's all. If you gave them $1000 today that they HAD to spend on themselves, and you really do have to stress that rule, they would buy themselves clothes that fit.

Isn't that just like a mom? These women spend all of their time, energy, and money on their families. Their kids are clothed, fed, and loved, and there's not much left over for the mamas. As mothers, our instinct is to give everything to our children and to think of ourselves last. We all know women like that; most of our own moms live by this philosophy and have unwittingly passed it on to us. We can't help it. If it comes down to clothes for us or clothes for our kids, we'll choose our kids, 999 times out of a thousand.

Of course, there were other, less practical responses. Some want new cameras, plane tickets to visit friends, or even $1000 worth of babysitting time to just sleep (great idea!!), and quite a few spa days. But clothes was the answer given most often, and I can understand why. When we become mothers, our bodies change. Pregnancy does a number on our figures. Then there's the crazy roller-coaster called the postpartum period. Breastfeeding, stress, lack of sleep, etc often cause weight loss or weight gain, or both! If you have multiple children, all of this is multiplied and the changes you undergo are basically non-stop. So it's no wonder that most mamas struggle to keep a closet full of clothes that actually fit!

This Christmas season, I hope to appreciate mamas more. I hope to find small ways to bless all of the wonderful mamas in my life. And I hope to remember this post on Facebook next time I'm trying to think of a gift for a new (or not so new) mom! If you're stumped, give them a gift certificate to Gap! ;)

Our Weekend (A Day Late)

Thursday's sunset. Gorgeous!

We stayed in our pj's until after his nap on Friday, then spent the afternoon outside.

Emmett's school Christmas program was Saturday morning. He did awesome! So we celebrated with Chic-Fil-A. :)

We had such a good weekend, despite this awful cold I've been fighting. I only worked a half day on Thursday, so Emmett and I got the weekend started early. He was in a really happy mood all weekend, so we giggled and played most of the time. Saturday morning Emmett's school put on their Christmas program. The kids in Emmett's class mostly just stood there and cried when they saw their mama's, but it was fun to see him up on stage with all of his little friends! We celebrated with a lunch at Chic-fil-a, which is Emmett's favorite because of all the cows. He says "moooooo" the whole time!

We decorated our tiny little table-top tree, and Emmett loves the lights as much as I do. There's nothing in the world like a Christmas tree all lit up and covered in ornaments! We spent most of Sunday in our pj's, then did a little Christmas shopping. It was a great weekend. Relaxing and fun and even a little festive!

I hope you had an awesome weekend too!