Friday's Fancies + Have a Jolly Weekend!

dress // earrings // clutch // pumps // lipstick

Happy Friday! Hooray for the weekend's arrival, hooray for holiday plans right around the corner and hooray for continued birthday celebrations.  The theme of Friday's Fancies this week seems only appropriate!  What are you all up to this weekend?  We're celebrating husband's birthday with family tomorrow night and Sunday we leave for a week long trip to Kansas.

I couldn't resist the urge to use the Free People Shimmy Shimmy Party dress since the theme of Friday's Fancies was Serious Sparkle.  Seriously, I want to own this dress and pretend to wear it (maybe I could next year?).  I'd love to pair it with navy pumps and red lipstick and whatever accessories tickled my fancy on that particular day/occasion.  Wouldn't it be fun to spin around in it?  Have you guys checked out Free People's dress selection lately? Holy shopping spree!

Whatever you get up to this weekend, I hope you have a wonderful and jolly one.  Can you believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away? Yowzas!

Thursday Loves + A Special Birthday

Need a blast of winter....fast?  These instant winter scenes from Etsy shop Kate's Cottage Shop will have you feeling cheery in no time.  

I need some snow in my life, can you tell? Isn't this winter barn absolutely gorgeous?  Via

The perfect snuggly sweater to wear while visiting the wintery barn, above?  I do declare.  And I love the price tag - $32.74!  Via She Inside

This hallway feels so cozy and I really wish that I could copy it into my own home.  Sadly we do not have a hallway of these proportions so mimicking it is merely a pipe dream.  I guess I'll just continue to stare at its beauty while pretending it was all mine.  Via

Last but certainly not least, today is my husband's birthday.  He is most deserving of the best slice of life there is and I want to wish him a very happy birthday in every way I can think of.  He's pampered me to no end throughout this pregnancy (happy halfway mark to me on Sunday!), rubbed my feet every night, cooked me dinner, taken the pooch out most every time, let me have the remote when I've had enough football, bought me flowers and he never forgets to tell me I'm beautiful.  David, you're the absolute best.  Via

Thursday Loves

I have a complaint to voice and it might not merit any sympathy.  It's been really warm here, like, 74 degrees.  In December.  And it has only felt like winter one day.  I'm not happy with it, even though most people probably are.  I just want it to feel like Christmas is coming, in terms of weather.  Would it kill mother nature to just do me a solid with this one?!  The wildlife in our neighborhood is acting confused - it sounds like early spring every morning.  Dang it, global warming!  Photo via

If handmade holidays are your thing, consider checking out Carnivale Clay on Etsy.  The artist and I share a mutual fondness for a certain friend, not to mention she makes gorgeous stoneware for the home and garden.

Oh Free People.  You've done it again.  You've wooed me with your holiday sparkle.  Too bad my every expanding belly couldn't even begin to fit into this without busting the thread that holds every last sequin on to this beautiful dress.

I'm not sure if this house could be any cooler.  Via

Can I have this strawberry, basil and goat cheese panini for lunch, please? Oh my!  Via Cookie + Kate

Hope your weeks have been swell!

Friday's Fancies + Have a Merry Weekend!

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Happy Friday!  I'm so happy for the weekend - it's been a long week.  Hubs was out of town but he's back now, so it's nice to have a companion to talk to again.  I've felt like the crazy cat (and dog) lady just talking to the pets non-stop like they actually care about what I'm saying.  Baby sure has been getting an earful of my neurosis these last few days too, so I'm especially sure it's glad that dad is back home.  

What are you all up to this weekend?  We'll be getting our Christmas tree (hooray!) hopefully tomorrow.   I already have wrapped presents to put under it, too!  We're also going to see Jersey Boys thanks to my father-in-law.  Other than that, we'll see where it takes us.

Friday's Fancies this week is a true reflection of "me".  I practically wear this ensemble every day - just make a few changes, like really old Blowfish boots, maternity skinny jeans, a jacket from H&M, well, you get it.  But this really is my style to a t.  Tee?  Whatever.  What about you? What would your friends say is "so totally you?"

Whatever you get up to this weekend, I hope it's fantastic and full of merriment.  Until next week!

Thursday Loves

Whoa.  The baker inside of me is infatuated with these toys!  I haven't been baking too much lately (although that really should change) but these are the kinds of toys that make my eyes light up!  Via  Thanks for pinning, Krystal!

I love everything about this coat, mainly the color.  And funny enough, I bought a camel-colored coat from H&M this year that is so similar in looks, size and shape.  The price isn't so bad, either! Via

This image has been making the blog rounds but I really wanted to share it too.  I love how the sheepskin makes it look like snow at the bottom of the tree.  There's no way it would work well in my house with the dog and cat around though :) Via

Another step towards baby Badger's nursery is complete! Thanks to a sale which basically knocked off shipping, these Oh Deer - Retro decals are going up on the walls.  Everything is coming together a little faster than expected but it's so nice to have the decorations coming together early so we can focus on all the expensive items we have to have when it matters most.  Via

Erin of Reading My Tea Leaves put together a stocking stuffer gift guide roundup that is featured on Etsy today!  It features some of the coolest finds around, and I would love to have them all in my stocking come Christmas morning!

Hope you're all having a lovely week - and that you all had a lovely Thanksgiving.  We played host to some amazing friends, followed by a visit from my parents.  It was a great time and definitely left me in the Christmas spirit.  Happy almost Friday, friends!

Friday's Fancies + Have a Wonderful Weekend!

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Happy Friday, everyone!  Today is my first Friday's Fancies post in a long time, so I figured I'd start back up with them with an outfit I've been longing to wear ever since the weather turned cold.  Alas, my growing belly will not accommodate the jeans or the sweater, but that's the whole point of Friday's Fancies, yeah?  Instead, I'll probably sport some leggings and one of the husband's sweaters as I'm in the "in between" phase where I just look more like I have a really big beer gut as opposed to a growing baby.  But I swear it's doubled in size since last week!

What have you planned this weekend?  We'll be doing lots of cleaning and grocery shopping.  Hopefully we'll add some fun in there somewhere.  We have company arriving Monday (hooray!) and our guest bedroom has been more of a giant closet/pet playroom than a room for guests, so we have our work cut out for us :)  

I hope your weeks have been fantastic and that your weekends ahead are even better.  Until next week...have a great one!

Thursday Loves

Here's a beautiful photo to freshen up your Thursday.  The colors are so pleasing to the eye, don't you think?  Be sure to check out the rest of this post!

I love this oversized sweater with two handsome bucks adorning the front.  But the part I love the most is the fact that it's only $32!  Via SheInside Via Krystal's Pinterest.

It really is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around my neck of the woods.  Sure, there may not be decorations outside of stores or anything that really signals Christmas being here but the feeling is definitely in the air.  As I drove to work yesterday morning, a herd of deer crossed the road ahead, the ground was covered in frost and a new Bob Dylan tune (let's face it, I thought I was hearing Louis Armstrong for a minute) graced the radio.  It just felt so very Christmasy.  And this year I have kraft paper, bakers twine and high hopes of wrapping some gifts from this inspiration!  Via

Dear husband, this one's especially for you.  Especially now that I'm eating for two....please forgive anything negative that might come out of my mouth.  The lil' chief inside me is awfully demanding!  Look at me, already blaming my unborn child for mean things I might say, haha.  Poor thing.  Via

Mo pie, please!  With Thanksgiving being right around the corner (hello, one week!) it's time to start dreaming of pie again.  Recently, we attended a lovely wedding with copious amounts of pie for dessert in lieue of the traditional cake.  One of the pies was persimmon pie, and let me tell you, husband is 100% on board the persimmon pie train.  What will you be having come turkey day? I'd love to hear!

Happy Thursday, everyone!  It feels good to be posting again, even if it's not on a regular basis.  Thanks for sticking around with me and making my day brighter with your sweet comments.  Hope your weeks have been treating you well!

Hello + An Announcement!

{image, and no, this is not me}

Hey, everyone!  I'm so sorry it's been so long since I last popped in to say hello, but I promise it was for the best.   You see, I took the last few months off from blogging because something major was happening around here.  I couldn't bear the thought of spending time on the computer, in fact,  it made me nauseous just thinking about it.  And here's why (in case you haven't already guessed)...

I'm pregnant.

There!  Now you all know!  I'm 14 weeks and 5 days pregnant, in fact.  I'm over the roughest part.  And I will gladly shout AMEN from the rooftops for that one.  Whew.  That was rough.

Yesterday, I felt movement for the first time.  It was amazeballs.  We've been able to see our lil' chief a few times but feeling that movement definitely helped with that whole "connection" thing people always talk about.  

My due date is May 7, 2013.  At the rate this lil thing is growing though it might be sooner.  I swear its limbs are 8 feet long, judging by the ultrasound.  Let's keep in mind, its father is 6'4" and I am only 5'2" and there is not much room in there for such long limbs.  So this should definitely be an interesting journey, for the next 6 months.  Oh God, only 6 more months?  Only 6 more months!

And as every good blogger usually says, I promise not to turn this into a baby blog.  After all, I do still love all things I posted about before.  But you have to admit that from time to time, seeing some babeh stuffs is always fun, right?!

Thank you for being so kind during my much needed hiatus.  I promise to return to more regular programming, but please be understanding if I just don't have it in me as often as I did before.

I've missed you all! I do hope you're all doing well.  Oh, and please, do let me know what kind of content you've missed the most while I've been gone (if at all?).  That way I can use my time wisely :)

You're the best.  All of you.

Happy Friday!

xoxo,
Mo

Weekend Recap

Monday, Monday.  Not happy to see you, I do declare.  Even though I didn't utilize my free time as I might have wished, a boring weekend of doing nothing is still 100 times better than Monday.  Can I get an 'amen'?!  Some highlights of the weekend include ::

• It rained cats and dogs on Friday night (tee hee) but we dodged some pretty high winds, thankfully.  
• Mexican food + errands equaled in a pretty decent Saturday afternoon.  Not to mention the weather was in the low 70s and it felt glorious!
• Husband did a fine job, a fine job indeed, at finishing up the surround sound/TV move situation. Who needs a professional when you've got a handy husbadge?  No more exposed TV cords - he hid those babies in the wall.  Awesome.
• Parks and Recreation marathon, thanks Netflix!
• Brunch with family at Toast - we celebrated a birthday, ate lemon souffle pancakes and had a lovely time.
• Da Bears!  'Twas nice to watch a Bears game in which a) Cutler did very well (if you can forgive those first few downs) and b) they kicked ass! Woo!

Not much this weekend but it was nice.  How were your weekends? I'd love to hear!

I'm thinking some time away from this blog of mine might be necessary over the coming weeks.  I've lost some inspiration, the discipline and the ambition.  I plan to test the waters of not blogging as much and hope that you guys can stick with me as I do.  Keep checking back though, you never know when a post might pop up!

Last, happy birthday, Hadley!! Here's a little birthday dance for you.