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Five Favorite Fall 2015 Trends

FiveFavorite2015FallTrendsAlthough it may still be 90+ degrees here in Houston, I can tell cooler temperatures are on the horizon. Summer fashion is definitely my favorite, as I love colorful shorts and breezy dresses, but I do have an appreciation for fall trends, as it’s nice to change it up after months of feeling very casual. This year’s Pantone colors are so gorgeous! I am very excited about the trends this season, and I’m sharing my five favorites below. What are your thoughts on the styles below? What is your favorite fall trend? Are you ready for the new season?

Fall 2015 Trends Matchy Match2

The Perfect Blush Pink Dress

Next weekend, one of my good friends is getting married in New Orleans, and she has asked me to be in her house party (if you’re not familiar with this southern tradition, read this explanation here). Amanda asked all of the house party to wear blush pink dresses, which is also the bridesmaid dress color I chose for my wedding (photos here). Instead of lucking out and finding one dress early on that fit me like a glove, I tried on over twenty blush pink dresses from a number of different stores. I’ve had a hard time finding dresses that fit well recently, given my (ahem) milk-enhanced chest. After trying on some pretty pricey dresses, my friend, Taylor, sent me a link to a dress at Forever 21, and I actually really liked it. The best part was the price tag: $39? Yes, please. Given that I don’t normally wear light pink due to my insanely pale skin, I was a-okay with spending less than $40 on a dress. It’s currently getting altered, as they didn’t have my size, and I’m excited to get it back and try it on. I’m praying it fits well!

During my extensive research, I found some gorgeous blush pink dresses at J. Crew, BHLDN, Nordstrom, Asos, Forever 21 and Macy’s. While at the latter shop, the cashier asked me if I was looking for a bridesmaid dress, and I explained it was for the house party. She told me that blush pink is the most popular bridal party dress color, and that she constantly is helping women find dresses in this color. Et voila, here is my guide to help all of the ladies out there looking for a blush pink dress. If that’s not you, perhaps you think one of these little numbers is pretty and grab it just for fun! I absolutely love this Joanna August Polly Dress and this Tahari Sleeveless Brocade Dress. Lots of good options out there!

New Mom-Approved Swimsuits

It’s hard to believe that Texans are currently celebrating spring break, as we’ve had terrible weather weeks three in a row, and this holiday is normally one filled with sunshine and a whole lot of pool time! Those who know me well are aware that I am not a huge fan of wearing a bikini outside of our own backyard, as I’ve always thought it felt like you were wearing a bra and underwear in front of people whom you wouldn’t normally. I do, however, enjoy a stylish one-piece, which Sasha may or may not make fun of me for. Wearing a one-piece does not have to be ultra conservative, as there are a number of fun shapes, colors, necklines that can add a little sass to your swimwear.

Even if you’re doing your stroller fitness (wink, wink), your stomach may not look as toned as it did prior to having a baby, so a well-cut one-piece or high waisted bottoms can be perfect to hide any of those last pounds your body is still hanging onto. Perhaps you’ve lost all of the baby weight but feel you’d rather not put on your itty-bitty bikini now that you’ve got a new title of ‘mom’ (I think I’ve been years ahead of myself in this category!), well that’s fine, as there are a number of gorgeous one-pieces you can choose from.  I’ve rounded up 18 of my favorite and am sharing them with you today! If you’re reading this on a mobile device, go to the home page and click ‘Shop This Post’ for links to each piece.  

Isla’s First Christmas with Carter’s: Santa Stockings

I still remember the excitement of waking up on Christmas Eve and crawling frantically to the foot of my bed to look for my stocking. Had Santa arrived? Oh yes, he had! I would run to my sisters’ rooms to wake them up (always the first riser at around 6am, ouch!). We would grab our stockings and head to my parent’s bedroom, where we all sat on their bed together and opened our gifts excitedly. This tradition continued up until last year (seven grown adults on my parent’s bed seemed a little odd!) and now, Sasha, Isla and I will get to create our own stocking tradition as a little family. As Isla is too young to get excited about Santa, it won’t be quite as thrilling this year as it will be next, when we’ll be able to do cute things like putting out cookies for his arrival. On Christmas morning, Isla will wake us up at the crack of dawn, and we’ll open our three stockings in her room by her cute little tree. I ordered these furry stockings from Restoration Hardware Baby & Child, and I’m so happy with them! We hung them on her crib, as we don’t have a mantle – and we spend most time in her nursery.

We traditionally only do little presents in stockings, like candy, magazines, ornaments, socks, and gift cards. The bigger items come later. It’s hard to buy a 5 month old stocking gifts, so we went for this Carter’s bear security blanket, the ‘My First Christmas’ Santa hat, these adorable Santa slippers, and this sweet Isla teether from Etsy.

The best part about opening the stockings is, of course, wearing fun Christmas pajamas! Thankfully, Carter’s Holiday Collection has a lot of adorable (repeat: adorable) PJs, so Isla won’t miss out on this tradition. We chose this adorable Christmas Cotton Snap-Up Sleep and Play with penguins on it and, naturally, had to include a Santa’s helper hat! The entire holiday sleep collection is fantastic – we are slightly limited because Isla sleeps best right now in a one-piece. If it weren’t for this fact, she would certainly have been wearing these Santa PJs! Aren’t those perfect?

Do you have Christmas morning stocking traditions? If so, please tell me about them in the comments below!

Click here to read yesterday’s post about the Christmas Eve candlelit church service and here to read about our annual family photo tradition. Make sure you enter to win the $100 Carter’s gift card and free outfit of your choice from the Isla’s First Christmas with Carter’s series!

Graham Glider West Elm Carter's Holiday Collection Giveaway Christmas PJs Stockings Santa Personalized Baby First ChristmasIsla_Stockings1DSC_0842

Week in Review

Week three in Houston has passed, and life is showing no signs of slowing down. This past week, we visited lots of family and friends whom we hadn’t seen in almost three months – some who hadn’t met Isla yet. I was talked into doing back-to-back classes at Life Time Fitness with a close friend, and my body is still recovering. Overall, this week had many highlights, which I’ve captured below:

  • I went to Anthropologie, J. Crew, Carter’s, Kendra Scott and Baby Gapugh, feels good to be back). I subsequently ended up at The Container Store again for more slim-fit hangers.
  • We ate at Ruggles Green and Mary’z – two of our favorite restaurants (see full list of favorites), and I went grocery shopping at Whole Foods for the first time in months!
  • The weather is finally getting more bearable, so I was able to run outside on multiple days.
  • After going to the Durango Farmer’s Market all Saturday, we decided to head to one of the big ones in Houston (and bought lots of Sinfull Bakery goodies)
  • We went to my parent’s house for lunch to celebrate my dad’s birthday (happy birthday!)
  • Isla went to church for the first time (Bayou City Fellowship) and behaved swimmingly! Thank the good Lord.

Most importantly, this week marked the official stomach-to-back-to-stomach rolling and consistent, deep belly laughter from Isla. The former has me slightly nervous (she’s now getting tied into her changing station), and the latter has my heart smiling. That sound is pure joy.

Lastly, the winner of the Freshly Picked giveaway is Wendy J! I will be emailing you shortly. Thank you to everyone who entered.

How was your past week?
review5Her happy morning face // A friend lent us a mamaRoo – why didn’t we have this sooner?