Occasionally Fashionable

This is the first blog post I have written in ages. Thus, for the sake of transparency, I should state that it is only fitting it focuses on someone besides myself. Becoming a mom of four has changed a lot for me. I thought I was busy before our sweet girl arrived, but now, I live and breathe BEING BUSY. I don’t intend for this to be a pity party … however, for me, postpartum anxiety is hard … momming four kids is hard, not loosing myself in the process is hard. I have had to downscale a lot of things, simplify where I can, and really focus on myself, my kids, and my husband. Leaving the house is really, really hard some days and knowing I have to get my kids to school, sports, and other activities is really the only thing that gets me out the door. So you can imagine why date nights-in have become very important to me. It has been hard to carve time out for myself, let alone for my marriage, during this transition of becoming a family of six. But, recently, we have been very mindful about fortifying ‘us’ again, even though ‘us’ has been very tired.

Our usual date night-in consists of trying to get the kids to bed early and talking on the couch downstairs over a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Sometimes, watching an episode of ‘Game of Thrones’ or a comedy movie for Mr. Occasionally Fashionable. During this time, I have been experimenting with face masks and new mommy skin care routines for myself. I am happy to say that Mr. Occasionally Fashionable has noticed my new found attention to clean and sustainable skincare products and has, himself, voiced wanting to find a regime for himself. Although, he isn’t good or diligent about washing his face, applying moisturizers, etc, he does want to start learning. 

So, when I found out about Oar + Alps, I figured it would be a good fit. Mr. Occasionally Fashionable is a simple and happy guy. He loves his family fiercely and is always home spending as much time with us as possible. His devotion to our family warms my heart. He also loves the outdoors: taking us adventures, booking a trip the day or week before and hustling me to pack our bags to leave for Cabo or Boston the next day or week. Yes, yes. This has happened. He is simple, uncomplicated, fun, and full of adventure. And, Oars + Alps is a brand that seems to fit him and his lifestyle.

Our recent date night-in was spent with me showing him all of these fun goodies that I picked up from our local Target store. And, helping him apply his moisturizer. When he did it himself first, I am not joking, he was rubbing it on so ferociously my daughter and I were laughing. Explaining the whole, “we must be gentle on our skin” kind of made his eyes glaze over, but he humored me and let me show him how to apply it. 

After using these products for a bit, he also humored me with answering the following products questions:

Me: Babe, when you first saw these products laid out, what did you think?

Mr. OF: Nice packaging. I wonder if they are good or not.

Me: What did you like about the packaging?

Mr. OF: I liked the packaging of the soap bars. It is simple.

Me: What about this brand appeals to you?

Mr. OF: It is natural.

Me: What is your favorite product you tried?

Mr. OF: The soap bar.

Me: Which one?

Mr. OF: The blue one. (Blue Charcoal Exfoliating Oars Bar Soap.)

 Me: What do you think of natural deodorant?

Mr. OF: Smells good. Undecided.

Me: Did you know your armpits go through an aluminum detox when you stop using traditional deodorant?

Mr. OF: I knew there was a lot of aluminum.

Me: Did you know it takes like 4 weeks for your armpits to detox?

Mr. OF: No.

Me: What did you think of the moisturizer?

Mr. OF: Good. Felt nice.

Me: Did you like me putting it on for you?

Mr. OF: What?

Me: Did you like me putting it on for you?

Mr. OF: Oh, its our new nighttime routine.

Me: Hahaha.

And, yes, I really did ask him these questions. Yes, I usually wear a robe on date nights in. Yes, it looks like day time, but we did this at like 5 pm; I mean, date night-in can start at 5 pm for us tired parents. Yes, we really tried these products. Yes, we were gifted the product, but all these words and sentiments are ours. I have been loving the bar soaps and  I will be getting the face wash for Mr. Occasionally Fashionable next. And, for the record I really like the logo. Major props.

As always, I am looking forward to more date nights-in with my main squeeze.

https://www.oarsandalps.com

 

We went to chop down a tree as per tradition, but didn’t see any bigger than me. So, this year we opted for one from the farm’s sister spot in Oregon. It’s literally the prettiest, most uniform, and fluffy tree we have ever had. It actually really put me off for a bit not having a Charlie Brown tree. I mean this year we really upped our tree game. I feel like a true adult with a legit tree.

All of these snaps were taken as we walked to tree farm with our family. I love capturing pictures every year as we search for the perfect tree. I super love getting pictures of my husband cutting it down. I am sad we missed that this time around. But, I grew up in Southern California, so this whole tree farm business is still a novelty to me. I absolutely love this day!

He is always trying to distract from his naughty behavior with kisses and hugs. Smart one he is!

The boys follow her wherever she goes.

His cheesy smile lights up my heart.

Little miss spunky buns.

Aren’t my daughter and mother-in-law the cutest together?

He is such a little ham!

Our first few years married, our Christmas decorations and tree were a bright, bold hodgepodge. Everything we put up was handed down to us and hardly any of it matched.

 

About five years ago, we started to accumulate new decor that we picked out ourselves. And, by we, I mean I. Our color scheme went from everything you could imagine -to gold and white. For a kid that grew up with a house decked out in whimsical decor, this was quite a departure. My family actually rebelled and teased, ok actually complained to me, the first two years. But, I love a good theme that is centered around gold and sparkle. I didn’t let anyone, not even my mama deter me. Over the past five years, we have slowly increased our decor collection. It’s nice going at a slow pace and not stressing out over a complete renovation. It’s of course more budget friendly. Yes, it does make it so your house isn’t Martha Stewart ready that first year you start changing over your decorations, but that doesn’t mean your house, your decor, and your style isn’t yours on your time frame.

This year our new addition is more burlap and some new wooden accents. I love that burlap is a fabric that makes everything approachable. I don’t think I could put any other fabric all over my downstairs without it being overwhelming and gawdy. So, I appreciate the down to earth and rustic aspect that burlap has added to our amassed collection of white, gold, and shiny Christmas decor. I bought some some new wooden trees and a few wooden ornaments. This mama is happy happy.
The best thing about this year’s new additions is the kiddos played a huge part in prepping everything with me. And, when I say a huge part, I mean they did all but place the burlap artistically on the tree. While my son sectioned of random lengths of the burlap ribbon and synched it with pip cleaners to create a flowy effect, my daughter tied rope loops on all of our new wood snowflake ornaments. I love how we turned what was intended to be snowflake garland into ornaments. We used the included rope to make ornament holders versus stringing them on it. I am proud that we thought outside the box and easily turned these into new fun ornaments.

Snowflake Ornaments :
• any wooden ornaments ( we used a bag of snowflake garland)
• thine twine / rope
• scissors
Simply cut the rope and string it through the ornaments to create a loop to hang on your Christmas tree.

Burlap Garland :
• 2-3 Strands of 30 feet burlap ribbon
• pack of green pipe cleaners
• scissors
Randomly section out different lengths of the ribbon and cinch with the pipe cleaner. Make sure to leave one side of the pipe cleaner a little longer so you can wrap around a tree branch to hold it in place. This help create a more bubbly and flowy effect versus ribbon literally being wrapped straight around the tree.

Addition:
Once we got all of our new decor up I decided I wanted more texture and my son wanted more craft projects. I got a pack of 25 plastic clear ornaments and handed them off to my son along with scissors, various ropes from around the house, and stripes of burlap. He got crafty and filled all the ornaments with different lengths and types of ribbon. We hug majority of them on our tree. They tied together our shiny ornaments and a burlap garland. We used the rest in our tables cape on our dining room table.
I love, love, love the outcome. I seriously couldn’t be happier.

While the kiddos were doing all the crafty work, I was busy with the heavy work : keeping the baby from destroying the house. He is in such a destructive, rip everything out, climb everything, throw everything phase. I feel very lucky that he has yet to figure out how to scale the bar stools, so the bigs can still do their crafts, work, and eat without little man wrecking everything. While the bigs were busy working I was also adding batteries into our first ever twinkle lights. I found this beautiful rope with twinkle lights entwined and once lit, I got to work placing it around the tree. I, however, didn’t realize how inconvenient and non cost effective this addition would be. We ended up needing four ropes for our fluffy tree not two, and now to turn them on I have to dig through the tree and turn on each rope individually. Luckily, I decided to place certain ornaments near each battery pack so I can easily remember where each is and reach in and flip the switch. It is hardly as simple as plugging in one large strand, but for this year I am going to make it work. It’s too pretty not to.

 

 

 

Growing up in Southern California with a sunny, relaxed beach attitude and weather to match I never understood the magic of fall. I mean, I love me some SoCal, but the seasons are : day and night. The weather does not truly change that much. Summer to winter, spring to fall, there isn’t much rain or gloom, but there is a bunch of sunshine. I grew up about 20 minutes inland of Laguna Beach, and the temperatures don’t drop drastically, or raise drastically. So, imagine my complete surprise upon moving to Northern California and finding that fall is my jam. Like, literally.

I love fall. Who knew?

I love the crispness in the air. I love the moody weather. I love rainy days spent inside. I love apple picking and pumpkin patching. I love layers of clothes; scarves over sweaters, over flannels, and jeans with boots. I love the glow of a fireplace ( I wish our house had one, and I pray one day we do ). I love the feeling reading gives me in the fall, like all the written emotions are more vibrant and volatile in sync with the changing weather. I love warm cups of tea everyday, but ten times more in the fall; there is something amazing about a warm cup in a cold hand. I love the majesty of nature, and its ability to fill my eyes with wonder. I love the leaves changing colors, I mean that didn’t really happen much where I grew up.

I love it all.

All of fall.

Don’t get me wrong its not like it don’t enjoy other seasons, or love them for what there are or what they offer. But, something happens to me in the fall. My soul comes alive when the first raindrops hit the ground, my heart is awoken when the mornings turn a bit dreary, my brain comes alive with the chill in the air. I don’t know what this says about me, but I venture to guess that I am somehow connected with this season. I always feel more creative, inspired, and emotional when the weather is the same. Do I match my mood to the weather, or is the weather the reason these come alive? Either way, I love what fall does it me. I love the happiness it brings, the wonder I find in trees going bare to just to grow again, the joy I find in the start of this holiday season.

I mean, fall gets me. I get fall.

I am so blessed that I get to experience the magic of this season, that our family ended up moving to Northern California (against my admit voucher to never leave Southern California). I am very grateful for the life we have been given here, and for my love of this amazing season. It’s funny how life works out. All those things we think we didn’t, don’t, or won’t love, but end up falling for anyways.

/ sweater / similar sweater / similar plaid / similar plaid / cute flannel / this year’s version of these boots /similar boots / beaded bracelets / wrap bracelet  / crystal bracelet /

 

Don’t you just love the simplicity of childhood?

The black and white.

The right and wrong.

The happy and the sad.

The summer break and the school year.

The ice cream stop and the no ice cream stop day.

That youthful innocence that provides us with the thought process of : one or the other.

No shades of grey.

None.

I’m sitting here wondering what adulthood would be like with a dichotomy like that.

Would our decisions be easier or would they be harder? Would we rest better at night or would we lay awake? Would we love ourselves more or less?

What would adults do without shades of grey?

I feel like so much of my life is lived in the fuzzy undefined grey area. The in between. The wrestling to make the right decisions, to find the right balance, to give myself enough grace.

I fell like I am always in those grey areas.

All fifty shades of them.

Where I am, but I am not.

Because, grey it’s not just a wall color. It’s a way of life.

Will I find an excuse, a reason, a fear in this grey area that makes it so I don’t pursue my goal, become a better mother, be less selfish, devote less time to God?

Grey opens up boundaries and conversations, but does it also limit us?

Do you hide in the grey instead of thrive?

Because, I don’t want to hide anymore. I don’t want to be stuck here for years to one day wake up and see that grey didn’t open up doors for me. It hid me. It buried me in the masses of all its shades. It didn’t say, “Hey pick yes or no! Be black or white! Follow your dream or don’t!” It allowed to me to wallow without defined goals and resolutions.

I don’t want my grey to be stagnant. I want my grey to be liberating. I want my grey to be colorful. I want me grey to be bold, and fearless. I want my grey to be that of a child just realizing there is a color, and option, and idea, that is between black and white, good or bad. I want to live on that edge of youthful innocence where the world isn’t finite, and grey means opportunity not self hinderances.

I want to live.

I want my grey to be bold.

 

Thankful:

adjective

1. feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative.

Gratitude:

noun

1.  the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful:

It is not a new concept for November to be a month of thankfulness and gratitude. I think it is commonly accepted that when Thanksgiving rolls around people start to pay attention to what they are thankful for. Some may dedicate the entire month to thankfulness; some just the actual holiday.

But, as I sit here I think : Why?

Why just November?

Why not every day?

We all, despite every situation life throws at us, have things to be immensely thankful for. So, why then do we just start getting extra thankful around Thanksgiving? What keeps us from daily gratitude? What keeps our words within us when we could extend a verbal thought of appreciation? Why don’t we all wake up daily with immediate thoughts of everything we are thankful for?

Can you imagine how our lives would change? Our families? Our communities? Our world?

What if instead of waking up in a hurry, waking up wanting, waking up lonely, waking up dissatisfied, we woke up thankful? It would be amazing if our very first thought was of sincere gratitude for our faith, our life, our families, our friends. What if we were thankful even for our struggles because they made us stronger? What if we were thankful for our suffering because it made us compassionate?

What if we were just plain thankful for it all?

Do you send up daily prayers of thankfulness? Do you verbally thank your spouse for helping with everyday routines? Do you thank your friends for their helping hands and their shoulders to cry on? Do you thank your children for their love?

I know that in mind heart and mind I am thankful. Numerous times a day I think : Thank you God for these people I get to love, even though they drive me crazy; Thank you husband for dedicating all your time to providing finically and emotionally for our family; Thank you kids for the lessons you teach me, for keeping me adventurous, and for making my heart grow threefold; Thank you girlfriends for the hours of support, laughs, and understanding; Thank you mom for teaching me how to be a parent and how to be strong and resilient; Thank you brother for making me the most proud sister.

All.

These.

Thoughts.

And, emotions.

Are just thoughts and emotions. True, deeply felt thoughts and emotions, mind you, but they aren’t verbalized. They seem to be kept tightly guarded.

I bet you God knows I love him, my husband know I appreciate him, my kids know my love and devotion, my friends feel my friendship, my mother knows I have learned so much from her, and my brother knows I am blessed he is my sibling.

My point is : Why aren’t I saying these things out loud?

Why isn’t my gratitude in bold and italic?

Maybe I am scared, maybe I am lazy, or maybe I am used to them assuming I feel these things.

But, I don’t want this. I don’t want it.

I want my thankfulness to be loud. I want it to be heard. I want everyone around me to know how blessed I am for the company I keep and the love they share.

So this November of gratitude, I want you, all of you, to know I am thankful beyond measure. I am blessed beyond belief. My heart is growing and it is in thankfulness.

I want to fall asleep each night thinking about something I am thankful for and I am hoping to wake up each morning with a thought of appreciation. I am placing a journal by my bed with hopes that I will write down one thing each morning that moves me to gratitude. It may just be one word, it may be a phrase, it may be a paragraph of emotion, who knows. All I know is that I want to live a life of thankfulness. I want to know that everything I am, everything I have is all I truly need. I want to tell everyone who touches my heart how thankful I am for them. I want to over use thank you in the most genuine and truest way possible. Every time I can say it to a friend or a stranger I want it to pass my lips in a smile. I want my attitude, love, and faith to be so abundant that I stop wanting, and I start appreciating. There is so much for me to be immensely thankful for. I want to own it, and I want to speak it. I want to share it.

And, you know what?

I want it to be for more than November. After all, it takes 28 days to create a new habit right? I am planning on gratitude being my next major goal. No more half way, in my head gratitude.

I want that bold and italic thankfulness that everyone around me feels.

So to start, I am thankful for my Bible Study ladies. They touch my life in ways I can not express, offer love that is moving, support that is unfailing, understanding in life’s teachable moments, and wisdom to God’s message. Ladies, thank you from the bottom of my heart for growing me more and more in God’s love and faithfulness.

/ jeans / similar sweater / adorable block heel mules /