I envy anyone who has a way with words. Someone that pulls you in with their story. One that can make you feel as if you were there by the way they describe what happened to them. Witty titles. Heart wrenching stories that pull you in, and make you ache from what you read or make you laugh out loud. Or…just a recounting of their day (good or bad) that makes you think of a day you similarly had that makes you connect to them.
I follow people’s blogs or on Instagram that have this gift, because they inspire me and leave me in awe, but I will never be that person. I’ve never had that special way with words. I’ve always used another medium to express myself. Right now…it’s pictures. And, honestly, I feel blessed to be able to do that for other people, and honestly…for myself.
I’ve never been good at story telling. I always forget 75% of what I’m trying to tell. I’d never be able to accurately recount to Maya all the fun we had in her childhood, but through this blog…I can. And I am forever grateful for that. Zero followers or a bunch of followers. It doesn’t really matter. The end result is that I can show her this later and show her how much fun we had and how much I love her. Because by the time she actually reads this, she will “hate me” for telling her she can’t wear this or that I’m sure haha :{
I’m sure it isn’t a secret that I don’t really feel comfortable in dresses. I love them, buy them, but never wear them. One of the pages I follow on Instagram is CoastToCoastCentral. Not only do they have great fashion posts and challenges, but they are very involved in raising awareness around sex trafficking. It literally makes my shudder to think about this being a reality, but is sadly it very much is. They recently partnered with Dressember in order to raise awareness of human trafficking. Honestly, I can’t wear a dress for the entire month (ugh, maybe I could, but…this year, I will try to commit to wearing them MORE! Baby steps).
Sooo, day 1 (or, in reality Day 8 by the time I post this)! Honestly, this dress would be indecent on a 40 year old mom (who’s 5′ 8″!), so I paired it with some skinny jeans and boots and I was happy as a clam! Extra bonus? Totally hides all the holiday indulging-WIN!!
And then the sun went away… In case you were wondering 😉
OMG, loooove that I captured this!! Usually, I only capture the after math (ginormous hug), but this is what leads up to it, which…is almost just as good 😉 
Ok, this is better 🙂 
“Maya, can you stand like a flamingo?” haha. Because she’s obsessed with flamingos, and there’s no way she would follow “Can you do what I’m doing?” Hey…whatever works, because…how cute, right?? 😉 
I cannot tell you how much I love it when she just busts a move!! 🙂
OH MY GOSH, I have no words. She is so freaking cute I can hardly stand it. And no, I’m not biased (haha ;)) SHE IS!!!
Looove this one too.
Does anyone remember Geoffrey? Yeah, he disappeared, and no other stick has lasted past the walk we are on. This stick stayed on the path. For those that don’t remember Geoffrey, he came with us everywhere for…a month? Broke twice, had bandaides all over, and kept on going until…he was lost. 😦
On me…
On Maya…
Sweater- (thrifted, but similar here)
Keeping it Real…
Ok, this first one…hahaha. I was trying to show the movement of the dress and in my mind I wanted a graceful twirl. What I got instead! HA-NOT GRACEFUL! Hey…you try twirling for 10 seconds and have it time it just right 😉 Totally cracked me up when I saw it though!! I look like a tween line dancing (no offense to line dancers!!)
And, this next one wouldn’t be an outtake if there wasn’t a guy walking his dog (I probably could have removed him in photoshop), and the voluminous dress didn’t look soooo unflattering when I bent over :{ But…it happens, and I still love it, so it’s an outtake! 🙂
(all pictures taken with a self timer and tripod, except ones of Maya :))
I wanted to make sure I took some pictures that showed the shoes. Oddly, these shots are always some of my favorites! Maya miiiiiight have needed a bag of popcorn to stand still for these haha.
I swear I didn’t ask her to stand like this haha.
It was actually pretty cold in the shade, so we walked back to the car. Maya was like “Aaaaaah, thank you sun. You feel sooo good!” 😉
“Mommy, look! My shadow is dancing!!”
Seriously. How cute are these shoes??! So well made too!! I love that they easily went with skinny jeans, but will be perfect for the upcoming holidays! 
On me…
Sooooo, she found a Mango/Kale pouch in my purse. Of course I had to let her have it, or it would have been O.V.E.R. And…of course she spilled it down the front of her shirt AND jeans.
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