Ben loves it when I wear my denim coveralls (worn here). He also likes it when I wear jeans and a t-shirt, but I think the coveralls outfit even trumps that one. The ones that look like flight suits is his favorite style. Frankly, I love coveralls because you put it on, and you’re ready to go. I appreciate whatever gets me ready the quickest. The coveralls I have are from Gap (no longer available), and while I love the look of the vintage ones, I haven’t come across any that I think I could get away with being only 5 foot even and all.

I’ve had my eye on this particular pair of coveralls from Madewell, but they sold out fast, though once in awhile they pop back in, but usually not in my size. Well, last week I got lucky and and saw it come back in a small, so I put that in my cart right away and checked out. Woot! I even had a 20% coupon code because my catalog just came in and I was able to use a couple gift cards I have been hoarding for a few years now. Double woot! I can’t wait for it to come in and I hope it works out… fingers crossed.

Do you do the coveralls thing? Does your significant other have a favorite style on you? My favorite outfit on Ben is when he wears a light blue shirt and jeans.

Here are some of my favorite coveralls I’ve spotted on the web (from top left clockwise): 1) denim jumpsuit from old navy, 2) denim surveyor jumpsuit from madewell, 3) vintage flight suit from fairseason, 4) denim karate jumpsuit from asos.

A bit of a time rewind back to my way blonde hair (whoa!), but Love Hanna sent me their Stockholm pant in black a month or so ago and wanted to see how I would style it for fall. I paired it with a vintage linen shirt, vintage necklace, the denim kimono that I made, and some clogs. The pants are super soft and are great when I want to go for a t-shirt and sweats kind of day, but also easy to dress up when I want to feel more put together but still comfortable.

My hair was way bright, and I’m so glad I went dark. It was fun and all, but I’m loving the ease of darker hair and leaving my natural waves. I do miss the 5″ of hair we chopped off, but my hair was so badly damaged that it was necessary. I can’t wait for it to grow back.

on me: shirt, thrifted. necklace, vintage. denim jacket, made by me. stockholm pant, c/o love hanna. swedish modern clog, c/o love hanna.

For our second night in Palm Springs (see first post here), we splurged and stayed at The Parker. Celebrating 10 years of marital bliss (and plenty of reconciling after fights) is a pretty big deal, and Hotel Tonight had a good offer, so we treated ourselves. Ben and I were able to check in early, so we walked around scoping out all their cool hang out spots and gardens, then we chilled in the hammock for a some time that afternoon. It was a good choice to stay there because we really felt like we were able to take advantage of the beautiful hotel and relax. The Parker had lots of calming vibes.

We had dinner at Chi Chi at the Avalon (more on that later), then we went back to The Parker, grabbed a few couple-y pictures together before the sun went down, and did more relaxing. There are so many picturesque nooks and crannies in that hotel, we had fun exploring all the different areas. If you wanna splurge a bit, I definitely recommend staying here!

I just love getting away with Ben. I love being with Ben period. We reflected on the past 10 years and how amazing (and hard) it has all been. There have been so many surprises, actually, I think all of it has been a surprise. When we got married, we thought we weren’t going to have kids due to a medical condition Ben had. He was in his last year of grad school, and I was in my first year teaching, so our plans were completely different from what panned out. We are thankful it didn’t happen how we thought it would. Our whole trajectory changed that first couple months because we got pregnant (total surprise to us!), then we pretty much popped out 4 kids in about 6 years (again, a lot of surprises and blessings), but that’s just insane! There hasve been plenty of difficult days (such is life though), but also an overflow of beautiful days too. Even the hard days are beautiful because in the messiness of dealing with all the selfishness we bring in marriage, and in rearing our children, God humbles us and shows us his goodness and grace. Jesus is seen in the good and ugly parts of our lives, and all of it points back to grace. It all points back to the cross. He brings the good and he redeems the ugly. I’m thankful to share grace and forgiveness, and the good and ugly of life with my Benny. It’s been a happy 10 indeed!

I have long admired weaving since it popped into the crafting scene, but hesitated actually trying it. After the Michaels Makers Summit, and learning from Anabel, I was completely smitten with this craft. I find the movement of weaving the yarn through the loom very relaxing, and it makes it really hard to put down the loom once I get started. My new found love for weaving is probably what motivated me to clean my craft space, so that I could have a place to display my yarn. I have a few different looms, this one is the one we were given at the summit to learn on, I have a beautiful one from Lost Pond Looms that Anabel so graciously sent my way, and then I followed her tutorial on CreativeBug to make my own loom. I want to make a bigger loom, and maybe order this large one from Lost Pond Looms. I have no idea what to do with the weavings I make (I can only hang so many in my home), so my friends better be prepared to receive a weaving for their birthday or any special occasion that may come up.

Have you picked up any new craft hobbies lately?

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Excited about the antique 8 foot farm table that’s coming to replace our current 6 foot farm table (see here). If anyone local is interested in the table, shoot me an email, I plan to list it on craigslist.

I found the cutest vintage sweater coat at the thrift store. It was a cut that I was thinking about making, but thought I no longer had too. Well, there was no label, and I thought it was an acrylic blend of sorts, so I threw it in the wash… yeah, now it fits True. I was so sad! I tried unshrinking it, and it did get slightly bigger. I can get it on now, but it’s not the boxy loose fit that it was originally (super fitted now). I’m thinking about trying Unshrink It, but not sure if it will really work. Anyone ever use it before?

I want to make quirky characters like these with the girls.

Is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary? I really liked what this article had to say when speaking about others.

My creative space is clean again, so now it’s ready for more messes! I can’t wait to start making projects in their again. I didn’t really do much in there all summer because it was insanely messy.

I want to teach my children grace, even though I really struggle with it. I want to teach them to love the gospel, even though I often run from it. I want them to learn that in my brokenness that’s where Jesus meets me and loves me. So even though I suck at all those things, it’s never about what I do, but about grace and the gospel. Jesus on that cross in my place is what matters. I think they learn a lot of good from seeing mommy mess up from time to time because I get to talk about who took my mess and made it clean.

I love these old wire mattress springs up on a wall.

This long weekend is great because it gives us a chance to get a lot of things done and still have time to get some rest in too. Happy Labor Day to my stateside friends! And to everyone else… happy Monday!

This week I was all out of sorts. After a pretty good first week of school, this second week totally defeated me. My patience, my energy, and my heart just all kind of grew weary. It is such a vicious cycle to try and do life all on my own, thinking everything I do is good enough, and that I’m strong enough to conquer everything on my to-do list (plus more!). I am so foolish, so easily blinded. Totally weak. While I know grace runs deep and wide, it was really shallow in my heart this week. My heart was broken and calloused all at once. Frustrated with how quick I am to anger, slow in patience, and unwilling to give grace.

Then, there are those small glimpses of grace that happen throughout the day that remind me I need Jesus. Really though, it should be a full view of grace instead of small glimpses, but that shows how deprived my heart has been. After all my fails this week, and after I woke up from my self-consumed senses to see the beauty of grace, I could see why my heart was failing. My heart ran out of gas because I didn’t fill it. When summer vacation started, I also went on a vacation from filling my heart with His Word. Grace runs dry quickly if I’m not putting myself under the waterfall of grace. It’s futile thinking, I’ve got this all on my own. I don’t. Midweek, I made a few adjustments to my schedule to make sure I’m making time to get gas. I need to get under that waterfall, not because it’s my action that gains me favor or makes things go my way, but it’s in savoring the cross that my heart and lips will be overflowing with joy, even when those frustrating times come. While I am totally beat because of myself, I have victory because of the cross. I forget that.