This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

My heart was fighting to rejoice through this hard parenting week. This tween stage is serious business and I’m starting to feel the weight of it. I need to be more loving and patient, and learn how to listen well. This is just the beginning for me.

I want a sushi party and make a platter that looks fabulous like this.

Been inspired by white and natural wood palettes lately. But knowing me, I’d put a lot of plants, so then green would be added to that palette.

Earrings added to the etsy shop.

Stock up on goodies for Valentine’s or Easter because Kinoko Kids is having a really good sale right now.

Love the new style of pants that Everlane will be releasing soon.

Thankful for my mom’s delicious cooking! We had such a feast at their house on Wednesday night.

Totally been listening to 90s R&B. Loving Monica, Aaliyah, TLC, Bone Thugs, and Blackstreet.

We planted asparagus this week! Can’t wait to see them shoot up. Have a post coming this week on this.

Beautiful earrings by Eglord. Definitely would love those dangling off my ears.

Hope your weekend is a restful one friends!

My girls love painting together. They get in the zone and there’s no fighting! It’s fun to see the way they work and make room for each other. I called Ben upstairs when they were working on this piece, and he was awe at how they were cohesively working together. I’m the color monitor and pass out the colors to them, but what they create is all them.

This piece was made for my parents for Christmas and was inspired by a photo one of them took in Sedona during our family vacation. My parents loved it so much and it’s proudly hanging in their family room. We’ve continued with our small daily art pieces, but I might have them work on another big canvas this weekend. (I am still wanting more oversized art work throughout our home.)

See their other recent group painting here.

***WARNING*** If you don’t care to read about someone’s monthly menstrual cycle and lady parts don’t proceed any further. This is my second review on using the cup and period panties.

So I’ve officially used the cup for 3 cycles and I’m loving it. I’m still using the blossom cup (large size) and I’m pretty happy with it. On this last cycle, I think I got better at placement. I’m learning that while you put it in and up, you kind of have to tilt it towards the back to seal it too. It wasn’t until I did that move that I experienced less spotting.  On my second cycle, I did the C-fold and the cup wouldn’t open up properly, so the origami fold works much better for me (read about different folds here). I’m pretty comfortable putting it in and taking it out now, and not so weirded out by feeling my insides (okay, maybe still slightly weirded out, but it gets a lot better each cycle). Using the cup feels so much cleaner and fresher while Aunt Flow is here, so I think it’s definitely worth it.

Now onto period panties, I use it as back up to the cup and on my light days (day 5-6) when I don’t use the cup, it’s pretty great. I’ve told some friends, who have daughters who just got their first cycle, about them, so I know they’re excited to have their daughters try them out. I use Thinx, which I love, but for tweens/teens I think Panty Prop will work better based on the reviews (they have tween/teen sizes). When my day comes for my girls (not in a rush to get there), I will be stocking up on those for sure, and I’m glad they’ll have these to prevent the same leak/stain worries I had at their age. Not a fun time. I wish period panties were around when I was a teen!

Part one review here, if you care to read. And if you have any questions about it, leave it in the comments and I’ll answer them. If you’ve been thinking about it, I encourage you to give it a shot. It takes a bit of time to adjust, but it feels so much better when it’s that time of the month. With the cup, there’s no nasty chemicals going inside you, environmentally friendly, lasts 12 hours, and saves money on feminine products… I’m all about all those reasons!

When hunting for vintage, my eye gravitates to denim and linen dresses. This one was a recent find that fit perfectly, and the cut of it was unlike my other denim dresses, so I brought it home. Usually, I go for loose and oversized, but I love the way this one fits. And… it has two pockets! I love a dress with pockets. The only problem is when moving around a lot, which is normal when you have 4 kids, the bottom 2 buttons come undone. Though it still leaves it at a reasonable length, so I’m okay with that.

Also, I love my white tee, which is a vintage tee from Rawson Chicago. Typically, my go-to for basic tees is Everlane, but this one from Rawson is so good. I love the cut and fabric so much. So if you’re looking for some good basic tees, add Rawson Chicago to your go-to list too. The shop is stocked with all sorts of colors too (see here)!

what i’m wearing: dress, vintage (vintage here, new there). white tee, rawson chicago. shoes, gray matters via the dreslyn. basket, wovenfolk.

{image from hibrid blog}

{image by romain ricard for milk decoration}

{image by vincent leroy for milk decoration}

{image via ernests tumblr, but can find original source. please share if you know.}

I’m definitely in a mood to do some small changes in the form of more oversized art in our home. Also, I want to make a gallery wall on the walls of our stairs and in our long hallway upstairs. Our long hallway is kind of dark, so plants haven’t been doing too well there, so I think lots of pretty things on the wall is necessary. I’ll definitely be commissioning the girls for more artwork. I feel spring is around the corner and I’m ready to do a little refresh. (And when I mean refresh, it’s just switching out wall decor. I love how we have everything set, so I don’t do major moving around.)

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Thankful for parenting and all the joys and trials that come with it. There’s been an abundance of both this week.

The house is clean and under control, especially the girls’ rooms, and that’s definitely something to be grateful for and celebrate. Soul walks around saying, “It’s clean. Ahhhh!” She’s a neat freak and loves everything in its place like me.

Obsessed with the Ed Sheeran and Beyonce “Perfect” duet. And this Stevie Wonder tribute by the two mentioned and Gary Clark Jr.

Made this Korean Japchae, but with tofu instead. Bomb dot com. So good!

I’m looking for velvet ribbons similar to this and this because my girls love to put bows in their hair, especially True.

Wovenfolk etsy shop updated with a few pairs of large gold tone hoops earrings.

Adorable vintage mules via Ms. Tips.

My BFF got her sis this karaoke microphone and I’m itching to get the girls one. It looks like so much fun and I know the kids would absolutely go nuts for it! This one could even do disco lights!

Excited for an engagement shoot I’m doing on Sunday!

This week I’ve been realizing I’ve been lacking joy, so I’m praying and asking God to help me seek joy in Him.

Happy weekending, friends!