Mother’s Day was simple and sweet. Ben gave me what he called “the Mother’s Day special” and deep cleaned the whole house and backyard for me, he even dusted all my plants. It took him a few days, but it was a pretty perfect gift.He was totally speaking my love language. I might be requesting this yearly. My usual requests were to eat yummy food I didn’t cook and some time to get in bed and do nothing, but watch something and relax. Of course, I got the tradition of breakfast in bed with homemade cards from the girls. My breakfast is my protein shake and gone are the days that I request waffles because I really love my chocolate shake with chia seeds and peanut butter. The rest of the morning was spent gathered with our church family, then afterwards, together with my siblings and cousins, we threw a little celebration for our moms and grandma.

We got home in the early evening and it was just enough time to give me a few hours in bed to catch up on shows and relax. Ben picked up a spicy tuna roll for my dinner and I was one happy mama camped out in bed doing nothing in a clean house. My quiet time did get interrupted for another delivery of homemade gifts, fresh picked flowers, and a little song and dance number they put together, but I happily welcomed their little show. The whole day was so chill and totally what I was hoping for. We even managed to escape the day without any of the girls fighting, though we did have a salad spill in the car. I was hoping the peace would carry over to Monday, but alas, it was that Mother’s Day magic, and all was back to normal first thing Monday morning.

Motherhood has taught me how much more needy I am for God, grace, and forgiveness that is only found through Jesus. I’m a messy heart mom raising messy heart kids, and I’m praying that these girls see Christ through the mess of life because life does get messy. So while I treasure a clean home, my heart is far from it, and I’m learning daily to cling to Christ and surrender my messy heart to Him because only Christ can satisfy.

Rug to Clutch
from my book, Let’s Sew Together

Supplies:
Bath rug cut into 2- 11 1/2″ x 9” exterior fabric pieces
2- 11 1/2″ x 9” lining fabric pieces
12” zipper (Mine was 20″ and I cut it down to size)
Scissors
Coordinating thread
Sewing machine

Seam Allowance: ½”

Directions:
1. Cut your bath rug to the clutch size. Place the exterior piece right side up, lay the zipper on the edge of the long side of the fabric with the teeth side down on top (make sure zipper pull is on the left), and place the lining fabric right side down on top of the zipper. Making sure that the fabric and zipper edges are lined up, pin in place. Start 1” away from zipper pull and sew ¼” from edge of fabric. Pull the zipper down to avoid it getting caught and sew the remaining 1” edge. Flip the fabrics so that the wrong sides are facing, and press.

2. Place the remaining exterior fabric right side up; lay zipper (with the fabrics attached) on top, with the teeth side faced down and the zipper pull on the right. Place the lining fabric on top with right side faced down. Pin in place. Sew ¼” from edge of fabric, stopping short 1” from zipper pull. Pull the zipper away from the edge to prevent it from getting caught and continue to stitch along the remaining edge. Place wrong sides together and press.

3. Open up fabrics so that the exterior pieces are right sides together and the lining pieces are right sides together. Pin in place. The zipper will be in the middle.

4. Sew around all the edges using a ½” seam allowance, but leave a 3” opening at the bottom of the lining fabric. Clip your corners to reduce bulk, but being careful not to cut the seam.

Found this cool bath rug at the 99¢ store and brought it home to make a clutch. It was made in India and it reminded me of Moroccan boucherouite rugs. This is pretty much exactly the same as this tapestry clutch, except slightly larger. I wanted something colorful like this to throw all my purse junk in, and then throw the clutch into one of my baskets. I bought another rug and plan to make another clutch with it, or a purse for the girls. Sometimes, the 99¢ store has some pretty good finds.

I’ve been trying to figure out how I describe my personal style and I was thinking along the lines of vintage-modern with a bit of bohemian-minimalist. I think that sort of describes my home decorating style too. I love looking back at my style (I’m glad I have lots of documentation on this blog) and seeing how I’ve changed over the years. One thing that has been pretty constant is my love for vintage. I used to really like 50s and 60s silhouettes (see here and here), but after Glow (and once my body settled after we were done having kids), I’m drawn to much looser styles. I vacillate between wearing something loose (and kind of oversized, see here) to fitted, high-waisted jeans and skirts (see here).

I make many of my clothes, or alter things I find at the thrift store, so while they are vintage, they definitely look modern (at least I think so). The minimalist part is that I like simple styles and I love natural fabrics. My closet is full of denim and blue and I do a happy dance every time I find a good vintage cotton/linen piece. Bohemian comes to play because I’m always carrying a basket, and you can’t really tell cause my hair is always down, but I wear large earrings and I love my ring stacks (I collect antique rings). Typically, I’m wearing 6 or more rings on my hands. I’m not really into fancy designers, but I do love indie designers. Rachel Comey is my ultimate fave when it comes to shoes.

A capsule wardrobe has never been my thing, I would find it too confining. I dress based on my mood, so I don’t think a capsule would work for me. Things I haven’t worn in awhile, but love (and can’t part with), I store in a container in my closet. I only allow myself one container of things to save, so I go through it and give items away when I’m ready to part with it. Hoarding certain pieces has come in handy because there have been some things I have been saving for awhile that now fit and True and Brave. I have sisters I can give clothes to and I give plenty away to friends too, or I have altered many of my clothes to fit True and Brave. We’ve been doing this a lot lately because they’re really starting to outgrow some of their things, so we are altering mine to fit them. I’ve also sold some of my things at one of those buy, sell, trade places, and since a lot of my stuff is vintage, they typically buy back my clothes.

I’m definitely no fashion guru, but I do enjoy fashion and getting dressed. Some of my favorite places for fashion inspiration is Calivintage (Erin shares my love for vintage modern vibes), Lisa Says Gah, and I love Pinteresting outfits that inspire me. I’ll either try to recreate something by sewing my own version or finding something at the thrift store and altering it. Thrifting, sewing, and altering clothes is really therapeutic for me.

How would you describe your style? Do you thrift or sew, or do you have a favorite clothing shop you frequent?

on me: camel tee, everlane (they make the best basic tees!). denim wrap skirt, vintage (vintage here, new there). espadrilles, castaner (similar here). basket, vintage via ms. tips (similar here).

Ben’s mom goes to see the Nutcracker every year with his sister, and this time, she took us along for the adventure too. This was the girls’ first experience with a ballet and what a beautiful show to start with. Prior to going, they read the story with Ben’s mom, so they were familiar with the story line, and it’s always fun to compare and contrast the differences after. After the show, Soul said, “Where was the talking?” She didn’t quite get it, but she went on and on about the gorgeous costumes. I hadn’t seen the show since I was a little girl, but I remember falling in love with ballet after. It was special to be able to watch it with my own little girls many years later. They’ve since started recreating some of the dances from the show in our home (I totally knew this would happen). Thank you Grandmama for this special Christmas adventure!

We saw the show at the historic Majestic Theatre and I was wowed by the intricate details of that amazing building. They just don’t make things like they used to. After the show, we walked all along the San Antonio Riverwalk. I hadn’t been since Ben and I first started dating and this was another San Antonio first for the girls too.

The weather was completely wonderful while we were there. It was in the 80s and we had no need for all the bulky sweaters we brought. The girls had been itching to try out their roller skates from their Auntia (auntie + tia) Suzi, so we all headed off to a local park. The foam ground was the perfect surface to take their skates out for a spin. Ben held Brave’s hand, and I held True’s, and we instructed them to “step and roll,” and after many step and roll steps later, they got it. Soul and Glow didn’t get skates, so they ventured onto the playground and pretended they were Jedis. Soul definitely looks like a Jedi to me (she tries to copy Luke Skywalker’s style). Ben, Grandmama, Auntia Suzi, and I relaxed on a bench as we watched the girls have fun rolling (True and Brave) and climbing (Soul and Glow) all about.

I love San Antonio and how much more friendly people seem than in California. People still even put up their hand to say thank you when you’re driving (I’m probably one of the few, but pretty much no one does that here anymore). I love that their traffic isn’t really traffic, and how it’s such a big city, but with a small town heart. We’ve looked at the possibility of moving, but it doesn’t look like it’s in the cards for us right now, but you never know. For now, we treasure each time we are able to spend there, and always wish our time was longer and that Texas was a lot closer.

For those curious, True and Brave’s skates are adjustable (can be purchased here), which is great for how fast kids’ feet grow. We love them so far and haven’t had any issues, but we haven’t had them for that long. They also are wearing this pad set (size: youth/child), which guards the wrists, elbows, and knees (Brave forgot her wrist guards).

The tunic was a dress I sewed a while back (see here) for a wedding we attended. The linen dress looks so much shorter now, either I grew or it shrank. I’m pretty sure I haven’t grown since I was 13. It could also be that I’ve been wearing longer length dresses, so this just seems shorter compared to those. I paired it with thrifted Levi 501s and a pair of Innika Choo sandals (they’re on sale and there’s a size 6 left!). The bag is from PrelovedPQ one of my fave instagram shops; Naomi curates a really nice selection of pretty things.

We’ve had really nice weather the last couple days, and it actually felt like fall when I went out the other evening. Though those high temps are coming back this weekend, so sandals definitely get their monies worth in Southern California. It’ll probably be a long while until you see me wearing a sweater (our California evenings do a get a teensy bit chilly though). I love seeing people share their sweater and boot fall purchases on Instagram, I’ll enjoy fall vicariously through them.

on me: linen dress, handmade. jeans, thrifted (vintage here, new there). bag, prelovedpq (vintage here, new there). shoes, innika choo.

We went on our first camping adventure this weekend, and while on our hikes, the girls loved collecting wildflowers. They picked and picked until they had a perfectly full bundle. We put them in paper cups and water to keep them alive, and when we got home, I put them in little vases just the way they had them arranged. Soul was the only one who didn’t make a bouquet because she was busy collecting rocks and acorns.

The simplest arrangement was the one I made (grey vase with blue design). Glow’s collection is in the tiny blue vase, True’s is in the ombre-ish blue vase, and Brave’s is in the white one. They are displayed all over the house now, and I smile each time I pass one. It reminds me of our fun weekend, my girls’ love for collecting things, and the glory of God displayed in these sweet wildflowers.