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).

Life has many seasons and it’s all about change, seasons changing constantly. I may live in Southern California, where we pretty much have spring and summer (though we did get somewhat of a winter this year), but life definitely has way more than four seasons. I can remember being a teenager so vividly, pretty much like it was yesterday, but now I’m not too far off from having my own teenager. In my teens, life seemed to go slow and I wanted to go faster. Now, life seems to go fast, but I want it to go slower.

A week ago, it just hit Ben and me that we were officially out of the baby stage. We were watching two little ones (3 and 1 yo) and we had no clue what to do with them. We had forgotten! We’ve been so used to the independence our girls have that we had no clue how to engage two little ones (and it was only about an hour!). I put something on for them to watch, but that only lasted about 20 minutes, so I gave them some crafts to play with, and once they tore those up, I was stuck. Once they left, Ben and I looked at each other and said, “We totally aren’t in the baby stage anymore.” That season is long gone for us. I did press him a bit to see if he was interested in fostering/adopting, maybe we could bring that baby stage back, but he said, “We’re done.” and I agreed. We definitely feel done too.

Another season I see ending soon is teaching them how to read. That might have been the thing I was most afraid of when we began our homeschool journey, but now I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll be out of the tunnel soon. Soul has picked it up and it’s all starting to click for her. Words are coming alive and she’s doing lots of decoding and deciphering all on her own, and Glow’s not too far behind. I was terrified of homeschooling because I didn’t think I could teach them how to read, or rather, I didn’t think I had the patience to teach them. Little did I know, my real challenge would be math. Oh math! How peaceful our home would be if that subject didn’t exist, but maybe we wouldn’t have a home if we couldn’t do math right. Math is where a I need a whole ocean full of patience, but really, it’s probably more accurately said that math is where the girls need the patience to deal with me.

Since we homeschool, I think we get to hold on to certain seasons just a tad longer. I’ve always thought of homeschooling as a way to hold their hearts a little longer and I think it’s definitely true. I can’t say I’ve always been present as a mother. It’s my nature to move fast, get things done quick, then move on to the next task, so I think I have trouble being intentional in the present. It’s an area I need to work on. I want to be intentional in holding their hearts, live each season to its fullest before it passes me by, and look forward to the next season with joy.

My parents are going through the empty nesting phase. I have one sibling left at home, but he’ll probably be out soon, and my mom goes on and on about how she misses all of us being little. Ben and I will be in that season soon enough, but before we get there, there is still much work to do now. Also, there will still be much work to do as empty nesters; our job will simply look different. I’m not sure what season of life you’re in right now… maybe it’s the sleepless nights with little ones, potty training, teenagers (or threenagers), sending kids off to college, or empty nesting, but whatever it is though, let’s all work on being present. If you’re the type that despises change, instead of seeing it as seasons as ending, look at it as a season transitioning. Life is all about transitioning. Your new season might be different than before (and may take getting used to), but still something to be embraced and lived out intentionally.

See. Savor. Rest. That’s what I’ll be learning to do this season and will probably continue to work on in the seasons to come. I want to see, savor, and rest in Christ in all the mundane and extraordinary things of our every day.

When the girls woke up Friday morning, they found a little St. Paddy’s Day surprise. I always end up putting together St. Paddy’s Day surprises last minute, so I was at the grocery store the night before looking for gold coins. I didn’t find any gold coins, but I got Ben’s approval to bring home a box of Lucky Charms (they never have sugary cereals, at least not from us). I had some Hello Kitty glasses that I totally forgot to put in their Christmas stockings, so I dug those out as part of their gift too. I wrote a little note, added “rainbow” streamers leading to their treat (I didn’t even have all the colors of the rainbow), colored some milk green, and there you go… their pot of gold (there was a yellow bowl). When they got to the end of their rainbow, they were giddy with anticipation to try out this new cereal, and they were also totally baffled by the green milk.

The verdict on the sugary cereal? True didn’t like it, but the rest of them did. I had a spoonful and it definitely brought back childhood memories.

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This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

These rose espadrilles are really sweet.

I miss telling more life stories here. I think that needs to come back.

If I were pregnant, I’d get this vintage denim dress. If you’ve got a baby bump, I think you need this in your rotation.

I want to sew a denim top like this.

There’s about 2 and half months left in the school year. That’s insane! It’s going so fast!

My heart is thankful for a lovely beach day with the girls.

Obsessed with The Voice judges cover of “Waterfalls” and I don’t even watch that show, but I am a 90s kid.

This week was an overwhelming whirlwind. While it does look there was a lot of play based on instagram, there was a lot of work too. I feel like I’m a little behind in life this week. Maybe it has to do with losing that hour.

We are very thankful for more light in the evening and for the sunshiny days we’ve been having. The rain is coming back this week, but that will also be good for our garden. There’s lots to do in our garden now that spring is here.

“Weary Mom, Come to Me” is something my soul needed to read.

Our Sundays are spent gathered with our church family in the morning for service, and again in the evening. It’s a full day and tiring, but our souls are so encouraged. I love this article “Why I love an Evening Service” as it helps remind us why we do what we do.

Things have been busy this week… busy with fun, catching up, side projects, hanging out with friends, homeschooling, mom stuff, wife stuff, daughter stuff, just all the life stuff, so it’s been quiet here on the blog. I’m still Pinterest-ing and IG-ing away (follow here and here), but the blog has been quiet. If I don’t have a weekend post up to share with you all, I’ll be back on Monday (and hopefully with taxes done… ugh!).

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

I want a jumpsuit/overalls like this. Maybe I should try to sew my own.

Made the sushi bake for the kids and they loved it (I left out the sour cream because we didn’t have any).

Thankful for a special date out with my parents; it was nice to have some alone time with them.

Another blessing was our Friday night hang out with our friends/neighbors. Time with the Chavez family always means delicious food and good times.

Kind of curious to see how these jeans fit.

We finally watched Trolls this week and I actually stayed awake. I typically fall asleep during animated films, but all the music in this one kept me engaged.

If you love macramé, get this bag.

I used to wear a 5.5, but after having kids, I’m a solid 6 in shoes. If you’re a 5.5, these  are really cool vintage shoes.

My goal for this week was not accomplished. I’m still having a hard time turning to my Bible first thing when I wake up. I’m hoping the time change this week will help my body get motivated to wake up early to spend time in the word. I’m going on week 3 of trying to kick this bad habit.

This week we mourn the death of two women who loved the Lord. They lived long and full lives, and while they will be missed here, we rejoice in Christ that they are no longer suffering. It’s good to be confronted with the brevity of life because it’s easy to forget that life is just a vapor. I easily get caught up in the trivial things like keeping a clean house, or the next item I want, or being too quick to anger for something ridiculous. Life is too short to get stuck on those meaningless things, but my affections are so easily swayed towards the meaningless. Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is for Christ and to die is gain. I’m praying that God permeates that through my heart this week.

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