Spring 2013 Outfit

Although I'm not spending any money this month I am planning my next outfit purchase. Last year I started buying one outfit per quarter. I love this system of purchasing. It can be hard not to buy t-shirts from Target or other cheap purchases but I've found over the last year my closet is full of beautiful clothes that I love to wear. I don't have a ton of clothes but all of them are things that make me feel great.

This quarter I need a new pair of jeans. I have two pairs, one boot cut and the other more of a wide leg. I need something skinny or strait. I want to dip my toe into designer denim. I have had a pair of Sevens before and I currently have a pair of Rock & Republic which I love. I don't necessarily want to pay full price so I will probably go to Nordstrom Rack or a cool consignment shop in Bethesda called Mustard Seed. Also, my favorite pair of shoes are worn out. They are a cute pair of yellow Miz Mooz. These will replace the old ones quite nicely. I need some cardigans and some gingham. I love gingham. I'm glad it's becoming more popular. So I think this is what my spring outfit looks like. What do you think?

Spring 2013 Outfit by cowilcox featuring bracelet jewelry

J Crew button down shirt
jcrew.com

Monogram
anthropologie.com

Hudson Jeans dark wash jeans
nordstrom.com

Miz Mooz shoes
zappos.com

Coach bracelet jewelry
coach.com

Ray Ban ray ban
glasses.com

London 2013

We had the opportunity to jump over to London for a week last month and it was fabulous. It is a beautiful city and a great place to visit with kids.

 The people are so friendly and helpful. Many people helped us carry the stroller up and down the Underground terminals.

 Which are beautiful, by the way.

Aaah, a beautiful city indeed.

Life Lately

• Calder loves preschool. I always knew he would. It just took him a month (or two) to warm up to it.  Now he is sad on days when he doesn't have school. He has made some really amazing friends. They innocently run around pretneding to be squirrels and skunks. They dig holes and explore nature. I love it. He loves it. 
• We moved. Like 5 months ago. We are renting this adorable house. I absolutely love it. I'll show you pictures. I promise. Right now I'm enjoying decorating the porch. It is going to be our outdoor eating and lounging place. Stay tuned for that. 
• Jason is really enjoying work. Through a stroke of luck for me instead of being gone for a month he had a month off. We went to London. It was awesome. 
• Colette is so close to walking. I love that too. It is interesting to see how two kids from the same parents can be so different. Colette loves to practice. She has bruises on her legs from all her stair climbing but she is determined to go up and down all by herself.  Thankfully she hasn't ever fallen. Calder at this stage didn't want to try anything unless he was sure he could do it. He would think about a skill for a while before trying it. He was often successful at it because he practiced it so much in his mind. He still does that. 
• Colette is a tease and loves to laugh and have a good time. 
• I've started sewing again. I don't know why it takes me so long to get back into the groove after having a kid. It seems to be so overwhelming for the first year or so. Now Colette is pretty content to play alone for a few minutes here and there throughout the day. And she sleeps better at night, so I can start projects without worrying if they will wake her up.

Spending Fast Week 3

As has been true to form the third week of the spending fast is kicking my trash. We are running out of snacks and cereal left and right. I LOVE having a bowl of cereal in the evening, but that has stopped this week. I have been doing more baking than usual this week, which is helping the snack load. We have muffins, cookies and granola bars around. 

I love that the spending fast forces me to become more creative in so many ways. I also love that it stops me from running here and there. I go to the store once a week. Just one store and that's it. This isn't a sustainable lifestyle for our family but it does enforce some very solid habits. We will buy things again in May but not nearly as many as before. I love that it forces me to analyze each thing on my list and decide if it is necessary and if it can be substituted by something else. 

Also, it's not all about food. I am loving my extra time this month. We are pulling weeds in the yard (really, I pull the weeds and the kids eat popsicles, it's adorable) and playing together at home. I really love being at home with my kids. They seem happier too.

Spending Fast 2013

All right guys! It is time for the annual spending fast! So for the month of April I will not be spending money. I know it's a little late in the year but due to some travel I have delayed it this year.  That's great news though. You can all join in. Here's how it works.

You avoid buying anything other than the necessities and you limit those. So you can pay rent and utilities. And you can buy gas and food. But I limit my food budget. This year because Calder has been eating a lot more and Colette has been eating solid food I am going to set a weekly food budget of $60.

That's it. So simple right?!? I have learned a lot in the past few years I've been doing this challenge. Check out those posts here and here. I honestly love spending fast month. Not because it's easy but because it stretches me in ways I didn't imagine I could stretch. You should totally stretch with me.

Misery loves company right?! Just kidding. This will be fun.

Quick Valentine's Day Craft

Good morning!!

If you need an inexpensive and quick project to brighten up this love holiday, this is it!! The finished product can be a coaster, window or wall decor, added to a pin for a wearable valentine, slapped on a headband, clip or bobby pin, or used on the table to add color and holiday spirit.

You'll need:
-paper heart doilies
-felt
-pinking shears
-hot glue and gun

1. Use a paper doilie as a guide to cut out a felt heart.

2. Use this to cut out the desired number of hearts.

3. Glue hearts to paper doilies, being careful not to burn yourself since the doilies are porous!

4. Use as desired!!

Revlon Expression Experiment

This post brought to you by Revlon. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I was in high school and all my friends were experimenting with makeup and basically wore it every day. I was on the swim team and didn't have much interest in smeary racoon eyes every afternoon. So I basically wore it to prom. And that's it. Yep, I was that girl. Very all natural.

As I've gotten older I have enjoyed the look and feel of some makeup. Most of the time I only wear eye makeup and nail polish. Sometimes I even throw on the perfect shade of red lipstick. I generally don't wear anything on my skin other than sunscreen. Makeup typically feels heavy and weird on my cheeks. I don't know how to describe it other than it feels like my skin can't breath.

So, when Revlon sent me a fun new eye shadow and makeup primer as part of the Revlon Expression Experiment I was intrigued and cautiously hopeful that it wouldn't feel cakey. And it didn't! The primer felt just like a light, clean lotion. A light lotion that evened out my skin and made it look amazing without looking fake. What a lucky day.

I love the way Revlon creates makeup that is so easy to use. The eye shadow set they sent me came with four eye shadows to use together to make a fabulous looking eye! And on the back they included instructions how to create something awesome. Thank goodness. I got a late start on the makeup gig and now that I have two kids I don't have as much time to experiment. Revlon made it easy. They give all women the power to change their looks on a whim and I love that! I'm going to put more effort into trying new things with my makeup. I'm going to start using the Revlon Expression Experiment Facebook application. And you should too! I would love to see what you come up with. I can use all the help I can get!

Want to see a little before and after? Here's me without makeup:

*

And after:

Thanks Revlon for making my every day look more put together.

Shabby Apple Beachcomber Dress

Shabby Apple by cowilcox featuring hermes tote

Kain long sleeve top, $70 / Beachcomber / Audrey Brooke slingback pumps / Hermes tote / Friis & Company metal ring, $19 / Forever 21 waist belt / Totem Table, sheesham, $390

I am so excited for autumn. Not because my little boy starts preschool or because the weather is getting colder but simply because I get to wear fall clothes. I LOVE fall clothes. With the layers and boots and awesome saturated colors, how could you not? Anyone else trying to find ways to style their favorite summer pieces for fall?

List as of Late

• I am loving being a mom of two. I am surprised how nicely their demands are met in shifts and it is rare that they both urgently need me at the same time. I love that I can give Calder one on one attention while Colette sleeps and Colette gets special time while Calder has quiet time. I don't have much time left in the day to sew but I know that time will come. 
•  It's interesting how my son's independence has increased since Colette was born. He is so big these days.
• I hate typing one handed while I feed the baby. 
• I love how flexible newborns are. I just pop her in the sling and away we go. She hates her car seat so we try to walk or metro as many places as possible.
• We are eating tons of fruit these days.
• I'm so impatient about getting back to my pre-pregnancy clothes. I feel like I wear the same things over and over again because I don't fit in many things. I'm also torn between buying something that fits now that probably won't work when I lose the last 10 lbs and just waiting. I'm rather tired of the clothes that fit now. What do you do? 
• I re-arranged my bedroom and it looks so much better. I'll take pictures for you all soon. 
• I'm trying to prep Calder for starting preschool NEXT MONTH! I'm not really sure what to do other than talk about it here and there and get really excited about it.

School Supplies

This post brought to you by Astrobrights Papers by Neenah Paper. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am so excited for Calder to start preschool this year. It will be fabulous for his independence and social skills. He is thrilled. I am also excited that this is the first year I get to buy school supplies for my kid. The list of things he needs isn't long but there are a few things I intend to buy to have on hand at home so we can duplicate the type of craft they do at school. And for afternoon fun!

One of those things I'm excited about is AstroBrights papers. It seems silly to be excited about paper but this is pretty cool paper. It's like scrapbook paper in that it has a smooth texture and comes in tons of colors and weights. 26 colors to be exact. Each piece has the same color as every other piece in that shade. That is pefect for larger projects where I need the colors to be the same. I also love the bright, happy rainbow they all make when using them together.

AstroBrights papers is doing a "Give a Brighter Year" sweepstakes. You could win cash and school supplies valuing $30,000! So check it out!

It will also be fun to participate in the family-friendly "Make Something Astrobright" design challenge. All you have to do is create something using AstroBrights papers. Then showcase it on pinterest, facebook or twitter using the hashtag #goastrobrights. I can't wait to see what people come up with! I think these would be perfect for party decorating and invitations. How sweet would it be to have perfectly coordinating invites, place cards and food labels?

Here are a few other ideas:

• Job charts for the kids
• lunchbox notes
• homemade valentines
• letters to grandparents
• print your boarding pass with it, so you won't lose it in your carry on

 

is really fabulous paper. It's a definite must have for any home.