Here's a short little post detailing my love of boots.


Its cold outside, meaning flipflops just wont cut it and (when it finally starts snowing) flats are just easy access for that dang snow to sneak in and freeze your toes! So tis the season for boots! and i couldn't be more excited.

This is my favorite look! skinny jeans
and brown boots. 

I always want to wear this combo
but im not quite daring enough to
wear leggings. 

Super comfy, super cute!

A classic.

Im kind of obsessed with Blake Livelys style and look! she wears boots too!

Obvi i would wear these daily! :)

Yay for boots! (actually yay for shoes in general!)

cupcakes make the world go round.

while perusing pinterest the other day I stumbled upon some gorgeous cupcakes. purple frosting, glitter and pearls. what could be more fabulous than that? almost to beautiful to eat! (but obvi cupcakes should always be eaten.) so I decided to try my hand at said work of art. I failed miserably but they we're still purple and sparkly so I'm going to go ahead and count them as a win. feast your eyes. (the bottom picture is the inspiration)

nothing beats a good cup 'o joe.

first off, don't freak. my kids are not drinking starbucks coffee. it's hot chocolate. settle down. so now that we all know they're not drinking straight espresso, lets discuss how adorable they look with their kid sized coffee cups. precious. making momma proud! but honestly, on these cold winter days (I saw snowflakes this afternoon) is there anything better than a good cup of coffee? (or hot chocolate). no. there isn't.

Oh the (test) anxiety...

where can i order a coffee drip...
that may come in handy.

It's coming up on exam week and anyone who is in school or has ever been in school knows what this means. Test anxiety! It's a real thing I swear! Now some of you current and past students of academia may be thinking 'I never had such a thing' but you my friend are the one percent. The rest of us agonize over this fateful week and are constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Or maybe I'm just a drama queen and overreact to a simple compilation of questions. Who knows. Anyways, I thought I would share my pre-exam ritual.

What I FEEL like i have to study...

 It starts with a panic attack. Usually something along the lines of "fudge! The exam is tomorrow and I haven't even opened my book." I know what your probably thinking, if I just opened that darn book before panic sets in than maybe that would reduce the anxiety. And your probably right...but this is my exam ritual, not yours. So I freak. This is usually followed by a mad dash to get all that information out and ready for studying purposes. But alas, when I see the extent of the information that is supposed to cram in my little brain, another freak out ensues. And then preparation begins. I lay out all the material, brew some coffee and retrieve my note cards to begin the futile process of learning everything.

Reality of what i have to study.

Upon looking over the mass amount of information, with the initial overdose of caffeine beginning to set in, well you may have guessed it, I panic. But eventually I calm down (as much as I can, remember caffeine overdose) and I begin. I read, make notecards,.and sip coffee. It's my process. So far I've never failed a test so it may just be working! Although to all you not yet in college, I do not recommend this method of studying at all. It induces panic, causes stress, and you may just end up in the hospital due to excessive abuse of caffeine. (there was a case in the 90's where a man has caffeine induced psychosis, ahhh the 90's). Anyhow, I did learn something whilst studying for my final today, psychologist Bandura showed that when students watch a video of a student saying that "they also have test anxiety but this is how they deal with it", the students watching do better on the post video test they are given. So find a video that has this magical quality in it and pass every exam you ever take*. So there are my thoughts on tests. To summarize for those of you who hate reading (sometime a requirement on tests) tests are the worst, but finding your own special way to study could make it a lot easier.

When finals are finished...

*statement has not been proven true in any sort of scientific test. Also you cannot learn the information by putting your textbook under your pillow at night.

Hide and go seek!

There are many different kinds of hide and seek players...especially in the 6 and under age group. My kids are across the board when it comes to their particular way of playing this game.

Under A Coat in the Closet...So Creative!

 Lily is by far the ultimate player. She actually scares me sometimes because I can't even find her! I have spent more time than I would like to admit searching for my stealth little 6 yr. old. She is what I will classify as the 'ultimate' of the hide and seek variety. On the opposite side of the spectrum is Caleb. Sometimes his hiding spot is directly in front of whoever is counting. Other 'brilliant' hiding spots consist of standing in the doorway of a closet (with the door wide open), under a table with some body part still visible, or when he's feeling sneaky it's the exact same cupboard he always hides in. today though he surprised me by hiding under the bed (giggling the whole time). We can classify Caleb’s type as the 'hide-and-seek-is-more-fun-when-your-found-right-away'. 

In His Favorite Cupboard

Under The Bed...

And then there is Christian, who falls squarely in the middle. Now don't get me wrong, Christian is a great hider and he would put other 5 yr. olds to shame with his mad skills, but he has his usual spots and rarely changes it up. He's not like Caleb in that he has one 'good' place and doesn't branch out from that, but he's not quite like lily and her apt for creativity. Lily has been known to pile clothes on herself to go un-detected. Christian, while not a 'clothes-piler' is quite the 'cupboard-hider' and if you have seen my kitchen you know that he has a good amount of potential hiding spots and the seeker had quite a few doors to open. So Christian can be classified as an 'any-small-space-will-do'. So there you have it.

 I have classified each of my children in a 'stage-type' theory of hide and go seek. Piaget would be proud! So next time you play this timeless game of wits, take a moment to figure out which type your little hider is. And more importantly...what kind of hider are you? Me? I'm a 'hide-behind-the-most-opportune-door' type of gal. What are you?

The Amazing Bunchkins!

My kids are adorable. Almost perfect perhaps. Now I may be a bit biased since, well....they are my kids. But I come across enough other kids to realize that I am a pretty lucky mom. My kids don’t hit, bite, scream, etc. They are (most of the time) fairly well behaved and polite. In fact today, at a birthday party my daughter actually apologized for being impolite, even though she wasn’t being anything close. Her and her friend were sitting on the floor eating birthday cake and made a bit of a mess. Lily promptly said "I am so sorry! How impolite of me!” Obviously we expect great things from her. Speaking of expecting great things...Caleb has some strong expectations on him. He is a bit of a genius (again, possibly biased) and someday he will for sure win a Nobel Prize....or be living at home till he's 40. We’ll see where it goes. Christian on the other hand is Mr. Independent and will probably end up like his dad, smart, successful and very good at talking his way out of a situation. He’s already practicing now, on me, and doing pretty good. Now this post is not really supposed to be about how amazing my kids are, though I guess when you have such amazing kids it’s hard for any post about them to not turn into a brag fest ;). But let’s bring it down a notch. When it comes to day to day things my kids excel. When it comes to bed-time, they all turn into master manipulators. Anything that can be done to extend play time is done. In fact, they had even suggested CLEANING to get out of bed time (obviously I use this to my advantage as much as possible). So when the teeth are finally brushed and the pajamas are finally on, the game begins. Tonight it was toys. I made the mistake of allowing them all to pick out a stuffed animal before bed. Usually they have a favorite in their bed or nearby but tonight the usual's were nowhere to be seen. I, being the practical mom that I am, said "just pick one that’s in the room and get in bed". They did and I kissed them goodnight and shut the door, quite pleased that I had stopped potential chaos from ensuing. But I was wrong. It took about 20 minutes, but eventually Caleb came downstairs and informed me that the action figure he had picked was "too hard" (go figure). So to avoid any bedtime disruption or tears, I said grab and animal from the toy closet and run back up to bed. BAD IDEA! Pretty soon after, upon hearing that Caleb had been allowed to get an upgraded toy, Lily came down the stairs. She told me that she would rather have a different toy and don’t worry mom! I know just which toy and where it is. Again I relented and Lily got a Barbie (what it is with these kids and plastic toys for cuddling?) Finally Christian made his way downstairs, offended that he had not gotten a new toy. He had also brought along Caleb, who told me that Christian had requested his presence at the toy choosing melee. Kids! So after extending bed time for a good 30 minutes, all kids had the toy of their choice (for now) and were in bed. Now they aren’t sleeping, I can hear their sneaky little voices probably plotting another way to extend bed, but at least they are great kids 99% of the time! So, although bed time is sometimes (i.e. always) stressful, I just have to remember, at least my kids are such a wonderful blessing, and are just fantastic on a regular basis. So here's to children, an incredible blessing from God, an exceptional gift of joy, even if they don’t come with an instruction manual. :)

Christmas is coming!

      

Its a Charlie Brown Christmas!

Christian

I am not one for patience, I'll just preface by saying that! So waiting til the socially acceptable time to put up my Christmas tree? Not happening! I want it to be Christmas now so, in my mind, putting the tree up now will make it come sooner right? I know! Completely logical. So last night we did just that. I had mentioned it as a possibility earlier in the day and from that moment on it was a constant barrage of questions until we finally followed through! From 10am until we finally put the tree up I was bombarded by my begging children. It was like the 'are we there yet' repetitiveness only it was 'can we do the tree now'. Like a broken record they asked throughout the day until finally I consented. Not that I was upset. I mean, I wanted to put it up more than them. So at 6 we got the tree out. Every year when we get out the tree I think ' is this really what we have to work with?' As the Christmas season draws near I always imagine our tree as this gorgeous, Martha Stewart esque tree of glory, but upon setting it up I realize its my overacting imagination working against me. Before the lights an ornaments are put on, its reminiscent of the classic charlie brown tree.

Lily

So we got to work on sprucing up this artificial greenery. Usually I put all the decorations on and revel in its perfection but this year I relented and allowed the kids to put on all the ornaments. (I did put the lights on it, I'm not good at giving up all my power...).
The joy of opening up the box of ornaments is almost indescribable. Weird, I know, but something about the anticipation of the Christmas spirit gets me every time. Each ornament has a story or a memory associated with it and telling those stories and reliving those memories is so great! Seeing the twins and Lily's first Christmas ornaments always takes me back and makes me smile, and this year each of the kids put their own on the tree.

The finished product...

Over all it was a wonderful beginning to the Christmas season. The kids did such a great job decorating! I did have to rearrange some ornaments due to the fact that every decoration was at kid height and below, and a few were hung on top of each other. For the most part though, the task of decorating fell squarely on the kids shoulders and they rose to the occasion. We did lose one ornament in the process, Jon's 'babys first christmas' but it was ok. A casualty of the season and, with two cats and three kids, probably not the last. The final product is beautiful and now our house is Christmas ready. The only downside of an early Christmas tree? The kids have been asking if tomorrow is Christmas and when there will be presents under the tree....oh well! I suppose it comes with the season!

Putting the angel on

There is an application on Facebook where you can make your own outfit and then submit it if you so desire.http://apps.facebook.com/mylookmaker/ go check it out. There aren't a ton of options so it forces you to be creative! That's always a plus! But i find it fun to mix and match and try different colors out together and such. So anyways this is a look i created. Now i'm no Rachel Zoe but i wouldn't say i'm all that bad :)

If Only I Had Haute Couture...

So I am obsessed with fashion. It’s bad. But the problem is that I live in Toledo Ohio, have three kids and would probably be considered lower middle class. So how on earth am I supposed to be fashion forward when I would need a half a year’s pay just to buy some Ferragamo boots?

Salvatore Ferragamo ($650)

Salvatore Ferragamo ($650)

It’s not happening, I can tell you that much. My biggest problem though is those darn fashion magazines. Now, as a fashion addict, it is somewhat of a requirement that I have the newest issue of Vogue on my coffee table at all times, but sometimes I wonder what the point is. I mean the style section is always filled with these gorgeous Gucci dresses or fabulous Christian Louboutins! And, as previously stated, I don’t have the income for this. Of course it is fun to imagine and admire the amazing craftsmanship of a haute couture dress, but that’s as far as it goes. What about us girls who consider Macy’s to be the top end of the price limit? Where do we shop?  Of course there is the “Steals under $100” section in Cosmopolitan, but 50 bucks for a dress? Again, not happening. What about an article for us gals who peruse the thrift stores? Who seek out the fabulous deals? Who refuse to spend a penny more than 25 dollars on a dress? Well I guess we just have to rely on our own innate sense of style. Personally, I watch the runway every season (Elie Saab was my FAVE at fashion week!) and get my ideas there.

Elie Saab Spring 2012

 Now obviously I’m not walking around in fabulous evening gowns daily, but the color scheme, patterns and even hair and makeup give me tons of ideas! And then I take notice of what the fashion icons who attend said fashion week are wearing! I mean if they are wearing it then it must be fabulous! And then there is my newest obsession, lookbook.nu. it’s wonderful. Now, some of the clothes are in fact high end designers, but the ideas are there to take from! So I see a look I love then head to the mall and make it my own. I also like to take note of what people around me wear. I am lucky in this area because I go to and work at a college so there is a multitude of styles surrounding me at all times. I am lucky. I see what the trends are and then put my own spin on it. I guess the synopsis of this post is that no matter your income, no matter your city, you can rock some fashion forward styles. Of course since the streets of Toledo are my runway I don’t think I’ll be strutting in the latest Louboutins and Betsy Johnson knockoff….but maybe a Michael Kors look would work just fine. 

Toledo here I come...

Probably a better choice if i want my fellow Toledoans to understand...