mad for plaid {style}

Hello!! A blog post on Sunday?! Yes, I know totally unlikely of me...but we are still working on our new family schedule and routine around here. So, it is what it is. 

I have been a long time lover of plaid. I pretty much wear it year round but in different fabrics. In the summer I wear lighter color plaid in obviously lighter loose cottons, whereas in the winter I bring out the bolder colors in cozier thick fabrics. Its so easy to pair plaid with jeans, so I wanted to change it up a bit and pair it with some maxi and pretty skirts. 

I wanted to show you two different looks I put together with the skirts. :) 

Casual Look

 Cozy Chic 

Plaid, fur and leopard print play as basics for winter dressing. To be quite honest, this is a easy look that is also very cost efficient. Actually, almost every item that I am wearing I already had in my closet. It just takes a little bit of play and piecing it right. But in the end you can't really go wrong with plaid. 

So, I challenge you to step out of pairing plaid with just jeans and try something else. You can even easily mix plaid with patterns and wear it with patterned pants, if skirts aren't your thing. :)  

friday reflections

These past few weeks and months have been quite a whirlwind for me. On the morning of moving day, Mike told me that it takes about three years for a place to feel like a home. When he told me that, I felt so sad that I was leaving our dear home in Orange County. We had lived in it for five years! It was more than a home to me. It was the very first home for us as a married couple and the place we have nurtured our children from the day they came home from the hospital. It was where all the best memories have been made for our family.

A dear girlfriend of mine gave me a perfect analogy about moving and plant life. She said even plants feel stress from moving. It is normal for people to feel like that plant who has been uprooted, tattered and tossed around and then replanted on new soil... and it takes some time for those roots to settle. 

Its been four weeks now and although we are about four hundred miles from our first home...I am starting to accept this little place here in my heart. I wont lie, it took me a while to accept it. It wasn't easy. But now, its starting to grow on me. I see my children and the way that they are thriving and it makes it easy. I see my husband who seems to be happy and it makes it easier. 

I am learning to establish new routines and learning my way around my new town (i don't need to GPS directions to the grocery store anymore, hooray!).  I'm learning to slow down in a good way and be present. The other day, both girls were on a napping strike. It was an incredibly long day (for me). Side note, the girls absolutely love being outside to play. I'm am ever ever ever so grateful for this new backyard of ours. We wake up, we go outside. We eat, we go outside. We play to go outside. So taking it back to the other day, I took a blanket outside and the girls and i played and read books outside. We played games and airplane (their favorite). We stared at the clouds and watched the leaves in the trees move from the winds. We listened to the blue jays sing and watched our wild squirrels run around our yard. It was one of the very best moments so far here. Sophia said, "i love you mom" and I knew things were going to be good here. This new chapter in our life will be okay and we will make even greater memories to come.

So, I challenge you this weekend to take one moment to slow down (put the social media away) and be really present in what you are doing...or truly engage in a conversation until you lose track of time. :)

"the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time" - James Taylor

small moments as of late...

There are so many small moments with these girls that just warm my heart. I'm so thankful for my iphone sometimes that I can just whip it out and capture these small moments. 

^ we were in rite aid and i turned around to see both my girls pushing this m & m figure around :) Zaylee was very intrigued by her and started rolling her around and Sophia of course joined it ^

^ this was one of the sweetest moments. Sophia was looking out the window and Zaylee came up behind her and gave her a hug. ^

^ princesses painting pumpkins!! ^

^ On the feast of St. Francis, Zaylee went right up to his statue to play!^

^ playing outdoors all day, everyday ^

^ one loves to swing and the other likes to push the swing. The perfect park pair. ^

apple picking

On our back home from Lake Tahoe we stopped by Apple Hill to go apple picking. We stopped at two different farms. One farm was solely for entertainment, we ate hot apple donuts (and apple fritters which are not pictured but amazing!) and rode ponies. The other farm was for hard working in picking 24 pounds of apples. Just kidding, we really had so much fun picking. It was amazing to go home with a box full of nothing but perfectly sweet apples. 

^ i mean, how cute are these mini horses?! i need one of these! ^

^ They had these amazing tire swings at the apple farm. I seriously want one of these in my yard one day too :) The girls loved it! ^

^ look at those dirty knees! she had a good time :) ^

^ and just for laughs :) like father, like daughter ^

Lake Tahoe { part 2 }

Lake Tahoe continued to amaze us with its beauty when we drove up to Emerald Bay. It was kind of a scary drive as the road became quite narrow with no rails on either end. I wont lie, my palms were so sweaty and I had Mike practically drive in the middle of the road because it was too close to the edge. After surviving the "thrilling" drive, the road leads you to the most amazingly breathtaking views of the Lake. 

We had a picnic lunch after Emerald bay and took an impromptu bike ride with the girls through a pretty tree lined road. We then grabbed the tastiest ice cream from a cute little parlor afterwards. I don't know if it was just the ambiance of being out in nature, but I think I had the best rocky road ice cream. It was so thick and creamy with the softest marsh mellows and perfect crunch from the nuts. Oh yum! 

We spent all day outside and it was the absolute best. The girls took naps in between the car rides and stayed happy all day. Happy children = happy parents :) We drove into more of the "city" part of Tahoe during the evening and had pizza and drinks outside listening to live music! Can you even believe our luck? 

Sophia insisted on taking some pictures as we sat and waited on dinner. Sophia is such a ham and Zaylee had no idea what to do. 

I'm so thankful for this short weekend trip to Tahoe. It was truly the best vacation. On our drive back home, the leaves (now more yellow and orange in hue) were falling onto our windshield and it was couldn't have been a more perfect way to kiss Tahoe goodbye. We are already planning our next trip back to this gorgeous place.