Kiss Me I'm Irish | A St. Patrick's Day Parade

I am a fan of holidays.  Some we make bigger deals out of than others, but at the very least I like to acknowledge and celebrate them with some festive food or outfit.  Friday is St. Patrick's Day, and since we are actually Irish, I figure we should do something for it.  I personally am not a fan of corned beef and cabbage, but I do like leprechauns, rainbows, and the color green... so we do what we can ;)  

This past weekend, we went back to our old town for the Morristown St. Patrick's Day parade.  I had been searching for a while for something green to wear.  While I love all shades of green, I usually think of a bright kelly green when it comes to St. Patrick's Day.  In the past I've always bought Noah one of those cute St. Patty's Day shirts, but he really only gets to wear them once or twice, and they are always short sleeve (so not good for this area in March!).  But this year I found him a green sweatshirt at Hanna Andersson and knew it was perfect not only for the holiday, but could also be worn any other day of the year!  As for me, I was having trouble finding much in kelly green... I guess it's not a hot color this year.  So when I saw this green sweater in JCrew, I knew I had to have it!  I love light weight sweaters that don't add extra bulk, and the ties on the side are a nice addition to make it something special and different.  (I also love the royal blue color... I was very tempted to get both!)

 green sweater (now on sale!) |  jeans | riding boots (similar)

While I plan to wear this outfit again on actual St. Patrick's Day, I knew that it would most likely be cold at the parade and I would end up covering this sweater with my winter coat.  So I grabbed my green tote that Chris got me a few years ago so that I'd have something green that would actually be seen ;).  While I don't use this bag a ton, I always grab it on St. Patrick's Day as well as occasionally throughout the summer.  I love the pop of color it adds and it's the perfect size to hold my essentials as well as my DSLR.  

 bag (old Tommy Hilfiger, but this is a cute green option!) | watch (similar)

But I wasn't the only one who wore some green for the parade!  It's a shame that it wasn't warmer, cause no one really knew that we were even wearing green once we added our winter coats, hats, and gloves!  But underneath it all we were showing our Irish pride!

Noah's sweatshirt 

We met our good friends for breakfast before going to the parade.  It's funny cause we met these friends back when we both lived in Morristown and our boys were just 6 months and a year old.  We became fast friends and then both moved to our new town within six months of each other.  The kids always have so much fun together and it was fun going back to our old stomping ground together.    

 ^^^ matching camo coats (Hanna Andersson, no longer online)

Boy was it cold this year.  We went to our first Morristown St. Patty's Day parade back in 2013 when Noah was only 4 months old.  It was so nice out that Chris and I wore long sleeve shirts and I just added a hoodie and hat for Noah.  The following year (2014) it was just as nice, wearing just a light windbreaker.  In 2015, we didn't end up going because it was raining, and last year we were away in Turks and Caicos.  We were so excited to finally go back this year.  Despite it being 26 degrees (felt colder with the wind), we bundled up and decided to let Noah decide how long we stay.  I honestly think I would have given up sooner, but he was really enjoying the whole thing.  I really don't think kids feel the cold like we do.   I hope next year is warmer, otherwise I'll be tempted to get a coat like this, so I can be festive AND warm!

 ^^^ this cart came by SO MANY TIMES!  I was shocked and relieved that Noah didn't ask to buy any of that crap!  

 ^^^ boy did I feel bad for anyone in a kilt!

Noah told us that his favorite parts of the parade were seeing all the instruments... and of course getting all the candy ;)  Chris told him how he used to play drums in his middle school marching band.  Noah said that when he gets bigger, he wants to play the trumpet.  I loved seeing all the bands, everything from bagpipes and drums, to traditional marching bands, to some country bands.  

 ^^^ Noah did not want his photo taken with this leprechaun... and I can't say I blame him.  

 ^^^ Noah told us that their costumes looked like half Joker/half the Riddler.  We are definitely in the Superhero stage over here!

^^^ seeing eye dogs are trained in Morristown and they had a bunch of them walk in the parade.  When we lived in Morristown, I would take Noah on many walks around town and I always loved seeing the dogs out.  Most of the time we would see them being trained and occasionally we would see them with someone who was vision impaired.  These seeing eye dogs are the most calm and loving animals, and it's amazing the service they are providing.  

Despite the cold, we had a really great time!  And for fun, I thought it would be funny to share this gem of a photo from St. Patrick's Day 2011.  Oh how different our Morristown St. Patty's Days are now.  Here I am having my first ever jager bomb...

*affiliate links may be used... see my disclosure for more information

Little Letters | March 2017

I was recently introduced to a new linkup that really sparked my interest.  Taz and Belly hosts Little Letters, where you basically just write a series of letters to anyone or anything you’d like.  I love reading random tidbits about other people's lives and I think this is a great way for me to do the same thing.  Here are my Little Letters for March...

Dear sun glare from our sky lights, you make watching TV during the day really difficult!  When Noah's at school, I like to catch up on some of my TV shows.  But the light coming in from our living room skylights makes half the TV screen unwatchable!  Chris joked the other day that if we ever won the lottery that we would buy remote controlled blinds for the skylights.  Way to dream big huh???

Dear hormonal acne, you are getting rather annoying!  I had perfect skin as a teenager and even through college.  I started getting it bad in my mid twenties and it just hasn't gone away.  I used to get monthly facials to help with it, and while it would temporarily, it wasn't a true fix.  To add to my problem, skin products designed to treat acne are so harsh on my super sensitive skin, so I don't like to use them.  I started using Rodan & Fields regular line a few months ago.  I found it made my acne worse at the beginning, but now it's starting to get a lot better.  But no matter what I use, I will still get a few pimples on my chin whenever I get my period.  I never thought I'd be dealing with this at 33!   

Dear iPhone battery, I had no clue you could "explode".  When I went in to upgrade to the iPhone 7, I knew that my phone had been causing some problems, but I didn't know the extent it was messed up.  I had it in a case and it was starting to buckle a little.  I just assumed it wasn't fitting in the case well anymore.  But when I took it out of the case for the "genius" to set up my new phone, we noticed how bad the phone looked.  They diagnosed that the battery was "exploding" and pushing my phone apart.  Chris had planned to sell my old phone and we now realized that this wouldn't be possible in it's current state.  While my apple care had expired just 2 months prior, they were nice enough to offer me a "new phone" to replace this one for the cost of a new battery.  Since my iPhone 6 had double the storage as Chris' current 6, we decided to pay for the new battery, and he would take the "new phone" and sell his old 6 instead.  It sounds confusing, but it should have been an easy swap.  But then Chris had problems getting his backup installed on the new phone, which led us to spending more time than I would have liked in the apple store last weekend.  

Dear iPhone dimmed screen, I love you.  While my exploding battery wasn't fun, here's something great I recently discovered with the iPhone.  I love reading on my phone and often do it at night or first thing in the morning.  But the screen was always so bright on my eyes.  I learned that I could set up "night shift" so that my screen automatically dims at 9pm and goes back to being bright at 7:30 am.  Such a simple change has made a huge difference!  

Dear Blaze, why do you have so many trucks???  Seriously, kid tv shows are brilliant in their merchandising!  I feel like we are building quite the collection of monster trucks.  The good news is that if you find a "new truck" in Target or Walmart, they are "only $5".  Definitely easier on my wallet to surprise Noah with a new $5 toy rather than something big and expensive.  

Dear migraines, you really suck!  I used to get migraines all the time and they were completely debilitating.  While many people start getting bad headaches when they get pregnant, I was the other way around, and they actually went away.  After having Noah, I would get an occasional migraine but nothing like the weekly ones I used to get.  Whenever I go for a while without one, I start to question whether they were really that bad.  But then I get one, like I did on Sunday, and I am reminded how bad they really are.  For me, I find the only thing that helps is taking Excedrin migraine and putting a heating pad over my head.  It's even better if I can go to a quiet and dark room, but that's not always possible with Noah these days.  This one started in the afternoon and I had it until I woke up the next day headache free.   

Dear stairs, why do you have to be so steep?  The stairs in our house are abnormally steep.  Since we moved in back in June 2014, Chris has fallen down them twice and Noah even fell down them once.  Thankfully no one was hurt, but it still is rather alarming.  We hadn't had an accident in a while, that is until Saturday.  And this time it was me.  Chris was out running an errand.  Noah and I were walking down the stairs, he was about 5 steps ahead of me, when all of a sudden I slipped on a step.  It happened so fast yet I felt like it was happening in slow motion.  I was sliding down the stairs and just hoped that I would either stop myself in time or Noah would get to the bottom before I ran into him.  Thankfully I didn't knock him over and I didn't seriously hurt myself.  I was however shaken up and really sore.  And I have a huge bruise on my butt to show for it, but it could have been so much worse.  

Dear Mother Nature, can you please make up your mind??  In the last month, we've gone from 70 degrees and sunny one day to multiple inches of the snow the very next day.  Every day I wake up I have to check the forecast to know how to dress.  I never know if it's going to be windy and freezing or a mild day perfect for a bike ride to the park.  

Any " little letters" you need to write at the moment?

The Kids Behind The Blog | March 2017

Today I'm back with another installment of "The Kids Behind The Blog"!!!  It's safe to say that it's one of my favorite linkups and I hope you feel the same way!  In case you are new here, Noah is my "kid behind the blog". He is 4 years old, goes to school 3 mornings a week, and spends the rest of the time home with me.  I have been recording our interviews on video and I love how it documents his personality, growth, and speech development.

As much as I love asking Noah the questions each month, I also have so much fun reading what your and my co-hosts' (Crystal, Beth, Jessica, Stephanie) kids have to say each month! And in case you are new to the linkup, here's a little background information. We came up with this idea because we are such huge fans of "The Guys Behind the Blog" and wanted to create something similar to do with the "kids that made us mamas".  Each month, we have a set of questions to ask our kid(s) and we will share their answers on our blogs. We sure hope that you will do the same and link up with us each month! We can't wait to read what your kids have to say!

This month's questions were:

1) What's at the end of a rainbow?

2) What do you like to do when it rains? Jump in puddles or play inside?

3) If you found a leprechaun at the end of a rainbow what would you do?

4) Tell me three ways you know it is spring time.

5) Do you wear green on St. Patrick's Day? What happens if you don't wear green?

1. We were kind of surprised he knew this.  After we stopped recording, Chris asked him how he knew that.  Noah told him "from YouTube" lol.
2. I'm not surprised he likes to jump in puddles.  Though I did think it was funny he says he would get in trouble.  I guess we do tell him not to jump in puddles in his sneakers more than I thought.
3. This cracked me up... especially the face he makes!
4. I loved his answers!
5. Again, his answer makes it sounds like he gets in trouble a lot... he really doesn't, I swear!

And while I didn't include it here, Noah also requested that he interviewed me as well.  This month all his questions were superhero related.  It was pretty funny and very cute!

I'd love for you to share what your kids had to say this month. Just grab our button and link up at the bottom of the post! Also make sure to stop by Crystal, Beth, Jessica, and Stephanie's blogs to see how their cute kids answered!

And as for next month, the link up will go live on April 12th. 

April Questions:

1) What is your favorite thing about Spring?

2) If April showers bring May flowers what do May flowers bring?

3) What does a flower need to grow? 

4) Do you like that it's starting to get warmer or do you like the cold and snow better?

5) What do you want to do over your Spring Break?

Bonus: What is your favorite thing about Easter?

We really hope you will follow along and link up going forward!  As always, it will be on the second Wednesday of each month, on the following dates:

April 12 | May 10 | June 14 | July 12 | August 9

September 13 | October 11 | November 8 | December 13

An InLinkz Link-up

Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery | Mommy Style

Back in October, Beth at Our Pretty Little Girls, Whitney at Work It Mommy, and Becky at BYBMG and I started sharing different fashion themed posts.  First it was how we styled our utility vests, then it was all about plaid, and our most recent was our winter accessories.  We are back today, but this time we are mixing it up a bit.  Since I am constantly getting inspiration from my fashionable friends, I loved Whitney's idea to do a little "copycat" fashion post.  Between the four of us, we will be copying an outfit that each of us have posted in the past.

I was assigned Beth, and right away I knew the outfit I wanted to copy.  When she posted this outfit, I loved her mix of patterns.  While I own a few striped shirts and many plaid scarves, I don't think I've ever worn them together.  I wouldn't describe myself as being scared of patterns, but maybe I am... or rather was.  

Beth at Our Pretty Little Girls

The best part of this outfit is that I didn't feel the need to copy her exact pieces, it was more the idea of combining stripes and plaid that I loved!  As I was going through my closet, I was surprised to find out that I don't really have any plaid scarves with black in them.  And yet, all my striped shirts are black!  So in addition to mixing patterns, I also went out of my comfort zone and mixed navy with black.  Part of me felt like I was committing a fashion faux pas, but I actually like the look of it.  I think the fact that this scarf has multiple shades of blue helps a lot!

Just like Beth's original outfit, I love how this is a casual outfit that is easily elevated with accessories.     Dark denim, brown riding boots, and some sparkly earrings, and I had a comfortable outfit that was also stylish.  Perfect for a weekend birthday party!  

 jeans | striped shirt (other colors, but love this option)

boots (similar) | earrings (similar) | scarf (old Loft)

As I was putting this outfit together on a cold and windy February day, I couldn't help but dream of Spring.  Just the day before it was almost 70 degrees and I was running errands in short sleeves!  While I can't count on that kind of weather (at least on a regular basis) for a few more months, I can make it feel like spring with my accessories. I've been eager to add something mustard to my wardrobe so I was thrilled to get this mustard scarf for my birthday.  I couldn't wait to start styling it with different outfits!  I simply swapped the navy plaid scarf for this mustard floral scarf, and it's amazing how one change could change the feel of an outfit.  I went from winter to spring with the switch of a scarf!   

 mustard scarf

jeans | striped shirt (other colors, but love this option) | boots (similar)

So tell me, how did I do at copying Beth's outfit???  Do you like getting fashion inspiration from your friends? 

I'm always excited to see what Becky, Beth, and Whitney came up with, but especially this time since one of them will be copying one of my past outfits!!!

*affiliate links may be used... see my disclosure for more information

Beth at Our Pretty Little Girls | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Crystal at Hall Around Texas | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram 

Jessica at Sweet Little Ones | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Stefanie at Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam, & Dylan Too | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Becky at BYBMG | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Sarah at Sarah E. Frazer | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Justine at Full Hands, Full Heart
Christina at Waltzing In Beauty | Pinterest | Instagram
Meghan at The Adventure Starts Here | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Tina at Go Big or Go Home | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekend Recap | Celebrating 33!

I haven't done a weekend recap in a while.  Probably because our weekends have been pretty low key recently, spending the majority of them at home in sweatpants.  But this weekend was my birthday, so I figured it was worth documenting.  It started on Friday (my actual birthday), with Chris taking the day off.  Noah still had school, so after dropping him off, Chris and I went to breakfast just the two of us.  

We then headed over to the mall where I had some returns to do as well as a few things I wanted to try on.  It's rare for Chris and I to go shopping together, especially without Noah.  It was nice to be able to take our time and be able to get Chris' opinions on things.  A few weeks ago I started experiencing some minor problems with my phone (that's over 2 years old now).  While we've been discussing upgrading eventually, I was surprised when Chris suggested we do it right then.  Picking out the rose gold iPhone 7 was the easy part, but our visit wasn't without difficulty.  We ended up spending quite a few hours at the apple store this weekend, but that's for another post.  The important part is that everyone we dealt with was super friendly and helpful and we are all set for the week! 

^^^ while we didn't buy the $250,000 Bentley, we did do our own fair share of shopping ;) 

Chris then picked Noah up from school and took him to pick out some flowers and cupcakes for my birthday.  Noah usually gravitates toward the artificially neon colored flowers, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that Chris was able to lead him to these pretty tulips this year ;)  The cupcakes he picked out were a big surprise, and I had to wait until after dinner to find out what they were!

We headed back to the mall to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with my parents.  But first, we had to make a pitstop at the Apple store... again!

After dinner, we all went back to our house for cupcakes, singing, and gifts.  Noah was so excited to show me that he picked out Paw Patrol cupcakes for me.  I love how he gets so into it... last year he picked out Ninja Turtle cupcakes.  While my new phone had been "set up", I still hadn't synced it with my laptop to restore my last backup.  I totally forgot that Chris had taken photos at dinner and doing cake using my new phone.  So I lost all those photos when I hit to restore the latest backup without importing the new photos first.  I was so upset that I made such a silly mistake!  I'm usually really good at backing up my photos and pride myself on documenting all these little moments.  Thankfully my mom did have this one photo (and proof that Chris was taking photos) and even took some video.  But I was still disappointed that I didn't have any photos of us blowing out the candles.  So we decided that we would do it again the next night and make sure to back those photos up ;)

On Saturday, Noah got to take Chris to his school for "Daddy Day".  They spent 45 minutes in his classroom, going through their daily routine, doing a craft, and playing with all his favorite toys.  Chris looks forward to this day all year, and Noah said it was the "best, best daddy day ever!".  Meanwhile, I met up with a friend for manicures and pedicures.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning :)

Then it was one more trip to the Apple store before heading home to relax and build Lego towers.  My mom then came over to watch Noah so Chris and I could go out for a birthday dinner, just the two of us.  But first, we set the cupcakes up again, my boys sang to me once more, and this time we actually got some photos of it all.  Chris and I went to Ruth's Chris for dinner, which has sort of become a birthday tradition.  Dinner was delicious as usual, and we were still home in time to do bedtime with Noah.  This birthday dinner also counted as our "March Date".  

After a wonderful two days of birthday celebrating, I was happy to have a super low key Sunday.  I went without makeup and contacts and stayed in my pajamas all day.  I even got a few hours to myself when Chris took Noah to family swim.  Besides having a headache, it was the perfect way to end my birthday weekend!