New kicks

I work from home, which means  I wear a lot of yoga pants.  A lot of hoodies too.  Oh, and a lot of sneakers.  Trust me, I know what it's like to work in the corporate world.  I spent 15 years wearing suits and make up and 'doing' my hair, working 10+ hour days in 4 inch heels.  So in my mind I've earned my casual Monday - Fridays.

I bought these the other day, and while normally a Saucony fan, I'm always open to a good pair of Adidas (my all time favorite kicks are a pair of neon turquoise Adidas that I simply cannot throw away).

Whaddya think?  Fun, right?

(don't worry, I still have a disgusting obsession with real shoes...)

Domino

oh.em.gee.

A long time ago I blogged about my love of Domino Magazine, now defunct (a moment of silence please).

Well imagine my delight when I saw that they were coming out with a special issue.  'Woo hoo!' I yelled! I couldn't believe I would be able to relive my decorating fantasies via this amazing mag.  And thankfully it didn't disappoint.  If you have a house, or want a house, or live in a house, pick up a copy.  Trust me.

Instagram Thursday (vacation edition)

Back from vacation and loaded up with vacation pics!  If you want a double dose of my pics, feel free to follow me at @jholland711.

 Somewhere in South Carolina.

 Mr. Man all color coordinated...

 Jack transfixed by the gigantic Sky Wheel (petrified to try it but unable to look away).

 Dinner view...

 Sunny shirts

 I could be found on the porch just about any time of the day...

 With one of these...

 Sundress from J.Crew.

 Necklace from J.Crew.

 This is pretty much his go to picture face.

 A few dresses I fell in love with...

 And another...

 Miss Madeline's beach toes.

And yeah - this happened.  I had to eat with my hands.  Not super happy about that but it was fun! :)

Until next week!  xoxo

Photo a Day May

I know.  Enough of the Instagram already...

BUT if you DO Instagram you should play along with the Photo a Day Challenge.  It couldn't be easier, and really you could do it on FB or Twitter, whatever.  You just take a photo a day using the prompts for each day (see picture below).  I follow Fat Mum Slim's prompts because she's kind of awesome.  Then you post the picture using the hashtag #photoadaymay.  I've done it for two months now and it's really a neat way to be creative on a daily basis.

Have fun!

P.S.  I said 'neat'.

Girls

Do you have HBO?  Of course you do, you watch True Blood and Game of Thrones.  Duh.  OK, so a few things.  

1.  If you own an iPad, download the HBO To Go app.  It's awe-some.  You can watch movies, all HBO shows, etc. anytime on your device.  I know.  It's that awesome.

2.  You need to start watching the new show Girls.  It's about four 24 year olds living in NYC and it's fantastic.  We're only 2 episodes in so you're not too far behind (plus, see item #1...all shows - anytime).  Check it out, you won't be disappointed.  At least I wasn't.

Apologies (and vacation pics...ohhhh yeahhhh)

Hi friends!  Things went a little wonk while I was on vacation!  Posts I had scheduled popped up early, others not at all!

I'm back to normal this week, relaxed and sunburned thanks to the beaches of South Carolina (trust me, I used sunscreen - apparently it doesn't work on my calves).

Until tomorrow, here are some pics from the trip courtesy of my beloved Instagram (real pics have been taken off the camera but not edited so....).

 Emma at the pool...

 Libations on the beach.

 Poolside toes...

 Miss thing on the beach...

 On the beach after dinner with the kiddos.

 Jack in Virginia.

Neon beachiness.

Up All Night

Do you watch this show?  No?  You must.  Trust me on this one, it's a little gem.

I don't know who I love more - Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph or Christina Applegate.

NBC Thursdays at 9:30. You're welcome.

We made it!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Vacation yo!

Dollhouse

You guys.  I had this house when I was little.  I actually still have it somewhere.  It's a Fisher Price dollhouse circa early 70s.  Oh the hours I spent playing with this house and my Little People.  My sister had the A-frame house, and I was kind of jealous at the time, but now I'm happy that this was mine.

Also awesome?  The tree dollhouse we had where you pushed the top down and it popped up in to a house.  LOVED that house!

Photo source: Modnique Etsy

Vacation!!

Do you have the Go-go's song in your head?  No?  Then you're not old.  Like me.

Anyway, we're on vacation!!  Should I be announcing this to the world wide interweb?  Probably not.  But I have a house sitter so  hopefully we'll be fine on that front.

Sand.  Sun.  Cocktails. Water.  Rinse, repeat.

Pictures later this week (you cannot wait, I know)!

Weee!

Baby blanket

My mom was going through some things and found one of my baby blankets (see also: brownie sash)!  It's so old now, but I recognized it immediately!!

The corner has my name embroidered in orange (?) thread.  Totally doesn't match but I love it even more for that reason.

Instagram Thursday

Week four!  SHUT UP!  I know, I'm like all over this thing!  Enjoy some goodies from this week!

This is a little area I found in my neighborhood while walking the other day.  It looks like somewhere Peter Rabbit would live!

Miss Thing showing one of her amazing outfits...

On a recent trip to Ikea in Canada I spied this sweet sign...

My new Sephora Neon lip balms.  They look like jello!

I was driving the other day and had to pull over to take a picture of the place I used to pick strawberries with my mom when I was little!

On our way to church for Madeline's First Communion...

Some sweet neon bracelets at Target.  I'm back in 8th grade...

Decorating eggs!

Making some decisions on pedicure colors...I think I'm going with bazooka for my vacation.

Until next week!  click click!

Communion...

Someone celebrated their First Communion the other day...

She was perfect.  So serious (and a little nervous).  You could tell she felt special, and I just loved being a part of her special day.

This is the cross I gave her when she was baptized (my brother and I are her godparents).  I love that she was able to wear it for the next big event in her life. :)

Congratulations Madeline.  I love you so.

brownies

My mom found my old Brownie and Girl Scout sashes.  They were sadly lacking in badges.  I wasn't really into the whole Brownie thing apparently.

I tried to put it on but damn that sash is teeny!

scraps

I tend to go in waves when it comes to creative productivity.  I probably won't create anything new for another 6 months.  Here are a just a few of the pages I created...

A moment of honesty...

The last time I posted about my weight loss was about a month ago.  I had just lost 25 pounds.  Well since that benchmark I've been slacking.  Practically no gym, not tracking my food, etc.  Despite my badness, I've only gained 2 pounds.  I'm really ok with that.

The good news is that as of Tuesday, I've been back on track with the gym and eating.  I feel good.  And I'll continue to update you on my progress.

I felt it was important for me to report my victories as well as those times when I fail.  It's part of the journey I suppose.  Stay tuned for an update this month as to how I'm doing.  I promise I'll tell you honestly.  xo

Instagram Thursday

What?  Three weeks in a row?  I know, who'd have thought?  Here are a few snaps from this week...

Pretty little daffodils from my yard.  It snowed here Saturday night (or was it Friday?) so I picked a few so I could enjoy them before they were covered in snow.

A few of the pages in my Self magazine were pink.  It was so random!  Printing error, but fun to read that way!

A pair of shoes that I'm kind of in love with.  Mary Janes with a metallic toe?  Uh, yeah!!?

Until next week my friends! xo

vacation

Oh I am so excited to get away.  I need a vacation.  Like bad.

We're going to South Carolina for a week this month.  We rented a beach house in Myrtle Beach and it'll be a nice, peaceful escape (well, as peaceful as you can get with 3 kids under the age of 10 in tow).  The house is huge, we have our own pool and full access to a resort on the property.  So naturally, you'll all be exposed to some sweet vacation pictures in a few weeks.  I know, you can hardly wait.  Here's a photo from last summer to tide you over.  Enjoy.

The Hunger Games

Oh. Em. Gee.

This movie was so crazy good you guys.  I read the books last year so I wasn't sure I'd remember all of the intricacies of the story.  I did, totally.  It's so visually stunning, so true to the story.  I adored it.  Very violent, so I wouldn't take the pre-teens (if I knew any), but it was really magnificent.  I'll probably see it again so I can bide my time until the DVD comes out.

I think Jennifer Lawrence made a perfect Katniss.  She really was perfection.  I wasn't in love with the casting of Peeta, but Gale was good.  Rue?  Perfect.  Snow?  Dead on.  I thought Lenny Kravitz and Woody Harrelson as Cinna and Haymitch were fantastic.  Not how I pictured them but wonderful nonetheless.

And can we talk about Effie?  One outfit was better than the next.

Treat yourself.  See this.

Photo credits:  Murray Close/Lionsgate Entertainment

march photo a day

Oh my God...I'm exhausted.

I nearly* completed the March Photo a Day challenge on Instagram!  I know!  Yay me!  Here are the results of my massive efforts...

Now do you see why I'm so tired!?!  A picture a day using the phone I use 22 hours of the day.  How did I handle it?

Here were the prompts (from L to R in each row):
Up, fruit, your neighborhood, bedside table, smile, something you wore, window, red, loud, someone you spoke to today, fork, sign, clouds, car, sunglasses, green, corner of your home, funny, before/after, delicious, kitchen sink, moon, animal, breakfast, key, your name, trash, your feet, toy, where you go to relax.

A few things...you're supposed to (I think) take the pictures that day.  There are a few (sunglasses, funny, animal and trash) that I sourced from earlier pics I took (Madeline is 3 in the sunglasses photo).  Regardless, it was a lot of fun.  And I started April Photo a Day yesterday!  So stay tuned on May 1st to see what I've been up to!!

*Now, for all of you counting, I missed a day.  By mistake.  I missed day 6 (which was 5pm).  I don't know how I missed that but I did.  And I'm pissed.