What I Read Wednesday

Over the weekend I finished Elin Hilderbrand's new book, Beautiful Day. Her books are always set on the island of Nantucket, making them great summer reads.

Beautiful Day told the story of a family who were preparing for a wedding. Jenna is getting married and her deceased mother filled out a notebook of how her wedding should be planned. Jenna follows all of the directions to a "T". Each chapter is told from a different family members perspective showing us that no matter how perfectly you plan things out, there is plenty of room for events to go wrong!

This is a really easy but enjoyable book. I started and finished it over the weekend. Would be the perfect beach read!

Beautiful Day

25 Weeks

Dress: Old Navy (not maternity)

Belt: borrowed from mom

Nail polish: OPI I Eat Mainely Lobster

How far along? 25 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: About 20 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yes

Stretch marks? No

Symptoms: Sore back and feet and swollen feet and hands sometimes when it gets really hot outside.

Sleep: I’ve started waking myself up snoring in the night ha! Other than that I sleep pretty well.

Best moment this week:   The relaxing weekend I had: baking and reading. It was perfect!

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my stomach and not having as much energy.

Movement: He moves all the time.

Food cravings: Not really.

Anything making you queasy or sick: I still don’t like the smell of the furniture in our house.

Have you started to show yet: For sure.

Baby is a:  boy!

                          
Belly Button in or out? Innie, although just last night it started feeling really sensitive. I think it's slowly stretching out!

Wedding rings on or off? On, although I have a hard time taking them off in the morning. I wake up a lot with swollen hands.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy

Looking forward to: Going on vacation to Branson at the end of July with Jeron’s family.

Baby shower dresses

Recently I ordered two adorable dresses from Asos Maternity for my upcoming baby showers. My first shower is in August and it's a morning one. I planned on wearing the cream dress to it and then the black and yellow one to my shower in September. What do you think?

Buy here.

Buy here.

22 weeks

How far along? 22 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: About 10 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yes

Stretch marks? No

Symptoms: I feel like I’m feeling better and better every day. Still get worn out easier than before but was so happy that I survived a baseball game and a trip to the zoo over the weekend! Even in 90 degree weather

Sleep: Sleeping well but my husband says I have been snoring a lot more. So, I’m sleeping good but he’s not J

Best moment this week:  Going on a weekend trip with my husband to St. Louis

Have you told family and friends: Yes

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my stomach and not having as much energy

Movement: Yup. He likes to flop around a lot

Food cravings: Not really

Anything making you queasy or sick: I still don’t like the smell of the furniture in our house

Have you started to show yet: Oh yeah

Baby is a:  boy!

Belly Button in or out? Innie

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy

Looking forward to: Setting up the nursery

OOTD

Maybe someday soon I will get back to taking camera pictures. Right now I barely have time to snap these iPhone photos before racing out the day to work. I wear this dress at least once a week. I have a few different tank tops that I throw over the top of it to make it look like a maxi skirt. It's just too comfortable! 

Dress: Victoria's Secret

Maternity tank: Burlington Coat Factory

Necklace: J. Crew

Flats: Libby Edelman

21 weeks

Maternity dress: Burlington Coat Factory

Cardigan: Old Navy

Sandals: Claire's

Watch: Fossil

How far along? 21 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: About 10 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yup!

Stretch marks? No

Symptoms: Feeling mostly good overall. Still experiencing heartburn and I get wore out a lot easier.

Sleep: Sleeping really well.

Best moment this week:  Jeron and I watching him kick all over my stomach J

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Sleeping on my stomach and not having as much energy.

Movement: Yes. Quite a bit actually. Most every night when I lay down he starts flopping around or kicking.

Food cravings: Not really.

Anything making you queasy or sick: The leather furniture in our house still bothers me. I sit in our bed most of the time rather than the living room.

Have you started to show yet: Yes. You can tell in most every outfit.

Baby is a:  boy! We’ve jokingly started calling him “Dwayne Lee”. I’ve asked Jeron for suggestions and that’s the only one he’s given me J

Belly Button in or out? Innie

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy

Looking forward to: shopping for baby’s nursery.

What Will It Bee??

My mom threw a gender reveal party for us. It was so fun! Most everyone thought we were going to be having a girl, so we really surprised them :) Aren't the decorations adorable?!

Missing in action

So I realize that I pretty much just disappeared from the blogging world. The photo below should explain a few things :)

I'm pregnant! I'll be 19 weeks tomorrow actually. I have been sick from week 6 to week 17....and I'm talking sick the entire day. Every day, all day. Not one day in there did I feel good. It was such a struggle for me! We didn't tell anybody until week 12 either so it was really hard for us to keep it a secret. I managed to make it to work everyday but just collapsed once I got home. Thankfully during week 17 I just came out of it. I'm so thankful to be feeling well now. I'm still really tired so I'm hoping that goes away as well. I probably won't be able to keep up with blogging everyday, but am hoping to do a couple posts a week. I'm happy to be back :)

What I Read Wednesday

I just finished the book Heft by Liz Moore over the weekend. After seeing it on several best books of 2012 lists, I decided to check it out at the library.

Heft tells the story from two different perspectives: an obese, recluse man and an 18 year old popular high school boy. I know it sounds as if they have nothing in common, but there's a common thread that links them together. That thread is a woman named Charlene Turner, who is a former student's of the recluse, Arthur and the mother of Kel, the high school student. The story culminates at the end when the two men are brought together.

I read this book very quickly and it definitely held my attention, but I wouldn't say it would go on any of my favorite books list. But if you decide to read it, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Maxi skirts

I haven't worn this outfit since the fall, and I never got a picture of it. I love maxi dresses and long skirts and was excited when I thought of a way to incorporate them into colder weather. I definitely have a pair of sweater tights on underneath! We're supposed to get a lot of snow today. Brrr!

Sweater: Old Navy

Dress: Victoria's Secret

Boots: Old Navy

Belt: Forever 21

Casual Monday

I have declared today Casual Monday! Let's see if anybody else will follow suit today at work....This vest is always my fallback when I need a quick outfit. It looks cute over almost anything.

Plaid shirt: J. Crew Factory

Vest: Kohls

Jeans: American Eagle

Boots: Uggs

Busy

Super busy morning, this morning, giving me just enough time to snap this picture with my phone. My in-laws are coming over for supper tonight, so I was getting some stuff ready this morning. 

Anyways, happy Thursday everyone! One more day till the weekend :) 

Blazer: Nordstroms Rack

Dress: borrowed from mom

Plaid shirt: Forever 21

Tights: Forever 21

Boots: JCPenney

What I Read Wednesday

This week's book is What The Nanny Saw by Fiona Neill. I ran across it on a really cool book blog, S. Krishna's Books. 

It tells the story of Ali, who is a nanny for a very wealthy family. She has never been a nanny before so is kind of figuring her way out in this position. The story starts out towards the end of her job, when the husband, Nick is in trouble with the police, but the reader doesn't know why. Ali then goes back two years to tell the whole story.

I really enjoyed this book! In fact, as soon as I finished it, I passed it on to mom to read because I knew she'd love it too. It is filled with very colorful characters and you feel like you're getting a background peek into the life of this very wealthy family. I want to pick up Fiona Neill's other book!

Polyvore

I made this fun spring outfit on Polyvore. Think it'll help wamer weather get here faster??

Striped set by kenz2410 featuring j crew shirts

High Five for Friday

Linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk for High Five for Friday!

1. After seeing Chrissy at Prayers & Pearls cute diy sharpie mug, I knew I had to try it out. Found white mugs at Dollar Tree and then a gold paint Sharpie pen at JoAnn Fabrics. Decorated them and then stuck them in the oven on 350 for 30 minutes. Turned out cute didn't they?
2. Just purchased this Tervis tumbler a couple days ago. Everyone who has one loves it. Can't wait to try it out!
3. I made apple dumplings and ice cream Sunday night to have after supper. Yum :)
4. Last weekend my husband and I went to St. Louis. Of course we had to stop by the casino. Didn't win anything, but had a great time.
5. Ordered these cute lamps at Kirlands. They'll be perfect for our living room!

And last but certainly not least, I'm sure you guys notice that our blog got a make-over. Doesn't it look awesome?! I had Erin at Love, Fun and Football design it for me. She asked me a few questions like what were my favorite color combos, any specific themes I wanted, the type of font I preferred, etc. She came up with this design right off the bat. Couldn't have been more perfect! Erin was also so easy to work with and really quick. If you're wanting some help with your blog, be sure to check her out

Summer dresses

Is there anything easier than a cotton dress to throw on during the spring/summer? While scrolling through Oldnavy.com I found these awesome t-shirt dresses. They are so cute and will be perfect to dress down with flat sandals or up with wedges and a blazer.

What about you guys? What's your go-to outfit for spring or summer?

Women's Tab-sleeve Tee Dress

Women's Tee Dress

Women's Maxi Tee Dress

What I Read Wednesday

I just re-read the book The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer for probably the 20th time! It is one of my all-time favorite books. When I was a senior in college I just happened to run across it at the library and thought the cover looked neat, so I picked it up. 

The Dive From Clausen's Pier is told from the view point of Carrie, a girl in her early 20's who has been dating the same guy since she was a Freshman in high school. On Memorial Day weekend her and her friends and boyfriend Mike go out to the lake to cookout. Mike decides to dive off the pier into the lake and hits his head which causes him to be a quadriplegic. Carrie had been considering breaking up with Mike before the accident but afterwards is filled with lots of questions and worries and isn't sure what to do.

I'm sure my short summary of it doesn't do it justice. It's a fantastic book. I'm not exactly sure why but something about this story resonated with me. I've never experienced this exact situation but we all know what it's like to feel a relationship slowly disintegrate. The way the author describes it made it feel like she knew exactly what I was thinking. Please pick it up and read it!

New outfit

I love this new outfit I just got. My husband and I stayed in St. Louis over the weekend for Valentine's Day and of course I got a little shopping done :) I really love this blazer but it's a tad bit too big. I'm going to see if my Grandma can take it in a little.

Blazer: Marshall's

Striped shirt: American Eagle Outlet

Pants: American Eagle Outlet

Heels: Payless

Bag: Zulilly.com

TJ Maxx

Today's outfit is pretty simple. I found this top at TJ Maxx a couple weeks ago. My aunt and cousins are the best TJ Maxx shoppers ever but then when I go in there I can't ever find anything. I found several things on this trip though. I think the secret is to take your time!

Plaid shirt: TJ Maxx

Jacket: borrowed from mom

Belt: American Eagle

Jeans: American Eagle

Boots: Gojane.com

High Five for Friday

Linking up to From My Grey Desk for High Five for Friday.


1. I have been obsessed with this tortoise necklace from J. Crew that of course they don't sell anymore. I actually bid on one on ebay a couple weeks ago and didn't get it. Luckily for me, Monday morning I was checking out Veryjane.com and they had an identical version for a mere $13! I scooped it right up :)

2. How cute is this pillow my mom made? She took a cloth napkin and sewed it over an already existing pillow as a cover.

3. This is an encouraging post from Proverbs 31 Ministries blog. Nicki shares how moving away from God isn't always intentional, therefore we need to stay vigilant about spending time with Him. 

4. Last night to celebrate Valentine's Day my husband and I went to Cracker Barrel with our parents. Of course I had to get their apple dumpling with ice cream. Delicious!

5. My husband surprised me with my favorite candle for Valetine's Day! We agreed not to get each other anything, but he apparently wasn't listening :) If you guys haven't smelled this candle before, you are missing out. One whiff of it instantly transforms you to a beach!

Sun & Sand Yankee Candle

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Top: borrowed from mom (Loft)

Pants: LC by Lauren Conrad from Kohls

Boots: JCPenney

Necklace: Veryjane.com

What I Read Wednesday

This week's review is on Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. She is the author of the super popular book, Gone Girl. Sharp Objects is her first novel. 

Most of you have read Gone Girl and know that while it was an excellent book, it was also very creepy. Multiply that level of creepiness by ten and you've got Sharp Objects. The main character is Camille who is a journalist for a Chicago newspaper. She is told to go to her hometown in Missouri to cover a story about a couple young girls getting murdered. Camille has never gotten along well with her mother, so she is hesitant about heading home. After meeting Camille's mother and the rest of her family, I can definitely tell why! Creepiest fictional family ever. Especially her mother and half-sister. While covering the story, Camille also starts to investigate the crimes. That's where I'll end my summary!

I really did not enjoy this book. Actually I've had it for probably about 6 months. I tried to read it once and couldn't. Over the weekend I was desperate for a book and picked it up again. My biggest problem was her family. I just couldn't get over the weirdness. Anyways, don't waste your money. Pick up Gone Girl instead!