We live in a 100-year old house in a historic part of town (which is the average age of homes in our area!). It's a neighborhood where every home has a porch swing, and the residents spend just as much time on those porch swings as they do inside.

Finding a mix of both new and antique pieces to fill our 'little piece of history' with is one of my favorite things to do. The piece of art (shown above) was made by local artist Rachel Roe and the frame was built by her hubby!

I think stacking books is a great way to make a room feel a little more cozy and 'lived in'. The gold, pedestal shelves I found at an antique shop and at The White Rabbit (a great place for mirrors, by the way!).

Our sideboard used to be a dark stain, but we painted it a beautiful gray color and swapped out the hardware with glass knobs. Gotta love a furniture makeover :) And fresh flowers are a must!

Did I mention I love antique mirrors?? Also, please excuse the not-so-pretty pack and play with the dirty baby laundry. Hashtag mom life. Keepin it real.

We've had our Edison bulb chandelier for years now and I still swoon over it. West Elm doesn't make this one anymore, but I've linked similar options here and here.

We did our best to honor the history of our home while still making it feel like us. If you have any favorite shops where you like to find home decor, comment below! I always love exploring new places :)

These past few weeks have been SO busy. I'm finding it to be much more difficult lately to feel like I'm splitting my time fairly between all of the pieces of my life, and I feel like this is probably something most moms struggle with. (Any advice on how to magically juggle it all is welcome, mommas.)

So we took some time to just relax this past weekend and explore one of our favorite spots in town: Main Street. Now that Graham is one, he is ON. THE. GO. Seriously--he is non-stop (as you can see). I worry when I think how much more I'll be running around the house once he is actually walking on his own! 

In the midst of all the chaos of life, we had Graham's 12-month doctor appointment, which may not seem eventful to most, but this one was a big one for us. This was the appointment where I would finally get the "OK" to stop pumping around the clock and get the green light to start introducing whole milk into G's diet. Up until this appointment I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh. I can't wait to finally light this pump on fire and be done with it!"  However, I'm finding it to be surprisingly difficult to come to terms with the thought of no longer being the source of G's nutrition. (The night before Graham's appointment, I fed him his nighttime bottle while I rocked him to sleep and cried. I'm thinking those pregnancy hormones are still lingering.)

So, these photos will forever be a reminder of the bond Graham and I shared during our breastfeeding journey (and trust me, it was definitely a journey with lots of ups and downs) and a reminder that even though it ends, our connection never will.

We survived the first year!! Seriously, though, I told Chris that Graham's party felt like just as much of a celebration of our survival as it did of him turning one. We had so much fun on Saturday splashing around with our friends and family at my moms pool, cooking out, and celebrating Graham's first birthday.

The party theme was simple: balloons! Renting a really heavy helium tank and blowing up all the balloons? Not as simple. But hey, it looked cute. I thought it would be fun to serve Strange Donuts instead of cake or cookies, and found the cute balloon picks on Etsy (which helped dress up the smash cake I bought from Schnucks). All in all, the day was SO much fun and Graham really loved the cake :)

This post is properly titled "makeup must-haves" because, for me, makeup is a must-have. I don't feel like my daily routine is high maintenance, but I wear make-up every day and enjoy the process of putting it on (it's like an art project!), so I consider it a must-have for me.

Every post I've read from makeup artists talk about the 3 makeup items they always have in their bag, and the answers are pretty much always the same: mascara, concealer, and a lip color. 

So, I thought I would share my favorite of each! P.S. I love shopping at Sephora because they give samples of just about anything, and you earn points when you shop. 

Concealer is your best friend when you're a sleep-deprived, pumping mother of an 11-month old. The girl at Sephora recommended Perricone MD No Concealer Concealer SPF 35 to me and I really love it. It's goes on smooth but solid, and truly conceals where you apply it, versus thinning out and smearing. (I let it sit on my skin for about 20 seconds, and then blend with a brush instead of my finger.) 
Price: $35

Oh, mascara. What would we do without you? But really, people would think I don't have eyes if I didn't wear mascara daily. I've tried DOZENS of mascaras. From drugstore brands to luxury brands, Too Faced Better Than Sex (Hey, I didn't name it) is by far my favorite. It thickens and lengthens your lashes, which are both a must for me. I gave birth to a long-lashed boy and you better believe I tell him every day how unfair it is that he stole the lashes I was meant to be born with. Men...
Price: $23

I wear dark eye makeup 90% of the time. It's always been my go-to "look", which meant I needed a reliable nude lip color that I could use daily. I love BUXOM Full-On Lip Stick in Sydney because it's the perfect nude shade and gives your lips that slight tingle for a lip-plumping effect. I don't usually like a shiny or glossy lip, so I love the fact that this one goes on matte while still hydrating your lips. Bonus: It doubles as a liner, too!
Price: $20

If you have a product that you swear by, leave it in the comments section! I would love to check it out :)

Chicago has always been one of my favorite cities. When we found out Chris was going to be attending the Podcast Movement 2016 conference, we threw around the idea of Graham and I tagging along, but I immediately said, "Nah, it would just be easier for us to stay here while you go."

Fast forward to about 2 weeks before Chris' trip, and I randomly decided, "Hey, I got this. We can travel to Chicago with a baby. No problem!" Making decisions on a whim when it involves leaving the state (or immediate vicinity of your home) with a baby is totally normal, right?

We had a blast and it was so fun making new memories with Graham, BUT, we learned a thing or two about traveling with a baby by the end that I thought should be shared (and that I wish I had thought through beforehand...oops).

1. If possible, drive versus fly. Graham, so far, has been a great plane baby. He's been on a total of 6 flights so far, and he slept through 5 of them! However, we realized that when you take into account the amount of time you have to leave to get to the airport, get through security, fly, catch an Uber, and get to your hotel, you really only end up saving an hour or so.

​Plus, we could have packed SO many things that we ended up needing, that we weren't able to take on the plane with us: a pack and play, food for Graham, drinks for mom and dad, a white noise machine (see #3). Babies have SO. MUCH. STUFF. Side note: If you DO have to fly, it's pretty cute when your baby earns his or her wings, so that's a bonus :)

2. When booking your room, consider upgrading to a suite. We had one, relatively small room, which allowed for plenty of family togetherness, but not so much sleep. The crib (which our hotel provided if requested) was positioned at the foot of our bed, because that was really the only space it could fit. That being said, once Graham was in bed for the night, we might as well have been, too.

We had to turn every light and TV off, tip toe around the room to get to the bathroom, and watch our movie on a computer using two sets of earbuds as to not wake the baby. A suite would have allowed us to put Graham to bed, then hang out in the next room--worry free.

3. Pack your white noise machine! What we didn't realize until after we had unpacked our bags, was that our room was located right next to the elevators. Awesome! This created a lovely soundtrack to our stay, so we got creative, opened the YouTube machine, and found a life-saving, 11-hour video titled "FAN white noise". You're welcome.

4. Rent a reclining stroller. Most major cities have services that allow you to rent baby essentials, and they'll even drop off and pickup to and from your hotel. This was THE best decision we made. Renting a good stroller with the option to recline was perfect for long days walking around downtown, which inevitably leads to a tired baby (recline and snooze away, little G!). We used Babierge, which I highly recommend.

Despite the sporadic rain, we had an amazing time in Chicago. You must eat at Wildberry for breakfast (and order the cinnamon roll pancakes!) no matter how long the wait is (I have no shame admitting we ate breakfast there 3 mornings in a row). I also highly recommend RPM Italian, which happens to be my favorite memory of the trip...

We took a chance at a nice dinner with Graham in tow, but soon after we arrived and ordered our glasses of Malbec and appetizers, little G decided it was time for a meltdown. We ended up ordering our entrees to go, and shuffling out the door and into an Uber as fast as we could. Once Graham was asleep in his crib, Chris and I snuck around the corner into our tiny foyer, sat on the floor, and ate our nice dinner off of an ottoman. It was perfectly imperfect and we loved it.

See you next time, Chicago :)

I've always enjoyed Mother's Day, because it is a day specifically assigned to celebrating the woman that gave you life. My mom is the perfect example of a strong, intelligent, selfless human being, so I always enjoyed having a day set aside to express how much she means to me. 

This time, however, I was able to experience Mother's Day on a personal level now that I, myself, am a mother! We began Sunday with breakfast at Chris' mom's house (which included Graham trying daddy's breakfast casserole for the first time), then followed that with brunch at my mom's place (which included introducing my mom and grandmother to snapchat filters--I would post the evidence, but I'm afraid my life would be threatened).

As the day progressed, I couldn't help but think about one day in particular: the day I became a mother.  

Giving birth to our son was an experience I couldn't possibly forget. When anyone who hasn't ever given birth asks me what it was like, it's honestly hard for me to find the words to describe it. 

One of the first things that comes to mind was how incredibly hard it was...like, real hard. I knew birthing a human being wasn't exactly going to be a cake walk, but dang. *Here is the part where I thank modern medicine for epidurals.*

We went into the hospital on the evening of Chris' 33rd birthday, July 13th. After 27 hours, five doses of Cytotec, an epidural, D5, Pitocin, and a LOT of pushing, our baby boy finally arrived at 2:25am on July 15th. 

Our lives were forever changed.

I remember almost being in disbelief when they handed him to me. He was so beautiful and bright-eyed. In fact, I remember thinking, "Wow...he is so alert!"

He had the sweetest little whimper of a cry. I had never felt such a sense of pride than I did in that moment. After carrying him for 9 months, feeling his strong and sudden kicks and turns, and pushing for what seemed like for-e-ver, he was finally here and in my arms.

Our baby boy, Graham Theodore, was not only born that night, but made our life's purpose immediately clear in an instant. Chris and I joke every now and then about how it's hard to remember life before him.

Of course we remember the freedom. The freedom to go out to dinner after a hard day of work and order cocktail after over-priced cocktail...the freedom to stay up late on the weekends and sleep in until 9:30...and the freedom to take a spontaneous trip to explore a city we hadn't been to before. 

But what we don't remember is what we felt was so "important" before him. Suddenly, everything in our lives was put into perspective, and he became the #1 priority. A bad day at work no longer owned our mind for the rest of the day and ruined our night--it was now just a bad day at work. 

They say when you become a parent, "The days are long, but the years are short." Graham is now just about 10 months old, and I can honestly say the time passes faster than I could have ever imagined. My first Mother's Day made me stop and realize this even more. 

The day ended with Chris taking me out to a delicious dinner at 801 Fish, and naturally, we talked about Graham the majority of the time. Having a nice dinner together was the perfect end to the day--not just because we love and cherish our alone time together, but because without Chris, I wouldn't have a reason to be celebrated on Mother's Day in the first place. 

Thank you to my boys for giving me a reason to celebrate every single day (Mother's Day is just a bonus). I love you both. XOXO