mullet dress

 

Shoes: Converse, Dress: Target, Bag: World Market, Sunglasses: Target

Honestly, the high-low trend is one of my least favorites. It's sort of the mullet of dresses? Hang on, hang on fans of the high-low, just run with me on this one for a sec. On some people, the mullet ... the actual, on-your-head, business in front, party in the back, 80's mullet ... was a really good thing. A.C. Slater for example. Just imagine where Mario Lopez would be today, had he not coiffed his locks like this first. That mullet is a hero. The Uncle Jesse version, on the other hand ...
{To his credit, I would kill for just a twelfth of that volume.}

Like its hairy predecessor before it, the high-low dress can do some reallllllly good things for people. My sister for example, is like a long-limbed amazon goddess when she wears hers. Add heels and the sidewalk is her runway, type of deal. Add flats and it's like she gets taller. It is THE WEIRDEST thing I've ever seen. But I am the Uncle Jesse of this basically pointless tale. Mostly, it's just better to ditch the mullet and keep everything one nice even length. Let the maxi dress be a maxi dress, you know what I'm saying? But alas, I am wearing it anyway. Because when you pack your bags for about a week and end up staying for a month, you go to Target for back-up. And we all know how Target loves a good mullet dress.

this one's for you, grandma

 Shoes: c/o Windsor, Dress: Ross, Belt: JCrew, Sunglasses: Free People

The one who's always told me that no girl under the age of 65 should have as much gray in her closet as I do.  :/

happy 50th dad!

Haaaaaaappy birthday dad! Can you believe this? It's your 50th and we actually get to spend it all together! We're all so lucky to have you. You've always been so easy to talk to and the best example of fatherhood. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful men in my life and you were the very first of them. Thank you for everything that you've done and been for me over the years. I've especially loved getting to watch you with Everett. He adores you, just like the rest of us. I can't wait to spend a day at the lake, playing games, digging into your strawberry shortcake and celebrating these 50 years you've lived. Happy birthday, I love you so much! You'll always be 35 to me :)

sweet made sweeter

Everett is the only grandbaby/nephew on my side of the family so far, so as you can imagine, he has been getting the FULL TREATMENT lately. The family activity planning has gone something like this:

Let's go to the splash pad, Everett would love it!
Has he ever had ice cream before? We should go get him some.
No, let's not go to that park, they don't have baby swings.
There's a carousel over there, do you think he would like it?

I mean, truly! The red carpet has been rolled. It's been so fun to share him with my family these past few weeks. To watch him bond so unexpectedly with my little brother, the very first teenager he's ever loved. I have a feeling it's because they've recognized a kindred oldness in each other. At 13-years-old my brother likes to study quantum physics and write constitutions like a vernacular poet, for new countries that he's imagined founding in his spare time. {Seriously.} And anything he does makes Everett laugh. Like peas in a pod, those two.

This last Saturday? Friday? The days are blending together. We headed out to the park, and picked up some ice cream from Wendy's on the way. My siblings are die-hard, dip-your-french-fries-in-your-frosty, frosty fans. And I could eat waffle cones by themselves all day long, so we were all on board with their newest frosty/waffle-cone marriage.

I will say it once, I'll say it a hundred times. Cheesy as it may be, having that Everett around turns everything into an adventure, a rediscovery of childhood, a reminder that I will probably never feel too old to jump on the swings and match my back-and-forth with his back-and-forth . Summer, we are coming for you! We are coming for you with a toddler and pool floaties, picnic blankets, and sidewalk chalk, dirty knees and messy ice cream faces.

See? Right there in the swings? He's looking at Ethan.

 

* This post sponsored by Wendy's new frosty waffle cones.

blueberry pancakes and dresses with pockets

Shoes: c/o Shoemint, Dress: Target, Sunglasses: Free People

Happy Friday! Around here, every morning has sort of felt like a Friday. Everett has been sleeping closer to my dad's room than to mine, so each morning he lets that Poppy know that he's awake and I get to sleep an extra 45 minutes. This trip is like the gift that just keeps ooooon giving. My room has these double doors on it, so whenever Everett DOES decide that he's ready for mama to wake up, he runs over in that wobbly way of his, bursts through the doors with both hands and yells Hiiiiiiiiii!!! It is THE BEST thing I have ever seen.
Then this morning, my dad made us blueberry pancakes which I have not had in ... 7 years? Maybe 8. We had triple helpings and then took a walk in our bare feet, making friends along the way with the neighborhood puppies and who else, but the sweet retired next-door neighbors. Honestly, it feels like we've skipped spring altogether and poured straight into summer. Between ice cream runs, tennis games, hiking, swimming and upcoming plans for campfires and cliff jumping. Time with this family of mine, man. It's the best. I'm just going to shove my hands in these especially roomy pockets {I just want to celebrate them a tiny bit. A sleeved summer dress with big pockets is like the unicorn of all dresses} and head straight out the door. Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

just consider this an open invitation to saucy buffalo wings everywhere

Shoes: converse, Jeans: H&M, Shirt: F21, Sunglasses: H&M

I know, I'm asking for it.

beetlejuice

Shoes: c/o Shoemint, Pants: H&M, Tee: Thrift, Sunglasses: H&M, Hat: Free People

I like these pants for two reasons.

One: I'm not always entirely sure how to dress myself in the spring, when layering becomes either non-existent or a really bad decision. Lately, all of my outfits have seemed to morph, plain and simple, into the jeans and t-shirt combo, which is becoming my favorite. The less I have to think about these things in the morning, the better. Enter, the beetlejuice jeans. Sort of the throwback solution for keeping things a tiny bit more interesting 1988 style.

And two: I believe in owning at least one {or five, whatever} item{s} of clothing that you know you will regret in 10 years, but your kids might want to wear in 24. I swear, if my mom had JUST held on to those baseball tees and bell bottoms!