Cyber Monday at All of My Favorite Stores

Today I will FINISH my Christmas shopping all from the comfort of a cup of coffee and comfy clothes at home. Love it. Is it raining where y'all are? It's been raining all day here in Charlotte. That makes shopping from home even better. Here are my picks for y'all as we hopefully complete Christmas shopping before December 1 and have MORE time to soak up the JOY of the season! I've got you covered from hostess gifts to party wear to too many cute kiddo pajamas...
ATHLETA | 20% OFF | CODE WORKITDear hubby, remember the leggings on my Christmas list that I wanted? They're on sale PLUS 20% off, sooooo now is the time to snag 'em! ;)

See the leggings on my list here [stiped] + here [floral crush] Y'all...the sale goes like this...$79 $49.99 NOW $39.99

FOREVER 21 | 21% OFF ALL ORDERS OVER $21 PLUS FREE SHIPPING | CODE CYBER21 

I think my fave is this faux fur coat. And this mug as a stocking stuffer! Great sale considering the whole store rarely goes on markdown.

GAP | 40% OFF EVERYTHING NO EXLUSIONS | CODE BESTCYBERY'all. I've got to stop with the baby pajama obsession. I just can't though. Sigh. This is only the beginning of it in this post...

I MEAN, COME ON. The cuteness!! (And they glow in the dark.) $26.95 $16.17

I'm loving these too, which are already on sale..making them about $11!

H&M | 20% OFF $25 CODE 2020 | 30% OFF $50 CODE 3030 | 40% OFF SALE ITEMSCODE 4040 AND FREE SHIPPING ON ALL!H&M already has great prices at a better-than-forever 21 quality, so I looooove this sale. They don't have big sales very often, so jump on this goodness. I dressed in H&M for Thanksgiving! I'm going to wear that jumpsuit on repeat through the holiday season. (My other faves is this one in green...it just won't work for this breastfeeding mama this year. Sigh!) I've rounded up some other styling' holiday pieces for you to wear to upcoming Christmas parties and celebrations! And mamas-to-be, check out the maternity styles in SEQUIN (here + here) for your NYE parties! OMG!!! I just showed my sissy. TOO DANG CUTE! 

HANNA ANDERSSON | $20 LONG JOHNS + SLEEPERS + FREE SHIPPING [no code needed]

...that means almost/over 50% off depending on the style you choose!!! As I type, Nancy is beside me in these pajamas (winter wonderland print). I love them so much that I have trouble dressing her in "real" clothes in the morning when she wakes up in them. Hanna Andersson jammies have my heart because I grew up wearing them (and matching Hope in them) too. As a mama, I'm a firm believer that the zipper over snaps = everything.

Winter Wonderland Pajamas $38 $20
HUNTER | SALE ON SELECT STYLES/COLORS [no code needed]

I might have to rethink my Christmas choice to align with this sale...hmmm....! :)

LOFT | 50% off EVERYTHING PLUS FREE SHIPPING | CODE CYBER50

(This is an awesome deal because Loft shipping minimums are ridic in my humble opinion!)

Y'all, snag this sweater that I bought in two colors. Cheaper than when I got it!!  Turtleneck + swing style for the win.My other faves...

OLD NAVY | 40% OFF EVERYTHING (NO EXLUSIONS!) | CODE BESTCYBERWhat?! The everyday steals are ALWAYS excluded. Have at it! I'm personally dying over all of the little girl pajamas...especially these and these! I might've already ordered the love you to the moon & back ones for Nancy's birthday...in April. EEEESH.

Pump up the Jammies

Pajama Roundup:

Here are a few women's new arrival faves. I'm going to grab this hi-lo shirt. I used to have a black and white striped one from here that I had to (sadly) throw away after holes formed form so much wear. Going to buy another in black and white! Update: Okay, true confessions. I just checked out, and here is what was in my cart: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4(P.S. I saved as much as I spent! WOO!)

TARGET | 15% OFF ONLINE + FREE SHIPPING | CODE CYBER15 

For the men in your life, my hubby has been wearing this sweater (in pomegranate) on repeat. It's on sale plus the 15% makes it under $15! Mark would tell you he's into heavy knitwear. :) This is an easy steal of a deal for your man/bro/dad/whoever and comes in so many colors: black/gray, dark green, navy, gray, blue/gray, pomegranate. (Yep, that Loft sweater I so love...)Here are some of my favorite gifts for the home (many of these work as hostess gifts too...)

WORLD MARKET | 20% OFF $100+ PLUS FREE SHIPPING | CODE: INTERWEBZHere are some gift ideas, but can we just talk about wrapping them in this leopard print paper?  Also -- this set of 4 Christmas mugs make a great hostess gift! 

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving 2015 is in the books! There's something about holidays with a child that makes them refreshingly new, exciting, and full of wonder. Nancy was the cutest (and sweetest) pie at our Thanksgiving table.

 Nancy's first Thanksgiving

Nancy loved snuggling with our family all day! She is also obsessed with my brother. It's so cute. She gives him the biggest smiles and is always crawling to him.

 4 generations. These women are my rocks, my encouragers, and they breathe life into my mama heart and soul like no one else!

 Somebody loooooooovveees her Mimi.

 After playing photographer for us girls, Mark wanted to steal a shot with his boy, St. Francis.

 My Mimi always sets the table perfectly and uses her beloved turkey plates! I still sit at the kid table (seen at the back). I love the kid table. Always and forever.

 Why does it look like mush but taste soooooo gooooood?

 Might be my favorite pic of the weekend. My sissy always sweetly volunteers to put Nancy down for her naps. She's always has been/is/will be the best mama.

 Family checking out Papaw's new twin calves.

We wrapped up the day with another Panthers win. I enjoyed changing into my yoga pants and jersey for gametime. Clutch decision to pack that outfit change. It was so fun having our home team play on Thanksgiving day! After the game we ate some more (duh) and played Scrabble before heading back to our casa.

For the rest of the weekend, Marky and I tackled a "to do" list that we made on my phone. We conquered all sorts of homeowner tasks with multiple trips to Lowe's, cleaning out the laundry room closets, reinstalling doors, removing the fireplace screen, painting touch ups, painting shelves, beginning to build stairs for our patio...the list goes on. And on. And on. (I am so glad my husband is so handy.)

 

We were happy to put a pause on our to do list to celebrate this special woman. My Mimi turned 80 this weekend...perfectly timed with having the whole family in town to celebrate.

You might've caught these two in Instagram. Watching for Daddy to get home from Lowe's. These two.
All in all: family is everything, and I am so thankful for mine.

Under $20 Christmas Toys for Baby (and where to buy them on Black Friday)

A Christmas list for Nancy!!! Okay, okay. I know that this is really my list, not Nancy's. I realize that she will be much more into eating wrapping paper and attempting to pull lights and ornaments off the tree than actually unwrapping a gift and seeing what's inside. With that said, as frugal as I tend to be, this is my excuse to spend a little on my gal. Every item on this list is under $20 (minus the nativity set--which is $34). Most of it is a good bit under $20, so have at it! 
I also made a list to help my family get an idea or two for the little Pie gifts with things we "need." You know what I mean. Not need need but would like to have. :) I know I'll be eating my words in the years to come with the stuff that piles up, but for now--although I'm up to my ears in books as a former kindergarten teacher--we really don't have many toys. (Mamas of multiple kids, I hear you laughing already.) But really! We could use a few more toys in our house because I can literally count  the actual toys we have on one hand. With that backstory in mind, here is Nancy's Christmas list for 2015! 

1 | VTech Touch & Swipe Phone | Just like mommy :) I'm sure she won't be fooled.
2 | VTech Remote Control | But maybe she'll be fooled by this one?! Please yes. Nancy is remote OBSESSED.
3 | VTech Walker  | I am so excited about this one I want to give it to her now. I might not last till Christmas. She is cray and prefers standing to sitting, so I know she'll love this. 
4 | Melissa & Doug Creation Stacking Blocks | I love Melissa & Doug and I love their creation option instead of the typical 1-10 block stacking set. What a fun way integrate talking about creation into playing with blocks. :)
5 | Singing Soccer Ball | This one goes out to Nancy and my hubby. The only ball Nancy currently plays with is Amelia's plastic toy ball. Mark will be excited to have her first soccer ball in the house. He'll probably call it a football and it might be confusing later, but I'll love it.
6 | Bath Numbers & Letters | Our one bath toy is a rubber duck that was made for hotel guests to take home with them from our trip to England.  These foam letters are classic and of course good for letter (and letter sound!) and number recognition.
7 | Animal Bath Toys | Another bath toy hopeful, these little guys look fun. I'm already anticipating watching and listening as Nancy learns animal sounds.
8 | Little People Nativity Set | Okay this is the one "splurge" that's over $20. (Not by too much though.) The little girlies I nannied for in Wilmington have it and still played with it all the time at age 5; therefore, I can see this getting a lot of use in our home Christmas after Christmas for years to come!
9 | Melissa & Doug 50 Piece ABC/123 Block Set | A classic! And, yep, it's also good for letter and number recognition. You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but... :) 

One last little (big!) nugget. The above links are Amazon Prime, which I know and love with that 2-day shipping. BUT! Black Friday is around the corner, and Target is running a deal on toys (BUY ONE GET ONE 50% OFF) for brands like Melissa & Doug and Vtech. They also have free shipping through Christmas! Here are the links to the items the items above that can be found at Target for Buy One Get One 50% on Black Friday: Walker | Wooden Blocks | Creation Blocks not found but Target has them in these styles: Shapes + Colors, Alphabet 
Here are some more Vtech and Melissa & Doug ideas (I so love this classic brand!) for the Target buy one get one 50% off Black Friday sale. You can mix and match the brands as well. It doesn't have to be 2 Vtech or 2 Melissa & Doug, for example. :)

Though you won't see me at the mall or at the store come Friday, I will be snagging these deals from the comfort of my laptop at home. Happy Christmas shopping! I'll be hitting up this goodness. :) 

Nancy | 7 Months

I love writing these monthly updates because I all too quickly forget the little moments we share with Nancy. There are so many to treasure--I can't keep track of them all without writing some down. However, this month of memories makes me want to cry! Joyful tears, no doubt, but so much has changed over the past month with this little girl. We had a month FULL of firsts and milestones. In her 6th month of life, Nancy...

• Learned to crawl. (The official opposite hand/opposite leg crawling began the day before she turned 6 months old!) And crawl faster and faster. And crawl up the single step up in Mimi's sunken breakfast room. Now she can scale one side of the house to the other in no time.
• Learned to sit up independently (which came after the crawling...peculiar!).
• Pulled up. It happened in her crib on 10-28-15...6 months 4 days. We lowered the crib that night. NANCY, YOU ARE BONKERS.
• ...and pulled up on unsteady things like her exersaucer (11-7-15). Now she is pulling up on anything and everything...including the toilet seat as I was brushing my teeth yesterday morning.
• Started to "cruise" between furniture like her anywhere chair and our pouf in the playroom.
• Got her first tooth on 11-9-15. (She has another on the bottom that joined it. You can barely see them poking through in the picture above!)
• Tried lots of foods and now has a [hilarious] water cup too since she spent nearly all month trying to steal mine.
• Sits in her new high chair during dinner each night and has tried lots of new foods (spinach + avocado, chick peas + banana, chickpeas + avocado, as well as apples, bananas, and frozen strawberries through the fruit feeders).
• Added a little "ma" to the "bababa" she says. She might not know what she's saying, but it sure does melt my heart every time a "mama" comes out. 
• Does this sniffy snort scrunched nose thing (that makes her really look like my mom!).
• Started to grow a lot more hair (though she still looks bald in pics). It is starting to thicken.
• Began showing when she wants someone...in sweetness and in anger. She'll reach for who she wants and get really mad (or sad) if they person she wants doesn't pick her up. :) 
• Is trying so hard to wave!!! 

It has been SUCH a big month in the world of Nancy Hope. I am trying so hard to cling to and savor each moment. I've got all of the emotional mama feels over here with how much has changed over the past 30 days! Side note, Nancy, if your future brother(s)/sister(s) want to slow it down and NOT start all of this nonsense so early, tell them I am TOTALLY okay with it. 

 You got your first letter in the mail--a Halloween card from Granmimi and Chief--and you loved it. It occupied you in the high chair for a solid 15 minutes. :)

 Being a ham with mommy and daddy at Lowes. 

 Pull-ups with daddy in your way too small Hanna Anderson pajamas that I'm so sad to see you outgrow because I love them so much!

 We still love our Ergo 360 and use it almost daily. You also still judge on a daily basis and dressed up as a judge for Halloween. 

First day of spinach + avocado, success. Day two? Disgust. 

I'm not stressing about anything food/food schedule with you. We are still breastfeeding, so most of this food stuff is just for fun at dinnertime. :) I'm one of those mamas that really loves breastfeeding, and even though we've had our first biting incident this month with those new teeth (ouch), we are still going strong. I'm happy about it. 

I spy those 2 teethies coming through!!! 

Your reaction when I took you away from Tina's food and water bowl. See the brown crumbs on your face? Yep...busted.

Hey, little  fuzzy hair blondie!

You're in size 3 diapers and wearing all sorts of clothing sizes depending on the brand. For example, Carters seems to run small while Old Navy/Gap runs huge on you and Hanna Anderson runs just right. 

At your 6 month appointment (which was last week...so you were 8 days shy of 7 months old months old), you weighed 17 lbs14.5 oz (72%), measured 26.75" tall (68%), and you will always have that big noggin like your mama (92%). 

Loves: all dogs, crawling after dogs and getting in their beds, the dogs' food and water bowls, playing tug-of-war with Tina and her toys, watching Doxie and Tina tickle fight, remote controls, electrical outlets, wires, tags, tags on wires, bath time, pulling hair, sharing apples with mommy, peekaboo, banging the silver rattle on Mimi's hurricane candle holder to make a loud noise , when daddy gets home from work, crawling as fast as you can into Mimi/Grandmimi/Auntie Hope/Uncle Eric's arms when they come see you

Loathes: Teething, getting in and out of her carseat multiple times back to back (homegirl is over it when she's in and out and in and out), staying still enough to read a book, staying still during diaper/clothes changes, having a dirty diaper

You are our JOY. Daddy and I have purchased nearly every Christmas thing that says joy on it because it reminds us of you and how you've shown us a deeper joy and love than we've ever known. WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Other 7 month memories:Halloween 2015Our Family Shoot in Nancy's Nursery6 Habits of Choosing Joy as a Mama

Little Things Thankfulness

Via

A few little things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving week...

• That my brother got into college!!!! Early decision! Wake Forest! With a crazy quick turnaround on a Friday night when none of us happened to have big plans. Dropping everything to surprise and celebrate him.
• Purchasing this 6' skinny tree (for $13.50!). It fits perfectly on our little hearth in the den. We'll have our real tree in the living room, but I wanted one in plain site from the part of the house we're in all the time too. :)
  
  $13.50 Tree | Pajamas (25% off through tonight --11/22)
• Christmas lights.
• Seeing my extended family in a few days at my grandparents' farm.
• Birthdays and birth days. 
• Christmas socks from the dollar spot at Target.
• My little family. I've been feeling overwhelmingly grateful for and in love with these people lately. 

[Noteworthy: I am obsessed with my new sweater. I mean sweaterssss. I got one in the above color and another in dark emerald. Swing style? Turtleneck? $35? Excuse me while I wear them on repeat from now till spring.]

• Baby girls in traditional smocked dresses and bows.
• Marriage in general. I'm really thankful I get to do the mundane parts of life alongside my husband.
• Our church. Our life group.
• Making big leaps and dreaming big dreams for Cheers Y'all in 2016!
• How much my mom helps me. She is so selfless. One small example? She watches Nancy every weekday for an hour so I can go work out. I can't tell you how much that helps my mental sanity!!!! 
• Hopey's cute little baby bump and that precious life she's carrying!
• Living in Charlotte around my family. The way people just show up unannounced to love on and see our little girl.
• Technology that makes it easy for our English family to keep up with our growing little girl.
• Coffee (duh).
• Nancy's new pajamas. She wore them all day Sunday too because I couldn't bear to take them off of her. Another little thing I'm thankful for? Zippers over snaps. (Can I get a mama-filled AMEN?) 
• That Nancy and I got into our pajamas at 5pm on Saturday.
  

• This song. And this song. And this one too. Singing them over Nancy at bedtime.
• Stalking the video monitor on Saturday night when Nancy woke up and Mark walked around the room with her while playing this and then this form his phone. 
• The fact that Mark and I spent Saturday night splitting a bottle of wine, eating frozen pizza, snuggling on one of our oversize club chairs, watching 4 episodes of Parenthood, and talking about our life and what's yet to come for our family. 
• Sleeping in a flannel sandwich every night.
• The way Tina and Nancy play together everyday. 
• Basically every single little thing my little girl says and does.
• Our home. Being a homebody and loving making this place our own.
• The way that Mark loves to work out in the yard and has no problem leaving all of the interior design decisions to me. :)
• A 3 day work week for my hubby.

Via

Happy Thanksgiving week, y'all! I am so grateful that I get to share my life and my heart with each of you! xx

Friday Favorites

ONE | I'm into this. Simple yet so lovely. I'm obsessed with tree trimmings. I put them everywhere. Might have to recreate this one after we get our tree.

Via

TWO | Speaking of...hello, mantel from last year. Gimme all the tree trimmingssss (and Dollar Tree gold ornaments, holla!). I'm just a liiiitle excited to go pick out our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving. :)

Christmas Decor Home Tour 2014

THREE | You know that Old Navy gets me every darn time. I'm trying to imagine how I could pull these off on the reg. Hope sent me an email this week filled with links to so many amazing new arrivals. MEEHHHH. They're KILLING IT with the accessories/stocking stuffers right now. (And I added a few favorite clothing pieces at the end because I couldn't not. ;))

FOUR | Proud wifey alert. My handsome hubby has been blogging for work. I'm so proud of him! Learn Loft is an amazing company, and the former teacher in me totally stands behind and believes in the way they are transforming training and continuing education through e-learning. Go check them out! You can even sign up for their free leadership program that launches next week. Spread the word amongst your co-workers/hubbys/whoever! Thanks, friends!

Learn Loft Blog

FIVE | I saw this on Facebook this week and...yep. This is me these days. Mom life? Mom brain? I don't know what to blame it on. But if I'm not in the perfect setting to text you back, odds are I'm going to forget. For a long time. Eeek! Sorry, friends! Owning it. (Also, I need that girl to be a real emoji.)

Happy Friday! 
FRIDAY means I'm linking up with...5 on Friday:  Darci, April, Christina, + Natasha | Friday Favorites: A Little Bit of Everything, Momfessionals, + Grace and Love | Oh Hey, Friday: September Farm + The Farmer's Wife

Master Bedroom Reimagining

Biggest One Room Challenge Pro: I put my heart into our little guest bedroom for 6 weeks and turned it into a fun, motivating, FINISHED project.Biggest One Room Challenge Con: Completing this bedroom further shines the spotlight on our very unfinished, blah bedroom.
...seriously. Womp. When I finished our guest bedroom, my husband walked in and said, "It looks really good in here. We should sleep in this bed or something." Sigh. True. Nancy's nursery is my favorite room in our house. Then I gave the guest room my love and dedication. And then there's our bedroom. It's pretty much a hot mess right now. Nothing on the walls. Wires chilling on the floor. Furniture that we've already decided needs rearranging but we haven't done it yet. Sigh. It's white in here because white is peaceful to me...only, our room is far from peaceful at the moment. This room of ours needs some TLC. Badly!
We're playing a little game of musical beds within my family, and--much to my surprise--there's a king mattress and boxspring without a home. (!!!!!) Mark and I only sleep in kings at hotels or weekend getaways, and we feel like a king (and queen) with all that space. King bed = dream status. And now it's dream status come true?! It's going to take a biiiit of hearty imagination because our little bedroom can barely fit a king in it. It's gonna be a tight squeeze, y'all. But we're doing it. Here are my visions and inspiration so far. I'm excited to finally settle into this master bedroom of ours.
Mom (my personal interior designer...but really...thanks mommy!) and I went to the design center yesterday to look for headboard fabric. I'm dreaming of a tall, tufted headboard. Tall, tall. Like...7' tall. With soft fabric. The faux suede swatches above are my current contenders (minus the stark white which I'm using as a visual contrast to the other options). We also happened to bump into this amazing ikat fabric with all of my most favorite design colors and decided we needed to incorporate it into an accent pillow or two somehow. It's too "me "to resist Ikat! Bright white! Gray! Blue gray! (AKA all of our wedding colors) If I were a fabric, this would be it. (Weird thought.) So basically it needs to be in my life ASAP.

 Here are the headboard swatches closer up (and in better light). The walls in our bedroom are SW Pearly White (and look nothing like the color on the computer screen, FYI). It's also important to note that I am not at all intimidated or bored with an all white bedroom. White is peaceful (and bleachable) to me.

So, all of that to say/ask...y'all. Any favorite white bedding reccommendations? I love a white bed. I'll bring in a little color through the "Elise" fabric with accent pillows and I'll make it less boring through texture and/or layers. Any suggestions on where to start? We currently have this quilt, and I'm strongly considering purchasing the same one in a king. I just love it so much. But I have so many ideas floating in my head!! For example: right now we sleep under the quilt and have a duvet folded at the bottom. Do I do that again? Or the opposite and have a quilt at the bottom? Or another layering combination?! AHHHH! Staring at Pottery Barn beds in the catalog has me all confused. I don't know what to pick first.

Here is some brainstorming on my end...

White bedding inspiration:

Tufted headboard shape ideas (disregard color!): 

If you made it though that stream of consciousness that was mostly me sorting my ideas out in writing, then cheers to you. You're a gem. Thank you. :)  And cheers to this new project! Woohoo!

My Christmas List 2015

Here is what has my eye this holiday season. Most are fairly practical (as in they'll get a lot of use) yet higher priced than something I would buy to myself just because (as in they're not in the same category as impulse Target/Old Navy buys). There's a method (or meaning, perhaps) to my madness, and I'll fill you in on all of that right now. :)
1 | Splurge, yes. Worth it? Yes. Y'all, I've had Ugg slippers in years past. They're magical. My Old Navy loving self treated...myself...to Old Navy slippers last winter. I'm here to tell you, as much as I love Old Navy (and you know I do!)...they just don't cut it. At all. Like, at all at all. This Ugg goodness is there real deal in every way: comfort, durability, thickness, softness...they check every box. Of course I couldn't resist this color (and new style!) because I'm a sucker for light gray.
2 | Okay, this is the one very non-practical item. And I might already have missed the darn boat on these. But what a fun stocking stuffer! Nate Berkus does it again. I kind of want these shower curtain tassels in both of our bathrooms. Are they really already sold out?! BAHHHH. Target probs.
3 | Daisy has been my "signature scent" for years. It's Mark's favorite, and I'm running low, so a refill is on request.
4 | An investment of sorts? Sure. Practical? Yes. Because I workout 5-6x a week. As much as I wish I could buy my workout pants at Marshalls and TJMaxx, they just don't cut it. Sheer central. Nobody wants to stare at your buttcrack while working out. Here are three faves that won't break the break like Lululemon. :) Athleta [ON SALE!] | Athleta [ON SALE!] | Old Navy [ON SALE!] (Note: any/all of the ON compression leggings rock! Hopey loves their maternity version too. Best value out there!)
5 | Rain boots were on my list last year too. Every time it rains (which has been A LOT recently) I dream about owning a pair. These Hunters have my name all over them with that olivey green tint! Or these from Target that mimic my last year's pick (that was sold out)?! I think I'm leaning towards the Hunter's. (To whom it may concern:...size 8. I tried them on at Nordstrom. ;) ;))

Other gifts I will never turn down? Home Goods/TJ Maxx/Marhalls gift cards, of course. Hellooooo! My happy place! :) Okay. That does it. Enough self-indulgence for today. (That was fun though.) Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? I haaaavvveee! I am really excited about what I have in the works for my sissy and Spyros!