Top: Target Skirt: Target Cardigan: TJMaxx Flats: Payless Necklace: Gift
The last time I wore my nude flats, Rooney decided they looked like a good chew toy. I was so bummed, and immediately went online to reorder another pair. They arrived just this week, so I'm really happy to be wearing them again. I was down a pair of shoes in my 30x30! Yikes!
I wanted to alert you all that I'm changing the name of my blog to brynnash. The URL will be changing to brynnash.blogspot.com as well. I just wanted to let you know to change my URL in your reader to my new address. I'm making the change for a few reasons. First, "brynnash" has been my email account for about 8 years now, and has been my username for many things. It feels like "me" and I'm really attached to it. When I first started blogging here, "brynnash" was already taken (it was my old college blog, had two posts, and I couldn't figure out how to access it again). I spent a lot of time today recovering old email addresses and freeing up the URL so that I could have it for this blog. I never felt attached to "The Original Brynn" and it has always bothered me that "brynnash" is not my blog's name. So, now that it's available, I'm making the switch!!
If you'd like to keep following along with my blog, please add brynnash.blogspot.comto whatever reader you use, and feel free to follow me on Google Friend Connect at my new site as well. Thank you!
If anything funky is happening on the new site, please let me know as well - I would love to hear from you!
Blouse: Cynthia Rowley via TJ Maxx Pants: NY&C Flats: Payless Necklace: From Mom
Ugh I need a haircut. This weekend...fingers crossed!
For the second day of the Blog Every Day in May challenge, the prompt is to write a "how to." I had many thoughts, such as how to survive an endoscopy (yes, that's me in the video...please don't judge too harshly...), how to take awkward outfit pictures, or how to talk like a Minnesotan (seriously, I'll vlog some time and you'll see how bad my accent is), but I decided on something else much more pressing...
I've always loved children and have wanted to be a mother some day. However, with both Kevin and I being in graduate school and working, this isn't the right time for us to start growing our family. I get a wicked case of baby fever pretty regularly, but I've learned ways to cope with it. I'm here to share my wisdom with you all today.
Me and my cousin about 2 years ago.
1. Borrow someone else's baby. I am lucky enough to have a few friends and family members who have babies and toddlers, and I love to spend time with them and their children. I get to play with them, snuggle with them, teach them things, but ultimately, I get to send them home with their parents at the end of the day. I've mentioned before that my mom does daycare, so I sometimes get to hang out with her and the baby she watches. [I think that doing daycare for my mom is a way to stave off grandbaby fever, too ;)]
Snuggling with my mom and dad's dog, Piper, about a year and a half ago
2. Get a dog. I've noticed that in the two years since we've had Pippin in our lives, I've contracted baby fever a little less. I know she's just a dog, but I've definitely poured some of my maternal instincts into her, and she's just as cute and snuggly as a baby. I have unconditional love for my dog, and I get to share it with Pippin all the time. Again, I'm not comparing a dog to a child, but the desire to care for and love another being has partially been fulfilled by my sweet pup.
3. Watch videos of women giving birth. This, for me, is the quickest way to cure said baby fever. Nooooo thank you. Plus, Kevin and I are choosing to adopt our children (for many reasons), and watching birth videos just makes me more secure in our choice to adopt. I honestly do not want to experience that. Kudos to those who have gone through childbirth or who want to someday, but it really is just not for me. [I'm not attaching a video here...if you really want to see, that's what YouTube is for...]
4. Watch TV shows and movies about babies. Have you seen the movie Babies? Or watched any of those shows on TLC like A Baby Story? Sometimes I watch things with babies in them just to get my baby fix. Usually, it tides me over for a while, until I can actually interact with a real baby. Be cautious with this one, though...sometimes it actually worsens the fever... :)
5. Picture your life as it is today...but with a baby added to the mix. I do this allll the time. Right now, Kevin and I are super busy with school and work, as I mentioned above. We know that it would be incredibly stressful to add in a baby. Plus, we don't make very much money, and I know that children are expensive, so that's another factor. We like the freedom to come and go as we want right now, and we understand that when you are a parent, you need to plan more. We don't have to arrange for a babysitter (although, living on a college campus, there are plenty of built-in babysitters! Oh yeah, I don't think I mentioned that Kevin works as a residence area coordinator, so we live on a college campus.). I tend to be a realist, so when I start getting all baby feverish, I just have to remember the logistics and realities of our life situation right now and remember that this isn't the time or place for us to have a baby.
So, there you have it! My five methods to curing baby fever! Do any of you ever get baby fever? What do you do to help get rid of it?
I'm also linking up with Marissa for the Pantone Color Challenge. Today's color: Linen!
Tank: Old Navy Cardigan: Target Jeans: NY&C Flats: Payless Necklace: From Debbie
April 20th is a special day in my family. It's the day that my mom's step-mom, Debbie, passed away from a nearly year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. I've written about Debbie before, when talking about her love for polka dots, but I wanted to share more about her.
Debbie and my grandpa got married several years before I was born, so she was in my life from the moment I was born, and was very much my third grandma. You couldn't have met a sweeter person. Debbie had the most gentle spirit. She was generous and loving, and although my brother, cousins, and I were not her biological grandchildren, she loved us like we were.
I am one of those weird people who saves old voicemails from people so I can listen to their voices whenever I want. I have a voicemail that Debbie left me in the fall of 2009, about 6 months before she died. We were getting together to celebrate my mom and dad's 25th wedding anniversary and she wanted to know what kind of cake everyone in my family liked. At the time, she was battling her cancer, doing aggressive treatments and on a clinical trial, but she still wanted to make the celebration as special as possible - that's just the kind of person she was. I love having this voicemail, and I listen to it often. Sometimes I'll play it for my grandpa so he can hear her voice again, and he smiles the whole time.
This necklace was Debbie's. When she died, she wanted me to have it. It was a special necklace to her, and she wore it all the time. I love wearing it, because it makes me feel close to her. I had a dream about her after she died, and she was wearing this necklace in the dream. I have worn it every year on the anniversary of her passing, and will continue to do so.
Here is a picture of Grandpa and Debbie on their 25th wedding anniversary - she's wearing the necklace :) What a beautiful woman.
Tank: Old Navy Cardigan: TJ Maxx Pants: NY&C Flats: Payless Heart necklace: Was my grandma's Chain necklace: From Mom
YOU GUYS. I did it - I took a picture outside. The quality is terrible (boooo, old camera) and it took a little bit of tweaking to get my whole body in the shot, but I did it! I was so paranoid the whole time that someone would walk by...does the paranoia ever go away?!
Also, this is my 50th post on The Original Brynn! I absolutely love blogging so far. I've been into personal style for years now, but documenting it on the blog is so much fun. It's been great getting to know other bloggers and readers through this journey as well, and I'm so excited to see where this takes me!
Dress: Target (NWT from Goodwill) Cardigan: Target Tights: Target Boots: Target Necklace: From Mom
Yep, I'm wearing green tights today. They kind of make me feel like Elphaba (Wicked reference, anyone?), but I don't really care. I've had these tights for a few years now, and I think this is the second time I've worn them. I decided to pull them out for Kate's No Longer Neglected challenge and style an outfit around them. What do you think about the green tights? Are they too "out there," or should I hang onto them?
