if i had an instagram, #4

man, black friday week really took it out of me. i've been exhausted and cranky and at work laaaate every night for the past week. we're in peak season, and i'm feeling it, haha. i thought i'd stop in and share a couple of tidbits from my day-to-day. :)

lately, i've been spending as much time as possible with these two. kendall as a mom is my favorite version of kendall that i've known. i love her so much. and obviously i'm obsessed with avery. obviously.

lately, this hat basically never leaves my head. i've been all about feeling constant cuddles with my sleeplessness and this hat, paired with a thick, knitted scarf, are my favorites.

i also learned how to do some make-up. this is dramatic, i've never worn make-up before in my life! what in the world. now i'm obsessed.

this is my friend jennifer. she moved back to her motherland, which happens to be utah, to go back to school. i stole her from my previous job to come to ae with me, and i'm gonna miss her a lottttt. wah. i'm so sentimental about everything that saying goodbye to people is always the weirdest and worst.

and now, at 3 am, i am going to go to sleep. tomorrow (today) and thursday are my days off this week, and i plan to sleep, hang out with kendall, wrap some presents i've been waiting to get in the mail, and figure out why my car's rear tire has been losing air. ;) <3

if only i was organized

so, this is the time of year that i always wish i had my life together enough to send out christmas cards. obviously, austin and i would not send out cards with our pictures because ... who cares. if we had a puppy, it'd be different. ;) but, with all of the pretty and fun options on etsy, i know i could collect a different one for everybody on my loved list. since we decidedly do not have our lives together enough to send out christmas cards, i thought i would share some of my favorites here.. in case you DO have your life together.

quill and fox

runaway handmade

this one is from my best friend becca's new etsy shop. she has a few others, including a pretty one with snowflakes, that i had to choose from. generally, when i like an artist, i really like an artist and (lucky for me) she's one of my favorites.

the little canoe

this shop was one that i discovered at renegade, and it's still one of my favorites. i had like four of her holiday cards open to choose from!

vintage confections

i just want to be a cool friend who sends you lollipop greetings.

freya art

<3

christmas is all around us

i don't think i've ever been this excited for thanksgiving and christmas in my entire life. this past weekend, austin and i upgraded our past 2 foot tall christmas tree to a 4.5 foot one and picked up our stockings!! we haven't had any since we moved out of our parents' houses, and decided that this was the year. i have to be honest, i just don't really like christmas decor.. so for me to love some cheap little tj maxx stockings and this baby christmas tree is a huge deal. i think it really shows how into the holidays i am all of a sudden. i've been shopping since september (and actually prematurely gave out some of the presents already..), so i wanted to display some of the christmas presents i've wrapped under the tree, too. we've never been able to do that before!

this thanksgiving, austin and i will be making three stops. we're so lucky that none of our family events have overlapped (yet). i can't wait to see everybody all in one day! i've had my outfit picked out for weeks. ;)

then, after a day of eating and relaxing with three families, i get to work my favorite day of the year: black friday! ae is doing 40% off the entire store (i'm allowed to say since they've already announced it, haha) and i. can't. wait. at all! customers on black friday are always really fun, and i think the horror stories actually only apply to department stores and walmarts. ;)

basically, being excited is a lot of fun. <3

i'm kind of obsessed with my boy scouts shirt

hi guys! this is my new boy scouts shirt, courtesy of the goodwill. ;) basically since i went thrifting crazy in high school, i've been dreaming of finding one of these. but, since i sort of stopped looking through the children's section after i graduated high school, my chances got unlikely. lately i've been looking through the dresses for avery, and this guy was tucked in there just waiting for me! it's a little bigger than i would prefer but dude. whatever. i don't know what any of the little patches mean, because i'm not sure if boy scouts and girl scouts patches are similar.. regardless, i love it!! this is how i wore it the first time:

necklace: cm via local honey in nashville
tank top: ae
boy scouts shirt: goodwill
shorts: old ae
socks: austin's
boots: vintage justins, via etsy

even though i sorta hate wearing white tights, i LOVE when i remember to break out these boots. they are one of my greatest etsy purchases to date and they were sized wrong on etsy (they said women's 5, but really they're little boy's 5)! so really i should not have bought them.. at all. but i did, because i was so obsessed, and they fit perfectly.. because a child's 5 is a woman's 7. :)

i keep saying it, but my day off outfits are a little more ridiculous than my regular "work clothes" (not that those aren't my personal style, either) and i tend to have a little more fun with them. for work, i'm excited to wear the boy scouts shirt over a dress, with skirts, tucked into jeans with a cardi or a scarf, etc etc etc..

possibilities are endless and i'm so excited!

family

these past couple of weeks, i've been sooo busy. lots of work, lots of family, lots of quick dates with austin, and lots of christmas shopping/wrapping. stuff gets so hectic this time of year, especially working in retail. especially working in the best store in the mall. ;)

i wanted to share a couple of pictures that my sister spliced together that make me really happy.

the top photo was taken in 2010, and the bottom a couple of weeks ago. i love looking at all of our differences! austin said none of us even look like the same people. and i love the little addition to the left side of the bottom picture. ;)

i love my family. <3