An Interview

I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Ashley, from The Stork and The Beanstalk, a couple weeks ago. She had asked if I'd be interested in a maternity shoot...I decided to go ahead even though I'm not feeling super photogenic and I'm really glad I did! Check out the photos and an interview I did here. You can also follow her on Instagram @thestorkandthebeanstalk. Thanks again Ashley!

♥ anne

It's been awhile...

Hi all! I am indeed alive and still pregnant. This past month was a rough one so I decided to take a break from blogging and focus on surviving. Thankfully I'm feeling much better now!

I'm due at the end of next month so I'm in the home stretch finally. We also found out that this little babe is a girl. I wanted it to be a surprise but I'm happy to know so we can attempt to come up with a name for this lamb. If it was up to Marianne her name would be Old Man Coyote (we've been reading this series by Thornton W. Burgess ) and Shane has suggested a variety of names involving superheros and poop or fart. I guess I shouldn't expect more from a 2 and 5 year old!

Although I was pretty frazzled and depressed over the last couple of months we did manage to do some fun things. The week before last we visited Griffith Observatory and Park. Neither Ruben or myself had ever been there. It was a fun day and I can't wait to go back when it's not the smoggiest day of the year. You could hardly see downtown, it was pretty yucky.



We went to the beach several times.

I  made lots of soup.


We went on a desert adventure with Nicky and family.


And we visited my sister.

I look forward to getting back to regular postings and hope all has been well on the other end of the screen.

♥ anne

2 0 1 4

Well, it's a new year friends! I'm glad to have a clean slate and a new beginning. I know a lot of people aren't fans of New Year's resolutions but I actually like them. I don't set unrealistic goals for myself but I do like to look over the areas in my life that I'd like to improve and set to work on bettering them. My main goal this year is greatly improve my spiritual life which has been on the decline for the last couple of years. I'd also love to be able to keep up on my laundry but with baby #5 on the way I'm already having my doubts :)

I have been living in this tube dress from Forever 21. I have a black one as well and they are perfect for this stage in my pregnancy. I rarely shop anywhere other than thrift stores but I was having a hard time finding basic pieces so these have worked out perfectly. It's funny, I would never wear this type of dress if I wasn't pregnant so it's a good thing that it will most likely been worn out by the time baby comes. Oh, and my sweet sweater! A surprise gift from Milla that I've been wearing almost daily. Isn't it a beaut?! Thanks again friend!

I hope your 2014 is off to good start!

♥ anne

DIY christmas wreath and other randomness

I've been admiring the beautiful bush below for the last month and thought it was just begging to be made into a wreath. So, with my scissors in hand, I headed over to it and snipped off a couple branches and made my first wreath which is now hanging in the dining room.

We made a lovely Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed yummy food and fun conversation around the dinner table. Marianne LOVES to help with the dishes and I couldn't resist snapping a picture of her and my very patient Nana working together.

dress, sweater- thrifted // hat- c/o milla // clogs- c/o mary

You see that somewhat puzzled/WTF look on my face? That sums up how I've been feeling. My motto this last week has been, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all" which explains why I've been so quiet. And after having quite possibly the worst day yesterday (which included car trouble, missing my parent/teacher meeting and Shane running full force into the rear corner of the AAA truck and banging up his face right after Marianne had an accident in her pants) I think I may have finally snapped out of my overwhelmed funk. So, while I'm still a lady of few words I can at least say something other than colorful four letter words.

I hope this "Merry Season" is you treating you better! And I look forward to some green lights and blue skies in the very near future for me (and you of course)  :)

♥ anne

maternity style

I thrifted this dress last month and kept trying it on but never got around to wearing it. It is a wee bit too baggy, even for me and I figured I'd just sell it. I tried it on yet again this morning and decided to tie a little belt above my belly and viola! it is now wearable. Someone even complimented it today :)

Then this afternoon I dropped some stuff off at the Goodwill and just had to go inside, you know, in case there was something awesome waiting for me. Turns out there was something quite amazing...a practically new Ergo baby carrier! It looks just like this and was only $6.99! Man, I am STOKED because I've been wanting one for years but never have the spare $100+ to spend on it. Yay for going down an aisle you usually don't go down!

That was my exciting day. Did anything awesome happen to you today?

♥ anne

p.s.-excuse my odd face, I think I was mid sentence when Shane took the pic.

b i r d s

Today we strolled over to Talbert Nature Preserve. We went there initially to fly Shane's kite but the wind was not cooperating with us today. So, instead we went for a walk and bird watched. This first photo of a turkey vulture reminds me Mary's old header. And speaking of Mary, have you read her series on Cultural Appropriation? If not, you can read it here. I was one of the contributors and thoroughly enjoyed what she and the other ladies shared. Lots of amazing animal stories and much more!


I was most excited to see this Red-shouldered Hawk in action. Man he/she was fast! It sped by right over our heads but unfortunately my camera could not keep up with it. Occasions like this make me wish I had one of those super lenses but I'm very grateful to have the camera and lenses I do have. My camera is actually my Mom's. She's been "loaning" it to me for over 2 years...thank you Ma! I use it almost every day :)


Here's Marianne right before she started crying for 20 minutes straight. I'm proud to say that I remained calm through her tears which doesn't always happen. I'm easily irritated...I'll admit it, but today I kept the irritation at bay. She was tired and fell asleep immediately when we got in the car.


And here is a newer dress I thrifted a couple weeks ago. It's pretty much everything I was looking for and should fit me through this pregnancy. I also wanted to thank you for all your nice comments on my last post. I haven't responded yet but will. It's refreshing to know I'm not alone in the weight gain department. I swear every woman I see on social media is a size xs while pregnant and that's awesome for them (I sincerely mean that) but it leads me to compare and we all know where that road leads. Having your body change so drastically is a humbling experience, one I'm still trying to embrace even on my 5th pregnancy :)

♥anne

eighteen

this is the third time i've sat down to type this post. the first two attempts were me complaining about a number of things, which is fine i suppose, but i figured i might try again with a bit of a more positive attitude.

i have already gained more weight than i would like but i decided this morning to get things back on track. instead of giving up (which has been my bad attitude lately) i'm going to make the changes in my diet that are necessary. i truly wish i was one of those women that just naturally stay thin during pregnancy but i'm not. i have to work extremely hard to not gain a lot of weight. perhaps you think i'm exaggerating? well, with my first pregnancy i gained over 70 lbs. the next pregnancy i did really good and only gained around 35lbs but since then it's more like 50-55lbs weight gain. i know this is a very vain topic but i imagine most women are concerned about this to a certain degree. anyway, i'm fully aware of what has brought me to this place and i'm going to make a full blown effort to change. that's where you come in, dear reader. can anyone suggest a good online yoga/exercise site for pregnancy? what type of exercise did/do you do while pregnant? 

in other news, i finally got this book, which i've been wanting for years. i can't wait to make the moroccan sweet potato salad, it's sounds SO good! i also thrifted some great sweaters last week, one i'm wearing above. and... marianne has been fully potty trained for a month now. i'm so happy to be rid of diapers for a few months before it all begins again. lastly, my daughter and i watched The Whale a documentary about a lonely orca whale who befriends a small community on the coast of British Colombia. it was very good, so watch it if you get a chance. 

i hope your week is off to a good start!

♥ anne

VINTAGE MATERNITY STYLE

This pregnancy I am all about loose clothing. Tent dresses, baggy pants and oversized blouses are what I'm on the lookout for when thrifting. So far, I have found a couple items but I still would like to find a few more dresses to last me through this pregnancy. Here are a few inspiration pieces that I have found on Etsy that I like. Hopefully the thrifting gods will be with me in the upcoming weeks and I can score something along theses lines.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

♥ anne