Stop Buying Cheap Crap

A self-indulgent walk down memory lane in honor of my 30th birthday with a daily picture from each year of my life and a lesson I've learned somewhere along the way.

1989

Stop buying cheap crap.

....Unless it's really really cute.

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Take Care of Your Teeth

A self-indulgent walk down memory lane in honor of my 30th birthday with a daily picture from each year of my life and a lesson I've learned somewhere along the way.

1988

I floss and brush every night because A. it feels good and B. I feel like a rock star every time I go to the dentist.

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The Dark is Scary

A self-indulgent walk down memory lane in honor of my 30th birthday with a daily picture from each year of my life and a lesson I've learned somewhere along the way.

1987

The dark is scary. I can admit it.

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Drink Water

A self-indulgent walk down memory lane in honor of my 30th birthday with a daily picture from each year of my life and a lesson I've learned somewhere along the way.

1986

When we moved to Arizona in 1999 I felt like I was slowly drying out. I started drinking massive amounts of water to counteract it and now I can still put away a LOT of water in a very short period of time. I like being hydrated. It feels like I'm doing something good for my body and I suspect drinking 24+ oz of water anytime I eat anything is at least part of the reason I stay on the thin side.

Also, I've learned to hold my pee for a LONG freaking time.

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Take Naps

A self-indulgent walk down memory lane in honor of my 30th birthday (today!) with a daily picture from each year of my life and a lesson I've learned somewhere along the way.

1985

Naps are magical, restorative things. When I was (very) pregnant with Stinky my whole family dragged me to see I Am Legend, despite my protests that I didn't think I would enjoy it. I wound up spending the last 15 minutes of the movie in the lobby sobbing over the stupid dog. I cried all the way home. I continued to cry until I finally just laid down and took a nap. When I woke up I was able to move on with life like a normal, adult human being.

Taking a nap is like pressing the reset button on your mental and emotional state.

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Things I Love Enough to Use a Lot of Caps Lock When Discussing

1. Wal Mart Grocery Pickup

I've spent the past 3ish years telling Aaron that all I really want out of life is for the grocery store to pull together and bag my groceries so all I have to do is swing by, open the back hatch, load up and go home. No getting kids out of the car, no wiping down grocery carts, no scouring aisles. Just pick up and go!

WAL MART DOES THAT NOW.

This is totally non-sponsored (although, I'm open! Call me, Wal Mart!) but my friend posted about this newish service on Facebook a few weeks ago and it's been a total life changer. They don't have it at all locations (although I've heard they're slowly expanding) but my closest option is literally one mile from where my kids have swimming lessons so my life is basically amazing right now.

You hop on the website, pick out your groceries and tell them what day and time you'll be there. Then you go to the Wal Mart location, follow the signs to grocery pickup and call the number on the sign. They bring your groceries out and load them in your car for you. AND THAT'S IT. IT IS THE BEST THING EVER.


2. Kayla Itsines

Back in December I attended a favorite things party with 5 of my closest friends from my old neighborhood and one of the girls started telling us about Aussie Kayla Itsines' Bikini Body Guides. I was just getting to the point where I was ready to start working out again and my ears perked up big time.

I've got Bikini Body Guide 1.0 and I'm on my second attempt (I made it up through week 3 during a brief period of The Caboose sleeping slightly better. Then her sleep went to pot and I gave up). I'm in the midst of week 4 right now and I was (am?) planning on writing a dedicated post about this in a few months BUT swimsuit season is coming so I wanted to talk about it now in a semi-brief manner.

I FEEL SO GOOD. Like, I'm becoming one of those people who LOOKS FORWARD TO EXERCISING.

WHO AM I. WHAT IS LIFE.

I'm baaaarely starting to see results (they'd probably be a lot quicker in coming if I cleaned up my eating a bit more) but I feel amazing and I can tell I'm getting a lot stronger. When I started the guides I couldn't do a straight leg sit-up to save my life (see: recent pregnancy and c-section). Last night I was laying on the floor with The Caboose and I did one. Like it was nothing. I hadn't even realized I'd progressed that far.

It's a beast at first but it gets better!

3. GRACE WAS IN A PODCAST

Given my newfound love obsession interest in podcasts, this elevated Grace even MORE in my eyes.  I mean, she was famous before but now she's PODCAST FAMOUS. And also she's super relateable so you should go listen. Because I texted her halfway through and was like, "Yeah, Aaron and I patted ourselves on the back for years about not having cable and then Netflix happened..." and she gets it.


What are your Caps Lock Loves lately? 

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Let's Talk About Podcasts

I have a confession.

Up until about two months ago I had never listened to a podcast. Because I didn't get podcasts.

It's like radio? That you download? But why??

But then I had a bunch of cleaning to do and no audiobooks to get me through it so I finally opened the podcast app on my iPhone and got completely hooked on This American Life. And then I binge-listened to Serial. And then I texted my mom and told her SHE had to listen to Serial so we could discuss it (she did and we did and we both said I DON'T KNOW a lot). And basically I've been stuck on podcasts ever since.

Audiobooks? What audiobooks?

So now I'm totally hooked on:

• This American Life because duh.
• Serial If you've listened, please let's talk about this.
• The Accidental Terrorist Mormon missionary in Canada gets arrested for terrorism. Fascinating.
• Waking Up with Sam Harris I don't identify as atheist but I generally enjoy his podcasts and a different point of view.
• The Liturgists About the intersection of art, religion and science. BIG thank you to reader Emily for introducing me to this one. It's my current fav.

So now that I'm sort of addicted, what are you favorite podcasts?

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Bermuda, Bahama, Come On Pretty Mama

The kiddos and I are heading to the Bahamas in a couple months with my parents! As much as I'd like to be looking at swimsuits for myself, that's just not really my favorite thing right now (see: baby weight) so instead I've been shopping like crazy for The Caboose. Her thighs look delightful no matter what she wears!

Here's what I've bought her (and yes, I am super guilty of forcing my fav color palette on my child)-

1. Wave swimsuit | She actually already has a super cute little green bikini that I'll be bringing but I like to pack 2 or 3 swimsuits per person on trips like this so you never have to pull on a cold, damp suit.

2 & 3. White hat and chambray hat | This baby is practically translucent. Sun hats all day every day.

4. Dip dye dress | I am seriously considering DIYing a grown-up version of this for me. It's even prettier in person!

5. Hooded cover-up | Sun protection with a little bit of snuggle factor.

6. Jelly sandals | These aren't the exact ones I got her (those are sold out) but we already have a couple pairs of jelly sandals from Old Navy and I LOVE them. They are scented, people.


What is your favorite baby/kid sunscreen? I'm so hesitant to slather my kids with chemical-filled sunscreen but, at the same time, all three could give Casper a run for his money. I'm on the hunt for a low- or no-junk sunscreen!

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Almost There (Plus a Giveaway!)

The Caboose was my easiest c-section recovery but I think she's also given me my hardest post-partum experience, if that makes any sense. I look in the mirror and feel like I'm still not "back to myself" yet. It's coming! Just...slowly.

ON ME: Dress from TJMaxx (similar can be found here, here or here) | Necklace | Shoes from Payless (they come around every fall but you can find similar here) | Watch (c/o)

ON HER: Dress from TJMAXX (similar) | Headband from my baby shower (similar) | Jellies (THEY'RE GLITTERY AND SCENTED) from Old Navy (similar)

I'm still pretty mushy but regular workouts are starting to help with that. My hair is still falling out but I feel like it's less and less at each shower. I have crazy under-eye bags but Aaron started taking the 2am feeding (I handle 11 and 4. Yes my baby still eats EVERY THREE HOURS) so I'm actually getting some sleep these days.

There's a light at the end of this post-partum tunnel, you know?

She was super nervous about all the cars.

In the meantime, a little bit of pretty goes a long way. A lightweight nursing-friendly dress. This gorgeous necklace I picked up at Phoenix Flea a few weeks ago. This awesome wood watch that Jord sent me. 

Thanks to Camille for acting as photographer!

Want a pretty box like this to show on your doorstep?

Jord has generously offered a $120 gift certificate to one lucky Freckles in April reader so she (or he!) can pick out whichever wood watch makes her (or his!) heart happy. To enter just go fill out this form and we will pick a winner on April 17!

Unique Watch

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Things I'm Good At

A couple months ago Janssen posted a few things she's good at. I started this post the next day and then walked away because apparently "sitting down and finishing blog posts" is a thing that I am NOT good at (you should see my drafts list. It's crazy right now).

Anyway, to give myself a little pat on the back today, here are a few things I'm good at:

1. Flossing. The last line in Janssen's post had me going, "Hey! I AM really good at flossing!" And oral hygiene in general. I floss, brush, and wear my retainers religiously. My dentist loves me.

2. Being adventurous with my hair. I have a sort of "eh, it'll grow out/back" attitude when it comes to my hair. I was showing my new stylist pics of my past haircuts and colors back in January and she said, "Wow, you're adventurous!" And I was like, "Hey! I guess I am!"

3. Making dinner. I went into marriage barely knowing how to boil water and now I'm a fairly confident cook who makes dinner 4-6 times a week. Like, with vegetables and side dishes and everything!

4. Being on time. I pride myself on my punctuality. If I'm running a few minutes behind I'm really good about texting and giving a time estimate for when I'll arrive. Once I was picking a friend up for something and her husband commented, "Kayla's late! She's never late!" My friend responded, "She texted and said she was running 5 minutes behind." He was halfway through saying, "Five minutes late would be right NOW." when I rang the doorbell. It's a gift.

5. Inviting. I have a friend from my last neighborhood who was always inviting people over for dinner or out to do stuff (she reads my blog sometimes...hi Jenny!) and I was always so impressed by that. Over the past few years I've tried to follow her example and be an inviter. I've gotten pretty good at it- we have people over regularly and whenever I'm taking my kids somewhere I try to text and invite a few people who I think might enjoy coming. On Monday we had a bunch of friends over for ice cream sundaes in our driveway and my neighbor said, "You're so good at inviting people to do stuff!" Success!!

6. I'm a very efficient driver. I usually know the best route (or I'll take the time to look it up) and like to spend a few minutes plotting my course if I have multiple errands so I don't have to backtrack. I also know how to use a traffic circle and I'm always in the correct lane way ahead of time.


What are YOU good at?

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