Too Soon?

Shearling cardigan: BB Dakota

Side Zip Sweater: She Inside

Fringe Hem Sweater: She Inside

Open Back Sweater: Asos

Chiffon Hem Sweater: J. Crew

Embellished Sweater: Necessary Clothing

Wrap Sweater: Just Female

Rival Team Cardigans: Gold // Blue

Is it too soon to already be wanting to be in big, oversized, chunky sweaters? Maybe it's the fact that all I have had to choose from this summer has been tanks or tees with ruching down the side (*side note can someone please find a better way to design maternity clothes? We are pregnant, not PTO mom's in training.) and pants with elastic waist bands. If elastic waist pants don't scream "take fashion advice from me"; then I'm clearly in the wrong business.

Or, maybe it's the fact that 'sweater weather' means fall, which I think we can all agree is by far the most superior of seasons. (I'll spare everyone from sounding like a broken record going on and on about the 'crisp air' and football saturdays. We know, that also happens in the fall.)  It also means that Christmas (and Baby Morris) are right around the corner and with Christmas means a new year, a time for everything to start anew. 

Since I just can't wait to bust out my Fall sweaters (and say sayonara to ruching galore), I've decided to give everyone a little head start on their fall wardrobe. Above are some of my most favorite pieces for Fall...and did I mention none of them are over $110 (Most of them being under $50!!!!!!!!)????????

{Amy}

deal of the day

 

Dress top/skirt combo: SheInside // Dress: SheInside // Shift Dress: Dolce & Gabbana

I had a rush of nostalgia come back to me this past week. Knowing it was recruitment at The University of Missouri, knowing that in 18 years my little girl will (hopefully) be going through rush, I found myself thinking a lot about how terrible it was as a freshman to go through it but how sad it was as a senior to know it was the beginning of the end. 

Now, more than ever before, I am realizing just how fast life breezes by.  Maybe it's the fact that I'm staring motherhood square in the eyes, or maybe it's because I ran into my 6th grade softball coach last weekend, and it was as if not a single day had gone by. Whatever it is, life's moving fast and although a lot of excitment and joy are right around the corner for me, I'm allowed to be a little nervous for what's in store. 

However, I don't need to be nervous to finally "pull the trigger" on a dress I've been drooling over for 3 months now. (And no, I will not be purchasing the $5,000 D&G number. Something tells me if wouldn't have the same effect with baby throw up all down the front side.)

[Amy}

keep it simple

****

Dress: Kate Spade // Shoes: Kate Spade, similar here // earrings: Lily Dawson // Bracelets: Hermes, J. Crew, Coordinate Collection, David Yurman // Watch: Michele // Sunnies: Free People

Photo Cred: Ryland Devero

Sometimes, all you need to do is look no further than your idol and remember that today is just another day and to keep life simple. 

Sure, I could make this post a series of quotes by Audrey Hepburn but we've all been on pinterest and we know those by heart. Over the past 4 months I have really had to listen to myself and my body and have had to learn how to just stay still, stay quiet, and stay simple. It's not easy but I just know the outcome will be something that only dreams are made of. 

{Amy}

Dreaming of Fall...

Tank: A Fine Line // Cape: Necessary Clothing // Earrings: bohemian drop // Lipstick: NARS // Shoes: Nine West // Shorts: Rag & Bone // Bracelets: Hipanema

I know I sound like a broken record and every single sorority girl you've ever met but; I am SO ready for fall. Although the Summer here in KC has been nothing short of amazing; I'm ready for chunky sweater (to hide a little something), shorts, and booties. So sue me, I'm still a sorority girl at heart that dreams of the crispy Saturday morning air and the hopes of a Mizzou win. 

Here is my idea of the perfect fall outfit...

{Amy}

Casual Saturday

Top: Rag & Bone // Shorts: SOLD denim, similar here // Shoes: Chanel, similar here // Bag: Rebecca Minkoff // Sunnies: Ray-Ban // Watch: Michele // Bracelets: David Yurman, Vintage, DIY // Hat: J. Crew

Photo Cred: The one and only, Ryland Devero.

2 weeks ago I traveled to a city that will forever have a piece of my heart; My beloved Chicago. This trip was different then the last 15 I've taken over the past 4 years. When Alcohol and partying isn't allowed on the agenda I was forced to, once again, keep it simple.

Thankfully for me, I stayed with one of the strongest friends I know, a girl I'm lucky enough to call "one of my people". Ryland is the type of genuine friend that when she says she wants you to succeed, she means it. Even if it isn't want I want to hear, she will give me advice and I am forced to step back and realize that what she is saying is right (most of the time...). She reminded me this weekend that girlfriends are what will always stay constant in your life. Sure, some might come and go. But without them, it is a lonely, dark road, that I never want to be on alone.

And by the way, for those of you that go to Chicago strictly to booze it up and shop...there's a lot more out there then just that! The lake is beautiful at any time of the day, my personal favorite is at sunset (obviously). Second City comedy club is the birthplace of Tina Fey and the talent there is just incredible. Finally, don't even get me started on the Oreo & Praline Flapjacks from The Bongo Room. Holy. Shit.

{Amy}

what might have been

Even in the midst of such a happy, joyous, time, I stopped where I was to let myself cry. Surprising to some, it isn't always easy for me to find exactly what to say at the right time. So with that, on a day like today - my original due date; the day that will never be, I turn to an author that wrote it in the most beautiful of ways. Shauna Niequist, author of Bittersweet. Below is an excerpt from her fabulous book about "change, grace, and learning the hard way".

"Today is the day that would have been my due date, had my first pregnancy been a healthy one.  Nine months ago, the world was so different. I was so different. The concept of pregnancy was so different to me, so innocent. Of course I knew women who had miscarried: my mother, my aunt, my friends. But like anything, when it happens to you it's like waking up to a conversation you've heard before and only now grasp, and you realize entirely anew what they were taking about, what they were trying to find the words to describe."

So that's today, the day of what might have been. Soon, we will have another child. But we'll never have a child born on July 22, 2014.

"If you've been marked by what might have been, you don't forget. You know the days, the years. You know when the baby would have been born. You know exactly what anniversary you'd be celebrating, if the wedding had happened. You know exactly how old she'd be right now, if she were still alive. You'll never forget the last time you saw your child, or the last time cancer was a word about someone else's life, or the day that changed absolutely everything. It makes the calendar feel like a minefield, like you're constantly tiptoeing over explosions of grief until one day you hit one, shattered by what might have been." 

"On most days, for me, it's all right. But for today, for a minute, it's not all right. I understand that God is sovereign, that bodies are fragile and fallible. I understand that grief mellows over time, and that guarantees aren't part of human life, as much as we'd like them to be. But on this day, I'm crying just a little for what might have been." 

"I'll get up from here. Life will keep moving, exactly as it should. No one might ever notice today and what it means for me. But I'll always know."

"I don't know what date it is for you - what broke apart on that day, what was lost, what memories are pinned forever to that day on that calendar. But I hope that on that day you hold yourself open and tender to the memories for just a moment.  As one who grieves today, I grieve with you, for whatever you've lost, too, for what might have been." 
 
{Amy}

Yet, another find

Bargain Maxi Dress // Alice McCall Maxi Dress

I've gotten a lot of request to continue doing "bargain finds" when I see them. So, here you are my dear friends. Yet another find!

{Amy}