Gingham Love Affair

On Thursday nights, you will find me sitting in a circle with about 15 girls who are college sophomores. I often forget that I am 37 and that 37 is probably ancient to them. But we have so much fun. The purpose is to talk about spiritual things and life--and the life talk can be quite hilarious at times. At some point or another, we always end up talking about fashion. One of the girls, McKayla, inspired this post so we will give her the title Producer of this post.

You see, I have quite the love obsession with gingham. In fact, I have worn a gingham shirt 3 out of 6 days this week. I threw out the gingham word at small group one night and none of my girls knew what it was. How have they survived life not knowing gingham?!? So as part of such an honorable role that I play in their lives, I see that it is my duty--calling if you will--to educate them on all things fashion.

So girls, gingham is defined as medium-weight balanced plain-woven fabric made from dyed cotton or cotton-blend yarn usually known for its checked patterns of white and a bold color.

Let's take a look at my closet (aka Instagram)...

I believe I have one other gingham shirt that is not pictured, but its a fun, bright blue for summer. The thing I love about gingham is that is pairs so well with other things. Its an easy pattern to play with. Love this image from my new FAV online store, Mindy Mae's Market. Gingham + bling + leopard + floral = AMAZING

This is where fashion and home decor parallel. Just like you can pair different patterns in your home, you can do the same with clothes. Small print + large print with coordinating colors for the win.

Here are a few more examples from my Pinterest board (seriously had sooo many gingham pins!)

Gingham is sticking around and ready for spring. My shirts have come from Old Navy (similar) and J.Crew Factory (here). According to my wardrobe, I apparently have a love obsession with vests, too. I hope you are inspired today to run out (or online) and fill your closet with all things gingham. Please tell me you love it as much as I do. I'm pretty sure I would marry it if it asked.

When Your Daughter Asks, "Do I Look Fat?"

Do I look fat?

My mother probably heard that phrase more times than she could count. Every other thought in my head as a nine-year-old was about my image. My first diet happened at that age. At age ten, I was called fat at a pool party. I can vividly remember the embarrassment from being weighed at school during PE in the fifth grade. For the love, why do schools do that? I’ve heard it said that children determine their worldview—how they see the world—by the age of nine. All of those moments for me were the foundation on which the next decade would build on.

To finish reading my response to that question, head over to The Parent Cue blog.

Books of 2015

Rising Strong // Where do I start about this book? It is about being vulnerable and leaning into your emotions so that when you fall or feel low, you can rise strong. This was a really easy read yet I am re-reading it in order to really process how I can implement the principles into my life.

What Alice Forgot // After falling at the gym, Alice wakes up thinking she is 10 years younger and forgets all that has happened in between including a failing marriage. I really enjoyed this book and was an easy beach read for me.

Love The Home You Have // This was such a good book. Melissa from The Inspired Room blog really hit it out of the park in giving practical tips for your home while helping you figure out how to love where you are.

The Nesting Place // "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." Don't you just love that tagline? I loved this book so much that I have been giving it as gifts. There is great practical tips along with beautiful photos in a "coffee table" style book.

Grace For The Good Girl // Man, I think I underlined nearly every sentence this in this book. I felt like Emily was talking straight to me. This is all about the do good, perfection that some of us tend to have and how sometimes we think God's love is conditional based on our performance.

Big Little Lies // This is a take on elementary school yard scandal involving divorces, second wives, mothers, children, and many dangerous lies we tell ourselves to survive. It was a good read, but I liked What Alice Forgot better.

Bossypants // This is the story of how Tina Fey found success. Don't hate me, but I didn't love it. I like Tina Fey but was bored throughout her book. In fact, it took me months to finally finish it.

Interrupted // Jen actually wrote this book before 7. This was the precursor and she reveals the struggle with life and church and what it means to live on mission.

The Circle Maker // This was my second time reading this book. It is all about being intentional with our prayers. So many good takeaways from this book.

For The Love // This is a collection of essays that are fun, lighthearted and easy to read--much different than Interrupted. She talks about so many things from relationships to church to yourself in such a funny way.

Bread & Wine // This is a collection of short essays about the beauty of gathering around the table and how community is built there.

Adao's Dance // Adao's Dance is a narrative about a prairie boy, Adao, who receives a challenge from a holy man through a dream to leave everything behind to attempt the unthinkable. Our friend, Russ, is the author. If you enjoy fantasy and epic stories, then you will enjoy it!

There you have 12 good suggestions for your reading list. I heard Rick Warren say, "Leaders are learners." That is good advice for us to always continue to push ourselves to keep growing. In Episode 2 with Sarah Anderson, she gave so many great book suggestions and gave a stat from research about the benefits of reading fiction. I definitely want to do more of that in 2016! What did you read this past year? And what's on your reading list for 2016? So far, I want to read Big Magic and The Husband's Secret and Curious Faith.  Any other suggestions?

Graceful December

I attended a writers’ conference called Allume back in October. I have always wanted to go to something like that for years, but it never worked out. As difficult as it was to walk into a room knowing no one, I’m so glad that I did. Each meal, you sat at a table with no assigned seats. It wasn’t a coincidence whose table to sat at that first night. I naturally looked for people with great style and then asked to join their table. One of those women, was Molly–a blogger, wife and mom of 2 little people. I hit it off with Molly (and the other women) immediately and spent each meal with them.

Molly is writing about Graceful December this month on her blog and asked me to be a contributing writer. She describes it as, “Not gracious December or grace-filled December (although I believe God desires those things for us, too), but graceful December. Like the kind of December that moves fluidly and peacefully in and out of days–not hustling or bustling, but embracing, savoring, evolving, becoming more lovely as it goes.” I talk about what having a Graceful December looks like for me–which means letting go of some things and embracing the art of as you go.

Come on over to Molly’s blog and check it out…

Meal Plan (gluten free, dairy free) Sept 7-13

Scott traveled all this week which normally means I skirt away from cooking, however, this time around I decided it best to make some meals for me and the girls. Between my diet (grain free) and the girls diet (gluten free and dairy free), its just easier to make our meals at home sometimes. Monday - Easy dinner--Trader Joe's GF nuggets and roasted broccoli. Everything cooks at 425 degrees. Everyone is happy. I ate a leftover burger patty on a bed of lettuce.

Tuesday - I made GF spaghetti noodles with Gigi's Spaghetti Sauce. This is Scott's grandmother's recipe and the girls LOVE it. Since Scott can't have red sauce, we decided it was a good time to make it. I served up some Zucchini Noodles for my dish.

Gigi's spaghetti sauce

Wednesday - Taco Salad. I decided to push past my desire to have the kitchen to myself during the witching hours and invited Sinclair to cook with me. She browned the meat, added the black beans and seasoning. She beamed from ear to ear. Sometimes we need to let go of our reigns. The girls ate corn chips with it and I ate taco salad. Winning. I used the Gracious Pantry's seasoning recipe.

Thursday - Since Scott was away, Chick-fil-a was in order after gymnastics. I ate leftover taco salad when we got home.

Friday - I love life in our small community. I had to work at a conference all day Friday so my sweet friend picked up the girls from school for me. Once I got there, we enjoyed an impromptu dinner--sweet chili and corn chips. My heart (and stomach) was so full and it made the last few hours until Scott arrived home much more bearable.

Saturday - Atlanta finally cooled down enough to feel like fall so we had chili at some friends' house along with hotdogs, cornbread, salad and raw veggies.

Sunday - We took the girls to their first Braves game and they had a blast! It was seriously the most perfect day to be at the ballpark. We were home for dinner so in keeping with the ballpark theme, we ate hotdogs with chips & guacamole.

This is what life is all about--doing life with others.