Recent Purchases...

I hope everyone had a great Saturday!  We started our morning with Starbucks lattes and breakfast (yum!) and then I headed to swim class with Harper. She did awesome today and didn't cry once (she is having some stranger danger issues and cried a few times during her last two lessons). Harper always takes an amazing nap right after class so I took that time to relax a bit before we set off to return some Christmas gifts that didn't fit (we were a little, uh, late on that, ha) and check out some convertible car seats (because we will eventually switch out the infant seat in my car).

I got an email reminder that I had GAP Cash to use (it's a promo where when you shopped about a month ago you got $25 back for every $50 you spent to use towards a future purchase).  Wanting to take advantage of getting clothes for 50% off, I picked up a few items for Harper and for me. I'm buying all 12-18 month clothing now. The tank top is actually a size 3T because the 12-18 one was teeny tiny. It looked like a 0-3 month size.

wide stripe leggings (navy)  | eyelet flutter sleeve top  |  heart print ribbed tank (navy)  |  dot leggings (baby pink)

custom name puzzle  |  stripe poplin shorts |  chaturanga crops |  

I also wanted to mention a lovely custom name puzzle I got for Harper from Fat Brain Toys. I heard about it on Megan's blog Willow Way- she has one for her daughter Olivia! It's such a pretty puzzle and it arrived just a few days after ordering- I was super impressed!

Okay- back to GAP--- I picked up a pair of sleep shorts with a pretty mint green trim on them. I like these because they are a little longer (i.e. my butt doesn't hang out of them like most sleep shorts) and the lace detail is pretty. 

Lastly, I made my first ever purchase from Athleta, a sports/workout apparel store owned by Banana Republic (who also owns Gap and Old Navy). I was immediately drawn to the bright spearmint color of these crops. A few seasons ago my beloved Lululemon had wunder under crops in a color similar to this one and they sold out before I could grab a pair. I had always hoped they would bring the color back, but I haven't seen it re-released.  So, when I saw these Chaturanga crops, I just had to try them on. I have to say, they are very flattering and fit/look just like my wunder under crops from Lululemon. The fabric appears to be high quality, feels nice on and they have a lifetime warranty on their products! They cost $54, less than Lululemon but still pricey for workout apparel. But, you know how I feel about that--- I prefer to invest in pieces that will last a very long time---and I have Lulu pieces that are damn near 8 years old that still look great. I will update once I've worn them to let you know how I like them. 

Athleta does their sizing on the S, M, L, XL, etc scale so I wasn't sure about fit. I took a S and M into the fitting room and the small fit perfect. The sales associate told me their sizes run larger, so I'm going to say that their size small fits like a size 6 wunder under from Lululemon since that's the size I take there and they fit the exact same.

Wishing you a wonderful rest of your weekend!  By the way, we are researching "baby cages" (haha, baby gates/playyards) to keep Harper contained now that she is crawling and pulling up on all of the things. Let me know if you have any you love�time to baby proof this house!

*this is not a sponsored post, all products purchased with my own funds.

Recent Purchases...

• White towels from Marshall's Home Goods---$7.99 each! We pretty much only use white towels at home and some of ours were getting ratty so it was time for a couple of new ones.
• Ikat Polka-Dot pillow case from Etsy shop Fighting for Joy.  I'm slowly updating some of our couch pillows because I got kind of tired of seeing the same ones for the last four years or so.  I still love the purple ones so much so I intend to transition them to our bedroom/the guest room eventually. I went with gray and white patterns because they go with everything but I also plan to incorporate some color when I find the right print/pattern.  I had originally ordered some beautiful peacock green colored printed pillows from C-Wonder, but their website was messed up and it basically cancelled everyone's orders because they claimed the items were not available when they were listed as available. So that was frustrating but whatever,  it's just pillows.  Anyway I love this pillow because it's long and skinny and complements the square shaped pillows nicely. It adds a little dimension to have varying shapes and sizes of pillows on your couch.

• Blue & White printed bowls from Marshall's Home Goods- $3.99 each!
• Valerie Bertinelli picture frame from Marshall's Home Goods- $6.99
• New gray and white print pillow cases- I scored these for an astonishing $7.99 a piece from GroopDealz.com and I am still kicking myself for not ordering like 7 of them. The quality is EXCELLENT and they have zipper closures and the fabric is awesome. The next time these go on sale I am buying many, many more. For that price, you just can't lose. I went to West Elm recently and their pillow covers were $40 or more! These ones are just as beautiful for 1/4 of the price.

• Cool Racerback Tank from Lululemon- I am obsessed with these tanks and when I saw this color combo, it was a must-have.  I pretty much wear these tanks every time I work out and my OB just cleared me to start exercising again so I have an excuse to wear it too!
• Go with the Flow Bag from Lululemon- A friend recommended that I purchase a separate diaper bag to use for Harper's daycare---to carry extra clothes, her bottles and anything else we need to bring. That way I can just leave it there and get it at pickup time. It's more lightweight than my Marc Jacobs diaper bag. I also totally plan to use it as a gym bag one day :) 

• This sweater from J.Crew caught my eye as soon as I saw it in the store. It's lightweight and I love the pattern and colors---the light pink, light blue, navy and hot pink really play well off of each other. It's just a really fun piece and I loved it when I tried it on.  I paid full price for it in store as there was just one medium left (thanks to my mother-in-law who got me a gift card for my birthday!) and then when I was searching for the link to write this post I noticed it was reduced in price online. I called the store and they added the difference back to my gift card, no issues whatsoever. Now that's customer service! Thanks J.Crew.
• The "H" initial necklace is from the daily deals site VeryJane.com.  I absolutely love layering it with other necklaces I own. You can see me layering it with my Tiffany "H" initial heart necklace here:

Thank you for reading and I hope y'all enjoy when I share my purchases on my blog as I know a lot of people have requested that I start making haul videos again---but I just won't have the time to maintain my YouTube channel when I go back to work, unfortunately. 

Stay tuned next week where I'll share some Baby Gap items I picked up during the GAP family and friends sale happening right now :)

The Perfect Flip Flop

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The sweltering heat in Houston has made it nearly impossible to leave the house wearing anything other than shorts, a tee and a pair of flip flops. 

So I was excited when I was approached by Hari Mari, a company that makes flip flops using high-grade recyclable rubber and foam, so they can enjoy a long life beyond the time spent on your feet.  Best of all? These flip flops support a wonderful cause---Hari Mari is a committed partner in supporting children battling pediatric cancer, giving $3 for every pair sold to help families-in-need pay for expensive medical treatments, medicines and hospital costs.

I chose the mint green pair and they arrived in a fun box with a reusable bag. I always use bags like this for my groceries instead of plastic---not only do they fit more than plastic bags but they are better for the environment.

(I wear them a ton, so you can already see my foot imprints in them!)

Here they are on one of the Hari Mari models:

...and on me, with Harper by my side!

Tee- J.Crew |  Shorts- Lululemon | Necklaces- Tiffany & Co/J.Crew | 
Flip Flops- Hari Mari

I've literally been wearing these absolutely everywhere. At home, to the store, out for lunch...there's no place I won't wear them (except to the office, obviously).

Hari Mari has been awesome enough to offer a 15% discount to my readers with the code BLUSHING (all caps) from today through August 13th. If you end up getting them, I hope you love them as much as I do! By the way---if you are between sizes, order up because they do fit on the smaller side.

Recent Purchases...

I have found a way to make my late night and early morning pumping sessions very productive lately. I check out some of my favorite online shops and daily deal sites to see if there's anything worth purchasing.

And speaking of new purchases, a lot of my readers have been wondering if or when I will resume outfit posts and the answer is hopefully when I return to work. I miss sharing my outfits, but these days all I wear are Lululemon shorts and v-neck tees.  My plan is to have Kevin take my outfit photos when I get home from work like we used to.  I don't know if my plan will work out, but I figure it's easier to do them after work versus when we're trying to all get ready to leave the house in the morning.  We will have to see how it all works out...

Here are some purchases I've made lately---some online, some in-store.

Top Row: 

VeryJane.com necklace 

C Wonder monogram decorative plate

VeryJane.com earrings

Bottom Row: 

GroopDealz.com rosette necklace

Marshalls Home Goods decorative artichokes

GroopDealz.com rosette necklace

 Top Row: 

NuBar Diamond Seal & Shine topcoat

Living Proof Satin Hair Serum

Jergens Natural Glow Firming lotion

J.Crew Factory Emery Flats

Bottom Row: 

Valerie Bertinelli frame from Marshalls Home Goods

Top Row: 

Faux cherry blossom arrangement from Marshalls Home Goods shown with frame from IKEA

Threshold frame from Target

Pencils from Marshalls Home Goods 

Bottom Row: 

White Geo Mirror from Kirklands

Valerie Bertinelli frame from Marshalls Home Goods

Top Row: 

J.Crew No. 2 pencil skirt in navy/white stripe (bought on sale!)

SixTwenty top with back cutout

Target blouse with faux leather detailing

Bottom Row: 

Forever 21 floral mint dress

SixTwenty tee

J.Crew Factory polka dot tee

Stop and Smell the Peonies print from SS Print Shop

Lululemon Blissed Out shorts

Have you made any purchases lately? I'm trying to save most of my shopping for fall since there will be a lot of new styles hitting stores and it will be nice to get some new clothes for my return to work.

Outfits Lately

I haven't posted a ton of outfits lately, mostly because I've been recycling looks you've seen already, but I did pull some shots from my iPhone (some workwear and some casual/weekend wear).

Also, my year end review is this week and I have been spending a lot of time working on it these last few weeks and I haven't had the energy to think much about blogging when I get home (especially now that it gets darker sooner, it always makes me feel less motivated). Thank you for everyone's patience, I know I haven't been posting a lot lately.

I've been pretty much LIVING in my Lululemon stuff on weekends. It is SO comfy and perfect for running errands.  

So, here are some of my office looks lately: 

...and my weekend looks (my personal favorites!)

and an adorable nap time shot of our sweet Lulu <3 font="font">



Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend--- yay that tomorrow is Friday!

Fitness & Food Updates & How to Wear Your Hair at the Gym

Keeping up with my fitness and eating posts is important because it motivates me to be accountable.

I mentioned on Facebook that a new fitness studio opened less than a mile away from my house, which is awesome because the one thing that always frustrated me was having to drive to go to the gym (I don't mind driving, I just hated driving really far---I was spoiled because at our old house, our gym was also walking distance).

My fitness for the last month or so has been two sessions with my trainer per week and one Bar Method class. Some weeks I only got to do one training session because of scheduling.

I really need to step it up and start doing cardio and just working out more consistently in general.  I have noticed I am not getting as toned as I'd like and I know it's because I am not doing enough cardio and not helping my endurance.  My trainer gave my friends and I some treadmill workouts to do that are 25 minutes but super high intensity so I'm going to try to incorporate those and see how it goes. Now that I'll have a gym nearby, there will be no excuses, even on weekends.

On the eating front, I've been doing well. Eating less sugar (smaller portions) and eating lots of fruits and veggies. H and I have also been focusing on eating salads or veggies as side dishes for dinner instead of carbs (sometimes we have potatoes).  

Here are some of my lunches and dinners lately:

Tortilla soup and a turkey half sandwich for lunch

Garden salad with balsamic dressing and grilled chicken for lunch

Salmon with basil pesto and potatoes for dinner

Chicken breast and green beans for dinner

Omaha Steaks chicken stuffed with broccoli and a side salad 

(the famous peach basil oil salad)

Salad with chicken, red onions, cherry tomatoes, grapes, chick peas 

and tangerines with a raspberry vinaigrette 

From my work cafeteria- chicken with lemon sauce, green beans and corn

Tuna in water with dill, celery and onions

Grilled chicken and steamed veggies

Salad with chicken, onions, chickpeas, grapes, cherry tomatoes, mandarins

Obviously I am just showing my healthiest meals here for ideas---I also still eat Chinese food, pizza and other not so healthy foods---but I try to limit that to weekends.

I also recently purchased Tone it Up's Perfect Fit Protein. I needed more protein in my diet and you can also use this to bake and make pancakes.

My favorite snacks in the last while have been:

• Chobani Greek Yogurt (love the 0% raspberry, strawberry banana and vanilla flavors) 

•  Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin Bread

•  Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter and Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter

•  Cherries, strawberries, peaches, apples

•  Luna Bars- Iced Oatmeal Raisin 

•  Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp bars- 110 calories for dessert 

•  Weight Watchers chocolate raspberry popsicles (80 calories and delish!)

I get a lot of questions about how I keep my hair fresh when I work out.  I have been sweating more during workouts because of the weather (and because our trainer works us hard!) so I have been sporting a super-high topknot to keep my hair off of my face. I used to wear ponytails most of the time but then the ends would get sweaty from rubbing on my back. Ew. Typing that out feels kind of gross. Anyway, I just put my hair up and wrap the elastic around the topknot three times. Like so:

Some workout outfits:

(outfits are all Lululemon except for green and pink Target tops)

Easy peasy.  When I get home from my workout, I immediately shower and then I take the elastic out and brush my hair and go about my evening wearing it down.

Have a great weekend everyone!