Share the Love: The Perfect Jeans #LeeLooks

Jeans shopping has always been kinda like going to the dentist; I know it's not gonna kill me, but often times its uncomfortable and a few times it's been downright painful.

Turns out that doesn't have to be the case.

I went to a Lee Looks party last weekend where the kind people from Lee Jeans showed us the latest styles and helped us find our perfect fits!

Having a stylist there who eyed me up and had me in three rockin' pairs if jeans in about two minutes flat definitely took the pain out of finding the perfect fit -- there was no guess work and no crying in the bathroom and no trying to stuff myself into the wrong cut despite the right size. 

But you don't need a stylist to make jeans shopping less painful thanks to the Lee Style Guide.

Doesn't this seriously need to be a fold up to carry around in your wallet? 

This little handy sheet makes jeans shopping way more fun! 

I have a curvy shape that most closely resembles the pear shape, so it was no surprise that I loved the very first pair the stylist sent me off with.

The boot cut jeans I'm wearing here have a mid rise and a slight flare that the stylist said was making a huge resurgence beginning this fall.

I loved the pretty dark wash and the shape of the pockets because they were flattering to the bum.

While the dark washed boot cut jeans that were equal parts stylish and comfortable were keepers, I was seriously drooling over the beautiful array of colors from the new Lee Premieum Line, which is now available at Macy's. 

When the stylist asked me if I liked color I said totally, but I voiced concern about whether a pear shape could necessarily sport a pair of vibrant skinny jeans. 

Feeling confident from the first success, I decided to be bold and gave them a whirl anyway.

So can a pear shape rock burgundy? 

(Burgandy, by the way, is going to continue to be extremely in style through out the next several seasons.)

We thought yes! {Especially when they are not paired with white socks!} And thinking "yes?" Well, that's a huge part of the battle in the war on finding the perfect jeans. 

I wore my new jeans with the special stretch interlock that helps hold shape while also giving a bit when sitting to a conference this weekend, and I really loved them. They didn't get stretched out nor were they too tight.

Despite never having liked Lee jeans fit in the past, I'm now a convert to the Lee Premium Line. The styles are flattering; the quality is good and the price is so right (under $75!). 

What are your jeans buying secrets? What's the biggest issue you run into with finding that jeans that fit?

Disclosure: The Little Style Files, Peanut Butter in my Hair and Lee invited me to a jeans party and gifted me with two pairs of jeans for attending the party because they are super nice like that. This post is a sponsored post, and I received compensation for the time it took to write and review the jeans. 

Share the Love: Melting Pot

Some days I feel days I feel like logging off and going dark for entire weekends and days at a time.

I suppose that’s what happens when one morphs something that was pleasure into business, answering questions about how to create a Facebook page and whether Facebook advertising is a worthwhile endeavor instead of just simply connecting and encouraging via all the social media platforms I’ve come to embrace.

I remember having this same sort of existential crisis about blogging when people first started offering to pay me to write; if I were to make writing on my blog a job, would that make the passion part fizzle and fade? 

Could I be true to my art and still be compensated for a skill I’ve been graciously given and have proceeded to hone since I first picked up a pencil and began penning stories in second grade?

Eventually I found my groove and decided how best to write with abandon from the heart and still accept compensation for my skill and time, but not without a whole lot of mulling and chewing and spitting out that which was bitter or didn’t match the flavors I’d spent so long cultivating.

Because, sort of like with coffee beans, you don’t want to ruin the blend you’ve been working so hard to create.

I think this is likely the same as with merging the pleasure side of social media with that of the business end. Sometimes the perfect cup of coffee doesn’t just happen. Sometimes it takes a while to blend the two together, a stirring of two really good things – like cream into coffee requires measure. And lots and lots of tasting.

All that tasting often takes remembering that when combined well, the two complement each other quite beautifully. 

And perhaps make the brew all the better.

This post was inspired by MeetSoci. I was compensated for my time, but as always, my ramblings are completely my own. 

Just Write: Borrowed

I hear whimpers tumble through the baby monitor from small lips.

As I climb stairs that aren't my own, I hear her voice a little clearer.

There's hesitation as I slip through the door both in my careful movements toward her small body perched sleepily atop of the crib mattress.

And in her eyes as I enter the room, a familiar enough face but one she doesn't expect.

Humbly, gently I lift her into my arms as tears pool in her eyes, confused as to why I'm here instead of her mommy or daddy.

But I've got this, I reassure myself.

I've got you, I reassure her.

A few tears spill down her cheeks as we head downstairs and try to find shoes so we can join the big kids in the backyard.

But her hands, they cling to my shirt, fabric balled tightly in between fingers, and she rests her head momentarily, hesitantly on my chest before I exhale deeply, sink into a chair and just hug her as she wrestles with her emotions.

Then, she sinks into the space beneath my chin and fully surrenders to the warmth.

I watch through the screen door her older sister and the boys I once cradled as babies, my very own babies, run wildly around the backyard, no time for anything other than the hard work of play, as she lends me the sweetest of snuggles.

This little one, she normally won't hang out with me for more than just the moments it takes for me to try and bribe her with chocolate or bananas, but it's like she knows that I need a baby to borrow for just a little bit today, so she lingers in my lap.

And these few precious moments, they confirm that I again want to count down days until new life comes forth, passing time sorting and folding those soft, impossibly small newborn clothes {like these baby clothes from Polarn O. Pyret},

that I want again to snuggle another small body born from my own body

that perhaps we're ready to venture into the unknown territory of trying again

instead of simply living in the familiar land off of borrowed baby snuggles.

This post was graciously inspired and sponsored by Polarn O. Pyret. I was compensated for my time. 

Share the Love:A few pretty Mother's Day Gifts

Gift giving has always been kind of my thing.

Though it's not one of my primary love languages by which I receive love; it's definitely a way I communicate love to the people I hold dear.

And though I'm sure most moms would declare the best Mother's Day presents they've ever been given as the gift of motherhood, I'm also sure we each have some lovely women in all of our lives who receive love through gift giving.

With gift giving as a vehicle of showing love, though, it's not just about the gift itself; rather, love is best received when the giver has put some thought into what's beneath the wrapping paper and bow.

With Mother's Day quickly approaching, The Bradford Exchange asked me to highlight a few of my favorite Mother's Day gifts for grandma and mom. If gift giving isn't your thing, but you know the simple act of giving a gift would communicate your heart, here are a few suggestions.

The Footprints in the Sand necklace is my top pick gift for grandma because of the expressed sentiment and the simple beauty of the message and the actual design; also, as a mom, I love having a lovely reminder of my little ones near resting on my chest.

I also thought the Holy Trinity Cross Ring would be a beautiful gift for a mother or grandmother whose faith has been a pillar of strenght through out the years; I love the message giving this gift sends -- you are loved and important to not only us but also our Creator.

As expressed, The Bradford Exchange asked me to highlight a few of my favorite Mother's Day gifts for grandma and mom. I have been compensated for my time; however, all opinions expressed are my own. 

Conversational: On Fear and Home

While this is a sponsored conversation by American Home Shield, this topic of home has been heavy on my heart since returning from Relevant. 

Catching only a glimpse of our two-story in the rear-view mirror sent wet tears spilling over my eyelashes and onto my cheeks as I drove away from our home.

I'd never had a problem with the leaving our house in the past; I've actually never really worried about things breaking or anything because I've always rationalized that things, houses can be replaced.

But leaving behind my home, the place that would house my boys while I was on a five-day trek out to the Relevant Conference -- well, that was inspiring some deeply rooted emotion at the mere sight of our humble abode in my mirrors even about  things I normally don't worry.

That morning I smiled as I kissed John before he left for work and giggled along with boys as we embraced and my fingers danced over exposed bellies before I headed out the door; but I couldn't shake the dread that had settled into my stomach upon driving away from the house.

All of the what ifs began creeping into mind.

The fear, gripping and real, about not feeling in control over my life, the lives I love and the house I call home, clenched my heart. In reality, I know that every time I kiss those sweet boys of mine before we part, it could be our last farewell. I know that every day is a gift and that tomorrow isn't guaranteed. 

But this trip -- this traveling far away from my physical space of comfort, my home and the fingers that grip so tightly around my heartstrings --  for some reason was fueling the fires of fear in my chest in very real ways; like gasoline atop already-simmering coals, my feeling of being out of control of my every-day life was now a raging firestorm searing my insides.

In those moments of swelling firefear in the heart, it's hard to find even a drop of water to douse even the tiniest flame let alone a fire hose to extinguish the blaze. So I retreated to the only way I know to combat fear:
suffocate it with gratitude.

She likes to remind me that it's physically impossible for gratitude and fear to simultaneously exist in the mind. The two emotions run the same pathways in the brain; it simply cannot be done.

So like an insomniac counts sheep or stars, I began counting my blessings -- one by one by one; I started with the gifts most on my mind.

Thank you, God, for my husband.
Thank you for my boys.
Thank you, God, that very thing -- my home -- that very blessing that sent me into this tailspin of fear ultimately brought me to this place of thanksgiving so that I could begin again to trust. 

What has home meant to you lately? Has the thought of home sparked any thoughts in your mind?


This conversation was sponsored by American Home Shield, provider of Home Warranty Services to help with the inevitable breakdown of major home appliances and components. I was kindly compensated for the time it took to write these thoughts about home.