When one doesn't feel very inspired, one looks around oneself for inspiration.  Is that a famous quote?  I think it should be.  So after my uninspiring day, I give you, "Things I'm liking, people I'm admiring, inspirations, and other such what-nots in general."  Enjoy.

1.  Bridget Hunt  from www.talesofmeandthehusband.com.  Although I always want to call it "It's a Hunt life".  Was that her old blog name perhaps?  Instagram name?  We may never know.
I love how she shares about mediocrity.  And mom guilt.
I love her thoughts on being almost 30 even though I'm "only" turning 29 this summer.
I love how she dresses….so modern and fashionable and MODEST.  Here too.

  And many, many other things/qualities. Delicious recipes, effortless style, her casual, quirky sense of humor, relaxed, laid-back approach to parenthood….I love it all. Point is, she's awesome and you won't be sorry you checked her out.

2. Lisa, Kylie, and Megan, a set of the cutest, craftiest, creative-est? identical triplets that you ever did see, and each have their own blogs and myriad of talents that they so brilliantly share with the world.  Kinda makes you feel like you're majorly slacking, actually.  The energy!  The vision! The passion!  I need to take a nap after checking out their latest endeavors.  Anyways.  I love them all, and don't think I could pick a favorite, so I'll just pick out things I like about each one.
 --Kylie--  Hands down, her photography.  Also, she recently wrote a great post about solitude.
--Megan-- Her darling baby Van, their adorable baby moon video, and Feral watches.
--Lisa-- Today Lisa gets my ultimate prize for being sweet enough to take the time to send me back a HUGE e-mail after I emailed her some questions.  And all in spite of being so busy with her upcoming appearance on The Doctors!  Amazing.  She is a gem. And speaking of gems, she makes jewelry out of sea treasures from Hawaii!  Holy smokes, is there anything this trio cannot do??! Anyways, check them out.

3.  This article not only steps on my toes…..it mashes them to a fragmented, bloody pulp.  Too much?  I've been thinking ALOT lately about movies/TV/cell phone usage for little ones, and this may have just been the motivational push I need to really do something drastic about changing our habits around here.  You may laugh at the notion of a 2 year old using a cell phone, but my daughters (even the 1.5 yr old) already know how to take pictures, watch video and play games, and even the littlest one knows how to navigate from the home screen to which apps she wants.  Eeeeek.  It's got me thinking and I haven't stopped since reading it…..

4.  Boden clothing. If you haven't discovered Boden yet, you're missing out.  Their slogan should be "Mennonite approved!"  They are fashionable, modest, and oh-so-very-British, so that really doesn't leave much to be disliked.  Oh, wait, I guess their prices.  They're a leeetle high. It stands to reason then, that the only piece of Boden attire I own, I snagged at GOODWILL.  Tis true!  I couldn't grab this dress off the rack fast enough.


  Boden at thrifted prices is the best of both worlds, but I'm almost convinced their high prices would be worth it.  Their fabric is such high-quality it will probably last forever, the fit is perfect, and it just feels like well-made clothing when you're wearing it.  You know that feeling I'm talking about?  Like it has the right amount of weight and flowiness to it?  O.k. I'm making no sense now.  Moving on.
5. Speaking of that tri-fecta of creativity I mentioned earlier reminds me of another family that is a powerhouse full of them.
You've got….
Clarita with her beautiful family, blog, and handmade goodies for sale at My Faire Lady.
Then there's Jana with her Chalk Shop, and charming home.
Next is Ervina with her breathtaking home, and darling baby bump,
And finally, Claudia, with her perfectly, wonderfully, unique, amazing wedding.

   And I'm sure they all do like, 742 more amazing things that I either don't know about, or failed to mention.  Really, I could go on and on and on, but I would run out of breath, time and space talking about that family of lovely, creative souls!  But I digress.  Oh and speaking of the Chalk shop……



  Hubs got me this nifty little number for me for Valentine's Day. That's right folks, puts chocolates to shame, doesn't it!  (I didn't really mean it Chocolate, please be my friend for always)  Goodness gracious I know how to pick 'em!  And it goes so perfectly with my gallery wall.  So hurry on over and claim your own piece of goodness!  You can find her here on Facebook.


That's all for now folks.  Kids are down, workout is done, time to shower and kick back.

P.S. I would've included pictures to all these nifty links, but I heard somewhere that if you use pictures without permission EVEN if you link them, it is copyrighting.  ?????  Can this be true?  Please tell me it isn't?  Isn't that the entire point/design/function of Pinterest?  I just don't get it and it really cramps my blogging style when I'm talking about other things around the world wide web.  So if someone could verify/clarify this for me, you'd be my hero.

O.k. that's all for real this time.

   Lately I have been feeling SO fashionably inspired by a few different mommy bloggers, and I figured I might as well share them all with you.

   None of these are news, they've been around for quite some time and are bigger than sliced bread.  But I've just lately been feeling freshly inspired and getting a vision for the direction my personal style is heading.

   First up, we have the queen of all mommy bloggers right now, Naomi Davis from Love Taza.  (used to be the Rockstar Diaries).   Reasons she is in my top favorite bloggers of all time:

A.  Her kids are almost identical in ages/space apart as mine.  I love seeing what they are up to and what new things they are doing and when.  I'll never forget the moment I found her blog and she had a little girl shortly after I had mine and I felt like I could identify with EVERYTHING she was going through.  Then I got pregnant 9 months later and I was like "Who does this?" and then Naomi did and I was like, "O.k. I must not be crazy after all".  O.k. just kidding but sort of.  Then she had a boy, and our similarities ended.  Ha.  No but seriously if she would have had a girl, it would've almost been scary.

B.  She makes motherhood look FUN.  Not just fun, but desirable.  Enjoyable.  Worthwhile.  Meaningful.  A high and glorious calling.  A dream job.  A passion.  I absolutely love it when mothers accept the hard work and challenges of children head-on, and don't become a victim, but rather count it a privilege, a blessing to be in the position that they are.  It is positively inspiring.  We have enough forces/influences and pressures all around us telling us that motherhood is hard, awful and thankless, and that is hard enough to overcome.  But coming from other mothers?  That is powerfully damaging.  And so it is so refreshing to have someone putting motherhood in a glorious, fulfilling spotlight!

C.  Her style is KILLER.  I adore the way she mixes thrifted finds and vintage goods into her daily wardrobe.  Anyone who does not have to buy the latest, greatest, most expensive thing around to be fashionable is a favorite of mine.

   Many, many more reasons, but I'll try and keep it to three.  Here are some of my favorite Naomi Davis fashion moments.


    And after falling in love with her long gray maxi dress, (which is maternity-friendly too!) I found one myself and wore it today to a friend's child's birthday party and I don't think I was prepared for how COMFORTABLE, easy, child-friendly and goes-with-anything these things are!  It literally could be re-mixed with almost any jacket, sweater, hat, shoe or accessory in my closet.  So I am thinking it will become quite the staple in my wardrobe.  Make it warm in the winter with boot socks or tights or leggings or wear it in the summer plain.  I wore mine with ankle boots, but of course my feet were cut off in the pic.  That's what happens when you're not a fancy fashion blogger and your photography skills consist of sticking the camera somewhere, pushing the timer button, sprinting back into place and hoping for at least one good shot!  Plus then you get little gems in the picture like the bowl sitting on our back patio for the stray cat that keeps coming around.



On me:  Blazer (thrifted) gray maxi dress (F21) gold bracelet (gift from Janene) pendant necklace (gift from Jessi) head scarf (thrifted).


   Well I was going to do a few more inspirational bloggers but my girls are up and I am out of time.  Another day, perhaps.  Who is inspiring you lately?  And it doesn't have to be about fashion.  It can be about lifestyle, music, art, faith…..anything, really.  Inspiration comes in many many forms, and I'd love to hear from you on some of yours!


All photos (other than the last 3) are property of Naomi Davis, found via Pinterest.