My Timeless Accessory: A wooden watch

Have you ever thought you need a little something more to add to your outfit? Or is there something else that is versatile with Motherhood that would make you feel like a cool mom? I know both of those questions have crossed my mind plenty of times in the last three months I have been a mother. 

I know that it is not a long time in motherhood, so some of you probably think well what does she know? Well, all I know is that it is highly important to take care of yourself and make yourself feel good on the outside to stay sane. So many moms told me while I was pregnant either said make sure you find time for yourself or there is no more "me time" anymore. 

As the second statement is true, it is important to find some time during the day or week (whichever can happen) to have time for yourself or doing something for yourself that makes you feel like your normal beautiful self again. 

With that being said, that is where this timeless accessory that I now own, and wear every day comes into play. Like y'all I feel like such a cool mom while wearing this watch. It is so stunning, and the color combo is to die for. The mint green with the dark wood looks so beautiful together. 

Jord Watches are so versatile and come in many different wood grains and color schemes to go with your everyday lifestyle. My particular wood watch is from the Frankie 35 series called "Dark Sandalwood & Mint." Like I was saying above, the color combination is timeless with radiating tones mixed with temperature. Meaning, the cooling mint couples with the warm toned Sandalwood to create a perfect balance of tone and temperature. 

Jord Watches allows you to get the wood watches customized from engraving to sizing. I did not get mine engraved but I did order mine to my specific wrist size. That was always a pain when I bought watches in the past was always finding a place that would take the extra links out for me because every watch I bought was always too big. My wrists are very small, and I was so thankful for this option. When I got it out of the box, which is also timeless in itself, and placed it on my wrist, it fit perfectly. They did provide me with extra links just in case it did not fit properly. But it was perfect fit.  

 Wood watches are so popular right now, and I can see why. The watches look great with everything, and fit into anybody's life style. Since I am a blogger, it is the perfect accessory with any outfit I wear for the day or for photo-shoots. With this shoot in particular, I paired it with Kamila Polka Dot Jumpsuit and the Bridget Wedge from Shop Stevie. We ended up taking my son's 3 month pictures as well, and the watch look so good in every picture we took. Like wow! I had no idea a watch could be this stunning. The mint green also gives the watch that little pop of color that instantly draws your eyes to the watch when looking at the pictures. 

I also can not forget about my puppy children, Xena and Diesel. They love treats, and will always do some good tricks for some yummy treats. You say treats.. They come running full speed. 

So therefore, tying this beautiful watch into my lifestyle of motherhood and life in general fits perfectly. Whether it be carrying my child in the body carry to calm him down to hugging on my hubby, feeding my doggies, or even posing for a photo-shoot... the watch always does the trick to fitting right in, and making me feel like myself for once. Motherhood is the most rewarding job you will every have, in my opinion, but always doing something for yourself or treating yourself every once in awhile is much needed for sure. 

So mama's, or any one really, you deserve to spoil yourself with a timeless wood watch from Jord Watches. You won't be disappointed.. I promise! 

Wooden Wrist Watch

Bow Ties for Any and Every Little Gentlemen

 

Luca was sent this sweet little bow tie from The Little Dapper Collection. This company has the cutest bow ties for your little men in your life. They also do amazing things for the community and for little ones with special needs and medical challenges. 

Here is a little more info about them:

The Little Dapper Collection was founded in 2015 and  specializes in creating bow ties and grooming little boys into dapper young gentlemen. They also help support children with special needs and unique medical challenges by donating 15% of the bow tie sales to children's charitable organizations. 

A few of the organizations that they have partnered with and donated to are the following: March of Dimes, Operation Smile, Jack and Jill Chicago Chapter, New York Foundling, Graham Windham, Pujols Family Foundation, National Black Child Development Institute, Rush Hospital, Shriners Hospital of Chicago, New York Presbyterian Hospital, etc. 

The Little Dapper Collection just recently launched a national campaign with Timeless Toys, LTD. in honor of National Hope for Children Day to help give back and build awareness for special needs children by promoting unity, inclusion, and positive change, while encouraging them to embrace the differences that make them beautifully unique. Please check out the recent press release that they distributed to media outlets for the campaign: click here to read the press release. 

As part of their campaign, they reach out to mothers around the world to send out free bow ties to their sons who suffer from rare diseases and illnesses. As well as give little hero bears to young boys who are currently in hospitals or orphanages who are in the New York and Chicago communities.  

The brand's founder Genesis A. Emery (as found on their website) stated that, "I want our company to be known not just for bow ties we create, but for feelings and emotions we stir up within people." 

Here is a little background of Genesis A. Emery (founder)'s story (as found on their website):

"The idea for TLDC came in part when Founder, Genesis Emery became pregnant with her first child Noah, whom she affectionately refers to as “Baby Noah.” After experiencing some post-birth complications – Baby Noah spent Christmas of 2014 and his first two months of life in Lurie Children's Hospital’s NICU. Because of this, Genesis felt a growing desire to move forward with her fashion brand while also giving back to parents and families in need. With that mindset, she is dedicated to giving back a portion of TLDC's revenue every month to charities and non-profits, many of which focus on helping families facing health complications, and for children in need of support."

​The bow ties are affordably priced between $20 and $30. The Little Dapper Collection offers handcrafted bow ties designed for every taste and occasion; whether its casual, formal, or in-between. 

As stated above, TLDC has partnered with Operation Smile. This month is National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention month. The founder's son, Noah, was born with a cleft palate. They faced so many challenges with him having a cleft palate but thankfully was able to get it repaired when he turned 1 years old. Without it being repaired, her son would have faced even more medical challenges and could have even passed away. So therefore,  this was one of the biggest reasons why she is a proud supporter of Operation Smile. Read more here about cleft lips or palates.

Here are some more awesome links y'all need to check out!! 

Here is the link to the recent national children’s campaign commercial in honor of National Hope for Children Day: 

https://vimeo.com/263030865

Here is the segment that they had on Fox this past February to help inspire Moms with special needs children to manage their start-up businesses and full-time jobs, while balancing mommyhood. 

http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/315998172-video

Here is the segment with Windy City Live:

http://abc7chicago.com/entertainment/little-dapper-collection-founder-stops-by/1900135/

Here is the segment with Right This Minute:

http://www.rightthisminute.com/video/rtmtv-noahs-incredible-fight-growing-stronger-and-defying-all-odds-joins-rtm

Y'all definitely need to check out their website, and look through all of their amazing bow ties in their collection. We love Luca's bow tie so much. The fit is wonderful, and it velcros in the back so it is is very easy to put on and take off. 

We just love everything about this company, and wanted to share with y'all everything they have to offer. Please follow them on all of their social media account. They definitely deserve all of the support because of all of their selfless actions. There needs to be more companies out there like this one for sure. 

Instagram and Facebook: thelittledappercollection

Twitter and Pinterest: thelittledapper 

My Go To Summer Dresses

So I love creating content for my blog that y'all love, therefore I decided to ask on Instagram what y'all were wanting to see on the blog for this week. A bunch of you asked to know what my "Go To Summer Dresses" are. So here it is y'all... dresses I always choose for the summer time. 

A lot of these were dresses I had either for years or from last summer. But of course some are recent. I hope y'all enjoy this blog post, and get an idea what I always gravitate towards when picking dresses in the summer. 

Let's get started!!!

I always grab my comfiest dresses in the summer, especially in Tennessee because it is so dang HOT!!!

So y'all if you are wanting comfy + cute + breathable material go to Old Navy for real! I have these swing dresses in three different colors because they are the best and easy to throw on! 

Am I right or am I right as to how comfy these dresses are? Let me know if these are y'all's go to's as well. I think this green dress is one of my favorites out of the three for sure. The color is stunning and I feel a million bucks in it even though it isn't extravagant. 

So these dresses aren't exactly nursing friendly but whenever I am in a car or at home I will just lift the dress up and feed him that way. They are so loose, flowy, and easy to throw your baby under to nurse (but obviously not in public haha!).  Another great thing about these dresses are that they are super super affordable. I went in to Old Navy two different times and they were on sale for $12.99. Regular price is $29.99 on new colors, but the ones I have are actually on sale for $14.97 and $12.00!

Shop here for the new fall colors and here and here for the dresses I have.

Next up all things floral!! I definitely love wearing floral dresses in the summer long or short dresses you name it. I love them all! These next dresses are from all different stores and I of course will link where they are from or find similar ones for you. I do not get paid for linking these dresses, I just want to help y'all out and find some super cute much needed dresses for the little bit of summer that is left!!! Great time to get them for next summer too since a lot things are going on clearance since fall items are moving in. 

This dress is from the lovely boutique Spoiled Rotten. I have talked about this boutique before in a previous blog post, but it is a local boutique in Knoxville, Tennessee. But y'all you can shop online, and I love all of their clothes. I wish I could buy the whole store. But Lord knows I don't have that much money, so I put myself on a budget every time I go in there. I got this dress last October to wear to a family members wedding, and I was actually 8 weeks pregnant when I wore it for the first time. It is not maternity but is so flowy that it will grow with your bump. Obviously since I got it last year, the dress is not available anymore but here are all of their dresses. They have so many affordable dresses as well. 

This beautiful floral number is from an online boutique Dainty Hooligan. I also got this dress last year, and I just love how free this dress is. It is flowy (which seems to be a constant trend I go with) and loose. It has a hippy bohemian vibe and I am so loving that in the summer. I always go towards dresses where I can breathe and not feel like the dress is sticking to me because it is so hot outside.

So once again since I bought this dress last year they do not have it on their website but here is one that is similar. The dress I linked isn't floral but it is extra flowy like this one above. 

So this next two floral dresses are from Hope's Boutique. This is a boutique in Georgia but I shop online of course since I do not live there! The first dress (see above pictures) I actually purchased almost 3 years ago. I wore this particular dress on my honeymoon. I just love this dress so much. It has two slits on each side of the dress. The slits make the dress that much more fun to wear. Perfect for a honeymoon for sure. It's always good to show a little bit of leg every now and then right? haha! Of course since I purchased this dress three years ago it isn't available either. But here and here are similar ones. They have two slits in the dresses as well, and they are both floral.. What What!!!

I'm obsessed with this dress and color. I bought this dress right before I had Luca for me to wear for my first mother's day ( I was induced so I knew that he would be here for mother's day..just FYI!). I just love everything about this dress. It is nursing friendly, you can drop one side of the dress down which is awesome. I love bright colors so much, and this one definitely shows that. This dress is all sold out online but here is a similar one. It is a maxi but is floral and so so beautiful. 

So this is what happens when your baby is tired of being in his stroller, and wants to be held. You let him be apart of the photo shoot. He is so cute though so it is all good. hehe! This dress is actually maternity, and it is the dress I wore to my last baby shower. But now I am wearing it as a regular dress. I loved it so much while I was pregnant so why not wear it afterwards too right? :) It is off the shoulder so of course it is nursing friendly. Win win! Shop here for the dress. It is on sale right now. 

These last two dresses are from Shop Stevie which I am a rep for. I seriously love all of their dresses. (If y'all do use the link for these two dresses I do make a small percentage... Thank you in advance if you do use the link) 

The dress above is an overall dress, and it is seriously so comfy. Shop Stevie seriously has the cutest clothes ever! Y'all need to check them out for sure! 

This last dress.. this plaid dress .. see below.. is one of my new favorites. It is so different, and something I usually wouldn't wear. But it has pockets, and comfy which is key in the summer. This dress can also transition into the fall as well as the one above. 

Y'all my confidence is finally back, and I owe it all to motherhood. Mamas be confident in your skin. You created and carried these miracles.. be proud of what your body has done. You are each so beautiful inside and out. 

xoxo