Diaper Bags for the Cool Mom {Part 2!}

Hey mamas! How are we!? Anyone getting winter depression/anxious from being cooped up in this horrid weather!? It’s a thing… LOL I certainly am! I was just in CA for 5 days and came back to a blizzard – not exactly my idea of enjoyable BUT I am glad to be back with my guys! Hopefully only 6ish more weeks left of winter…we can so do it!!

Last year I posted a list of “diaper bags for the cool mom” and got a great response on the suggestions, so here I am to do part 2! I’ve tried a ton of diaper bags and definitely prefer the backpack style OR a bag that can convert to both an over the shoulder and a backpack. You already have enough things to carry as a Mom – your diaper bag should make your life easier and allow you to be hands free.

I see posts daily on Facebook or in the groups I’m apart of where Moms are constantly asking for diaper bag suggestions. Why is a diaper bag so important? WELL – once you become a mom, your diaper bag is essentially your purse. It’s your sanity for getting from place to place in a prepared manner. No more designer or cute handbags being used on a daily basis – unless you have 3 hands to carry both, which you don’t. Your diaper bag is now your fashion identity (I wish I was kidding!) Don’t feel like your diaper bag needs to be juvenile or have puppy print and hearts on it because it is being used for your child. You can see below that I am a huge fan of the classy neutrals/solids only, in the bags I carry. I also 100% think it is worth investing in a great diaper bag – you will use it DAILY and you need to feel like it’s comfortable, efficient, easy to carry, and easy to pack. Without further ado, here are my 2018 recos:

Skip Hop Greenwich Simply Chic

Fawn Design Backpack

Skip Hop Greenwich Simply Chic Diaper Tote

JJ Cole Backpack Diaper Bag

Freshly Picked Convertible Diaper Backpack

Highbury Hill Diaper Backpack

Honest City Backpack

Itzy Ritzy® Backpack Diaper Bag

JJ Cole Arrington Tote Diaper Bag

Skip Hop Suite 6 Piece Backpack

The bag I am using in these photos is the Fawn Design original in PLUM. Unfortunately the plum is SOLD OUT right now 😦 but it does come in 4 additional colors. I really love that this bag is spacious and can convert from an over the shoulder, to a cross body, to a backpack.

^mean muggin

Does anyone have one of these bags? I’d love to hear how you like it! If anyone purchases a bag above, please let me know – would also love to see a photo! Hope this helps!

 

Advertisement

Personal Days and Ponchos (& why both are necessary!)

A personal day? What’s that?

If you are asking that question to yourself or thinking, “SERIOUSLY!” – hear me out! I’ve just recently discovered the single best #momhack #lifehack whatever you want to call it hack.

Early on after having Calvin and going back to work, a co-worker gave me the advice that I should schedule days off work to get personal things taken care of.. aka suggesting that I would have to plan ahead to be productive, a super foreign concept to me. I put this in the back of my mind up until now, as it seemed like a waste of a vacation day, or that it wouldn’t be worth setting aside work or emails for a full day.

It has been a busy and stressful summer & fall back at work, and I have slowly started to fall behind on “life.” So at the end of last week, I decided I needed a personal day – to keep both my physical and mental sanity!

My only regret is that I didn’t do this sooner.

[Every vacation day for the past 18 months has been spent traveling (usually to and from holidays), which in itself can be extremely stressful and tiring. If we weren’t traveling, they were spent at home in Cincinnati staying at others’ homes and juggling how we can maximize time with every loved one we want to see and while in town.]

This was not the personal day where I sleep in until 10am, slowly enjoy my coffee cuddled on the couch with a nice book and then make my way to the salon for a day of pampering.  It was time – this mama needed a day to herself to just get. shit. done.

I never thought I would be the Mom that was off work and still taking her child to daycare, but I can now put myself in that category. It is almost impossible to get anything done when taking care of an 8 month old at home, so off to daycare Calvin went. Because my personal time is so valuable, I did not feel bad… he did get to go late and was picked up early. Either way, Calvin loves daycare (thinking of writing a post on daycare pros & cons) so it was just another chance for him to play with his “friends.” 🙂

I honestly can barely even believe I was so productive. I felt “free” and was able to check so many things off of my to-do that would’ve otherwise eaten into my entire weekend or taken a lot longer than 1 day to accomplish.

Some ideas for fully utilizing a personal day:

Drink your coffee out of a normal mug as opposed to a travel mug (it’s the little things)

Clean/pick-up your home

Laundry

Work on your side hustle

Go to a work-out class

Grocery shop/buy items for a new recipe

Go to brunch or lunch with a friend

Shower and actually get ready

Spend extra time with your child in the morning and afternoon

*I may or may not have been able to do all of these things and more*

If you are a busy mom, or hard working professional and feeling overwhelmed with work, life and responsibilities, I suggest putting some time aside for yourself. Even if ‘personal time’ means you are checking things off your list that involve others – if it’ll make you feel better to accomplish these things that you know need done asap, it’s time.

As a mom, you likely schedule everyone else’s lives around you – what about scheduling some time of your own?

So – my top 3 reasons you should take some time for a personal day – 1) get a bunch of shit done in one focused day 2) revive your mental sanity and 3) you deserve it!

---

OUTFIT INSPO:

Boots (similar)

Dress

Necklace

The poncho I’m wearing in these photos is almost like a blanket, super big and warm. It’s from marshals, or maybe TJ Maxx last year and LITERALLY doesn’t have a brand on the tag. (You can probably tell by now that I’m not a big brand snob – I buy what I like, don’t care where it’s from or what the brand is.) I also swore by ponchos when I was pregnant and they are actually what inspired my very first post.  They are probably my favorite cold weather accessory and I’m so glad it’s finally chilly enough to pull them out! Here are some of my other favorites for you to choose from:

Here’s to my two favorite things at the moment: personal days & ponchos! How do you feel about either? What is your plan of attack for completing “life” tasks and not getting overwhelmed? Any hacks I should know about?

Talk soon!

Our {Mommy & Me} Fall Fashion Favorites + a GAP discount code

Hi all, how are we? I’m back, back again – I have to write about the sweetest thing that has started happening with Calvin lately. I wrote about this on a previous instagram post, but he has definitely started WANTING me and showing preference to who holds him, and when. This is new in the last few weeks. When I get home from work he is basically reaching and lunging for me to hold him and just pick him up and squeeze him. If I go in the other room, he now notices, and if I put him down before he wants me to, he’ll grip onto me harder. If we’re sitting on the floor he tries to crawl up my legs. I know that this will probably get old but for now I am just enjoying him wanting to spend time with and love his mom! He shows he needs me and I know I need him, too.

Anyways…it’s a new season, a new month, and guess what? I’m still obsessed with neutrals. I’ve enlisted the help of a particularly cute baby model to help me with this post 🙂 I’m thinking I will do a ‘Mommy & Me’ type fashion post every so often going forward.

Last fall I was preggo and wearing pretty much all maternity clothes, this fall, I get to match with my little dude – so fun!

So because of this year’s change in size, I was feeling like I needed some new things… and I found myself going for all of the brown, tan, cream basics per usual. Am I boring? I’m such a brown, goldeny wearing girl. I love wearing these type of shades, and this always translates into my make-up and accessories as well. I talked in my everyday makeup routine about this and I will be showing you all my newest neutral favorite fall/winter accessory from JORD watches next week!

My fall necessities as always are sweaters, jeans and boots. #basic huh?  I love me a good pair of brown boots, a soft comfy sweater and perfect fit pair of jeans. Obviously I had to get Calvin the same items – brown baby booties, a comfy knit henley onesie and the cutest little baby jeans.

What I’m wearing:

Boots

Sweater

Jeans (Similar)

What Calvin’s wearing:

Booties

Onesie (similar)

Jeans

Both of our jeans are from GAP – all of my best, comfiest, and longest lasting pants are from here. I’m so happy I can pass my love of GAP JEANS onto Calvin so we can match. He’s totally going to hate me for this later on in life so I’ll just do it now while I can get away with it!

Use my code below for 35% off a GAP purchase through 10/8:

35% off! Includes sales styles. Use code WANT at Gap. Restrictions apply. Ends 10/8.

Shop some of mine & Calvin’s other fall favorites:

^I’ve had a pair of Aldo knee high brown boots for 3 years – more pricey, but the best!

We are going to a beer festival tomorrow during the day with our friends who have a little baby boy as well – yes, we’re taking the little guys! Can’t wait to relax and have some fun on this October weekend.

Love you all! Thanks for reading – I hope you can find some comfy & casual fall picks for you and  your babes ❤

Soft & Comfy Shirt Dresses {Perfect for the Transition to Fall} + A Gap Discount Code!

Hi Friends!! I am finally writing since launching my new site, name, logos, Facebook page, and updated instagram handle. What do you guys think? I hope you feel as if “running with strollers” is a great metaphor for my life, and the topics I write about here on the blog. I spent a lot of time with the guys at WRK Personal Branding to get this first launch rolled out. I say first launch because this is *fingers crossed* just the start of what is to come. They were so professional, hilarious, and it was true collaboration throughout the entire process!

What’s new with you guys? My entire news feed is everyone’s kids going back to school…so freakin’ cute! Although it was like two seconds ago that summer was ending and WE were going back to school. I think this means fall is coming, so we better start the fall fashion convo NOW!

I wasn’t initially going to do a full post on this dress but I got so many questions and compliments when I posted on IG here, I decided we must talk about shirt dresses – not to be confused with shirts that you wear as a dress! I bought this dress from OLD NAVY back in the spring after having Calvin because it’s loose, comfortable and able to be worn in spring, summer & fall. Also, I must add – this dress is currently on sale for $19.99! I have a medium but it runs very big so size down, if you’re questioning it.

Shirt dresses are perfect for transitioning into fall. This fabric is a bit heavier and the sleeves and length are perfect for when it’s not too hot but not too cold either. I am so so excited for fall fashion…summer fashion is just not my fave anymore. I feel like up until I was about 20, summer was my favorite season. Basically, summer is fun when you can spend it at the pool relaxing as opposed to sitting in an office staring at a computer screen. Now, it’s just too hot for me, too hot for Cal, and this girl doesn’t like to sweat when she’s not supposed to be sweating (aka outside of a workout!) #firstworldprobs

It’s funny, when I was pregnant I would wear tight, form fitting dresses all the time because it was really cool and acceptable to show off my belly then. A big belly = cute. Now, not so much. I actually have to admit that I’m not a huge dress fan or wearer in general because i just feel more comfortable with a waist band (helps suck it all in, haha.) Is that weird? I know most people are the opposite.

Sometimes when wearing loose or over sized dresses, it can tend to look like I’m either 1.) wearing a sack or 2.) am huge because I have a larger chest. One solution for this is tying something around your waist…can be a shirt, a belt, or even a fanny pack if you’re feeling adventurous. I chose a jean shirt here, which I could also actually wear as intended, if needed. A lot of shirt dresses come with a belt or cinched waist (see options below), so look for those if you feel you have the same issue!

You could also choose other statement pieces that draw away from the mid-section such as statement shoes (I chose wedges since it is still so warm out, but this dress will also look great with short booties for fall) a hat such as this floppy, or a a piece of jewelry. I wrote about floppy hats last year and can’t wait to bust them out – and probably write about them again this year! Such a fun and stylish accessory.

Although I got this dress from Old Navy, their sister company, GAP, has some great options right now for achieving this look – here is a style guide with some of my favorite easy shirt dresses that will easily transition you into fall:

All dresses + a 40% offer can be found here:

Get 40% off with code STYLE at Gap. Restrictions apply. Ends 8/18.

I brought Calvin along while taking these photos and he was seriously an angel watching in his stroller.

It’ll be September in just two short weeks – I hope you all are as excited about transitioning into fall as I am. What are your go-to’s? I will write about my favorite transition boots (let’s be honest – boots are the best fall wardrobe staple) before the end of the month.

Have a great rest of the week!