Before having children, I got to the point where I had felt the magic of the holiday season slip away. I told myself that everything would be more magical with a little kiddo taking it all in for the first time. And I wasn’t wrong. But I hadn’t considered one very important detail… all of the stress that comes with making the holidays magical for my children!

This past week has been the height of my holiday stress, as every beginning of December I’m finishing up holiday blog posts for A Beautiful Mess, and invariably finishing the secret handmade gifts I plan to give my girls for presents. But this year every stress has been magnified as we’re still in the midst of renovating some major family living spaces at our house.

This past week I had planned to make Christmas cookies with the girls, letting them decorate gingerbread men however they wanted. At just the thought of this “fun holiday activity,” I had begun to stress about how their little hands would manage to squeeze out icing, and wondered if they’d find the experience fun or frustrating. But then I stepped back for a minute and realized that all of these activities I feel compelled to do are meant to be fun, and if it’s stressing me out, I needed to dial it back a bit! So what did I do? I put myself in a little holiday time out and decided to do something for me.

I spent yesterday evening in the kitchen by myself, while the kiddos watched tv (the horror!), and I made my favorite ginger spice cookie recipe that isn’t necessarily a fan favorite in our house. I was feeling pretty good about things, when I decided to multi-task and head to the garage to work on sanding and painting something or other. When I came back in the house, I realized while I was gone, a batch of cookies had burned in the oven!

And I realized my holiday time-out had actually been a fake out. I was struggling to take the time out to just do one thing for myself, without feeling compelled to be productive simultaneously.

Are you feeling me? Do you struggle to take time out for yourself each holiday season? Since I sort of failed at my holiday time out yesterday, I’m going to put a cute outfit together (with my new Famous Footwear boots), and head out for a cookie exchange party, then I’ll hunker down tonight with a cup of hot tea and the holiday movie of my choice: The Family Stone.

I’ve teamed up with Famous Footwear to encourage you all to please, take a step forward and give yourself a break this season! It will all be gone in a flash, and you’ll wish you hadn’t let yourself get so stressed out. Maybe a new pair of shoes would help? Which is handy, actually, because Famous Footwear would like to give one of you a $100 gift card to spend on a pair of shoes to take you somewhere FUN this holiday season! Head on over to my Instagram to enter the giveaway.

I snatched up my must-have shoe for the season at Famous Footwear, which I’ve been wearing with almost every outfit when I go out these day. They’re a stretchy sock-boot style by Naturalizer, so they’re not hard on my feet. They have a lot of other boot styles that are tempting me as well! Go check it out, and good luck on the giveaway!

One of my most frequently asked questions on Instagram has to be this: Where do you get your girls’ clothes? The answer is a bit of a mixed bag. Many of their clothes are vintage items I purchase from thrift stores, antique shops, Etsy, eBay, and mostly from Instagram mamas who have accounts dedicated to selling vintage kiddo clothes. But I also buy new basics and vintage-inspired clothes from the same ol’ places every year, and I thought it was high time I made a post including our favorite toddler and little girls’ clothes that are are available for purchase right now— no thrift hunting or Etsy scouring needed!

The outfits the girls are wearing here are mostly vintage, but as usual, we mix in some modern items, like tights, shoes, and a turtleneck. Juniper’s little pants set is one of my favorite finds ever, and oh do I wish I had one in my size! Though to be honest, I probably couldn’t pull it off like she can. :)

Juni’s wearing: Pants set from chalkmarks on Instagram / turtleneck from H&M / boots from H&M / coat from H&M

Lucy’s wearing: ascot blouse purchased on Instagram (can’t remember where!) / Jumper from Colette’s Vintage / tights from Old Navy / shoes from Old Navy

And now, here’s a list of some of our favorite kiddo clothes for the season! I purchased some of these items for the girls, and am eyeing some others as Christmas gifts. (Even though they really aren’t at the age that they appreciate clothes for gifts— unless they’re fancy dresses or costumes!)

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21

I like to select a few on-trend, fun items for Lucy to wear every year, but since I know these items will be passed down to Juniper eventually, I try to focus on timeless styles that will still feel fresh in a couple of years. Lucy and Juniper both love dressing up at times, but they are still kiddos (and plenty rambunctious), so I like to choose clothes that are great for playing in too!

We usually purchase our bottoms (like jeans, pants, and leggings) second-hand or else use hand-me-downs from friends. But occasionally I’ll find some jeans in stores that are too cute to pass up! I did leave bottoms off my list because I ended up only purchasing some leggings from Zara this year, and the rest of what we’re using are vintage or have been passed down to my girls.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20

Juniper doesn’t get many new items ever year, for obvious reasons! (#secondchildproblems) But I can’t help myself and still will get her a few cute things new each season. When Lucy was little, I tried to get a lot of gender neutral items in case we had a boy next. But then Juniper came along, and loves her frilly dresses. While I do plan to probably have another baby, I’ve learned to just have fun with the kids we have and not think too much about what might happen with the next kiddo. So Juniper gets some girlier things than Lucy ever did, mostly because she sometimes refuses to wear things that don’t have frills. (I’m working on getting her in on the jumpsuit and pants set game though!)

My mom was invited to a 70s theme party this weekend, and I helped put an outfit together, then offered to send the girls along as her accessories. :)

Hello, Fall! Also, hello heat wave. All I wanted to do today was take the kids to the store and buy us all cute and cozy sweaters, then indulge them when they ask if they can drink hot chocolate. But it’s supposed to get up to 90 in Canton this weekend, and we’re headed to a tropical vacation! Ah, well. Fall will be waiting for us when we return. As will the cozy sweaters and hot drinks.

I popped in at the thrift store this summer to grab a couple of roomier dresses to get me through the renovation weight gain. (Ugh, I know I mentioned it before, but I have such a difficult time balancing anything in life when I’m in the middle of an all-consuming project like our house renovations!) Anyway, I’m not mad about it or anything, it’s just life. I figure I’ll get back to the grind of exercising when we finish the downstairs bathroom and entryway. In the meantime! (Ugh, tangent— sorry!) I wanted to grab a couple of inexpensive things to see me through. You can always count on the thrift store to have mini length chambray dresses— the kind your first grade teacher may have worn, or maybe your mom in the 90s. (Hi, mom!) I grabbed one of these dresses that fit me, and took it home to mix in with my wardrobe.

To modernize the feel, I left the lower buttons undone and pulled on a pair of breezy linen cropped pants and minimal suede sandals. Paired with a hairdo I donned immediately after showering this morning, and I’d say I’m vacation ready! Now, where’s my floppy hat?

O U T F I T    D E T A I L S :

dress: thrifted / pants: Need Supply / shoes: Via Spiga