i owe you a couple of STITCH FIX posts – after all, i haven’t even shown you proof the existence of the perfect dress for the september wedding.  but that reveal will have to wait – i think it will be more fun to save it for the celebration.  just know it’s in my closet and it’s awesome.  for now i’ll give you a peek at what i found when i opened up my 6th FIX at the end of last week.

i immediately loved this dress.  structure – check!  color – gold and cream – different from anything i own.  pockets – is there anything better than a dress with pockets?  it reminds me a bit of an updated (and less bitchy) version of something BETTY DRAPER would wear.  but, as is obvious from the photo above, there are issues.  the dress is too small.  i’ve been struggling a bit with size in the structured dresses that i have received, and decided to request dresses in a size smaller than before.  clearly, in this case. a mistake.  also…there is this:

this is my “don’t go looking at my who-ha” face.  if i were to sit down wearing this dress, let’s just say, i’d be putting on quite the show.  i am sad to see this dress go – as a girl who likes to prepare in advance it just screams ABN’s company holiday party (what, it’s already almost august!).  but, back it goes.

next up this little one-shouldered, grecian number.  the good: turns out, i can rock a one-shouldered dress (never would have picked this one out).  also i love navy…LOVE.  the bad: once again too small, not really a fan of all that draping and…navy.  in my FIX last time around i was sent the most special navy dress and decided to keep it to wear to the aforementioned wedding in september (see, now you can at least picture the color of the dress currently hanging in my closet).  basically the last thing in the entire world that i need is another navy cocktail dress.  while i’m a girl who can have an endless amount of slouchy, white, vnecks…i can’t start collecting navy dresses.  as much as i might like to.

EBN is thinking, um, no mommy

i love a good granny-sweater, and all you have to do these days is mention the word CROCHET and my ears perk up.  but this sweater just doesn’t do it for me.  the fit is weird and i think while granny-esque, it wasn’t really granny enough.  if i’m going granny i want to go all the way and is stuck somewhere between granny and “i have a cold and have kleenex stuffed inside my sleeve.”

this top should be perfect.  i love a flowy, sheer top.  but i think it was a bit too flowy and a bit too sheer.  also, it had this beautiful detail on the chest but, once i put a camisole underneath to deal with some of the sheer-ness, the detail was lost.

and finally, the accessory – often one of my favorite items and this time is no exception.  it’s delicate and really different from anything own.  i went back and forth for a really long time (on again, off again, on again, off again).  in the end, i decided to send it back.  it’s not that i don’t like it – but it isn’t true love, and in an effort to only add pieces that are special and unique to me, i let it go.

so if you’ve followed this post closely you’ll notice i didn’t keep anything.  at first i was disappointed but then i realized i was being lame.  i did keep 3 pieces from my last FIX and mama doesn’t need that many pretty dresses (read: i work from home and don’t get out all that much).  the stylists get me – what is tried and true and in what ways i can use a bit of a style challenge.  and i’m already looking forward to the FIX that will show up at my front door next month.

most of all, it’s been such a blast to hear that so many of you are hopping on board!  i’ve loved getting texts with updates and even better, seeing the photo evidence.  it’s like going shopping with my girlfriends again – oh, those were the days.  also, i’m totally jealous of some of the clothes you ladies are getting.  i think it’s time to edit my profile again – turns out, i have an evolving style.

for the month of august i’ve decided to host a little stitch fix party on this here blog.  be sure to SIGN UP asap (thanks in advance for using my referral code) and tell your friends!  as your fixes arrive, snap a few shots and send them a long with a note about what you’re keeping and what you’re sending back (frecklesinthefog@gmail.com).  at the end of the month i’ll post a round-up…i can’t wait to see what’s hanging in your closet!

i finally went for a run yesterday (thank god, it had been a while) and after my regular loop i wasn’t quite ready to head back home so i decided to wander a bit further and catch up on my SAVAGE LOVE listening.  since it’s not really something appropriate to enjoy when THE BUG is around, i have to listen whenever the opportunity presents itself.

a few weeks ago DAN (i like to pretend we’re friends – after all, i follow him on TWITTER) put on a LIVE SHOW OF SAVAGE LOVE as a fundraiser for WASHINGTON UNITED FOR MARRIAGE.  in addition to dishing out advice, the show also featured special musical guests GARFUNKEL AND OATES - color me instantly obsessed.

i spent most of the rest of the day listening to youtube clips of songs like PREGNANT WOMEN ARE SMUG – freaking hysterical.

here’s my favorite:

just remember, LBN hooked you up before they were all the rage – or are the already all the rage?  i seem to be a bit late to the party these days.  whatever the case, if GARFUNKEL AND OATES are there, it’s a party i really want to be invited to!

DBN and EBN taking on a hike - don't you hike in your leopard print leggings and cat-eye sunglasses?

we’ve been loving every second of having DBN here!  a year is simply too long to be away and it feels like we could stay forever at our kitchen table, drinking wine, eating guacamole and laughing at EBN’s latest antics.  it’s been a really great week.

here are a few gems from around the web that caught my eye:

the cool kids have been all over GAGA since at least 1990

it’s tough to have a HYPHENATED LAST NAME – i should know

the PERFECT DIY -  looks like EBN and i are going to need to take a beach walk to pick up some drift wood

i would wear each and every thing featured on MANDY’S STYLE BOARD

adding THIS BOOK to my must read list

my good friend (who has a rad new job) just had a sermon that she wrote PUBLISHED.  it’s about a topic that i care about deeply and you can read it HERE

still all blubbery after watching JEN’S ANNOUNCEMENT VIDEO

DAZED AND CONFUSED will always be at the very top of my favorite movie list – and THE STYLE really can’t be beat

not only do i wish EBN would EAT LIKE MARLOW, but i wish i would too

although i love the bay area and never want to live anywhere else, THIS post made me super nostalgic for coolidge corner

and thanks to pretty, pretty, pinterest:

put this at the top of mama’s wish list

at some point, EBN is going to need a pair a 1st pair of slippers and lucky her, mama is going to make ‘em

probably my most perfect meal

we’re lucky enough to have DBN in town with us until monday so this we’re making the most of our time together.  tonight we’re heading out to an adults-only dinner on the town.  we’ve had BAR TARTINE on our list for a long time and i’m excited to check it off the list.  i’ll be sure to report back!

my latest FIX arrived today so look for an update on that next week.

have a great weekend

xo,

LBN

i can't believe how young we were - and that i'm wearing a headband!

in september ABN and i will celebrate our 5 year anniversary.  that makes me feel old.  it also makes me feel awesome because, well, i’m not  sure if i’ve done anything consistently for 5 years.  except watch every season of THE REAL WORLD.  but that’s a lot less awesome.  and mostly just makes me feel old.

anyway…

before we could get married, we had to get engaged and with my favorite (and only, but even if she wasn’t my only, she’d still be my favorite – don’t tell any future partner of my now-single brother) sister-in-law recently engaged,it’s got me thinking about that special time in our lives.

i’ll spare you the long, drawn-out, when-is-he-ever-going-to-get-around-to-proposing story – clearly, it worked out – and instead just say – it involved a long walk, a lake, camp stories, some chapstick and a bottle of wine.  also, you can read more about everything HERE

but my favorite part of the story is this – in a totally uncharacteristic of ABN move – he talked to my parents about his plan to propose.  he didn’t quite ask permission (that had basically been granted after date #1) but he called the day before to let my parents know that an engagement was imminent so they best get ready (and ready they got – legend has it  my mom and dad stayed up late into the evening putting together an imaginary guest list.  i come from a long line of planners….N E way…).  my dad makes a point to remind me, as often as possible, that the conversation went something like this:

ABN: so….[ABN says so...A.LOT]…as you know liz and i have been together a long time

PARENTS: yes…

ABN: so…i love her very much

PARENTS: yes…

ABN: i have loved her almost every day since we’ve been together and i know i want to spend the rest of my life with her

MY DAD: almost everyday?  us too!  he gets it!

and with that my parents knew we were meant to be

because, dear readers, honesty really is the best policy

sometimes i hope she never gives up her bottle

for as long as there has been an EBN – there has been a bed time routine.  i mean, technically the routine has evolved, a bit, – and half the time ABN does his routine, which is slightly different from mine (less singing, more reading…a LOT more reading).  but more or less, every night, it’s the same.  the same books.  the same songs.  the same i love you EBN, sleep well, mama will be back to check on you later.

for the last few weeks i’ve noticed that EBN is more of a participant in the routine.  she picks the order that we read her books and she often reads along.  after we are done reading, she turns off the lights and turns her turtle nightlight/stuffed animal on.  she holds on to COCO tightly, lays her head first on my left shoulder, then on my right, again on my left, again on my right, on and on as i sing and she coos “awwww baby”, and quietly relaxes.  then i lay her down in her crib and she begins to settle into her preferred sleeping position (head crammed into corner, tush straight up into the air) and i tip-toe out the door.

but last night, out of nowhere, as i sang her bedtime prayer, the same prayer that she has heard almost every night since she made her debut, she decided to sing along.  quietly at first but then a bit louder and with more emphasis on her preferred final syllables.  it made my heart melt a lot a little.  i know she doesn’t know the specific meaning of the prayer (especially because half of the words are in hebrew) or the significance that her mama sang the same words every night at camp for a few too many years.

but she gets the true meaning – and to me, the songs now have such greater significance than before.