Maximum Danger

Here's another outfit that I liked until I saw the pictures and then blergh!  Not great.  It also wasn't great because I wore it to church and then had to go up and down stairs while holding a screaming baby.  It was sort of dangerous because I almost tripped on my skirt a few times.  Midi skirts might be the answer for a new mom.  Long enough to be decent but short enough to be safe.  

Cardi: JCF

Tank: Loft

Skirt: J.Crew

Sandals: target

Shape Shifting

If you are expecting some cool scifi reason for my post subject, you are in for a real disappointment today.  No, I'm talking about my newly acquired mom-bod.  I'm actually about 10lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight, so you'd think my clothes would fit.  But no.  Because my body is all weird now and shaped differently!  So I wore this outfit and felt great all day, and then took pictures and wasn't so sure about how I looked.  

I know lots of women struggle with body confidence, but this is kind of new for me.  I've never thought I was a supermodel, but I think I had a fairly realistic view of myself and generally knew how to dress in ways that I felt good.  Now, I just feel like I don't know how to dress myself!  

Anyway, I'm not too super worried about it, but since this is a clothes blog, I figured I should mention my current struggle.  For the record, Baby Smith is 1000% worth it.  Trust me, I'm great at math.  

Top: Target

Skirt: Old Navy

Sandals: Carlos Santana 

Book Review - The Dovekeepers

For some reason, I thought The Dovekeepers had a WWII connection.  I knew it was about Masada, but thought it jumped back and forth between the two time periods.  It doesn't. Just the Masada storyline. 

I was somewhat familiar with what happened at Masada, but I didn't remember exactly.  And the author uses the historical account as a framework for the fictional characters.  There are 4 sections, each told from the perspective of a different woman who ended up at Masada.  

Honestly, it took me awhile to get interested.  Our first narrator is boring at first.  She is more interesting in the other narrators sections.  About 100 pages in, I wanted to quit.  But so many people who I trust for book advice had recorded it, and I was using it for a category of the book challenge, so I kept going.  

I'm glad I finished reading it.  Things got more interesting and then I liked it.  I mean, spoiler alert: almost everyone dies, but I already knew that.  

Summertime

Summer is almost over for anyone who has to go back to school, but it's still going to be hot for couple months, so I think we should avoid getting too fall crazy for now.  Shorts will still be the best option for awhile.   I keep saying I will stop wearing these maternity shorts, but I just like them so much and man are they comfortable!

Anyway, it's been an awesome summer!  First I had a baby, and then a bunch of family came to visit!  My sister and nieces are here right now and we are having so much fun.  It's super sweet to see how much the girls love their cousin!

Top: Loft outlet
Shorts: Loft maternity
Sandals: Target

Book Review - The Dinner

The Dinner is a book that I picked based on knowing nothing about it, per the reading challenge requirements.  It came up as a recommendation on my library ebook account and I thought the cover looked interesting.  And I'll give the library credit, because I thought it was an enjoyable read!

It is the story of two couples out to dinner and how their conversation tiptoes around a serious issue.  The narrator is one of the men and he fills in the blanks of what happened recently.  It's kind of suspenseful, as you learn bits and pieces of the story as the dinner progresses.  This isn't the kind of book where you particularly like any of the characters, but I'm okay with that.  Sorry my synopsis is kind of lame.  I feel like the best part of the book is how bits and pieces of the story are slowly revealed.  The summary on Goodreads gives too much away, so I'm glad I didn't know anything about this book when I started reading it!

Bill Grogan's Goat

Who wants another weird goat story??  No one?  Oh, well.  This is going to be awkward then, because I'm telling the story anyway.  

When I was telling my husband the riveting story about the Three Billy Goats Gruff, he was like "wait, wasn't there a train?"  No no no.  Silly husband!  That would be Bill Grogan's Goat.  With very little encouragement, I started singing, and made him repeat each line, because that's how the song goes: 

Bill Grogan's goat was feeling fine

Ate 3 red shirts right off the line

Bill gave that goat a great big smack

And tied him to the railroad track

(Something something something)

He coughed up the shirts and flagged the train. 

I couldn't remember a couple lines in the middle, so I consulted Google, as one does.  This is what I found.  My memory was about right for the beginning of the song, but while my version ends with the goat getting the train to stop, the real version continues.  To summarize, the engineer sees the goat and cuts his throat.  If that wasn't horrible enough, the goat goes to heaven (headless) and St. Peter is like "hey goat, where's your head?" and the goat is like "no one knows..."  I'm sorry, WHAT?  How is this a children's song?  I'm about 95% sure the goat didn't die in whatever version I knew as a kid.  Or maybe I just blocked out the bad memories.

And I think that's my last blog post about goats for awhile.

Cardigan and Top: Gap factory
Shorts: Gap
Sandals: Target

Summer Reading Challenge

I finally finished a reading challenge (all the details on the challenge here)!!!  I've started a few of these (here and here) in the past and either didn't like a category, or got distracted with other books that didn't fit the categories.  This time, I was somewhat limited to ebooks that my library had, but several of the books I wanted to read fit into categories, so it worked out!  Here's the breakdown of what I read each month, and what category/points they were.  The challenge goes through the end of August, so you still have time to join in if you want!  

May: 40 points

• 15 points: Read a book with "light" or "dark" in the title. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - 531 pages, 5 stars
• 15 points: Read a book by an author who is completely new to you. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - 323 pages, 5 stars 
• 10 points: Read a book that has been on your TBR list for at least two years. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - 372 pages, 2 stars (note - I could have sworn that my sister told me to read this, but when I mentioned it to her, she hasn't read it.  So I have no idea who recommended it to me)

June: 100 points

• 15 points: Read a book by an author you have read before.  Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - 384 pages, 2 stars (note - this is the "not really sequel" to Anna and the French Kiss, which I didn't love, but they were decent reads for when I was caring for a newborn and awake at all hours of the night.  Interesting enough to keep my eyes open, but very easy to put down when I had a chance to sleep)
• 10 points: Read a book that won a Goodreads “Best Book” award in 2014. We Were Liars by E Lockhart - 227 pages, 5 stars
• 30 points: Read a book with an alliterative title.  Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - 232 pages, 5 stars
• 20 points: Read a book with an animal on the cover.  Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris - 275 pages, 3 stars
• 25 points: Read a book that is part of a series with at least four books. A Wrinkle in Time  by Madeleine L'Engle - 211 pages, 4 stars

July: 60 points

• 5 points: Freebie! Read any book that fits the general rules.  Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - 425 pages, 4 stars
• 20 points: Read a book with the name of a city, state or country in the title. China Dolls by Lisa See - 376 pages, 4 stars
• 25 points: Read a book that is longer than 500 pages long.  The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman - 504 pages, 4 stars
• 10 points: Read a book you have never heard of before.  The Dinner by Herman Koch - 292 pages, 4 stars