The Official End of Summer

Usually I'd consider Labor Day or the first day of school the last day of summer.  The pool usually closes on Labor Day, but back to school always elicits thoughts of Halloween, football, fall, and pumpkins.  However, this year I am marking the end of summer (though not the end of HEAT) with the end of my maternity leave.

That's right, after twelve blissful, sleepy, pajama-filled weeks home with our newest little lady, it's time for me to hit the grindstone again.  I am so very sad to leave Riley, but she is going to be in great care.  Ryan and I worked hard to find a great daycare that we love, but nothing beats bumming around with her all day.  I'm definitely excited to see my friends again and to use my brain in a different, non-diaper counting way.  There are a lot of moving parts that I'm nervous about, like leaving her, pumping, the morning schedule.  But I know that with a lot of grace and a little luck, we'll make it.

And in order to make myself feel a little better, I did a teensy bit of shopping.  It didn't help a ton (I'm still much bigger than I want to be!!), but it did help a little.  New shoes really make a difference, people.

So if you get a chance today, say a little prayer for me.  I'm going to need it!!

Shoe Shopping

While Alli has a sweet little friend over and Ryan's at work, your girl is enjoying her beautiful Saturday by doing a little spray painting and online shopping.  I'm sure you'll get pictures later of the frames and other decor that I'm updating, but I just had to show you what I'm shopping for!

Kids Silver Sparkles

TOMS!!  Gawd I love this footwear!!!  First of all, they are comfy, versatile, and cute (I may have 5 pairs), but more importantly, when you buy Toms, they donate a pair of shoes to a child in need!  Shoes and philanthropy?  Talk about my kind of shopping!  Even better - they are uber (yes, I said uber) trendy kids footwear!  Alli has had a red pair for a while (the only color they ever had in her size in stock), but it seems Toms has figured out that little girls love sparkles.  So far we've ordered the silver pair above as well as these two below:

Does this not scream "ALLI??"

You can't get pink without purple!

How fabulous are all of those?  I can't wait for them to get here!!  And I may or may not have been looking for myself as well (don't I need purple too??) when I came across these:

Made for Lara

Pretty freaking perfect for my blue-loving friend Lara.  I'm trying to convince her to wear them under her wedding dress in May.  Hello!!

I'm a genius

I wonder if she will let me wear MY pink glitters with my pretty blue maid (not matron) of honor dress?

Perfection

Or she could say no and give me an excuse to buy the silver glitters.  You know, whatever.