First trimester pregnancy essentials.

February 27, 2015

I wish I would have written more in my first few months of pregnancy. I wasn’t feeling up to much of anything except eating and sleeping of course, but I know I will regret not recording more of this flash in time…….the time when I get to carry my child so close inside.

Did you keep a baby journal? I have kept one for each of my children, although poor Max has the least entries as I know is a result of just being the third child among a busy bunch, but I am resolving to do better! I thought I would share a debriefing of my first trimester. It went something like this…

Surprise.
Peace.
Seasickness.
Drowsiness.
Sushi please.
Coffee repulsion.
Insta curves.
Pass the fries.
Baby cheek daydreaming.
Let’s nap.
What is motivation?
Name game.
Sore muscles.
Teenager breakouts.
Anticipation.
Hibernation.
Joy. The real good, can’t stop smiling kind.

Pretty much my first trimester in a nutshell folks. The pregnancy is flying by because I have three other rambunctious and scrumptious little ones to distract me. I told Gabe he could decide if we should find out the gender or not. I think we both are feeling impatient, but ultimately love that surprise delivery room moment of meeting him or her.

{Top: Shopbop // Pants: 7FAM c/o // Necklace: Gold & Gray c/o // Heels: Franco Sarto (thrifted, similar pair) // Hat: (similar)

We have a few names narrowed down for both boy or girl, and love discussing the topic over a good coffee date (did I mention I no longer am repulsed by coffee now that I hit my second trimester? Praise God!). We like to see the face of the baby first before naming them, but I have some favorites taking the lead. Gabe lights to guard these names with the utmost secrecy in case they be snatched out of his hands by who knows who. He makes me laugh…

What were your favorite things to get you through your first trimester? The things that added a little spring in your tired step, or calm to the dizziness? Here are a few of mine:

Electric Blanket – Frivolous I know. My mom gave me one for Christmas a few years ago and I have used it more than any other throw (and I am a blanket hoarder). It was so comforting for sore backs and muscles, and super plushy soft. I think mine was by sunbeam.

Night Mask – Holy chicken pox! My skin really suffers my first trimester. As in, I breakout worse than I ever did my teen years. I read a cool article on helping your skin on Mother mag, but the Julep oil wash and night mask have been extremely helpful.

Loose leaf Tea Blends – Since coffee was out of the picture I clung to my warm brews to settle my stomach in the morning and evenings. Yogi teas are really good for pregnancy, and the Teavana blends always hit home too.

Blanqi leggings – I have talked about their several times, but have newly discovered their leggings. WOW. Good support for back and belly, and smoothly flatters growing curves. (Hi hips! It’s good to see you again!) I didn’t have the desire to get dressed most days, and jeans were extremely uncomfortable as the waist line got tighter. I would just put these on, fold over the top (will probably keep unfolded for some outfits), and throw on a large comfortable sweater. I usually have a no leggings as pants rule for myself but it when you aren’t leaving the house, why not?

Foot cream – Gabe’s new years resolution was to give his pregnant wife more massages. He was semi-sarcastic, but me gifting him with this hand cream to use on sore feet has helped him keep his resolution. Resourcefulness.

Vitamin B6 – In addition to pre-natals I like to take Vitamin B6 for help with the seasick phase. It really kept it bay for me.

Peppermint and Lemon Essential oils – A few of the smells I could tolerate that were really soothing behind the ears to help you doze of to sleep when the nausea won’t let you. Also good in tea, and body butters. (If you don’t have a place to pick them up, you can get them from my friend Lesley!)

I’d love to hear your first trimester pregnancy essentials or any trimester as I still have months to go!
Cheers to the great adventure of growing a baby,
Anna

Thank you Kathryn McCrary for these photos! Hopefully will be better at pregnancy photos too for my little one’s sake. I tend to want to avoid pictures, but what a cool thing those photos are to look back on for them. I really value the pictures of my own mother expecting.

Ethically Made Clothing Companies.

February 25, 2015

Americans are currently spending over 200 Billion dollars a year on retail merchandise (source). And every day, there are thousands of workers in sweatshops across the globe making just $1 to $2 to provide for their whole family. There are very harsh conditions in sweatshops across the globe, and many of deaths occur as a result.

Ever since I was a teenager I have bought my own clothes. I worked various jobs, and was taught at a young age the value of earning your own dollar. My style changed and evolved, but I usually frequented the same shops. I never gave much thought to buying higher quality ethically made clothing. I never really had the option to buy high quality prices since I was working my way through college, and after that, I was getting married and saving for our family. Every dollar was hard earned, but I never thought much about where that money was going when spending it on clothing…..

(featuring the black pantsuit from Seamly Co, Coat: Vintage(similar one), Clutch: Aldo, Shoes: (similar), Necklace: Kendra Scott) VIEW FULL POST

Flea Market Fixer Challenge

February 24, 2015

Today I get to kick off my partnership with Valspar paint! So excited to be on its Blogger Panel this year; and share some really cool projects and color stories with all of you. The challenge for today’s post was to find a flea market piece to make over with Valspar’s Chalky Finish Paint.

Sprucing up flea market finds has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was in college, so couldn’t wait to tackle this mission. We have been discovering some of the great antique and flea markets Atlanta has to offer. Saturday Gabe and I made a date of it, and we went on the hunt for some possible subjects to make over…

We started at Lakewood Antique Market. Lots of good pieces ready for some love. The Fiestaware always calls my name. Paris on Ponce and Scotts Antiques are two other fantastic places to play treasure hunt, but since we were already up north we ended up at Queen of Hearts…. VIEW FULL POST

Recently.

February 21, 2015

Some of the highlights getting me through the bitter cold over the last few weeks! …

I have a renewed love for thrifting, thanks to a few recent trips that landed me some vintage pumas, brand new grey suede pumps (here are some similar ones if you are looking for some!), and a vintage floor length camel coat that I have only been hunting down for at least 6 months;) And speaking of thrifting, here is a recent article on Verily Mag where I shared my thrifting tips alongside some other gals (who are actually more pro than me!).

My friends Emily and Viviana made their debut as Atlanta Interior Design specialists for Pleat Street Interiors! They had a brilliant Art + Interiors show which paired textile layouts to Fine Art paintings! They have such a knack for what they do, and I can’t wait to see the homes they put their spin on!

Got lost in The Merchant ATL, where charm drips over every table top, wall, and corner. I spent two hours deciding everything was a must buy and walking out with a coffee mug?! I am so good at making decisions…(roll eyes).

Taking a lot of short field trips with the kids in the mornings while Gabriel is at school. It helps to get our daily dose of fresh air. This picture makes me chuckle. We have no idea where Veronica got her sass….

We barely escaped the nationwide snow front somehow. Kind of wish it would have swept through. Better than rain! My little ones were wishing upon wishes for there to be snowflakes falling. Wishing you all a warm weekend!
x, Anna

P.S. I’ll be sharing a peak into my Saturday adventures tomorrow on West Elm Atlanta’s instagram handle if you want to see what’s in store:)

Movie Watch: The Giver

February 20, 2015

There seemed to be a dry spell in good movies to rent over the last few months. All the good flicks come out in theaters over Christmas or the summer, and leaves the you a few months of wait time for redbox options. Since we got hit with some really icy and cold weather here in Atlanta, the schools shut down all week. That means Gabe was off as well, and we kindly obliged to the chance on catching up with a little R&R. I had completely forgot The Giver came out in theaters! It is a strong movie based on the novel by Lois Lowry. An easy watch, but it leaves you with deeper thoughts than you bargained for…

The film starts in black and white in a futuristic country that seems to be man-made or set apart from the rest. It is a contrived world, where from birth, children are taken from their “birthmothers”, and then assigned to a family unit. You are only with your family unit until you are assigned with a task as an adult member of the community. This world is a well oiled machine. Everything runs like clockwork. There is no pain or emotions. Just a smooth running society overseen by the Elders. Jonas, the main character in the film has more perceptive qualities than the rest of the citizens, and when the time comes, he is assigned “Receiver of Memory.” A role which only one receives every blue moon. It embarks him on a training with “The Giver of Memory” played by Jeff Bridges.

The plot is fascinating as The Giver slowly pulls back the red curtain to the reality of the world they live in, and through his instruction, Jonas receives the memories of the world past. Emotions, love, hate, war, peace are all received into his memory in small pieces. Something that is overwhelming and painful at times, but the depth of relationships is something the current society is without. Jonas realized their controlled world is missing the very heart of what makes life worth living, even though sometimes pain must exist with it. The film starts to reveal more color in the scenes as you are drawn into the story. It parallels perfectly with how you experience the movie.

Even though Jonas is supposed to be the keeper of these memories, he starts on a mission to blow them wide open in order to bring back the reasons for truly living. Katie Holmes and Taylor swift have roles in the film, but I would say Meryl Streep plays the most compelling female role as chief Elder. She is the only other person besides The Giver who remembers how it once was. She plays the antagonist role as the only other person who remembers the world as The Giver does. She begins to suspect he is training Jonas to do away with the world they had built, and adds to the suspense of what the outcome of the story will be.

I hope I have you intrigued enough;) When a film comes along that has some depth to it, I think it’s worth a whole blog post because it doesn’t happen often! So, if you are stuck indoors this weekend, here is your flick to watch!

P.S. What recs do you have? Here’s the last movie that got a whole blog post;)

9 Tips for Better Instagram Photos

February 18, 2015

Photography is one thing, and iPhone photography is another ball game. I still feel like I am always learning something new, and I certainly appreciate when other artists or bloggers take the time to share tips. These are hopefully some helpful ones to keep in mind as you shoot with your phone. This would actually be a good prelude to this post on the instagram photo editing process. These tips for better instagram photos are to meant to be helpful whether you are running an instagram account for your business or simply trying to capture good moments of your family.

I will be sharing a few more posts on social media soon, as I prepare to launch an exciting part of The Brand Market!

1. Find a natural light source. Probably the most important factor of a good instagram photo is natural light. No matter how good the phone camera is, without natural light you usually get a grainy or blurry photo. If you are outdoors, I usually shoot in a shaded area, and if I am indoors, I am shooting near a window or in a well lit room. We are naturally drawn to images with good light. It can reflect the mood and time of day, and translate so much more than a flash photo or poorly lit image.

2. Shoot in square mode. Some apps allow you to shoot with a square frame to help conceptualize your image as you are shooting. Since I always post in squares, I like to shoot in square mode. VSCO Cam offers a square shoot mode as well as an optional grid mode to help center and align if you are styling objects.

3. Try 3 angles. Aerial view, eye level, diagonal, etc. There are so many ways to make an image stand out, but it’s worth the extra minute or two to try at least a few angles. You may be surprised what you end up using. Often times, it is the last shot I take that makes the cut:)

4. Experiment with perspective. As a follow up to playing around with angles, try a change in perspective. Change it up from close up shots to atmosphere shots. The full buzz at a coffee shop vs. a coffee mug, you and your friend in the full room vs. just a close up of faces. It will surprisingly capture the moment in a very cool and memorable way!

5. Use a focus tool. I shoot in the VSCO app because the camera option has an adjustable focus and exposure tool integrated in the app that you can tap to adjust as you shoot. It is extremely helpful to making sure your photo doesn’t blur.

6. Choose your background wisely. When I was in design school, we were often reminded of the importance of negative and positive space either supporting, complimenting, or contrasting in an interesting way. Basically, you don’t want your background to take away from the subject of your photo but to either enhance or contribute to it. This will apply differently depending if you have a lifestyle, product, fashion, or personal based stream (and heck who cares if you are just snapping a pic of your friends!). If you are working on a more integrated instagram stream however, your background can be a strong asset to the outcome of your image.

7. Declutter. Eliminate distractions from your photos. I think less is more effective when it comes to instagram. However, everyone has their own style, and often times, you would rather take the candid shot than take the time to declutter!

8. Travel Lens. If you feel like leaving your nice camera behind, try an Olloclip for iPhones that offers 4 in 1 angle options, and makes it easy to snap sharp photos on the go.

9. Edit your instagram photos like a champ. It can make all the difference!

If you have any tips to add to the list fire away!
x, Anna

The Common Knowledge

February 16, 2015

I have a weak spot for modern design, and let out an audible gasp when I saw this bag from The Common Knowledge. They were kind enough to send over a bag for me to style and share the line with all of you. Even though ethically made requires a higher price point, I am happy to at least share support for these companies, and this innovative line is one of them. Edgy design, but with enough practical benefits to help a girl out with comfort and space. Made in New York City with Italian Leather materials, I’d say these are #ConsciousClosets approved.

Gabe and lil’ Gabriel have President’s Day off, and there is snow in the forecast. I am thankful for the extra time with my boys, and the time we got to spend with good friends over the weekend. After one of my posts about ways to Battle the Winter Blues, one of you readers mentioned she looks at winter as an opportunity for togetherness. For some reason, that really made an impact on me. How true it is! What a fantastic way to look at it. Even when the togetherness can start to give you cabin fever;)

x, Anna

{Cape: Leslie Tessler (similar) // Denim: Henry and Belle (similar) // Boots: Sam Edelman (old but Similar) // Tote: The Common Knowledge c/o