Winnie and B.

Getting back into the swing of things after vacation is rough.  I need a vacation from my vacation.  But hey, it was worth it.  I can't even really put into words how much we all needed that vacation.  And as a mom, everything inside of me was delighted to watch my children experience their first trip to the beach.  The first moment we stepped on the beach, Everly's eyes lit up.  You could see the joy, as if it was billowing out of her.  Even though Silas is still a bit young, he too, thoroughly enjoyed his time away.  He was nothing but smiles and loved the feeling of the sand in between his fingers and toes.  Both of the kids could have played on the beach for hours.  I have 2 beach babes on my hands!

It was a lot of fun dressing the kids while we were away.  Everything is ease and carefree at the beach, so you can just throw on whatever and it works.  On this particular day we ran down to the beach to get in some last minute play time before the sun went down.  We didn't have any intentions on swimming, we just wanted to let the kids feel the sand in between their toes before we hit the boardwalk.  

Everly is sporting the Norma Jean Summer Leopard Body Suit and the Silke Pineapple Sweat Shirt from Winnie and B.  Both pieces are from Soft Gallery's Summer collection.  I seriously fall in love with this brand over and over again with every collection they release.  With Soft Gallery you get a modern cool look with clothes in quite standard cuts, whilst the detail of the embroidery, prints and the sequins make them stand out. Soft Gallery believes each collection is a living gallery.... a gallery on fabric.

You can shop for these pieces at Winnie and B along with some of my other favorite brands like; No Sweet, Popupshop, Beau Loves, and Gro Company, to name a few.  Winnie and B is also currently running an awesome sale with most of their shop up to 40% off!  Be sure to check them out, you don't want to miss out!  :)

Hope everyone has a lovely Friday and awesome weekend!

Vacation Unplugged

We left for vacation on Saturday and came home last night.  It was a 4 night, 5 day stay and it was the perfect amount of time away with two little ones.  When we got to the condo, we unpacked and settled in.  Then we tried connecting to wifi.  We called the front desk to see what was up because there was no signal and they said they were undergoing some technical difficulties with the internet connection and they were unsure when it would be working correctly again.

Little did I know, no internet was actually the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.  It also got me to thinking about something I think about a lot.

Instagram.

I realize Instagram doesn't require wifi, but this vacation just brought everything "technology related" into perspective for me.

I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram.  

I love that instagram has been a part of my life since I got pregnant with Everly.  It has become a timeline of my life with Everly and Silas, through both of my pregnancies and through both of their infancy and growing up stages.  I can document our life in pictures there and can share my heart and our favorite moments we spent together all in one place.  I can add in things that my children are learning or things they are struggling with.  I can add pictures of faces and places we've been that I never want to forget.

I also love instagram for the community.  I have met so many amazing people through Instagram and am so blessed to call a lot of these amazing people really good friends.  Friends that I trust and confide in.  Friends that are so caring and understanding.  Friends that are most-likely going through the same thing I'm going through with my little ones.  Friends that I can ask for help or prayer and they are quick to extend it.  These friends have become so dear and so precious to me.  I have also had the ultimate pleasure of watching their little ones grow and change.  It's fun to get a little glimpse into their life and to share our journey's together.  Instagram has become a special place to me for so many reasons.

Then there are the downsides to Instagram...  Since I have been around Instagram since the beginning stages, I have seen things change immensely.  The fact that everything has become about status.  How many followers you have.  How many likes your pictures get.  How perfect the lighting is in your pictures.  How many luckyboysunday dolls you can throw into one picture.  haha!  (Sidenote: Guys, I love a good product and good brand!  I think Instagram has become one of the most amazing marketing spots for small business and I have found so many awesome products via Instagram that I probably wouldn't have came across elsewhere.  That's not really where I'm going with this.)

What I'm talking about is being real.  Being raw.  I miss seeing those kinds of photos!

I'm not going to stand here and say I haven't fallen into this trap, because it's real and it's out there.  I just wish I saw more photos that weren't picture perfect.  Don't get me wrong, I love the perfect ones!  I love them just as much as the next person.  But what has happened is, when you choose not to post a photo because it's not "Instagram perfect", you might actually be missing out on adding that photo to something bigger.  You might be missing out on adding that favorite memory to your timeline.  Something that YOU want to remember.  Something that matters to YOU.  Forget about everyone else for a minute and do it for yourself and for your family.  It doesn't matter how many likes it will get or how many followers you will lose if it's something that is special to you.

I love your realness and I love your perfectly imperfect photos.  Post more of them!  I know I will be!  :)

By the way, I am glad to be home.  We had an amazing time and I can't wait to share more about our actual vacation with you!  It was a blast!  It was nice to be gone, but it's good to be home.