Calvin's Second Birthday at the Children's Museum

Hello friends, 

A few weeks ago, I got to celebrate my favorite nephew's second birthday. Calvin is the first son of my best friend Amanda, owner of Panda Inc. (featured in yesterday's post). He's one of the brightest, happiest, and snuggliest little boys I know. He and his little sister Alice make my heart want to explode with love and pride! That's them in the above photo! The first photo is a side by side comparison from his first birthday, and one from this year. He's a stinker, and I just love him. 

Amanda had the amazing idea to celebrate this little man's big day at The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. It's one of the coolest places in town to take your little ones. There's several floors that are catered to different age groups, and all of them are jam packed with amazingly fun, and educational exhibits for the littles.  Since our little isn't so little any more, we got separated from our group for most of the day. Landon is seven and doesn't exactly like hanging out with 2 year olds, but he was really excited to see Calvin and wish him a happy birthday! Most of our group has littles under the age of 5, so we wandered off in our own direction. 

Landon had too much fun running around the whole building. There were hundreds of shrieks, and smiles throughout the day. We made screen prints, built circuits, and played in water! He learned so much that day. There was even a room dedicated to cars, and motion; they called it 'The Garage'. There was also a lovely section outside with a huge sandbox, and playhouse; that we all could climb! We played on the swings, and rang bells. Landon, Bryan, and David played in mud, and watched bees pollinate flowers just outside the sandbox. Overall, it was a great day. All of my boys had so much fun running around like little kids (yes, even Bryan and David). And at the end of it all, we got to celebrate the life of one cool little dude! All the babies played super hard, and got incredibly sleepy at end of the day. It was a wonderful day!

Do you have any fun museums around you?

xo. holly erinn 

::Threads & Textiles:: Fairy Tales Undone

Hello friends,

About a week or so ago, I had the pleasure of running around a local park with a few of my friends for a photo shoot. We got to dress up in silly costumes in the middle of the day, and have several random passersby give us incredibly strange looks. We also got a few interesting comments, which sparks a few interesting conversations. It was quite the fun day. I was running around with my darling Bryan, my little brother David, and my good friends Amanda and Daniel! It was seriously one of the most fun days we've had in a while. I love these people.

My dearest Amanda, owner and lead photographer of Panda Inc. took all of these amazing photos featured in today's post. She's local to the Pittsburgh area, and she's always available for shoots. Check out her Facebook page for all of her latest projects, and witness the magic she creates behind her lens.

In addition to her crazy 'Fairy Tales Undone' idea, I asked Panda to take a few photos of my outfit that day too. I originally intended this post to be a traditional outfit post, but I definitely needed to include our costumed photos too. There's a few bloopers mixed in too.

The idea behind the 'Fairy Tales Undone' theme is that the fairy tales have started to turn on each other. Little Red Riding Hood has turned into a werewolf, Snow White has given her friends the poison apple instead, and Alice has poisoned her friends' tea this afternoon! These girls are evil! Panda plans on doing more with the series. The next portion of this series tenitively has Ariel, Belle, and Cinderella planned to appear. I can't wait to see what else she does with this project. Don't forget to give Panda's Facebook Page a 'LIKE' and share the awesomeness that is Panda Inc. with all your friends!!

Have you recently seen a photo project that you like?

xo. holly erinn

Radical Self Love

Hello friends, 

Recently I overheard some women talking about one of their friends. While I was waiting for my coffee, I heard them making fun of her, calling her vain for putting selfies of her's into a collage. "What kind of person does that?" they shrieked, "She must really been feeling herself!"

When did it become such a crime to love yourself? I'm sure I'll hear something along the lines of vanity is a one of the seven deadly sins!! Holly, it's a sin! Uuuhhh.....

It's taken me quite a while to fall in love with myself. Self confidence is not born over night, especially when we live in a society designed to make girls feel terrible about themselves for every aspect of their lives. It's kind of like, 'how dare I feel good about myself today'! And the sad truth of it all is that it's all about making more money. When you feel ugly, you want that new contour kit, or that brand new designer bag; because it'll make you feel better! Ever heard of 'retail therapy'? Girls joke about it all the time. I have girlfriends that swear by it! I've fallen out of that circle. 

Today, I've chosen several photos of myself in which I feel beautiful! I have this crazy theory that if I just look in the mirror and tell myself I'm fucking awesome; it ends up becoming true. I give myself regular bathroom mirror pep talks. You kind of have to. I talked before about my weird mixed emotions regarding my arm pit hair, and other female body hair. It's something that I have to continuously reminding myself that it's alright, because the rest of the world is given me awkward looks, and making distasteful jokes. It's a battle. 

It's hard to love some one that doesn't love them self. I didn't understand this until I was in a relationship with a guy that had no self esteem. I found it hard to sit there and listen to his constant ridicule of himself to the point where I became uncomfortable. This fact was reaffirmed when I started dating Bry. He's cocky, proud, and boastful! But, he's loving and kind, too. Having confidence makes the others around you want to do better, and to strive for more. It's a good push. And, it shows me what true confidence looks like. He isn't shattered by media, or what men are doing now. He does his own thing, and that's inspiring to me. 

I suppose this whole long winded garbled mess is just a long way of saying be kinder to yourself, and don't let any one , or any media tell you that you aren't cool. There's something about everyone that is super awesome. And, I don't think we should be made to feel bad when we're feelin' ourselves!! 

What makes you awesome? Share your own RADICAL SELF LOVE and let me know about it! 

xo. holly erinn 

Blinded by the White

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Hello friends, 

Yesterday in the Friday Favorites post, I talked a bunch about redecorating and the move back to Glassport. I think about decorating far too much. I like interior design, what can I say?! My family has never had the 'perfect' house. We were never all put together, or all that tidy...let's be honest. But as I get older, I have come to appreciate a simpler way of living and decorating. I love a modern white design. Even if I incorporate this trend in small ways, I can see this working in our house. 

I love how clean and bright everything in this list is. The combination of natural woods and earth tones mixed with white is very appealing to me. It's a lovely balance that I feel could fit our styles well. Bryan's kind of a neat freak, and I'm....not. He says I'm lazy, I say I'm artistically disorganized. Either way, I need to get a bit more organized before I could really pull of this look. 

What design trends have caught your eye recently??

xo. holly erinn 

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