Money won't make you happy, but spending it will!

As one of my "Mommy-to-do lists" of creating a more sophisticated, yet age appropriate image, I recently went through my jewellry chest (which is like 4 feet high with 6 drawers) and had a new goal in mind. I want to start a collection of very nice, high-quality jewellry that I can treasure forever and even pass on to a young woman, perhaps a daughter, in years to come.

At this time, my drawers were stuffed with cheap necklaces and earrings suited for a preteen. Most purchased by family members who somehow got this idea that I was obsessed with cherries and was in dier need of having a cherry necklace, bracelet, and earrings for everyday of the week. But I have to remember that these are also the family members who were still giving me stick-on earrings when I was 16.

So I threw out all my teeny bopper accessories and quickly became infatuated with jewellry made by Coach and Tiffany. Yeah, I know... that's like going from being in a relationship with a really *cheap* ugly guy and then starting to date Brad Pitt. But its going quite well. I've purchased my first tiffany item which is a ring from their 1837 collection and a beautiful Coach flower ring as seen in the picture above. I was also given a beautiful Coach bangle and necklace as a gift which I am completely in love with! All in all, I like the idea that this is a process...

I am enjoying my new found hobby of drooling over the Tiffany and Coach websites and creating wishlists of items I hope to some day have. And while this hobby may be an expensive one, it's the first time in a while where I find myself thinking about me and spoiling myself! Apparently, sometimes that quote is true... spending money can make you happy ;)

I'll take one pair of mom jeans please!

In December of 2007, my life changed forever. My beautiful baby boy was born and I had become a mom, a young mom at that. I was in love and over the moon over the fact that I had such an important job. Did I feel like I was giving up anything? Not at all. I never really partied much even when I had the opportunity to. So what was I giving up? Most friday nights in college, you could find me baking muffins in my dorm room. As funny as it may seem, I just didn't have the same mentality as the rest of the crowd and through the experiences of being a new mom, I continue to grow at a different rate than the average 22 year old. I am proud to say that I am happily married and am very lucky to have two amazing guys in my life.

So where do mom jeans come in to play? Well, once my son was born I began to go through my closet, among other things, and began to ask myself "Can moms wear this?" Anything revealing, short, sexy or had Baby Phat written on it was thrown into a pile to be donated because I figured as a mom, I would no longer find use for these clothes. I started thinking that because I was a mom, I should dress like a mom. I instead purchased some "mommy cardigans", and feared that the next step would be "mom jeans". Don't act like you don't know what jeans I am talking about, and I apologize if you're the owner of a pair. They are the high waisted flat butt jeans with tapered bottoms that daughters beg their mothers not to wear. And while I know that it is an extreme measure to take, one has to wonder where this idea that clothes, hairstyles and mind frames have to change after having a child.

This blog will share my adventure of finding middle ground between low-waist and mom jeans. Not finding it neccessary to go through life asking myself if something is okay simply because I am a mom, but finding a way to be a woman who is comfortable enough in her own skin to figure out what is right for her.