family pictures {2016}

Like last year, we had The Happy Film Company shoot for our family Christmas cards. I chose Gas Works Park this year since I thought it would be a fun backdrop with an active toddler and wouldn’t be a repeat of our Greenlake shoot last year.

We ended up getting rained out on our original shoot date, but the day we rescheduled was nice and sunny (albeit a little windy)! And since I didn’t want to do another round of professional pictures for a maternity shoot, we did a few bump pictures too (even though I was not showing very much!).

My favorites ended up in our Christmas card, but here are a few others from the shoot!

{My dress: Zara // E’s dress: GapKids (similar) // E’s vest: Old Navy (similar) // E’s boots: Old Navy (similar) // E’s tights: GapKids // E’s bow: A Little Lady Shop // Aaron’s shirt: Nordstrom (old) // Aaron’s sweater: Banana Republic (old) // gold moccasins: Freshly Picked}

Do you do family pictures every year?

M

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Pinterest Christmas {2016}: Hanging Kitchen Wreaths.

Welcome back to Pinterest Christmas! This Pinterest Christmas blog series (in its sixth year!) started as a motivation to actually do some of the DIY projects we pinned on Pinterest & a way to share them with friends & family. Over the years other bloggers have joined & we have spent the month of December DIYing & sharing our Christmas projects. Sometimes the posts are tutorials with step-by-step instructions & other times it is simply sharing a completed project! We aren’t doing anything too formal this year, but did want to share a few festive things. You can check out past Pinterest Christmas projects here!

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I know that a lot of catalogs and magazines and blogs show Christmas décor all over the house, not just in the living room with the Christmas tree. I am mixed on whether I will ever have Christmas sheets and bathroom towels, but I have liked the idea of continuing the holiday cheer into the kitchen!

 

{original Pinterest link – Mini Wreaths}

This was the simplest DIY I think I have ever done. Seriously. I don’t even think it’s a true DIY. The hardest part was getting the ribbon to be the same length so that the wreaths were even on the doors. I hung a 3M Command hanger (not sponsored, they are just the best ones!) upside-down on the door (per the inspiration post), cut the ribbon, looped it around the wreath, and tied a knot. I sort of want to hang a wreath on every door we have now…

If you are interested, I used these faux boxwood wreaths from IKEA. {I wanted to use these faux spruce ones that I added to our dining room windows last year but they added some yellow ombre to the needles which I really didn’t like!} These wreaths are really inexpensive but are well-made (even for IKEA) since they don’t shed and have a pretty sturdy metal frame and don’t look too fake!

And here’s one more shot. It is super hard to photograph our kitchen since it is a pretty small space, so that explains why there are just the pantry doors.

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And be sure to check out what Kendra’s up to all December long over on The Gilbertson Family! {Here’s her first Pinterest Christmas post!}

Do you decorate your kitchen (or your doors) for the holidays?

M

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my weekend in pictures.

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{In case you missed it on my Instagram or Facebook, we are teaching Eloise how to play hide-and-seek. She is good at hiding (with some help) but staying quiet is definitely a steep learning curve!}

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{Eloise, Sadie, and I have been walking around the block either before or after lunch these days since by the time she gets up from her nap in the afternoon it is basically dark. And just in the past week it we have gotten much colder, so its out with all of our winter gear!}

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{On Friday I watched the Huskies win the Pac 12 Championship! Such a good game. Excited (and nervous) to see them play Alabama in the play-offs!}

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{December means Christmas tree shopping. Eloise wasn’t too sure about all of those tall trees and spent most of the time up on Aaron’s shoulders. We did find a great tree though, its little but so cute! I decorated the top half while Eloise napped this afternoon, and Aaron and Eloise decorated the bottom half while I was at Pure Barre.}

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{Christmas decorations all down from the attic! I am always amazed by how many boxes there are since it doesn’t seem like I have that many decorations!}

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{Eloise sitting with her two ornaments she got this year. Every year as a kid my mom got my sister and I Christmas ornaments (many of which now hang on our tree) and it is a tradition I wanted to continue! Earlier in the week Eloise and I hit up Target and I let her choose her ornament for this year. Of course I couldn’t say no when she wanted lumberjack Santa and a lion!}

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{I came home from my workout to find my two best people hanging Christmas lights. Well, Aaron was hanging Christmas lights and Eloise was dancing to the Christmas music! But then she got super distracted by my bag and insisted it be in the picture.}

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{The start of the week means packing a lunch for Eloise! I have enjoyed this a surprising amount, but get back to me in May when I am packing her PB & J and goldfish crackers!}

We had a super chilly and festive weekend getting ready for Christmas! I was a little bah-humbug on Saturday and decorating anything seemed like way too much work, but by this afternoon, I was ready to get everything up. And as usual, the weekend went way too quickly!

How was your weekend?

M

friday I’m in love.

Welcome back Friday and Happy December!

{one} Pinhole Press Family Puzzle.

Names & Faces Puzzle Flash Cards

{via Pinhole Press}

I love the idea of personalized photograph things for Eloise since we live so far away from most of our family. I did one of these board books for Aaron (from Eloise) for Father’s Day this year and really want to do one of all of our immediate family soon! This puzzle game is super cute and I wish I would have seen it before I did all of my Christmas shopping for her. It’s definitely on her future gift list though!

{two} Stripey Crewneck.

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{via Nordstrom}

While I picked up a few specific maternity pieces last month, I have been limiting myself to buying only things that will work during and after pregnancy. Since I have so little time left, it seems like such a waste to buy maternity clothes that will only get a few months’ use. I had been hearing rave reviews from this BP Striped Crewneck shirt all over the interwebs and after having it and wearing it a few times, I am sold! It is stripes (and black & white at that) so that pretty much did me in, but it works well with my bump without stretching. And, it will be a good tunic length on me post-pregnancy. It isn’t available in black & white anymore, but is in navy & red!

{three} Holiday Honeycrisp Salad.

Holiday Honeycrisp Salad ~ full of flavor and texture, this gorgeous salad is loaded with fresh apple slices, crunchy candied pecans, chewy dried cranberries, and salty blue cheese, all dressed with a tangy-sweet apple cider vinaigrette atop a bed of your favorite salad greens...so vibrant and tasty you'll want to make it an annual addition to your Thanksgiving or Christmas menu! | FiveHeartHome.com

{via Five Heart Home blog}

When we met up with some of my best girlfriends last week, I offered to bring a salad to dinner since I wasn’t feeling super inspired to cook. But, I didn’t want to show up with a box of lettuce and a bottle of salad dressing, so I got to digging on Pinterest. I found this super simple salad that uses all of my favorite things: nuts, dried cranberries, and honeycrisp apples. Seriously, the honeycrisp apples we have had all season have been amazing! And, I loved the idea that this salad recipe came with a recipe for the dressing. I don’t do it much at home (though I should!) but it is super simple to make salad dressing: add ingredients to jar, put lid on jar, shake and serve. This did not disappoint and I know it will be on our regular salad rotation!

And be sure to check out what Kendra is loving this week! What about you?

M

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project baby #2 {nursery moodboard}

I know I have mentioned a nursery design for Baby Foot, and since I have already accumulated most of the pieces for it, I thought I would share! The loose theme for this new nursery is travel or maps and globes which lends itself nicely to keeping things gender neutral.

If I haven’t mentioned it before, the plan is to leave the nursery next to our room and to move Eloise down one room to what is currently our office. This way the nursery is still right next door to our room (and I don’t need a monitor except for upstairs) and Eloise gets a brand-new big kid room!

Almost all of the furniture is the same from Eloise’s nursery to this new nursery. It just didn’t make sense to replace it all since it all worked so well.

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{1} glider – the same Land of Nod Milo Glider which we are still in LOVE with. it is super comfy and I know that we will spend so many more hours nursing, cuddling, and reading in this chair!

{2) curtains – these metallic grey curtains should work well as a neutral against the striped ceiling and a tiny pop of color against the white walls. I may still need to add a blackout liner though.

{3} footstool – this faux fur one which is really different than the floor pouf I had for Eloise but a good height to put our feet up (so important in a nursery!).

{4} crib – this is E’s old crib and the Hudson by Babyletto and we really liked it. I may add a crib skirt if I have time since I think it would look better when the mattress is raised up.

{5} hand-painted globe – this is a project that is on my to-do list. I am trying to decide whether to keep the continents and paint their names, or paint the entire globe and add a quote.

{6} table – this scallop one from Pillowfort is so whimsical and I love it! Even E exclaimed that it looked like a birthday cake the other day. I know I need a table for a lamp, a clock, my phone, and about a zillion other things. Plus, it will be great for a future playroom.

{7} picture ledge bookshelves – keeping these from Eloise’s room. These are the old IKEA picture ledges (which I love!) and worked well for keeping books on the wall for before naptime or bedtime, but not so many books that it was overwhelming.

{8} rug – this Rags to Riches one from Land of Nod. I had another rug in mind, but as soon as I saw this one (and felt it – it’s so soft!) I knew it was the one! It is tricky to find such a large rug (8 by 10) that is affordable (I splurged on E’s) and kid-appropriate. This one will be great for the nursery for tummy time and lots of floor time for E.

{9} mid-century dresser – keeping the same one from E’s nursery since it worked so well as a changing table! There was so much drawer space which came in handy for when we started cloth diapering, and also when the baby’s clothes are way too little to hang!

{10} bean bag chair (not pictured) – I am thinking of making Eloise a chair (like this) for the nursery since I know she will be spending a lot of time in there with me and Baby Foot. She does well playing quietly and reading to herself and I hope this continues! Plus, how cute is this maps print fabric by Rifle Paper Co?!

{11} mobile (not pictured) – this is the part of the nursery that has me the most stumped, mostly because I don’t like any mobiles… I have considered this one but am also thinking of making one with tiny globes. Stay tuned.

And for Eloise’s room, we are planning on moving a lot of décor from her nursery over to her new room, but here’s a bit more detail:

  • this West Elm Safari rug, these baby animal prints, this colorblock lamp (seen here), this elephant laundry hamper and white curtains (with red pom poms added) will move with her
  • this wood bead chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids will be a new addition
  • I am thinking of painting the walls this purple-grey color (London Fog by Benjamin Moore) since E has requested purple walls (though I still need to test it!). I swear it looks more purple in real life; we tested it in our entryway and nixed it because it was so purple!
  • two picture ledges will be hung low for books with room for a gallery wall above
  • a low-boy mid-century dresser that I still need to find!
  • a few empty picture frames to showcase all of E’s artwork from school (like this)
  • a big kid bed (a twin) which we have the head and foot board for but Aaron still needs to build out the frame
  • a hand-made quilt and pillow sham (here’s my inspiration)
  • and I am thinking about reupholstering a chair that we inherited from my grandmother that is currently in our living room, but E loves and I thought it would be fun to put it in her new room (since the glider will stay in the nursery). Even though I have reupholstered, this chair is WAY beyond my skill level, and since there is so much sentimental value with it, there is no way I would take it on. So I am waiting for Calico Corners to have an awesome sale…

It is crazy to think that in a few short months we will have two kids in two rooms, but I know it is right around the corner. I am stashing all of the things for the two new rooms in our old office and at some point in the near future (probably while Aaron is home for Christmas/New Year’s from work) we will start to transition the rooms and then pick a date to move Eloise (maybe early February).

Any mamas out there designing nurseries or big kid rooms? I’d love to hear what you are thinking for the design!

M

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my thanksgiving week in pictures.

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{On Monday afternoon, we picked up Eloise from school and headed out of town for the week. Eloise made this adorable Thanksgiving turkey and also had a killer owie on her nose from falling on the concrete stairs at school… It looked worse than it was and she was so tough about it!}

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{Eloise in-flight. This was her first time having her own (paid for) seat and she wasn’t so sure. She kept saying that she wanted to be on Mama’s lap, but we made it thru the flight without too much hassle! Thanks to Amanda for letting us borrow this awesome CARES harness; we will definitely be getting one!}

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{My happy six month bump! I celebrated by getting my hair done and manis with girlfriends!}

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{Grammie got out my old dollhouse for Eloise to play with and she was in love. It was so crazy to see her playing with it since I have so many memories of this house!}

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{Eloise decided she needed to carry around my new sweater… yep, there were two holes in that bag by the time we got to the car!}

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{We got to have a reunion dinner with all of these mamas and their babies (& their husbands!) which makes my heart so happy. My very best friends since we were all teenagers. Love you girls!}

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{My mama’s beautiful Thanksgiving table!}

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{Eloise insisted on wearing her turkey costume all Thursday morning (but then refused to once company came in the afternoon!) and loved all of the attention from Paga (Grandpa).}

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{I celebrated my first Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday with The Petite Flag Shop with a sale! If you haven’t shopped already, there’s still time. Sale ends Monday night – 15% off with code SHOPSMALL16, plus, I will randomly select orders to receive free shipping!}

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{Eloise loved painting with Grammie all week long! Look at that smile.}

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{When Grammie and Paga offer to watch Eloise, you take them up on a date night! We headed out to see the new Harry Potter movie Fantastic Beasts and it was pretty good. Especially since it has probably been a year since we have seen a movie in a theater. So were the Raisinets. I would have taken a selfie, but Aaron hates them, so here’s me, the bump, and my candy!}

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{We flew home on Saturday morning and were excited to see a Husky plane! We didn’t get to fly on it, but were still on a high from the big win in the Apple Cup!}

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{Eloise did so much better on our flight home. She didn’t mind the seatbelt and harness, loved the safety information card, and even used the lavatory. Plus, she got her own cup of ice water and pretzels – a dream for a two year old!}

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{Even though Thanksgiving is over, I am still loving all things pumpkin. So pumpkin bread it is!}

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{Amazingly, the Christmas cards I ordered from Minted came at lightning speed! I am so excited about our cards this year and thankful for a few weeks to get them together before they go out early next month! Hooray for Christmas!}

We had such a fun and memorable Thanksgiving week with my parents in Boise. We had time to catch up with some friends and family, and enjoyed so much delicious food! It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving is over (or that we are at the end of November) but I know Christmas is just a few short weeks away! Ahh!

How was your Thanksgiving week?

M

my weekend in pictures.

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{Eloise had her first dance class on Friday morning and she was so excited to be a “ballerina”! A few of her friends (& their mamas) are in the class too which makes it so much more fun. She had a blast and chatted about it for the rest of the day. Also, when did she turn into such a big kid?!}

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{Aaron was busy this week on another big project for the house – a fireplace! We are both really excited about this one, just in time for Christmas!}

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{And our old media center is now our new sideboard! Love this piece here! Now to just refinish that dining room table and chairs… maybe someday. Le sigh.}

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{Eloise loved Karly this weekend whose house we crashed before having dinner with Ben & Sarah on Saturday. Thanks for having us Karly!}

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{Of course, a game of Drawful after dinner. I won by a landslide and still unsure how I managed it!}

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{Eloise loves these little bubbling fountains at the U Village, so we killed some time over there while we waited for the stores to open. Holiday shopping season has officially begun and it was already so packed! We did manage to catch the early Black Friday sale at Land of Nod though and order a few things for Baby Foot’s nursery, including the rug! Plus, I let Eloise pick out a stuffed animal for the baby and she picked the most adorable alligator!}

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{I am finishing up a custom flag for a friend that I just love!}

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{The bump and I made our Sunday afternoon class and since a fellow mama-to-be was there too, we decided it would be great to take a picture of the bumps! Pure Barre is hands-down the best pre-natal workout for me as it kept me strong during my pregnancy and helped immensely post-partum!}

A super rainy weekend kept us mostly inside trying to tackle a few projects before we head into the short holiday week. I am really excited for Thanksgiving at the end of the week and spending some time with my family (and away from the chaos of normal life, right?). I know once we get home we will be hitting the ground running and Christmas will be here. As much as I LOVE Christmas (seriously, LOVE!) I am not quite ready for it… Maybe I will be more excited to decorate post-Thanksgiving?

How was your weekend?

M

friday I’m in love.

Welcome back Friday!

{one} Going from One Kid to Two.

Going From One to Two Kids

{via Cup of Jo}

As we are getting closer and closer to my due date (three-and-a-half months!) I have been thinking a lot about the transition we will make from one kid to two. Some days I am so ready for it and I can’t wait to have two littles in my arms (like when Eloise tells me she wants to teach Baby Foot how to walk and read stories – seriously the sweetest!), but then there are days where I think we are crazy for adding one more kid to the mix (like when Eloise will only have Mama do cuddles at bedtime – sweet, but seriously? I am with her all. day. long.). All that to say, I really liked this Cup of Jo article about the transition.

{two} Joe Biden Memes.

One week in, the reality is still hard to bear, but it feels like I have found some relief from it all as things are normalizing and the news cycles are kicking up new stories. Plus, the holidays are right around the corner, right? (Seriously, how is Thanksgiving next week?) Any-hoo, I have found a lot of comfort in these Joe Biden Memes that are popping up all over the place! Man, I will miss our current administration.

{three} Emily Henderson’s latest living room reveal.

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{via Style by Emily Henderson blog}

I am seriously swooning over here at Emily Henderson’s latest room reveal. It helps that we have really similar aesthetic taste, but it is perfect! I love her use of color and (seemingly) simple styling that is really welcoming. I think the biggest trick about decorating is to make it look effortless and livable, and Emily does that perfectly! If you haven’t seen it already, go check out this awesome living room!

And be sure to check out what Kendra is loving this week! What about you?

M

P.S. With next week being Thanksgiving, I may not post on Friday, but I will be back to re-cap our holiday weekend! Plus, be sure to keep an eye out on The Petite Flag Shop’s Facebook and Instagram for Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday sale info!

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my weekend in pictures.

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{Yes! Red holiday Starbucks cup. Completely made my day!}

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{I started making a quilt for Eloise’s big kid bed. And I am not really quilting, but pretty excited about the project.}

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{Eloise has been super into her pizza and sorting all of the ingredients into shapes. “Same same Mama” is what she always says!}

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{Thanks to Aaron who peeled and sliced all of the apples that went into my apple pie this weekend!}

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{Happy Friendsgiving! For the third year we got together with local friends for a super fun tradition. (see last year’s here) It was tough to see our Huskies lose to USC, but we had so much fun catching up with old & new friends. Thanks for hosting this year Jess and Cale!}

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{We had a pretty rainy weekend, so no yardwork meant that Aaron started on another project for the house. Really excited about this one! I promise I will share once everything is wrapped up.}

After having a really nice and beautiful week, we had lots of rain this weekend which was sort of a bummer. But, we filled our weekend with lots of friends – PEPS and Friendsgiving – so it worked out pretty well. I am shocked that we are already into the middle of November and feel like I have a million things on my to-do list that I felt like I had ages to do… I guess that’s the holidays, right?

How was your weekend?

M

friday I’m in love.

Welcome back Friday! Phew, what a week…

{one} Dresses for the Bump.

Fall maternity style with the perfect pair of black booties, Clarks Gelata Freeza

{image via}

As this little baby bump is getting bigger, I have been finding myself grabbing dresses out of my closet each morning. Our weather is still pretty warm for fall and I am loving dresses paired with booties or sneakers – a perfect combination! Some of my favorites are Sonnet James (Quincy, Kate, and Stella – all non-maternity but fit beautifully!), this new one I picked up from the Gap, and this chambray one from Madewell (similar and both are non-maternity).

{two} Starbucks Holiday Cups.

10 Stacked Red Cups_ Available in U.S.

{image via}

I know it’s awful and I know it’s before Thanksgiving, but the release of the red holiday Starbucks cups has me giddy. Maybe it’s because I need a big pick-me-up this week, or maybe it’s because having kids makes Christmas so much more magical, or maybe it’s just because I LOVE Christmas. Even though I won’t decorate the house until after Thanksgiving, I will be sipping out of a red holiday cup stat!

{three} Election Aftermath.

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{via Cup of Jo}

This week was a hard one. For a lot of us. And for (probably) many different reasons. I had a really rough day on Wednesday – there were so many tears and so much sadness. But by Thursday, I found some comfort in the small things and really focused on what was making me happy. But, I also found some solace in what others were posting and saying about the election and it’s aftermath. I thought I would share some of my favorites in case you need a pick-me-up too!

George Takei: Heartfelt Advice.

Ellen DeGeneres: What Makes America Great.

Cup of Jo: Things to Do Now.

Be sure to check out what Kendra is loving this week! What about you?

M

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