Daily Jamie

 

Daily Jamie

The Combo

My friend Shaena messaged me this afternoon asking if I was interested in bringing Jamie and meeting her and her boys at McDonalds for some playtime and a delicious, if not at all nutritious, meal. Obviously I was down, McDonalds and kids for Jamie to play with being two of my favorites. If I was excited, I can only imagine how the kids must have felt and it could have been totally nutso, but luckily they were all on incredible behavior. My instincts were right: junk food and buddies are the best. 

Daily Jamie

And She Has A Sister

So, you know by now that I have gorgeous, glamorous, thoughtful, generous girlfriends, but did you know that they have sisters? Selah's youngest sister Deborah, with whom I have had the pleasure of spending a little bit of time, ordered the Curious George DVD for Jamie when she heard that he is totally into him. Isn't that just the sweetest thing? Plus, it's a super funny movie, which is great because The Swede and I are going to be watching it over and over again. Thanks, Deborah!!!

Daily Jamie

The Business Cas Fashion Show

The great weather and the skirts and dresses just keep on a'comin'! 

I admired this dress in the shop window in the springtime then bought it on sale in last-minute desperation for my friends' wedding in June. I think I like the idea of it more than the execution as I'm not as much of a pattern girl as I sometimes like to think I am. Deep, right?

Sometimes I wear a pencil skirt the day after I watch Suits. I'm sorry to say, I am no Rachel.

Take away the casual, this is full-on business, people! I wore this when a bigwig from corporate was in the office and we were required to be on our best sartorial behavior. This dress was a purchase from about six years ago, back when I had (got!) to dress like Rachel from Suits every day. I remember distinctly the moment I tried it on in the Target dressing room and thought to myself, "well, this doesn't happen often." Actually, knowing me, I probably said it out loud. Anyway, I made a rule then and there for myself and anyone I happen to be shopping with, that if a dress fits like it was made for you, you have to buy it. Period.

Remind me to get over to Pinterest or something and find some new poses. My most sincere apologies. At lease I'm smizing.

If I'm to believe the young ladies around here, I'm not supposed to be wearing a camisole under this see-through top. This sneaking around in the office gym all the time is already pushing the limits of decorum, though, so I'll let my leopard sandals do the sassin' in this outfit.

Daily Jamie

Tube Peculiar

The Swedish affinity for tubed cheese is well documented on this blog. What I have not mentioned, however, due to the fact that I was unaware until just yesterday, is the unbelievable variety of bizarre flavors available. Please allow me to name those in this picture alone, which represents about a sixth of the offerings at our local grocer: shrimp cheese, shrimp cheese chili, hot jalapeño, spicy household cheese, shrimp cheese BBQ, people!, shrimp and crayfish cheese, mild cheese, bacon cheese, and ham cheese.   I shook my head, snapped a picture, grabbed The Swede's shrimp cheese, and made like a tree.

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Cozy Central

Pillows styled by Jamie.

Well, here she is, folks. Our new, blue bedroom. Naturally, it's a question of taste, but I am wild about this color: the deepest blue with just enough green that it doesn't look navy. Obviously it was a risky choice, particularly since I decided to cover the entire windowed wall with curtains (we almost always keep the blackout blinds drawn, so I'm just pretending the window isn't there) so there is no natural light coming in. And let me tell you, when the lights are off IT IS DARK. But I think the white furniture helps to balance the walls and I like the cozy feel of a dark bedroom anyway. I had this magnificent plan for the wall opposite the mirrors, but then The Swede asked me not to ruin the place with a bunch of pictures. "Less is more," he said. I tend not to agree, if you recall, but decided to appease him for the meantime. His football player print there in the reflection was approved, however. 

And for reference, the room as it was before: light, airy, and perfectly fine, but not quite Mara. And definitely not Mara's mom, as the bed is not made.

Giveaway Winner

Random.org just told me that LissaSioux is the winner of the Canvas Pop giftcard giveaway! Congrats, little lady! If you'd just email me at bird11582@yahoo.com, I'll send that puppy right on over to you. And thanks for reading!

Daily Jamie

I think he's trying to make up for the bacon incident of August 20th, 2013.

Daily Jamie

I'm Back!

So I got my wish. Sort of. I woke up feeling pretty sick, but went to work anyway because there were a couple of things that I needed to get done. I'm important like that. Heh. I left after a couple of hours, though, came home, and slept the most beautiful sleep all afternoon. When I awoke to pick up Jamie, I was a new woman. I skipped to his preschool and galloped all the way home with him on my shoulders. I was me again! I was SO back to my dorky self, in fact, that I made a giant Rice Krispies Treat dalahäst and decorated it with icing. What. A. Loser. Until about the decorating phase I thought it was a pretty normal thing to do and planned to give it to our neighbor but now I am far too embarrassed. I mean, outside of this totally private venue, I don't dare show this pretty horse's face. I guess we'll just have to eat it.  

Daily Jamie

This And That

I tell you what, there's nothing like sweating out a hundred degree fever for a couple of days to really make you appreciate your job. I am longing for my desk. I'm in bed now, saying a prayer that I don't have to lay in it all day again tomorrow. I know I promised pictures of the newly painted bedroom this week, but I may not be able to make good on that as not much decorating progress has been made. I also wanted to remind you that I'll be announcing the winner of the Canvas Pop thirty dollar gift card on Friday. I realize that Blogger makes it difficult to leave comments unless you have a Google account so feel free to use an anonymous profile and just mention your name in the comment. Thanks! Catch you on the flip side!

Daily Jamie

He didn't like the bacon and took it off his plate. Maybe he's adopted.

Daily Jamie

Blog Material At Its Finest

 

Sometimes you get to the end of your date and nothing especially blog-worthy has happened and you're hanging the laundry to dry and thinking that it's probably just going to be one of those times when you throw up a Daily Jamie and call it a day. Then you find a pair of socks that don't belong to your child, that one of his teachers must have sent him home in after he destroyed his original pair on the muddy playground. And you realize that these American-themed socks without a name written on them probably ended up in your kid's reserve clothing bin because he's half American. And that makes you smile. 

Daily Jamie

August 17th

August 18th

It's Getting Dark

The Swede was away this weekend with most of the dudes in our company at a mountain bike race, so Jamie and I spent the weekend painting the bedroom. I still have some finishing touches to take care of, but I am thisclose to finally having the bedroom of my dreams. I'll be back later this week with before and after shots.

Daily Jamie

August 15th

August 16th

Love All Over These Walls (Plus A Giveaway!!!)

Poor little Jambo was home today with a fever and it was very sad to see him so wiped out, but it did allow me to be home to sign for this canvas print of an Instagram I took of Jamie on his second birthday. I hung it up right away on a narrow section of wall in the living room where our family photos had been and then moved all of them into our hallway. I rather like the new location as they are much more noticeable now. 

Incidentally, the company I ordered the print from, Canvas Pop, sent me a thirty dollar gift card and I'd like to give it to one of you. The twelve inch by twelve inch print I got was about fifty bucks, so the gift card is obviously of some value. I couldn't be more pleased with my order and recommend Canvas Pop highly. If you'd like a chance to win the card, leave a comment, any comment, and I'll pick a winner at random next Friday.

Daily Jamie

King Of The Day

Since Jamie turned two during the summer, when he and most of his classmates were on vacation, they celebrated his birthday today at preschool. There was a big picture of him on the wall along with some balloons right when you walked into the door of the school, plus they sang to him while he stood up on a pedestal. Best of all, though, was the crown he got to decorate and wear. Most kids take theirs off right away, apparently, but Jambo left his on all day long. Then, when I picked him up and took him to the car, he caught his reflection in the car window and flipped! The reminder of his royal headwear had him overjoyed. It's eight o'clock now and he hasn't taken it off all evening. Bedtime should be interesting. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

The Business Cas Fashion Show

I was so excited to start dressing up for work again that I got a whole fashion show worth of outfits in a little over a week. Now, without further ado, let me just talk a little about my clothes.

I got this dress at the Gap while I was in Cleveland. It was sixty bucks originally and I got it for twelve! It's flowy and wonderful and the colors make me happy. I'm glad I decided to wear it on Monday, sqeezing out my last wear of the year, because by Friday it was too cold and too late.

This outfit made me feel uncharacteristically professional, maybe because it's not often that I wear pants that aren't jeans. Also, my husband told me, like, three times that I looked beautiful that day so this one's a keeper.

This outfit, however, was deemed to be weird by the hubby, but he's Swedish so what does he know about fashion? Yeeeeeah, it's probably weird. But dear, sweet denim button-down, if I'd have known how much I was going to love you I would have bought you years ago! Thank you for making this dress work appropriate.

I thought I was too old for grey jeans until I saw another thirty-year-old, only-slightly-more-stylish blogger modelling them. I ran out and got my own and paired them here with this polka dot H&M tee, which I typically treat as a neutral and wear with outlandishly mismatched bottoms. I took it easy on this day and just wore outlandishly mismatched leopard pumps. Did you know leopard is also a neutral? 

  

Look! It's that same top only ACTUALLY neutral! What a perfect opportunity to bust out my fuschia wedges!

Daily Jamie

August 10th

August 11th

All The Young Dudes

What are the odds that two wonderful North American friends, Erin and Shaena, who are also married to Swedes would also have sons all within a couple of years of one another? Okay, maybe it's not that crazy, but getting them all together for a Sunday afternoon grill fest sure is.

Daily Jamie

Swimming With The Big Fish

Today I'm guest-blogging about my favorite trend and my most recent Etsy.com finds at Sarianne's blog. Meanwhile my Swedish street cred is at an all-time high. 

Daily Jamie

Daily Jamie

Just imagine what it's like to wake up to this sweet sight.

Late Summer Evenings

Being in the office all day kept us from realizing that it's still totally summer. We took an impromptu walk along the lake and through the woods tonight after dinner and I tell you what, it was hot. Even at seven in the evening, all the small beaches and docks along the way were occupied by families swimming and sunning and picnicking. We talked about it on the way home, how it felt to be at work again when the weather was still so nice, and decided that we had squeezed the most out of our vacation so it was AOK. Anyway, we still have the evenings. 

Daily Jamie

August 5th

August 6th