// #ErgobabyEveryday in Nashville

Last week I spent the entire week working on the latest Ergobaby campaign here in Nashville. I love working with Ergo and it was such a treat to be so involved behind the scenes. I signed on to do some consulting with them for the campaign since they were planning from California. I organized a "Community Day" for local babywearing families at a local coffee shop, Atmalogy, on Monday. We had SO many moms and babies (and even a dad!) join us for mingling, treats and raffles. I'm not incredibly active in the Nashville-based babywearing groups since I'm farther out in the country (and am instead involved in our own local group), so it was great to be able to put faces to names that I've grown a bit familiar with online. Danielle was one of my go-tos for the campaign and it was so awesome to finally meet her in person after being online friends for 6+ years. She came for the Community Day and the first campaign shoot at Imogene + Willie. After the Community Day we decided to go out for some delicious BBQ at Peg Leg Porker. Y'all... those BBQ nachos! They might have been the best thing I ate all week.

After an early dinner (late lunch?) with Danielle, I headed over to Target to enjoy some kid-free time with a red cup in hand. It's such a stereotype but I don't even care. Y'all, that was the most peaceful hour of my life! haha And I really needed it since I was about to gear up for 4 very long (but fun!) days! My friend Maya texted me after getting off work so I headed downtown a bit later to do a second dinner (ha!). We went to Old Spaghetti Factory and Maya had the most ridiculous drink ever: a cherry (?!) limeade with a freakin' cotton candy cloud, y'all! WHAT! 1) That has nothing to do with Italian food and 2) I'm sure it is marketed for 7 year olds, but she ordered it and we both enjoyed the cotton candy goodness so whatever. YUM. (Seriously, look how excited she is. Such a doofus. I love her.)

After that I settled into my hotel for the evening and got some much needed rest. I worked as a production assistant on the Ergo shoots for the rest of the week, and that meant running here, there, and everywhere around town. But I also got to see so many fun places that I (as a long-time local) have yet to explore. I love Cheekwood but it had been quite some time since I went. We also shot at the Farmers Market, Butchertown Hall, Imogene + Willie, Bartaco, etc. I even had a chance to bowl a few frames with Casey (the other green/blue haired PA!) at Pinewood Social. And y'all, their fried broccoli! SNAP! Order it. You'll love it, I promise.

Cheekwood Botanical Gardens

Slow Hand Coffee Co.

Imogene + Willie

Bartaco

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream

Barista Parlor Golden Sound

Nashville Famer's Market


Pinewood Social

Butchertown Hall (Is this place not stunning?!)

I can't even begin to tell you how crazy exhausting last week was. I even had to cancel plans with my friend Erin because one night I didn't get done working until close to 8pm and I could barely stand up by then! It was all well worth it, but it was certainly hard work. I did manage to make it out to IHOP (ha!) with Maya and Courtney on one evening though. I was craving breakfast for dinner and we were all downtown anyway, so to IHOP we went! That strawberry and banana French toast hit the spot, so whatever! After that Maya and I had the great idea to go get BFF tattoos. I mean, it was a long time coming, but it was certainly decided on a whim! We swung by our favorite shop, Music City Tattoo, but no one was there. Then we hopped across the river to Electric Hand and Kenny did a little number on each of us. We have matching cactus tattoos now! They're super cute. By the time we were done getting tattooed I needed to go crash to prepare for the next day. Everything went well with the shoots, and after I wrapped up the last bit of work on Friday afternoon, Maya and I decided Friday the 13th tattoos should probably happen, too. We were able to get in with Mike at Music City (his wife Laura has been my artist for the past 5+ years!) I think so highly of Mike - He's so fun and kind. I was excited to finally have a piece by him. Maya got a fun black outline Friday the 13th "Viking" axe tattoo and I got a booty heart. Ridiculous, but adorable. I love it.

I did manage to swing home Friday night and enjoy seeing my little family for a couple of hours. I passed out pretty quickly though because I needed to be up and on my way back to Nashville the next morning for a training. I took my Placenta Encapsulation training on Saturday and Sunday with (most) of the other women in our agency. I thoroughly enjoyed everything that I learned, and I'm eager to be able to provide that service to our clients. (If you're local and are looking for an encapsulation specialist, give your girl a shout!) Mike didn't have to work Saturday so he opted to drive up and spend the day at the skate park. This is totally the skate park where we started "talking" almost 10 years ago! I rushed up to watch him skate for a little bit after day one of the training. We crashed at Maya's place since she was working downtown super later. It was nice to get some time to ourselves. We went out to eat and then picked up a Redbox movie and just enjoyed spending time together. He headed home Sunday morning after I left for my second day of training. I was so excited to get home (for good!) after Sunday's workshop. Y'all, my bed has never felt so good!

It was a super crazy week and I fell behind on my emails like WHOA! But I always appreciate y'alls patience. It was a super fun week and I'm so glad I was able to take part. Now I just need a vacation ha! 

xo KB

// Life Lately

A quick little game of "catch up" - because I'm trying to be more timely in my posts haha! Let's see how long I can actually keep that up, shall we? The past few weeks have been go, go, go! In many ways, it's been awesome. There's been so much happening and such a drastic "shift" in our day to day. But at the same time it's been draining and long. You know what I mean? When you've got big projects on the horizon and you just want to see them come to life... but then you realize you have to do all of the little things that take loads of time to get there. That's where we are right now in many facets of life. The good and the bad. More like the good and the impatient. Anyway, here's what we've been up to lately!

A couple of weeks ago Music City Doulas had an agency photoshoot downtown. We haven't gotten the photos back yet, but I'm excited to see how they turned out. Our group of five is so fun and unique. Every woman brings something new and exciting to the table. I've already learned a lot from these gals, and I'm excited to make our mark on Nashville (and Middle Tennessee) as time goes on.

We had a lot of fun on Halloween! The plan was for my friend Whitney to come over with her 2 kids and then we'd all go Trick or Treating together. It was rainy and gloomy, as usual, but we made the most of it! The rain let up just as the sun set and we headed out the door with the kiddos. It was me, Whitney, Mike, Whitney's brother Damien, and our 4 collective children! What a hoot! We did a handful of blocks around my parents' neighborhood and the kids had overflowing buckets by the end of it (also because Pawpaw dumped up his candy bowl in the kids' buckets ha!) After a few hours of all that, Toby headed over to spend the night with CJ and that tiny little astronaut up above slept like a rock! Toby and CJ looked so cute in their matching Mario Bros. costumes. Bennett (CJ's little brother) was Buzz Lightyear. Seriously, kids in costumes are so dang cute!

We've been spending loads of time with Whitney and her crew lately as they are working on renovating a house pretty close to ours. We're so excited to have some of our very favorite people even closer to us. Since Mike's work schedule has been so crazy and weird lately, we've been trying to make the most of what little time we get together. Lately we've been making it a priority to get Linden over to the playground while Toby is at school, so he can enjoy a bit of the outdoors before it gets too yucky. Linden loves the slide, as I'm sure you can totally tell! 

Toby will be the big SEVEN next month! SEVEN! Heaven help us all! He's decided that instead of a big birthday shindig, he'd rather take a few of his friends to play laser tag and eat pizza. So I'm pretty pumped about that. (You probably don't know this about me, but I'm really really good at laser tag!) I've been trying to talk Mike into going and playing with me so you can bet we'll take full advantage of the birthday bonanza to do so! It's nice to look forward to a birthday party rather than sort of cower in fear/anxiety/frustration, you know? 

I'm currently staying in a hotel in downtown Nashville for the week as I'm working on a 2016 campaign with Ergo. It's fun to see things from the other side! I'll definitely share more of that fun stuff later though! It's kind of hard to be so close to home yet so far away. This week is sort of nuts with my work schedule and Mike's, but thank goodness we have my parents and our neighbor Amy lending a hand with the boys! I never thought our lives would change so drastically just by getting new jobs, but I guess that's exactly what happens! Linden starts part-time childcare next week and I'm both excited and terrified. It'll be so good for all of us, I just know it. But it's also so bittersweet because that just means those are days I won't see him as much. I just need y'all to tell me that it'll all be okay! Okay?! 

xo KB

// MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

Maybe my post title is a little overdramatic, but I totally feel like it's all I can say/think/feel lately haha Yeah. I feel like I'm drowning most of the time, if I'm being totally honest. This week was a tough one. Linden started getting really sick on Sunday, and I woke up with absolutely no voice whatsoever on Saturday. Between a nice little bout of laryngitis, and what turned out to be an ear infection for him, we spent most of the week cuddled up together in the rocking chair. Linden didn't want to sleep alone, and he would only nap in my arms. So that meant my laundry list of tasks got pushed to the back burner and I scrambled to do as much as I could after Mike got home for the night.

I guess it's just the nature of the season, too. Crazy quick deadlines that need to be met, signs that need to be painted and shipped, design clients that need tending to, and family obligations that just don't quit. How do people do it?!

Linden spent all of Wednesday screaming. Non stop! The poor little guy refused to eat, which lead to him starting to get dehydrated. Which led to belly pains. And a late night run for Pedialyte. Since both Mike and Toby were at school I just sat in the chair holding Linden and I cried right along with him. It was just one of those days, ya know? Yesterday I struggled to get Toby's birthday invites done so he could take them to school today... but some kind of miracle happened and they actually got done. Now to just plan the rest of the party... and do Christmas shopping... and and and.

I've been feeling just ever so slightly burnt out lately. I was starting to think I totally had a grasp on this whole "two kids" thing, but clearly I was sorely mistaken! This is the first "big" sickness we've had with Linden and man, it'll wear you out! 

Hats off to folks who have 3, 4, 5+ kids and still manage to make it work. Heck, all of you with 1 or 2 also! I'm hoping L will start feeling better soon as I'll be able to get him back in the habit of sleeping and napping alone in his crib. Then maybe my to do list won't look so terrifying. Though I'll totally admit it feels nice to have him fall asleep on my chest several times a day.

If nothing else, this experience is teaching me that the world will continue spinning if I don't get a blog post up everyday (ha. obviously!) or if a handful of emails go a day or two between responses. Luckily I feel like I have some super understanding clients, and I always try to be upfront if I'm behind a bit. Now if only I could kick it into overdrive and get it all done! Where's an extra set of hands when you need 'em?!

Got any tips on how to get it all done?! Can we start a petition for extra hours in the day? haha

// Kicking Butt + Taking Names

I've been lucky enough to basically stumble into a few solid days of productivity this weekend... I don't know what happened, but something came over me and I wanted to do ALL THE PROJECTS! Of course when that happens I naturally gravitate toward things that are fun rather than practical (i.e.: crafting instead of cleaning), but this weekend I was able to check off almost every major task I set out to do. 

That's the best feeling when you're going into a new week, ya know? Heading straight into Monday, feeling fully charged and ready to go! Sometimes I have the habit of being really, really productive one day, then absolutely worthless for the next two. It's like my body and mind have to find the perfect balance haha Heaven forbid I just get too much done, right?

alone we managed to: mow (most of) the yard, spray paint my white wicker furniture, clean the kitchen and deep clean the living room, move the tufted chair into the nursery (just for now), steam clean all of the rugs, wash multiple loads of laundry (even if I did forget the detergent in one load...), installed a new tub spout and stem, and best of all: we finished painting the front porch railing that mike built on our house last year! It looks so good! I know most of it sounds so incredibly boring, but it felt so so good to just check off each one of those boxes. It's crazy to think I started yesterday as fatigued as ever, about to nap on the couch (at 9:45am!), and then instead I just got up and started cleaning. Some kind of second wind kicked in because it was full throttle until 9pm last night. And then we both crashed into bed early and I slept like a rock haha.

It wasn't all work and no play though! Saturday Mike and I had a little "date" day after I spent the morning doing my little cousin's hair and makeup for her dance team photos. Toby went to hang out with my parents for the day/night and we ventured off for lunch and a movie. There were a few hiccups along the way (like the furniture store that basically tried swindlin' us on our nursery chair... that was fun...), but overall we had happy bellies and minds. We went to see The Other Woman and we really really enjoyed it. I tend to love everything Leslie Mann is in and it was full of laughs. 

Today I'm popping around to my 4D ultrasound rescan with Toby and my mom. I had an appointment Thursday when I was around for the Cosmetic Market blogger party, but sadly the baby didn't really want to cooperate. We got one half-decent photo of his face, but even that took 45 minutes to wrangle. We're crossing our fingers he'll be much more compliant today, but so far we've noticed that Baby Flynn is going to be one stubborn little dude haha Until then I'll be tying up loose ends on a few client design installations and then who knows! Maybe I'll paint a few things just for fun. Whatever I end up doing, I hope I get the jolt of productivity and energy that I had yesterday. Going into a new work week with a spotless house feels awesome... now I can maybe knock out a few of those fun tasks on my to do list! Or you know, get lost of Pinterest for hours, just dreaming about doing them. That's usually what happens to me at least. Anyone else? (Better question: Got any fun tutorials/DIYs you want to share?! Let's take advantage of this nesting phase!)

Happy Monday! I hope your week is full of productivity, too! Go out there and kick butt!

// Life Lately

These posts are always such a good way for me to feel caught up on life. Stuff seems to happen so quickly these days. If I don't document it in some way then it's almost like it never even happened. Last week was a little bit of a blur. 

School was canceled for Toby on Tuesday, then his coughing took a turn for the worst. We put him to bed at 8pm and at 2am he woke me up saying I needed to look at something in his room. The poor little dude had thrown up twice in his sleep. Everywhere. And he continued to cough and get sick. Mike and I threw on clothes as quickly as we could and hauled him 45 minutes to the closest emergency room. We were there for a few hours for breathing treatments, chest X-rays, shots, etc, then the doctor finally told us it was pneumonia (but they caught it early). We kept him out of school for the rest of the week to be safe, and luckily we think his huge cocktail of medication is actually helping this time (this is the third round of meds he's been on since December!). It's so heartbreaking to see your child hurt like that. He's feeling much more like his old self though! He was all set to go back to school today (and then back to the doctor for a checkup) but they canceled school again. He's totally scored a full week off from school now haha

Wednesday and Thursday I opted to work as little as possible since Toby didn't feel good and Mike was studying for a huge test. Luckily I still managed to stay on top of sign orders and design work all the while helping get the house clean and all that jazz. I took the full day off on Friday to help prepare for our friends' arrival that afternoon. Justin and Maya came over for part of the weekend to celebrate Maya's 25th birthday. I baked her a delicious cake (it actually turned out so well! I've never successfully baked a multi-tier cake before!) and we ate pizza and loads of snacks while marathoning It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The three of them enjoyed some drinks (and even stomached a few Canadian Car Bombs... barf!) but in typical old/pregnant lady fashion I was falling asleep by 10pm. I excused myself to an early bedtime and let them party on for a few more hours. Judging by the commotion all night and their faces the next morning, I'd say they had a good time! haha

We all had a super low-key Saturday. We laid around, played video games, shot guns in the backyard, etc. Toby went to hang out with my parents and everyone got a bit of a relaxing day. Sunday was spent with Mike in Spring Hill where we had a little "date day" for the lack of a better word. We were able to go eat alone, pop over to Target for a little while and buy new pajamas (!!!). Sounds silly, but our new pajamas are amazing and we're both stoked about it ha! 

I'm spending today getting caught up on emails I missed and small tasks I need to do while Mike finishes studying for his big test tomorrow. If you can, send some good vibes his way since he needs to do really, really well on this exam! I'll tell you more about it soon!

Happy Monday, friends! Hope your week is off to a great start!

// Life Lately

Anyone else ever sift through your Twitter or Instagram to try and remember what actually happened this week?! Maybe that coupled with my grey hairs means I'm just getting old. (Real talk: I have so many grey hairs! And I'm not dyeing my hair, gosh darnit! I'll just think of it as festive holiday tinsel for the season...) By the time the end of the week draws near I realize that I never talked about some of the fun stuff I got into. This is that post. More often than not I think posts like this are a bit lazy, but ya know what? It's a lazy morning so whatever.  Anyway, this is what I've been up to this past week.

* Friday morning Mike and I accompanied Toby on a Pre-K field trip to the movie theater one town over. We were basically crammed into a single viewing room with every other Pre-K kid and his/her parents haha. We saw Free Birds and despite being stuck up in the front, it was a super cute movie and Toby had a blast. 

* Enid has been extra precious lately. She's not very cuddly with anyone, but she's the cutest thing when she's laid out on the ottoman with her belly up in the air.

* I've been literally painting signs until my hands ache and feel like they're going to fall off. No complaints since I love the holiday rush and knowing that people are giving my signs as holiday gifts, but man oh man, it sneaks up on you and wears you out! -- Just a heads up: I've sold out of one size completely and I'm running low on the other three. If you're wanting one before the holidays, I suggest ordering ASAP! (The cut off dates are: November 26 for International and December 10 for USA) - If the crazy trend continues and I just keep selling straight through them, I'll try to offer more since I'm an epic procrastinator myself when it comes to shopping haha

* Hazel has officially won over Mike! I woke up the other morning and saw him sitting out on the porch drinking coffee. I grabbed a cup and joined him... who was in his lap? Hazel. For like half an hour. He likes to claim she's getting rehomed, but he loves that she licks his face and purrs when she's around him. Kind of the most precious thing ever.

* Have you guys hit up the $1 bins at Target lately?! Holy treasure trove! SO much goodness. I'm a huge fan of anything with gold foil so I snagged everything I could find. They even had some great silver foil notebooks, greeting cards, etc. If we're penpals, be on the lookout for me to use some of my loot!

*A Harry Potter sign. Simple but totally awesome (if I do say so myself! haha)

* Tater Tot is such a ham. She has this one favorite spot on the back of the couch where she spends approximately 85% of her time. I don't know why it took me so long to realize cats have such personalities! Is it totally silly that every time she crawls into my lap I totally melt and think about how happy I am she was left behind at our house? She's the best cat. Mike is basically obsessed with her.

* A clean house! Our friends Maya and Justin came down to stay with us on Thursday evening and we had such a blast. We headed over to the local steakhouse and we each ordered the exact same thing: a hickory bbq + bacon burger. Afterward we came home, mixed cocktails, played board games, and watched Family Guy before I basically fell asleep sitting up. We don't get many visitors out in the boonies so it's always nice to have an excuse to deep clean everything and play hostess.

* Isn't this clutch just too much?! Tera whipped it up from scratch - she even hand painted the applique to look just like Georgia! She sent it to me to wear out and about but I'm so scared I'm going to get it dirty! haha I just want to admire it because it's so fabulous! She's way too talented. (Here's the tutorial if you want to make your own!) - Be sure to go tell her congrats! She and her husband are expecting a baby!

* Anyone else out there hate Reese's in their original form? The only time I can even stomach to eat one is if it's a shape one! The Christmas tree, Easter egg, heart, etc. Something about the peanut butter to chocolate ratio is just so much better when it's not in a cup shape! Am I totally weird?!

* I pulled this little guy out of Tater Tot's mouth earlier this week. I thought for sure he was dead but he had a little punch left in him. Luckily he only had one little scratch where Tate bit him, but he was good to go. He was either exhausted from fighting Tate or paralyzed by fear because he let me hold and pet him for several minutes before I released him in the woods behind our house. That was the first time I've ever seen a chippmunk up close!

* I have so many signs left to post, but I'm trying not to overwhelm all of my Instagram followers and make them hate me haha It's crazy to think I've officially been painting these signs for over 13 months! What! I meant to do a fun giveaway when I hit the one year mark but maybe I'll save that for the first of the year or something. Never did I anticipate how much this little side hobby would grow. Pretty sure I've painted well over 500 in the past year alone. CRAZY!

So that's that! As much as I love the micro-blogging of Instagram, it just doesn't lend itself to remembering the details of any one event, ya know? Each little picture that gets shared obviously has some sort of backstory and i want to ensure I don't forget! (Considering I can't even remember exactly what I did 3 days ago, it's not looking good for me haha) Happy Monday, friends! Leave your IG name below if you want me to check you out! xo

// Lately In My World..

We're officially back from our little vacation to North Carolina! Yesterday we spent 13 hours in the car driving through new parts of NC and enjoying the incredible view along the way. (Check out those Blue Ridge Mountains in the photo above!) We opted not to go to Charleston, SC for a few days due to my asthma acting up the entire trip and the threat of yucky weather. We had a great 5 days away though! It was so very needed. I think this trip further solidified our love for NC and our insane desire to live there. Mike has always been on board, but I think this trip really sealed the deal for him. Plus it never hurts to be around some of your very best friends for nearly a week, ya know?

During the trip we went on some trail walks, frolicked on the beach, went to our favorite restaurant and bars, and just had a generally wonderful time. Bryan and Elle (above!) were the most hospitable hosts ever. They cooked for us everyday, too! It sucks to be so far away from so many of our friends but at least it gives us a good excuse to travel and visit them.

We were greeted with Land Shark beer (my fave!) and veggie nachos when we arrived. We also went straight for our favorite thing to do when we're all together: play board games. They may or may not have been inebriated board games, but they're always a highlight of our hang outs. Above is my senso-sketch of skydiving. I had to draw that quickly with my eyes closed so I'd say it's not too bad haha We played girls against guys and the poor dudes didn't even stand a chance to me and Elle. We absolutely dominated the game.

On Thursday we popped over to downtown Wilmington (our favorite spot!) and shopped around the little boutiques. On Friday night we headed back over to eat at Nikki's Sushi (so good!) since we never go to Wilmington without popping by. Afterward we tried Rita's for the first time (I wanted an Ice, but we just didn't have time) and then headed over to The Opera Room. TOR is one of my two favorite bars in Wilmington and I love that it never gets swarmed. We took advantage of them having Mickey's since that's what we always drink at the local dive bar when we visit Chris and Susannah. After staying for a drink or two we migrated over to Blue Post (my other favorite Wilmington bar) and we played skeeball for a while. Seriously, a bar with arcade games is my dream for my next life. Wouldn't that be so fun?! We also headed down to see the place where we got engaged, but sadly they didn't have any twinkle lights turned on on the trees! I was so bummed.

On Saturday morning we woke up to a lot of rain. Mike and I wanted to sneak away for a little bit and just enjoy some alone time together. We drove over to Mayfaire Town Center and shopped around at some of the stores. We picked up some novelty coffee mugs, delicious wine, and coffee. We also popped into Barnes and Nobel for a bit and each left with a new book. I picked up Adulting and it's so good! I promise to give an actual review of it once I'm done. It's hilarious in every way, but actually really informative, too. 

This has been my life motto as of late. I whipped this up on my phone in the car yesterday and posted it to Instagram, only to be met with "but she has assistants!" comments haha I mean, obviously she has assistants and help and all that jazz, but she wasn't born with that, ya know? I think we've all got an inner Beyonce. We just need to channel our Mrs. Carter and get shiz done. I'm definitely going to print this out and hang it on my bulletin board because it's a great way to put things into perspective. We're all capable!

Mike and I are both super motivated and excited for this week. We plan on kicking butt and taking names! Elle sent me home with several of her latest "biz book" reads and I can't wait to dive in. I love reading business books because they really put a pep in my step. I'll be sure to share those once I'm done, too! Overall I'm glad I opted to leave the blog alone while we were enjoying our trip. It's a bit silly that it's taken me 4 and a half years to learn that it's okay not to blog everyday haha Here's to hoping we all have a really productive and fulfilling week! Happy Monday xo