Tillamook's Melty Fest at The Food Market

This week, I had the chance to attend the menu takeover at The Food Market to celebrate Tillamook coming to Baltimore. Tillamook is a farmer owned cooperative from Oregon that has been making naturally aged cheddars for over 100 years (wowza!) with absolutely no artificial ingredients. Where are my cheese lovers at? I just know y'all will fall in love with Tillamook just like I did. Tillamook also makes the creamiest, premium ice cream that the whole family is OBSESSED with. We recently finished off the rest of the ice cream we had at home, and I’m going buy some today because I’ve been eating it every night since Tillamook has come to Baltimore, and I am hooked. haha.

Fave Pink Walls in Baltimore

Hi friends! I often get asked where the pink walls that I take a lot of pictures at are located in Baltimore, so I wanted to share my favorite pink spots around town. :) There are two main pink walls that I go to.

#1 This wall is a pink house in Charles Village. The cross streets are Maryland Avenue and 23rd Street. It is on the alley street called Morton St. It's the perfect shade of light pink, and I just adore it!

Not so Happy Holidays

Let me just say it: the holidays can be f*cking hard. Really really hard. A lot harder than many people want to talk about. 

The holidays are supposed to be a time filled with celebration, glee, and cheerful memories being made and shared with family. But if you have strained relationships with relatives, or can’t travel for varying reasons, or are if you’re still grieving the absence of a loved one, then the holidays can bring feelings of loneliness and sadness. 

Over the past three years, our family has spent most of the holiday season inpatient at Hopkins due to Sansa’s treatments. We haven’t been able to travel to family for a long while. But even though Sansa’s health is in a good place, we’re dealing with other problems and more "normal" life type issues, which is great, but also brings a different kind of stress during the holidays. 

Since Nikki has come out as transgender, we haven’t been completely welcomed by our families as we used to be. I’m still grieving the loss of many broken relationships, and coincidentally all of them have been church related. (That is another blog post for another day if I ever feel brave enough to go there). We’ve both have been burned pretty badly, and many of those old wounds seem to resurface every holiday season. The idea of ever going back “home” for the holidays brings up a lot of worries, insecurities, and stress. 

Also, with Nikki’s graduate funding being cut in half, as well as our depleted savings and the high credit card debt we’ve racked up from our many hospital stays, travelling down for Christmas isn’t even a feasible option. 

We will be spending the holidays in Baltimore for another year, which will be fine. But when I see my family post pictures on Facebook sharing about their Christmas celebrations, I’m sad that Sansa, Nikki, and I aren’t there. It feels like we are missing out on so much, and I don't know if we will ever get that back. 

Since we are spending our first Christmas at home in forever, I want to be able to start new holiday traditions with Sansa that she can look forward to, and this will be the year we test some of those out. If you want to share your favorite Christmas and New Years traditions, please do so! I want to know. :) This year we’re learning to let go of so much, and also (hopefully) moving toward something better. 

I wanted to share all of this, because maybe the holidays are tough for you too. It’s hard to allow room for the tough feelings when it feels like they are not allowed, especially so close to Christmas. It’s okay to not be okay, even during the holidays. 

For those of you who are not experiencing a hard time this holiday season, please remember to check in on your friends/family/loved ones. Spread light and kindness as much as you can, because you never know how someone else is feeling or what they could be going through. 

Thanks for reading this different kind of blog post! I hope you all find ways to enjoy your holidays. Make sure to spend time taking care of yourself during this time of year. 

xoxo!

Staycation at The Hilton Baltimore

We had the pleasure of staying at The Hilton Baltimore a few weekends ago, and we had THE best time! Sansa has talked about the stay non-stop and keeps asking to go back to "the Hilton hotel with the Orioles." It's sooooo cute. One of my favorite things about the room besides all the cute decor was the view! We had a balcony overlooking Campden Yards and could watch the Orioles games from the outside our suite.

Favorite Sweaters for Fall

I have been all about fall lately, so I wanted to share this super cozy sweater that I love and few other awesome fall sweaters that look so so cozy and cute because y'all asked for it! When I wear this one from Brightside Boutique (you can get it online here) Sansa always says "I love your sweater momma." and then she pets it because its sooo soft and she rubs her face on it too. haha. She melts my heart!

How I Met the Love of My Life

 Hi everyone!! It has been fooooorever since I have posted on here, and since today is our wedding anniversary, I figured this would be the perfect time to share these AMAZING pictures from Brooke Michelle Photography we took quite a few months ago (as you can tell by our coats. hehe). She is so talented that it was very hard to just pick a few because all of them were sooo good! Nikki and I have been married 9 YEARS as of today (eeeeek! we are getting old!). It is crazy to think that I met the love of my life when I was 13. We did not start dating until I was 16, but the story is too good not to share. :)

Bye 2017!

I wanted to shared some of my favorite photos from my phone that were taken last year that I haven't shared at all yet. It was so hard to just pick a select few, so I might be oversharing but oh weelll. I did my best to put these in chronological order, so I hope you enjoy!

Adoption Q&A

Today is Sansa's gotcha day!! She officially became our daughter three years ago! Three years ago we flew to Hungary and met this beauty and our lives changed forever. I will never forget when we first met her. She even let me hold her and we walked hand in hand too. This girl had our hearts from day one. I am so thankful for the joy that she brings to our lives. No matter what she does or how crappy the circumstances are, she is constantly laughing and smiling. Sansa is having to spend her gotcha day in the hospital, but we still got her a cake and Chipotle. :) She is here to get her T-cells harvested so they can go to a fancy lab and become CAR T-cells and then they will go right back in her to fight the leukemia. Spending the day in the PICU is not optimal, but she makes the best of it. She is our fighter and amazes us everyday.

Gingham + A Capsule Wardrobe Update

This is probably one of the most bloggeriest (can I make that a word?) outfits I have ever worn and I reallyyyyy like it. Gingham is super trendy at the moment and I am a fan. Pants, skirts, shirts, dresses. I love that gingham comes in almost any form. This top is from StyleWe and I fell in love when I saw it. You all know I am a sucker for some cute dramatic sleeves. This may not be the first time you have seen this top, as it is super popular in the bloggersphere (yep, just making up words here), and I love it nonetheless. I have been trying to stay away from the super trendy items that will probably fade in the next year or two, gingham being a rare exception of course. ;) Hence why I started a capsule wardrobe (if you do not know what a capsule wardrobe is go back to this blog post) at the beginning of the year. I was tired of clutter and not being intentional with my wardrobe choices, so I tried out a capsule wardrobe for a couple of months and am finally doing a recap of the process.  

Cancer Sucks

Last week Sansa had a bone marrow sample taken from her spine because it had been 6 months since her bone marrow transplant in January. It was a routine test to check and make sure everything was still looking good. Last Friday Sansa's doctor called me to let us know that there was leukemia present in her bone marrow. 7% to be exact. All I could think was "f*ck." I didn't say much or ask many questions on the phone because I was trying not to cry. As soon as I got off the phone the flood of tears came. Fear, frustration, anger, and sadness came rushing to the surface. We are beyond devastated because we did not expect anything like this to happen. Sansa has been her crazy happy normal self (just like you see in these photos), so we were very unprepared for this news. I mean, you can never really be prepared for things like this, but we just felt completely blindsided since everything with Sansa has been super great after her bone marrow transplant.

Why I Started Blogging

I started this blog for many reasons, but a major one was that I wanted a way to keep track of my life in a journal of sorts. I originally started a private blog three years ago, and I figured why not make it public, so I started Caturday Style. This blog started out mainly as a fashion blog, but has turned into a fashion and lifestyle blog. I made a goal this year to be more intentional and vulnerable with my posts and I am loving it so far.

Cat Purse

When I saw this adorable cat purse and realized that it came in pink, I knew it was meant to be. I styled my whole outfit around this adorable bag. My birthday is coming up next week, and I might just wear this outfit again for my birthday because I love it that much. haha. I recently bought these shoes as my birthday shoes. I like to dress up a little for my birthday, and wear something that I love either new or old (but honestly probably something new *insert sassy emoji here*). When I look good, I feel good, so I always try to do it up extra for my birthday. I had been wanting a pair of sparkly/metallic boots and when I walked by Forever 21 last weekend I saw these cuties on display. I was lucky enough to get them in my size. I wear a size 10, so finding shoes at any store in my size is a victory. I definitely did a happy dance right in the middle of the store.

LA Travel Diary Part 2

The second part of our trip to LA we stayed in Korea Town at The Line Hotel. We got a good deal from Expedia when booking our stay, which was the main reason why we stayed here (also because it was recommended and did have good reviews).  I really liked everything about the hotel and the location. I can't recommend it enough. Plus it was pretty affordable for LA. There was so much good food around and in the hotel too. The Line Hotel has a great restaurant ( The Commissary - pictured below), pool, and cafe. The pool was packed on Saturday, so if you want to get a good spot I definitely recommend heading down early on the weekend (around 9 or 10 AM), and I also recommend making a reservation for brunch or dinner at the restaurant as well.

LA Travel Diary Part 1

I was going to do one long blog post for the travel diary, but then I decided to break them up because man, I have too many photos and stories that it would be the longest post ever. haha. We stayed in Santa Monica at Casa Del Mar for the first 3 nights because of work. Santa Monica has the cutest beach with a nice boardwalk and had great shops and food. We had a blast! This was our first trip to LA and our second trip to California (we stayed in San Diego for our honeymoon). LA was a lot colder than I thought it would be and can go from hot to cold in 5 minutes. I can be extra temperature sensitive so I'm probably exaggerating but layers were key for me. When the sun finally came out, I took advantage of the beach and was able to soak up a bit of sun. I was definitely not brave enough to get into the water, but my feet did when we took those pictures. Got quite a few outtakes because of the freezing cold water. My face was priceless. haha.

Lost City Diner + May Favorites

This photo shoot with Danny (Seven Hare Productions) was so much fun. Lost City Diner was super great and let us shoot wherever. I ordered a milkshake because how can you not. haha. I had all the nostalgic and summer feels. I was kind of nervous at first because there were definitely people eating at the diner while we were taking these photos, but after I started sipping on the milkshake I felt fine. :) I love this location because of the retro aspects. I think it is really cool to look back to the past and get fashion inspiration. I looooove retro/vintage style.

Matching Dresses

Today is Sansa's 5th birthday. I can't believe how time flies.  Just about three years ago we met this cutie in Hungary for the very first time. I remember that day like it was yesterday. Wow guys, I am already tearing up typing this as the memories come flooding back. Since being a parent I cry so much more. haha. The first time we met Sansa was at her foster family's house in Újfehértó, Hungary. She was running around outside pushing a cart (she still loves to push about anything...strollers, carts, anything on wheels basically). Her hair was just starting to grow back from her initial chemo treatments and she was just the cutest thing I had ever seen. We were sent a couple of videos before we met Sansa, but seeing my gorgeous daughter's smile in person just made me melt. 

April Favorites

I took these pictures with Gordon (@lordgeezuz) at The Sound Garden, and I thought I would share a few for this post. I'm sporting my Bieber bomber jacket, and Bieber was featured in a new song that just came out. It's on my favorites list for this month of course. Also, I just really wanted to share these because I loved this location and the outfit, so here they are. :)

I have been wanting to do a recap of my favorites every month, so I thought it would be fun to share what I've been really loving during the month of April. These may seem pretty random, but I hope you enjoy them!

5 Ways to Combat Burnout

I don't know about you, but I have been feeling really burned out lately. I took this weekend off and did not make commitments to do A N Y T H I N G. I can't remember the last time I had a free weekend, because I always have a fear of missing out on fun things. I’m also an extrovert (most of the time, anyway) and I just really love hanging out with people and making connections. This weekend was nice though. I didn't have to get dressed up. I could wear PJs all day and just hang with my fam. It was great, but I am still not exactly feeling recharged starting out my week. Even though I didn't really have any places to be, I still had my everyday commitments to my family, which I absolutely love, but can also be just as exhausting in its own right. Raising a toddler is tiring sometimes. ;)

Bubble Gum

I had way too much fun with the amazing Jess Mason during this photo shoot. If you think blowing a decent sized bubble for photos is easy, like I did, you are wrong! haha.  It took probably at least 5-10 minutes to get this shot in the picture above. It was a struggle. This whole photo shoot is inspired by this bubble gum cat pin (you can spy it in a few photos below). I got it from BubbleGum Pink, and it's purrrrfect. :) Are guys super into pins too? I'm still loving this trend, and enjoy putting new fun pins on my denim jacket that let me show my personality more. 

Fave Backpack + Thankful Ramblings

So I planned on doing this appreciation/being thankful type post yesterday, but of course that morning I got a flat tire, so I really did't feel like being thankful at all that day (which is why this post is finally getting done today. haha). I was rushing around trying to get to work and was already behind so when I saw that the car had a flat tire I was just D O N E with Monday before I was really able to start my day. My Monday sucked, for other reasons on top of this one, but I still had all those things that I am really thankful for existing in my life. On hard days and the best days, I have positive things going on. It just depends on what I focus on that makes me see the good or bad. Even though yesterday sucked and tomorrow may too, who knows, I still had a really great weekend, (and month for the most part) and I let my Monday blues take that away from me.