Friday links to love

 Henry Clarence, nap skipper!

Happy Friday! I hope all of you had the best week. It's been a good one for me, and I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Hank and I have some fun things planned and since I'm down in Phoenix right now I am missing him a lot! Henry and I came down for a couple of days and have been so busy from morning to night, so I'm already excited about heading back home and relaxing a little bit. Today though I had such a lovely lunch with my friend Chelsea. We ate at Liberty Market (my first time there) and it was really delicious. She interviewed me for one of her classes and we had a long, extremely interesting conversation in regards to blogging. Super insightful and it was just a lot of fun to chit chat with her for so long. Afterward I stopped by Anthro to pick up some knobs, took an afternoon with Henry (or tried to) and then went and got my hair colored and trimmed by sweet Rhonda. It's always such a pleasure to see her.

Chelsea and me

 pre-nap skipping ;)

I've really been trying to focus on staying the positive, and for those that read my blog regularly you know that I write about this topic often. Although I would consider myself a very happy person, to be where I am has taken work, and like anything, the more you do it, the easier it gets. Over the past few years it's become a lot easier for me to snap myself out of moods or funks I get into, but just because it's easier doesn't mean it's 100% easy. I'm sensitive and unfortunately have a habit of over thinking and letting things get to me. My personal struggle is accepting and moving past, rather than dwelling and holding on. Does anyone else relate to that? For instance, let's say a friend tells me that another friend is saying something mean about me. My best self would just shake it off, and move on. Who cares, right? That person clearly has their own issues. On a bad day though I find myself wondering why, over thinking why someone I used to call a friend would be saying anything negative about me, and over analyze things about myself. It's annoying and I beat myself up over the fact that I do over analyze. So there I am, upset about A, and then getting upset about getting upset, which then creates a B and causes me to be upset about multiple things. It snowballs. So like I said, my struggle is getting past that, leaving it in a "it is what it is" box, and not letting it affect my day. 

I'm getting there though, and I feel like every time I move past a hurdle or a block in my mind I grow stronger and I learn what I need to do for next time. I'm excited to see personal growth in myself and I honestly feel like lately I've been taking these huge steps towards being the best self I can be. In fact, I'd like to pat myself on the back because just this week I managed to really stay in the positive when some things were thrown at me, and I'm feeling proud of myself that I was able to move on. Virtual high five, anyone?

I also wanted to take a moment out and say thank you, thank you for all of the nice comments on our family photos. I'm a total weirdo and usually HATE any posed photos like that, but I was blown away when I saw them because I love each and every one of them. Christina is talented for sure, and I can't even explain how happy I feel to have captured this time in our lives. Hank, me, our little boy who is almost half a year old. I will forever cherish those photos! And really, thank you for all of the sweet things you said about them, I really appreciated every single thing you all wrote.

So in closing, I really hope all of you have a great weekend! Blog wise, I'll be sharing my next Mama Style post, and of course an Easter post after our afternoon with Hank's family.

For now though, here are some links to check out:

I guest posted over on Maryam's blog a little bit about Madeline and Henry and the transition from one "baby" to two.

How adorable are these wedding invitations? Sometimes I kind of want to marry Hank a second time just so we can do it all over again!

Speaking of weddings, this Brooklyn wedding was so unique- definitely worth a look. (hint: the beautiful bride wore a mini skirt with a detachable train!)

I enjoyed this article on spring cleaning your digital life.

A round up of Martha's best Easter crafts? Yes please!

Now, I've never tried Nutella (shame on me, I know) but I know that more than a few of you may be interested in this homemade Nutella recipe!

Baby C has arrived! Congratulations Kyle and Sarah.

Kristine's Cute Japan feature is so...cute! Plus, I love her blog.

I love this print. I'm such a morning person that it makes me smile, but to Hank it would just be plain annoying I'm sure.

I really related to Lindsay's post on being more lenient with yourself.

Boys are the best, and this write up about being a mama to a boy made me smile.

One of my favorite blogs, one of my favorite colors.

Pecan, coconut and lemon bars. Yes yes yes please.

Using books to create shelves. Genius! And so charming.

Those crazy kids have done it again! I adore Rachel and Don's newest video(s).

Jen shares her Ukrainian Easter Eggs in this post. Super neat and it kind of makes me want to do the same, although mine definitely wouldn't be as cute as hers!

I must be hungry because after this post all I want is a personal sized pie. Or a not so personal sized one that I can make personal.

And finally, congratulations to one of my sweetest blogging lady friends!