Two and a half years ago, I began this website as a fashion/lifestyle blog. Did you know that? It was 2013, and I was a stay at home momma of two sweet babies… and fashion and I were not really speaking at the time. I rarely got dressed in “real clothes” because I was so busy taking care of my little ones. Paying attention to my own looks, well… I just didn’t have time. Or maybe I didn’t care. Or maybe I was just too tired to care. Anyway, through a crazy turn of events (that you can read about in my book) I ended up beginning this page and modeling clothes for an online boutique called, Hazel & Olive.
It was fun!
But as I wrote about the different clothing pieces, and I showcased different looks, I felt like I wasn’t being real. At least, I wasn’t being the realest version of me. Because the real me knew that I was more than what I wore, and so were all of my readers. The real me knew that telling other women to wear a certain outfit so they could feel good about themselves wasn’t the message that I wanted to share. So, God (yes God) spoke to my heart and changed the direction of this page, and well… it became what it is today with millions of visitors each year and thousands of followers on Facebook.
It became a place where I can tell women that they are loved just as they are. It became a place where hope can be placed in more than clothes. It became a place of encouragement.
But something happened the other day. I was talking with God about the direction of this page going forward, and I heard Him speak again. Did you know that He still speaks to us? He is always speaking to your heart… it is just a matter of learning to tune our hearts to hear Him. Anyway, I felt like He said I should offer practical ideas in addition to the hope and encouragement that I share here. I laughed to myself and said, “What about clothes?” And that’s when things changed again.
See, there is nothing wrong with offering fashion advice. There is nothing wrong with caring about how we look!
But when I began this page, I was offering style posts so that I could help women feel good about themselves by wearing certain things. And that’s just not right.
But now my heart has changed. That’s not why I am sharing these posts again.
Here is how my heart feels about this now.
You are a good mom and a wonderful wife and an excellent friend and a loving daughter and a woman that others can count on… (EVEN IF YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE ANY OF THOSE THINGS AT THIS EXACT MOMENT.) You are loved by God. You are known by Him. You are created for a purpose.
But here is the thing. I know that you are always taking such great care of everyone else that sometimes you don’t take care of you at all. I know that your life might be hectic, or you might feel overwhelmed. You might be in a place where you just don’t physically have the time or energy to focus on you.
I want to remind you that your worth isn’t found in how you dress, but you are worth your own attention. You are worth caring about. You are worth considering. And the clothes won’t change who you are or how you feel, but they might just mean that you took the time to say, “I want to do this just for me.”
And as you rediscover this truth? As you decide that maybe you want to invest some of your time on yourself, I want to help you make the most of that time. I want to give you ideas and inspiration that will make investing in you fun and easy! And so that is why I have begun this new section of the site.
I am teaming up with some of my favorite shops to showcase some of my favorite products to all of my favorite people.
(And an added bonus: This is going to help keep this blog going, because blogs are expensive y’all and some of the products I feature will be sponsored items. That means the shops or retailers will pay me to showcase them here. Why am I telling you this? Well, first, it is the law. And second, I want to be completely honest like always. This blog requires hundreds of dollars every month to maintain, and I just don’t want to clutter it up with flashing ads for cars or diapers or anything else to compensate the cost. So working with some of the shops that I already love is something I am really excited about!)
The truth is…we are real women living real lives with real imperfect bodies and real limited budgets and really long to-do lists! So the looks that I will offer here can be worn in our real every day lives.
Practical. Imperfect. Real. #ModestMommaStyle
Wanna join me?
FALL LOOK #1
Outfit Details:
Top | Sponsored Hazel & Olive Boutique
Bag | Sponsored Hazel & Olive Boutiqu
Lip Color | Sponsored First Love Lipsense
Watch | DE Timepieces
Shoes | Fossil
So here is how this works. I will post photos of easy style ideas like these. Some of these items are sent to me for free. Some of the items I purchase. Some of the retailers pay me to showcase their products here. But all of the opinions of these products are honest and my own… and if I didn’t love them, I wouldn’t wear them, and I definitely wouldn’t show them to you. That’s just how this works.
