Vacations and Water Leaks

Hello, everyone! I'm still in shock from the response of my first post. I can't thank you guys enough for the love and support of this endeavor for me! I have been seriously thinking about what type of blog I would like this to be and to be honest, the most important thing to me is that it's real. So, I've decided to deal with real problems, real happiness and real life. I hope everyone had a great Easter and enjoyed celebrating our risen King with your family and friends. My husband and his awesome team put together a beautiful service for Sunday morning and then we went out to the lake to have lunch with family. It was a nice break from the stress of everything going on at home. Oh, did I forget to mention our house flooding??? It never ends. :)

Say hello to the latest drama at the Cleveland House, Mr. Water Leak:

And of course, this had to happen less than a week before Chris and I left for vacation without the babes. Oy vey. To keep a pretty boring story short, we had a pipe burst and are now in the process of being kicked out of our house for about 10 days to have all of the repairs done and new carpet installed. Yuk. 

Anyways, back to the fun stuff:

I would obviously love to call this a fashion blog, but let's be real: two kids and some saggy skin later, ain't nobody got time for that. I have always loved anything and everything design, from clothes to throw pillows. So, shopping has always been a passion for me and although I love my children dearly, they have changed my body into something a lot harder to dress than when I was 20 years old. After my husband and I booked our first trip since getting married, my mind starting racing to dresses and worst of all bathing suits that would make this momma not look like she just gave birth. That being said, I decided to take today to share some things I found that made dressing for vacation after baby a little easier. Whether you've had kids or not, most women don't jump up and down at the thought of swimsuit shopping, but we'll get to that later. So, first things first, click your way as fast as you can to shopimpressions.com and buy this Piko V-neck Shift Dress.

 I have this in multiple colors and it has quickly become a staple in my wardrobe. I love the Piko brand, but I really love the fit and how comfortable the shape of this dress is. Not only is it forgiving in the stomach area, but it can be dressed up and down all day and night long. Also, if you are looking for some great, cheap summer dresses, I always have luck at Old Navy and they are always doing 30% off! Can't beat it!
Okay, now for the not so fun stuff. I won't lie, I never thought I'd let a picture of myself in a swimsuit appear on the internet after having my babies. My son being just under 10 pounds at birth and having an emergency c-section with my daughter has left my poor stomach looking like something out of a horror movie. I know there are pictures popping up every other day on your newsfeed praising these women as heroes for showing off their scars and stretch marks, but that doesn't make slipping on a bikini and parading down the beach any more comfortable. (props to those women by the way, just not my thing) That all being said, I tried on just about every kind of swimsuit in search of something I would be comfortable in and I have great news ladies, I actually found some!
I went with a classic one piece first, so that no matter what I knew everything would be held in, but being taller it was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. Now, this suit is not a bargain by any means, but J. Crew offers the long torso option and to me it was definitely worth the splurge. And if you're lucky, you can catch them on a sale.  Like right now they are doing 30% off your purchase. Okay, not a huge discount on a $100 suit, but at least you can tell your husband it was on sale. ;)

I wanted to have a few options for our trip, so I decided to venture into the world of high waisted bottoms and they actually became my favorite over the saftey-net one piece I brought. I found an awesome pair of basic black bottoms at Urban Outfitters for about 42 bucks and I paired it with some cute printed tops I found at anywhere from Old Navy to PacSun. Easy and comfortable. There are so many other colors and prints in these bottoms that I have a feeling I'll be ordering a couple more before the summer is over. 

Now, this last suit is my all time fav and honestly, I stumbled upon it a week or so before we left and I'm so glad I did. I found it at Aerie and paid a total of $45 for the top and bottom. They had so many other cute swimsuits and cover ups too, I wish I would of started there for my vacation shopping! 

Here are a few pictures from our amazing trip to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. It was so wonderful having some much needed alone time with my husband and reconnecting with him. It didn't hurt that I fell in love with the people and the culture of Jamaica, oh and that it's absolutely gorgeous. We made new friends, ate some amazing food and played in the ocean. I couldn't have asked for a better or more relaxing trip with my best friend. I can't wait to do it again, but I sure did miss my babies!

 

Hopefully next time we talk I'll be back in my house and no new drama to report, but who am I kidding?
Xo Mackenzie

P.s. here are some links to the stuff I was talking about :)

http://shopimpressions.com/products/piko-v-neck-shift-dress-in-black

https://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/swim/PRD~B8133/B8133.jsp?color_name=black-ivory

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=34135533&category=W_APP_SWIMWEAR_BOTTOMS

http://www.ae.com/aerie/browse/product.jsp?productId=1756_8557_644&catId=cat6890013&bundleCatId=cat7280008

http://www.ae.com/aerie/browse/product.jsp?productId=0753_8593_644&catId=cat6890009&bundleCatId=cat7280004