A Fabulous Friday Feature: Claire Wilson

Introducing Claire Wilson y'all.  I couldn't be more excited about having this gorgeous, sweet, fun girl be our Fabulous Friday Feature this week.  For being a senior in high school, this chick has an innate sweetness about her with a strong drive to be a positive influence in the world.  My favorite part about the blogosphere is connecting with women all over the world.  Women from all stages of life.  This Arkansas-native has a style that will rock your world.  Check out her blog here for more style inspiration!  She is one of my absolute favorite style bloggers.  Her style touches on everything: classy, edgy, bohemian, and more.  She caters to all styles, and woman from all stages of life can find something to pull from her personal look!  

Aside from her fashion sense though and much more importantly, this girl has a heart of gold.  Getting to know her and then reading her "About Me" section on her blog gave me goosebumps.  This is a girl whose sense of self goes way deeper than her wardrobe.  This girl just gets it.  Gets what's most important and recognizes the importance of being true to who you are and not letting anyone else try to tell you differently.  She says, "Learning how to be yourself in a world that tries to clone you into everyone else is difficult.  Also, being a senior in high school doesn't make it any easier.  This blog is where I can put my creativity and fun into a place that helps me inspire others in a world of style."  You go girl!  So here she is y'all.  Claire Wilson and her fall-inspired stylings!

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I know, I know. You've read and seen all the styles for fall this year...but sometimes outfits in magazines can be unrealistic . So here are three practical styles you can rock this fall!

1. Crochet anything and Hats

This little Riffraff number is a great piece for transitoning into cooler weather.You can never have too many knitted tops in your closet (At least that's what I think!) I've been stocking up on hats lately, or you could say hoarding them..Lol. I'm going to wear mine to change up an outfit or to add a little extra flare.

2. Cozy Knits & Docs

 

Two words. TOO COMFY! I don't know about you but I love throwing on a comfy, cozy sweater with some boots for a chilly day. Doc Martens are awesome boots for this year. I can't wait to put on big sweaters, leggings and docs when it's a snowy day!

3.Plaid

 

You guessed it, plaid is so hot!! Mix up your plaid look a bit and throw another pattern in. I always think of leopard as a neutral that can be put with most anything! Also, another way to wear this is to wrap the button down around your waist with a graphic tee. Check out the lookbook below!

     

Fabulous Friday Feature: Michelle Petersen

{Photography by Heather Bliss Photography}

Michelle Petersen from The Mumsy Blog:  Today, I'm so excited to share the heart of the other half of The Mumsy Blog!  A heart that's passionate about motherhood, teaching, creating, and living life to the fullest.  Her happiness is contagious and quite literally shines from the inside, out!  Michelle is a co-owner and co-writer for The Mumsy Blog.  She graduated with a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and has three little nuggets of her own.  How does she find the right balance between family, blogging, and what she loves to do?  Because not only does she have a love for being a momma and blogging, but she enjoys travel, the performing arts (piano and dancing in particular), and socializing.  There's nothing quite as important to her as maintaining meaningful relationships with loved ones and finding the opportunity to celebrate life's joys with them.  I asked her to share her thoughts on what led her down the blogging road and how it transformed her into the woman she is today.  Life can take us down paths we never thought we'd go down, but sit back and enjoy this mumsy's perspective on how to navigate that journey, making the best of your circumstances while staying true to who you are.

"Since I can remember, I wanted to be a teacher and a Mom.  In that order.  Being the oldest of 5 children, my mothering instinct kicked in when I was very young, and I ceased as many babysitting opportunities that I could.

  As I got older, my love for little children navigated me down the path of becoming an Early Childhood and Elementary educator.  Becoming pregnant with my first child during my first year of teaching, I was able to squeeze in one more year of teaching half day Kindergarten before my second child came.  Yep, you read that right.  I had my first two children in 17. 5 months.  Something I definitely didn't plan on!

Personally choosing not to send my kids to daycare, I knew it would be too hard for husband I to both juggle working and raising a family, so I decided to stay home.  As much as I loved being a teacher, I loved being a mother more.  So, the transition was fairly easy.  However, I somehow didn't realize just how hard being a stay-at-home mom would be!  Sure I knew it would be hard.  But, since I had acquire two different degrees that covered all aspects of child development and how to nurture/educate children, I thought I had this parenting business int he bag.  Boy was I wrong.  For some reason, I had completely forgotten about the possibility of having Colicky babies, eternal sleepless nights, outfits that were constantly being accessorized with snot, barf, and poop, demonic temper tantrums, getting nourishment only  from granola bars and my kids leftover scraps of food because that was all I had time to eat, donning the same hairstyle and make-up on Thursday that I had started out with on Monday because I was too tired to do anything else but sleep the night before/too busy the next morning to still do anything about it, and oh so so soooooo much more!

By the time I had my third child, the once bright eyed and bushy tailed woman I'd once been, had transformed into someone I almost didn't recognized.  I still loved being a mom...most days...and loved my children with all my heart.  But, I had lost the person I once was before I became a mom, and I desperately wanted her back!  After pondering how I could do this, and still be a fully devoted wife and mother, I finally came up with the idea of becoming a blogger.   Through this venue, I, and my children, would be able to rediscover the hobbies/talents I once loved doing, openly discuss the challenges and joys that come with being a mom, and create a greater outreaching connection to women that didn't just live in my neighborhood.  And that, is how the Mumsy blog was born.

Yes, I could have probably done all of this without venturing into the blogosphere.  But, through being a blogger, I now have more than just my inner voice motivating me to get out there and really live and experience life with my children.  And for that, I am eternally grateful.

At first, blogging was a way for me to find myself.  Now, it is a way for me to encourage other women to step outside themselves and find joy in the lives they are currently living.  Life is hard, but we aren't in this alone.  Thanks to the inventions of the internet and social media each mother out there can find the support and motivation she needs to create a life of love and fulfillment for her and her family."

❤, Michelle Petersen