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Trend of the Month: YELLOW!

maternity style: lace blouse, white cardigan, yellow and purple accessories yellow bow shoes {{Blouse + Jeans: Motherhood Maternity
{{Cardigan: Target
{{Necklace + Earrings: Kazuri Beads Kenya (similar)
{{Shoes: Old (similar)
{{Purse: Target

I always get SO excited when Marion from Marionberry Style announces her monthly “trend of the month” challenge. Why? Well, for a couple reasons:

It gives me an excuse to plan ahead for an outfit
It gives me an excuse to do a little research (i.e. reading fashion blogs and fashion magazines) to see how others are rocking the latest “trend”
It gives me a personal challenge to figure out how I can make the trend my own / fit my personal style (or maybe even step outside of my style comfort zone)

Now, when Marion said this month’s trend was YELLOW I was excited because it’s such a happy color, but also a little nervous because yellow typically is not a great color on me (fair skinned folk like myself have to be careful when trying to rock yellow). I was also a little nervous because the only yellow blouse I have no longer fits me at this stage in my pregnancy.

So, I had to get creative. That’s the fun part about trends – it’s all about incorporating it in a way that works for YOU rather than feeling confined to how others are wearing it / rocking it / whathaveyou.

So, I opted for POPS of YELLOW throughout my outfit via my accessories. So, I stuck to totally neutral tones in my outfit (a la cream blouse, white cardigan, and dark jeans), and went BOLD with bright yellow bow flats, matching yellow earrings and necklace, and a bright purple bag. Sure, not a yellow bag, but I love this purple bag so much I threw it in there anyway.

That’s the key, folks.

If you’re nervous about incorporating a BOLD trend like YELLOW or STRIPES or ANIMAL PRINT, don’t feel like you need to venture into wearing it as an entire outfit (you know, like the yellow suit guy over there–>).

Just incorporate it via your accessories: shoes, a bag, jewelry, a belt!

So, what do you think? How do YOU incorporate “trends” into your daily wardrobe?

Linked up today with Marionberry Style, Because Shanna Said So, and The Pleated Poppy.

How-To: Plan for Your Financial Future When You’re Single

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How to: Plan for your financial future when you're single This week’s Molly’s Money post goes out to the SINGLE ladies and gents out there. I’ve had a lot of posts recently geared towards the engaged or married couple dealing with finances… but I’ve done a disservice and neglected the single people. And for that, I am sorry, y’all!

I got this awesome question from a reader:

“So I’m single and so ready to mingle. What’s your thoughts on saving? (i.e. do you think it’s best to save for a new car rather than a house? Do you think it would be wiser to purchase a smaller house/unit while I’m single or to wait it out, keep saving and keep paying rent so that the money I’ve saved can just be there for the day future husband and I decide to go house hunting?) I’ve managed to get my expenses down a lot this year, which has been awesome living pretty much debt free and finally having the ability to save!”

Great question! There are a couple issues at hand here. And ALL of this is under the guise that you are essentially DEBT FREE.

First, the car situation. If you are in desperate need of a new car, then I would say saving for a new car is priority. But, if you have another 50K-100K+ miles left on the car you have, then what’s the rush in getting a new vehicle? I am a HUGE advocate of NOT leasing or financing a car. Save up and pay cash. I have done that for ALL of the cars I have owned and it is the BEST decision ever. Not having a car payment saves you SO much time, hassle, money, etc.

And remember, you don’t need a brand new car. There are PLENTY of awesome, certified pre-owned cars out there that will last you a long time. So, I say save up and pay cash for the car that will last you.

BUT, that’s all to say that a car is a priority need. If it’s not a priority need, then hold off.

Now, the housing situation. Now, I, personally, have never bought a house. I was lucky enough to meet and marry a man who had already saved and purchased a home. But, I made sure that I got educated on what exactly the mortgage situation was, how he bought it, etc. when we got married.

I wanted to know EVERYTHING about where we stood with our house.

So, before answering your question, I actually talked with my financial expert of a husband and we both agree in this area.

Do not buy a house until you can save enough money to put a 20% down payment on it. I REPEAT: DO NOT buy a house until you can save enough money to put a 20% down payment on it.

Putting 20% down on a house will benefit you for many reasons. Including, but not limited to:

1. Avoiding PMI. PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) is basically insurance that the lender takes out on YOU in case you were to ever default on the loan. Essentially, if you stopped paying for whatever reason or were at risk of foreclosure, the lender (bank) that gave you the money for your house initially, has that insurance so that they don’t lose out on the money they lent you.

HOWEVER, instead of the BANK paying for that insurance, you end up having to pay for that insurance until you have at least 20% down on your house. So, that PMI is just an added expense that you just don’t need or want when you’re buying and paying for a house.

2. You have enough equity in the house that you have a money buffer. Putting 20% down is basically giving YOURSELF that insurance that the bank would take out on you if you were to NOT put 20% down. Meaning, if, for example, the market were to crash again, you would have enough equity in the house that you wouldn’t owe more than your house was worth. You could sell the house and not lose any money.

Remember the mortgage crisis and housing crisis of 2008? Well, that happened, in part, because so many people didn’t have nearly enough down on their house. So, when the market crashed, suddenly all these people owed way more than their house was worth. Thus, the housing / market problems.

Now, there are a few other things you should be thinking about and planning for when you’re single. Like, saving and planning for retirement. Yes, retirement.

First and foremost, if the company that you are working for offers a 401K plan, be sure to participate and contribute as much as you can up to the amount that the company will MATCH. So, for example, the first company I worked for that offered a 401K plan matched 100% of what I put in up to 6% of my salary.

So, right there, that was basically FREE money that doubled my investment in the time I worked there. If your company will match your contribution, that’s free money you don’t want to leave on the table, so take advantage of it.

Once you’ve got your 401K plan narrowed down, consider investing in an IRA. You will need to decide whether or not you want to invest in a TRADITIONAL IRA or a ROTH IRA.

Basically, a traditional IRA, is not taxed until you take the money out in retirement. A ROTH IRA is taxed NOW, but not when you take it out in retirement after the age of 59.

It’s like an immediate gratification versus a delayed gratification type of thing. There are certainly pros and cons to both. While it’s nice to not have to pay the taxes on the traditional IRA now, it’s basically a tax time-bomb. Who knows how much taxes will be when you retire?

Here’s a fun game. Let’s say you are:

25 years old
You invest $5,000 a year to your ROTH IRA for the 40 years of your working life
Your IRA grows at an average rate of 7%

Considering all of that… if you were to retire at age 65, your ROTH IRA would have $1,068,048 in it.

roth-ira-calculator-screenshot

Yeah, that’s over ONE MILLION DOLLARS that you would then have… TAX FREE.

So, I’d say I’m a fan of the ROTH IRA, but it totally depends on your situation.

Now, I know this is all somewhat complex stuff that can be super confusing (trust me, it is for me, too). Which is why I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about it so I can explain it all in way that is hopefully easy to understand and makes sense,

And, there’s definitely WAY more to all of this than I’m going over in a few paragraphs, but hopefully this is a good start.

What do you think? What other questions do you have?

And for others of you reading this: what advice would YOU have for my reader? Have any of you done any of the things I’ve suggested? Share your experiences below!

What to Wear: Second Trimester Maternity Style Inspiration

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What to Wear: Second Trimester Maternity Fashion and Style Inspiration

AHH! As of today I am now in my THIRD trimester. WHAT?! Crazy! Seriously, I am due in exactly three months. Yeah, three months from now there will be a BABY in our house.

It still doesn’t even feel real that this is happening. We are so excited, but also so nervous / anxious / worried / [INSERT EMOTION HERE].

Well, while I’m over here having a minor freak out, let’s talk about something that doesn’t freak me out: FASHION.

Now, I thought it would be fun to sort of recap all the outfits I put together and wore during my second trimester. I remember when I first found out I was pregnant, I SCOURED blogs for hours… even days looking for maternity style inspiration. I mean, your body changes SO much when you’re carrying a child, but I didn’t want to sacrifice my sense of style just because my body is changing. So I looked around.

And while there are certainly a few great bloggers out there who have shared their maternity style, the truth is, there just wasn’t THAT much. So, I thought recapping my second trimester style might be fun for a few reasons:

For me: It’s a nice way to document my growing bump, but also document my personal style throughout this pregnancy
For others: Whether you’re pregnant right now or if you’re ever planning on getting pregnant, I thought this may be helpful for you – any of you. Or none of you? Here’s hoping you have to do just a little less Googling than I did. LOL!

Now, this is not to say that I am the foremost expert on maternity fashion. I most certainly am not. However, I did learn some things along the way and I had a lot of fun in the meantime.

You can check out ALL of these looks (and more) on my Outfits page here on the blog (and each look on the outfits page links to the original blog post with outfit details, just in case you’re curious).

What to Wear: Second Trimester Maternity Fashion and Style Inspiration
A few of my favorite maternity pieces and/or maternity must-haves:

Which look was your favorite? Do you know of any great maternity style bloggers out there I should check out? Leave your suggestions in the comments!

Linked up with Shanna and The Pleated Poppy

Why I Do This… Part Three: My Story

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Why do I do this?

You know, this. This blogging thing. All of it. All of the things. Why do I do all of the things? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but some are more important than others. You can read Part One here and Part Two here.

Today’s “Why” is going to take a little different angle. I’m going to tell you a little of my story. This is by no means the whole story, but it’s part of it, and it’s an important part of it that I want you to know.
Sure, I may be opening up myself to some scrutiny or some head scratches or I may even turn some of you off. But the truth is, it’s all the honest truth. And I’ve never once been anyone but myself on this blog and so it’s only right that I share this part of me with you.

Also, this post is long, I know, but it’s important.

I will say this up front: If you are not a Christian, if you are not religious at all, if you are an atheist, if you think liking Jesus isn’t cool or you think the whole thing is a crock and that I am a total nutcase, PLEASE, I beg you, don’t click out of this window. Just hear me out.

Yes, I am a Christian. Yes, I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe He is the Son of God and that He came to this earth to make the biggest sacrifice for you and me by dying on the cross and rising again.

But, I wasn’t always this way. In fact, people that knew me even three or four years ago know that I was basically the opposite.

Sure, I grew up “believing” in God. I grew up sometimes going to church on Christmas or Easter. I even had a brief stint in a worship band in middle school called “Doubting Thomas.” Yeah, I know. But I had no idea what I believed at my core.

Me in high school. No wonder I was picked on.

While I was super blessed to have an amazing family that loved and supported me as a child, the truth is, things weren’t always easy growing up. I was bullied, picked on, mocked. My mom was very sick and so I had to grow up pretty fast. We had a lot of extended family issues. Living each day in fear of my peers and in fear of losing my mom, I was on edge all the time. I quickly grew depressed and I found solace in comedy and making people laugh. I self-medicated through laughter.

But on the inside, I was angry and only getting angrier by the day. When my mom died my senior year of high school, I only became more angry. Why would a loving God do such a thing to a woman who was so good and so amazing? We didn’t deserve this. I didn’t deserve this.

I played the self-pity blame game. And so who did I blame? I blamed God. For everything.

And it only got worse.

In college I played around with my faith some more, but that’s what it was. It was a bunch of religious games I was playing and I didn’t have any sense or direction of what I was doing, what I was thinking, or where I was going spiritually. So I buried myself in school work, activities, and comedy. I was involved in everything and I did really well in school, but there was something missing within me. I just didn’t know what.

I graduated college and completely lost sight of everything. I was in debt, I was stressed, and I had completely cut anything religious, spiritual, or God related out of my life.

I would go so far as to say I hated God. I would openly say I didn’t believe in God. I would openly say that Christians were weird and crazy. I said and did things that I am not proud of. I was filled with darkness.

It’s almost ironic looking back on it now, because I was doing comedy and they were my best years of comedy. But my best years of comedy were being done when I was by far the unhappiest I’ve ever been. On the inside, I was a total mess.

Fast forward a few years and I’m in North Carolina. I’m at the lowest of my low point. I’m so beyond sad, lonesome, and lost, it wasn’t close to funny – yet I spent my nights and days trying to make people laugh.

Me and John… when we were merely co-workers.

Then I met John.

I knew he was a Christian and that he went to church every Sunday, but he wasn’t one of those “weird” Christians I always made fun of. He wasn’t one of those “crazy Christians” I talked about. He ~~was~~ is cool, he ~~was~~ is normal, he ~~was~~ is hilarious, he ~~was~~ is super smart, and he ~~was~~ is extremely attractive. Okay, he ~~was~~ is HOT. HOTT.

At first, I didn’t ask questions, but there was a part of me that was breaking down walls within me.

After we’d been seeing each other for a short while, he casually mentioned he was going to check out a different church the next day and I don’t know what happened but all of a sudden I found myself asking, “Can I come with you?”

It had nothing to do with the fact that it was John going to church, he went to church every Sunday. Why didn’t I ask him earlier? All of a sudden there was a pull within me that told me to go.

And so we went to newhope Church in Durham, North Carolina.

And I haven’t missed a Sunday since. I was baptized on August 28th, 2011.

God did a work in me that day and has done a work in me every day since.

I realized that being a Christian isn’t about being perfect, it’s about realizing that God is perfect and that we are imperfect and are nothing without him.

I realized that being a Christian isn’t about being hateful, judgmental, or oppressive (I have a whole other post brewing about this exact topic, actually). It’s about realizing that Jesus came for the lost, He came for the sinners, He came for the worst of the worst – people like me – and He loved them regardless. In fact, it was the self-righteous and boastful people Jesus couldn’t stand.

From the moment I let go, stopped worrying what other people would think, and started being MYSELF, my TRUE SELF in Christ, that’s when my life turned around.

I woke up one day and said, “Okay God, I’ve been trying to do it my way for so long, and that clearly hasn’t worked. So, let’s try it Your way.”

I surrendered everything.

I surrendered my finances – and I became debt free.

john-molly-country-cowboy-wedding_0257 I surrendered my relationships – and I’ve made some of the best friends I’ve ever had, I’m closer with my family, and my marriage is so rock solid.

I surrendered my sin – and even though I still fall short all the time, I know that through Him I can do anything.

And I am the happiest I have ever been in my entire life.

And the Lord has YET to fail me. I could tell you story after story of the miracles that God has done in my life and that I have witnessed and felt since becoming a Christian.

If you had told me four years ago that I would be where I am now and that I would believe what I believe now and that I would be doing what I’m doing now, I would have looked at you like you have six eyes.

But the truth is, I am living proof. If the Lord can do a work in me and make a change in someone like me, He can do a work in anyone and He can make a change in anyone.

And so, to answer the initial question of “Why I Do This?” – well, part of that answer is to hopefully witness to others that yes, you can love beauty and fashion and love and life AND be a Christian. And that Christians are just imperfect people chasing after a perfect Savior. That’s all I am.

I just want to love people (ALL people), serve people (ALL people), and make people laugh.

I am still the same old me. I still act ridiculous all the time. I still love making people laugh.

Yeah, that’s me.

After all of this time, I’m still being me. I’m still being Molly. (Get it?)

This is already a crazy long post and I could go on for days. I will write more about this later, but something told me to write this now. So I did.

I got an email from a reader this week that confirmed that I’m on the right track – I may not get it right all the time, but it’s emails like this that encourage me:

Dear Molly,

First, let me say I LOVE your blog! One of my favorite ways to relax and have a smile is to catch up on reading it. [...]

I’m emailing because I have recently started going to church again after a long (at least 7 years) hiatus. I was raised Catholic and though I have always had God in my heart, I struggled with some of the things that went on in the Catholic Church and that were taught. I am now going to a local New Hope church and I LOVE it! I look forward to Sundays when I can go be with God and other individuals who worship Him. [...]

On that note, I really want to study the bible and know The Lord in a way I have never wanted to before. But, I don’t know where to start. I was never really taught how to read the bible, and it wasn’t a big thing in my family. I don’t know the first thing about where to go or what to study. Reading the entire bible seems very daunting me right now and I don’t want to start for fear of not being able to finish, or of working so hard to finish that I don’t get anything out of it. I would like to start small, and work my way to it.

[...] I truly see you living a life full of Christ and hope I can be more like that in the future.

-C

It’s because of e-mails like that. That’s why I do this.

If you made it all the way through this post, thank you. Glad you stuck around. And even if you still think I’m crazy, I hope you can understand I’m just being real.

What about you? Why do YOU do what you do?