On Me:

Dress: Christopher John Rogers For J. Crew | Bag: Vintage Dior | Bag Charm: Christian Dior | Heels: Christian Louboutin

On Kids:

Sweaters: Children’s Place | Jeans: Abercrombie & Fitch | Shoes: Nike

Hey guys! It’s been a while but I wanted to make sure I dropped our latest photos together. My boys are getting so big and I’m proud to say I’m happy people are finally acknowledging that Dylan is, in fact, my twin. Just as I said all along. While we will likely be wearing our pajamas and enjoying a lazy day on Thanksgiving thanks to both boys being sick currently, I like to plan ahead so we still have a great family photo to drop the day of.

Speaking of our ensembles, let me walk you through our fun, coordinated looks. Just in time for Thanksgiving, Christopher John Rogers and J. Crew dropped their collaboration. As many of you may recall, CJR did a Target collection previously that was well received and the girls rushed over to get their hands on the colorful clothing at an approachable price point. While the J. Crew collaboration is also approachable, the pieces start around $200, so the quality is a little better than the Target collab, and the dress I got has a similar weight to the CJR dresses I have from his namesake label.

I decided to pair this dress with these fun yellow pumps I inherited from Erika, and a vintage bag and bag charm I’ve had for literally like 20 years. I love how it picks up the colors and I’m very here for the resurgence of bag charms.

Story time… I absolutely loved the Rasta collections when they dropped, and had two saddle bags from the era, along with tops and matching shoes. When I say I was obsessed I truly mean it. Sadly, I lost all of them during a move when I was married to someone in the Army, and the movers the military sent to pack and move me decided to steal half of my things. Them stealing was beyond wild, but the fact that they happened to steal my absolute favorite bags and costume jewelry was insane. Like out of all the things, why steal my favorites? I still had about half my saddle bags and this bag charm, which I’m grateful for because I loved it from the moment I saw it in Teen Vogue and went to every boutique until I found it. While the ex didn’t care enough to file a claim to get my bags, shoes, clothes, or even our towels, bedding, and kitchen mats that were also stolen replaced via reimbursement within the set time frame like he was supposed to, I learned two valuable lessons: don’t marry irresponsible men, and never trust moving men. To this day, I am sad I lost so many of the pieces I loved –especially when I see the current prices on resale. I get angry every time I see the Rastamania saddle on resale and wonder if it’s the one that was stolen from me. Time has passed and I hope to recover the bags, shoes, etc (or a reimbursement for them. That man owes me). I still have the memories and photos, and also this bag that reminds me of my NYC days throwing my rasta bags on with everything, which, along with many other things like my kids, home, friends, etc. I am grateful for.

For good measure, I’m going to throw in a super throwback of me and Erika at some L.A. club with my favorite bag of all time: The Rastamania. We look insane lol

While material things don’t define us, they can have sentimental value and bring you back to a time in your life much like music and photo albums can. Do you have a favorite item you’ve had forever that you’d be devastated to lose? Let me know in the comments below and make sure to let me know what you’re grateful for too!

xx Slim