Whatever happened to the days of piling on all of the necklaces I own, plus cateye sunglasses, a lacy lingerie robe for a jacket, and a head scarf tied neatly under my chin? Well, I suppose when I was a four-year-old (as photographic evidence would suggest), cooky accessorizing was of the highest fashion. But these days I’m terrified of accessories, and really just like to stick with just a simple hat and some ladylike lipstick. That is, until I saw the joy on baby Lucy’s face when she saw my pendant necklace dangling before her. Well, dangling before her until it went promptly into her mouth! Uh-oh! Thankfully, during a visit to The Breast Feeding Center, I found these non-toxic silicone teething necklaces for mothers and babies to enjoy alike! I still feel a bit costumey when I wear accessories with my already slightly eccentric outfits, but I think these beads will work perfectly with a simple Summer wardrobe, eh?

O U T F I T   D E T A I L S :

shoes: Nine West | top: vintage | skirt: thrifted | scarf: gift | necklace: chewbeads

The post WHAT I WORE | Beads for Baby appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.

Television and movies can be pretty powerful sources for fashion inspiration, but when you’re constantly watching the black and white classics, as I am, your wardrobe can easily become increasingly drab. Lately, The Dick Van Dyke Show has been continually playing in the corner of my computer as I get work done, or on our tv screen when I’m nursing baby Lucy. I’ve become obsessed with Laura Petrie’s (Mary Tyler Moore) classic wardrobe, but in turn, I’ve noticed that I’m starting to favor black, white, and gray in my personal style choices. It’s silly, really, because do you think those are the only colors Laura Petrie wore? Doubt it! After that realization struck me, I began to daydream about what colors Laura’s outfits really were. Here’s a little peek inside my head, and Laura’s newly technicolor wardrobe.

It gets pretty Pleasantville, doesn’t it? Colorizing Laura Petrie’s wardrobe was sort of addicting, and now I want to do the rest of the characters, and the Petrie’s living room too! It’s like a coloring book for crazy adults. Kind of therapeutic! I know. You guys probably think I’m pretty nutso. But when inspiration strikes… you just gotta do what ya gotta do.

Laura’s my most recent style icon to emulate in my own personal fashion choices. Who are your favorite style icons from tv shows?

The post INSPIRED BY: Laura Petrie- In Color! appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.

This is my very first Mother’s Day as an actual mother, which means I’ve taken a renewed interest in the Halmark holiday. This gift guide is full of pretty and useful things I would adore giving and receiving on Mother’s Day, or any other day of the year, for that matter! For Mother’s Days past, I’ve stuck to incredibly useful gifts like milk chocolate. Or dark chocolate. Those are always winners, but springing for something even more special will certainly make Mom feel appreciated!

 The Drunken Botanist- $12.20
 Teapot Brooch- $11.99
 Wild Rose Soap- $12.50
 Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Perfume- $78
 Pantone Color of the Year Emerald Mug- $27
 Monogrammed Hand Towel- $10
 Floral Gardening Fork- $15
 Floral Pruning Shears- $16
 Insulated French Press- $69.95
 Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh Roll-On Perfume- $20
 Henri Bendel Eye Mask- $16.80
 Lipstick Holder- $86
 Leather SLR Camera Satchel- $319

The post Mandi’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.

One of the most hopeful and engaging grouping of words in our language is “and more.” You can find it at the bottom of the sign of this music store in Canton where I got my first flute when I was in fourth grade. To my ten-year-old self, “and more” was the beginner flute books and hundreds of lessons that would lead to intermediate books and then eventually complex sheet music for playing with a full band. On television, and more could be the last attempt of an infomercial to make a quick sale- something we all laugh at and parody in our day-to-day lives. And more is the extra yumminess of veggies on a cheese pizza or the candy toppings at a froyo shop. But in my life this Summer, I want that little phrase to be extended to, “and bike rides at dusk, and picnics overlooking the city, and star gazing on warm nights, and running through sprinkers with our clothes on, and having messy car washes with my family, and drinking on the patio with friends, and beating cancer. I’m so excited for this Summer and more!

O U T F I T   D E T A I L S :

• hat: vintage from What Ezekiel Saw on Etsy, similar one here
• blouse: vintage Victorian undergarment, similar one here, here, here, and here
• necklaces: vintage Amber (similar pendant here), heirloom cross from my grandmother
• slacks: from Marshalls, similar pair here
• shoes: thrifted, similar pair here

The post WHAT I WORE | Lace, Polka Dots, & More appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.

As the shocking news of the Boston Marathon bombing filtered through social media, so did the criticisms for those who continued tweeting and blogging as if nothing had happened. Some were outraged at the insensitivities, while others were ready to give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they haven’t heard the news? But soon it was inescapable. Everyone on social media must have head about it, and while many people were struck with the urge to go hug their brothers, unplug from the internet, and take time out to just enjoy being alive, there were countless other people who had to return to work. They wondered when it would again become appropriate to tweet about the mundane sales their shop was offering, or share photos promoting their recent blog post. For those who were close to the tragedy, whether they were Bostonians, marathon runners, or they were actually there when it happened, the readiness to return to normal activities might take a long time to happen. Perhaps things will never seem the same, though gradually a sense of normalcy might return, and it happens at different times for different people.

Those who have lost loved ones in senseless tragedies like the Boston Marathon bombing and the Sandy Hook shootings will always look at the world differently, and will struggle with anger or impatience for people who chronically complain about the silly things, or #firstworldproblems, like a sniffly nose or a husband’s lack of interest in closing cabinet doors after opening them. While I haven’t been closely involved in a tragedy, I have been diagnosed with cancer and struggle with the same disconnect from the otherwise healthy and blessed community I’m surrounded by. Sniffly noses and lazy husbands? My reaction is usually not empathetic. I usually think that one should be grateful for the breath that sniffs a runny nose and for the fact that a husband is still around to forget about closing cupboard doors. But if I’m honest with my feelings, this judgmental attitude isn’t a more evolved way of looking at life. It’s a peculiar mix of a gratefulness for life and a jealousy for those whose problems are smaller than my own. I’m quite certain, though, that anyone who goes through hard times, or witnesses them via the media, has probably experienced similar feelings.

There seems to be an unknown timeline for tragedies. The public is expected to limit and consider what they say on Twitter or Facebook in the light of horrific events. Maybe they should stay silent and disconnect from social media altogether. But for how long? How long do you disconnect from the day-to-day activities that had been a part of your everyday life? And how long do you look at the world with a different perspective forced upon you by an unexpected act of violence or a terrifying medical diagnosis? The answer is different for everyone. For some people it’s just a brief moment. For others, it may be the rest of their lives. We all have a different timeline, and I’m still trying to figure out my own.

Do you remember how you felt when you read about the Boston Marathon bombing, and then scrolled through Twitter to see people still complaining about being stuck in traffic or posting ridiculous selfies taken in their bathroom mirror? Did it strike you as disrespectful and trite? When did you decide that it was okay for people to start sharing the parts of their lives that had seemed insignificant after the tragedy had struck? There are people in parts of the world that experience tragedy every day. When do they decide it’s appropriate to enjoy and partake in the meaningless details of life after their child dies, or a neighbor is shot down in the street? Should we all live our lives every day in awareness of the fragility of life, or would it cripple our ability to enjoy it? These are all the questions that many Americans were contemplating after the bombing, and they’re questions I’ve been grappling with ever since I prepared for my surgery in March.

I have been given a new perspective on life, only it hasn’t faded away with media coverage. If I forget for a moment that I have cancer, I’m reminded when I wake up in the morning and drive an hour for my radiation therapy. Or maybe I’m reminded when I glance at my mounting hospital bills, or see a missed call from the hospital. How do I continue living my life, washing the dishes, taking out the trash, and tweeting about shoes, when I’m now aware, 24-7, of the fragility of my life and the urgency to hold close my family and friends? When do I start regularly blogging again? When will I even care about regularly blogging again? I’ve been considering the timeline for my own little tragedy. I have been keeping an upbeat spirit, but have yet to figure out how to reconcile my new perspective on life with the realities of my life as it was before my health problems arose. I do enjoy doing crafts. I really love sharing fashion insights. Sure, those are meaningless things, but they add some excitement and joy to my life, so I’ll definitely be indulging in them once again. But at the same time, I have gained a fresh perspective on life in general, and I certainly feel it permeating every aspect of my mind and body’s activities. I’d like to do more with this space than just adding to the clutter of the internet. So now I just need to figure out how my own personal timeline will unfold.

The post Timeline for a Tragedy appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.

The change of seasons always brings about excitement for new produce at the market, but also an urgency to enjoy the last of what’s currently in season. Grapefruit happens to be a favorite of mine, and I’m always a little sad to see its price rise, so I’m stocking up and enjoying it while I can! Utilizing some bare supplies I already had on hand, I thought I’d try using my favorite citrus fruit in a fresh cocktail perfect for Springtime. This pink grapefruit cocktail is so pretty and subtly sweet, I decided to name it after my favorite Brat Pack member and the star of Pretty in Pink: Molly Ringwald. Turns out, I enjoy it just as much as I do the movie!

• 1 pink grapefruit
• 2 ounces vodka
• 1 ounce Godiva white chocolate liqueur
• zester
• cocktail shaker
• (optional) jigger
• ice cubes

Beginning by zesting your washed grapefruit. You’ll want some longer strands to save for garnish, but you’ll also want to get some zest from past the grapefruit peel and into the rind to shake with the other ingredients. Next, cut the grapefruit in half and squeeze out the juice into the cocktail shaker over one (or two) ice cubes. Dump about a teaspoon of grapefruit zest on top, then using your jigger, measure out 2 ounces of vodka and 1 ounce of Godiva white chocolate liqueur into the cocktail shaker. Shake until the ice cube is almost gone, and pour through the cocktail shaker’s strainer over ice. garnish with some of the reserved grapefruit peel, and enjoy!

The post COCKTAIL HOUR | The Molly Ringwald appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.

Waldo Pepper (Robert Redford) isn’t only devilishly handsome, but he’s also a fearless dare-devil flier during a time when flying was a new and quickly changing freedom. I enjoy any chance to watch Redford on screen during his glory years (Hello, Mister Studly!), but I was especially interested in a period movie about early aviation’s stunt fliers. Also, I wanted to see a young Susan Sarandon. Curiosity piqued. About halfway through The Great Waldo Pepper, during an intensely nerve-wracking stunt scene, I began to remember watching this with my dad when I was a kid. And then I remembered that this movie isn’t the fanfare and fluff that I thought it might be. It’s actually pretty heavy-hitting and metaphorical, if you’re a thoughtful movie-watcher.

The movie begins with Waldo Pepper eeking out a living by flying through Midwestern towns, drawing in crowds with his stunts, and giving people rides in exchange for five dollars. When he has a run in with another pilot stuck in a similar kind of life, they team up and scheme together to create thrilling and death-skirting stunts that will draw bigger crowds and give them the adventurous careers they always dreamed of in the wide open sky.

After World War One, men who trained as pilots didn’t have anywhere to employ their skills except for in circuses and on Hollywood sets. Aviation was a new concept, and commercial flying wasn’t a career in demand, or particularly an appealing prospect for men who had battled in dogfights during the war. Men like the fictitious Waldo Pepper risked their lives just for the thrill of flying, the prestige of conquering a new feat, and the freedom they found in the air. But that freedom was quickly changing, and men like Waldo Pepper fought against it in their own daring ways.

I love the nostalgia of the Midwest during the 1920s, and The Great Waldo Pepper captures its beauty so well with the sweeping scenes of brightly colored planes against the American landscape. The cinematography sweeps you up in the carefree attitude of the fliers, contrasting itself with the tragedy and abandon in the characters’ lives. The Great Waldo Pepper isn’t a light watch, and be careful watching it with kids- I can remember being very agitated at the stunts and crashes that occurred in the story. But it’s a great one to analyze and find a fellow movie geek to pick it apart with after the credits have rolled.

You can rent or buy The Great Waldo Pepper instantly here!

The post The Great Waldo Pepper 1975 appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.

I thought I’d break my blogging hiatus with some self indulgent pictures of my little side-kick, Lucy Jo. It’s pretty difficult to feel glum about life when she’s always smiling back and reaching out affectionately for her mamma… or scratching my face so that it bleeds. But whatever she’s doing, it sure makes what I’m going through so much easier! We’re so thankful she’s here. And yesterday we got to see her bare shoulders in an outfit for the first time! I think we’re going to love Summertime especially this year, with the addition of bare baby legs and squishy baby shoulders. Can’t wait!

T W E N T Y – N I N E   W E E K   O U T F I T   D E T A I L S :

romper: thrifted | tights: Marshalls | purse: vintage

The post WHAT LUCY WORE: Gingham & Stripes appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.

Last night I had a dream, and when I woke up, I remembered it vividly. I was accurately telling someone, “Only 1 in 100,000 people have this kind of tumor, and only 5% of them are malignant. So what are the odds that my tumor is malignant? Miniscule. But mine is. And so I can only believe that I am going through this for a reason.”

On Monday I got the stitches out from my Paraganglioma surgery and also learned that the tumor had metastasized to the surrounded lymph nodes (which had been removed during surgery) and is classified as malignant. I’ll be going to see an oncologist to have further scans done to see if the Paraganglioma has metastasized to any other areas of my body, and also to discuss radiation treatment which I’ll probably be undergoing next month. Like I was explaining in my dream, these are so rare, there’s not many examples of how patients with cancerous Paragangliomas have responded to various treatment, but we think the outlook is pretty good, and I’ve already had my surgery, so at least I don’t have that to be worried about any more.

It’s funny how life works, though. On Monday, while everyone else was playing April Fool’s jokes on each other, I was staring at my grandma laying in her casket and contemplating how to tell my family I have cancer as we all gathered together after Grandma’s unexpected death. I just wanted someone to shout “April Fools!” and for Grandma to sit up in her coffin and for me to not have cancer any more. Though really, in the midst of it all, I definitely felt the peace of God and the prayers of so many people who love me. I just feel hope, and an urgency to live out and enjoy my life with Phil and little Lucy. Like I said before, not one day is guaranteed to any of us, and stepping into a car to drive down the highway is often more dangerous than facing disease or surgery. Not that we should live life with the gloomy expectation of death, but we shouldn’t waste a day, or put our hope in materialistic nonsense. Tragedy and sickness are never welcome, but the realizations they bring about certainly are!

I’m feeling pretty good about things now. The worst part is telling people, and I often feel the urge to comfort those I tell, and assure them that I will be alright. I’m sure radiation will be a low point in my life, but I’m thankful for the healthcare I can receive, and for all of my family and friends who will be around to help. Things might not be as busy with this blog, because there are only so many hours in a day, and I’d like to reevaluate how to use them, and how much time I spend working on things for very little financial compensation. Little Lucy is in the other room whining for me right now, so I think I’ll go snuggle with her for a bit and thank God for the blessings he’s given me!

top photo: Andrew Junge, Pandora’s Box #13, 2009

The post The C Word appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.

Hello, dear friends! Last Tuesday I went into surgery as planned, and boy what an experience it has been. My fears were not unfounded, and the procedure ended up being much more involved than we had hoped. My surgeons at The Cleveland Clinic, who are  a couple of the main guys in the world for this type of surgery, said I “win the prize for being the most difficult tumor to remove.” That was shocking to hear, since the size of the tumor was pretty average and appeared in the MRI to be manageable. I guess it’s really not the size that counts, but how much of its surrounds it has invaded. They had to do repair work to my arteries, and I ended up being under anesthesia much longer than we all expected- about six hours total. As I type this now, I’m staring at the keyboard, because my eyes can’t quite bear to look at the screen, and it’s already been six days since going under.

I am so thankful for life right now, but it’s a bit difficult to feel cheery when in actuality I feel miserable. I am so thankful for such skilled surgeons and for the insurance that has made all of this financially bearable. I am thankful that my nerves are still in tact and I will still be able to talk and swallow, but right now both of those are very difficult for me, and in combination with not being able to strain (I have sutures both on my arteries and on the outside of my neck) and not being able to talk, my interactions with Lucy are pretty limited right now. Talk about frustrating. My breast milk supply took a huge dive, and I’m dealing with the emotions of feeling like I am failing at providing for Lucy and losing my intimacy with her and also the emotions of waiting for pathology reports and wondering what life will be like if the tumor has metastasized to other areas of my body.

Right now I’m just focusing on getting healthy and enjoying lots of episodes of Foyle’s War on Netflix. I have to wait on my tumor’s pathology report and am going to have more body scans to rule out or confirm other tumors or cancer. The doctors said they are a bit more concerned about that than they were before surgery, because of my tumor’s invasiveness. But I’m trying not to think about that and keeping my head up above the cloud of gloom that sinks down on me every now and then. I had hoped to be two weeks ahead with blog posts before my surgery, but when my computer died, I lost one of those weeks and was only able to get one week ahead. I know you guys aren’t hanging around with baited breath waiting for me to update, but keeping this place lively is important to me, so hopefully I can get back to my regularly scheduled blogging. But for now, I’m just taking it easy. Thanks for all of your love and support!

The post Recovering appeared first on Making Nice in the Midwest.