Guest Posting

Hello Lovelies!

I am guest posting today over at Moms Have Style Too!

Y'all go take a peek. :)

That's all.

A Skirt/Dress and a Stomach Bug

blouse: ???, skirt & shoes: thrifted, bag: walmart

This dress is actually a skirt. And as you can see, there are pitfalls to a busty girl like myself turning a skirt into a dress. You end up with a mini train. Hmmm. Can't quite decide if that's cute or just weird. Anyway. This is what I wore last night to attend a business meeting at church. My first time getting dressed all weekend. Munchkin got a stomach bug which he very kindly shared with me. It was not a pleasant weekend. That's all I have to say.

Jeans & a Tee + crazy coloful jewelry = Jazzy Jeans

tee & jeans: walmart, flats & bag: thrifted

Jeans and tee. Oddly enough, I have only recently begun incorporating jeans and tee shirt looks into my wardrobe. I am just not a fan of the jeans and tee look as it often reads as casual and/or sloppy. It can be done right, as evidenced by the hundreds of really great bloggers out there, but I would still rather be wearing a skirt. :) So, I picked my lightest (in color and weight) pair of skinny jeans and added basic black and a ton of color. I was comfy and felt pretty.

Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend! We have an out of town birthday party to attend. :) Fun, fun!

Thursday Thrifting Fun

tunic and bag: thrifted, dress: forever 21, shoes: payless

 Okay, so this skirt/dress wearing challenge is no big deal to me. I've been a skirt girl for most of my life. Even back in high school, I was the odd ball girl in the pretty dress in the middle of the grunge era. Everyone else was in giant baggy jeans and flannel shirts and unwashed hair and I was wearing dresses or skirts. Yep. Totally not fitting in and equally okay with it. In spite of that, I am not enamored with today's look. It just doesn't look as good in the pics as it felt. Eh, tomorrow's another day and another outfit. Isn't that the grand thing about getting dressed? You get to do it over and over again. :)

In other news, I had an incredible thrift store trip this week. My local Savers had their sleeveless tops buy one get two free, and silver tags for $.99. Between those two things I got seven tops, two bags, a pair of shoes, and a necklace for $25. Awesome. Oh, and two of the tops are silk and two others still had the tags on. Score.

Weight Watching Wednesday

tank: gifted, skirt: thrifted, bag: target, sandals: icing

teal necklace by me

teal sandals and pale blue toenails

Welcome to my first weekly feature! If you've followed for a while, you know that back in the early spring I lost about 20 pounds. Well over the course of the summer I gained back 5 of those pounds. So, I am getting back on my diet and decided to use the blog help keep me accountable. So, I will be posting my weekly goals and hopefully how I've met them (or failed to meet them).

So, this week's goals: 1300 calories per day (I am crazy and insane and apparently planning on starving to death) and five workouts (I have a serious love/hate but mostly hate relationship with Jillian Michaels) 

I am not setting a scale goal for this week because I really want to see what is possible if I meet the above two goals. So my starting weight is 150. I can't believe I just put that out there on the internet for the whole wide world to see. So, for the sake of my sanity please just ignore that truly hideous and frightening number and pretend it isn't really there, 'kay? Thanks.

Now, about the clothes. Here is my closet orphan.  This striped top (remix number two) will be leaving my closet unless I love the three remixes for the 21DC. So, striped top, denim mini and teal accessories. I don't know about love, but I liked it well enough and it was comfy and cool. So. You tell me. Should I keep the top or donate it?

Two Looks for Tuesday!

red sequin top: the base for two looks

top & shoes: thrifted, capris: swapped

Look Number Two: Monochromatic Red

Hello lovelies! So, I got a little behind on the 21DC. Therefor today I used this red sequined tank as the base for two looks. First my casual with dressy look: army green capris with sequins. Add some red patent wedges and we're good. I think the sequins are enough embellishment so, no extra accessories today. Then for evening I switched the pants for my red silk pants and a taller pair of red wedges. :) That, my friends, is a lot of red for my monochromatic look. A. Lot. of. Red. Wow.

Hope you are having a lovely day!

It's a Belt, It's a Bracelet, No! It's Both!

tee: charlotte russe, jeans: old navy, bag: ???, heels: payless

leopard bag and belt/bracelet

skinny leopard belt turned into a bracelet

tan heels with pretty blue toenails

Here's my mix it up, be all creative like post. It is a couple of days late because I had to seriously think about how to get creative. Despite my love of participating in things like the 21DC, I really don't like wearing the same things as anyone else. And while I will happily take inspiration where I find it, I almost always change things up at least a bit. So this getting creative thing, was a bit baffling. Until I figured out that I could wrap this super skinny belt around my wrist and create a bracelet. (I'm sure this has been done before somewhere, but I haven't seen it.) I actually got compliments on my bracelet and looks of amazement when I mentioned that it was actually a belt. :) So. That works.

Happy Monday, friends!

Weekly Gratitude and Layered Loveliness

dress: rue 21, shoes: charlotte russe, bag: ???

accessories overload!

layered pearls and chains

fabulous pink platfoms (and an extra little foot!)

Happy Sunday, lovely ladies! Hope you've all had a marvelous weekend relaxing and having fun. :) We've been fairly calm and easy this weekend. It was nice, we slept in enjoyed some time with good friends and watched a couple of movies.

I loved today's outfit. :) I've had this dress for at least four or five years - it fits perfectly and is super comfy and of course chocolate looks fab with pink. I bought these shoes about three years ago and this is the first time I've worn them. You see, when I bought them, I didn't try them on completely because we were in a hurry and they were $4. Then the first time I tried to wear them, I couldn't fasten the ankle straps! Eeek. I can now wear them, although they are perhaps a little more snug than I would like.

So this week I am grateful for just one thing ~ Electricity! Midway through Sunday school this morning it went out. Yikes! We started service without it, thankfully there are plenty of windows, so we had light. But, my friends a building full of people with no a/c gets stuffy rather quickly. Thankfully the electricity came back on within about ten minutes of starting the service. So, I am immensely grateful for electricity and the people whose job it is to fix blown transformers and the fact that they can do their job so quickly on Sunday morning. :)  (Oh, and chocolate, specifically dark chocolate peanut m&ms, I am also very thankful for those!)

Have a lovely week, my dears!

FBFF: Dreaming and a Belting Challenge

tee: gap, skirt & bag: target, belt: forever 21, sandals: thrifted

seriously cute snakeskin thongs - cost: $1

Welcome to day four: Belting! Belts are awesome. Here are a few of my favorite belted looks: black and leopard, floral and utility, grey and red, and white and leopard. And a new one for today! Today's activities include running errands and a surprise birthday party for a good friend tonight. I love the lace skirt and these snakeskin sandals are perfect. I think a black bag would look better, but I am perfectly fine with being all matchy. I may not be the mayor of Matchytown (I believe Sal has that honor), but I am definitely a resident.

1. Fess up - if you could do anything professionally what would it be? Wow, so this is where we get to be all vulnerable and stuff, huh? I have two dreams. One, if I had the time, money, and inclination to go back to school for a million years, I would love to go into counseling. Truthfully, I already do a lot of it because of my position working with teenagers, but sometimes, I think it would be nice to have the credentials and actually get paid for it. :) The other crazy dream I have is to be a writer. I have started about 12 books, but before I finish I get another idea and so.... I have about 12 half completed books. Not particularly useful.

2. What draws you to this? I am drawn to counseling because I love helping people. I am drawn to writing because I love telling stories. Not sure that I love one more than the other, although one is easier than the other for sure. :)

3. When did you first start dreaming about this ideal? Ok, here's the thing. I started writing in high school, but I also dreamed about wanting to help people. I had some difficult experiences as a child and early teen and I just wanted to help other people like me. So, both dreams have been around for at least half of my life. Wow. Now I feel old.

4. What's holding you back from going all in? Well, I don't have the time or money to go back to school right now. And honestly wouldn't even if I did. My priority right now is raising my son and I am totally happy doing that. Perhaps once he's in school and I have some actual free time, I might consider it, but it just isn't an option right now. Now, on the writing front....I suppose it is a little fear of failure. As long as the manuscripts sit unfinished they can't be rejected, right? So. There you have it. I am a coward. I suppose it is always easier to dream than to do.

5. Sometimes the first step is the hardest... what's one step you can take now on the way to realizing your dream? Well, I've already said the counseling dream is on the shelf for the time being. And honestly, I am living my dream. I am a stay at mom to the most wonderful kiddo and happily married to the man of my dreams. I am genuinely content with my life and fulfilled in a way that I never realized was possible before I had my son. That said. I suppose I could finish at least one story. They are all plotted through to the end, just not written. Hmmmm. We'll see.

Thank you to Katy Rose over at Modly Chic for the great questions, as usual.

Feeling Blue in Blocks (Color blocks that is)

tee: walmart, skirt: stein mart, shoes & bag: thrifted

neutral bag & shoes and the cutest photo bomber ever

a handful of sparklies

Hello lovely ladies! It is time to color block over at Freckles in April. I absolutely adore color blocking! You can see some other color blocked outfits I've done here, here, here, and here. I usually go for contrasting colors - red with blue, turquoise and hot pink, purple with turquoise, purple and mint - so this time I decided to try a more tonal version with the cobalt and turquoise with a couple of pops of pale pink. I considered doing a pale pink bag and shoe, but liked the simplicity of the neutral ones better. What do you think?

So, I have a question for you guys. I am getting in desperate need of new eyewear. Mine are worn out (thanks to my three year old tornado) and the world is getting a little blurry again. I am trying to decide if I want new glasses or if I should go back to wearing contacts.

This is me in my glasses:

And this is me without my glasses:

So, what do you think? With or without? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Thank y'all so much for all your comment love lately. And welcome to my new followers, y'all are awesome. :)

Stripes and Dots and Flowers, oh my

tee: target, jeans: charlotte russe, heels: payless

weird white orb????

two necklaces

polka dotty heels

I have to be honest here. I actually don't care for the whole pattern mixing trend. (collective blogger gasp) I know, I know, I might get kicked out of the blogger community for such blasphemy, but it's true. If you've followed for long, you may have noticed that I don't even wear patterned clothing that much. I tend toward the minimal in clothing and prints just don't read as minimal. For this challenge I even did something I almost never do - I changed clothes three times. Three different outfits incorporating the few stripes and florals and dots in my closet. None of them worked for me. I just didn't like the way they looked - mine eyes were offended. Ick. So, I finally decided that I would rather just be myself and added dotty heels and flowery necklaces to my striped tee. Ahhhhh. There. That's me. So, here is my 21 Day Challenge: Pattern Mixing outfit. Uninspiring perhaps, but all me.

Happy Wednesday, y'all!

Tuck it in, tuck it in!

tee: gadzooks, shorts: thrifted, shoes: ross, bag: target

And here we have day two of the 21 Day Challege: Tuck it in. I am not amazingly happy with this outfit, but I wore it and it worked. Eh. I like the mint and pink combination and I like the heels with the bermuda shorts. I'm not crazy about the fit of the tee (come back tomorrow for more on that) and my hair looks nuts. I think its time for a change.

In other news we are having seriously gorgeous weather right now! Wow. Usually this is the hottest time of the year and just really miserable, but the mornings and evenings have been cool and it is even pleasantly hot during the day. Of course, the mosquitoes are swarming like mad, but you win some you  lose some (blood). We are also getting an insane amount of rain for this time of year. Usually by August we are well into drought with burn bans and such all over. But there has been a thunderstorm every few days. (Probably why the temps are down and the mosquitoes are up.)

That reminds me..... We moved from Arkansas to New Orleans back in 2001 for my hubby to attend school. We were utterly bewildered by the constant talk about 'the drought'. Everyone was terribly worried and upset about it. Our bewilderment stemmed from the odd fact that it rained. Every day. Yeah. Drought??? Where we come from a drought means that it doesn't rain for three or four months. So we were a little weirded out by the concern. And then Tropical Storm Allison hit. Everything in sight was flooded, and everyone was oddly relieved by the rainfall. Ahhhh. All of a sudden it made sense. Apparently in that part of Lousiana unless you have floods every couple of months, you are experiencing a drought. Got it. Good to know.

Mom-style top Remix 1

tank: gifted, shorts: walmart, shoes: payless

This outfit is for the 21 Day Challenge over at Freckles in April! The challenge for day one was picking an item to remix 3 different ways. My pick was this top. It was given to me by a friend of a friend and I love the pale grayish blue colors and the stripes! I am not sure I am totally crazy about the cut and the high neck, but it is super comfy, so we'll have to see. I kept it pretty basic for cleaning and a grocery store run today. I think the navy blue jewelry added an extra pop to the paleness of the outfit.

I hope y'all are having a wonderful day!

Statement vs. Minimal

dress: target, shoes: payless

giant pink studs picked out by my Munchkin!

Happy Sunday, y'all! Here is one of my favorite dresses two ways - with heels and a statement necklace and all minimalistic with just studs and flat sandals. I like it both ways. What do you think?

That's all for today folks! Hope you had a great weekend. :)