Ahhh....Vacation Time

tee: gift, shorts: thrifted, shoes: payless

. new shoes!!!

Hello friends! Sorry for the absence. We are taking some much needed vacation time this week. At the moment we are at my in-laws enjoying some family time. We will be heading home tomorrow and spending the week doing some fun stuff around our wonderful state. If you have never been to Arkansas, I would seriously recommend it. Especially if you enjoy anything outdoors. We have a ton of gorgeous state parks, a couple of great kids museums, water parks, and an awesome drive through animal safari. Once the leaves start changing in late October it is really stunning. Unfortunately we can't wait until fall due to various work issues with the hubby, so we'll be vacationing in the insane heat. Crazy.

So, this top is another piece from the stuff passed on by my friend. I adore the color, the stripes, the sleeves - all just lovely. And perfect for a slightly less hot and rainy day. :) We spent the day shopping and wandering around a museum with the Munchkin and grandparents. These new shoes from payless are ridiculously comfy! I have had my eye out for a pair of nude oxfords and these caught my eye on the website - where they actually look tan. I can't quite decide if I like them laceless (which is how they came). What do you think?

Well, I'll post as I can, but will probably be in and out this week as far as internet time goes. Here's to vacation time!

How to Feel Like a Million Bucks for Free

dress: gift, wedges: target

This dress was free. Yep, that's right, free. A friend of a friend gave me three huge trash bags full of clothes. Most of them were just too dated to wear, but there were a few gems among the dross. This beautiful silk dress was one of them. Since it is silk it is virtually weightless and therefor super cool and comfy. It has buttons up the back which makes it a little unique. I kept it simple with just the leopard belt and super tall wedges. I felt like a million bucks which is a pretty awesome feat for a dress that cost nothing.

That's all for tonight folks!

The Great Booger Meltdown

top: ross, shorts: thrifted, flats: payless

my three year old, the photographer

fabulous floral flats

So, today was actually a pretty good day. Kiddo was well behaved, we sort of lazed around and played etc. Until bedtime. Usually the Munchkin does pretty well about going to bed and straight to sleep. Except when he's sick. Well, we are getting over a cold. The last few nights have been fine, but tonight. Not so much. He comes to the door crying his eyes out and begging, literally begging, for a booger. Seriously. "mommy, I need a booger, please, can I have a booger." Okay, I am really trying not to laugh at my distraught child, really I am, but I'm sorry, it was hilarious. Here I am trying to patiently explain to my half hysterical toddler that I can't give him a booger, he just needs to blow his nose, blah, blah, blah. Poor baby. We eventually sorted out that his nose was stopped up and he wanted the boogers to come out of his nose and they wouldn't. Bless his heart. Anywho. All's well that ends well. Right? Right.

So, now that we've sorted out the great booger melt down, which I know you wanted to hear all about, lets talk about clothes. I'm not sure how I feel about this outfit. I think I like the red and light blue together, but between the fit of the top and the fit of the shorts I just didn't feel like it was particularly flattering. Cool? yes. Flattering? not so much. Now my new shoes I am quite happy about. I've been looking for a pair of floral shoes for a while now and these little lovelies are the perfect addition to my closet. They will go with pretty much everything I own. Because I tend to avoid prints (don't ask, I don't really know why), I like a unifying piece when I pair colors. These floral flats are perfect.

Hope y'all are having a lovely evening. Happy Tuesday!

Manic Mommy Monday

tank: forever21, pants & shoes: thrifted

super embellished top

racy racerback!

Hello, my friends. This is not what I wore today. Whew. Glad to get that off my chest. :) This is actually what I wore for our date night on Friday. It is pretty much the same outfit I wore here, just a slightly more alluring version. :)

So, today was one of those days. You know the ones when your little one turns into Jack Jack from the Incredibles? Fire, lead, laser eyeballs, phasing through walls - you name it. That was my Munchkin today. Not literally. He just was a little on the difficult side. Well, maybe more like a lot. Anywho. We had his three year check up, during which he was an angel and totally cracked his doctor up the entire time. Stinker. Before that we had a potty training incident (he peed in his pants while he was standing in the bathroom - REALLY!!!), flagrant ignoring of instructions, incessant whining, etc, ad nauseum. Then he wanted me to buy him a toy, um, NO. I told him I wasn't very happy with him and we weren't buying toys today anyway. To which he responded, and I quote. 'I'm not berry happy with you either, Mommy!' Yeah. That's my child. Who blew the doctor away because he speaks in full sentences and has the vocabulary of a ten year old. We read too much.

Praise God the day ended on a more peaceful note. We watched the Incredibles (thus the Jack Jack reference) and ate pizza together. He had a ball, mommy had a break, there was peace in my home. Sort of. If you don't count stuff blowing up on the movie. And the Munchkin running around the room with his toy sword yelling about killing the bad guys. And the dog trying to steal the pizza and barking at the Munchkin running around the room. Other than those few minor details, though, a very peaceful evening. I love being a mommy to the precious little stinker God has entrusted to my care, but holy molie am I grateful that days like today are generally pretty rare.

Happy Manic Monday, y'all!


(for obvious reasons I'm thinking this will be my Real Momma, Real Style link up post for this week)

Happy Days Begin with Gorgeous (cheap) Shoes

top: so old I don't remember, skirt: thrifted, shoes: payless

pockets are awesome!

Hello friends! I just love today's outfit. The skirt which I raved about here is lovely and comfy (and a size 6), and these shoes are just too fabulous for words. You may remember that I posted about them here. Well I got them on clearance for a whopping $8. I am a happy girl. :) Now the necklace, which was for Easter last year, is bothering me. I love the idea and have worn in a number of times, but the same thing gets me everytime. It is weirdly asymmetrical. Instead of looking cool, it just looks like it is hanging all wrong. So, it will go into the pile of stuff to re-work. If you have ideas, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know, 'kay?

This week is sure to be a busy one. We will be getting everything in order so that we can take some vacation time next week. At this point in the summer we are dying for a little time off. It has been one of the busiest summers on record for us. (I think we were possibly more busy the summer Katrina hit, but I think that's the only one.) How has your summer gone? Have you had any good vacation time?

Happy Sunday, y'all!

Weekly Gratitude

tee: old navy (obviously), jeans: rue 21, wedges: target

life as a mommy style blogger: outfit pics with toys, toddlers, and cleaning supplies

a lovely, noisy stack of bangles - perfect

somehow the tallest most comfy wedges ever in the whole entire universe

So, now that my lovely 30 for 30 is all done with, it is time to get back to my regularly scheduled programing, beginning with my weekly gratitude posts. This week I am grateful for:
~ my new followers! Welcome. I am so thrilled to have you visit and your comments make my day. :)
~ Good friends, good food, and bowling. Even better when you eat good food and then go bowling with said good friends. without the kiddos. Ahhhh. adult time. During which time the conversation revolved around childbirth and then raising birthed children. Yeah. We're cool like that. :)
~ pretty nail polish. These pics were taken before this weeks mani/pedi session, but you'll get to see it soon.
~ roller skating!!!! Yes, yes, yes. We took a group of kids skating on Thursday and it was so much fun. I grew up in the roller skating generation. I think I learned to skate when I was around 3. That was what you did on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. You went to the skating rink. Now, my hubby and I have been together for 14 years and somehow this Thursday was the first time we went skating together. How is that possible? Why did it take us so long? I think future date nights might involve the skating rink! :)
~ also ice skating (we did both) - which I didn't enjoy as much, but which the Munchkin LOVED. I think this might have something to do with watching Caillou.
~ Shoes. Specifically my wonderful and well-loved shoe collection which has been sadly neglected over the past month. Poor babies.
~ Cheap Shoes. Specifically this beautiful pair of wedges from Target that I spent a whopping $7 on. And they are insanely comfy. Why? They are like five inches tall, but somehow they are miraculously comfy and seriously cute and ridiculously cheap all at the same time! The perfect shoe trifecta here people.
~ As always my precious little Munchkin. Who has at least a bajillion toys to play with, but still finds it necessary to raid my jewelry box and run around in my bangles. Look closely at that second pic. Isn't he silly? Oh, how he makes me smile.

I hope you have had a week full of things to be grateful for!
Happy Saturday!

Flowers and Babies and Bowling, Oh My!

maxi & sandals: forever 21, belt: thrifted

This is what happens when your three year old takes your pic!

rose gold earrings by me

rose gold sandals by forever 21

This is what I wore for a family movie night! I love this dress. I think it may be the only maxi dress I have ever purchased that didn't have to be hemmed in order to be worn! Yippee! I kind of love the floral dress with the utility belt. What do you think?


On another note, do you think I have enough magnets on my fridge? Hehehe. You can tell I live with a toddler. My cooking theme song is usually the ABC's sung by the LeapFrog magnet. over. and over. :) Nice, huh?

We actually have date plans with another couple tonight. Sans kiddos. Dinner and bowling. Fun, fun. :) This is a fairly rare occurrence in our house. How about y'all, do you get to have date nights very often? If you don't have little ones yet, enjoy your freedom. Having a little one is absolutely worth the freedoms you give up, but take advantage of the time you have before they come. :) And then, when you have them, enjoy that time to the fullest too. Each moment in our lives is unique. These times will never come again. So, enjoy every moment because before we blink our precious babies will be grown. And I'll miss the middle of the night snuggles when he's sick and the raspberries in the middle of the grocery store and talking about his 'hooker' (really a crane or tow truck with a hook) at church. Really, my life has never been more fun or entertaining. Life with my Munchkin priceless and joy-filled and wonderful.

Have a wonderful, beautiful weekend!

This is also my post for Real Mommas, Real Style! I'd love for you to visit and vote for my post! :)

Blue Leopard

tee: cato, skirt: charlotte russe, shoes: target

cobalt, leopard print, and sparkly black

giant watch and giant ring

I actually wore this on Monday. I love the color of this top, but the tunic style doesn't really flatter my figure. I bought it to cover my hips when wearing skinny jeans, but I don't really need the coverage anymore. However, I love the color. Especially with black. Add a leopard belt and huge jewelry in the form of a leopard print ring (how awesome is that) and black watch. Balance the flirty skirt with the menswear oxfords and we have an outfit. Cute, cool, and comfy - all me. :)

Happy Wednesday, y'all!

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

tee: target, shorts: walmart, wedges: thrifted

coral jewelry

coral toes

Hello, my friends. Sorry for the pitiful post yesterday. Today is somewhat better. Thank you to my web pals for the sweet comments. And if you are one of my 11 amazing followers - thank you so much for following! I really appreciate your support. :)

So, here's the thing. I've been feeling a little discouraged by the blasted bathroom scale. In spite of the fact that I can tell from my pics that I look slimmer - it stubbornly refuses to move. At all. Bad scale. Anywho. So, I was at Walmart (aka the grocery store if you live in my teeny tiny almost, but not really a town) and looking at shorts. I've been wanting a pair of olive shorts for a while and found these bad boys (girls?). Only problem was they weren't in my size. Boo. So I grabbed a black pair and this pair which is not my size. The black pair, which was my size were too big. Like fall off my hips too big. This pair fit. Perfectly. Ladies - these shorts are a size 6!!! Really? Cause I haven't worn a six since somewhere around 2006. No joke. So, I happily went on merry way. (Convinced, by the way that I had one of those pairs that aren't sized correctly - because I can't wear a six. Really, I can't. The scale says so.) Fast forward to today, I am at my favorite consignment store of all time (I used to babysit the owners kids way back in the day). And I happen upon the most beautiful khaki skirt.

Gorgeous, no? Khaki with a lovely sheen and pockets. I grabbed it to try on. I loved it, but was pretty sure it wasn't going to come home with me because of this.

Yeah, a size six. (cue dramatic music, here, just because) It fit. Perfectly. Now, I am convinced that it is probably supposed to go around the hips instead of around the waist, which is where it fits on me. But the length is perfect and the fabric is gorgeous and it was $13. So. Obviously it came home with me.

Moral of the story. My scale is broken. Or untrustworthy. Or the sizing standards have changed. Or something. I don't know. Whatever it is, it made my day!

Happy Tuesday!

Grey Dress - Grey Mood

dress: target, shoes: thrifted

turquoise necklace by me

great red wedges (and a toy jeep)

Happy Monday, y'all. This is what I wore to church yesterday morning. A gray lace dress with pops of red and turquoise. I loved it. The red wedges are new and mostly comfy. Cute, huh?

So, today isn't a very good day. Sorry, I just don't really have anything to add. It is just one of those days that makes you want to quit. Just be done. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Have a great (not grey) day!

Day 30 - Time for Tea

All done! Here they are - all 30 outfits!

And..... Apparently I can't count or I am missing a pic. I don't know. Cause this is only 29. But you know what? I'm done anyway. It was a great experience and I'm glad I did it. I think it would be a lot more fun in the cooler months when layering is an option. Two things I learned - number one: I have an obvious obsession with statement necklaces, and number two: I am not capable of surviving life on only six pairs of shoes. Can't be done. One more thing. I think next time I'll skip the rhymes. Who knew how hard it would be to come up with 7 words to rhyme with 'teen'. Geez. Whose idea was that anyway? Oh, yeah. Mine. Bad me. Don't do that again, 'kay?

Now, I'm gonna have me a tall, cold glass of tea. Enjoy what remains of the weekend!