Bauble Swap!

Today I am showing off some new baubles from Bethie the Boo! We participated in the Bauble Swap and sent each other some pretty little goodies. Bethie sent me a really lovely necklace, bracelet and ring in a shade of green that I don't already have. Yippie. ;) I love them, they are so fresh and fun. And new jewelry is always a reason for celebration in my book! ;)

As you can see, my little dude decided to participate in today's photo session. :) I am not entirely certain what he is doing, but he is clearly having fun whatever it is. My guess would be that he is being a super hero. ;)

I am also getting in a little minor print mixing in practice for Wednesday's Trend of the Month link-up. Stripes and snakeprint count as print mixing, right?!

Linking up today at Monday Mingle, Visible Monday and YOLO!

Happy Monday, pretty ladies!

PFC: What to Wear to Impress your Date

So, this is my first time participating the Petite Fashion Challenge. And I was all excited until I saw that the theme was What to Wear to Impress Your Date. Ummmm....I've been married for almost 14 years, y'all. And we have a four year old. So, dates happen really, really rarely. Like almost never rarely. I think our last date was to see The Avengers when it first came out. At least I think we count it as a date. We were alone. Of course, hubby had a dentist appointment before the movie. But, hey. You take what you can get. ;) Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely believe that you should take the time to keep your marriage healthy, but we had almost ten years alone before our kiddo came. And we spend time together every night after the little dude is in bed. But actually dressing for dates? Not happening very often. So this outfit here? This is what I wore to go to dinner with the family. And it made everyone happy. I loved the entire outfit, hubby likes me in jeans and my kiddo adored the turtle pendant. Who says you can't please everyone? ;) Both of my dates were suitably impressed. Mission accomplished, right? What do you wear to impress your date/hubby/kiddo?

As a side note, there is a slim chance that we might actually get to have a kid-less double date with my brother and his wife while we are here this week. We'll have to see. And I brought along a mini skirt - just in case. ;)

Linking up today with The Pleated Poppy, Transatlantic Blonde and Rae Gun Wear!

GCGH Packing

Hello pretty ladies! This is what I am wearing to drive in the car all day. Easy and comfy. End of story. Not amazingly stylish, but you win some, you lose some. ;) We are spending the rest of the week with my brother and his family in Missouri. Looking forward to lots of fun. ;)

I'm sure a lot of you have heard of Go Chic or Go Home. If you haven't, go check it out. It is awesome. Seriously. Kind of like Cher's closet in Clueless. You upload your clothes and inspiration photos, build outfits, make new friends, earn points toward gift cards and pack your suitcase. Huh? Yes, pack your suitcase. I have been traveling a lot this summer, but this trip is the first time I used GCGH for packing. I am an outfit packer. I prefer to pack outfits complete with accessories and underthings along with a few extras rather than doing a remix. For one thing, I have a preschooler which means my clothing usually needs to be washed after one wearing. There is almost always something (and I don't always know what) on my clothes when I take them off at the end of the day. This means that remixing isn't practical. I am reasonably good at planning and packing, but I will still often forget something. Last Christmas I made it to our destination without a single accessory. Oops.

Anywho. On to how I used GCGH to pack. I scanned my ensembles and picked out four that I liked and wanted to pack. (We are staying three days and I always like to have one extra outfit just in case.)  I created a new board called Packing and added each piece from each ensemble to that board. I included the inspiration pictures so I would know how I wanted to wear each piece (you know just in case I forgot what went with what!) ;) I added an extra pair of pants in case I need something warmer and a sweater because I never travel without a sweater. I hate being air conditioned to death. :)

This is what my screen looks like. If you want to see the entire thing, go here. If you would like an invitation to join the community, let me know in the comments.

Hope you are having a great week we are headed out today! Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to blog a bit while there. ;)

Linking up today with: Real Girl Style, YOLO, and Steppin' Out!

Thank God for Air Conditioning

Crazy kiddo in the background

Sorry for the super blurry and bright pics. And frankly it is just too hot and humid outside to take more than a couple of shots and then escape inside to the air conditioning. Which actually went out on Thursday night. Bad timing. Y'all it is hot. However we live in the same town as my in-laws so we spent the weekend with them. Thank God. The air conditioner finally got fixed today, so we are back home. :)

Hope 'all have a great (and cool) week!

Linking up with the usual suspects: Monday Mingle, Visible Monday, and Watch What I'm Wearing.

A Teeny Town and A Basic Dress

Happy Friday, friends! Here is yet another maxi look. Just so easy for summer. ;) This time I knotted the skirt to allow for a little more ventilation. It made a huge difference, although I did get a few odd looks. I live in a teeny tiny town where high fashion is yellow box flip flops and a peace, love, hogs tee. Yeah. So wearing a maxi dress is odd and knotting a maxi dress is a way outside of the bounds of normal. It was totally worth it though. The addition of a few of my favorite accessories made the basic dress feel chic.

Linking up today with the usual suspects: All Things Chic, Blonde Episodes, Casual Friday, and Friday Fancies.

I've added options for following by email and subscribing to my feed in my sidebar, so be sure to follow along if you like what you see! ;) (Don't forget I'm planning a giveaway for when I hit 50 followers!)

And see below if you want a black maxi dress all of your own! ;) (Assuming you don't already have one! Does anybody in blogdom not have a black maxi dress?)

black maxi dress

'Hot' Pink Skirt and Fantasy

I love this skirt. As long as it isn't over 100 degrees outside. Then not so much. Between the collar on my shirt and the length of my skirt, I spent most of the day I wore this cooking myself. Yikes. In other news I just spent the last three nights re-watching The Lord of The Rings movies. Ahhhhh. Bliss. I love those things. I have mentioned a few times that I am a nerd. I think I read the series about three times in high school, then again each time the movies came out. I own the extended editions of all three movies and they are wonderful. And long. Very long. Like don't sit down to watch them unless you are good with being up all night. ;) Now I am feeling the need to read the books again. Because I remember that the movies weren't exact (don't even get me started on Faramir) I don't remember exactly where they diverge. So obviously my memory needs refreshing. ;) Any other LOTR fans out there? Just the movies, just the books or both?

Linking up today with Thrifters Anonymous, The Pleated Poppy, Transatlantic Blonde and Rae Gun Wear!

Day Dresses
Sandals

Me, Myself & I

my kiddo is indeed poking a stick in a hole - oh the fun a little boy can find!

Happy Tuesday, pretty ladies! Here is yet another basic tee and shorts combo, but I felt pretty great in this one. First of all I love cobalt and coral together. Bright and fresh and summery. Second of all I have been searching high and low for cobalt shorts to no avail until I happened across a pair of super soft seriously comfy scrubs in the perfect shade of cobalt at the thrift store. I wacked them off and folded them up and Voila! Perfectly comfy and cute shorts for about $3.

Now then, I"ll be linking up today with Real Girl Style, Watch What I'm Wearing, Steppin' Out and the first installment of Me, Myself and I. Keep reading for some fun questions and answers and a few blast from the past pics.

1. What is your biggest phobia? Oh, man. I have a serious spider thing. They freak me out. But if we are talking about real fears, the biggest would be losing my kid, hubby or brother. 

My son  & hubby

My son & baby brother (yes, he's huge!)

2. If you could relive any day of your life, what would it be and why? Wow, I am not sure I can think of any day I would want to relive. ;) Does that make me weird? The best days would be my wedding day and the birth of my son - but both experiences were great once in a lifetime kinds of things. :)

Me and my bestie on my wedding day (way back in 1999)

The day my son was born (birthing a child is not a glamorous sort of activity)

3. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be? Ummmm....once again, not sure about this one. Physically I would be thrilled to be 23 or so forever, but I like the person I am better now than I did at 23. So, I guess I am okay with the whole aging thing. Ask me again in another 10 years! ;) We'll see if my forties are as good my thirties. ;)

4. Which celebrity do you get mistaken for? I can't say I get mistaken for anyone these days, although way back in high school after Jerry Maguire came out, I got told by someone at the grocery store that I looked like Renee Zellweger. I still don't see it. What do you think? (I would happily show you a picture of me at 17, but we didn't have digital cameras way back then (circa 1995) and all my prints are packed away in a box in storage, so you'll just have to imagine me younger and skinnier. :)

5. What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life? Breakdown by Relient K, God is in Control and The Warrior is a Child by Twila Paris, That Was a River by Colin Raye, Blessings by Laura Story, Call on Jesus by Nicole C. Mullen, Fathers be Good to Your Daughters by John Mayer and Here for You  and It's A Long Way Home by Stephen Curtis Chapman.

How about you? Did you participate? If not, I'd love for you to answer one of the above questions in the comments! ;)

Inspiration Monday: Fail

The Inspiration: Marion Cotillard in an absolutely stunning dress and wedges.

Gorgeous, right?
 

So, I tried, really I did, but I don't have anything even approaching similar. So. I went with blue and black.

Yeah, disappointing, I know. Shorts and tee do not echo a gorgeous dress. But this is what I wore. Because, even if I owned anything that gorgeous, where the skittles would I wear it?

 This is what happens when the kiddo gets in on the fun. An almost headless and footless mommy. ;)

And here we have attempt numero uno at outfit pics. Humidity. Nice, huh?

Linking up today with Two Birds, Monday Mingle, YOLO, and Visible Monday!

And just so you don't leave completely dispirited by my boring style, here are a couple of stunning dresses that I wish I were wearing. And those wedges down there, I want those. Never mind that they cost more than my food budget for an entire month. I still want them. :)

Day Dresses
Wedges

Wild and Girly!

dress: target, wedges: payless

Ahhh. Friday. Hope y'all have been having a lovely week! I actually wore this on Sunday a couple of weeks ago. You may have noticed that I have been wearing a lot of pink lately. Hmmm. Can you tell it is my favorite color? I added wild (not really) leopard print wedges and some pretty jewelry and felt pretty amazing. Summer dressing at it's best right? Dress, shoes, necklace - done. ;)

Hope y'all have an amazing weekend!

Linking up with Friday's Fancies, All Things Chic, Pink Friday and Blonde Episodes.

Day Dresses
Platforms