Monochromatic with stripes & bubbles

cardi & flats: thrifted, tee: forever 21, pants: walmart

So, not much to say about this outfit except that it is fabulously comfy and with the stripes and bubble necklace trendy enough to work. And y'all these velour pants are so comfy and warm and soft. They are old lady pants, but I don't care.

Would you wear velour old lady pants?

New Boyfriends (jeans that is)

coat & flats: thrifted, blouse: target, jeans: cato

diy zebra earrings

favorite burgundy flats

Happy Friday! I finally found a replacement for my massively too big boyfriend jeans. I have been looking for months. Now, I have to tell you. The boyfriend jean silhouette looks best on hipless girls. I am not. I have hips. My original pair of boyfriend jeans looked great as long as you didn't notice that they were safety pinned on because the waist was about three inches too big. I can't even count how many pairs of jeans I have tried on in my search. I wanted a pair that were skinnyish - too baggy at the ankles just looks silly. I finally found these at Cato (where else). They are actually just skinny jeans a size up and they are perfect. The looser silhouette, the lighter color and distressed look are exactly what I was looking for. So I paired them with my silky black top and pink coat for a day spent dealing with tire issues. We have had to purchase six tires in the last week. SIX! Thankfully now both cars are drivable. (We haven't even been able to drive one for the last month until we could afford to replace all the tires. And then we had a belt snap or some such thing in the other one. Craziness) Anyway. Thankfully God provided as he always has. You would not believe how many times we have had money show up just when we needed it to be able to fix our cars. Truly God is good.

Hope y'all have the best weekend ever.

Puppy Curiosity

top: hubby's, cargos: sears, flats: thrifted

Y'all this outfit is seriously boring. Comfortable, but boring. However the puppy checking me out in the top picture totally cracks me up. He's like 'what are you doing?' I love it.

Blast from the Past: The A-Z of CC

sweater: target, jeans: walmart, shoes & bag: thrifted

Fall colors here I am! Teal, gray and burgundy with a touch of pale rose - perfectly fall. I love this sweater - the color is perfect and the fit is flattering on my busty self. ;)

So, I discovered this cool little A - Z quizzie thing floating around on the internet and I always enjoy posting random odd little things about myself. So here goes.

A. Age: 32 (for a few more months at least) (Update: I am now 34.)
B. Bed size: Queen - just big enough and comfy enough. Except when the Munchkin climbs in when he isn't feeling good. Then it's kind of a tight fit. :)
C. Chore that you hate: Laundry - it is never ending. No sooner do I get it done and folded and put away than it is all dirty again. Ugh! The stupid dishwasher has the same problem. Ick.
D. Dogs: One, a maltese named Moppet. He's almost 12 now. Poor baby still isn't quite sure what to do with the little dude who has taken his place as the baby of the family. ;)
E. Essential start to your day: Hugs from my little dude and my big dude. Then breakfast. Must have breakfast or mommy turns into a gremlin.
F. Favorite color: Pink. Unabashedly and unashamedly pretty, pale and girly. Always has been, always will be. ;) My childhood bedroom was Strawberry Shortcake! I would happily paint my walls pink, but the hubby won't let me. ;(
G. Gold or Silver: I actually prefer rose gold (favorite color: pink, remember), but I am good with either, it just depends on what I am wearing.
H. Height: 5'2 3/4" but I like to call myself 5'3".
I. Instruments you play: none anymore - played piano in high school, but that was a long time ago.
J. Job title: Stay at mom and wife. 
K. Kids: One little boy - my Munchkin who is three and a truckload of fun and craziness! (Update: the kiddo is now 4!)
L. Live: Arkansas
M. Mother’s name: Cherri (Cheryl Anne - interesting fact - my mother-in-law's name is also Sherrill Ann, just spelled differently)
N. Nicknames: CC is actually a nickname, not my real name. ;)
O. Overnight hospital stays: two: once when I had my tonsils out, and then when I had my little dude. (Update: Make that three! I came down with appendicitis last year right before Christmas and spent two days in the hospital!)
P. Pet peeves: I am an English major. So obviously the there/their/ they're thing drives me up the wall. Another one is nauseous vs. nauseated. (Quick grammar lesson: you say 'I am nauseated' or 'that is a nauseous shade of green' NOT 'I am nauseous' cause you are then describing yourself as being nauseating.) Also, bored/board or as I keep seeing on FB bord (not. a. word.!!!)
Q. Quote from a movie: You know, for some reason I can never think of a movie quote when asked for one. Strange? Probably. 
R. Right or left handed: Right handed.
S. Siblings: one brother - my baby brother who is a foot taller than me! 
T. Tattoos: Ummm....no. I am not crazy about the idea of something being permanently on my person. What happens if I change my mind? Yikes.
U. Underwear: Um, hello, this is the internet. We're not going there, 'kay?
V. Vegetable you hate: I loathe peppers. Are peppers a veggie? Eh, whatever, I hate them regardless.
W. What makes you run late: Usually the Munchkin. It's all his fault. ;) Getting a three year old out the door with all of his stuff and no tantrums with the potty used can take way longer than one would think. He always seems to need to potty as we are walking out the door! (Update: I am happy to report that the kiddo is no longer a cause for being late. He is now usually the first person to the door and raring to go. ;)
X. X-Rays you’ve had: dental, wrist, sinus - I think that's all.
Y. Yummy food that you make: anything with marinara sauce (I make my own and it is pretty good) - manicotti, spaghetti, lasagna, you name it. If it has cheese, pasta, and marinara sauce I make it. ;)
Z. Zoo animal: River otters. And tigers. And prairie dogs. And the itty bitty monkeys. Let's just say we love the zoo and leave it at that.

So, there you have it. All kinds of random knowledge you probably never wanted to know. Now I would love to know if you do this post. So, if you have done or will do an A to Z post, leave your link in the comments so I can come see. Then we can all have all sorts of random knowledge about all sorts of random people. There. Isn't this fun. ;)

(This post was originally published on 9/26/2011. Current updates to the original post are in this pretty shade of tealy turquoisey minty aqua color!)

Christmasy Comfortable Chic

blouse: old navy, dress: charlotte russe, belt: hubby's, necklace: cato, flats: thrifted

contrary to his facial expression, the kiddo really wanted to be in a picture with mommy

comfy, casual for around the house

Y'all there are only a few days left until Christmas. When did that happen? Seriously!? Yikes. ;)

The top outfit is what I wore to go see my kiddo in his first ever Christmas program. During which he sat in his chair with his back to the audience watching the rest of the kids sing whilst not singing. a. single. note. ;) Apparently he believed he was there to be entertained rather than to do the entertaining. Oh well. He succeeded in cracking us up as we were trying to figure out what in the world he was doing. ;) The bottom outfit is what I wore to spend the rest of the day around the house. While I loved the dress over the blouse, there was an unforeseen problem with the layering. A knit dress over a silky blouse equals slippage. The shoulders would not stay put. I will most likely never wear this dress over a silky blouse again as it drove. me. up. the. wall. However I loved the combination of mint and burgundy and will probably be wearing the outfit with the cardi for Christmas day. We take about six million pictures, but I also like to be comfy and this outfit was comfy enough to nap in once I took off the offending blouse.

We have family coming in for Christmas and I doubt I will have a lot of time for blogging. So I've lined up a week's worth of Blast from the Past posts. Many of you are new readers who recently started following and I thought you might enjoy seeing a few posts from 2011. Please do laugh at them when you have the time. And I hope you all have the most blessed and wonderful holiday week.

Merry Christmas, friends!

Linking up with Kate's Christmas Link-up, Blonde Episodes, Favorite Frock Friday, All Things Chic and Casual Friday.

Of Hobbits and Dresses

scarf: diy, dress: old navy (old), flats: thrifted

perfectly matched tights and flats

Happy Wednesday, y'all! It seems that I am in a dress/skirt phase at the moment. I have always preferred dresses. I am reasonable certain that I pinned something from Sally that inspired this outfit with the navy, burgundy and leopard. And I was tickled to discover that my new burgundy tights were a perfect match for my burgundy flats. Awesome.

So, the hubby and I saw The Hobbit in IMAX 3D which was incredible. I really loved the movie, and even thought I wanted to see it, I didn't expect to love it. You see I read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy back in junior high. I read the Hobbit that once and maybe one other time. LOTR on the other hand I have read at least 7 or 8 times. Those books are incredible. They are epic and well written. There is good and evil and romance and a happy ending. The Hobbit on the other hand had no female characters and was basically written as a boys' adventure tale. And while it is a very good one, it didn't appeal to me as much. So, I was excited for The Hobbit, but not sure I would love it as much as the others. Well. I do. It was incredibly well done from the acting to the filming to the effects. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it. Now, I would not recommend it for younger kids as it could be a little scary, but my 7 year old nephew saw it and loved it. So I guess that depends on your kid.

If you've seen it, please leave your thoughts in the comments!

Linking up today with The Pleated Poppy, Transatlantic Blonde and Wardrobe Wednesday!

Shopping Ban Update

Happy Wednesday, lovelies! I hope you are having a wonderful week. ;) I totally loved this outfit. It is so basic and really minimal, but for some reason just felt really amazing on. While I love my colors, some days a bunch of neutrals with a splash of burgundy is all you need. ;)

So, I am nearing the end of my shopping ban and I thought I would just give y'all a little update. I have done really well. The only spending on me has been using an old navy gift card from GCOGH. To be honest keeping the ban hasn't been much of an issue for me for a couple of reasons. First, the only stores around are walmart and Cato. It was pretty easy to just stay out of Cato (I took the kiddo to the park or the library instead) and I know what walmart has and am waiting for it to go on clearance anyway. Secondly, our finances were really tight. We are getting down to our last couple of months before the bank account is empty. (Hubby is preaching at a really small church that pays a couple hundred a week and has been unable to find another job.) So, we were looking at not being able to give our kiddo the Christmas we wanted to. Don't get me wrong, he will get plenty from grandparents and other family members, but we didn't think we would be able to do much. And it broke my heart. So there was big motivation to save every penny I could. Now comes the happy ending. Over the past three weeks we have received three monetary gifts in varying amounts that will allow us to make this Christmas special. I have seen God provide for us in miraculous ways over and over again. (You don't make it through seminary with Him providing), but it continues to surprise and amaze me how He blesses us. I felt kind of silly praying and being upset about Christmas when I know that my child is not in need and will get plenty. But God knew my heart and blessed us with the ability to provide for him ourselves.While our future is still totally up in the air and I have no idea if hubby will have a job anytime soon, I know that I can trust that God will continue to provide for us and take care of us. And for now, that is enough.

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

Chambray and Lace

Happy Wednesday! Hope y'all are having a lovely Thanksgiving week. Here is another outfit from September featuring my chambray top yet again. I have more than gotten my money out of this $6 top. ;)

In other news it is that time of year again. What am I talking about? Waaay back when hubby and I were dating he got me started reading a fantasy series called the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. At the time I think there were five or six books and although (with the exception of Tolkein) fantasy wasn't my usual genre I was hooked. The books are well written and the world he has created is awesome. Beginning that Christmas and for several years after one of my presents was always the next hardcover in the series. Because we were getting up to eight and ten and eleven (really long) books in the series I got in the habit of re-reading the entire series every year before Christmas so I was ready to read the new book. Then the unthinkable happened. Robert Jordan died with the series unfinished. Thankfully he had left comprehensive notes on how the series was to end so his wife worked with Brian Sanderson to finish out the final three books of the series. After 22 years (the first book was published in 1990) the fourteenth and final book will be out in January. So, I have started the series from the beginning and am happily immersed in a world of fantasy and will be for a while. If you enjoy a good fantasy I would highly recommend these books. They are awesome. (One caveat: the female characters are extremely annoying for the first several books - they do grow into themselves though.)

Any of you confirmed bibliophiles out there? Have you read the Wheel of Time books? What did you think?

Prayers Please

Hi, y'all. Just popping for a quick post to ask for prayers for my kiddo. He has pneumonia and has been really sick all weekend. Thankfully he hasn't had to be hospitalized, but he is still really miserable with a high fever and coughing. He hasn't left my arms except to potty and isn't even interested in playing. Needless to say, it has been a really rough weekend. (Photos are actually from halloween week)

Hope you all had great weekends. God bless.

Changeable (and not so much)

Y'all I thrifted these flats last year for a couple of dollars and they are so comfy. They are also burgundy and therefore totally on trend for this fall. Nice how that worked out, huh. Of course, I've been wearing burgundy in the fall and winter for years now. ;) In fact, burgundy and pink were my wedding colors way back in 1999. Oh, and most of my home decor is still green and burgundy. Yes, I am behind the times, but I love it. So there. ;) (Also, I will not be calling a beautiful color like burgundy by a hideous name like oxblood here on my blog. Ick.)

As for the outfit, I wore it a few weeks ago during one of the weird weather spells. We have a saying here in Arkansas. If you don't like the weather, stick around, it will change. During the spring and fall we go from 40 to 90 in a heartbeat. Plays havoc with the sinuses and the wardrobe, but there you have it.

What are your thoughts on burgundy? Love it? Hate it? Don't care?

Linking up with Casual Friday, All Things Chic and Blonde Episodes!