Shameful July Goal Review

July was ridiculous!  By my calculations, I basically had one normal week.  First, my sister and nieces were in town.  The day they left was the day VBS started, which meant I was working all day and at church until late evening.  The next weekend, John and I spent all day Saturday at the golf thing.  Then I had about 5 days of normal before we left for an epic road trip to Montana.  Needless to say, the goal review isn't going to look good.  No judging, okay?

• Do a project, mostly sewing - nope (but I should get a few bonus points for the art project I did with my nieces)     
• Work out 3x a week - I'm going to be tricky on this one, because it's my goal review and I make the rules.  When my family was here, we were pretty active, with a zoo day, and walking around at the pedestrian bridge, plus just generally running around the backyard and going to the park, etc.  The week of VBS, I was chasing 4 year old kids around and doing a lot of hand motions to the songs, which has to count for something.  I did go to the gym 4 times during the "normal" week.  And I went hiking 3 of the days in Montana, so I think I should get credit for exercise this month, at least. 
• Tackle a project around the house - nope
• Cook a "real" meal at least 3 days each week -this is hard when we aren't even home!  I'm not sure I cooked a real meal 3 times in the entire month!
• Stick to a clothing budget - success! 
• Read 50 books in 2013.   One thing that vacation helps with!  I finished 5 books and am partway through 2 others, so I'm back on track with this annual goal.  I currently have 8 books checked out from the library, because everything on my hold list became available at the same time.  Prioritization is going to be tricky!  

August is looking a little less hectic, so I'm hoping to get back into some good habits!    

Top: Alfani
Skirt: Gap (refashioned dress)
Sandals: Carlos Santana
Purse: Dooney and Bourke

Dress to Skirt to Dress

Remember when I chopped this purple maxi dress into a skirt?  Well, apparently I wanted to still have a purple dress, because I was inspired to make it into a dress for the day. 

Dress: Gap (refashioned by me)
Cardigan: Loft
Belt: from another dress
Shoes: Born
Necklace: inPink

Cardi Polka Party

A polka dot cardigan has been on my want list for at least a year.  When I saw this one at Old Navy, not on sale, my instincts told me to leave it.  I never buy anything at full price, especially from Old Navy!  Then I thought back to my plan to be a more intentional shopper, and decided it was better to spend $20 on a cardigan I will wear a lot, instead of spending $10 each on 2 shirts I am buying just because they are cheap.  So the cardigan came home with me!  I have a feeling this will get remixed quite a bit year round!

I saw this outfit recently, and was excited to put my spin on it with the new cardigan.  And then I realized this purple skirt just makes me want to wear polka dots!

Cardigan: Old Navy
Belt: Limited
Skirt: Gap (dress refashioned)
Shoes: Carlos Santana

Confessions of a Copycat

  

 

 

Confession:  After I made this purple skirt, I went on Pinterest to search for ideas of what to wear with it.  There are not a whole lot of ideas for "purple maxi skirt", but I really loved this one.  So, I'm pretty much copying it here - minus the jacket, because it is way too hot outside for long sleeves.

I'm a little bit jealous of how amazingly flowy her skirt is, but I will just make do with my boring linen skirt.



Shirt: Gap
Skirt: Gap dress (refashioned by me)
Belt: Old Navy
Shoes: Carlos Santana via DSW

Transformers

I have a confession to make:  this skirt isn't really a skirt.  It's a dress.  I just have the top folded over to make it a skirt.  In fact, I liked it so much as a skirt that I decided to take the plunge and officially chop it into a skirt.   So, without any further ado, here's my step-by-step instructions: 

Before - the dress

Step 1:  measure and chop.  Since this dress was more of a midi than a maxi on my giant self, I didn't have to chop very much off the top of the dress.  I also made sure to allow for folding over the waistband.

Step 2:  Turn inside out to fold over the waistband.  I just made sure it would be wide enough for the elastic to fit.  Then I pinned it. 

Step 3:  Sew around the waistband.  Leave a couple inches open to feed the elastic through. 

Step 4:  Feed the elastic through the waistband.  Then sew the ends together and sew up the opening in the waistband.

Step 5:  DONE!  Hang your new skirt up in the closet, and start pinning inspiration for how you will wear it!

Skirt (dress): Gap Outlet
Top: Preston&York via Dillard's
Cardigan: Old Navy
Shoes: Carlos Santana via DSW