Playdate

It's really fun to have a baby close in age to your best friend's baby.  Our boys are about 2 months apart, so we are making them be bffs, even though they currently have no idea what is going on (like at their first meeting when they were both just confused). Anyway, after both babies were sick a lot in the first 6 weeks of the year, we finally were all healthy enough to get together last week.  This is what I wore.  

Let me tell you, it was a lot easier to let the boys "play" while we talked back before Mr. Baby was crawling all over the place.  Now I'm like "so, how are things going?  MR BABY!  Don't go over there!  Stop stealing toys from your bff!  You cannot eat their tv remote!"   I'm sure it will be even more crazy when both of them are crawling, which I suspect will be any day now.  

My kid just stole that ball from his best friend.  And he's proud of himself!

I also realized while putting this post together that I'm almost entirely wearing Old Navy.  My shoes are from Gap, but everything else is ON.  This is my new $1 shirt, and I really like it!  My hair and cardigan is blocking the lace yoke, which is pretty cute.  I think it would have been a good purchase even if it had cost $8 like the tag said!

Cardigan: ON
Tee: ON Maternity
Jeans: ON Maternity
Shoes: Gap outlet

October Goal Review

 

Happy Friday!  Happy November!  Oh, I have to do a goal review for October?  Blergh.  My excuses this month involve mostly birthday activities.  Here's the deal:  

• Do a project, mostly sewing - nope.
• Work out 3x a week - ummm...  I don't think so. 

• Tackle a project around the house - nope, I barely kept up with the routine chores! 
• Cook a "real" meal at least 3 days each week - Probably not.  I feel like we were busy in the evenings more this month, so we aren't always home for dinner
• Stick to a clothing budget - Success!  I'm using up my overages from earlier in the year, but I'm still under budget for Year-to-date.  Plus, I have some bonus birthday present money!  
• Read 50 books in 2013 - October was a good month for reading!  I finished 7 books, so I'm back on track for the year. 

Basically, if being a person was a job, I'd be fired.  Why can't exercising and home-making be as easy as reading books and shopping the right amount??

Blazer: Jones New York
Top: Von Maur
Jeans: Limited
Shoes: Gap

Stars and Maps

Stars are the new polka dots, haven't you heard?  Or maybe I'm just making that up.  Either way, I really liked these star print tees at Gap over the summer, but I didn't want to pay $25 for them, so I just waited patiently and bought it over Labor Day weekend.

In completely unrelated news, have you seen this?   40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World

One of my friends posted it on Facebook and I just think it's really cool.  Especially #40, where South is on top - so weird to look at the map that way!

Anyway, I hope you all have a lovely weekend!  

I'm linking up with Favorite Fashion Friday and Casual Friday.

Tee, Cardigan, & Shoes: Gap
Jeans: Limited

Random Thoughts for Monday

Here are just a few random thoughts for your Monday:

• Last week, I saw a car with eyelashes.  Have you heard of these?  I don't even know what to say.  If you have carlashes, I will probably be judging you.  
• If my hair looks extra lustrous to you, it's because I ran out of my regular conditioner, so I've been using the Neutrogena Triple Moisture Hair Mask.  It says you just need a small amount on a weekly basis to get lustrous hair, but I've been using a large amount on a daily basis and it seems to be working quite well.  
• A very large spider has been lurking above the door from our garage into our house.  Yesterday afternoon, he was hovering directly over my head when I got out of the car.  I called in reinforcements (husband), and the spider won't be bothering me anymore. 
• Yesterday, I had my first Salted Caramel Mocha Creme Frappuccino of the season!  Delicious!
• This outfit is from Sunday.  After church, we went out for lunch downtown.  I thought we should take pictures with a cool background, but I didn't have my camera, and there were lots of hobos around, so we just went home.  Maybe next time!  
• These shoes are falling apart.  I need to find some replacements soon!  
• My mom is coming to visit on Friday!  I'm pretty excited to hang out with her this weekend!  

I hope you all have a lovely week!  

Scarf: Forever 21
Top: H&M
Skirt: Sunny Leigh
Shoes: Gap

Halfway There

 

It's Wednesday, so we are halfway through the work week, YAY!  It's also April 24th, which means I am halfway between birthdays.  Which means I'm turning 30 in 18 months.  So, that's sort of crazy.   

Shirt: Target

Cardigan: J.Crew Outlet

Jeans & Shoes: Gap

Minty Fresh and Foggy

Of course I had to wear these mint skinny jeans as soon as possible. Pairing them with my new white and navy striped top seemed pretty obvious.  Then the weather told me that it was going to be in the 40s, and I figured I should let my ankles out to play (scandalous, I know).  I'm still not 100% sure I like the look of skinny jeans with flats, but I'm trying to be more adventurous.  I know, flats and skinnies aren't exactly earth shattering, but we all have our hangups!

The weather didn't warn me about how foggy it would be, but I'll take the warmer temps and foggy skies over single digit sunshine (which we should be getting later this week).     

Shirt, Jeans, Shoes: Gap
Jacket: Izod

Time Travel

Saturday evening, John and I went on a good old-fashioned date:  dinner and a movie!

We grabbed dinner at Ingredient, which is kind of the perfect restaurant for me.  They have a few standard menu items, but they mostly have a huge list of ingredients and let you customize whatever you want.  They don't even look at you funny if you order a pizza with no sauce and four types of cheese.  I mean, if you were the type of person do order that.  (if so, let's be best friends!)

After dinner, we went and saw Looper, which was pretty good!  One complaint though:  about five minutes into the movie, these 3 guys who looked like they were probably college-age came in.  The theatre wasn't packed, but they asked us to scoot over and we did.  So this random guy is sitting right next to me, and he proceeds to text and look at Facebook and other random stuff on his phone for about half of the movie - super distracting!.  At one point, he was so focused on his phone that he didn't realize his elbow had completely infringed into my space and hit me in the side.  Of course, I elbowed him to get him to move, and leaned closer to John, but he didn't even seem to notice!  I'm officially turning into a grumpy old woman who laments today's youth!  Seriously, if someone is nice enough to scoot over for you when the movie has already started, you could at least be polite!  (rant over)

How was your weekend?  Any good movies to see?

Shirt, Skirt, Shoes: Gap
Jacket: Izod

The Return of the Bootcut Jean

With the hotter than usual summer we have had, I don't think I've worn my regular jeans in 3 months!  When I threw on these jeans and the plain navy t-shirt the other day, John quickly declared this was another of his favorite outfits.

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say John really hates skinny jeans.  I didn't think it was possible, but he actually likes boyfriend jeans even less.  He would be happy if the only type of jeans in the world were good old-fashioned boot-cut.  Needless to say, he was not impressed when I mentioned I was in the market for some hot pink skinnies.

Tee, Jeans, Shoes: Gap
Cardigan: Marisa Kristina      

Closet Ultimatum #11 - Green Mini and a Sneaky Squirrel

I really love this skirt, but it made the "Closet Ultimatum Challenge" because I haven't worn it at all in the last 3 months, which is the prime time I should be wearing a green nautical-print mini-skirt.  So what's the problem??  I've come to the conclusion that there are 2 problems:

1. I don't really know how to remix it very well.  I've had this skirt for several years (like 7 maybe?), and for most of those years, I've only worn it with a white shirt, and probably only once per summer, because I can't think of anything interesting to wear with it.  I'm also wondering if I can make the jump to fall and winter with tights. 
2. I think it's a little too short.  It has a good 1.5inch of hem, so I'm going to go ahead and let that out, so it's a little longer.   

During our photo-shoot, my  photographer seemed a little distracted, and I realized there was a sneaky squirrel hanging out on the fence behind me.

It's also Tuesday Trifecta time, here are the 2 other times this skirt has shown up on the blog:

Top: Gap
Jacket: Izod
Skirt:  Tommy Hilfiger
Shoes: Gap

Blog Gift Swaps!

I'm so excited to be participating in TWO blog swaps right now.  You should all go check them out and join in!

 

     
My outfit up above is from about a month ago, before the temperature was up in the 90s every day.  It's not really jeans/scarf/cardigan weather right now. 

Shirt, Jeans, Shoes, Scarf: Gap
Cardigan: Loft

Orange You Glad

...that I'm done bragging about vacation!  I'm already ready to go back to the beach.  Next time I'm independently wealthy, I'll just go live on an island somewhere and read books all day.  Won't that be nice?

This outfit is actually from before vacation, which feels like a really long time ago.  I've worn this shirt and sweater combo a few times recently, but just hadn't taken pictures of it yet.  I really like the bright orange with the blue.  As evidenced in a few of my other orange outfits.  Aren't they complementary colors, because they are opposites on the color wheel?  See, I was paying attention in elementary school art class! 

Cardigan: NY&Co
Shirt: Karen Kane
Jeans and shoes: Gap

Fiddler on the Roof

Three Smith ladies!

Last week, I went to Fiddler on the Roof - the last Broadway show of this season.  It was a great show, and we had fun, like always!  I think Jersey Boys was my favorite show of the season.  They just announced the schedule for next year, and I'm very excited to see The Lion King!

If your city has Broadway shows, you should totally check out the season ticket options.  It's a really great deal, and you get discounts if you are a season ticket holder.  Our tickets for Fiddler were $5 each.  That's half as expensive as a movie!

My whole outfit is from the Gap.  I really need to be careful about that! 

Cinnamon Perfume

At my office, there's an air freshener in the bathroom.  This is a good thing, as we wouldn't want a smelly bathroom.  There's just one problem:  this air freshener has a personal vendetta against me.  It likes to go off right when I walk in the door, so I'm hit with a blast of cinnamon scent, which settles in my hair and I smell like Big Red gum for the rest of the day.  I should probably stop wasting my actual perfume, because it is just overpowered by cinnamon. 

This entire outfit is from the Gap.  I guess the shoes are technically from the Gap Outlet.  And the scarf was a Christmas present from my sister, but it's also from Gap.

Fingertip Length??

When I was in school, we usually had at least 1 non-uniform day each month.   I don't remember anyone wearing skirts on non-uniform days, but I know shorts had to be fingertip length.  I can only imagine skirts would have had to be even longer.  I always thought the finger tip length rule was unfair to those of us with monkey arms.  This was before bermuda shorts and capri pants made a comeback, so it was fairly impossible to follow this rule.  I mostly just tried to never let my arms hang down at my sides, so no one would notice my rebellion. 

Anyway, I wore this outfit to work the other day.  I found the skirt a couple months ago at Goodwill.  A super cute pink J.Crew skirt for $3.50!  I couldn't resist.  So when the weather turned warm, I was excited to wear my new skirt!  About 30 minutes after I got to work, I realized how short this skirt truly is.  I'm 100% sure I would have been sent home from high school if I had shown up in this.  Don't worry, my office has a pretty laid back dress code.

My new skirt?  I think I can let the hem out.  Then I will have to decide if an extra inch of length makes it okay to wear.  I might have to save it for tights weather again.  Or it might have to go back to Goodwill.  $3.50 per wear isn't too bad, right??

Shirt, Tank, Shoes: Gap
Skirt:  J.Crew (Thrifted)

Pink and Green

 

March means springtime and St. Patrick's Day, so it only made sense for the EBEW theme to be GREEN!  I had some crazy idea for what I might wear, but then the weather was way nicer than I expected, so I had to improvise.

I got this skirt many years ago, but I still love it.  I hear nautical fashion is in again this spring.  No problem!

And apparently I think this pink cardigan goes with everything.  I just realized I wore it for the February EBEW, too.  I'll try to avoid it in April!    

Cardigan:  Marisa Christina
T-shirt:  Loft
Skirt:  Tommy Hilfiger
Shoes: Gap

The Problem with Pants

The other day, Kendi wrote about the problem with skirts, when they feel too fancy for every day wear.  I realized I have the opposite problem - I feel sloppy (just look at those wrinkles from sitting at my desk!) and kind of like a boy when I wear dress pants.  This is the 3rd pants outfit I have posted to the blog, and I'm nearing 100 posts.  Do I really wear pants only 3% of the time?  I think so.  Granted, I'm not including jeans in my definition of pants.  I wear jeans pretty often.   

Maybe I've been brain-washed by my private school days.  I mean, I had to wear a dress/jumper every day from 2nd-5th grade, and then an equally unattractive skirt from 6th-high school.  And I always wore a skirt or dress to church on Sundays.

I'll probably just keep wearing skirts and dresses.

Shirt & Shoes:  Gap
Sweater:  NY&Co
Pants:  Loft

Lady in Red (x3)

I wore this outfit with the Bloggers do it better challenge in mind, but then I decided to use this outfit instead.  Today's ABC challenge is "X for x2", which works out perfectly!  Here's how I recently wore my red skirt: 

Shirt:  Loft
Sweater:  H&M
Skirt:  Gap
Tights:  Steve Madden
Shoes:  Gap
 
And here's two other ways I have worn this skirt.  Apparently, I think it goes well with gray!  Maybe I'll branch out in the future and try it with another color!

Full post

Full post

Spooky Scary

It's the last day of the Winter Challenge!  Good thing the ABCs of style are still going, so I won't have to make my own clothing decisions for a couple more weeks. 

Today's prompt was to wear something that scares you.  This was the most difficult day to figure out for me.  Here are 3 of the ideas I had:

1. Buy some spider jewelry.  Get it, because I'm scared of spiders.
2. Dress up like a zombie.  See reasoning of #1.
3. I was complaining to John about how I didn't know what I was scared of wearing, and he suggested that I let him pick out my outfit.  Yep, that's pretty scary.  I can think of 2 times where he had significant input into what I was wearing.  Both times, it was so ridiculous that I had to pose for pictures holding a shotgun.  I told him as long as his suggestion was work appropriate and did not require firearms as accessories, I would go along with it.  He forgot, so I was left to my own devices. 

So, this morning, I had about 20 minutes to get ready for work and I had zero ideas of what I was scared of wearing.   Here's what I came up with:

This purple velvet blazer has been in my closet for probably 7 years, and I have never worn it. This is also my Closet Orphan, for the ABC challenge.  I got it for about $5 when Macy's bought out the Lazarus department store and everything was like 90% off.  I don't know if I am scared of wearing it, as much as I just didn't know what to wear with it.

The plaid top is pretty new.  I found it over Christmas break when I was shopping with my sister.  I really like it, but it reminds me too much of my high school uniform.  I need to get over my fear of plaid, pleats, and polo shirts one of these days.

And finally, my "real" fear:  skinny jeans with flats.  I generally reserve skinny jeans for wearing with boots.  I think 2 or 3 times, I have worn non-boots, but always with a 3in or higher heel.  I see other people wearing flats with skinny jeans, and I think it is cute, but I just am not sure I can pull it off.

I've also had "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" stuck in my head all day.  Cracks me up!

Go check out what other bloggers are scared of wearing here.  
And go check out other closet Orphans here.

Blazer:Jones New York
Top:  Talbots via Marshall's
Jeans:  Old Navy
Shoes:  Gap