TGIF

This is actually yesterday's outfit. Today is a super casual day at the office. We are spending the bulk of the day digging through files in our storage area so I will not be posting a picture of today's outfit. I will mention that I am wearing my comfort uniform of long sleeve tee under short sleeve tee and jeans. I also have on a pair of boots that I think are 1,000 years old and one squeaks when I walk but they are so comfy and I refuse to get rid of them.

Boyfriend Cardigan......J. Crew

Wrap Tee........Ann Taylor Outlet

Tank.......Gap
Jeans.......Ann Taylor Loft

Shoes.......Aerosoles

Necklace........The Limited

I had a hard time finding something that I liked yesterday morning. I wasn't loving this when I left for work but it grew on me as the day went on. Now that I'm seeing the pictures though I think it's not a very flattering outfit.

My kids are so looking forward to Trick or Treating tomorrow evening. We got invited to a Halloween party tonight however since my mom and grandmother are in town we declined the invite, which secretly I'm happy about. I am not a costume person. I have never loved Halloween. For me, dressing up in a costume takes me too far outside my comfort zone. I'll stick with street clothes, thanks!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween! Enjoy the trick or treating!

Rainy Tuesday

I woke up to rain this morning and really wanted to be comfy but stylish too. This is what I came up with. When I originally bought this sweater I was envisioning it with a crisp white button down layered underneath. I currently do not own a white button down (threw out my shabby old one) so I tried it with a black button down but was not happy with that look. I ended up layering a long sleeve eggplant colored tee under the sweater. I love the teal with the eggplant.

Sweater........Apt. 9 from Kohl's
Tee.........Gap
Jeans........Ann Taylor Loft
Necklace.........ShopKim

I think next time I do this outfit I am going to pair it with my grey J. Crew pants. I think the color combo would be great.

A few updates are necessary: Last night my evening consisted of the H1N1 vaccine for my kiddos. The wait wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We arrived at 6:30 and walked out the door at 7:30. It was the first time my kids did the mist and when we were done my son kept saying I thought we were getting flu shots. It was cute.

We have a visitor coming to stay with us today. My mom is coming for a week from Florida to visit. She's heading to PA tomorrow to pick up my grandmother and bring her back. They both will be spending 4 days at my house and I'm very excited. It's been a while since I've seen my mom. I'm excited for my kiddos also. It's not often that they get to see Grammy Florida and Little Grammy for extended periods of time. This is going to be a great week.

Enjoy the day!

New love

Fridays for me are typically a casual and comfy day. I usually dress down for the office but I could not wait until next week to wear my new boots, booties or as some people call them shooties. I am completely in love with these and for good reason, before I even left the house this morning somebody commented on them. My hubby was being picked up this morning for his boys' weekend and one of our very good friends immediately commented on them as soon as he walked in the door. You know they're good when a man comments on them.

Cardi.......J. Crew

Tee......J. Crew

Tank.....Gap

Jeans......Ann Taylor Loft

Boots.........SRI

I'm looking forward to a low key weekend. My dad was supposed to be coming to visit before his big trip south for the winter but it looks like he won't be able to make it. He's not feeling so hot and doesn't want to get the rest of us sick, which I'm really grateful for. My kiddos sure are going to be disappointed. Not only were they excited to see Pop-Pop but he was bringing his wife and her kiddos too.

TGIF!

Challenge

On Tuesday, my BFF over at ShopKim issued a challenge to me regarding the shoes that she had recently thrifted. The shoes were too big on her so I was lucky enough to receive them. Truth be told they are a little bit big on me too but they are too cute.

I had a really hard time finding something blogworthy to wear with them. This outfit is kind of boring but it was the best I could do for today.

Top.....Ann Taylor Loft

Jeans.....Gap

Necklace......The Limited

Shoes.....Coldwater Creek via ShopKim

In keeping with the shoe theme, this morning I received a text from my hubby telling me that he hates our girl's shoe selection and since I'm the shoe queen why isn't there a better selection for her to choose from. That sounds to me like an excuse to go out and buy my girl some new really cute shoes. Here's the problem: I buy her shoes, she claims she loves them, she wears them once or maybe twice and then finds something wrong with them. What am I supposed to do? In her shoe bin (she's 7) she has 1 brand spanking new pair of sneakers, a pair of crocs, 10 pairs of flip flops and these 2 pair of shoes

The pair on the left are brown and the pair on the right are black. She also has these

Now I don't know about you all but I think that for a 7 year old that is a pretty good selection of shoes. What am I supposed to do when she refuses to wear the shoes I've bought her, go out and buy her more? Come on.....that's just silly. If she didn't grow out of them every 3 months then sure but she's 7.

Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Fabulous Giveaway

Mrs. MBR over at My Blonde Reality is having a Fabulous Giveaway with plenty of ways to get multiple entries. Head on over and check her out.

Not in the Mood

This was not the outfit I had planned last night when I went to bed but when I got up this morning I really just wanted something cute but cozy. This is what I ended up with.

Sweater......Ann Taylor Outlet

Tee......J. Crew Outlet

Necklace......Limited

Jeans.........Ann Taylor Loft

Shoes......JCPenney

Ring.......gifted by my BFF over at ShopKim

This past weekend was supposed to be my girls beach weekend but one of the girls ended up with the H1N1 flu so beach weekend did not happen. I did end up getting together with another of my girlfriends that I haven't seen in 3 months. We went to dinner at Bonefish and had the best time eating, drinking and catching up. It takes a long time to catch up on 3 months of gossip.

It rained and rained and rained this weekend so we were homebodies for most of the weekend. We did take the kiddos to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and all really enjoyed it. Cute movie. And that was our excitement.

My hubby is now sick and heading to the Doctor's this morning. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it's not H1N1 a) because who wants to have that? and b) he's going out of town this weekend, so being sick does not fit into his schedule.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Another Fantastic Giveaway

If you haven't done so already head over to ShopKim for her fantastic Birthday giveaway. Her rings are adorable and who couldn't use another adorable ring?

Mixing it up

I've been contemplating lately how to spice up my wardrobe without spending too much money. It seems like I'm always buying new instead of remixing what I've already got.

A few items that I am hoping to score on my outlet shopping trip this weekend are:

• corduroy skirt like this
• fitted denim jacket
• 1 or 2 neutral solid cardigan sweaters
• boyfriend cardigan
• new purse similar to this one (not at that price though, I'm hoping this is where my 20% coach coupon will come in handy)
• some new fun jewelry
• white button down shirt

The trick is going to be finding all or some of the above without spending a ton of cash. I think the addition of the items above will be a good solid base to start creating new and fun outfits from my closet.

Girls weekend is now in limbo because one friend has a fever. Said friend is the one who has supplied the condo so that is why we are in limbo. I'm really hoping that she feels better soon not because I want the weekend to happen but because being sick is no fun. My wish list may be put on hold until my next girls weekend scheduled for November :-).

Today is my Friday, woo hoo!

Comfort Zone

This outfit is so outside my comfort zone it's not even funny. I originally started out with a print cardigan sweater over the tee but really felt that it wasn't office appropriate. I work in a very casual environment but kind of felt that the jeans are a little on the tight side even for my office. The longer sweater, in my mind, makes the outfit more work appropriate. I'm not sure if I'm rocking this look, my hubby reluctantly said I could pull it off when I asked but can you trust a man to really know? My girl will usually tell me if an outfit is no good but she didn't comment either way today.

The jeans are a straight leg jean that I bought a few years ago and is the closest I'm going to come to a skinny jean. My legs just don't do skinny. The jeans seem kind of bunched up at the knees. Is that how they are supposed to be or would they be less like that if they were the real skinny? I'm not sure if I will do this look again, we'll have to wait and see what kind of feedback I get.

Tee......ATL

Sweater.....Victoria's Secret

Jeans.....Tommy Hilfiger via Macy's

Boots......Nicole via DSW

Necklaces.......The Limited

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Weekend Glow

I'm still glowing from the fabulous family weekend I had. It was very low key for us which is unusual. The only commitments we had were kids soccer games and the Pumpkin Patch. Saturday the weather was perfect for 2 soccer games and the kiddos played great. We decided that evening to go out as a family for dinner. We hit our favorite family friendly restaurant, Outback. As usual it didn't disappoint, we had great food and service too.

Sunday was the annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. Earlier than normal this year because of other weekend commitments coming up. We all had a great time on the hay ride and the straw maze. Got some humongous pumpkins for carving and some delicious apple caramel walnut pie. Like the Pumpkin Patch the pie is a tradition in our family and my hubby and I look forward to it every year.

I'm not sure why but I'm happy with the way this picture turned out today. I'm trying to get as much use out of my spring/summer stuff that I can. In the past I don't think I would have worn this sweater in the fall but I like the yellow with the gray pants.

Sweater.......J. Crew

Tee.......Old Navy

Necklace.....Mark (Avon)

Pants.......J. Crew

Boots.......Nine West via DSW

My girlfriends and I are counting down the days until our girls beach trip which is this weekend. My boss has graciously given us Friday off. October 15th is a huge deadline for my office and he typically will give us off the following Friday which is so nice. So we're heading to the beach Friday morning. One of the friends in our group recently got a new job so we don't see her everyday like we used to. It's actually been almost 3 months since we've seen her so we've got a ton of catching up to do. Friday night is going to be a late night with lots of chatting and wine drinking I'm sure. I cannot wait!

Inspiration

My BFF over at Shopkim has inspired me to make up my own list of the little things that make life so enjoyable

• Getting more than 1 cup of coffee out of the pot in the morning
• When my son tells me "Mommy, I will love you forever"
• When my daughter tries to dress like me
• Listening to my kids sing in the car to songs that I love
• Going to bed and not having to set the alarm
• My kids telling me they want to buy lunch at school
• The smell of the air when summer turns to fall
• An ice cold diet coke
• The perfect pair of jeans
• Comfy pants
• When my hubby tells me I look nice
• Baileys on the rocks
• Finding money in your pocket that you didn't know you had

This was a lot harder than I thought. I do try and take time to be thankful for the small things. This will remind me to do it more often.

Awesome giveway!

Danielle over at Fell 4 Fashion is giving away a gorgeous scarf. Head on over to her blog to sign up. You won't go wrong with this scarf!

Negative, Negative, Negative

Top......Ann Taylor Outlet
Tank....Target
Skirt.....Ann Taylor Loft
Boots.....DSW
Necklace......Kohl's


This morning I woke up thinking yea it's Friday and then I realized it was only Thursday. What a bummer! I'm not sure what it is up with this week but it is crawling by.

I'm not thrilled with the quality of this picture. I took several before I left the house this morning and they all seem blurry to me. I'm not sure what's up with my camera. I really need to find a better way to take pictures. Unfortunately this is as good as it gets for today. I apologize for the quality but it was the best of the bunch.

I'm not sure about this skirt. Don't get me wrong I love it. I wore it quite a few times over the summer. Paired with sandals and a tee, it is completely adorable. I'm just not sure it transitions well into fall but I figured with a high of 71 degrees today I could pull it off this once. I'm on the fence though about pairing it with tights when the temperatures dip down.

I've noticed on some of the other blogs, people are saying that to get the true feel of an outfit, you should take a picture of it. Hmmmmm, I don't think I like that idea because I almost always like the outfit that I'm wearing but when I look at it in a picture I don't like it. Does this mean I should change the way I dress?

The boots I'm wearing are a new purchase from the weekend. I've already worn them once but didn't post the outfit. I am in love with them so you will be seeing them a lot this fall and winter.

After reading this post several times I changed the title because I noticed the negativity flowing through it. Rather than change it I left it as is. I hope my negativity today doesn't rub off on anybody else.

I hope everyone has a great Thursday!

Shopping habits

So if you don't already know this about me I love to shop. Love, love, love it. Unfortunately my hubby doesn't love it. He thinks I have too much stuff--clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry, blah, blah. He could go on and on about how I have too much stuff. Here's the thing, I don't care. I go to work everyday so if I want to spend some of my hard earned cash on something that will make me look pretty on the outside then so be it.

I find that I go in cycles with regards to which stores I seem to frequent. Right now I am all about J. Crew which I'm sure you already figured out from several of my previous posts. In the past I have loved Kohl's, Ann Taylor Loft, Gap, Banana. Oh I could go on and on. Macy's is another one of my favorites. They have great sales and a terrific variety.

Do you find that you go in cycles like that?

I am giddy with excitement over the fact that next weekend I am heading to the beach with some girlfriends for some much needed girl time. We are going to spend a whole day at the outlets with no pressure to leave or go home. That means I can go into J. Crew and try on every single piece of clothing in that store without giving it a second thought. Oh the joy. I cannot wait.

Another tidbit of good news.....my girlfriend brought in a Coach outlet coupon (that's right I said Coach). Give them your email address and you can print a 20% off coupon good for the outlet stores through October 18th. Sign me up. I've already printed out my coupon and cannot wait to see if I can find something spectacular at the outlet.

Copy Cat

Happy Tuesday Morning everyone! A good outfit pic today. As soon as my hubby saw me in this he told me I looked nice. I love this outfit. It's a new look for me but I had seen a posting on another blog with the tee over the button down shirt and fell in love. You should head over to Fabulous Florida Mommy and check out her style.

I desperately need a new white button down but this one will serve it's purpose for now. I was hoping the button down would show along the bottom of the tee but for some reason this shirt is really short so I ended up tucking in the button down and then doing the front tuck of the tee.

I also added another necklace shown in the second picture afterwards. I really like how it all turned out.

Pants.......J. Crew
Tee.....J. Crew
Button-down.......Target
Shoes.......SRI Shoe Warehouse
Long Necklace.......Mark
Short Necklace......Kohl's
Bracelet.......Banana Republic

I hope everyone is having a great start to their week.

Check out this beauty.......

So last Friday I gave my hubby an assignment for the weekend. Make me something for my closet to hang my long necklaces on. Up until a few months ago I wasn't a huge jewelry person but after some encouragement from my BFF I have started to add to my collection. My jewelry box was getting overcrowded so I needed someplace else to put them.

He went to Home Depot and came back with a hat rack thingy which only had 4 big hooks on it. Not what I was looking for, so while at Wal-Mart I spotted this tie rack and scooped it up for a whopping $4 and my hubby installed it as soon as I got home. Wa la now I have a place to put my jewels with easy access.

So all day long yesterday I was dreaming of these boots





And these boots



Wow they are gorgeous and I really do need a pair of black tall boots. I don't need the tall brown flat boots but oh I am so in love. S0 can I convince myself and my bank account that both of these pairs of boots would be a very good and wise investment? I am going to head to the closest Banana Republic this weekend to see them in person and see how much convincing it's going to take. Wish me luck!

Shoe addiction

So while shopping for new bedding for my girls bedroom this past weekend I came across these cute ballet flats. Fell completely in love however the only size they had in stock was a bit a small. I was informed that they may would be getting more in on Monday or Tuesday so I waited and called to have the larger size put on hold. I picked them up yesterday afternoon without trying them on, big mistake. Of course they are too big, so back to the store to return them. Now I need to decide if I want to squeeze into the smaller size and hope they stretch a bit. So of course the store is having a Buy One Get One so I got the same pair of shoes for my daughter. She loves when we can dress similarly. I am not a huge fan of dressing like twins but I think the same pair of shoes won't be too bad.

Thoughts???

While picking up these shoes I decided to drop in to Ross which is right next door. I have been looking for a sweater dress now for 2 winters and have had no success. Today of course I found one by Calvin Klein in gray. I passed it up for 2 reasons: Number 1 it was $49.99 which I wasn't prepared to spend and #2 I don't have a pair of tall black boots that I love so I would prefer to find a brown sweater dress because I do have a pair of brown tall boots that are perfect. I did try on a brown Calvin Klein one but it was short sleeve. For me a short sleeve sweater dress just does not translate. Short sleeve sweater? Anyway, I have my eye on one at ATL that I need to go and try on.

I am trying not to do too much shopping because in a few weeks I'm heading to a girls only weekend in Rehoboth and am going to hit the outlets. The J. Crew outlet there usually has a ton of great stuff.