quietitude

 shoes: american eagle outfitters. jeans & puffy vest: gap. shirt: old navy. watch: target.

Pic above is Scary Exhibit A of smiling-with-one's-mouth-but-not-one's-eyes. Let's make this a learning moment for all of us, shall we?

So, I've been feeling a little down lately. (I know, I know, cue the violin music and toss me a psychiatrist's couch.) My life is so blessed, I have nothing real to complain about...and yet I still find stuff. Go figure.

Anyways, as a result, I'm in a rather quiet mood. Which doesn't happen often around here here, so let's enjoy it.

I'll just make this short and sweet, then. I'm glad that this little blessing I'm carrying around with me is so active--it makes a few bruised internal organs worth it. I smiled that my cute 3- and 5-year-old daughters changed into striped shirts and puffy vests of their own at lunch today so we could all be "twinners." I love that my son ran out of his classroom at school when I was volunteering this morning to give me an enormous hug. I'm grateful that my intuitive husband tucked me into bed early last night so I could get some extra sleep.

I appreciate all of you who read this little blog, and I hope that life treats you well today.

Happy Thursday.

similar stuff (maternity & regular):

More Splendid...

on stripes and curls and lip gloss

cowl sweater: gap maternity. 

I curled my hair and am wearing a fancy cowl sweater today. And by "fancy" I of course mean: it's striped with pretty colors and has just a little bit of pilling. Like 15%. Which, for my maternity-stricken money, means it's nearly brand new.

Unfortunately, in my hair-tossing, sweater-touting strut on the kitchen-sink-to-breakfast-table-and-back-again catwalk of my life this morning, I forgot to put on lip gloss. Not even a hint of cherry-flavored chapstick. The poor dust-bunnies hanging out around here are averting their eyes from my pale lips every time I walk by. 'Til I appease them by tossing some lint balls from my nearly new cowl. Then they're happy because, hey, that lint is fancy.

Happy Friday.

other striped cowl stuff (maternity & regular):

More A Pea in the Pod...

stripes, glorious stripes

Not to be all throw-myself-in-front-of-the-bandwagon-so-that-it-slows-down-enough-for-me-to-jump-on or anything, but...I love stripes in fashion. Loooooove them. They're neutral(ish), bold, interesting, mixable, flattering, whimsical, and sophisticated all rolled into one. And the last time THAT has been achieved was when my older sister made herself a long cardigan out of brightly-colored newspaper-print jersey knit in 1988.

She was the cat's meow, people. I'm telling you. My 7-year-old memory wouldn't lie.

So. Stripes. In case you missed it or I didn't make myself clear: I love them.

What about you all? Is there a particular pattern you love? Or, better yet, one you particularly loathe?

Check out the striped stuff below to inspire you--all beautiful and comfortable and awesome.

More BCBG MAX AZRIA...

HomeStyle: Chunky Stripes

If there is one thing I can't get enough of (but, actually, in moderation, otherwise it's just weird and uncomfortable), it's a chunky stripe. On curtains, mirrors/frames, floors, walls...

I'm drawn to the chunky stripe because of its unabashed boldness and graphicality (yep), its capacity to lend balance with other, softer prints, its whimsical sophistication, and its most-basic-pattern-of-all-time sensibilities.

What about you? How do you feel about stripes as home decor? Do you prefer them horizontal or vertical? Chunky or skinny? High-contrast or barely there? Or is there a different print/pattern you can't get enough of...or can't wait to get rid of?

Happy Tuesday!

Sir Mix-A-Lot (wait, does anyone seriously remember that?)

Woah. Funky lighting alert. Nothing else is funky, though. Just the lighting. Yep.

 shoes: american eagle outfitters. jeans: kohl's. shirt: vintage. cardigan: gap. scarf: gift from sweden. belt: thrifted (american eagle). watch: target.

It doesn't look the best in these photos, but for the record: This is one of my favorite outfits. Ever.

Hey guys. Not only is today a perfect day for wearing two types of stripes, floral, polka dots, AND metallic (it said so in my horoscope. practically.), but it's also Friend Friday! Today's topic is one of my favorites: Fitness & Fashion.

1. Do you keep some kind of fitness routine? Why? Yep. I run. Because I like to eat but my metabolism is turning granny on me, I like my husband to be bigger than me (not an easy task, if you know my husb), and I feel better about myself when I exercise. Not necessarily in that order, but that's how the fingers typed it, so that's how it will remain. 

  

2. Has working out, maybe training for a marathon or something of that nature, helped with your own perception of body image? Absolutely. I've become less obsessed with how I look (as in, the size of my legs, the bulge of my belly, etc.) because I'm doing what I can to be healthy. I'll never be a waif, but I've decided this: A body that does what I put mine through is a body worth respecting.

3. When you are hitting the gym or just going out for a long walk what do you wear? Is it about functionality or fashion? Eh, I don't give one single brain cell of thought about what I wear unless it involves weather-related decisions...but I don't go to gyms, I just run outside. I don't even put makeup on, do my hair, or anything. What I'm trying to say is...y'know all those Bigfoot sightings? They were probably just me, out for a winter jog.

4. Do you feel there is a cultural perception of what you ‘should’ be doing for your own physical fitness? Maybe there used to be. Like, when my mom was in school, they had to wear skirts to gym class and wasn't allowed to do the stuff the boys were doing. I think that, these days, so many fitness options are available that it's all about choosing what works for you to get/stay fit.

5.  Dream big… what would be your ultimate fitness goal. Run a certain 100-mile race with my sister. She's already done it twice; I paced her for a snort 14-mile leg of it one time, and now I want to do it. Our family is convinced we are both missing a marble or two...and we can't exactly argue. Meh.

Happy Friday!

Want this look? Check out the stuff below...

More Forever 21...

happy days are here again...and again...and again...

This week I'm grateful for:

- church.

- stripes.

- outings to the park with friends and friends of my kids.

- friends of my kids who teach them (my kids) good things, like being polite and empathetic and obedient. May this always be the case. (Yeah, right, but a parent can hope, right?)

- the ability to jog.

- our piano, especially before the sustaining pedal broke. Sighhhhh...

- a husband who surprises me in, well, surprising ways, even after 9-1/2 years of marriage.

- the letter "r" and the many ways toddlers try to say it.

- texting.

- daffodils. (We have one! In our yard! A flower bloomed!)

- cars and appliances that all function as they should. Can't imagine doing as much laundry as I do by hand or at the laundromat. Ugh.

- prayer and the peace it brings.

- family time, in all its crazy glory.

- cookies & cream ice cream.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

they might be giants...

shoes: steve madden. tights, necklace, & earrings: gifted. skirt: j.crew. belt & stripes: forever21. button-up: eddie bauer. bracelet & flower hairthing: downeast outfitters.

"Woahhhhhh. You're taaaaaaalllllll." First thing I heard, all prepubescent-chorus-like, when I walked into my son's 1st grade class this morning for my volunteer hour. Which is a comment I'm not really sure what to do with. Thank you? You're welcome? I'm sorry? I know? Get off me? Endless possibilities for responses, really. [Editor's note: You'll be relieved to know: I just smiled at the kids and sat down. There. Crisis averted.]

Bottom line: I attribute my newfound height to these SHOES. I heart them.

Today's jumping-off point was this denim pencil skirt. It needs some slight tailoring, but I haven't had time, so I decided to wear it with a chunky belt to hide the waistband until it's fixed. I'm afraid Sunday's ensemble got me into a total stripedy-stripe-stripe mood (PLUS it's breton stripes day), so I went with this little number. If you'll recall, it's a tunic length (some might go so far as to say it's a "dress" length, but not I, my friends. Not I.), so I tucked it here, over a pale yellow button-up.

The button-up was slightly problematic. It looked off when I wore the collar down, but so did it also look a little strange when I purposefully flipped it up. So I just opened up the back of the collar and let the front fall where it may. That's right. Living life on the edge. I'm famous for this kind of thing, you know. Like one time I went to bed without brushing my teeth.

[Editor's note: That's true, but what she's failing to admit is the END of the story, which is that she got up a sleepless hour later to brush in the dark because she couldn't handle her fuzzy teeth. So. Probably "living life on the edge...of a secure 10-foot-buffer zone" would be more accurate. But, you know, tomayto tomahto.]

I love these bright blue tights from my friend Val, and I thought this would be a great day to wear them. In this ensemble, they come across as kind of a neutral, really--just an extension of the blue denim skirt. A bright, glow-in-the-dark extension, of course, but still. They're pretty Unexpected & Maybe Awesome for me here. And I like how they're downplayed, just slightly, by the taupe booties.

Question for you all: How do you wear earrings? They are currently the bane of my style existence. I normally default to my beloved diamond studs, but my friend RaeLynn wanted me to try some danglies, which I did here (you know, that life-on-the-edge thing again). I feel like these are all wrong with this ensemble, but I'm not sure what I should do differently. Please! Earring advice! I'm begging you!

(ahem) Regardless...happy Tuesday.

Want this look? pencil skirt  striped top  booties  yellow button-up  blue tights

More Forever 21...

the bold & the beautiful. or, at least, the bold & the could-be-grosser.

shoes: steve madden. skirt: gap. slouchy tee: american eagle outfitters. sweater: j. crew. watch: target. hairthings: smiths marketplace. tights, belt, & necklace: don't recall.

Remember how you learned how to ride a bike when you were 5 and then you got a flat tire or your chain rusted when you were 8 and your dad was going to fix/replace it but even though he meant to he never really did so you didn't ride a bike at all for a few years and then your friend had a sweet bike that you wanted to try out, and you hopped right on and you could totally ride a bike again even though you hadn't done it forever?

No? Just me? Oh. Well, anyway, I thought that doing this blog would be like that...two days off, then back in the saddle no prob. Nope. When I went to take my pics this morning, I couldn't think of a single pose. Except a cartwheel. Which, if you think about, would have been less than ideal in this particular ensemble. 

So I did what I always do when I'm stumped: I ate. A balanced and healthy breakfast, complete with a snickers bar or three and a bowl of cheerios. And a banana. And maybe some yogurt, I'm not sure. And juice and a bit of bagel. By the end, I was 5 pounds heavier and ready to rock'n'roll. Let this be a lesson to you kids out there. Somehow.

Today I wanted to wear these new shoes I got on my trip. And this bold striped sweater. I originally paired the sweater with a lavendar button-up shirt and a denim pencil skirt, but even though it looked okay (I think), I just wasn't feeling it. So I took away the collared shirt and went with this slouchy tee. Backwards. No, seriously, I wore it backwards because the front-side was a little too low on its own, and I didn't want to wear a cami because that would add aNOTHer stripe/color right at my neckline.

Thank you, inventors of tagless shirts.

You're going back to check out the pics now, aren't you, because now you know the shirt's backwards and you want to see if it looks weird. Yes, armed with that bit of knowledge, your brain might tell you it looks a little odd. But I'm okay with it. Because I jogged more than 15 miles yesterday (beautiful race! loved it! thanks for your sweet comments about it, you guys!) and drove about 6 hours home and slept next to my increasingly attractive husband, which has a way of putting things like backwards slouchy tees into perspective.

So. Add dark tights and a belt about the same hue, a supersized gold boyfriend watch, and a simple single beads-on-a-chain necklace. I was totally comfortable at church today. 'Cept when my 2-year-old stood on my lap (a.k.a. sore quads) to see who was speaking at the pulpit. But that had nothing to do with what I was wearing.

Happy Sunday!

Want this look? striped sweater   khaki pencil skirt   taupe booties   boyfriend watch

More The Limited...

camoflaugishness

My discussion will be limited today. And by limited I mean virtually nonexistent.

 shoes: candies brand. pants: gap. v-neck: banana republic. cardigan: gifted. bracelet: don't recall. belt & headband: f21. necklace: gifted/don't recall.

I'm not feeling this outfit. Like, at all. Okay. Hang on. *breathing through my nose and finding the positive vibes within* One thing I DO like about it is the skinny-striped cardigan paired with the wide belt. There. It's not a total bust.

But these pants are on my closet purge hit-list. I love them so, but they just don't fit my body. And I think I'm mildly depressed about that. And when I realize I'm losing an old favorite pair o' pants, I can't be funny, or even chatty or small-talky, like, not even the lamest "how's the weather?" kind of small-talkish.

I can only drown my sorrows in a steaming cup of spiced cider and curl up with my CB2 catalogue that just came in the mail and be inspired by awesome color combos. [Editor's note: That actually sounds heavenly. Maybe I'll get pants-induced depression more often...] 

Speaking of being inspired, you know what else is inspiring? The total kid-joy that my 6-year-old son had yesterday when he lost a tooth at school. He was #1 School Dude for awhile there. And THEN we found a tooth our puppy lost last night, so it was like the best day on the planet for him that BOTH "boys" lost their teeth on the SAME day. Like twins. 'Cept even better than twins, because one of them I can lock in a crate if he's being too crazy. And the other's just a puppy, so...

(I'm KIDding. It's practically always our puppy who gets crated.)

Happy Wednesday.

p.s. Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Want this look? (Really? You do? Huh. That's odd awesome.)     striped cardigan    leopard print flats    wide leg pants

womens striped cardigan banana republic

taming the wild beast within. or at least embracing him... her... whatever.

 shoes: converse brand. jeans, long-sleeve tee, & vest: gap (what the trifecta? that. is. embarrassing.). belt: pocket's. watch: citizen brand. hairthing: gifted.

I don't know about you, but I think puffy vests are awesome. And warm. Which is a huge win-win when you check the outside thermometer every hour *fingers crossed* that you get to the 15-degrees mark that day, and heaven forbid mother nature sends you into the blazing-hot 20s because you'd probably have to break out the shorts and have a luau in such balmy temps.

I'm not bitter. I'm just sayin. It ain't hot.

(ahem) So. Puffy vest. Love mine. Throw it on over a long-sleeved tee, and we're in business. After donning some dark wash jeans, of course, because otherwise (a) chilly! and (b) gross. I was warm at this point, but felt rather, well, puffy. I happened to glance at my belt hanger...a crazy idea forming in my hot little head...

...with an internal monologue that went a little something like this: A belt? Over a PUFFY vest? Dare I? No way. I'll look like the Michelin man! Wait, is it MISHuhlin or muSHELLin? Hmmm...note to self: pay attention next tire commercial. But hopefully it won't be that one where the old lady chucks a tire in the store window...seen THAT about a bajillion times. Oh. Belts. Let's go brown.

I belted it up, donned the thickest most comfiest warmest socks I could find (Pocket's, natch), threw on my fave red converse shoes [Editor's note: They're actually my only red converse shoes, in case you're wondering. Which makes them my favorite and, technically, also my least favorite. I think I just blew someone's mind.], and braided my hair into two messy free-spirited braids. And added one loosey-goosey braid for my front bangs and pinned it back with a flower. Which I think is Unexpected and Maybe Awesome. Goes with the whole outdoorsy-backwoods(wo)man-devil-may-care vibe of today.

Happy Thursday.

Want this look? converse vest jeans long-sleeved tee
  

womens down vest