good things come in 3s. so does this odd photo...

shoes & shirt: forever21. skirt: don't recall. belt: thrifted (american eagle).

First of all: Happy 4th of July to you Americans! And...happy today for you international friends.

I totally didn't take photos yesterday, but this is what I wore. I chopped 3 photos apart and put them together with the pieces. Which is why my legs are 12 times larger than they should be and there are floating bare elbows and the sun is shining on my torso but nowhere else. Heh. Weird. But...I never claimed to be otherwise. 'Cept to my husband before we were married to convince him he wanted to marry me. Me me meee!!!

Ahem.

On Saturday night, my parents got back from a 3-year stint in another country on another continent. To put things into perspective...they'd never met my youngest daughter in person. We had a weekend-long family celebratory bash in which the available calories outnumbered the people 14,000:1. Perfect.

I tell you this only to say: I'm sorry I've been M-I-A this weekend. I'm sorry you've undoubtedly gone through withdrawals from missing me so much. I'm sorry I've made a million lame suuuper-funny observations in my head and didn't share them with you here. But I'm back, baby. And I'll see y'all tomorrow.

Happy Monday!

Want this look? Make your legs huge, then check out similar stuff below...

More Matiko...

does this mess make me look lazy?

 shoes: cato brand. skirt: don't recall. shirt: j.crew. necklace: gift (downeast basics). belt: thrifted (american eagle). bracelets: forever21.

This week I'm grateful for:

- getting some fabulous loot from The Body Shop from this adorable blogger's giveaway.
- laundry days that are filled with my workout clothes (because that means I worked out! every day! *faint*)

- campfires + nathan's hot dogs + marshmallows + some long roasting sticks + my little family x bug spray.

- a new math-games website that is so fun, I stayed up until 5:30 a.m. playing it because I couldn't quit. Yes, you read that right. 5 hecking 30. My husband was dying at me when he woke up...about 20 minutes after I called it a night.

- nature.

- automatic sprinklers.

- potty-trained kidlets...even (especially?) when they wander around our laid-back summertime house in nothing but panties. Cutest.Thing.Ever.

- a laid-back summertime house. Which is noticeably messier than our school-time house. But way funner. Because the freezer pops are plentiful and the bedtimes vague.

- kids who sing.

- dead mosquitos. Especially those swatted by my own hand. Makes me feel like I'm giving back to the universe, in my own small way.

- cortizone cream.

- playing and laughing with my husband and my children.

- when my son (who is hard to please at the dinner table these days) gives dinner a coveted "two thumbs up." Yesssssss.

Happy Sunday.

cross your eyes, then stare at my outfit. how many lines do you see?

 shoes: cato brand. skirt & bracelet: don't recall. shirt: thrifted. belt: husband's. so helpful, I know.

I love french toast. Like, really, love it. Preferred method: a bit of butter and some maple syrup atop a steaming piece of french toast. My older brothers used to strategize breakfast for maximum acceptable sugar consumption, floating their first french toast in a pool of syrup (we're talking the deep end of a pool here, people) and then powdered-sugaring the next one, which would also be treading syrup. 

Sugar overload? You betcha. (And you wonder why I can't kick my pnut m&m addiction...) Too much of a good thing? Probably. Makes my stomach hurt a little when I think about it now.

But that's kind of how I felt in this ensemble. The sugar particles of my french toast yesteryear became the lines/stripes/plaid overload of today's ensemble. (A beautiful and deep metaphor, right? Go ahead a wipe a tear...) 

Regardless, and on a fairly unrelated note, I think every woman needs a lacy/crocheted peeptoe wedge in her life. And, sure, a pound of pnut melt-in-your-mouths within arm's reach.

Happy Monday!

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

More Forever 21...

are you sitting down?

There's not a belt to be seen on this outfit. I know. It's like a shift in the Force.

 boots: target. socks: smith's marketplace. tights: f21. skirt & tee: don't recall (no labels anymore). cardigan: rue 21. necklace: gifted. watch: citizen brand. belt: nope.

I don't want to become predictable or stale, so I opted for beltlessness today. Then sealed the deal for unpredictability by doing some weird unexpected poses. You're welcome.

So, actually, I'm going to be honest with you all: I did have a belt on. For about 3 minutes this morning. But then I looked at myself and decided it was too much. And back on the belt hanger it went, to party with its macho belt friends and flirt with the scarves (you ask her. no, YOU ask her...). Anyway, for me, that's Unexpected and Maybe Awesome.

Jumping-off point: this skirt. On the closet purge hit-list because I never wear it because it's too big. WAS too big, I should say. Because this morning I took in the side seams. 10+ years of hanging in my closet practically unworn, and it took about 4 minutes to fix. That's mildly embarrassing. I love how the plaid is diagonal in front straight in back of this skirt. And the colors. They're fun and bright and a deliberate tongue-out-thumbs-in-ears gesture to Old Man Winter with his nasty ice ice and more ice outside.

Which probably isn't a polite way to treat the elderly, come to think of it. But sometimes the elderly aren't as innocent as they might have us believe. Case-in-point: Old Man Winter, who's actually probably the weird brother-in-law of Mother Nature, behind whose back they all talk at nature family reunions.

Wow. Let's refocus, shall we? Skirt is great. White tee alone would've sufficed in spring/summer, but I added a cardigan because it's (ahem) cold. [Editor's note: Yes, I think that's been adequately established in the duration of this post, along with my personal feeling toward said temps...]

I like the layering of colored tights, long grey socks, and boots on my legs for some reason here. And, always, the pop of color in this salmony necklace. Which I've worn here and here.

Sooo...I'm dying to know. Do you secretly wish I'd worn a belt with this? Be honest.

Happy Thursday.

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

Want this (kind of) look? plaid skirt   cardigan   tights

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