larger than life

 shoes: converse brand. leggings: old navy. skirt: thrifted & modified. shirt: gap. watch: target. bracelets: forever21.

So our across-the-street neighbors had a yard sale on Saturday because they're moving. I got a set of jumper cables for $2, which I'm appreciative of, but beyond that I'm pretty mad at them.* 

[*Neighbs, if you're reading this, know I'm not really mad at you. Just, y'know, at the situation.]

My kids really really wanted to go to their yard sale after my jumper cable purchase, so they all got themselves dressed and their chores done (a prerequisite for such an excursion), and my daughter found her wallet in which all three kids' collective earnings were stored. I stayed in the kitchen doing the dishes, leaving the front door open and my ears hearing this:

[nothing for a while, then my son's adorable voice explaining] "Yeah, but we only have a five-dollar and two one-dollars, so I guess we can't buy it."

[muffled voices heard over my sigh of relief that more stuff was not going to be accumulated as a result of this venture]
[relative silence for about 3 minutes]

[kids enter the house; girls are squealing, son is grunting as he plops THIS in the entryway]:

I'm less than thrilled about it. The thing's enormous. The kids couldn't be more proud of themselves. (Their grampa's proud of their "wheelin-and-dealin," but their grampa doesn't have a life-size stuffed animal in his house, either. So.)

If you need me, I'll be smashing down walls for an extension to fit the new guy. Or dropping one of the kiddos off in a basket on the neighbor's porch. One of the two; I haven't decided.

Happy Monday.

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sometimes i don't WANT to make lemonade...

 shoes, belt, & bracelets: forever21. skirt: thrifted. skirt extender: a slip shop. shirt: j.crew. watch: target. necklace: don't recall.

I apologize for this ensemble. Not much thought went into it or the pics. Why? Read on...

So, apparently a sprinkler pipe in our yard has been broken for a little while. Because our guest bedroom, which I went in yesterday to prepare for my parents' arrival at our house, had flooded. Not super badly (heaven knows plenty of people around here have it much, much worse in the flooding department this year), but enough that our only option was to pull up the carpet and borrow about 14 enormous fans to try to dry everything out.

Guess what smells worse than wet carpet? You might think "a gassy dog" or "dairy farms" or "burnt coffee cake batter" (don't ask), and those things are very, ah, aromatically disturbing. But the answer I'm looking for is actually "very very wet carpet." Bingo. I know this first-hand. Look into my tired, bloodshot eyes and see my wrinkled nose and believe.

Sighhhh... Our house flooded big-time two years ago while we were on vacation, and my husband and I have since had a knee-jerk aversion to water. This recent indoor swimming pool brings back all sorts of memories.

You know, sometimes we come to a crossroads in life, where the decision made will affect the rest of our lives. This is one of them: from here on out, I'll hydrate my children, and lawn, with hand-poured teaspoonfuls of gatorade. If you need me, I'll be out front, watering our square foot of grass.

Happy Thursday...?

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on sunburn and psyche

 shoes: converse brand. leggings: don't recall (maybe old navy?). skirt & vest: thrifted. shirt j.crew. hairclip: downeast basics. necklace: handmade gift. watch: gift (citizen brand).

My daughter couldn't decide which bracelet of mine to wear this morning...so she wore them all. There's a lesson in there somewhere, don't you think? (p.s. Enlarge the photo below to check her face(s) out. Priceless.)

I have a peeling sunburn on my nose and the top of my forehead at my hairline. That's right. Super classy dandruff-lady, comin' through. Is it weird that I kinda planned this hodge-podge ensemble around that? Dandruff? I wanted to wear something that says, "hey, I'm actually a fairly hygienic person [minus flossing], but I'm sporting some scalp flakeage right now, so instead of stressing about something that will go away on its own in a day or two, I'll just dress all random like I'm super laid-back and you'll think I'm the outdoorsy type, in which case said peeling sunburn totally makes sense and actually makes me look kinda cool and approachable."

I think I nailed it. The "dress all random" part, anyway. Polka dot skirt with vest and baseball henley? Yeah baby. Definitely random.

Speaking of...My husband said, "yeah baby" to me the other day, which nearly caused our 2-year-old to have a pint-sized heart attack. "Dad! Mom is not yoi BABY! She's mom!" I think I'm getting old.

Happy Tuesday.

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simplicity doesn't have to be boring.

 shoes: converse brand. leggings: old navy. skirt: thrifted. sweater: vintage (american eagle). belt: forever21. flower clip: handmade gift.

Last night after tucking her in, I told my 2-year-old daughter, "I'll be back in 5 minutes to turn out your lamp." To which she responded, "I wuv you too, mom." Talk about unexpected and maybe awesome.

Know what else is unexpected and maybe awesome? (Queen of segues, right here.) These shoes. With this skirt. With this sweater. With some leggings. This outfit is pretty basic, but I love it so much! How can that be? I think it's partly because each piece speaks for itself; it's not hidden or manipulated in any way...which is what I feel like I do too often. Cheat.

Annnnd the other-partly reason I like it is because my lips match the Chucks. And the Chucks are bright red.

But, enough about me. Let's talk about Ahnold. Whut the...? Okay, enough about Arnold, let's talk about The Voice. Love its entertainment quotient (minus Christina's "unfortunate bleach job," as Elissa so aptly put it). Okay, enough about The Voice, let's talk about how I'm going to sort through about 28 boxes of baby/kid clothes and de-junk.

Wait. Let's not talk about that. Makes me depressed.

Happy Wednesday.

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white legs, white legs, what do you see?...

shoes: don't recall. white legs: wyntair au natural. skirt: thrifted. slip: a slip shop. shirt & jacket: kohl's. bracelet: forever21. earrings: hawaii.

Confession: up until about 4 months ago, my legs have been the bane of my existence. Well, nearly. I've spent my whole life being embarrassed of them, because to me they were simply massive hunks o' whale blub. Or something equally as unflattering. Even as a long-distance runner, I couldn't do anything to slim them down. Which was frustrating and embarrassing and annoying.

Enter: this blog beginning in December, which involved taking daily photos of me, which (naturally) involved my legs...or some super awkward poses. Oh. Wait...

Maybe I've become numb to them (the sight of my legs) after sorting through hundreds of self-pics over the past few months. Maybe my acceptance of and appreciation for different body types has changed as I've viewed and enjoyed countless other style blogs. Maybe...I dunno. Can't think of any other scenarios. But for whatever glorious reason, I'm not ashamed of my legs anymore. Sure, they're white. Sure, my calves are larger than the average bear's. Sure I'll never be able to pull off some styles because of them.

But it's okay, because they're functional. They're very forgiving of the pounding I put them through by running. They go wherever I want them to, whenever I want them to. And they keep my feet attached to the rest of my body...which is good because I happen to like shoes. 

Anyway. This post is dedicated to you, legs o' mine. In all your winter-whitened glory. *clink & drink*

Happy Monday!

p.s. Has anyone else experienced a lifetime outlook change as a result of style/fashion blogging? Or reading blogs? Seriously, I'd love to hear.
p.p.s. If you're a modest style blogger, don't forget to click on "Modest Style Blogs" in my top navigation bar and follow the instructions...
p.p.p.s. Could this post's "goodbye" be any more drawn-out and awkward? Nope.

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