twists and turns

Apparently there was something super interesting outside my window. Like the garbage truck.

 shoes, jeans, & slouchy tee: american eagle outfitters. striped tunic & wide belt: forever21. cardigan: don't recall. earrings: hawaii. watch: target. bracelet: burntsiena designs.

Allow me to totally geek out on you all for a minute...please? (You hesitate, probably because you're baffled as to how this would be any different from any other post on here...) So. Geek Central: I love the balance of circles-and-stripes in this outfit. Belt clasp, watch face, earrings, necklace = all circles. Tunic and the line of the sash on my head = stripes. Unexpected and maybe awesome for me here.

And I didn't even plan it, really. Which makes me think today is going to be a normal day with pops o' fabulousness. Probably dinner will taste okay tonight. My kids won't hit each other when they argue. And my sore throat won't progress into a full-fledged cold. How could I not love a day like today?

Which makes me also think that my future's looking pretty stinking bright as a psychic or fortune cookie author. "You will do great things when you take your kids to the playground and offer a crying stranger a slice of your gala apple." "You will meet someone new who has purple hair and a garage band." Sure, they're a touch specific, but that doesn't mean they won't happen...and if when they do, think how disturbing crazy-awesome that would be!!!

Happy Tuesday.

p.s. I wore my slouchy tee backwards under the tunic today. Thoughts on that little rule-breakage?

Want this look? You don't have to answer that. I already know. (Remember? I'm psychic now.) Shop below...

More Forever 21...

just a little outfit I like to call: zebra in a rain forest.

 boots: (all together now) target. tights & necklace: don't recall. skirt: gap. tunic & belt: forever21. cardigan: the limited. bracelet: open jewelry market in hawaii.

So many style blogs out there have beautiful photos. The outfits are good, too, but the photography itself is straight-up eye candy. I'm very impressed.

And then...there's this blog. Self-timer, same exact backdrop every day. Sure, the poses are slightly modified on the daily, but all in all, the only thing that really changes around here is what I'm wearing. (And, FINE, the zit placement on my face. Blugh.) 

There are loads of cool photog sites in my town, and I've toyed with the idea of branching out. But I've decided against it for a few reasons: (1) As much as I love you all, I'm just too lazy to tote kids around to take some photos of myself. (2) I'm lazy. (3) I have kids. (4) Did I mention I'm lazy? "Lazy with Children"...sweet name for a TV show... 

It's just about all I can do to get these pics snapped in the morning whilst the kids dine on a fabulous homemade breakfast (homemade by a man named General Mills...ever heard of him?). I'm not making excuses, I'm just saying. That's why I photog, day in and day out, in this spot in my house: it's convenient and I can multitask while doing it. Bam. Done and done. Still in the Mother of the Year running.

But that's not to say these self-photo shoots run like clockwork every day. Even in this controlled environment, complications arise. Like this morning. But it's the cutest, most free-spirited little complication I've ever seen: 

Happy Thursday.

Want this look? Check out similar items below: 

More Lily White...

mission: impossible

Hi! If you're new to my blog: Welcome! No, seriously, I'm glad you came by; I hope you come back often. In fact, I'm going to try to permanently endear myself to you in the classic manner that I first attracted and endeared myself to Pocket: The Wink. 

'Cept I forgot to mention...I can't wink (no kidding). And I didn't endear myself to Pocket by attempting it. It's actually by sheer stars alignment (coupled with his poor eyesight) that he ever spoke to me in the first place, let alone tears-streaming-down-his-face-begged* me to marry him.

(* Maybe an ever-so-slight exaggeration. But maybe not.)

shoes: thrifted. jeans: kohl's. cowl neck shirt: j. crew. striped tunic & belt: forever21. watch: target. earrings: gift.

I have to apologize: sometimes, despite being 31 years mature, I get in silly moods. Today is one of those times. I blame it wholeheartedly on these adorably-8th-grade camo wedges -- they're bringing out the craziness that I usually keep silenced with ample supplies of pnut m&ms and Dumas. But I've been trying to consume less junk these days (with questionable success) (and by "questionable" I of course mean "zero"), and I haven't been reading as much as I'd like. I'm afraid what you see here is the result.

Inspired by the camoflauge on my shoes (which, I'm sorry, but I think camo is just a fantastic print), I attempted acting out a stealth mission in the last photo sequence above. Note the binocs. Note the "blending in" with the natural surroundings. Note, again, the binocs.

Okay, so I actually don't know that much about stealth missions. I kiiiiiind of ran out of ideas after the first two shots. But this much I do know: I nailed it with the striped tunic as uniform, particularly if your stealth mission involves zebras...lying sideways...

Happy Wednesday.

Want a super-stealth look like this? Check out the stuff below...

More Forever 21...

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...

just another manic monday

 boots: target. jeans: so brand. cami & cardi: vintage. tunic & bracelet: F21. belt: pocket's.

Bad news, guys. I'm kind of having a closet crisis. Like, I want all new stuff and am creating a mental shopping list of, conservatively speaking, about 5.3 million items. And they're calling my online username and credit card number. Must....fight....urge....

(ahem) But that's neither here nor there. [Editor's note: I'll tell you what IS here, though: freezing-cold-icy-subzero temps. Well, not actually subzero. That was an exaggeration. But it FEELS like 80 or 300 below. So. Just roll with it.] Today's jumping-off point: this striped tunic. Last time I wore it, I amped up the coloration with some blues and purple. But I think the iciness around me crept into my brain and froze part of it so I can only think in b&w. Which could be good OR bad (for example, Bad: those old tiny static tvs. And mimes. Good: It's a Wonderful Life. And black licorice with something white. Like my teeth. Eating it.).

But even though the starting piece was b&w, I actually wanted to go less stark-contrasty today. More along the lines of grayscale. Hence the grey skinnies and default ivory cardigan ("default" because the length seemed good paired with the tunic, and it was a solid non-color).

To warm up the wintery tones a bit, I added some neutral earthy brown via belt and boots. Oh, and cami. Even though it's frigid outside (and in the guest bedroom in my house) [Editor's note: But don't be alarmed; no guests around to notice. We already moved the last frozen bodies out...] [Assistant Editor: Come ON. Gross.], I didn't want a scarf today. Thought it would be a little too much with these stripes. I like how the brown cami doesn't speak much in terms of color but gives an interesting neckline to what would otherwise be a *cough* low one.

Um, what else? Kept my hair down purely for warmth. Is that too cavemannish to admit? If so...oops. (And pass the medium-rare steak, please.) Oh, and the bracelet. Last-minute decision to add a pop of color but not too much. And I love its oversizedness. A little bit Unexpected and Maybe Awesome. 

I feel good today. Comfy. And, really, I'll probably grow to love these icicles growing on my eyelashes, so...no big deal there either.

Happy Monday.

womens striped tunic

It's beginning to look a lot like...Wednesday.

A stripey Wednesday at that. Not even on purpose, all three of us girls wore stripes today. (p.s. Seriously, where did Layla learn to pose like that? I tried to copy her, but she's much cuter at it.)

My only wish is that I could've had mustard-yellow tights to go with this. Which brings me to my brief point of introspection...

...which came to me whilst cleaning the bathrooms this morning. Sometimes I get caught up in wanting wanting wanting new stuff. Especially this time of year. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for what I have, but...the appeal of newness gleams brightly. Then I thought about how we got new bathrooms after our flood a couple of years ago, and I was stoked about that. Then time went on, and they became less and less new. Especially with a 5- and then 6-year-old boy in the house. Like, disturbingly NOT new.

Epitome: If I take care of, clean, and enjoy what I have, new things aren't nearly as necessary. It's when I let things get old and dumpy and messy and junky that I'm dissatisfied.

And if THAT deep thinking doesn't just throw you right into a tailspin, well, I just don't know what to say. Go eat a stripey candy cane, I guess.

Happy Wednesday.