layered like an onion. a 1-layered onion, sure, but an onion nonetheless...

 shoes: steve madden. dress & necklace: forever21. belt: kohl's. shirt: eddie bauer (?). watch: target. flower clip: downeast basics. earrings: hawaii.

My brain is still on vacation. And by "vacation" I of course mean "absent and/or scattered and/or eating cotton candy." Remember those one posters from the 90s, "this is your brain, this is your brain on drugs"? I don't actually remember more than that on the posters, 'cept eggs were involved somehow. And maybe bacon.

Speaking of...my husband loves bacon. Personally, I could live without it, mostly because whenever I cook it, my house reeks of 1-, 2-, and 3-day-old bacon stench. Which, if you've never experienced it, isn't something to live for. Unless you're my husband and son. Then, by all means, feel free to build a life's motto around the wrinkly crinkly strips of meat-speckled-fat somehow. And I'll stitch your words onto a pillow. After I learn to stitch.

Know what I don't need to learn anymore? This: despite their festive and brightly colored plastic coverings, hot glue guns are not kidding around about the "hot" part of their name. Three blisters later, this girl's got herself some serious Life's-Lessons-turned-Motivational-Speech fodder. Bring on the auditoriums full of impressionable youth; they'll learn from me and believe. Booyah.

Happy Wednesday.

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More Forever 21...

sometimes there's no method...it's just madness...

 shoes: steve madden. maxi dress: forever21. sash: off a shirt from kohl's. denim jacket: gap. flower clip: gift. watch: target. bracelet: don't recall.

Today I'm wearing a belt sash from off a shirt as a neck-thingy. No reason, really. I just felt like doing something crazy today. My Plan A of Craziness actually involved a baby grand piano, an old VW beetle, and 3 bottles of ketchup. Unfortunately, I only could track down 2 ketchup bottles. So. Plan B: sash as neck-thingy it is.

Is anyone getting tired of stripes? Yeah, me either. I can't really get enough of them, to be honest. Never mind the fact that, worn horizontally from neck to ankle like in this dress, they're not the most elongating and slimming pattern I could dream up for my already boxy body shape. But I just love them so that I can't help myself. Which is partly why I added the denim jacket and long neck-thingy. Well, that and the ketchup dilemma, as described above. 

I was hoping those two additions would help cut down the striped-stumpiness that my body becomes in this dress. I don't think it really worked. But I'm dressed and super comfortable and ready to roll today. Stump it up, buttercup.

Happy Tuesday.

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More Madden-Girl...

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!