Splish, Splash!

We may need an ark before this day is over. The rain, and lots and lots of it, is coming!! Well, I am prepared! My new rain boots from Target came yesterday!! I have been wanting a pair for a long time but I'm cheap. I didn't want to pay $24.99 and up for them. I was perusing the Target website during the Black Friday sales and found them for $15!!! YAY!! They were in my cart faster than you can turn around! And they were at my house yesterday! I was never so excited to see rain in the forecast!

I also decided to jump on the military look/skinny olive cargo pant band wagon. I've seen many in Style Nation wear them and look oh so cute. Again. I'm cheap. But Saturday, Charlotte Russe still had a Black Friday sale going on and I scored a pair for $14!! (I've looked and looked at Goodwill and other thrift stores and couldn't find a pair in my size. Finding them on sale, though, was almost as good!)Oh and a little tip from me to you? Don't do what I did and buy up a size because they are skinny pants and you're afraid they'll be too tight after they are washed. I spent the entire day pulling them up!

I guess I was channeling...oh, everyone when I put this outfit together! LOL  But here's a pic from Chictopia and one of Posh Spice. <snort> As if.



Chictopia

Posh Spice

 I liked the black and gray with the green. Here's how I did it:

Pulling up my pants yet again!

I added a leopard scarf to mine because I was cold. I also employed my favorite layering trick. I have a gray sequin tank top on top of a gray t shirt. And topped it with my thrifted black wool blazer. What do you think?

Ok. Y'all have a great day. I'm taking my rain boots out to splash in some puddles!!

I'm Baaaaaack!

 I missed you all here in Blogville!  And thanks to Joy for taking over singlehandedly for a few days.  Trust me, I did not imagine being in Bloomington, Indiana without access to a camera or computer!!!!

But, I am happy to be here and missed hanging out with all of you.

I am still having way to much fun mixing it up and pairing pieces together that normally would stay FAR away from each other.  But now they say "Can't we all just get along and look good?"

YES, you can.

What? my hair looks shorter and blonder and I used to part it on the other side? Why yes. **

 It's chilly here in Georgia, but I came from frolicking in 27 degrees so am not complaining.  However, the key is the layering.  So layering I do.  Textures can be mixed also.  This dress is herringbone tweed, the tights are a rose floral and the jacket is corduroy with fur (calm down....it's not real). 

 Yes, I am hamming it up.  It made Joy and me laugh which is good because it usually takes me a few days to get over being homesick for Indiana and LOTS of family and friends!  Hahahahahah (It's helping, really)

 I found these shoes at Target (current) and they have a rose-like decoration! 

The tights are from Target also.

Dress: Ann Taylor Loft

Jacket: ATL-Studio

Shirt- Banana Republic-clearance

Necklace-PacSun

Thanksgiving hug from Spouse
12 hours in a car with 4 kids and we still love each other....awwwww.

CarolAnn (a friend from Middle School and High School) played with our kids at WonderLab!  If you are ever in the area of Bloomington-you must go!!!  And then we took the troops to her mothers house for lunch!  How sweet was that???
The picture has intentionally cut out the kids.


I hope you all had a great time celebrating with your loved ones as well!  We took home some of the best memories I ever thought possible and feel blessed to be part of such a wonderful family! (and frienships)

**

A week ago hair was longer, darker and parted on the other side.



Sparkling Saturday!!

Can I just say, I MISS LISE! I need her home!! Ok. Ahem.

So, we skipped out on the Black Friday madness. As I read around, a lot of folks got some really good deals. YAY for fabulous bargain finding.

Saturday we met up with a friend and headed to the Mall of Georgia for some shopping and to see Harry Potter. We had some good luck. Leah found her Christmas present from my mom and the shoes that she had been wanting for ages. Blake had some money burning a hole in his pocket and bought a game at Gamestop that he had been wanting for ages. And I bought a pair of skinny cargo pants that I've been wanting for ages, and some floral tights. Hopefully, I'll wear both those things this week.

I wore a white long sleeve tee and layered a white sequined tank over it and then wore my silver, sparkly cardi over that. I paired it all with a jeans and black boots. I should have taken a picture without the cardigan on, but I didn't think about it at the time. I was COLD.  The tee and tank were both from Charlotte Russe, which is where I bought the pants and tights. The girl at the counter said, Oooh. I like how you layered our shirts. I think I'll try that.

It made me feel good, cause my daughter had been telling me all day how stupid it was to wear a tank top over a shirt. So, HA!  The jeans are from Kohls, the cardi from Target and the boots are Miley Cyrus from WalMart. Yeah. I like cheap shoes!

Harry Potter was so very awesome. It was dark and and bleak and tense, but soooo good. I can't wait for the last one. And I also can't wait for The Green Lantern & Cowboys and Aliens. There's a lot for a geek out there.

We came home and watched the Dawgs whip up on the Yellow Jackets. GOOOO DAWGS!! Even Jakey got in on it.

Black Friday

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families yesterday. Did you eat too much? I know I did, but it was sooo good! We don't do anything fancy. We go to my mama's to eat lunch and then usually go back for supper too.  Here's what I wore down there. Just a pair of Old Navy skinnys and flats, a flannel shirt with a sparkly tank top from Charlotte Russe under it. Just a word of advice....skinnys and Thanksgiving do NOT go together!

For the first time in several years, I was not up early to shop. I really didn't see anything in those sale papers worth staying up for or getting up early for. PLUS it was raining cats and dogs here around 4 am. I'm sure there were some folks who got soaked out there!

Our plan for the day was to meet up with one of my friends and go to Mall of Georgia to walk around a bit and go see Harry Potter. But my son turned sick last night and those plans went out the window. So now we are just lazing around and watching too much tv. You know he's sick when he hasn't even touched a computer or the XBox. We'll try again tomorrow.

Wednesday was a short day at work. We left a little early. I was wearing red, white and blue. I'm not sure why I was so patriotic Wednesday. I've had this red and white polka dot shirt since summer.I purchased it off Ebay. It looked much better on Ebay than it did when I got it.  I just couldn't figure out how to wear it. The tie around my neck is actually the belt for this shirt, but it just didn't look good on me belted. I'm still unsure of this shirt. The collar bothers me. It's too wide or something.

 

Hey, Style Underdog, see my invisible plane in the fog? ;)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

We hope you and your families all have a wonderful day today!! I'm thankful for my funny and awesome family and my fabulous friends. I'm also thankful for the new friends that I've made thru this blog. You all rock!!

Gobble, Gobble!!

Me and My Sweetie!

Ben was a sweetie this weekend and took all my outfit photos for me. He's usually already gone to work by the time I'm dressed in the morning and can't do it. He agreed to taking the photos but wanted photos of himself, too! LOL So I have outfit shots of me, Ben and of us together!  This first one from Friday is my absolute favorite of the two of us!


You can see we wore a lot of flannel, a lot of vest, cords, and jeans. Perfect attire for the Great Smokey Mountains and Dollywood!

We are looking TIRED by Sunday!! I didn't want to do my hair, so I slapped on a hat!! He's such a good sport about it all! I love that man!! Ladies, marry a man that makes you laugh. That laughter can get you through just about anything. 15 years later and I love him more every day!

I have to confess to having a love affair with something else, though. And this love affair has been going on for most of my life. I really can't start my day without it and it seems to make everything better!!

I really, really wanted to bring this home with me!!

Pass The Mustard

The kids are out of school, and I am packing for our Thanksgiving trip to Indiana and it hits me that I need to blog!  I change outfits a bunch of times before pulling this totally "out of the box" look together.  Then I call my 8 year old daughter upstairs to man the camera.  As you will see we also had to contend with the puppy who was determined to be photobomb champion of the day!  He is so sad because the construction is going on full force and he can't be outside.  He keeps trying to climb the ladders and I was afraid that some poor worker on top of one of those ladders would come flying off.

 I was totally bored with this so I layered a cardigan on top of a cardigan.  I couldn't decide which color to go with and then thought "Hey, mustard is a good topping for food, it must work with fashion".

So, mustard it was.  I kind of relish this look.  It's a good topping.  Yes, this is on purpose, catsup with me here.  This blog is peppered with puns 'cause I am one salty gal.  OK, I'm done.

This whole look came from Target!  I have recently found that this is a fun and inexpensive place for clothes and am loving the different looks you can put together!  I am wearing a hat because my hair is a work in progress that Spouse will finish tonight and I will reveal another day.  It's very fun!

All these pieces were found on the 70% off rack!!!

The only exceptions are the teal cardi from ATL

And the BORN boots.

I can't hold him off any more folks!

I am trying to get a close up of the skirt and tights pattern....

Got it!!!  (But only because the puppy is sleeping now)

See? We wore him out!  Sweet dreams Baron!

How are all your plans coming along?  Is it relaxed, do you have family coming?  Are they coming to your house?  What kind of traditions do you do for Thanksgiving?  Eat at a restaurant?  Turkey? Ham?

What the heck is Thanksgiving? lol

From The Smokies to Goats On A Roof

I'm baaacckkkk!! Did you miss me? I was in serious withdrawals for my laptop. You would not believe how much reading I need to catch up on!! Aaack!

We had a fabulous time, though, and the weather was perfect. We've been when it was just so cold you couldn't enjoy yourself. But this weekend was great. This is going to be a picture heavy post, just to warn you!

Thursday, the kids each took a test at school and then we were on our way. Once we got there and got unpacked, I went and got us some groceries. It may be vacation, but we still cook and eat in. It's cheaper that way! Then we went to Tanger Outlets. We have one at home, but there's different stores at the one up there. And OMG! They had JUST opened a Michael Kors outlet!!!!! <dreamy sigh> Yeah, Ben didn't buy me the purse I wanted. Oh well.

Our cabin, Bear Hugs,  wasn't too far off the parkway. And it was already decorated for Christmas! So cute! Here's pictures of the inside. Gets you in the Christmas spirit right away.

 
Friday, it was off to Dollywood. We got there at 10 am. The only problem is, they didn't open until 2 pm!! So, we spent a few hours perusing shops on the parkway, fixed some lunch and went back. I don't know if you ever been to Dollywood at Christmas, but it is GORGEOUS. There's over a million lights. They start putting them up in August and they light them in November and they tear them down after New Year's Day.  It's breathtaking at night.


Purple Tree for B!



Blake in front of giant snowman and blue tree

Blake and Leah in front of lighted Dollywood butterfly

Saturday, we rode up to Cades Cove. It's an 11 mile loop around the cove. You can see all sorts of wildlife, deer, bear, etc. We saw several deer.  The way we acted, you'd think we don't see deer every day in our own yard! It was gorgeous up there.

Blake at river in Cades Cover

Church in Cades Cove

Deer in Cades Cove right by the road

Then we went back to Pigeon Forge and to Dollywood. Blake talked me into doing this Adventure thing with him. It's a course of ropes and bridges and beams. You're attached by a lanyard and there's no danger of you falling, but my head still didn't believe it. I did not enjoy it at all. I will not be doing it with him again! Here's my walking around the rock wall, that felt 50 feet off the ground. Ben said it was maybe 12. See how easy everyone else is making it look? See how scared I look?! LOL The things we do for our children! Roller coasters are one thing, but they will not get me to do this thing again!

Holding on for dear life!!

We ended the weekend by stopping at this place outside of Clayton called Goats on the Roof. We've passed it a dozen times and just never stopped. It's a general store and..well, goats on the roof. Very exciting...

Goats. On a roof. Exciting...not so much

We're back home, unpacked and ready to go back to work. We'll be going back in the summer and next Christmas, too!

Now, I'm off to read what everyone else has been up to this weekend! I'll do outfit posts another day this week. Ben was getting into the outfit post spirit and is in every one of my outfit pictures. But he looks pretty good, so I will post them!

Grin and Bare it!!!

About a month ago Joy bared her face to all of you in BloggerLand.  I was impressed, but NOT about to follow her example, because hey, like I want to have my face spread on the web naked!

The horror of it all!  My kids laughed an agreed that was something I would NEVER do because I wouldn't even step out of the house without my "full face bring it on makeup".

Hmmmmm.....that gave me something to think about.  What is the BIG deal?

My husband has always said that I am equal parts Lady Diana and Lucille Ball.  He is so right.  The Lady Diana part is tricky because it insists on putting on a good public face no matter what is going on inside.

(Calling Brie VandeKamp!!!!)

It's like I have Mary Poppins Syndrome "Practically perfect in every way".  I strive to do everything and do it with perfection.  What is up with that???  This makes it hard to just let my hair down and say "Hello world, look at all my wrinkles and imperfections!!!!!" LOL 

But I have this one amazing little girl who is 9.  What crazy kind of example is that?  

Beauty is only skin deep and all that. 

On top of all this, I was reading a blog

"Dressing Mommy" http://dressingmommy.blogspot.com/ and she put out a challenge to bare ourselves (faces ladies, just faces).

So, here I am world.....Not even a stitch of foundation.

Seriously, my kids thought this was so much fun they are stalking me with the CAMERA!!! LOL

 And there you have it.  The hair is air-dried, not hair product, NOTHING!!  I have horrid dark circles and I think I have completely lost my mind to be doing this.  But my kids and Spouse have been making a list of the things that make me beautiful and that is the most beautiful thing of all.

Apparently they love that I laugh...A LOT.  I give the best hugs, do the best accents when I read books aloud, and make the best dinners.  I am also fun to watch during scary movies and they think I am the best substitute teacher there ever was!   Hey, not bad!!!!

On the flip side I can enhance that inner beauty, play up my eyes and all that.

And for some weird lighting reason, look like I just had a horrid spray tan!  Yikes!

How about you ladies?  do you love makeup?  Does it help you feel more confident?  Beautiful?

AWAKE?

Or do you dread running into people when you look like you just woke up?

Tomorrow is a new and exciting day.  I feel another one of those "Winds of Change" coming on!  I have a feeling that if you check in tomorrow, this blog may have a new look.  Or at least I might.....hmmmmmm