HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe and Happy New Year!!

I spent the day shopping with Ben and Leah. (Blake never goes. He always chooses to play video games with Lise's kids. Go figure.)  We went to Kohl's where I had a little Kohl's cash. But for once, I couldn't find anything to spend that $10 on! Any other time, I'd find a dozen things I wanted, but not today. I did end up getting a pair of silver earrings. Woopee.

We also went to Goodwill and I DID find some things there. I got a cute Talbots skirt AND a Talbots sweater that still had the tags on it! I got a blue Lands End cardigan and a green sweater to go with the skirt. I have $19.76 in the whole lot! WOOHOO!!

I wore the sweater and shell from Coldwater Creek that Lise gave me for Christmas. Lise has good taste!! And I wore my new Target boots that I got with some of my Christmas money. I am in love with them! They have the stretchy panel in the back so they fit my calves better than most boots.

Tonight...well, I'm sitting here blogging to you. So I guess that tells you that we are not going out partying anywhere tonight! LOL  The spirit is willing but the body is weak. I'm just too tired to deal with it. I'm sitting in my pjs watching Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper. I love watching them. I just love seeing Kathy embarrass Anderson and Anderson never knows what she's going to say next. (I just flat out love Anderson Cooper Period!)

I'm happy to have met you all this year. We started this blog not really knowing where it was going to go or if anyone would even read it. It got us started in the blogging community and put us in touch with some wonderful women. You all inspire us everyday. I can't wait to see what you all have in store for next year!

Gray Skies Are Gonna Clear Up....



New shoes! Sparkly tank and scarf! Bling on pockets!



What's up with that pose?!

I must have been feeling gray yesterday as I dressed in it from head to toe! But it did have some sparkle to it. I guess that was my silver lining?! HA!  And I had on new shoes! That always makes me happy. What makes me even happier is new shoes that were on clearance for $12, at Kohl's!

Today, I decided, needed to be brighter and sparklier and shinier! (Moment of silence for Firefly. The geeks among us will get it.) Which is ironic because as I type this the sun isn't quite as bright as when I came in and gray clouds are coming in. What's up with that?



 I did my favorite thing of putting a sequin tank over a t shirt. I'm nothing if not consistent. And then I couldn't decide whether to wear my sparkly silver sweater or not. What do you think? I added the pink scarf for a shot of color. It's got blue and black and other colors in it, too, but you can't really see them in the pictures.
 

Without the sweater



With the sweater

See the other colors in the scarf?

Here's the other watch I got at the same time as the red.
You can see it's a little bigger than the red one.

Blake has been my photographer this week and he insisted that he be on the blog, too! LOL He's done a pretty good job.

I just want to say how much I love everyone that follows us and the comments that you leave. Especially the comments left to Lise yesterday.  You really don't know how much they mean to her and how much they help her. It helps knowing that others have gone or are going thru the same thing. It helps her keep her sense of humor and her sanity. Thank y'all so very much for that!

Krispy Kreme Krook Kaught!

Teal is about my favorite color!

 As many of you may know, my mother-in-law, Ida, has moved in with us.  She has Dementia brought on by AD (Alzheimer's Disease) with a side order of Sundowners Syndrome!  Sundowners affects approx 20% of those with AD and basically everything implodes at dusk.  That is the easiest way to say it! lol  I am so happy to be at work today and even my severely sleep deprived eyes have a touch of sparkle in them just by being here today.  This is good since the circles under my eyes have turned into cul-de-sacs!  :)

It is not an easy transition to say the very least.  My son with Asbergers pretty much won't come out of his room.  I can't blame him.  I don't want to come out of mine either.  My daughter was so cute and said "Fix it Momma, you can fix anything!".   *sigh*  (where did that magic wand go?)

Humor is my resort.  So, here are the interesting things I have learned from Ida since she moved in:

1.  We are supposed to go outside to milk cows.  We obviously don't have cows because our sorry dog doesn't know how to herd them in to be milked.

   Actually:  We live in a neighborhood.  Owning cows is against the covenants of the neighborhood and our dog is a standard poodle who has never seen a cow which would explain his inability to herd them.

2.  I seem like a nice girl.  Grant should make an honest woman out of me and marry me.  

    Actually:  Grant and I have been married 16 years and have four children.  I also have two step sons.

Ida: Where did you find them (the stepsons) at?

Lise:  They were here when I got here.

Ida:  They came with the house?

Lise:  No, they came with your son.

Ida:  Where did he get them?

Lise:.......uhm....his ex-wife.

Ida:  Where did she come from?

Lise......uhmm....could I phone a friend?

3.  Ida says she doesn't like sweets.

    Actually:  You do.  I bought 2 dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.  Morning comes with 1 dozen of them gone.  Spouse blames kids.  I explain that there's no way the children did it because they don't like the plain ones.  They go for the chocolate covered and such.  But there it was....one empty box of plain doughnuts.  We check Ida's room and find a mountain of wadded up napkins with doughnut crumbs all over them.  Sure enough, Ida ate 1 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts during her wanderings through the night. 

    Note to self:  Buy childproof locks for cabinets.....and pantry, and.....

    



Keep smiling!!



Today's post has been brought to you by the letter K. 

The outfit?  Brought to you by some really good shopping fun with Joy at the outlets!

Jewelry:  J. Crew (50% 0ff)

Gloves:  Coach (in first picture)

Shirt:  Banana Republic ($9)

Vest:  Ann Taylor (thrifted)

Pants:  Banana Republic ($14.99)-and long!

Purse: Coach

Flower: Leah Hollet (gifted)

Smile:  Mine

Thanks again for all the wonderful holiday wishes and all the new followers!  We love meeting each of you and learning your stories also.

Back to Work I Go

First of all, thank you for all the warm holiday wishes!! It's nice to know we've made all these new friends doing this blog!

We had a nice surprise Christmas evening-SNOW! I don't even like snow, but I had to admit that it's pretty magical to actually have a white Christmas. That's not something you ever see down here. In fact, it's the first time it's snowed on Christmas, in Georgia,  in almost 120 years!!  I have to tell you, though, the dog was NOT impressed. Poor little Mexican dog HATED it!!  But he sure is cute in his coat that my mama gave him for Christmas. Thank goodness she did!!

Yesterday Lise and I took some of the kids shopping. We had a great time spending our Christmas money!! We'll have lots to show you in the coming weeks. Did you get anything good for Christmas? Ben gave me this beautiful new bracelet.

He did good, huh?

And I bought myself this watch yesterday:

And my parents gave me the wonderful reversible Liz Claiborne fur vest in the picture above.

It was hard coming back to work today! I slept thru the alarm and was running seriously late. This is what happens when you tell your son that you need outfit pics before you go to work. He takes them as you eat breakfast over the stove! Well, at least I have an outfit picture!! Have a great day, y'all!


Really? We're going to take pictures now?



I think my shoes are the most interesting part of this outfit!
And they are from Target!

And now I'm off to try to catch up on y'all's blogs!! It may take me days!!

Have Yourself A Very Merry Christmas!!

We hope that all of you and your families and loved ones have a wonderful and beautiful Christmas.

 

We'll see you in a couple of days! I'm sure we will all have new outfits and things to share with each other!!

I am happy to ride in Coach!

Coach hat, coat and purse that is.  I love hitting the last minute Christmas sales.  I have all of Christmas bought and wrapped, but some of the sales are just too good to pass up.  And what better to wear shopping than a little matching coat and purse from Coach? As always, I throw on a hat as well.  Warmth and style!

These pieces were on sale and I had a coupon for 30% off! 

 Look! The sleeves are long enough! Yay!

Did I mention I had a 30% off coupon for Coach?

 I really, really should have had a hat on today.  This Coach purse has angora and is sooo soft!.  Life has been seriously hectic.  Today we still have workers here, but I think this is the last day.  I secretly believe that these guys just come in shake sheetrock dust randomly around the house.  But the addition is done, painted, tweaked, furnished and cleaned.  Now it will just be moving my mother-in-law in tomorrow.  With her Alzheimer's, this is going to  be quite a task.  Obviously she is not happy about this and just wants to stay at her house.  My father-in-law passed June 30 and she is still processing that.  My heart breaks for her!  I love her and wish  I could fix what is going on in her head.  But, I can take the best care of her possible.  My son with Asbergers is struggling, but he is remarkable also.  And Spouse is....well, just being "Alpha Male".  Hey, that sounds like a new blog: A is for Asbergers, Alzheimer's and Alpha males. LOL   

Wait,  I am not sure I have been laughing enough.   I thought I was handling everything pretty well until I saw this on my camera.  My daughter said this is what I have been looking like lately!  Yikes.  It's a character from the cartoon "Fish Hook".   Hmmmm.....I am starting to see the resemblance now.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Random Questions!! I've Been Tagged!!

Silvergirl tagged me to answer these fun questions. Go to her site and read her fun answers!! And see her awesome style. She's been rocking the sequins lately!!

Oh, so here we go:

1.  What did you want to be when you grew up?

Well, I wanted to be a lot of things at different times. But the one thing that I thought I really wanted to do was be a teacher. I had a chalkboard on the wall and a couple of desks set in front of it. I would "teach" my dolls and stuffed animals. When I got to college, I realized that I do not have the patience to be a teacher! LOL

2.  Favorite childhood game?

 Hmm. This is kinda hard. I was an only child, so it was just me, myself and I most of the time. My mama did sit and play Scrabble with me for hours, though.  At church on Wednesday nights and Sundays, my cousins and I played A LOT of Freeze Tag. Maybe if I played that now, I could lose this extra weight. Hmm....

3.  Most favorite birthday?

 It was my 16th birthday. I got a car. Enough said!

4.  Something you have always wanted to do and haven't yet?
I want to go on a trip around the world. There are so many places I want to see. I want to see Rome and the Coliseum. I want to see the ruins of the Acropolis. I want to see London and the Palace. I want to see Paris and the Eiffle Tower. I want to see it all!! My daughter says we're going to do this when she graduates high school.

5.  What was your first love? 

My first love was a little white fluffy dog named Scruffy. I got her for my 12th birthday. We went to pick her out and she was the runt of the litter, but she was also the most playful. I loved that dog. Bless her heart. She died while Ben and I were gone to a wedding. My parents didn't call and tell me because they didn't want me to be upset while at the wedding.

6.  First musical idol?
  Oh my gosh. Leif Garrett! LOL I had posters of him from Tiger Beat on my room. My how he has changed! He had to fight for my affections with Scott Baio. Scott Baio was the first fan letter I ever wrote and I got a signed poster back! I wanted to marry Scott Baio!

7.  Favorite gift?
 My engagement ring from Ben. And can you believe that he had that money put back for a motor for his Corvette? Isn't it sweet that he sacrificed his motor to get me a diamond? LOL

8.  If a theme song played everywhere I went what would it be?

Margaritaville. Because that's where I'd like to be most of the time. LOL

9.  Favorite city to visit?

 Tybee Island, GA. There's nothing like crossing that last bridge onto Tybee and smelling that marsh mud. I just feel my soul filling up. There is absolutely nothing to do on Tybee and that's what makes it great. It's just sand and sea and sun and food! LOL Once you hit the island, you are on Tybee Time.

Thanks for tagging me Brett!! Hmm...let's see. Who do I want to tag?

1. Vanessa at Big Girl, Small Budget, Tiny Town

2 .Kinsey at In Kinsey's Closet

3. Victoria at Victoria with a K

4. Amber at Fashion Bargain Shopper Extraordinaire

Ladies, You've been tagged!! You're IT! And the rest of you go visit their blogs!! They all have great style and ideas!!

Oh and just in case you think I've abandoned all my Christmas themed clothing:

Penquin socks from Lise's daughter, Kaja!!

The Very Last One

Ok. This is it. The very last tacky Christmas sweater. I think after this, they are all going to Goodwill.

But it's cute, right? RIGHT? It's got cute puppies on it and everything!!

See the cute puppies?!!

There's even a cute one on the back, People!!!  How can you resist that?!

So...this was fun. I'll have to come up with another theme week sometime soon. I'm just ready to wear something OTHER than Christmas sweaters!!

For The Love Of Pearls

Reva at  Revas Rags 2 Roses had the fabulous idea of throwing a pearl party!! You have to go take a look at everyone's pictures. I love how differently everyone wore their pearls, from dressy to casual to al naturale.

I'll be back later with my very last Christmas sweater. I know you're sad to see them go. But until then go visit Reva and all these ladies that participated in the lovely Pearl Party!!

kasmira : http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/

silvergirl: http://silverpooloflightgirl.blogspot.com/

retro reva : http://revasrags2roses.blogspot.com/

lesa: http://alwayssummertink.blogspot.com/

helga: http://helgavontrollop.blogspot.com/

rhianna: http://rhiannaclaire.blogspot.com/

kelly: http://dressingmommy.blogspot.com/

someonelikeyou; http://someonelikeyou18.blogspot.com/

pam: http://over50feeling40.blogspot.com/

 

I'm a little disappointed that we don't know The First Lady's blog address! ;)

I'm Not Done Yet

I know y'all thought I was done with the Christmas sweaters, but I'm not!! I have a couple of more. I am getting tired of them, though. I don't know how you 30 for 30 folks did it. I am missing other clothes and sweaters after a week and I'm just doing Christmas sweaters! I don't think I could ever limit myself to just 30 pieces. So my hat is off to you folks that did it!

So here is today's offering. A red Christmas sweater vest. I put it with my red, elfish Gap tee and khaki cords. It's not too awful. After the first picture, I added a a scarf. It was COLD outside!! Changed anyone's mind yet on tacky Christmas sweaters?!! No? Really? Alrighty. Moving on.

Saturday night we had our First Annual Scarborough/Tyner Christmas Extravaganza! A great time was had by all! We had a delicious dinner and presents and just fun and laughter. And we might be a little redneck. I mean, if you consider one husband teaching the kids how to play blackjack and poker while the other does a show and tell gun and knife safety course redneck.

Lise and her family gave me a beautiful sweater and tank set from Coldwater Creek. Wait til you see it. And some gloves that have the heat sensors in the thumb and pointer finger so you can wear your gloves and still use your iPhone! They are AWESOME! And Kaja gave me some Christmas socks with PENGUINS!! YAY!!  I already can't wait for next year! Can you believe that with a house full of people, we didn't get ANYONE to take a picture of us TOGETHER?! What's wrong with us?!

Have a great week, y'all!!




Jake dressed in his best sweater for the party!



This is how he started out. He was not amused. But he was cute!!

Sunday, Sunday

I don't have a lot to blog about today and no outfit. But this post by Lise's niece over at No Model Lady is a must read for everyone. It's fabulous. Please go check it out click HERE.

Tomorrow, we'll blog about our Christmas get together with the Scarboroughs and the Tyners!!

Hats off to Joy!

  I have really enJoyed this past week and looking at the awesome sweaters of Joys.  So, I looked through my closet and....nothing....   How is it that after all these years, I don't even have as much as a t-shirt with snowmen or something.  Hey, I'm a pretty festive kind of gal.  But I admit an aversion to seasonal sweaters.  It's like kryptonite and somehow I even made it safely through substitute teaching without succumbing to the evil powers of sequin covered sweaters from places like Christopher & Banks who perpetuate this poor choice of fashion.

But I did find some interesting things of my own in there.  I have this thing for funky tights...and HATS!
I love hats!  I would wear one every day if I could.  Yesterday I wore these tights and had a similar experience to Joys a few weeks ago.  Maybe its the color or something but I kept getting stopped by people who wanted to know if they were tattoos!  What?  Seriously?  uhm....no.    One guy even pulled on them to make sure.  ewwwww.   Joy and I thought it was pretty funny that our tights have caused such a stir in Madison County, GA.


Tattoo's?  uhm...no.  lol

 I do have one little evil holiday secret.  One of Spouses clients brings me a christmas pin every year.  I look forward to my "Helen pins".  I have about 10 now and wear them every day.  So, I do have a tacky holiday bling thing too.  This is the pin from this year.  Its silver and pink and fun!  And it looks perfect on this Arden B coat from a consignment store ($15).  Love it!

Don't believe me about the hats?  Here's the proof.  And this was just the last couple days!

Stay warm and have a great weekend.  And by the way, we would love to hear about what holiday fashions you have fun with.

Christmas Island

I promise, I am wearing a tacky Christmas shirt underneath this sweater. I'm just making you wait for it. Isn't this sweater gorgeous. The colors are amazing. It's like a sunset. And belive it or not, it came from Walmart for $10 last year! I almost forgot I had it! The pants are JCPenney's St. John's Bay cords. I LOVE their cords. They are long enough and they just wear really well.

So, are you ready? Here it is:

I think this one came from Goody's, too.

Lise cut my hair last night. Ain't it purdy? LOL

Christmas Island by Jimmy Buffett

Let's get away from sleigh bells
Let's get away from snow
Let's make or break some Christmas ? dear
I know the place to go
How'd you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island?
How'd you like to spend the holiday away across the sea?
How'd you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island?
How'd you like to hang a stocking on a great big coconut tree?

How'd you like to stay up late like the islanders do?
Wait for Santa to sail in with your presents in a canoe
If you ever spend Christmas on Christmas Island
You will never stray for everyday your Christmas dreams come true

How'd you like to stay up late like the islanders do?
Wait for Santa to sail in with your presents in a canoe
If you ever spend Christmas on Christmas Island
You will never stray for everyday your Christmas dreams come true

Pretty much says it all for me today! Happy Friday and have a great weekend!!

Ice, Ice, Baby

All right, stop, collaborate and Listen. Ice is back with a brand new invention...

There's your ear worm for the day. You're welcome. How sad is it that I didn't even have to look up those lyrics?!!

We had ice last night and this morning. School started 2 hours later-which was nice and wish we did everyday. It was nice to eat breakfast with everyone before going in our different directions. There were **1000** accidents in Atlanta before daybreak. Last night, people got stuck on bridges for hours and hours and many just left their cars. My boss's wife and son got stuck for several hours, too, before they were able to get a hotel around 4 am! Yikes!

So, on to tacky sweater #3!  This one isn't too bad. We actually had a family picture made with me in this sweater about 9 years ago. Who am I kidding? It's pretty bad.

I also stepped out of my comfort zone with this short leather skirt from the Gap. I thrifted this at Goodwill for $8!! How awesome is that! And I did something different by adding the socks with the tights. Speaking of tights, Kohl's has there's on sale for $5 right now. I couldn't find a SINGLE pair in my size, last night. Everything was small and medium. Grrr. I went to Kohl's JUST to return a bunch of stuff. An hour later, I'm walking out with more stuff. I swear they do something to oxygen level in there and at Target that just makes you loopy and spend money. I did refrain from buying more Christmas sweaters, though. Even though there was one with PENGUINS!

Say Cheese!!!

Oh my gosh, y'all! I had to edit because I forgot to add some exciting news!! Citizen Rosebud had a giveway just lately and **I** was one of the winners!! YAY!! This is the first giveaway I've ever won!! I'm so excited!! Y'all need to go check her out. She is AWESOME!!

Happy Thursday!!

The "CATS" Meow!

Somebody needs lipstick...yikes.

I took my daughter to see CATS  last night. 

We had a magical evening and she got her face painted and...WOW.

The last time I had seen this was in Los Angeles almost 20 years ago with my friend Gordon. It was fun to see it through her eyes and watch the wonder.  We sang the whole way home!

I wore this outfit which (to me) has a very Ralph Lauren feel to it. And it just made me feel festive!

Here is the rest of the story about this outfit....and why I still have it on right now.

We got home around 11 pm. and it looked like a snowstorm hit the inside of my house.  Spouse and sons are oblivious to this disaster that the sheetrock team has left behind.  I tried to ignore it. Really I did.  What had Spouse and boys been doing all evening?  Looking up conspiracy theories on Paul McCartney of the Beatles!!!!   What the heck?????  sorry, I'm feeline a little catty.

I got everyone to bed, went back down to the kitchen area and.....I just couldn't go to bed knowing that dust was everywhere and probably mating and creating even more little dust.  So I start sweeping, this mostly stirs it up.  I Swiffer it...and it makes it kind of muddy.  Back to the sweeping and dusting and then more Swiffering.  Then I see a note that the painters are coming so I need to take everything off the top of all the cupboards.  I look up and see about 100 roosters* staring down at me.  They are laughing.   A while later, they are relocated to new homes in lovely boxes.  They are egg boxes so I knew they would be happy.

Do you ever start something and then just keep going like your body is on auto-pilot and there is no stopping?  At some point (around 3:30 am) I sat down for a minute on the couch and that is where I woke up at 5:45 am.  My daughter is standing there staring at me -still in the clothes from last night- and says

"So, you want new pajama's for Christmas? Is that what you are saying?"

*sigh*

Then it was up and going and getting everyone ready and driving them to school.  Back to the house only to be greeted by the sheetrock team who is there to do THE 2nd COAT!!!  So glad I stayed up all night cleaning up what they did the day before.

At this point I grab my coat and purse and head to work.  When I walked in Joy says "I love your outfit!"

Only then does it hit me that I have come to work in the same clothes, hair and makeup that I slept in and went to Cats in, and Swiffered in.  LOL  

Please tell me I am NOT the only one who has ever done this?????  Please!

We are in a crunch since my Mother-in law is moving in within a week.  She has Alzheimer's so this will be a new and interesting adventure in life.   And I am all about adventure.

Blouse:  Rue21

Sweater:  GAP

Belt:  Loft

Skirt:  apt.9/Kohls

Tights:  Target

Boots:  Anne Klein/TJ Maxx



Kaja and me last night after seeing "CATS"....ahh...the Memories.
All alone in the moonlight....heeheehee...you will be singing this all day.