21 Day Challenge: Day 17

Day 17
  Repair and wear


I have this dress/top that I purchased a couple of months ago that after a wash, the actual top shrunk, but the lining did not, so I was left with a ridiculous peeking liner. Instead of hemming it or cutting it, I just used Liquid Stitch and I was done.

Top- Marshall's
Tights-Macy's
Shoes & Belt- Gap
Necklace & Bracelet- Thrifted
Ring-James Avery
Glasses-{even though you can't see them} Ray Ban

This outfit's pretty *blah* but whatever. It's hump day and I've got nowhere to go.

Bangs

So this is the breakdown on my bangs.

I sort of went into detail about my hair here and my love/hate relationship with it. I've never been able to have bangs because of a ridiculous hairline, cowlick, and widows peak combo but for some reason I just decided to chop off a good portion of my hair anyway and luckily, it turned out to be a success!

Umm..I really like playing with my different apps on my Iphone.

I just sort of cut off a portion of my hair in the front to give myself some side bangs.


Now, here's the dilemma.
I really, REALLY, really, want full on frontal bangs.
For the past couple of days, I've been going into the bathroom and fixing my hair trying to decided if I should do it or not. Yesterday the Hubs finally just looked at me and said, "Just do it already!"  Haha.

Of course I went to the mother of all sources, Pinterest.
Look at all those great bangs!

I figure I could always just swoop them to the side if I end up not liking them.
Sort of like this, minus the gorgeous face. {this is Keiko, if you don't read her blog, you should.}

I think I may wait until the weekend to see how I fell but right now I'm at 80/20 in favor of going full frontal. {don't you love how that sounds dirty}

So what do you think?
Should I do it?

21 Day Challenge: Day 16

Day 16
   Menswear inspiration


I basically could only come up with this outfit because I happen to have bought this vest a couple of years ago and it was the most "menswear" I had. I originally had it on with a different top but then I remembered the extra points if you wear your remix item a 4th time, so I whipped that bad boy out! {even though I have to say that I NEVER win anything. I have the worst luck in the world}

This is the Hubs' tie and it's my absolute favorite one he owns. It's so bright and has amazing colors {yellow, pink, turquoise, blue!}and it's the tie I wanted to make into a necklace, but I refrained since I figured using his Ralph Lauren tie wouldn't be a good idea. {I actually asked him later and he told me I could make it into a necklace if I wanted...what a sweet boy!}

I also have never worn a tie, but I thought I'd give it a go. And I must say, I liked it! It felt fun to be sporting a tie that I tied all on my own {with the help of the internet and a few step by step instructions}

White button down- Old Navy {remix item, 4th time!}

Vest- ??? {i can't remember & I tore out the tag so who knows}
Jeans- Old Navy
Tie- Ralph Lauren {stolen from Hubs}
Shoes- Marshall's
Watch- Fossil {stolen from Hubs}
Ring- James Avery

*Sorry for the lack of pictures, I took some other full body shots and of course pics of my shoes, but when it came down to it, I really just liked this picture. It captures the essence of the outfit the best.

21 Day Challenge: Day 15

Day 15
  Try something new with your hair

When I first read that this was the challenge, I didn't think much of it. Then as I was trying to figure out what to do with my hair I realized that I have no hairstyles. Yup, that's right. My hair is so boring now that I think about it. How sad. Why didn't anyone tell me?

I've always had a love hate relationship with my hair. My hair is thick and curly and being the only one in my family with that type of hair, I never knew what to do with it nor did my Mom when she was trying to style it. Once I hit middle school, my Mother was gracious enough to send me to the salon to get it blown out. Then, when I was in high school my life changed forever when my friend Nathalie introduced me to her Chi. Oh the precious stick straight hair that little contraption could produce. My hair was forever straight after that. Now, my hair is either straight and down or I curl it with the curling iron. People always tend to love my hair because it's so thick and jet black. I however cannot get past the many cowlicks I have, my ridiculous hairline, or the fabulous widows peak that taunts me daily. {true story, I used to cut and shave down my widows peak...that's how much I hated it!}

Back to the challenge. Kayla suggested going to Hair Romance for some inspiration and man was I captivated by all those marvelous do's! I definitely want to try and actually style my hair every now and then. I'll have to let it grow out some since I just recently chopped it all off but this challenge had given me motivation to not be boring anymore.

I had seen this video a couple weeks back and was even more intrigued by the look that your hair gets because of the method she uses. So, I tried to mimic that rolled under look without the headband.
{watch the video and try the curling method, it works but my hair was too frizzy when I tried it and anything in my hair all night gives me a headache}

flower pin-Anthropologie

I just twisted and rolled to the side and then rolled my remaining hair into a little side bun. I added the flower to jazz it up and I was done. I also bobby pinned the parts that were sticking up {which you can totally see one on the second picture}

I have to say I'm thankful for this challenge. Having my hair in an actual style feels different and new and I like it!

I hope you'll try a new do this week!

{oh yeah, I also chopped a portion of my hair to give me some bangs yesterday because I was bored since everyone in my house was napping! lol}

Grateful Sunday

via Pinterest

Today I am grateful for:

• a house full of nappers, i.e. baby, Hubs, dog
• moments of insanity like when I just went to the restroom and cut a section of my hair to make bangs!
• the people who love me and who push my creativity to the max because they believe in me
• 50% off day at Goodwill

What are you grateful for this week?

21 Day Challenge: Day 14

 Day 14
     Copycat


For this challenge, we were supposed to copy a style that we liked. We could find our inspiration in a magazine, a blog, Pinterest, just about anywhere! So, I'm not going to lie, I totally went on Pinterest, typed in white button down, and looked at my results. I actually found a lot of great ideas that I loved and repinned to use for later. {that Pinterest just never lets a girl down!}

via

I loved this look because it was so clean and simple and incorporated everything that I already owned {minus the trench because it's hot outside.}  I had just hit up Goodwill last week for scarves because I was feeling "scarvy" and didn't want to pay a ton for my new want so I was excited to wear one. I tried my scarf in many ways, but I finally went with this look, which I've NEVER done before. First, I don't tuck things in and second, I don't wear belts in my belt loops. But, this scarf just happened to be super long and thin so I tried and surprisingly I really liked it. So there you go, try something new and you'll surprise yourself!

Besides having the white button down and the scarf, this look also incorporates two other accessories that I wear everyday. My pearls and my Louis Vuitton purse I carry every day because it's monstrous and allows me to carry diapers, toys, burp cloths, etc. without having to carry a separate diaper bag.
A word on my purse. They're a great example of the cost per wear ratio at work. It's cheaper if you buy one great item that will last you then if you continually buy cheap and only use it a handful of times. I know, it's hard to grasp that concept since you'd have to dish out a lot of money up front, but if you know you're buying quality then I think it's a good route to take. {right here my Mother is shaking her head and telling me that I'm crazy for advocating for purses that cost more than $15.00...Hi Mom!}

Anyway....here's my look.

 Shirt- Old Navy {3rdx wearing my remix item!}

Trouser jeans- Old Navy
Shoes- Old Navy
Scarf- Thrifted
Purse- Louis Vuitton
Pearls- Gifted
Ring- James Avery

 *where's my fancy 3 box photo? Remy decided to wake up from his nap grumpy and hungry so this Momma had no time to play around with her apps.


Have a great Sunday! 

21 Day Challenge: Day 13

Day 13
   Wear neutral with a pop of color

I had my eye on this cardigan for a while but I really wasn't in the mood to pay full price since everything at Target eventually goes on sale. Alas, it went on sale and now it lives in my closet. I like it because it looks leaopardy even though it's not. The belt was a total score at Goodwill for under 2 dollars! I've had these shoes for probably over 4 years now but Steve Maddens usually hold up well. And last, my necklace that I made the other night. I'm liking the pop of turquoise with this tank and I honestly would have never put this outfit together if it weren't for this challenge, so thank you Kayla!

My hand in my pocket makes my pant look weird....oh well.

Cardigan- Target
Tank- Target
Capris- NY&Co.
Shoes- Steve Madden
Belt- Thrifted, Goodwill
Necklace- made by me

And in case you were wondering, today is 50% off day at Goodwill, so if you happen to drive through this small town, you know where you can find the Lettuce Family!  {wink}

Insta Friday

Another Friday means another look through the week according to my Iphone.

If you have the instagram app {or not} link up to the party over at Life Arranged.

 On Sunday, we had our first riding in the front of the cart and not the car seat experience at the store!

I'm going to let y'all in on a secret.....The biggest store here in town is....Goodwill! So, the Hubs and I make it there at least twice a week. I know, that seems redundant, but you never know what you'll find. Ask my garage, it's full of "projects" from the Goodwill just waiting to be finished. So, I didn't buy these cheese markers, but I did send a picture asap to my sister in law because a couple years back, for New Year's Eve, we had a cheese and wine tasting party. In our brilliance and due to lack of time, we simply wrote the name of the cheeses on little pieces of paper and put them next to the cheeses. But look at these beauties and for less than 2 dollars! {haha}

                                                                                      

We also picked these jars up because I liked the cork screw top and the Hubs for some reason wanted to buy a bag of marbles. So, yeah. We're real classy at the Goodwill.

This fabulous purse was found at another local thrift store for just 2 dollars. It's made of straw and it's kind of shaped like a briefcase and has a great buckle that I just loved.

 Of course I have to show you pictures with Remy! In the first picture I have a wonky eye, but the kid is laughing so big that I had to show y'all! The thing is, when I take pictures like this, I switch the camera to the front camera so you can see yourself. So Remy always gives good smiles because he's looking at himself!

 Doggie for sale: for FREE!

Okay, just kidding. But sometimes Stella really gets on my last nerve. Like when Remy's down for a nap and she decides that she thinks she hears someone at the door and she runs down the hallway barking like a mad woman thus waking up my child. Yeah, those times I definitely want to stick her outside with a for FREE! sign. {sigh} But I do love our little fox. She's just so darn cute.

P.S. Can you tell she looks a little sad? It's because of said incident described above and I then yelled at her and she looked at me like this afterwards. Oh boo on you dog, yes I still love you! Sheesh!

I made these cool book bursts on Thursday whilst the babe was napping. They're so simple, they don't even require glue or anything. Love them!

 I was pretty excited to throw this picture in. I finished my necklace last night at almost 2am. Whoops! I didn't mean to stay up that late, but I'm glad I got one done. Side note: Remy was laying in our bed when I finally got done and so I gently picked him up and put him in his crib, crawled into bed, and then jumped up out of bed because someone had peed all over my side. Boo on you baby! {he promptly then woke up because I'm sure once I moved him, he finally felt that his entire side was sopping wet}

21 Day Challenge: Day 12

Day 12
   Jazz up your jeans....
  
Isn't this what we all did in college? {haha}  Put on that "going out" top and jeans and we were ready to hit the town!

Anyway, I was THIS close to wearing my white remix button down, but alas it was in the laundry room, in the basement, and I didn't feel like going down there to get it.  Lazy much?

I picked up this white little jacket a couple years back at Macy's during one of their sales and it's one of my favorites because of those giant buttons. Also, I may officially own more striped shirts than any human needs. I bought this one recently on a trip into town. You like how I have to say that? Ugh, we have to plan to go into Denver so I can at least go to a store other than Wal-Mart! And last, the shoes! They're my new go to sandals. I love that I have big feet so I can usually find great shoes on sale at Target because the big sizes are always leftover. These were 6 dollars and some change. 

Shirt- Ross
Jacket- Macy's
Jeans- Old Navy
Belt- F21
Shoes- Target
Necklace- NY&Co.
Ring- Gifted

So for this weekend, I've challenged myself to try and get some crafting done! You know those great rosette necklaces you see everywhere these days? Well, I really wanted to buy one and I saw some for $30 or $40 and for that price, I expect a lock of your hair as well. So I went shopping and I hope to replicate {or as best as I can} the necklaces and also do a little dabbling in the world of headbands and such. We shall see how it goes!

Have a good Friday!

21 Day Challenge: Day 11

Day 11
   Wear a dress or skirt

This one was easy enough. I decided to wear a dress that I've only worn once or twice. I originally bought it to wear to a bridal shower I was hosting for my friend last summer. It was too big on top but a quick trip to the seamstress fixed that right up. Also, since it's strapless and right now I feel like my arms are extra jiggly {haha} I got a light sweater from Target and simply knotted it in the front. Then I added the belt to cover the knot and viola, a new outfit was born!

I'm also wearing the same shoes as Day 1, just in yellow! You better believe if Gap had had these shoes in 50 different colors I would have snagged all of them up, but alas I could only find them in blue and yellow. 

Dress- Anthropologie

Sweater & Belt- Target
Shoes- Gap
Necklace- Pretty Things by Meg

Tomorrow is jazz up jeans and a tee.
I had big plans for this by jazzing up a tee I had but alas, this small town has prevented me from accomplishing this since the one store we have doesn't carry what I need. Boo!! Oh well, we'll see what I come up with.

And in case you wanted to know, yesterday we had our first "boo-boo" with Remy Daen! And the bad thing? I didn't even notice it, the Hubs did when we were eating lunch. He looks up and goes, "Umm, his toe is bloody."  Poor kid. I think he scraped it on one of his many crib toys.  All I can say is good thing I happened to pick up a box of band-aids the other day because seriously, for the past 3 years, we have never had a box of band-aids in our house. I cut myself one time and had to get a band-aid from the Hubs' first aid kit in his work truck!

Look at those sweet toes!

Have a Happy Thursday!

21 Day Challenge: Day 10

Day 10
   Wear a closet orphan


I think more than half of my closet could be considered "orphans!" I'm notorious for buying things that I love and have to have, then a week later, after I've worn it once, I forget about it and in it goes into the abyss known as my closet.  So, I could have probably worn a lot of different things today, but I chose this top that I bought at a store here in town. I had never been to a Maurices before and randomly stopped in one day when I had family visiting. A little while after that I stopped in during a sale and bought this top for $5.00! I thought it was cute and such a bargain. I promptly got home and decided that I could never really wear it because the collar wasn't stretchy enough for me to pull down to nurse. Haha, the woes of feeding your baby! So away in the closet it went.


Then yesterday I tried it on again and discovered that if I stretched it far out to the side enough, I could totally pop my boob out! LOL  Sorry, TMI?! {too much information} Hopefully I don't forget about it again, because it actually is a pretty top.

Top- Maurices
Jeans & Tank- Old Navy
Shoes- Target
Necklace- boutique in Kansas City
*Bonus*- sweet baby boy head! {don't you love Bonus picture days?!}

Tomorrow is wear a dress or a skirt. I'm going to try and pull out an orphan dress, because I have lots of those. Unfortunately as I was going through my closet, I realized that I own like 2 skirts. I had a moment of  "I'm donating everything I don't wear" one day and I chucked all my skirts....oops!

And, as the life of a mommy blogger goes, I must get going since I can hear the little one waking up from his nap!


Oh and head over to Freckles in April to see Kayla's outfits and her prompts or to the Flickr group to see everyone's uploads!

21 Day Challenge: Day 9

Day 9
   Monochrome


For some ridiculous reason, I cannot stop singing "Kodachrome" every time I think monochrome.  I guess I'm a sucker for rhymes.

Anywho, today was a little difficult for me, especially since I tried to not do all black and white! So as I stood and stared at my closet, I remembered that my Aunt had given me purple flats for my birthday, and bang! this outfit was born. It's more of a purple/magenta mix, but I still think it counts.

Dress- Marshall's

Shrug- Old Navy

Shoes- gifted from Khol's

Earrings- gifted from JCP

Ring- ???, I can't remember where I got it

 

Tomorrow is "wear a closet orphan."

I pretty much feel like everything is a closet orphan because if you let me, I could wear the same pair of jeans and same couple of shirts every day. I'm going to try and really dig deep through my closet and pull out something fabulous!

~

So yesterday, I decided that I was going to try and make cake pops. I happened to come by this recipe by Ashley over at Little Miss Momma so off I went to the store. Because I live in a small town, there's only really one grocery store to go to and they didn't have the melting chocolate so I used almond bark. I think they definitely would have come out better with the chocolate, so I'm going to pick some up next time I drive to civilization.

 Other than that, they came out pretty good! They're so moist that you just want to keep eating them, but of course, you must make yourself stop or you'll have a stomachache all night {not that I'm speaking from experience or anything}

I wrapped them up to take to my neighbor at her work today!

And last but not least, a fabulous picture of Remy Daen in his giraffe overalls that my cousin Dezeri bought him. I must convince the Hubs to buy me a DSLR camera for Christmas since this child is such a good poser! He deserves professional looking photos!  :o)

21 Day Challenge: Day 8

Day 8
  Mix fancy and casual

This one made me laugh a little bit, because I've basically been doing this for years now with my strand of pearls that I always wear. Nothing mixes fancy and casual like wearing a t-shirt, yoga pants, flip flops, and your strand of pearls and pearl earrings to class in college! I basically wear my pearls all the time and I even had the principal of my school comment on how only I would take a bunch of 4 & 5 year old kids on a field trip to a corn maze in pearls and the school t-shirt. Oh well, it's my signature style!

I didn't bust out with my pearls for this challenge, but I did wear this faux pearl necklace that is so feminine and rough at the same time. I just wish I remembered where the heck I got it! So, I thought I'd cover up one of my strapless maxi dresses with a great button down. Wearing a strapless bra whilst breastfeeding is not fun, so by covering up my strapless dress, I was able to wear a normal bra which was 2 thumbs up in my book!

Black dress- Marshalls
Yellow button down- Ralph Lauren
Zebra striped sandals- Target
Necklace- ??? I can't remember!
Ring- James Avery
Headband- Hobby Lobby

Tomorrow is Monochrome!

21 Day Challenge: Day 7

Day 7 
   Layer your accessories


This seems easy enough but I have to say that even though I have no problem layering my scarves or bracelets, layering my necklaces still kind of gets me. I think it's more the weight that I end up feeling on my neck. It's bothersome. But, today I decided to go with the pearl look since pearls have been my absolute favorite accessory since I was gifted my first real pearl necklace from my parents in high school.

Shirt, Tank & Jeans- Old Navy
Belt- F21 {maybe?}

Shoes- TJ Maxx {which are so cute & I don't even think I've ever worn them}
Short pearl strand- gift from my parents
Long pearl strand- handed down from my Mother
Big faux pearl strand- thrifted
Double pearl strand bracelet- gifted
Big faux pearl bracelet- NY&Co.

On a side note, when Annalyssa was like 3 or 4 years old, I taught her about pearls, where they came from, and most importantly, how to tell if they were real. Funny enough, every time she was with someone who had pearls on, she'd ask to see them so she could bite them! She'd then declare, "Real" or "Fake."  Haha, got to love it!

Tomorrow is mix fancy with casual. I don't think I own very much fancy....so we shall see how this goes.

21 Day Challenge: Day 6

Day 6
   Get Creative

To be honest, I had no idea what I was going to do here. I had barely excepted belts into my wardrobe and now I'm supposed to be creative? BUT, funny enough I had come across this amazing tutorial for a tie to be sewn into a necklace a couple of weeks ago and I had already hit up Goodwill trying to find some good ties. {the Hubs has this amazing Ralph Lauren tie that I so wanted to do this with, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't let me!} So, last night I sat on my couch and pinned the tie and sewed it up!

Shirt- Forever 21
Jeans- JCP

Shoes- American Eagle
Tie- Thrifted, sewn to make my necklace

Here's another picture of just the tie necklace. This tie was brown and has small mustard colored stripes. Oh and it says "Coors" on it in red thread! I spent maybe 2 hours trying to figure out what to do to cover up "Coors" and finally I dug through my bead box and found these faux pearl and rhinestone stickies that I just plopped right on top. If you look closely you can so see the red still, but whatever. It works for now.  :o)

You can find the tutorial for this here.

I'm off to make Breakfast for the Hubs...who got called out to some ridiculous "emergency" last night and was gone from 11-midnight and then 2am-7am. Poor guy!

Have a good weekend!

21 Day Challenge: Day 5

Day 5:
  Belt it


Ah, how I love belts....now.  Belts, just like tucking in things, was always a big no-no for me. I always wondered why people wore them. Couldn't they just buy pants that fit correctly? Then the big "I like to wear belts over my cardi and shirt" thing started happening and I couldn't jump on that bandwagon either. It made me feel ridiculous. But then something glorious happened.

A baby started to grow inside of me.
And that baby started making my belly big.
And that fabulous round belly needed to be shown.
And the answer to that was to wear lots and lots of belts.

I really don't know what snapped inside of me, but all of a sudden I couldn't get enough of belts. I was lucky to be pregnant during the Fall and Winter so layering and belting was my best friend.

 























Since I could only find 2 pictures with my belted tummy and they both have the same red belt, I decided to bust that belt out for today's challenge. It's one of my favorites and I wear it all the time because Red really is a great color.

Totally stolen from Kayla from yesterday's post who got it via

I also decided that this outfit would be perfect to use my remix item, which is my white lightweight button down from Old Navy.

 

White shirt- Old Navy, Remix item!
Blue Dress- Cynthia Rowley via Marshalls
Shoes- Marshalls {they have a pink paisley sole!}
Red belt- I believe I got it at F21, but I could be wrong
Necklace & bracelet- NY&Co

Tomorrow is Day 6 and we're supposed to wear something in a different way.
Umm...I have no stinking clue what I'm going to do.
I hope baby boy naps long today so I can have time to think! 

Speaking of baby boy, I shall leave you with these wonderful pictures of him yesterday in his Beatles onesie his Uncle Daniel bought him. Such a cute kid if I do say so myself. 

Post Script: If you're wondering why I don't just take my pictures in front of the same mirrors as my baby bump pics it's because the Hubs made us move to another city & my pretty bathroom is long gone.   :o)