Monday, November 12, 2012

Everyday is a Winding Road...






Trying something a little different here. I don't know.



Another backlog outfit. But, I got my camera back today! Hurray!

These boots are becoming my official favorite pair of shoes in the whole wide world. They work with almost everything I own and they make me feel like 20% more hardcore when I where them.Which is cool.

This is one of those times where I am using clothes to make myself feel better. We have a lot going on right now and we honestly do not know what our lives are going to be like next month. We could be living in a new house, Husband could have a new job, and I could be working again or, nothing could change. I don't do well with uncertainty. I get anxious and I just want to make a plan but there is nothing to plan. I find myself getting overdressed for everything just so I have something else to focus on for ten minutes. 

Oh, well, I guess. Que sera, sera 

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Printed Denim from the Backlog

I have taken a few days off the internet this week for a few reasons. The first is that my husband and I are trying to buy a house and I have been incredibly busy dealing with loan stuff, making the house flawless for the FHA appraisal, and staging (and keeping clean) our apartment so that we can rent it without any overlap of rent and mortgage. My brain is officially reduced to paint chips and buckets of dirty water and my body is reduced to a throbbing, aching mess. The second reason is that I left my camera at the Halloween party I went to so, I can't take outfits pictures until I get it back. I have a backlogs to get through so, here's an oldie!










I was, at first, appalled by printed denim. I have a mental block against anything that was trendy when I was a child. I think it's because I spent my fashion formative teen years hearing how awful fashion was in the 90's.  But, I am trying to stretch my comfort zone and I spotted these very subtlety printed jeans on sale and decided to give them a try. I like them and I definitely am loving how the prints mix with this shirt. (Print mixing rules, mix big prints with smaller prints and bold color prints with neutral color prints.)

I think I might be persuaded to try another pair of printed denim. I am trying so hard not to be that girl that hates every trend before it's too late!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Trick-or-Treating with Wild Things!

When Sawyer turned one we had a gigantic Where the Wild Things Are themed birthday party. I am a children's book enthusiast and that is easily my favorite. So, of course, I expose my kids to it whenever possible. Anyway, for Sawyer's birthday we got him a pretty expensive Max costume from Etsy. It is beautifully made with high quality materials and the details, like the bright gold buttons just enrich the whole costume. Obviously I had to use this costume again!

That made this Halloween costume picking fairly simple. If Hudson was going to use the Max costume, Sawyer must be a wild thing!


I looked up wild thing costumes and boy, were they expensive! I couldn't possibly spend $80 for a costume this year and so, I decided to make it. 

I went to Goodwill and found a women's size small orange, chunky sweater, a purse with faux fur accents, and a pair of grey wool pants. I picked up some light grey felt from Jo-Ann's and got to work.


Despite being a small, the sweater was still huge on Sawyer. I cut off a large amount of the sweater at the bottom and at the sleeves. Then, I took the sides in and finally, I sewed the narrowest bits from the pieces I cut off to make a waistband and cuff. 



To get the yellow stripes, I just used yellow acrylic paint on the sweater. I liked the way the paint mimicked the illustrations more than sewn on fabrics stripes would have and I had the paint already anyway.


 To make the scales, I cut out pieces of felt in the right shape and hand sewed them to the grey wool pants. This was very time consuming but, I loved the final result.


For the tail, I cut the fur off the purse and simply glued it to the back of the pants.

The only other thing I needed was a mask or a hat and, it coincidentally came in the form of a belated Christmas present from my friend. 

Isn't that the perfect hat?
The Max costume originally came with a crown but we lost it the week before Halloween.

It was so cold, they both have so many layers on under their costumes!





Saturday, November 3, 2012

OOTD - Cozy Sweater





I became obsessed with it on the SimplyBe website but it was a whooping $75. I love that website but a lot of the clothes are priced very high. Being that $50 is a splurge for me (recent fox sweater purchase excluded, of course), I was like, "the f*ck you mean $75?" But, I stumbled across a coupon code for 30% off and one for free shipping and I got it for $45. Which is a pinch easier to swallow.

A spoonful of coupon codes makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way!

I was a little skeptical at first because I expected it to be a more fitted on the bottom. Seriously, is a fitted, slouchy sweater so much to ask for? Gawd! But after I got it all put together in an outfit I loved the bagginess. It was perfect for a cold day at the pumpkin patch. 

Buuuuuuuuut, in the one day that I wore it, it got snagged twice and one of the baubles fell off. I don't know if I was being excessively rough or what but, it happened. Because I am super awesome, and know how to weave yarn into fabric, I was mostly able to get the snags back in and I will be sewing the bauble back on when I get a chance. Still mostly please with the sweater though.

Oh, and the scarf! I love this scarf! It has little drawings of women holding umbrellas*. It's so cute. I will have to get a closer picture of it the next time I wear it. Also, I'm really into this vest. It goes along with the leather/studded/butch thing that's been happening. Which, I am way into. Especially, with this cutesy, pink, baggy, bauble, heart sweater. It's opposite heaven.


*Quick aside, which is totally necessary. I call all the scarves I own from modcloth by their product names. This one is called Rainy Day Regale. I also own a scarf named It's a Crewel, Crewel Summer and I am definitely keeping my eye on the When and Wear scarf.

Trick-or-Treating post to come!

Friday, November 2, 2012

One Fine October Day

We piled on the cozy layers and braved the chilly air to go to a pumpkin patch last Saturday. We normally go to Basse's, which is absolutely adorable and has tons of fun things to do but, we accidentally missed the last weekend for it. So, we went to Meadowbrook Farms instead. It wasn't as established as Basse's but, it had some awesome activities, great food, and it was a lot more laid back.

Here are some of the highlights of our day.
Chickens


I'm going to do a full outfit post later.
My Nephew, Burger. He had so many layers on he couldn't move!
Bouncy House


Photo op!
The Petting Zoo. There were so many goats they were totally overtaking us!
"No, goats! No drink my juice!"



Hayride


"No, I no want that one. It's orange"
We were the last ones to go out on the hayride and we were racing the setting sun to pick our pumpkins. After my finicky child found a "not too orange" pumpkin, we went to my sister's house and warmed up with some homemade acorn squash soup. It was the perfect October day.

I will post trick-or-treating pictures and costume pictures in the next few days. We've been really busy with the house stuff and our Halloween party isn't actually until tomorrow. 

See ya later, alligators!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

OOTD - Studded Boots and Socks






Um...I think maybe Target should sponsor this post or something. I am really into pairing feminine pieces with harder pieces. I just love the way the studded motor cycle boots contrast with the flowy, floral skirt. It just takes the outfit to a whole new level.

I'm also really in love with the extra warmth and texture the socks add to the outfit. If I graded myself I would give myself an A+ (extra credit for all the colors...colorful outfits just do it for me). Based solely on my own grading criteria of course.

Friday, October 26, 2012

OOTD - Leg Warmers




I was on the fence about leg warmers as I feel it's one of those trend that a lot of people make fun of but, I secretly really liked them. I'm a huge fan of any type of knitwear. If I could wear sweater bras, I would. Seriously, slap a cable knit on it and I will put it on my body.

So, here I am saying, if you don't like leg warmers...too bad! I do! And I really love them with heels. I was saving up for these from Urban Outfitters until I found these similar looking wedges at Target with a buy one get on half off sale. I am pretty pleased with them. They are comfortable, easy to walk in, and adorable.

I kept the rest of my outfit very basic to let the legwarmers and heels be the shiny star. Also, anything a Midwesterner wears instantly becomes 43% tackier and since I was already rocking something that others might consider questionable, I wanted to keep it as chic as possible. 

Now it's your turn! Go out and rock something you've been afraid to try!