Stylish Housewife

Royal Wedding: Other Guests + Reception

2011-05-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

Again, the top pic won't scoot down, sorry. So, my other favorite person at the wedding was Kate's younger sister, Pippa Middleton. She looked stunning! Now I think there's some speculation/wishful thinking of her and Prince Harry getting together.

Her dress was gorgeous. I loved the it was white as well, very different.

The back of her dress was pretty too and I loved the lily of the valley in her hair.
The mother of the bride and step-mother of the groom looked very elegant in their morning coats. I LOVED that the queen wore yellow for the wedding. It was such a great color for an April wedding.

Side note: I love the the British wear hats to weddings. I wish we did that here because it's so much fun. (even if some of them were a little wacky.)
Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, (William's Aunt) looked so pretty. Her daughter was one of the little girl attendants.

Princess Letizia of Spain, looked GORGEOUS. She so pretty anyway, but I loved her outfit.

Prince Harry looked so handsome in his uniform. That's Lady Louise, Sophie's daughter, sitting next to Harry.

These three very blonde ladies, are William and Harry's cousins on their mom's side of the family. Lady Amelia, Lady Eliza, and Lady Kitty. They are so pretty, but are so blonde that they kind of look like Hugh Hefner's girlfriends or something. :)

Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, William and Harry's cousins on their father's side of the family. Their hats are out of control!!! I actually like Beatrice's (the one on the right) dress and coat. Eugenie, not so much.

Chelsy Davy, Prince Harry's on-again/off-again girlfriend came to the wedding as well. She is not my favorite. She just looked like a hot mess. Her hair looked like she just woke up, and she just seems like a mean girl.

Pippa again! Here she is wearing a gorgeous, emerald dress to the evening reception. I can not get over her, she is fabulous! That green looks great on her.

I can only aspire to be that tan!
Carol Middleton dressed in a black gown for the reception. She looked great.

Last but not least, Catherine in her evening dress. I loved the sweetheart neckline again, with the jeweled belt. So classy. I'm not sure about the little sweater though. I also think Camilla looks great in her blue embroidered dress.

So pretty. What a fun day it must have been for everyone.

Royal Wedding: William & Catherine

2011-05-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

For some reason I can not get the top photo to scoot down. Anyway, Friday was the day of the Royal Wedding (as if you didn't know bc it was all over the TV that day) and I had so much fun watching it with my mom and sisters. Kate, or Catherine as we are supposed to call her, was just gorgeous! Loved her dress, her hair, her veil, her tiara, everything! She knocked it out of the park! She is so classy and I heard that Prince Charles said in his toast that they were lucky to have her as a part of the family. So sweet!

Her dress reminded me of Princess Grace's. I thought the train was just long enough but not too long like Diana's.
Prince William looked so regal in his red jacket. They are such a sweet couple.
So basically I downloaded tons of pics of Kate because she looked so pretty.

Riding in the carriage back to the palace, such a fairytale.
She looks genuinely happy and enjoying the moment. She seemed so calm the whole time which was incredible.
Balcony kiss! So romantic.
We had so much fun girl time obsessing about the wedding for a day.

Some Easter Lovlies

2011-04-17T15:50:00.001-07:00

Edited to note where the dresses are from.

I'm a firm believer that every girl, no matter her age, needs an Easter dress. I'll be 80 and still buying myself a new Easter dress every year. Haha. :) Here are my picks for this year: 1. Lilly Pulitzer

2. Lilly Pulitzer

3. Lilly Pulitzer

4. Lilly Pulitzer

5. Dillards

6. Lilly Pulitzer

Well, these are all of the top picks, except my Easter dress for this year. I will save that to show you later. Not that you guys are greatly anticipating it anything. :) Have a great week!

Jennifer Aniston's New Hair!

2011-02-27T14:59:00.000-08:00

Can you guys BELIEVE that Jennifer Aniston FINALLY changed her hairstyle? I was wondering if it would EVER happen. Seriously! I think her dramatic cut back in the days of "Friends" really took a toll on her. (I can identify since I had a really traumatic haircut as a child.) Now y'all know that I love me some Jen Aniston hair, I've blogged about it before for goodness sake, but I am sooooo happy to see her change it up.

Now, if only she would wear another color besides black on the red carpet. Ha.

Personally I think she can pull anything off. Looks like we've got a longer-ish bob cut going on, which is kind of 2008 if you know what I mean. BUT it looks great on her.

From the front and from the side. I think it might be a tad shorter in the back.

Love the glasses (and the gold Rolex).

So darn cute she is.

Have a happy week! :)

Kate Middleton

2011-02-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

This week Prince William and Catherine "Kate" Middleton made some public appearances as a couple. I LOVE her style. Very classic. Another thing I love, is that pretty much everything she wore for these outings was from her own closet. She didn't go out and buy outfits. I think it shows that she is down to earth and knows herself well.

Now, enough talking, more looking.

This tan coat with brown velvet trimmings was gorgeous! I want one! :)

She wore a feather headpiece with a CAMEO BROACH on it. LOVE!!!!!!! I wish I had more occassions to wear hats.

They are such a cute couple. I hope they have a long and happy marraige.

So cute that Prince William kept his hand on her back.

On the second outting she wore a gorgeous, two piece, red suit trimmed in black.

This is such a Prince and Princess picture.

She looks so long and lean here. I'm sure there have been lots of pre-wedding workouts going on.

She's so adorable. I want this suit too.

She also has the People cover story this week. I'm sure she will be selling many, many more magazines in the years to come.

I can't wait to see what she wears to the wedding. It will be fabulous I'm sure.

JCrew Spring Lookbook

2011-02-22T18:28:00.000-08:00

After perusing the JCrew spring lookbook, I was underwhelmed by nearly everything, except for these FABULOUS shorts. Olive, silk, ruffle. Enough said.

No clue how much they are.

No clue where I would wear them.

But I want them.

A Tale of Two Dresses

2011-02-21T12:26:00.000-08:00

This post is about a week late, but better late than never. I wanted to share two of my favorite black dresses (yes, I have more than two black dresses). The first is the dress that I wore to our Valentine's celebration. I bought it when Prince Charming and I visited Chicago in October. It is a fitted sweater dress with three rows of "feathers" around the bottom. I put feathers in quotations because they are made from fabric but look like/have the effect of feathers.

I posted several photos because since the whole dress is black, the "feathers" are hard to see.

I wore my super, fun, cropped, leopard print jacket. I loved this outfit because neither the dress nor the jacket get worn very often, so I was pumped to wear them out.

One more pic. :)

The next dress is the vintage suit my mom gave me for Christmas. It is STUNNING and AMAZINGLY enough fit me to PERFECTION. It is wool. The dress is a boat neck, so very elegant. It comes with a jacket, as you can see, that has a shawl collar and cuffs that are trimmed in FUR!!! It's so darling. I feel soooooo dressed up whenever I wear it. Last week I wore it to church.

Even though I don't like the cold weather and am ready for spring, I love my winter clothes and will miss them when the warmer weather gets here.

Valentine's

2011-02-15T18:06:00.000-08:00

Prince Charming and I had a great Valentine's. We celebrated Saturday night by going to Ruth's Chris. It is our go-to place for celebrations. The food was delicious, as usual.

Here I am at dinner. We had delicious steaks, yummy salads, ahi tuna, mashed potatoes, and mushrooms. I was absolutely stuffed.

A nice lady at a neighboring table took this photo for us. She was my kind of girl too, because she took two pictures just to be sure we would get a good one.

Then we came home and ate some sinfully, wonderful cupcakes from our local cupcake bakery. These cupcakes are so good, I dream about them. This Saturday is dollar cupcake day and you better believe I will be back. For all you local peeps, they are from Kirby's Kupcakes in downtown Rogers. You should swing by and support a local business.

Monday, I had to go to work instead of being with my love, BUT I did wear this pink and red outfit that I thought was very Valentine's day appropriate. Also, my gift from PC was the new camera I'm holding. IT'S PINK! And so cute. I love it.

I hope you all had as wonderful Valentine's day/weekend as I did.

Hair and Beauty Tips

2011-02-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

I am participating in the Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life: Hair & Beauty Tips today. Since I am not a real innovative girl, I usually rely on my friends to tell me what they are using, so you have probably already heard of all this stuff. However, here is my best attempt to list my hair and beauty tips.

Tip #1: The much buzzed about Clarisonic. I got one at Christmas and it is FABULOUS! It seriously changed my skin. You would be amazed at how much makeup you still have on after you manually wash your face. It is my new favorite beauty product. Plus: it only takes 1 minute.

Tip #2: I know Kelly posted about this a couple of days ago, but I just started using this dry shampoo and I love it. I only wash my hair ever other day or sometimes every three days now, which I've heard is better for it anyway. At least that's how I justify it.

I started wondering how many hours of my life would be spent under a hair dryer :). I love my hair really long, so this is my solution. It's working out pretty well. On the second (and sometimes third day) day I usually wear my hair up in a ponytail, bun, clip, half back, or curl it. On the first day I just wear it down.

Tip #3: My new favorite "make up" is this Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer. I use it in place of a foundation, it smooths out my skin tone. It is WONDERFUL! I can wear it alone if I am just running out or wear it under powder for a more finished look.

Tip #4: When I need to use a mud mask I reach for Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. You can get it at Walgreens for cheap, cheap, cheap. I think it is under $5. And it works amazingly. I don't think I would ever trade up to a more expensive one because this one works so well.

Tip #5: Ok, #5 isn't really a product or anything. I was just having such a hard time fitting in all my "beauty maintenance", not the day-to-day stuff, but the occasional stuff. So, now Sunday night is dedicated to my beautification. Anything that needs: polished, buffed, plucked, trimmed, or filed happens on this night. Normally I do my mud mask, polish my nails, and pluck my eyebrows all while watching Desperate Housewives. Basically my bedroom/bathroom is one big girl zone and Prince Charming stays far, far, away. Plus he hates the mud mask. It scares him everytime.

I love doing it Sunday night because I am all prepped and ready to go for the week. It also means I am stunning on Monday. JK.

Ok, ya'll that's it. That's all I've got. See, pretty normal stuff. Hope you are having fun on the Beauty tour. I can't wait to learn some new tips!

A Winter Wonderland

2011-02-09T18:06:00.001-08:00

We have had near-record breaking snowfall here in the past 24 hours. I think the finally tally is between 18-20 inches. Pure craziness, in the South.

Prince Charming stayed home because his office closed and of course Heather didn't have school. Even though I worked from home all day, we squeezed in some time to go out and play in the snow. We took Sadie out and she LOVED it. It was a good outlet for her energy since she didn't go to daycare today.

I love how pretty our house is all covered in snow.

It was so deep, Heather and I decided to lounge in it. I have not been out in the snow since we had a bad ice storm two years ago. I usually just stay inside, work, and enjoy it from the window, so it was fun to go out and "play".

I hope you are all enjoying our winter weather!

Vintage, Vintage, Vintage

2011-02-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

So, I love vintage dresses. ModCloth, which I have mentioned before, has a bevy of gorgeous ones on their site right now. I had to share my most fav. Under each photo, I've added the era I think the dress was inspired from and what occasion I would wear the dress to.

Circa: 1947 Occasion: Brunch.

Circa: 1974. Occasion: School Play.

Circa: 1932. Occasion: Farmer's Market.

Circa: 1941. Occasion: Cocktails.

Circa: 1950. Occasion: Wedding. (I would love this with black gloves).

Circa: 1982. Occasion: Date Night.

Circa: 1928. Occasion: Concert.

Circa: 1954. Occasion: Lunch Date.

Circa: 1966. Occasion: Church (with a cardi over bc good girls don't wear spaghetti straps to church). P.S. To my sis-in-law Rach, when I saw this, I thought of you.

Circa: 1959. Occasion: Dinner Party.

Circa: 1959. Occasion: Baby/Wedding Shower.

Circa: 1968. Occasion: Girl's Night Out.

Circa: 1955. Occasion: Tea Party.

Circa: 1938. Occasion: Easter Dress.

Circa: 1935. Occasion: Shopping.

Circa: 1984. Occasion: Vacation (somewhere tropical).

Circa: 1961. Occassion: Black Tie Event (this would look great standing next to a tuxedo).

A Case of the Mondays

2011-01-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

This is how I feel today.....minus the tutu. Tuesday never looked so good.

Outfit of the Day x 2

2011-01-23T15:17:00.001-08:00

Ok, as promised, another Outfit of the Day post. Outfit #1: I wore to work last week.

Here is the complete outfit that I wore. Red, Cowlneck, Sweater dress - Banana Republic.

Here is another view without the belt, which is normally how I wear it. This time, however, I decided to be creative and add the belt and brooch accessories to mix it up a little.

Black, Leather, Bow Belt - Banana Republic.

Black and White Jeweled Brooch - Vintage.

Black, Suede, Ruffle Boots - Reaction. (It's kind of hard to see the ruffle on side, but it's there).

Outfit #2 is a Saturday oufit. Prince Charming and I were just running around together so I decided to dress up a little more than I do on a normal Saturday. So, I guess it is kind of a day-date outfit. And yes, I have glasses which I tend to wear more on the weekends.

Tan and Brown Houndstooth Jacket - Banana Republic.

Creme Turtle Neck Sweater - Banana Republic.

Skinny, Gold, Snakeskin belt - you'll never guess, Banana Republic.

Leopard Print Glasses - Kate Spade. I was also wearing my dark wash, flare leg seven jeans with the 7 on the pocket. They are hemmed to wear with flats so they are typically all I wear on the weekends. And yes, I still wear flare or bootcut jeans even though they are not the BIG thing right now. They just look so much better. Sometimes you have to dress for you body type and what makes you comfortable.

Sadie Update: She is doing much better but is still staying at the 24 hour clinic. She is 'hospitalized'. She won't have to have surgery at this point and they are feeding/monitoring her. We get to pick her up tomorrow morning. Yay! We were so excited to hear that she is doing so much better.

Sadie's Latest Drama

2011-01-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

Oh, ya'll. Sadie has not been having a good couple of weeks. (If you are here to read about fashion you might want to come back later!) Lots of vet visits for different things.

Last week, she woke up with half of her face swollen. It was so gross. I could barely look at her. Prince Charming took her to the vet because I couldn't handle looking at her (you might conclude from this that he is the tough one. you would be right!). It turns out that she had an abssesed tooth that had to be taken out. While they were in there, they found another one that they took out. A two for one deal! I was so excited to pick her up that afternoon because I was so worried about her and she was thrilled to see me (the vet is not her favorite place). We had to start giving her two different meds and feed her wet dog food for a few days (she usually gets dry food).

This week, oh boy, this week was a whole 'nother can of worms. Let me preface this with the fact that Sadie loves to try and get 'people' food. Sometimes she jumps up on the counter and tries to get whatever is up there. It's not a fun habit to try and break. Before Christmas she ate a whole bowl of Hershey kisses that was sitting on an in-table. She ate them wrapper and all. The next night she threw them up wrapper and all. Lovely, I know.

To say that she throws up a lot is kind of an understatement. Of course it usually happens at night. I am conditioned to the sound of her about to throw up. I can be in a comma, them rip myself out of bed and race with her downstairs to try and get her outside in time. Lots of times we don't make it though, and that usually means Prince Charming or I get to clean it up.

So, fast forward to this week. Thursday, I had thawed some chicken that was in vaccuum packed bags. I put the chicken in maranade and left the wrappers sitting on a plate on the counter. Next thing I know, Sadie has gotten up there, ripped up all the plastic, and strewn it everywhere. (This is where I kick myself for leaving the wrappers on the plate. By now I should know better. You can never be off your game with her).

Fast forward to the middle of the night. She throws up in our room. Twice. The next morning, I think she is fine because, as I said she throws up all the time. I take her to daycare (trust me, she has too much energy to stay home) and ask them to keep an eye on her. They call us mid-morning and say they are taking her to vet next door because she is still sick. After another nice big vet bill, we take her and her new meds home. She is lathargic, but fine.

In the middle of the night, she starts throwing up again! So back to the vet we (Prince Charming) go. Now we don't know if it is the "chicken juice" that has made her sick or if she has plastic lodged in her intestines? Fun times. If it is the "chicken juice" they can treat with meds. If she has an "obstruction" then we get to do lots of fun, expensive tests and have a surgery. Cha-ching! Plus she needs to stay there all weekend. Cha-ching again.

At least with a child we would get a tax write off. I know kids are expensive, but apparently so are dogs. I don't know how people can afford more than one pet. When stuff like this happens I feel like she must be related to Marley from "Marley and Me'. Haha.

Anyway, just thought I would update you on a day in the life of Sadie. Poor girl. She has had a rough time of it (and so has our bank account). This is some-what typical Sadie though (which is why she has her own page on my blog). Don't even get me started on the stitches and toe surgery she had to have last year.

But we love her so much, so I guess all the drama doesn't matter.

Angelina, Kyle, Gwen, & Reese

2011-01-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

This is a totally random post in which I jump from topic to topic, but I'm sure you could already tell that from the title. Here we go:

1. Do you watch the Real Housewives of Beveraly Hills? I am absolutely, positively entertained by these women. (Sidenote: Why does Camille stir the pot so much?) If you do watch, you must have notice the FABULOUS emerald earrings that Kyle Richards wears quite often (pictured below). I am obssessed with them. The other day I was reading Pretty in Pink Megan's blog and she posted about where to find these earrings. I was thrilled and ordered them from etsy. I can't wait to get them in. I will have to post a pic.

Here is a photo of Angelina wearing a similar pair, however, I'm sure her's are worth millions of dollars.
Aren't they gorgeous? I love emeralds/green onyx (which is what Kyle Richards are). I'm hoping I can think outside the box and wear them often. We'll see.

2. We went to see Country Strong this weekend and I loved it. Some parts were hard to watch, but it was worth it to see the fab clothes, hear the great music (bought the sound track), and appreciate all the great talent.

3. I was completely inspired by the necklaces Gwyneth wore through-out the film. In many of the scenes she wore a double diamond necklace about the lenght of a choker, maybe a little longer, then layered it with a diamond cross necklace. It had a stunning effect and she wore it with everyday kind of outfits (meaning not as an evening look), which is something I'd like to try.

I tried to find photos from the film, of this look, so you can see what I'm talking about.

Here's a glimpse of just the diamond chokers.

In a few of the scenes she wore just the diamond cross.

4. I just included this pic because I like the dress. Scratch that love the dress. I wonder if I could be buried in something similar to this. Just kidding. Sort of.

5. Totally random, but when I was searching for photos I came across this one. I think it was from a 2010 awards show or film festival (not sure which). This dress is fabulous and she rocks it. The top part is just so interesting and different. It's also lady-like which I love and the color is delicious.

6. Have you seen the previews for this? I looks soooooo good. I can't wait. I have a feeling that Reese will completely redeem herself (over the last film) in this one.

I also have a funny feeling that the clothing in this one will completely inspire me. I mean come on.......a circus. They are bound to wear sequins and you guys know how I love a good sequin.

Yep, I've got a good feeling about this one.

Well, that about wraps up my totally random post about celebs, movies, outfits, and accessories. I hope you are all having a great week. I had a work trip planned up North for the last part of the week, but it got canceled due to inclement weather. I'm kinda glad because I don't get thrilled about traveling in snow, with chances of being stranded in random airports. I think I will just enjoy the snow and hot chocolate that I have at home.

Outfit of the Day

2011-01-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes getting dressed in the morning is the most fun I have all day. The other day I was looking around my closet trying to figure out what to wear and I spotted this orange and black Merona skirt that I bought from Target last summer. (The best way to stretch your wardrobe is to make summer work for winter and vice versa.) So, I paired the skirt with a black turtle neck and tights. Instead of heels I wore my ankle boots. I love how it turned out.

As we all know, my photography skills of myself are a little lacking, so bear with me.

Another view.

Don't mind my messy closet. That's Prince Charming's side anyway. :)

The ankle boots. Love the buttons. They look so old fashioned, which I love.

Outfit of the Day posts are so much fun. I typically just don't make the time to take the photos. I will have to work on doing more of them.

Grace's Movie Premiere

2011-01-09T14:56:00.001-08:00

My baby, sister Grace has been working on a local movie called, The Swingset. She got to try her acting skills out by starring as one of the main characters. The film was about a girl who had cancer and how she impacted the people around her by her faith in Jesus Christ. It was a pretty cool part. Grace did an amazing job, but I'm may be a little biased.

The "premiere" was last Wednesday. Heather and I raced to make it on time after work. It was shown at a small local theater, but it was really cool because after the showing, there was a Q&A with the cast and director.

Grace is totally pumped for her family and friends to see the movie.

She has the most AMAZING, thick, blonde hair. Ususally curl won't hold in her hair because it's so heavy but somehow she figured it out and her hair was gorgeous.

A pic of the three sistas.

The cast and crew standing down front for their Q&A. Gracie answered questions like a pro. I'm so proud of how well spoken she was.

A solo pic of the star.

Giggling because everyone was taking pics and it was sooooo dark in there. It was blinding with all the flashes, like getting pics taken by real papparzzi.

It was so cool to see the film after she had worked so hard on it. She has a very natural talent for acting. Most importantly, I think she just had fun.

Reflections on the New Year

2011-01-02T15:34:00.000-08:00

I love a new day, a new week, a new year. It's a fresh page. I love the feeling that everything is brand new, with no mistakes yet. It's not yet bad or good. It's not yet mediocre. It's blank or "un-written" in the words of Natasha Bedingfield.

I find that making New Years Resolutions is like that old saying, "rules are made to be broken". It's seems that New Year's Resolutions are made to be broken. However, I'm not such a grouch that I don't feel the need to take advantage of the blank page so cleanly laid before me. That being said, here are some of my goals for 2011:

1. Learn to play golf.
2. Learn to cook more "different things".
ex: eggplant, duck, etc.
3. Give to more to charity/church.
4. Put shelves in the attic. (This is a biggie).
5. I don't have a five. Oh well, one less thing to accomplish.

I guess #5 could have been the ever present "I need to workout more" cliche, but I just couldn't do it. I mean, it's true I do, but everyone could workout more. Or how about, my house could be cleaner, because it definitely could. However, no matter how clean your house is, it could always be cleaner.

I just decided that my "New Year's Resolutions" should be attainable, specific, and really mean something to me. Trying to workout more, keep my house cleaner, and eat healthier (just threw that one in as an after thought) is a constant in my life. It's not a new goal. It is an ever present thought in my mind.

I hope that you have thought about your "blank page" and all the possibilities. I like to remember that the only thing that is holding me back from becoming the person I'm meant to be is me.

Happy New Year! May it be wonderful.

Christmas Break Reflections

2010-12-31T19:03:00.000-08:00

My top 10 Observations of the past week:

1. Going to church on Christmas Eve is my favorite tradition.
2. Listening to Christmas carols warms my heart.
3. When you don't want anything for Christmas, everything you get is wonderful.
4. I wish Christmas decorations would walk themselves into the attic while I was gone on Christmas day.
5. The after Christmas sales are so much fun with my sister, even if I don't buy anything.
6. Being sick on my week off is less than desirable.
7. Getting my husband sick so we can't go out for New Year's Eve is the worst. I feel bad, I'm bored and I'm lonely.
8. Seeing my nieces for the first time since July was pure joy! I thought they would forget me, but they didn't. They remembered me. :)
9. Thinking that I would get any shred of work done this week, even check my emails is a complete joke. I should know myself better than that.
10. I think this was the best Christmas I've had since I lived at home (meaning with my parents).

I can't believe Christmas is over but I'm sure I will blink my eyes and it will be Christmas 2011. That's just the way it goes. I hope you all had a very, Merry Christmas.

**See the updates in the below post regarding movie reviews.**

Going to the Movies

2010-12-23T16:10:00.000-08:00

**This post is updated with movie reviews of the movies I've seen thus far.**

Is it just me or are there approximately 94,000 good movies out to see. Or may just 6. I am a big movie fan and love going to see movies in the theater even though it is a big waste of cash-o-la. It's the whole experience. The popcorn. The junior mints. The major motion picture. Love it.

Here is my list of must see movies, it's going to be a busy couple of weeks.

True Grit was fabulous! I absolutely loved it. It was a little bit funny too. Can't wait until it comes out on DVD.

True Grit. It's a remake of an old western. I love old westerns, my fav is McClintock. I can't wait to see this one though.

I have yet to see this but hopefully I can fit it in this weekend.

The Tourist. My dis-like of Anglina Jolie almost makes me not want to see this, but it does look good, so I will give it a go. I must admit she looks pretty in the photos I've see of her on set.

Holy Naked-ness. How many times do I need to see Anne Hathaway's boobs and Jake Gyllenhal's butt? It was a lot. The story was good but, they went all artsy on this one and had to bare it all several times.

Love and Other Drugs. I've heard awesome things about this movie, plus Anne Hathaway's hair looks amazing in the previews, which for me, is almost reason enough.

My hubby went to see this without me bc I was sick. :( I am told it is pretty funny and not horrible, so that sounds promising.

Little Fockers. Looks hilarious. I hope it doesn't let me down like Meet the Fockers did though. (Funny sidenote: everytime I say the name of this movie, Sadie's ears perk up).

I think I jinxed myself by typing the below impression of this movie. It was pretty bad. Bad story line. Too long. Just blah. I still love me some Reese though.

How Do You Know. I LOVE REESE WITHERSPOON AND SHE CAN DO NO WRONG aka I WILL GO SEE ANYTHING SHE IS IN AND LIKE IT.

This one will be out next weekend, so I will have to wait and see....

Country Strong. I am also a big Gwyneth fan and think this is a really different role for her. It's way outside of her box, but she is a great actress so I'm sure she knocked it out of the park. Can't wait to see it!

Since I am off the next 10 days, I will be going to see a lot of movies, as you can imagine. It's going to be a fun time. I hope you get out and catch some movies too.

Living in the Moment

2010-12-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

I've been super busy with work and social engagements. Since I've been so preoccupied, I have just been trying to be in the moment and enjoy the holiday season, which is why my blogging skills have been lacking for the past fews weeks.

This is just a little post to update all of you on the goings-on in my world. As most of you know, I am loving the new job I started last summer and I love my team. One of the ladies I work with got married in November and I was so excited to be invited to her wedding. She was such a beautiful bride and her wedding was so much fun!

Christy, Margaret (the bride), and I.

Margaret and Zach, the happy couple.

My mom was sweet enough to let me host Thanksgiving for the first time this year. I was so much fun to have lunch in our dining room and cook. Prince Charming cooked fried turkey for the first time and it was delish!

Above is our first attempt at a family pic. Not quite ready.

Ok, now we're ready. Nice family pic.

A few weeks ago, Gracie played the harp at a Civil War battle reenactment (I can't believe I just typed that but I do live in the South). My mom puts Martha Stewart to shame and made Grace's southern belle dress. It was amazing.

Heather and I drove an hour to see her but it was worth it!

Grace loves the Narnia movies and she wanted us to all go see the new one together. Before we went we had a Bubby/Sissy lunch at Abuelos (love that place). The little Sissies and the Bubby pictured above.

Me with the two holigans (Prince Charming and Casey) on the other side of the table.

As you guys know, I have a strong aversion to wearing anything ugly, or better said, anything I think is ugly. Our work party was one of those new, fangled Ugly Christmas sweater parties that are all the rage these days. Me + Ugly Christmas Sweaters = Me creating my own outfit.

So, I glammed it up by making a necklace and hair accessory with wrapping bows. I used my sparkly, gold tank as a back drop for the necklace, threw a cardi over it and some red boots. And the rest, as they say, is history. A great time was had by all that night.

I am really loving the holiday season. I'm just trying to savor every moment. I'm thankful for so many things in my life and Christmas just reminds me of everything I've been given.

I hope you have all been enjoying the holiday season as much as I am. Merry Christmas!

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween weekend. Friday Sadie and I got in our festive-ware to go to work and daycare. This is the first year that she wore a costume and the ladies at daycare LOVED it. It was so hilarious. I told them it probably wouldn't last all day and they could take it off. I thought I was going to get a fun little report about her cute costume at the end of the day; instead I got a call that she had a minor injury and had to have a procedure done. Boooooo! Poor Sadie!

We are thankful she was fine by Saturday. Above is a pic of the back of her costume.

Here's a front view. Saturday we just ran errands (oil change, groceries), worked out (yoga and I'm still sore), and read/napped (it was GREAT!). It was nice to have some down time after all the chaos.

Sunday we worked in the church nursery; the three year old room is CRAZY! Then we went home and cleaned, etc. That evening we went to see my niece and nephew in their costumes. They were so adorable. Anna Grace was Snow White and Owen was a Basketball player.

Despite Sadie's incident we had a great weekend. It was the perfect mix of being out and about and having some down time. I hope all of you had a great weekend too! Happy Halloween!

Anniversary Trip

2010-10-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

Ummm, hi. I'm Jessica. I don't know if you remember me. Haha. I kid. Of course you remember me. Forgive my long absense. I was in a blogging slump. Hopefully the worst is behind us. :)

Anyway, lets get to talking about this gorgeous pearl ring pic. Basically, my husband spoils me to pieces. I am a princess, or at least I feel like one. This little beauty is my anniversary present. I absolutely love it. Good job, Babe!

We had so much fun in Chicago visiting our friends the DeWitt's. We had some good times: shopping, eating, going to the zoo, going to the comedy club (hilarious), making smores, playing scratch-offs. It was a fun-filled weekend.

We decided to drive to St. Louis Wednesday night and stay. Prince Charming booked us at the Four Seasons which was right by the Arch (and very swanky). In the morning we had massages before driving the rest of the way to Chicago.

This is super lame, but there was a TV in our bathroom mirror, at the hotel in St. Louis. When I say in, it was not behind the mirror, it was a part of the mirror. I had to take a pic.

I'm not really sure I know what the exact purpose of a water taxi is, but none the less I have a pic. We loved our river tour. It is definitely a different view of the city.

PC just LOVES to pose for pictures. He begged me to take this one.

All the architectural buildings were fun to see. I loved soaking it all in.

The boys (with the biggest pumpkins I've ever seen).

The girls.

Mikki was really, really, really excited to go to Sonic and get a drink. (The only one is about 45 min from her house. Can you imagine?)

The hubbs and I with the beautiful Chicago skyline behind us.

The DeWitt's with the beautiful Chicago skyline behind them.

Pics at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

This tree was the most gorgeous color. I heart fall.

Absent

2010-10-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

I know I've been absent for a while. Don't worry, I have not abandoned ship. I've just been super busy at work and with social activities. Plus, PC and I are currently away celebrating our anniversary. More details when I return. 3 years! I love the man so much and I'm one lucky lady.

If you're still a reader thanks for hanging in there. I promise my life will soon return to a normal and so will my blogging.

Blessings!

Jessica

What I'm Loving Wednesday: Dresses

2010-10-13T17:03:00.001-07:00

Oh, there are so many things to love! This week I've been scoping out winter dresses and there are some really gorgeous ones out there right now.

This one is very classy and regal looking. I could definitely wear it to work. From: Mod Cloth.

This fiery red one is great for a hot date with my hubby or I'm even thinking Christmas party. From: Mod Cloth.

This would look good paired with a tan sweater and leggings. Is seems like a good out to lunch dress. I would probably wear it to work too. From: Mod Cloth.

This is perfect for work. It's serious with the grey but whimiscal with the pleating around the neckline. From: Banana Republic.

Love this sweater dress. Kind of a great all around dress. From: Athleta.

Another great all around sweater dress. I could wear to work or to run around town on a Saturday. From: Athleta.

This one is cute with the flowers around the neckline. It also comes in a pretty burnt orange, perfect for fall. From: Francescas Collections.

Another great fall dress in burnt orange. Even though it is short sleeved you could modify for winter with a cardigan over it and tights. From the look of it, the dress seems like it would be fitted and really flattering. From: Anthropologie.

This one is just really prim and prissy. I think it is very Jackie O and would be great for work, but I probably wouldn't wear it anywhere else. From: Anthropologie.

I love the Bohemian vibe you get from this dress. Perfect for Saturdays or lunches with friends, etc. From: Anthropologie.

Another prim and proper Jackie O dress. This one seems like it would be great for showers and church. It's very classy. From: Anthropologie.

I love this pink, pop of color in an other-wise dull colored winter wardrobe. This would be great to brighten your day in the dead of winter. I would probably add a cardi on top. From: Lilly Pulitzer

I've been trying to be a really good girl and not spend any money, but these dresses sure are tempting. I predict the purchase of at least one of these in my future.

Hope you are have a great week. Wednesday is over, thank goodness and we only have two days to go until the weekend. Yippee! I can't wait for my chill weekend. (At least I am planning on it being chill but who knows!)

Candy Corn Obsession

2010-10-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I finally put out my fall decorations (better late than never!) and that includes candy corn, which I am a huge fan of. I think I have taken my love of candy corn to a whole new level, since we've already gone through one bag, but who's counting!

Pretty much all of my fall decor is the same as last year, but I've moved a few pieces around. I'm still going to post them again, sorry if this is a repeat for any of you. The below pic is of my staircase with letters spelling out 'Boo'.

I have this square bowl of large and small glittery acorns. It's sitting on a side table in my living room.

On my dining room table I have a few glass vases with more acorns (non-glittery) on each side and in the middle vase there is a candle with cinnomon sticks around it.

This is a close up of the middle vase with the candle and cinnimon sticks.

A close up of the acorns that are on the sides. I also tied an orange ribbon the vase to coordinate it in with the orange candle.

This is my dinning room buffet with some glass pumpkins and gords.

A close up pic. They are sitting in a bed of feather boas.

In my kitchen I have a few festive Halloween towels hanging from the ovens.

On my island I have this platter with a few little things on it. I just added some more glittery acorns in a vase. Can you see a re-occuring acorn theme going on here?

And last but not least, I have a sofa table along one of my kitchen walls. I put apples in my tall glass container, added some leaves, and put out a halloween dish with (what else) candy corn.

I just LOVE fall and love decorating. I have been so busy with work and other social activities and am sad that I have just now gotten around to setting it all out. Oh, well. It is done now and I am truly loving them. At least they are out longer than Christmas decorations!

Happy Birthday McCoy!

2010-10-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my blogging break. It was a long and crazy week last week. To top if off, I was sick but had so much work that I couldn't take a sick day. I soldiered through and lived to tell about it. Aren't you glad? Haha...

Anyway, my sweet, little nephew McCoy turned 3 on Saturday and we went to his birthday at Jump Zone. He had a big time with all his friends.
Here's a group shot of the cousins. Owen, McCoy, and Anna Grace.

Even though he was at Jump Zone and had all those inflatables to play on, he still wanted to play ball. Imagine that.

I must admit he played on the inflatables a whole lot. The slides there were awesome. I didn't get up the nerve to actually go down them though. Maybe next time.

Sweet Anna Grace was the only one who would pose for a picture.

Owen was bigger than most of the kids at the party and was therefore dominating the slides.

Trying to get a group shot of all the kids at the party. They actually did pretty well sitting still for the pic. I think it was because they were so tired!

Loved the cake. It was soooo yummy!

I love his banner. Every year Rachel adds a candle to the banner. So cute!

Sitting on his little throne opening presents. Love it! He had so many presents and the only thing he want to do was play with them. Poor little guy! He had to stay on task and keep opening.

Our one attempt at a pic with him. By this time he was tired and didn't want to cooperate for a pic. Oh well, maybe next time.

McCoy we love you and are so glad we got to be at your party to help you celebrate.

Come back tomorrow to have a peek at my fall decorations.

Blogging Hiatus

2010-10-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of: www.dayoldnews.com

Hey fellow bloggers! I am going to have an incredibly busy week at work. Working all day and work events in the evening. Since I have a tendency to bite off more that I can chew, I am going to go ahead and announce a little blogging break for myself this week so I can try to keep my sanity. Sorry to be such a bummer, but after this week, I anticipate my work schedule to not be so hectic for a while, which means plenty of blogging for me and lots of yummy updates for you.

Also, I am leaving you with a pic of my current, favorite fashionista for the week. You mine-as-well look as something rather than nothing and I'd rather that something be cute. :)

P.S. I will still be reading your blogs!

Show Us Your Life: Dining Room

2010-09-30T18:37:00.000-07:00

I am participating in Kelly's Korner, Show Us Your Life - Dining Rooms this week. So, let me preface this with a warning that I have a very dramatic dining room. It is red and black and leopard print. It's sort of a lot in one room, but since it's a dining room that we don't use too much, I went all the way. I love it and am so tickled with how it turned out.

This is the view of it from the kitchen.

A view from the entry hall.

This is from the bay window looking back toward the kitchen.

Our FAB hutch that we found at a furniture store an hour away. Went back six months later (when we had the funds) and bought it.

Our upright piano that formerly belonged to Prince Charming's mom and grandmother. Above are some of our wedding prints that PC had framed for my birthday. After arranging them we decided to do 6 instead of 4. So we hung them with spots left for the other two. Hopefully we will finish this little project soon.

The awesome black chandelier Prince Charming found. I adore my dining room. It fits in great with the rest of our house.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Outfit of the Day

2010-09-27T19:25:00.000-07:00

I realize that I have not done "Outfit of the Day" in forever. Saturday I bought this adorable top at Forever 21 and wore it today. I loved the top so much that I had to share it with you. After searching for the link for 10 minutes I gave up. I know they have it in the store right now (obviously), so run down there an buy it if you like it. It was only about $20! (Gotta love Forever 21.)

Again, with the lacking self portraits. One of these days I will have someone I live with take a pic of me. (Ahem, Prince Charming and Heather).

The top is normally sleaveless. Since we have been experiencing some lovely fall weather, I added a long-sleeve black tee underneath. As you can see, I wore jeans, and as you can't see I wore black pumps. I will also wear it with black pants. My favorite thing about the top is that it reminds me of Chanel. Black and white is very chic and simple.

I hope you had a great Monday. Looks like it will be a very busy work week for me.

It's Fall Ya'll

2010-09-26T15:38:00.001-07:00

Awwww...we have been enjoying our first day of fall worthy weather today. It is fabulous. All the windows in my house were wide open to let in the crisp refreshing air.

Saturday morning Prince Charming and I went to see our niece play soccer. This is her first year to play and she was so adorable. I love watching the tiny kids play. It is not competitive at all and they are just so cute running around, not really knowing what to do.

When they are not on the field playing they are sitting with their parents playing. Anna Grace got a hold of her mom's camera and started snapping away.

I tried to get her to take a pic with me but she wasn't having it. I think she is in that "sick of photos" phase that some kids go through. (The kid has already had her pic taken one to many times. At least that's what she thinks.)

Sunday, Prince Charming and I went to Lowe's to get one little thing, and came out with mums and pumpkins and tulips. It was quite a haul. Why does that always happen at Lowe's?

I really enjoyed our low key day, with the aforemented windows open and a stew cooking on the stove. Plus Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters started back today. it was a good ending to a very chill weekend.

Have a great week and hopefully you will have some nice fall weather this week like me!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2010-09-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

A week or two ago it was New York Fashion week and I can not get over these three dresses. They are so fabulous! Works of art.

Marchesa

Monique Lhuillier

Why oh why am I not a celebrity and get to wear these to award shows and premiers?

Hope you are all having a great week! We are half way to the weekend!!!

Top Two Tuesday: Hair Products

2010-09-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

This week's top two Tuesday topic is hair products. Lord knows, we ladies love our hair products. And our hair. And any other products that we may think we need. Basically if it involves shopping and beautifying, I think we are all in.

1. My mother-in-law turned me onto Big Sexy Hairspray. She always puts it in our (me and my sis-in-laws) Christmas stocking every year. It is the best hairspray and holds your hair forevah, honey.

2. I love to have shiny hair. When you have dark hair it is a must (we brunettes need to have something over the blondes, glossy hair is our thing). It just give you a little something extra I think. So I like to spray on some of this Frizz Ease Glossing Mist. Plus it smells so good! Just be sure you don't spray it on your roots or it will make your hair look oily.

Head on over to Taylor's blog and check out the other products that she and others are recommending. I love getting new ideas! Who knows what hair product lovely-ness I am missing out on!

Wedding Weekend

2010-09-20T17:48:00.001-07:00

Well, Prince Charming and I are wiped out from our fun wedding weekend. We had a great time celebrating our friends' Rob and Candy's wedding. PC was a groomsman, so we went to the rehearsal dinner Friday night. Unfortunately I was way too wrapped up in visiting with friends to take any pictures that night. I know, it's shameful. Sorry about that.

This is the only pic I got of the two of us at the wedding. Please excuse my shiny face. Outdoor wedding + 90 degree temps + dancing the night away = sweaty face.

My mother and father-in-law were also there. I think they had a great time seeing old friends and visiting.

I just realized that I never got a pic of the bride and groom.....or the cake (wedding cake is the best!). I had every intention of getting their picture but the night just got away from me I guess.

I had the forsight to realize that I might not get a pic that evening, so I tried to take pics of my outfit before I left. You might remember the dress that PC got me from this post.

I always hate taking pics of myself because it is so hard. Sorry, they are not the best quality. I feel like the dress looked so much better in person. The pics just don't do it justice.

Another attempt. Why is this so hard? I think the lighting is bad in my closet too, so that didn't help.

Ok, I tried to get a close up of my face, because I was wearing RED lipstick. I never wear red lipstick, so it was quite shocking to see it on myself. I liked it though and it went perfectly with the dress.

This is hilarious. The DJ made the whole wedding party come onto the dance floor and dance for each other. This is a pic of PC and all his friends standing there wondering what is going on. I love how two of them are scratching their heads in this pic.

Then the girls danced. Boy, did they get DOWN. I think they had more fun with it than the guys.

Here they all are dancing together with the grooms sister trying to escape! It was soooooo funny, because I don't think any of them were expecting this but they were all good sports.

Sunday morning, Prince Charming and I wretched ourselves out of bed to work in the church nursery. I'm soooooooo glad we only had 4. Plus they were all boys so it was less drama. I don't know who was more cranky, the kids because it was their nap time or PC!

After church we went back home to sleep and watch football for the rest of the day. That night Heather made me fried green tomatos! They are one of my favorite things. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Hope you guys had as much fun this weekend as Prince Charming and I did!

Cabi Clothes

2010-09-15T18:54:00.001-07:00

Have you girls (and guys) ever been to a Cabi party? I never had until last weekend. My friend Kristie had a cocktail Cabi party. I went partly to see Kristie because I haven't seen her in a while and partly out of curiosity. I wanted to check out the clothes and see what this Cabi thing was all about.
I know that I can typically find something cute anywhere (to my checking accounts detriment). So, of course, I bought a few things. The above shirt I bought and can't wait to get because it was so adorable. I couldn't find a pic online of the other shirt so I will just show you some pics of other things I liked.

The Gigi sweater was so cute. I would have bought it but I already have an awesome grey sweater. I wouldn't know which one to choose. That fashion dilemma is best left untouched.

This floral shirt was so cute but seemed a little hard to wear, meaning I would have to put a lot of work into figuring out how to wear it and with what. I don't really like hard to wear things, although, Lord knows I have some in my closet. I think we all do.

This red shirt was ADORABLE and if I had more money to spend it would have been mine. The red sweater was pretty cute too. I have to be careful though, because I have a long torso and this sweater would have been too short on me (you have to dress for your frame, this I have learned).

Last but not least I loved the blue tank in the right. The color was really vivid in person, plus I love the keyhole detail.

Verdict on Cabi: Cute clothes. Something for everyone. Pricey. Not everyone will have what you have. Different style. Love the colors.

Have any of you been to a Cabi party? What do you think? If you haven't been, would you go to one?

P.S. I have changed my comments setting so that anyone can comment. I know there are some non-blogger readers out there and I wanted to give them a chance to engage. Please sign your name at the end of your comment, if you will.

Movie and Product Reviews

2010-09-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Heather, Prince Charming, and I went to see The Switch. It was cute and I love Jenn Aniston. She looked amazing as usual. The storyline was different, with the whole insemination thing. I can totally see why some one who was getting older and hasn't met "the one" yet would want to go for it. I didn't think her and Jason Bateman had much chemistry together though. All in all, I liked it, but would say it's a renter.

This weekend I also bought a couple of new hair products. (What girl doesn't love a good hair product?) What you see pictured below is a spin pin. A girl at work has them and is always sticking her hair up in cute little buns. So, I had to go check out the spin pin for myself. I love it, but I will caution you that it is hard to get the hang of at first. I have already tried to use it for a French Twist too and it works pretty good. I'm so glad I found this product because I love having new options for my hair.

The other product I bought was.....a Bumpit. Ya'll I can't believe I actually bought a bumpit. But I've tried it and I kind of like it. It's not easy at first either but after a while I got the hang of it. I don't think I'll use it for everyday hair but maybe for special hair or when I have extra time. We will see how much I use it, but it's pretty fun to try. Maybe I'll put them together and have a bumpit/bun 'do' going on.

Oh, I have to tell ya'll what Prince Charming said when I walked out if the bathroom with the bumpit in. He said, "it looks like you bumped your head on a cabinet or something. Why would you want a big bump on your head?" Haha. Guys!

P.S. Are ya'll gonna make fun of me now that I have a bumpit? I wouldn't blame you.

P.S.S. When I finally master the spin pin and the bump it, I'll post some pics.

Loafers, Ballet Flats, and Uggs, Oh My!

2010-09-11T23:42:00.000-07:00

A fellow blogger recently commented and asked what shoes I wore that were comfy, since I always seem to wear heels. So I decided to do a post about non-heel options that I wear. After much self-reflection on this topic, I realized that I have pretty strong opinions about what I wear (obviously) and by that I mean that there are so many shoe trends that are "in" right now, that I am not embracing. I feel very strongly that you should wear something that looks good on you and not just wear it because it is the rage this season. Now, ya'll know that I love keeping up with the latest trends (this blog is evidence of that) but every year there are trends that I just don't embrace. I'm ok with that and I hope that everyone understands that you should know your body, know what you like, and embrace your own style. (However, your own style should be updated periodically. Please don't keep wearing things that are outdated just because you love them. Let go. Find a new love.)

Ok, I am stepping off my soup box now and onto more important things, like these little yellow loafers. These are shoes from my actual closet. I found them at Old Navy last year and I love them because they look like fall to me. Plus I love the chain. Toughens them up a bit. Better than having a tassle. I typically wear these with jeans and various colored tops.

I am totally in love with these silver loafers from JCrew. I have a gold pair, as well, which are not pictured. I love the metallic loafers because they work as a neutral and you can pair anything with them. These are a tad more expensive than the Old Navy ones, but I bought them two years ago and am still wearing them.

These zebra ballet flats are adorable and I always get compliments when I wear them. I found this particular pair at Gap a year or two ago. I also have a leopard print pair that are not pictured. I am obsessed with animal print so, when these wear out, I will have to get a new pair.

On a ballet flat note, they have so many cute pairs with jewels over the toe, as well. I forgot to include a pic, but check them out. I have a pair that are adorable and they glam things up a bit.

The zebra pair, I found at Dillards, in case you feel that you must own a pair.I love this leopard print pair. If you could only get one pair, I would get leopard because it will go with more.

Next up, again from my closet, this pair of Coach shoes. They are kind of like light, little tennis shoes. They are super comfy and if I am not wearing loafers or ballet flats I am wearing something like this. Since these are Coach, they are somewhat expensive, but to me they are worth it.

Here is a pair to Coach tennys if you would like a pair. They have other colors, like black, etc.

If you don't like the Coach tennys, you might like these. They are Pumas. I love them (and the Coach ones) mainly because this type of tennis shoe make your feet look small. The shoe "molds" to your feet more. A typical running shoe it too bulky looking for me to wear out and about. I just don't like how they look. Running shoe are only good for running a few miles, not running around town. ;)

Here is a pair of Pumas that I liked from their website (and they're on sale!!!).

Now you might be looking at this pair of Uggs and saying that they are not really the biggest thing in shoes right now. They are somewhat outdated. I will have to agree a little bit, but I LOVE them. LOVE them. They are PERFECT for winter. They are warm, they are comfy, and I own a pair in brown and black. That will probably never change because, did I mention that they are perfect for winter time? Ok, getting back on my soap box now. The flat boot has become really popular. I don't actually own a pair, because I have the Uggs and we are still having a love affair right now. My Uggs serve as my flat boots. If I want dressier boots I have them, they just have heels. I would like a pair but honestly how many shoes does one girl need? (Prince Charming made me type that against my will.)

Here is my "soap box" issue with these boots. DO NOT get them if they look like pirate boots. Please! See the pair below. They look like pirate boots, don't they? I will only condone you buying them if you are going to hide a dagger in them and have a squawking parrot on your shoulder. Arrrgggg me matey!

See this pair. This is a good pair. You should be thinking: English (horseback) riding boots when shopping for a pair of flat boots, not pirate. Again I would love a pair of English riding boots, but I don't know if it will happen this year. A girl can dream though...

By the way, you wear this trend with jeans tucked into boots.

Next up are two trends that my sister wears. Since she is a college kid, she educates me on what all the hip youngsters are wearing. Now, I don't actually wear any of these but I condone them as a trend, so I am including them in my post.

So, the Sperry, gives off a very preppy look. It should be worn in place of tennis shoes and without socks. Obviously, I have seen her wear them numerous times and it is adorable. They have several really cute pairs (I saw a leopard print pair!), these just happen to be the ones Heather has.I decided if I were to get a pair, it would be these metallic ones from JCrew. They are adorable.

Last but not least, the uber popular Toms. These are more.....for lack of better word, hippy. I think they are very cute and comfy looking. They come in a huge variety of colors and fabrics, there are also several styles, these are just the most popular style. I know that they donate money/shoes to people who need them for every pair you buy.

Heather bought a canvas pair and painted them herself (she's so creative). She has several other pairs that are really cute. She wears them with shorts or jeans.

That about wraps up what comfy shoes I wear, as well as, Heather. I didn't really include summer shoes in this post, but for summer time it's cute flip-flops or flat sandals. I hope this post is helpful in some way. Happy shopping!

P.S. I think I will have to do a post later about the shoe trends that are driving me crazy. I mean sometimes "they" just need to realize that normal people can't wear some things.

P.S.S. I hope no one is offended by my rant today.

Writers Block

2010-09-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

I know I promised a shoe post today, but I had a busy evening and am now experiencing some major writers block. Since I normally like to turn out posts with some wit and flavor, I will reframe from posting today. I'd hate to make you read something dry and boring. So goodbye until tomorrow.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2010-09-08T17:31:00.001-07:00

I'm loving my new chunky, chandelier necklace from Banana. It's not on the website, so run down to the store if you want it. They said it was flying out of the stores. This a real statement piece so be sure you wear it with the right outfit, aka what you wear should be on the plain-side (think solid, dark colors) and let the necklace take center stage.
Come back tomorrow for a peek into my closet at my "comfy" shoes and hear some suggestions about similar shoes in stores.

Labor Day Weekend-Birthday Extravaganza

2010-09-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

So, my birthday is September 6th and it always falls on or around Labor Day, which is great because then I get a three day weekend AND my birthday. It's the best! Thanks for arranging that Mom! (She's so thoughtful).
Friday night my birthday extravangza (as I like to call it) started with my Dad and Stepmom taking us out to dinner and to see the Blue Man Group. This is us before the show. Check out my blue dress to go with the Blue Man theme. (Just kidding, I didn't plan that).

Me with the parents. Thanks Sherrie for planning such a great night!

Ok, the next day, I tried a new yoga class with my brother, that I absolutely loved. Then we bought a new car.

Wait! Back up, rewind. Yes, we bought a new car. I know it seems a little sudden since I just got a new car a few months ago. Ends up that Prince Charming didn't really like the Acura and I didn't love it. So, we decided to make a long-term decision and go back to an SUV with really low mileage that we could keep for a long time.

After putting pen to paper it just turned out that this will be a better decision for us and our family (no, we are not planning a family right now, but one day). I definitely feel safer in it and it has lots of room. We both feel like we made the right decision this time.

It makes for a pretty awesome birthday present.

Saturday night we stayed home to watch football (boo!). My brother came over and I got to play with his new puppy, Bailey. She is an Australian Shepard and she's so cute. Her face looks like a little fox.

See, little fox face. I think he should have named her, Foxy. She's named Bailey because she's the color of Baileys and cream, so that fits her too.

Sunday, we went to church and to my parent's house for my birthday dinner. My mom made me Beef Bourguignon from Julia Childs cookbook. It was soooooooooo delicious! Prince Charming even ate onions and mushrooms (which he hates). That's how good it was. Thanks Mom!

Monday was my actual birthday and we went to PC's parent's lakehouse for a little while. Above is a pic of my adorable nephew, McCoy on the boat.

Afterward I went shopping with my sister and took advantage of the Labor day sales (I got a dress from Ann Taylor Loft for $39!). Then we came home and Prince Charming cooked Mexican at my request. It was so yummy and sweet of him to cook.

Here's a pic of me and Sadie (yes, I'm in my PJ's). She and I have the same birthday! She turned 6 and I turned 26.

Other than the fab car, Prince Charming had some of our wedding pictures framed for me. I had been wanting to get them framed for almost three years now, so I was thrilled. He is the best gift giver and I was blown away that he remembered how I wanted those pics framed. Good job Babe!

I got lots of other great gifts, cards, emails, and facebook birthday wishes. Thank you everyone for making my birthday so great! It was a wonderful weekend.

Top Two Favorite Things About Fall

2010-09-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

I am participating with Taylor's Top Two Tuesday! This week's theme is: two favorite things about fall. Fall is my absolute favorite time of year! Love, love, love it!

My #1 favorite thing is the gorgeous fall leaves, as seen below. I am blessed to live where there is beautiful fall foliage and I never tire of it.

My #2 favorite thing, I don't actually have a picture for because it is intagible. I love the smell and feeling of the fall air. It kind of has a smokey smell and it feels crisp. The first day the air gets like that, is the first day of fall to me.

P.S. Come back tomorrow to hear about my fun, Labor Day weekend (it was my birthday!).

P.S.S. I can't wait to watch the Housewives of New Jersey Reunion Part 2 tonight! So much drama!!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2010-09-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

This week's loves are all from Mod Cloth. They sell vintage inspired clothing and it is my go-to place if I want to find something unique that no one else will have. (In case you don't already know that I favor jewel tones, you'll know after this post!)

I am obsessed with this dress. It is prefect for spring/summer. The only thing I don't like is that black bow tie. If I order this, the first thing I'm going to do is clip that bow off.

I just see myself sitting in a cafe by the beach, drinking a margarita in this dress. That is the main reason I like it. Well, that and the rick-rack detail around the bow. Good color choices too!

Geez, another yellow dress! I know, sorry. I usually don't go for yellow, but isn't this dress just perfect to wear to a baby or bridal shower? That is the first thing I thought of when I saw it.

So, before Prince Charming bought me the dress in my this post, I was going to order this dress for the wedding we have coming up. I still really like it. Maybe I should order it and wear it to something else?

I don't think I would ever wear this dress because those circle are in the wrong place if you know what I mean, BUT I will say that I really love it. It looks like a piece of art to me. I think that's why I like it. It's just so uniquie. (You should go to the website and look at it from the side and back. So pretty).

I like the one shoulder, but with the other shoulder sheer. It is a little different from the classic one shoulder dress that is the rage these days. This one is vintage looking for sure. It is very pretty. The nice, little twist kind of gives a sweetheart neckline feel too, which helps if you are not well endowed (like me). I like the slightly pleated skirt too. It kind of adds something. All around, it is a very detailed dress.

I love the color (hello jewel tone) of this one. The name of the dress is: Grecian Goddess, which makes me love it even more. Plus it makes me think of Grace Kelly. I need to tell PC that I need this dress. Hmmm....I wonder if I could wear this to work with a cardi over it?

Well,that's it! That is all I love today (except for PC). Until next week! (Only two more days until Labor Day weekend!!! Yippee!)

Celebrate Arkansas Magazine

2010-08-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

I am just bursting with excitement to share with you that...Celebrate Arkansas Magazine has chosen my blog to get recieve their "Seal of Approval". I am so honored to be chosen, especially by such a fun and respected publication. Honestly, I really enjoy blogging and chatting with all of you about the latest fashions or whatever happens to be going on it my world. I am just tickled that anyone reads my blog at all. So, thank you Celebrate Arkansas for chosing Stylish Housewife to be on your list of approved blogs.

You can check out their website by clicking the button on my sidebar that looks like this:

You can also click here to go their Approved Blogs page.

When I started this blog, I orignally didn't intend on sharing my name, but thought that it would come out eventually (then I sorta, kinda forgot about it). Fast forward to the present, when they were emailing me about this, they asked who they could name as the author. I had completely forgotten that I had never once shared my name on this blog.

So, I would like to introduce myself.

Hi, my name is Jessica. So nice to meet you.

Sorry for keeping you in the dark, on that fact, for so long. I really and truly had forgotten. Hope you can forgive me! (For now, I think I will keep Prince Charming's name and our last name under wraps. Just to be on the safe side.)

Thank you for stopping by and please go check out the other Celebrate Arkansas Approved blogs by clicking here.

Fun, Family Weekend

2010-08-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back from my fun, family weekend away. It was so good to get away and it's good to be back. We had a fun time fishing (they fished and I watched), playing cards (have not played spades in forever!), and shopping.

The outlet mall had a lot more stuff that I thought they would considering we are between the seasons right now. Fall clothes have not quite come in and the summer stuff was slim pickings. Oddly enough we actually found things to buy, imagine that! Here are Heather and Grace modeling their outfits from Ralph Lauren Polo. Don't they look so cute and preppy?

Mom got in on the photo opp with her preppy outfit. Too bad I didn't find anything worth buying for me there. I was just a good photographer in this store.

Both mornings everyone would wake up early to go fishing. Grace and I would sleep in and then head down to the dock to see how everyone was doing. Since we were trout fishing, it was rather cold at the docks. Grace needed a warm-up hug from Brandon.

Casey and Heather just waiting on a bite.

Brandon and the hubs laughing it up.

Daddy-daughter picture.

Ok, now onto my weekend purchases. Believe it or not, I didn't spend too much money and got some really great things. I was pleased with myself. I will say, please don't judge the hair in these photos. It is not good.

So above I found this really great turquoise, linen shift dress from Banana. When I got home I added the silver belt, which kind of breaks up the dress and gives me a waist. Since it is linen I will only be able to wear it a couple of times before next summer, but I'm ok with that since I got it for $30!

I love this orange, wrap dress. I feel like I can add a long sleeve tee and tights and carry this through the winter. I also love this color for fall. By the way, it has this really cute ruffle (I know, but I can't help it!) around the neckline.

Ok, this dress is kind of a maroon color and I almost passed right by it. After taking a second glance I thought it might be the kind of dress that looks better on, than on the hanger. I was totally right and thought the fit was great. The color and style are great for fall. Again I can add tights and a long sleeve tee for winter. (It's all about versatility in my closet).

Last but not least, my sweet and wonderful husband was out with the guys. They ended up going to another mall for lunch. He passed by White House Black Market and saw this dress. It makes me feel so special that he saw this dress, thought it would look good on me and that I would like it and got it for me. We have a wedding coming up in a few weeks that I am planning on wearing it to. Thanks Babe!

Holy Leopard Print Fendora!

2010-08-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

There are no words. Just shock and awe.

**I am away this weekend for some much needed rest and relaxation. I'm promising pics and some type of humurous family story when I come back, or at the very least, tales of outlet mall shopping.**

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2010-08-18T17:48:00.001-07:00

I said you would have to bear with me and true to my word, I have not blogged in a week. My goodness! Well, I hope somebody is out there is still reading my blog (it's probably just my mom). Anyway, I'm just going to pretend people are still reading and proceed with this post. In case you want to know, this weeks 'loves' are all from JCrew.

Cheetah print, ballet flats. Need I say more?

Sparkly, round toed pumps. Need I say more? (There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home...)

I have come to the conclusion that I like ANYTHING with ruffles on it. I highly doubt I would ever wear this vest as much as the price tag would warrant, but yet, I want it because....you guessed it, it has ruffles.

Ruffles again. I need a new fashion obsession.

I just love the detail on this one. It's not just a boring crew neck sweater. They also have it in white but I'm kind of afraid that it would be see-through and I would need to wear an undershirt and you would see the undershirt through the keyhole. I kept trying to think of how I would rig that up, but then decided that I should just get the olive color so I wouldn't have to worry about an undershirt. Oh, the woes of being a woman. We always seem to have all kinds of things going on underneath our clothing to keep it all together. Guys have no idea.

Ok, I love this look and this jacket, BUT I'm not much of a leather person because I don't feel like I can move in it. It's just not my thing; I wish it was because I love the look, but I just don't rock it out like most people. I do currently own one leather jacket that I love, but that is all I need.

I like this dress for no apparent reason. It doesn't really look like anything I normally like and I'm not sure where I would wear this, but I think it's really pretty. Maybe it just looks good on the model and that makes me want to but it (hmmm imagine that).

All in all, these are adorable but I am holding out hope that JCrew will come out with more new, fall things because I am normally drooling over the catalog and Prince Charming has to swat my hands away from the checkout button. I'm just not really head-over-heels in love with anything (I may love something, but I have to be head-over-heels to order it. Believe it not I do have a budget). Here's to hoping! Have a great week.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2010-08-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Apparently I am loving a lot of things this week, because my list is rather long. Last week I received a catalog, called Boden. I've actually gotten this catalog several times but it honestly never made much of an impression on me, until now. Maybe they have better stuff or maybe I'm just growing up more and my style is evolving, but either way, I'm liking what I see.

So, lets get on with the list, shall we?

1. This dress is very classic looking and that's why I like it. Clean lines. Good color (it comes in others). Good length (working girls can't wear the mini skirts the kids these days like).

2. The embelishment on this dress is lovely. In case you haven't noticed, I really like dresses. One choice to make and you look great.

3. This sweater intrigues me. On the one had I love it. On the other, is it too librarian? I can't decide. It's a toss up.

4. This sweater makes me think of Jackie O, meaning, I'm in love. However, the LOOK of the texture leads me to believe it would be really HOT. That's the problem with ordering online. Thank goodness for SmartLabels! (If you don't know what a SmartLabel is, email me so I can explain it to you. Believe me you need to know.)

All of the above items were from Boden. The below items are from Anthro. FYI.

5. Hello polka dot yummy-ness. I love the detail of the bow and the sheer fabric. Plus I love red, so it's a match made in apparel heaven.

6. Now this is just the perfect throw-on-with-jeans sweater. Whimsical. Fun. Relaxed. The grey tones down the brighter colors. I think it is just an all around great piece.

7. Now, I am going to preface this with the statement that I really hate navy. I have always hated navy. My family will attest to that. All that to say, I think I am coming around. Earlier this year I bought a navy and orange dress (sounds ugly but it's cute, trust me). Circling back around to the navy dress below. I really love it, but think it might be too dressy for me to wear to work, which is why I probably won't buy it. However, it is adorable and I had to include it.

8. This jacket is so fresh and polished looking. It manages to be ruffled and taylored at the same time. Hard to achieve. I'm not really sure how practical it would be, but neither are my 3 inch red high heels, but they are in my closet right now, if you know what I'm saying.

9. So enough about clothes, I have been OSSESSED with popsicles this week. Just a hunch but, the 105 degree weather may have something to do with it. I am downing these suckers.

10. This obsession goes hand-in-hand with the popsicles, and it's sweet tea!!! Can't wait to come home and have a big-o glass of this stuff. (When I googled southern sweet tea pictures this is what came up. I don't drink mine with lemon and I only have mint in it when I'm feeling fancy.)

11. I think most of us know now that the lettuce we all grew up eating, iceberg, doesn't have as many nutrients as dark green, leafy lettuce. I had been buying all kinds of dark lettuce but found that it wilted quickly. Then I discovered living lettuce. This lettuce is still alive until you cut it up. Honestly, it tastes soooooooooo much better. More fresh. Plus it lasts longer in your refrigerator. Mmmmmm, look at all those vitamins!

12. Last but not least, my new favorite obsession is the iPhone App, Words With Friends. It is kind of like scrabble and super fun. I'm not very good at it yet, but I love it. I've basically been playing it non-stop since last weekend.

Ok, that's all I've got. I only love 12 things this week (besides PC).

P.S. I do realize I am sending conflicting messages with all my lettuce and sweet tea talk. What can I say? I'm a complicated girl.

What's New?

2010-08-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

Hopefully your Monday has been less chaotic than mine. Today, work was a little crazy and I'm still trying to adjust to everything, so bear with me. (I gave my boss a power point I'd been working on and he seemed really impressed, but it resulted in more work, go figure). I'm not really sure when I will begin posting regularly again, until then I will be posting whenever I get a chance. Sorry folks!

On an entirely different note, check out my new phone cover. I have an adorable rhinestone cover right now (which I get TONS of comments on), but I've had it for a while and a few rhinestones are starting to come off, so I had to find something new that was just as cute. The above cover is the one I finally settled on. We'll see how fab it looks in real life when it gets here. I'm a little worried that I won't like it, on the other had I love the pic, hopefully all goes well.

I got a few new magazines last week so I'm working on a "What I'm Loving Wednesday" post. Check back then for some yummy fall looks, with a few other random things sprinkled in.

Celebrity Crush

2010-08-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

I LOVE Gwyneth Palthrow. L-O-V-E her. Every since the movie Emma came out I have been a huge fan. Last week while I was traveling I picked up the new Vogue and she was in the cover so naturally I bought it. Eagerly flipping pages in the airport, I finally found her story, in the back no less. They always put the good stuff way in the back. Annoying. Anyway, as usual her pictures were fab, so I had to share them with you all.

Loved the cover. That dress is yummy.

Cute, all surrounded by books.

Cooking in the kitchen (the article was about her new cookbook coming out next May).

I love her jeans. (Not really sure why all the pictures are so small).

This is my favorite picture. I love her outfit and the expression on her face.

Of course, I have other celebrity crushes. Who can limit theirs to one? Definitely not me! So, who do you just love?

Chelsea Clinton's Wedding

2010-08-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends. I can't believe that I haven't posted in almost two weeks. I had a busy weekend last weekend then had to be out of town for work last week. It was so much fun but I was super tired and took a couple of days to recover. (Loving my new job by the way).

Ok, enough about me, onto more important things, like Chelsea Clinton's wedding. She was married yesterday, July 31, in New York. I was pleasantly surprised with how pretty she looked since I am not a huge fan of her. She looked gorgeous and her dress was stunning.

The belt on that dress is AMAZING!!! Her hair looked great and the veil drapped beautifully over it. I love it all.

The only thing that you can see here that I don't really like is her eye makeup, I feel like it is a little strong for her, but she still looks really pretty. Hillary looked really pretty too I thought. Her dress was Oscar De La Renta and her daughter wore Vera Wang.

As you can see here, Chelsea's new husband is Jewish while she is Methodist. According to the reports that I have read, they will each remain their own religions. I think that would be so hard, especially when they have children.

The venue was at a mansion in New York State. By the looks of it it was a great place to have a wedding.

So beautiful! I just love weddings!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2010-07-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, enough boring talk about my busy life. Lets talk fashion, more specifically bathing suits. While I have not had a reason to buy a new swimsuit this year, I have been scoping them out, should I have a bathing suit related emergency and need to buy a new, adorable one in a hurry. I don't really know what a bathing suit emergency would consist of, but at least I'm prepared right?

Anywho, down to business.
Starting off we have this lovely green bandeau top bikini (green is my favorite color). You can find this on the Anthro website (I'm to lazy tonight to put all the links in. Comment if you need help and I'll email the link to you).

This red bathing suit is from Jantzen. It a retro inspired line of bathing suits. You can find this brand in major department stores.

And then we go to a long list of JCrew bikinis (from this one on they are all JCrew). I love the ruffled skirt and the underwire top. I love this lavender color too.

Oh, my yummy gosh! This print is so tropical and, well, yummy. Hawaii, here I come!

Ruching and ruffles galore. I love a good halter top!

Different top (love), interesting print (love), sunny color (love).

Ruffles again (I'm obsessed) but this time with a bow. How precious can these JCrew bathing suits get, I ask you?

Happy Wednesday! I hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Livin La Vida Loca

2010-07-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged since last Wednesday. July has just not been a good blogging month for me. I feel like I have so much going on, that it's hard to keep up. One day at a time. One day at a time. Here is what has been happening in my "vida loca":

-Last Friday was my last day at my old job. My last week turned out much better than I originally thought it would. It was hard to say "goodbye" to coworkers. However, I had a great send off; we had a girls lunch, cocktails, lunch with my boss, and a friend brought me breakfast on my last day. It was nice to feel like everyone cared so much that they went to all that trouble for me.

-Today I started my new job. I LOVE my new office, coworkers, and company. I feel like I am in the right place at the right time. I can't wait to actually get in there and get started on some work. It was a great first day! I also get to go with everyone to the national sales meeting next week. Can't wait!

-A very good friend of mine, Heidi, is moving. I'm so sad and trying to wrap my mind around it.

-Last week my cousin Jennie moved to Alabama. Booo! It's so weird to think that she is not in town anymore. I don't know when the next time I see her will be, but I'll stay in touch via facebook.

-My nieces are moving to Puerto Rico next week. I can hardly even talk about it with out crying. We had a going away party for them last week and this weekend is the last time we will see them until Christmas.

-I've got to learn how to say "no". Since the summer started we have had so much going on each weekend. I can not keep up this pace. It's exhausting, especially with so many other changes going on.

-My sister's birthday is this weekend. She is still away at camp for the summer, but I think we will drive up there and see her. I have to find her a present. I am usually so on top of that kind of think but with everything going on, I have dropped the ball this year. (I know it is still days away, but she is so easy for me to buy for, I usually have her present picked out by now).

Ok, that's all I can think of that's going on right now. I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll head off to bed. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with you guys later this week. If not, just know that I am checking your blogs and read, I might just be too tired to comment. Apologies in advance.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

2010-07-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

1. I'm loving that it is Wednesday night and I only have two days left this week!

2. I'm loving this dress from Dillards.

3. I'm loving this pic of my niece.

4. I'm loving this pic of a living room.

5. I'm loving this adorable jacket from Anthro. (I wonder if it's water proof?)

6. I'm loving my new running shoes with the arch support. Now my knees don't hurt!

7. I'm loving that my sweet husband lets me go on and on about my new job even though he must be sick to death of hearing me talk about it.

8. I'm loving that The Real Housewives of New Jersey was so juicy this week.

Lululemon Manifesto

2010-07-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, I used to be a full time Pilates instructor. Now I just teach one night a week, but when I did teach full time I lived in my work-out clothes. One of my favorite brands is Lululemon. They are a really neat company and have a cool outlook on life and fitness. On their website they have some words of wisdom to live by called the Lululemon Manifesto. I thought I would share it with you guys.

1. Drink FRESH water and as much water as you can. Water flushes unwanted toxins from you body and keeps your brain sharp.

2. A daily hit of athletic-induced endorphins gives you the power to make better decisions, helps you be at peace with yourself, and offsets stress.

3. Do one thing a day that scares you.

4. Listen, listen, listen, and then ask strategic questions.

5. Write down your short and long-term GOALS four times a year. Two personal, two business and two health goals for the next 1, 5, and 10 years. Goal setting triggers your subconscious computer.

6. Life is full of setbacks. Success is determined by how you handle setbacks.

7. Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.

8. That which matters the most should never give way to that which matters the least.

9. Stress is related to 99% of all illness.

10. Jealousy works the opposite way you want it to.

11. The world is changing at such a rapid rate that waiting to implement changes will leave you 2 steps behind. DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW!

12. Friends are more important than money.

13. Breathe deeply and appreciate the moment. Living in the moment could be the meaning to life.

14. Take various vitamins. You never know what small mineral can eliminate the bottleneck to everlasting health.

15. Don't trust that an old age pension will be sufficient.

16. Visualize your eventual demise. It can have an amazing effect on how you life for the moment.

17. The conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought.

18. Live near the ocean and inhale the pure salt air that flows over the water, Vancouver will do nicely.

19. Observe a plant before and after watering and relate these to your body and brain.

20. Practice yoga so you can remain active in physical sports at you age.

21. Dance, sing, floss, and travel.

22. Nature does not let you know how great children are until you have them.

23. Successful people replace the words "wish", "should" and "try" with "I will".

24. Creativity is maximized when you're living in the moment.

25. Nature wants us to be mediocre because we have a greater chance to survive and reproduce. Mediocre is as close to the bottom as it is to the top, and will give you a lousy life.

26. Do not use cleaning chemicals on your kitchen counters. Someone will inevitably make a sandwich on your counter.

27. SWEAT one a day to regenerate your skin.

28. Communication is COMPLICATED. We are all raised in a different family with slightly different definitions of every word. An agreement is an agreement only if each party knows the conditions for satisfaction and a time is set for satisfaction to occur.

29. What we do to the earth we do to ourselves.

30. The pursuit of happiness is the source of all unhappiness.

P.S. Thank you for all your sweet comments in my job post.

Making a Big Change

2010-07-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

For a long time now I have been wanting to switch jobs and it is finally happening. I have always been thankful that I have a job, but the company that I was working for and the position that I had were not a good fit for me. I spent a long time figuring out what I wanted to do and finally found the perfect job with an amazing company. With my new job I just know that I will be able to do it well and be able to move up. I am starting a week from Monday and couldn't be more excited. The only tuff thing is working this last week at my old job. I think some of my coworkers were shocked and expected me to tell them that I was looking for a job, so I think there are some hard feelings. It seems a little odd to me but there was not way I could tell them and risk loosing my job. Needless to say, I don't think the last week will be very fun for me; but I couldn't be more excited about my new job and can't wait to start.

Lovely Hats

2010-07-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

So instead of posting about 4th of July (because I didn't take any pics and a post without pics is no fun) I am going to post about one of my favorite accesories, hats. I what you call a "hat person" because I look good in hats. I come by this naturally because my mom is the ultimate hat person. Since I was a little girl, I have loved wearing hats and playing dress up.

I love this picture and top hats; a hat I have actually never worn, but like the look of.

This exotic hat was in Anthropologie and I thought it was very orginal. If I had enough guts I would wear this.

More top hats in front of the Eiffel Tower. Lovely.

Carrie Bradshaw-fendora all the way. This outfits is gorg.

Panama hats, they've become really big this summer. So many celebs are wearing them.

This is a really bad quality photo of LC but I love when she wears these slouchy hats. My sister Grace can rock this look.

The ever famous, Mary Tyler Moore, beret toss. Love it! And Berets!

Jackie O and her pillbox hat that she made a fashion must during the 60's. I used to play dress-up with a pillbox hat that was my great grandmothers.

Cute Reese Witherspoon and her flowered hat. I don't think I could pull this one off like she does.

This is the most adorable hat on Kate Middleton. She has such great classic taste. I love that the British still wear hats to wedding and other events. I wish it was like that here in the US.

Breakfast at Tiffanys. Black Hat. Black Dress. Black Sunglasses. Sigh.

Me trying to channel Audrey Hepburn with my new black sun hat.

Trying to take a picture of myself never gets easier. I am always having to take several.

"...I assume it was going to Bloomingdales to buy a hat which will turn out to be a mistake as almost all hats are." Kathleen Kelly, You've Got Mail

Hmmmm, I don't know if I agree with you Kathleen.

To-ta-lly PUMPED!!!

2010-06-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

I can't wait for this: (Hannah you know me well!)

And I can't wait for this:

And tomorrow these two things will combine to make me one happy lady. (For those of you who can not follow my scattered thoughts, Heather is coming home from camp for 5 days and we are going to see Eclipse tomorrow night. Eeeeeee! I don't know how I will get anything done at work tomorrow.)

Plus, I have a whole holiday weekend full of food, family, and fireworks to look forward too. I will keep you posted with pics as we party down. :)

Monday: Me Lovie

2010-06-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

Mondays are usually yucky, so let's talk about some lovely things.

Like this bathing suit cover up, me lovie it!

And this black and white , paisley sweater. Lovie, love, love.

And these pics of Princess Victoria of Sweden on her wedding day. Me lovie.

I wish I had a crown! (couldn't he wear contacts on his wedding day?)

Love her hair. It's so elegant.

Me lovie this work outfit from Banana Republic.

Me lovie this yummy, cheetah skirt.

Sienna Miller, me lovie your new haircut.

And of course, I'm lov'in my new $20 wedges from Target.

Me lovie these red heels I've been stalking at Dillards and finally bought for $30. Score!

And last but not least, me lovie, my new scarf with the tassles that I found at Old Navy for $4.50 on Saturday.

Sprinklers, Mud Puddles, and Paint. Oh My!

2010-06-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

The week before last, my nieces spent the week with my mom and had a blast. Mom was good enough to share her pictures with me. They are pretty hilarious so I thought I would post them.

Brookie picking flowers in the field.

She just looks so precious and innocent in this one.

Marmie. Lets go for a ride. Mom said this was her favorite thing to do.

Brookie loves horses, so she wrangled Grace into letting her ride her horse.

All this kids love this swing.

Learning how to ride the swing. Hold on, Heidi.

Gracie teaching them a song. Monkey see, monkey do.

Playing in sprinklers = Summa-time!

Yes, that is mud. What can I say, sometimes you can get a little dirty out on the farm. I usually don't get as dirty as Heidi though.

Mud and I believe that is chalk on the face.

Marmie's hosing them down. I bet they loved that!

Looks like the swing was a complete hit. And I think the mud puddle was right underneath the swing so that explains that.

Sweet girl! I love her.

Playin in the creek.

She is such an adorable little mess.

Did I already say she was a mess? Well, she gets messier.

Marmie, when you said we could finger paint, you meant body paint, right?

My mom is a brave woman. I don't think I could let them do this. I have a vision of me being like Kate Gosselin and not letting my kids get dirty.

She looks pretty pleased with herself.

See, everyone else managed to stay clean.

I just thought I would share these hilarious photos with you. Hope you all have had a great Father's Day weekend. I sure have!

Catching Up with Pics

2010-06-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I tried to upload all these pics but blogger was not cooperating. I am having a nice relaxing weekend so I thought I'd do a little catching up.

Gracie driving Brookie and Heidi around in the golf cart. They love that thing and really look up to Grace so whatever she does, they do.

Little cuties. They love each other.

I'm watching you. Touch my sucker and I will bite your hand.

She looks to innocent, but in really life she's a little firecracker.

Again with Grace. I'm telling you they love her.

Baby girl giggling at me while in the tub. The other one not paying attention to me at all. Go figure.

I love her big beautiful eyes.

Mom and Grace at the zoo.

Anna Grace turns 4 and has a princess cake. She wouldn't let me take a picture of with her tiara on but she was so cute. I can't believe she is 4!

My friend Kristen and I at Heather Lawson's rehearsal dinner.

Prince Charming and I at the dinner. (We match! I can't believe I pulled that off.)

Us with the Bride!

Us at the wedding. It was super HOT since it was outside in June, but it was so much FUN! We had a blast and danced the night away. (Don't mind our shiny faces and flat hair).

I thought this was a funny action shot of us getting ready for the picture. Kristen's date snuck this one in while we weren't paying attetion.

The bride and groom. They are such an adorable couple. I loved Heather's dress.

And last but not least, my hydrangeas are blooming. Pink in the living room.

Purple and white in the kitchen. I love my hydrangeas!

Hope you are all having a great and wonderful weekend!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Tickled Pink

2010-06-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

This is called being a Grown Up....

2010-06-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

Many of my friends and family who know me, know that I love, love, love my X5 BMW. It is a great, wonderful, roomy, luxurious car. BUT it is definitely much more of a family car. Not to mention that it was more expensive and took premium gas (yuck).

Now let me jump to another topic, just to confuse you. A couple of weeks ago I started thinking about our finances; how to make them better, how to get from where we are now to where we want to be: when we have kids, when the kids leave, when we retire, etc. I came to the conclusion that I am at a place in my life where I care more about saving for my retirement than buying the newest outfit (which is partly why you have seen less about clothes on here, I'm trying to stay away from all the adorable-ness). Which leads me to another thought. I now care more about having an economical car that I can easily pay off than having an expensive car.

Soooooo, I did something crazy and got rid of my Beemer. Goodbye you gas chugging, beauty.

This past weekend, Prince Charming and I went in search of the perfect car to replace my beloved Beemer. After a long search, and I mean LONG, we decided on an Acura TSX. I know, it's still a luxury car (what can I say, I'm still me) but it will hopefully be COMPLETELY paid off in a few months! Yep that's right! I could not be more thrilled. (Sorry for the lousy garage pic, I was too lazy to pull it out and take a pic outside).

Some other great things about this car:

1. It's cute and little, which I love. I've never had a car, so I am loving it.
2. We have been getting 30 miles per gallon the highway and 24 in town. LOVE!
3. It takes regular gas so it will be cheaper to fill up.
4. There are seat heaters, which is a must for me. I like having a warm behind in the winter.
5. It is super easy to park.
6. Did I already say how cute it is?

I think I'm a "grown up" now.

Show Us Your Life: China Patterns

2010-06-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

This week on Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life, the topic is china patterns. I loved picking my china pattern out when we registered for our wedding. I think I come by that naturally since my mom has had 4 sets of china and countless sets of everyday dishes since I was a child.

Anyway, I will start with out everyday dishes. We have fiesta ware which I love for mulitple reasons. One reason is that it comes in a variety of gorgeous colors. And I love color. I have the Scarlett, Peacock, Shamrock, and Plum colors.

Another reason that I love my Fiesta ware is that it has a thick, pottery look/feel. I definitely feel like it is very durable too.

One of the best reasons of all to love fiesta ware is that it is sooo AFORDABLE! I love that if it breaks I can run right down to the store and buy it for pretty cheap. I think one place setting of 5 is $20. For this reason, I believe, we got every piece of fiesta ware that we registered for. Yay!

I will say that these pictures of the Shamrock and Plum are a little dark. The dishes in real life are much lighter and brighter that these pictures show.

And last but not least, my beautiful china pattern. I chose Vera Wang Vera Lace as my china pattern. It seemed very timeless and classy, which is what I was looking for. I wanted something I would still love after being married for 50 years. A friend of mine registered for this same pattern but in gold and it is just as pretty.

Now I just need to figure out how to commandeer some of my mom's china away from her. I mean, who really needs 4 sets? I have a sneaking suspicion that I won't have much luck.

Top Two Tuesday: Books

2010-06-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this week's top two topic because I am such an avid reader. Some might call me a dork. I would have to agree, but at least I'm smart. :) I have to add that each of my top two books I read at least once a year (dork, I know).

Ok, I know that we all read "To Kill A Mockingbird" in high school and everytime I get it out to read it PC makes fun of me for this reason. I just can't get over it, though, I LOVE this book. I have read a lot of great books, but I am going to venture out on a limb here and say this is the finest piece of literature ever written. The story is amazing, if not life changing, and the writing just beautiful. I wish I had a tenth Harper Lee's writing talent. Sigh.

My other favorite book is kind of like the first in that, it is a childrens book. I have a little story to go along with this one. In second grade, I hated reading and wasn't very good at it. My teacher (Mrs. Holt) told me she wouldn't let me out of her class until I learn to love reading. I took her very literally and thought she would hold me back a grade. During this time she was also reading "Little House in the Big Woods", which is the first in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. I fell in love with the Laura Ingalls Wilder series (and ultimately reading) because of this teacher. "These Happy Golden Years" is my favorite of her books because it is the purest, most precious love story I've ever read. This book is the definition of the word "courtship" to me. The book before this one (Little Town on the Prairie) is pretty good too and lays the ground work for Laura and Almanzo's courtship.

Embarassing but true: I probably read this one more than once a year (at this point I can read it in like a day) and I've been know to say that all you need is the Bible and Laura Ingalls Wilder books.

So, there you have it. The best two books in the world. I would like to add that I do read adult books too. :)

Catching Up

2010-06-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

So, yeah, I'm sure you noticed that I took an unintentional blogging break. We have had something going on every night/day for the past two weeks. Which I have a love/hate relationship with, since I love seeing family and friends but hate being gone from home all the time. I need my down time.

Any-who, I was going to have this great big wonderful post with tons of pics detailing all the busy-ness, but alas, blogger would not upload all my pics. So, it will be a big post with minimal pics. Sorry. I will have to see if I can upload them later. Anyway, onward to the busy-ness:

1. Two weeks ago my grandmother had open heart surgery. My mom has been taking care of her for the most part but while she was in the hospital I went over and helped take care of her dogs. After she came home I've been by to help her with somethings she can't do herself if mom isn't able to.

2. I've never written about this on the blog before, but we had a little health scare with PC. He was having bad abdominal pain and other symtoms. We had several doctor appointments, tests, and outpatient procedures just to find out it was a hernia. After all those weeks of tests I was so relieved it wasn't something more serious. Thank the Lord.

3. On Memorial Day weekend we threw a 60th birthday party for my mother-in-law. We had her party at the lake, it was really fun and good to see some folks I hadn't seen in a while. Plus I got to meet some of her friends I'd never met before. I think a good time was had by all.

4. On Memorial Day we took my nieces to the zoo with my parents and Grace. Brooklyn and Heidi stayed the night with us. OH MY GOSH! Those little girls will wear two adults out, but they sure are cute. I adore any time I get to spend with them. The below pictures are from the zoo.

Heidi walked almost the whole day. When she finally let us put her in the stroller, she fell asleep! Then slept for about 20 minutes until we tried to put her in the car. After that she was wide awake for the car ride home, which was perfect! Just what I had planned (sense the sarcasm here). How adorable is that sleeping face. Love.

Meanwhile, since Heidi wanted to walk most of the day, Brooklyn comandeered the stroller. When she got kicked out of there by Heidi, she hitched a ride with Prince Charming. That kid knows how to spin things her way. She is getting so big. Love that face too.

5. I had a friend from High School who got married last Saturday. She had asked me and a couple other friends to be in the house party. It was an honor to be a part of her wedding. She is such a neat person. Last Thursday was the Bachlorette party, so after I taught my Pilates class I had to drive about 45 minutes to the party, stay an hour and then drive 45 min. home, just to get home by 10 and go to bed. Yeah, me no likey that, but oh well. Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner, which was at a local restaurant. It was really fun and afterwards PC and I went out for drinks with friends. Good times. Saturday night, was the BIG NIGHT, and PC didn't go with me because our local college team was in a baseball tournament (that lasted 4 days and PC went to EVERY SINGLE GAME). Baseball tourney trumps my high school friends wedding. So, I just hung out with friends and danced the night away, which was probably better since he would not have liked the dancing so much.

6. Sunday we had a birthday party for my niece, Anna Grace. I have a really cute pic of her and her cake. Too bad it wouldn't upload. I can hardly believe she is 4! I am starting to feel old.

7. Last night my sister was on her 2-4 from camp and came home. I was so glad to see her since she has been gone for three weeks. I really miss her and hate that so much has been going and I haven't been able to pick up the phone and call her. Anyway, I'm glad she was here for the evening. We had an absolute blast. You know what they say, absense makes the heart grow fonder.

I have had a few other personal/family things going on too, they just aren't appropriate to put up on my blog, but have really been weighing on my heart and mind. Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to post about them. Anyway, if you are still reading this long rambling post, heck if you are still reading my blog at all, thank you. Hopefully the crazy-ness has passed for a while and I can get back to my normal little world, which includes frequent blogging.

P.S. I loved the clothes from Sex and the City 2, but didn't really care for the story line. I thought it was too long and kind of boring. What did you guys think?

I Can't Wait!!!

2010-05-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow night me and my girlfriends are going to see this FAB movie. I can hardly wait. I'm mainly going to see.....
the glitz and glamour....

and to see all the amazing outfits (Patricia Fields is a visionary)....

and free-spirited Carrie (will she cheat on Big or won't she, I'm dying to know)...

and ever practical (yet very stylish this go round, so I hear) Miranda...

and adorable Charlotte (I think I'm the most like her)...

and sultry Samantha (how much do those earrings weight?)....

and the DRAMA! Oh the Drama!

Let the good times roll.

Book Club

2010-05-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

Since Prince Charming was out of town last weekend, I was just planning on hanging around the house. Which is exactly what I did, it was great. Saturday I happened to pick up a book Prince Charming had started, called The Millionaire Next Door. I devoured this book in two days. If you are a Dave Ramsey fan, like we are, you will love this book. The main point of the book is, if you want to aquire wealth you must live below your means, save, and invest. They interviewed lots of millionaires and came up with lots of data as to the way they live. It was very interesting and made me really think about my life and choices. I was definitely challenged. Now I keep bugging PC to read it so we can discuss it. We have our own little book club around here.

Sorry to post about a book. Some may find that a little boring, but I highly recommend this book and wanted to share with all of you. I hope you take the time to read it, I think you'll really like it. Happy Monday!

Mrs. O

2010-05-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

I just love Michelle Obama. She is so elegant. Today I found this new blog all about her style and who she's wearing. The saphire dress that she wore to the state dinner last night was stunning on her. I don't feel like the First Lady has been this glamorous ( I forgot how to spell glamorous for a second and sang Fergie's song to remember, pathetic. Now Fergie's teaching me how to spell) since Jackie O. Of course I wasn't alive during the Kennedy reign in the White House, so I could be completely wrong. She's just so fab and so was Jackie, in different ways.

No matter what your political affiliations are, you have to admit the First Lady did all American's proud with her gorgeous look last night. Love, love, love.

I have quite a busy weekend planned so I most likely won't be back to blog for a few days. Hope you all have a fun weekend.

Hair Envy

2010-05-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

I am a HUGE fan of Jennifer Aniston. And I'm an even bigger fan of her hair. It is just so gorgeous, always. I'm sure a guy name Chris McMillan has something to do with it, but he can't take all the credit. Girlfriend just has good genetics.

I can never get my hair to have body. It will either be straight or curly. There is no in between with me. If you have any great ideas to get body into my hair like this, please let me know.

The chic straight look. Now my hair will do this very well, as a matter of fact this is how my hair looks almost everyday. I like it, but it can get boring after a while.

BIG. CURLS. BANGS. LOVE.

Even bed-head looks good on her. One can only hope Prince Charming wakes up to a head of hair like this. Some how I doubt it though.

Again with so much body. Seriously. How?

I've tried to get my hair to just air dry like this, and let me tell you it never even comes close to this. I think I need some better products. As we all know, I love products, I'll have to try something new.

She's just so classic. I am thinking about hair so much lately because mine is just so long and I'm kind of bored with it. When it's long it just hangs there. So I am getting it cut a little which will help curls stay in better. Hopefully I can play with it and come up with some new ways to style it. I think every girl gets tired of her hair at some point. Who knows maybe even Jenn...

Bucket List

2010-05-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

What two things do I want to do before I die? Hmmmmm. That's a hard question. I used to have a HUGE list but the older I get, the more I realize the simple things in life matter the most. So, even if I don't get to do everything I want, I will still be happy. Long story short, maturity has made my list shorter because I really have everything I need.

One thing, however, came to my mind instantly. It is literally my DREAM to travel around Europe with Prince Charming. The countries I want to visit the most are:

Ireland

England (and Scotland)

France

Italy.

I don't know when or where this dream fits in to my life. Before kids. After kids. With kids. Who knows, but hopefully I will make it to all those places with Prince Charming one of these days.

I literally could not think of a 2nd one. So I asked Prince Charming what he wanted to do before he died. I thought I could get an idea from him or that he would come up with something really sweet that we could do together when we are old and grey that I never would have thought of. Yeah right! Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Babe what two things do you want to do before you die?

Prince Charming:Go to the Super Bowl and the Masters.

Me: Is that it?

Prince Charming: Ummmm the World Series and the NBA Finals.

Me: Is that all?

Prince Charming: I want to learn how to fly fish in Alaska.

Me: Well, you haven't named one thing that involves me.

Prince Charming: You can come if you want to.

Gee Thanks! As you can imagine, he was no help. What was I thinking?

Anyway, PC said the second thing I came up with was "a given", but I'm going to post it anyway because it is something that I really want to do. So, my 2nd is to build (not buy) my dream house(last week's top two topic) and then live in it until I am an old lady. My kids will have to drag me out of that house to take me to the "home". Haha.

Anyway, those are my two things to do before I die. I'm looking forward to reading all of yours.

A Must Read

2010-05-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

I have always loved reading. So anytime someone recommends a good book, I'm all over it like white on rice. I've been know to struggle with getting too involved in my book and ignoring things in my life, like my husband or sleeping. I'm trying to get better though.

Well, Linda and Rachel recommended that I read Redeeming Love. It is a re-telling of the book of Hosea from the Bible. Now this book is not for the faint at heart, there are some very heavy topics and it's a very big book, but it is sooooooo good.

I ended up getting it for my mom for Mother's Day. She loved it and had read all of it by Wednesday. If you need a good read go get it. Be warned, you might cry.

Girl Time...I Can't Wait!

2010-05-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I am going to see Letters to Juliet with my mom and sisters. I can't wait! I think it looks so cute and would love some much needed some girl time. I envision lots of snacks and giggling. Click here to watch the trailer.

Sweet Blog Award

2010-05-12T19:17:00.001-07:00

A big huge shout out and thank you to Jenn at Mrs Army Wife, for yet another blog award. Jenn, you are the best. Love ya girl!

I am passing this blog award to some other sweet bloggers:

Tanya at Cottage Glamour
Amanda at Becoming Aware
Heidi at A Man and Three Little Ladies
Rachel at The Miller Family
Hannah at I Feel I've Begun Now That We're One
Jessica at Diddle Diddle Dumpling Our Son John
Dana at Sargent Schlagenhaft Say What

How Cute Can You Get?

2010-05-11T19:14:00.001-07:00

This shower curtain might quite literally be the cutest shower curtain in the history of the world. Why God, why do I have glass doors on both of my showers?

I am so distraught that I don't have a good reason to own this. If you want to own it, (and no Anthropologie does not pay me, but one can dream) click here.

Dream House

2010-05-10T18:24:00.001-07:00

I just love participating in Taylor's Top Two Tuesday. The themes are always so fun. This week the theme is your dream house. I didn't really take the time to research what I would want on the inside because there are so many things I like, it's hard to choose, which is why I don't think I would be able to build a house. Who knows, I'm sure Prince Charming will talk me into it one day.
This is so funny, but I really love Gabrielle Solis' house from Desparate Housewives. I know it is just a front but I just love the look of it. Please excuse the picture of Eva Longoria, I couldn't find a better picture of the front of the house.

I just adore the huge front porch. I live in the south. I need a porch. Rose trellises are a must too, I think.

"My dream is to sit on the porch and be covered in grandchildren and say 'no' and 'stop that'." -Shelby, Steel Magnolias

The other house that I like is a very traditional, colonial style house. I like the above picture of a colonial house except that it is a little big. I don't think I would ever want a house that big, but you get the idea. I guess the porch will have to go in the back of this one.

I love dreaming about the house we will have one day, but I definitely love the house we're in now. I'm so grateful for it and if we never moved I would be just as happy.

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-05-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces that she never did care for pie. -Tenneva Jordan

The phrase "working mother" is redundant. - Jane Sellman

A mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled. - Emily Dickinson

All that I am or every hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother. - Abraham Lincoln

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2010-05-04T17:37:00.001-07:00

I love keeping fresh flowers in my house. I love it even more when they are free, out of my own yard. Since pink peonies are my favorite, I think I've got a good thing going.

They look pretty in the yard and even more gorgeous on my table.

I can't wait until more flowers bloom so I can put them all over my house. Ahhhh, spring-time.

Outfit of the Day

2010-05-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't done the outfit of the day in a while and I'm loving my outfit today so, here we are. I paired this dress from Ann Taylor Loft with a light grey ruffled sweater and cream peep toe pumps. It's a nice work outfit because I can have the sweater if I'm cold or loose it if I get warm.

I love dresses for summer, because you only have to make one choice. This one is so comfy and the yellow is so fun. Here is the dress without the sweater.

Below is a close up of the top half. Please excuse my pale-ness. As you probably saw in previous posts, I am trying to remedy this with Jergens mousse lotion/tinting stuff. Obviously one day has not gotten me far.

I'm looking forward to a long summer of sundress wearing.

Happy Monday!

2010-05-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

Oh, beach how I miss thee. Let me count the ways. I miss thee to the depth and breath and height my soul can reach.

Wishing I was here looking half as elegant as her. Have a fabulous Monday!

Products

2010-05-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Girls always love products and this girl is no exception. When I went to the grocery store today, I picked up some new goodies to try. Heather swears by this mascara, so I thought I'd try it. Although it's doesn't really matter what mascara she wears, she has the prettiest eyelashes in the world. Hopefully, it will work miracles on mine.

Another great product recommended to me was this Jergens mousse. It is like the lotion, but goes on better and stays better. We'll see in a week how well it works. Lets hope it works well because like last summer, this will probably be the only tan I am able to get.

Last but not least, Heather and I were watching TV last night and saw a commercial for the new Tresemme Fresh Start products. Basically the products are for people that who don't wash their hair everyday. That sparked a conversation between Heather and I about how often you should wash your hair. We both normally wash our hair everyday but wish we could be one of those people who washed our hair every few days. My hair normally feels too oily if I skip a day of washing. However this dry shampoo product boast that it will clean your hair and give it body. I really like the Tresseme shampoo and conditioner so hopefully this is just as good.

Do you ladies like to try new products? If so, what new, fun things have you found?

Vote for TCBY

2010-04-26T18:13:00.001-07:00

Click here to vote for TCBY yogurt in NWA!!! It's my favorite! Hope we get it, fingers crossed!

Just Trying to Keep Up

2010-04-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't know if you all have notice, but I haven't blogged much lately. Work has been insanely crazy and like usual I am mentally exhausted when I get home. I've had so many things I wanted to blog about, I just haven't had the brain cells to put together two sentences. So if your here for the clothes you might have to come back later. If you want to hear about my boring life, read on.

1. First of all, I've been trying to enjoy spring. Slowing down and looking at flowers and paying attention to the weather (it's a nice day, it's a rainy day, etc.) is really hard for me. I'm trying to enjoy the change of seasons though because it usually doesn't register to me that the seasons are changing until it already has and that is how life passes you by folks.

2. My grandfather has been sick in the hospital. He had a really close call last week and all the family was called up to the hospital to say our goodbyes. Lots of family came in town and we had dinner one night up at the hospital with grandpa. It turns out that he is ok for now, but he is not in very good health. This may be the last time some of our out-of-town family gets to see him. Hopefully not, but we just don't know what is going to happen. He finally got to go home today and is doing well. Prayers.

3. Two of my really sweet girlfriends are getting married this summer. I went to a shower last weekend and I have one this weekend. I must say I LOVE showers and weddings (the cake is always good at both). I can't wait to watch my two incredible friends marry two wonderful guys. Plus I have to get a new dress! Yippee!

4. CLEANED OUT MY CLOSET! Whew! It was a big job, but so worth it to have it wonderfly clean and functional in there. Looks like I need to have a garage sale. Oh goody, another project.

5. You might remember this post about when/how to clean when you work full time. Taking my mother-in-law's suggestion, we used to clean one night a week and have since gotten out of the habit. Now we are back in the habit and I love it. It leaves so much more time on the weekend to have fun and relaxation.

I've heard that life is like two railroad tracks running side-by-side. Instead of being all bad or all good, it is usually a mixture of both. That has become so apparent to me lately. Right now my marraige is in a wonderful place. My personal life, excluding my grandfather's health is awesome. On the other hand, my work life is just complete chaos. Sometimes is it controled chaos, sometimes it is so out of control I can hardly keep up. Hopefully we will get some help soon and catch up on some things and everything will settle down. On that note, I am not going to give you all false promises to come back and blog soon. I'm just going to do what I can do. I'm going to blog when I can. Look at flowers when I can. Visit my family and enjoy my husband's company.

I hope you are all having a great spring. Go look at a flower. :)

Oh yeah...

2010-04-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, now I remember why I don't like ordering things from JCrew. The whole sending clothes back process is so disapointing after I've been looking forward to them coming. Shrug.

Spring Shopping Spree

2010-04-21T19:01:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, Prince Charming and I went to a nearby casino with some friends. We just went for something fun to do, but we both ended up winning quite a bit of money. So, naturally I went SHOPPING! I purchased some fun things, most of which you guys have already seen in this post, but I thought I'd post them again.

I loved this dress and thought about ordering it in purple but I decided to just get the blue because it looked more summery.

This dress is perfect for a casual look and I think the color is so neat.

Again, I already showed this sweater but I think it is perfect for those chilly spring mornings.

I think we all know I love purple so, of course, I had to buy something purple.

And last but not least this white shift dress is so fresh and I am looking forward to accesorising (is that a word) it up.

Now I just need the Fedex truck to pull up in front of my house and bring me all my goodies.

White Jeans?

2010-04-18T18:23:00.000-07:00

What do you guys think of white jeans? I'm not really sure about them. When they first came out (again) I was really hesitate, now they've really grown on me and I'm thinking of purchasing a pair for summer.

I found this pair at, where else, but JCrew.

So Honored...

2010-04-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

Ya'll, I've gotten my first blog award and I couldn't be more honored. A big, huge thank you to Jenn at Mrs Army Wife for the Happy 101 award! Love ya girl!

In order to be a good recipient of this award I must:

A. Thank the person who gave me the award. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jenn!

B. Name 10 things that make me happy.

1. My Husband
2. Jesus
3. A Clean House
4. Sonic Coke/Sweet Tea
5. Reading
6. Blogging
7. Shopping
8. Laughing with Family/Friends
9. Sunny Days and Rainy Days
10. Sleeping

C. Last but not least, pass the award along and contact the winners! I have chosen ten for symmetry reasons because that's the kind of girl I am.

(drum roll please) And the Happy 101 Award goes to:

Amanda at Becoming A Ware
Dana at Sargent-Schlagenhaf Say What?
Heidi at A Man and Three Little Ladies
Hannah at I feel I've begun...Now that we're one
Taylor at The Undomestic Momma
Nicole at Pink Sass
Hailey at Destined for Royalty
Quite Contrary at Quite Contrary
Kelly at Kelly's Korner
Tara at Jimmy Choos and Tennis Shoes

Congrats everyone and thank you for the daily reading enjoyment!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

JCrew, you have redeemed yourself

2010-03-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

After whipping through my JCrew mag that I received today, I had to show ya'll some of my favorites and take back my former criticism of their spring line.

This short sleeved, sweater is so fresh and simple, yet special with the ruffles.

This tunic dress is fabulous and the colors are beautiful.

I think this skirt is so different and reminds me of a poppy flower.

I'm loving this bright, spring, floral, print sweater. They use this print on several other items such as this skirt and top.

Hello, lovely dress the color of waves. You may come with me to the beach.

JCrew you have redeemed yourself! Thank you for some exciting new spring options.