Shopping day

I had such a fun day yesterday - my mom and I took the kids and went to visit my grandmother, then the kids and I visited my in-laws where my husband joined us and we all had dinner together. I love being near family! I was going for hip-young-mama with this look, but walking around downtown and catching glimpses of myself in mirrors I think I looked more like an angry-suburbanite. Oh, well... You can't see in this picture, but my hair was up in a very messy bun and when I went out I had on a black leather jacket and black purse, and my black boots have 4 or 5 inch heels. It just all kind of came off as bitchy, somehow... and not in a fun or cool way! Maybe it was all in my head, though, because my mom, my grandmother, and some random woman at a store all complimented me on this outfit! I looked for a long time to find a tiered shirt that didn't add 20 lbs to my frame, and I really love this one. The shrug worked perfectly with it since its sleeveless!

My daughter, on the other hand was adorable and insisted on being in the picture with me. She really loves strips obviously!

New Church Dress

I got this dress because it seems I've got tons and tons of sleeveless dresses and very few long sleeved dresses. (Btw, yes, I know the full outfit shot is an awful picture - I was in a hurry this morning!) I'm shamelessly in love with wrap dresses and this one falls nicely on me. I got it at a thrift store and its a Walmart brand dress, even though usually I try to stick to nicer brands I just couldn't resist. The v-neck is a bit deep for church, so I put it over a lacy slip and I think it looked quite nice. The necklace I'm wearing was my Mother's Day present last year - its a silver figurine of a mother, father, and two children - perfect! Looking at the full-length picture I'm thinking I may need to shorten the dress - it would look cute hitting just about the knee, wouldn't it? I'm still LOVING my nude fishnet thigh-highs. Seriously, they are one million percent more comfortable than pantyhose, and more stylish, I think. Believe it or not, I wore flats today. I love these flats:

Mardi Gras!

My husband and I went to a Mardi Gras fundraiser for the private school our daughter goes to. We didn't stay very long, but it was so much fun to get dressed up and go out! I hadn't worn this dress since 2002, and I wish it had not been quite so tight on me, however I guess I should count it as a win since I've had two kids and nursed for 5 years since '02. LOL My mom lent me the mask, which I thought went beautifully with the dress. The dress is such a unique shimmery-bronze color that I didn't know how I would find a mask to match it, but the orange in this mask really looked great, I think.

My favorite accessory

At the moment, my favorite accessory is this headband:

So far I had worn it just with a black dress, letting the headband take the attention... but after putting on a green sweater this morning I realized it would look great! My mother- and father-in-law got this headband for me when they were visiting NYC a couple months ago. You can find lots of similar ones on Etsy, though.

This outfit is a basic work outfit for me... knee-high boots because there's still about a foot of snow on the ground, skinny jeans (since I have to wear boots), a button-down shirt left untucked, and a warm sweater. I like it okay, I wish I'd gotten the skinny jeans (from A.N.A. at JCPenney) one size larger, these are somewhat obscenely tight. I was wearing a diamond pendant necklace, but after deciding to add the headband I felt like my face was too cluttered with threader earrings, glasses with a thick frame, headband, and a necklace. I'm still liking my haircut, though I trimmed a few of the longer layers again myself this morning. There was too much of a separation between the shortest and longest layers in the front, so I trimmed the longer ones. I'm also growing my bangs out a bit... I'm thinking I'd rather have some jaw-length layers than bangs. Luckily, my hair grows crazy fast so it shouldn't take long.

sometime I dress in color

I realize, looking through this blog, that I tend to dress primarily in black with an accent color or two. But I do occasionally wear color! Here is a fine example:


And I know its not necessary to match your shoes and purse anymore... but I like it! So shoot me! This jacket is one of my favorites, I got it last year at Marshall's. I saw it and decided not to spend the money, even though it was only $17 or so, but a couple weeks later I still couldn't stop thinking about so I went back and luckily found it! It makes me feel like Kaylee from Firefly. :)

I also got my hair cut, just a trim and some layers for body. I quite like it!

Mixing patterns and layers

So, I'm still working on finding ways to mix patterns. This top and this skirt (purchased several years apart!) have exactly the same colors, so I decided to pair them with black skinny jeans and a small black shrug. In theory I like this, but the fit on the shirt isn't very flattering. Its actually a breastfeeding shirt from Motherhood, left over from my breastfeeding days. Breastfeeding shirts are usually rather un-fitted and have an extra layer underneath so your stomach doesn't show while nursing - thus making them a bit bulky.

Happy Asian New Year!

My in-laws invited us over for a Valentine's Day/Asian New Year dinner the other evening. I felt like this shirt was very appropriate - red is traditionally wore for Chinese New Year and the shirt has Asian characters all over it. Its layered over a black sundress, black leggings, and black boots.

snow days abound

So, school was cancelled this entire week, which means that I didn't go to work, either. Other than my one day out running errands, I've been hanging out at home. T-shirt and jeans, housedresses, and (gasp!) track suits. But, I did wear a couple of my favorite t-shirts this week!

LOVE this outfit

Finally, FINALLY I have a picture that actually feels like me! I swear, almost every picture I end up looking shorter and heavier - I think part of the problem is that my husband is a lot taller than me and thus ends up taking pictures with a downward angle... But anyway, I love this outfit and I love how it looks on me! The jeans are A.N.A. jean leggings from JC Penny, the dress is Ronni Nicole Petite (thrifted), the shrug is Cotton Emporium (thrifted), and the boots are Steven Madden (thrifted). My sister made the necklace for me, and I love how perfectly it matches the dress!

The Walkaway Dress

This is a very well know vintage pattern, known as the Walkaway Dress because you can start making it in the morning and walk away in it that afternoon. And that's exactly what I did today! I altered it a bit from the original pattern - made the skirt shorter, made the torso shorter, instead of a button at the waist I did a ribbon-tie.. I just love it! I think I'm going to start making them for our Etsy shop. I love the full twirly skirt!