Thursday, September 27, 2018

How busy are you?  How often do you tell people how busy you are?  Do you thrive off of being busy?  I don’t like to be too busy. I like to leave room in my schedule for spontaneity.

I am a big believer in having downtime for both me and my kids.  I was really excited to get them started in every activity under the sun when they became old enough.  I quickly learned that I had to pace myself and create a comfortable schedule that would work for my family.  I also realized that we didn’t have to join everything.  We could dabble in things with a one day workshop.  We could go to open gym at the gymnastics place and just try it out.  This is better for your kids and your budget sometimes.  Many families have a one activity per kid per season rule.

My twin boys have done soccer, archery, kindermusic, church choir, piano lessons, the viola with the elementary orchestra, t-ball, coach pitch baseball, swim lessons, quick recall academic team, debate, theater, computer classes, just to name a few.  

When my boys were 8, we joined a baseball team that ran from February to July.  The coach wanted two extra practices in addition to the two weekly prescribed by the league.  He asked for extra money for the field rental and told us these would be on Friday night and Sunday night.  So, I was at baseball for 8 year olds 5 nights a week at dinner time.  I still don’t know why I didn’t stand up for what was best for my kids and the other kids.  Guess what?  That was the last time my boys played baseball because they were burnt out.  

I have friends that are so busy that we can’t even talk on the phone.  They have their kids in so many activities that I honestly don’t know how they can manage the schedule.  

What are your thoughts?  I know it’s hard to say “no” but it’s so important to prioritize.  I’m worried about kids today that are over scheduled. Heck, I’m worried about adults that are over scheduled!

Thanks for reading!

Amy 

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Here are my teacher outfits from last week.  It was 90 degrees for these first two outfits! 

Lularoe Cassie pencil skirt (I have 5), Target top, consignment sweater, and fake Jack Rogers that were $13 and broke the first time I wore them.  I’m trying to take them back this week.

Here is another LulaRoe Cassie, my only Anthropologie shirt, a consignment cardigan, and my clunky Danskos.  I was trying to wear fall colors while still staying appropriate for the heat.  

This is my more casual Friday outfit.  School colors include burgundy so this tunic I found last year is great, TJ Maxx vest, grey Hue jeggings, grey consignment Tieks.  A big thank you to my next door teacher E for taking all of my photos last week!

Here is my rainy music festival outfit from Saturday and my post here about my experience.  

Here is my rainy Monday outfit.  This is my Old Navy swing dress from a couple of months ago that I hadn’t worn yet (nice thick fallish material), an old knit cardigan, new Costco Kenzie brand booties. They passed the all day teacher test but I need socks or tights because the zipper rubbed on my bare ankles.

My final outfit is my consignment Matilda Jane pants, Chico’s cross top, Axxiom shoes, and my camo ADVdesigns earrings.

Above are some of my favorite plaid items. I love plaid! The first two items are Amazon finds from last winter. The third is a flannel from Old Navy several years ago with one of my trusty vests. I have a hard time with button downs because I am top heavy. I would like to add a black and white plaid button down and a plaid shirt with no buttons. Maybe I will get a plaid vest for the holidays. Also, I have a few plaid blanket scarves.

Which is your favorite outfit?

How do you feel about plaid?

Thanks for reading!

Amy

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Do you ever get tired of your tried and true color combos?  Where do you get inspo for new color pairing ideas?  I get them everywhere.  Sometimes I see two colors on a food label, sometimes I see two colors together in a painting or on a school textbook!  I love color and color is everywhere around you.  My mom is a retired art teacher and my sister is an art teacher.  Even though I didn’t get the artistic gene, I like to be creative in fashion.  

My closet is crazy right now.  Last week it was 90 degrees and now it is decidedly more fall like outside, but I have all the seasons hanging out right now.  I really can’t wait to pack away some stuff so I can see what I have and work with a transitional early fall wardrobe.  

Here are some early fall combos you may like.  Look in your closet and see what you have.  You may be surprised.  What I have found with thinking about new color combos is that I can really shop my closet.  

Orange and Grey

Black and White with cognac

Purple and Black

Mustard and Wine

Grey and Cognac

Below is an example of mustard and wine.  This is a Lularoe Cassie pencil skirt and my trusty wine knit top from Nordstrom.  These pieces will definitely make my early fall capsule wardrobe.  The earrings are leather by ADVdesigns from Etsy.  

Next I have an example of grey and cognac.  This is a light grey long sleeve swing dress with my only pair of Nickel and Suede earrings in cognac and an oatmeal Loft vest.  

Here we have purple and black.  This pencil skirt is from Kohl’s many years ago.  The cross top is from Chico’s and I’ve worn the heck out of it.  It is 3/4 length sleeves and a nice non-wrinkle material.  I love, love, love tortoise shell and picked this up at a little boutique for $8 about a month ago.  

Orange and grey really look nice together and it’s a bit unexpected.  This is a Nordstrom blouse from many years ago. It is kind of a tie dye with the lace on the bottom and these earrings are from a little boutique last year.  

Black and white with a bit of cognac thrown in is kind of fun.  This is a swing tunic from last year that I can wear with leggings or a pencil skirt.  The metallic feather earrings are fun and make it not so matchy matchy in my opinion.  

Which is your favorite color pairing?  Do you have any color pairings that I may not have thought about?  

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back tomorrow for What I Wore Wednesday and my link up with The Blended Blog on plaid/flannel shirts.

Amy

Monday, September 24, 2018

Hey everyone!  Happy last week of September!  I’m linking up with My Glittery Heart, Lindsay’s Sweet World, and The Sirois Family for Hello Monday!

Once again, I didn’t go out on a Friday like I suggested in this post.  We had a nice quiet evening at home where I made frozen pizzas and a couple of other things.  If the weather had cooperated I was going to drag someone to a free polo match.  But, it rained and that was out of the question.  Anyway, I needed to rest up because my husband scored free tickets to Bourbon and Beyond – a music and bourbon festival – that was set for Saturday and Sunday.  He scored tickets for us and some of our friends, so I was excited.  

Friday afternoon I had Clicklisted my groceries so I didn’t have to rush out Saturday early morning.  But, around 11 after I took a leisurely bike ride in the neighborhood, I set off for rainy music festival supplies – a t-shirt and a poncho.  I pulled up next to my hub on his road bike on my way just by coincidence and snapped this picture at a red light.  He had taken one son to work on a video project early that morning and wanted to do some biking.  

I made food for my boys, polished my nails, did laundry all in preparation for being gone the rest of the day.  This is what I decided to wear.  I should’ve saved my time – we arrived at 3 and it didn’t stop raining for even one second.  My polish even started coming off from being in the rain for so long!  We lasted until about 8 pm. I did get to hear Sheryl Crow who was my favorite of the day.  I wanted to last for Lenny Kravitz and John Mayer, but it just wasn’t happening.  They ended up having to cancel the entire Sunday portion of the festival, too.  So sad.  

My husband at one point during the festival.  

Me questioning my life choices. 

Sheryl told the crowd she is 56!  

These two finally arrived after I’d been there for 4 hours.  They look fresh as daisies.  Look at the mud underneath us.  

My son has to bring Greek food to school so we started beef gyro meat in the crockpot Sunday morning.  

Here is what the finished product is supposed to look like.  

Then, my husband and I went to Costco together.  I bought these Kenzie boots for $24.  Hurry if you want some.  They will go quickly.  

I don’t know if I’ve ever shown you my favorite purse.  I like tote style bags and this is by Fossil.  It’s a nice rubber material that wipes off.  I like the black and brown together. I bought it last year for about $99 on Amazon.  It was pretty steep but it’s really only one of a couple I use.  A word about my boots in the festival picture.  I bought Hunter rain boots 6 years ago.  I don’t need wide calf boots normally but I bought the wide calf Hunters at a department store because they came to a better place on my leg than the regular ones which are really quite tall for someone who is shorter with shorter legs.  They have been a great purchase.  The only body part that stayed dry were my feet.  

After Costco, we went to see this.  It was excellent.  It was not predictable in my opinion.  The clothing of the two main characters was really fun to see, too.  

This is out of order, but I also enjoyed some outside patio reading time with my new Bourbon Pumpkin candle.  I couldn’t hold off.  I had to smell it!  I highly recommend it.  Bath and Body website only I was told.  

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great week! 

Amy 

Friday, September 21, 2018

It’s Friday!  I’m linking up with Andrea, etc. today for Friday Favorites.  It’s been a good week, but man, September is hectic.  I always forget!  

1. This was a good call!  I ordered 4 of these – some for gifts.  I can’t wait to burn it but I will try to wait until October.  I don’t have long to wait.  It’s not sold in stores – only on the website.  

2.  Kroger has these seasonal scents now for 79 cents!  I thought this would go well with the candle gifts so I bought 4.  My hub wants non-smelling kitchen hand soap but why when you can have fun scents?  

3.  I have found my signature fall polish in Essie’s “For the Twill of It”.  I can’t remember the blogger who recommended it.  This photo doesn’t do it justice.  It is lavender, beige, green, grey.  Check it out.  It’s a cool color!  

4.  I didn’t know A Simple Favor was a book!  I wonder if I should read first?  I really want to see it soon, though!  

5.  I also thought this book looked good!  

6.  I thought this Target t-shirt was so cute!  

7.  We got our Costco rewards check so we will go to Costco this weekend.  

8.  I only discovered this a few week’s ago because my friend ordered it.  I’m not a big fan of Domino’s Pizza, but their thin crust is amazing.  The crust tastes kind of like a cracker.  If you like thin crust, too, you might want to give it a try.  I prefer pizza cut in squares, too.  Yes, I’m weird!  I ordered it for myself this past Friday night.  

9.  Finally, I tried a new pulled pork recipe from Tractors and Glam blog.  OMG – I think it’s the best I’ve ever made or maybe even eaten.  I used a pork picnic roast – I think you can use any cut of pork.  The recipe calls for one cup of orange juice and the juice of one lime.  It said to cook on high for 10 hours but I cooked on high for 2 hours and then low for 3 maybe and it was done. Shred and put a little sauce on because you can always add more.  I was a little scared because the lime and orange sounded weird, but it worked!  It was magic!  I used the leftovers for pulled pork nachos just last night.  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Amy

P.S.  If you are new here or missed some posts this week…

I talked about vests for fall here

I talked about kimonos for fall here

I talked about errands and how to make them less painful here

Thursday, September 20, 2018

No, silly, this isn’t a financial blog, nor is this a post about investing!  It’s about vests and how I love them so!  I definitely think you should in”vest” this season if you haven’t already!

In my part of the country, we can get by with a lightweight jacket for quite awhile before we have to dig out our serious winter coats.  And, I think it’s all about the layers.  You will rarely see me without 3 articles of clothing come fall and into winter.  The vest makes the perfect third piece.  

I think the official mom uniform in fall and early winter has got to be jeans, shirt and a quilted vest.  I have been rocking this look for many years now.  It is the perfect weight for running errands – driving in your car and going in and out of buildings. You don’t want a heavy coat while you are in a store and it’s not that cold yet, so the vest is the perfect solution.  

Also, I can’t wear anything too heavy to teach in because in the winter they crank the heat.  A vest is perfect because I can always take it off if I need to.  And, the pockets are handy, too.

I also wear them a lot on the weekends.  I just don’t know what I would do without my vest collection.  

I have been collecting mostly the lightweight Old Navy quilted vests for several years.  It is a great dupe for the J.Crew Factory light quilted vest.  Now, full price at Old Navy could be around $30 which is approaching J.Crew Factory prices.  So, wait for a sale or put some Old Navy cash toward your purchase.  

I have hot pink, cream, navy, and black.  I would like to add olive green to my collection this year if they have it. I thought about a Christmasy plaid last year but never pulled the trigger.  

In addition to my ON vests, I have a faux fur vest and a nubbie black vest.  The faux fur vest can be put over a black dress and looks really chic for an event.  I wore this to my husband’s work dinner a few years ago.  I also have some puffier vests – one in camo, one in red, and one in a light silver/white.  Now, remember, I didn’t go out and buy these all at the same time.  I have had all of them but one for at least three seasons.  They really last and I don’t think they go out of style.  

Old Navy has a very light blush this year and a grey. Don’t forget to look online for better selection.

This is a picture of me on the weekend last winter.  Skinny jeggings, booties, Amazon lace bottom top, and vest.  This vest is maybe 8 years old from Old Navy.  This color has really served me well – it is a grey/white/silver color.  

This is a picture of me the day after Thanksgiving and I kept my cute sister in the picture and a bit of my Dad.  I wore my black light quilted vest because it was pretty mild weather.  

Don’t overlook a light vest option.  I find most of mine at TJ Maxx.  It is a great third piece and you can really wear these in all 4 seasons.  

This is a J.Jill consignment find.  I like to wear this faux fur vest over a black dress with a long necklace and black opaque tights and booties.  

This nubbie black vest is years old from Kohl’s.  

This is a really warm Old Navy camo vest that I got last year.  I wear this on the weekends in the fall and sometimes in the winter.  I feel like camo has more of a fall vibe – maybe because it’s hunting season!  Ha – bad joke!  I am not a hunter!

Here is a better picture of the light quilted Old Navy vests that look like J.Crew.  I have worn this cream colored vest so much.  They wash pretty well – just line dry.  The lighter colors do show dirt more easily, of course.  These look great over a long sleeve swing dress with a cute scarf or long necklace and booties.  

How do you feel about vests?  

Thanks for reading!

Amy 

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

This is a hard time of year to dress.  It’s still 80-90 degrees and I’m tired of my summer school clothes but I can’t quite dress for fall yet.  I don’t want to shave my legs so it’s hard to wear skirts unless they are maxi! Ha!  And, I’ve gotten lazy with my self – tanning regimen so the legs are also pasty white!  What problems, right?  My sentiments are reflected in my outfits.  I forgot to take pictures a couple of days and I debated showing some of these true “misses” of outfits.  Oh well!  

In addition, I’m linking up with The Blended Blog for their theme of “fall kimonos”.  I love my kimonos, as you may know!

Meh – I don’t like this outfit.  

Double meh – This is the same as the long floral dress I wore on the first day of school, which I’m sure you don’t remember.  This is a size smaller and I need the next size up or else I need the camouflage of the flowers.  

Weekend brunch outfit, but I also wear this to school.

This is my favorite outfit and the most me.  I wish I had this shirt in multiple colors. 

These are the shoes I’m wearing in the above photo.  I bought black and tan at Shoe Carnival this past weekend.  I have been unhappy with this year’s footwear and these are the brand Axxiom which is the brand of a consignment shoe I found.  

The metallic in the top of photo are the consignment find from a couple of months ago. The new black and tan were on sale for $20 bucks each.  They passed the teacher comfort test.  They are slightly lower wedges than the metallic so they are more wearable for all day.  

They were 30% off – original price was $45.  

I don’t like this outfit in the photo or else it’s my pose.  I was in a hurry to get to my class so maybe that’s why I look weird.  I’m also starting to wonder if I’m annoying my two teacher photographers!  Ha!  It’s not comfortable to take pictures of yourself!  

I love this TJ Maxx kimono.  I think it really looks like fall.  

You can’t go wrong with black and tan. 

This is my on sale velvet kimono from last year.  

I love to wear my kimonos with knit swing dresses or skinny pants and a top.  I think it’s important to do a fitted bottom because the top is voluminous.  I always try to size down in kimonos because they run big from my experience.  

For the weekends, I think they look great with skinny jeans and a graphic tee or just a plain knit shirt.  I really think they make a great third piece.  I love to follow the rule of three in dressing.  Pants, top, vest is an example.  Another example is swing dress, kimono, long necklace.  

I have had a hard time finding kimonos in the stores lately.  What about you?  Versona has some great fall ones – I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago.  Other than that, where have you seen kimonos?  

Thanks for stopping by!

Amy 

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

First of all, let me start by saying, I used to run all of the errands and dread it because I was just doing too much.  So, if you are in that stage of life, I understand.  I took a long, hard look at how I was spending my time and I started working smarter, not harder when it came to errands.

Here are my tips:

-Treat yourself to a drink so you have stamina.

-Be organized.  Go to the Dollar Tree once a month and buy your birthday cards, anniversary cards, and sadly, stock up on sympathy cards.  Have a supply of stamps at your house.  At the beginning of the month, I list all of the birthdays I need to buy for and try to have things ready well in advance.  This year, I was bad.  I usually get my August and September birthdays ready in the summer and this year I didn’t.  We have 5 family birthdays in September and I found myself running to get gift cards, cards at The Dollar Tree more than twice in one week.  

-Don’t just buy the bare minimum.  If you want to drive yourself crazy, buy the smallest thing of contact lens solution, only 4 rolls of toilet paper at a time, and a tiny bag of dog food.  Try to make your life easier by buying two of each toiletry item, and a bigger supply of things you use every day.  *Now, if you have a space problem or you are on a fixed income, you may not have the luxury of stocking up.  

-Bundle errands together.  If you know you have to go to a particular place, what else is nearby that you can do at the same time?  

-Order what you can online.  Remember that your time is worth something – it’s a very valuable commodity.

-Make errands fun by taking the whole family, within reason.  Don’t go when they are hungry or tired and don’t try to do too much.  We used to do this when our twin boys were little.  We would be playful and have fun in Home Depot, Costco, or wherever.  Your attitude is infectious.  You will miss the days when they can fit in a cart.  

-Go on errands with just your spouse.  We go to Costco together and enjoy talking in the car and looking at things together.  

-Play music or a podcast in the car. It changes your mood!

-Be grateful that you can run errands. Some people physically or financially can’t do what you are doing.  Whenever I want to complain, I try to this of this.  

-Prioritize. What is most urgent?

-Don’t try to do too much in one day. Do try to do some things during the week so that you don’t dread Saturdays.

What tips do you have? How do you handle errands?

Thanks for reading!

Amy