Sequins on Christmas Day

This is what I wore for our Christmas gathering at our house today. I was inspired by the following photo in the J Crew catalog. As I mentioned before I pretty much used the entire J Crew fall/winter catalog for outfit inspirations. Not sure how but I somehow have all similar pieces in my closet.

The idea here is the cut off denim shorts with a sparkly top, grey cotton blazer, dark tights, brown heels and bold cuffs. I tried it on with both a navy sequined top and this one and liked this lighter one better.

The models shoes are cooler but my cognac heels gives the look and it is an unexpected style and color under this combo which I like. I also managed to keep them on till late at night somehow even though I was running around cooking and serving.

The J CRew catalog was what inspired me to go and collect/buy bold statement cuff bracelets that I can wear stacked together. The ones they have of course are very nice but at $80-$90 they would be quite pricey to stack. So Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe helped me achieved the look for much cheaper as usual. Here I am using one bead, one cuff bracelet and my chain link watch.

I thought these earing were perfect...

Also, have you noticed I actually wore major eyeliner today. OK, for most thist might not be major but for me who barely wears any make-up it was. I bough this liquid eyeliner pens from a website called elf.com. They are $3 each and it feel like lining with a felt pen. Super easy. I love it. I bought one in plum and one in midnight navy. I might wear more eyemakeup afterall. Except I can't wait to take them off at the end of the day. And I seem to never get it off compeletely and always have that shadow of make-up left the next monring. Any tips on how to get rid of that?

These were all taken by the way with my brand-new camera a huge gift from my hubby for xmas!

Grey cotton blazer - Forever 21

Sequin Tank - Charlotte Russe

Cut off shorts - TJ Maxx

Heels - Michael Kors (from TJ Maxx)

Cuffs & Earings - Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe

Chain bracelet watch - Ed Hardy

Today's Activities: Had a rough night with my son. He has been having potty issues at night so to have a clean xmas mornign we put a pull up on him but he picked that night to get up and use the bathroom twice in which he couldn't pull down the pull up himself so had to wake-us up. I also woke up at 5:30 AM to bake my breakfast cassarole. So woke up tired. Had to wake our daughter up as my son couldn't wait any longer to go downstairs. They were ecstatic about their Santa Gifts. My son got the Aladdin toy set he wanted and my daughter got the little mermaid play set. We were also in matching PJs I purchased which my husband finds cheesy but the kids were enjoying being in the same clothes. After breakfast we let them open the rest of the gifts from us. They of course liked the $24 seasme street band set I purchased the best. Got great photos of them jamming. Thank goodness it came with 2 sets of drum sticks. After the gift frenzy my in-laws and husband took the kids for a walk while I cleaned up all the toys, boxes, dishes and got dressed. We fed them lunch and put them down for a nap while we cooked and set the table. The rest of my family arrived around 2 PM. More gift frenzy and lots of loud playing. We had our big Christmas meal at 4:30 PM. By the time it was 6:30 PM I felt like it was 9! Cleaned up all together and sent two very tired kids coming down from their sugar high to bed. Great day!

Here are the kids openning their one gift from Santa in the morning...

Here is the family in matching PJs. My husband will not be happy this photo has been posted... 

My son is eating the half cookie santa left and my daughter as you can see does not even look awake yet!

Here they are playing with the band set... 

After we are all dressed in early afternoon... 

My husband enjoying the electric knife a bit too much. My dad is laughing. 

Family at the table (my in-laws, mom, stepdad, dad, cousin and her husband)... 

Hope you all had a great day as well....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.

From our family to yours Merry Christmas...

Red Stilettos on Xmas Eve

This was the festive outfit I wore for Christmas Eve gathering at my mother and step dad's house. I got the inspiration from the following photo:

They did gold tones I decided to go with the silver ones instead. I actually even have a silver and black scarf but thought the faux fur collar looked very cool.

This jacket is part of another business suit I had and have been hanging in my closet. It is a bit big but still works. The silk tank is an old 'clubbing' top I had purchased. The leather pants which I have worn before goes pretty nice with the outfit. Again though I had to cuff the legs because they are too short for me when left open. 

As I had mentioned in previous posts this collar is from a tiny shrug cardigan. It has loops that would button to that cardigan. For this jacket I had to use safety pins for it to stay put.

I could have gone with a very nice necklae instead of earings but I really wanted to wear these earings. They are too flashy for day time otherwise. My big ring was perfect. The cuff's colors also went perfect with the whole combo.

Not much needs to be said about the shoes. They are my statement piece under whatever I wear. I have bought them on a slighly reduced price a long time ago. They look brand new cause I have only worn them a very few times and mostly to a house party. They are the shiniest candy apple red with an extereme pointy toe and stilettho heels.

Boucle Jacket - Part of a suit from Newport News Catalog

Silk top (with chain straps) - Guess

Leather pants - vintage

Earings and cuff bracelet - Forever 21

Ring - From Turkey

Red Patent leather shoes - Stuart Weizmann

Today's Activities: Had a nice breakfast at home and started to plan my cooking and did a couple loads of laundry. Took the kids to the park since it was nice and sunny. Afterwards had lunch at home and put them down for naps. While they napped my mother in law and I cooked like crazy preparing all the dishes for tomorrow so they are ready to just pop in the oven. Even made a egg strata for tomorrow morning that will be baked in the am and ready by the time kids finish opennign their Santa gifts. Then we all got ready and went to my mother's and step dad's for xmas eve dinner. They cooked a yummy roast beef and we all took side dishes. Kids as usual had a great time there. When we came home right by their bedtime we left cookies and milk for Santa and my father-in-law read 'night before christmas' to my son. Then we spen the rest of the night packing and assembling gifts for tomorrow morning. Set-up the camcorder on a tripod so we can record their reaction in the morning. Can't wait...

Here is my daughter not letting go as we try to do the blog photo shoot:

Mother and Daughter... 

Openning one gift at Grandma's...

With my mother, mother-in-law and daughter...

My hubby and I 

My son showing the cookie we left for Santa and our disney santa milk and cookie plate...

Brazilian Blowout

No majorly cool outfit today. However it was inspired by the Jackie's post on One Hundred Inspirations blog.  I couldn't pos the photo. I definitely like the colors of the actual photo but these are the pieces I have so here it goes. I was going to wear something totally different but it was too chilly in the morning so I figured I should wear something that I can't wear when it is even slightly warmer than this morning. This blue cardigan is very very thick and warm.

I can't beleive a tripod photo came out blurry. What is up with that?

I also realize now it would have been better if my shirt was a bit longer. But it sure was a comfy outfit to handle today's activites. These are my new ugg boots. My black ones are so worn out and I really wanted a cognac colored ones. These have the look of their 'classic' but the toe is so much nicer. And they are zippered so the fit is more snug which actually makes walking in them easier as they don't slip on and off. But they don't feel like slippers like their classics do.

Blue Cardigan - Bebe

Plaid Shirt - Forever 21

Animal print leggings - Target

Ugg Boots - zappos.com

Pink Beret - Forever 21

Today's Activities: I planned hard last night so I could leave my house at 8:30 AM this morning. Prepared my crockpot meal the night before so I can just plug it in in the morning. Woke up before the kids showered and got ready and had them fed and dressed in a very speedy manner. We were at the zoo just when they opened. Great parking spot too. Made the mistake of allowing my son to get a hold of the map and decide on our route. He took us to the most hilly section of the zoo (the cat trail) for the search of lions and tigers. Kids were both so alive and happy to be there. We managed to meet a friend there for a little while for kids to play together. Then came home in time for lunch and to meet my in-laws. Socialized while the kids napped the left my dr and hair appointments. So today was my big 'Brazilian Blowout' appt. You can see the photos below.

Of course the true testament will come when I do wash my hair and style it on my own. I mean you are always going to look better whe you leave the hair salon. The trick is how is it going to look when you do it on your own.

I am not crazy about the dark hair nor the shortened lenght. So, lets see how it all comes out. I really wanted super blonde highlights against contrasting dark hair. The hair is dark but the highlights are not light enough I think.

See the 'before' and 'after' of each angle. You can also see how frizzy and curly my hair is when it is left on its own with no styling... 

Feathers in the Rain

Got inspired for this combo from the following chictopia post:

I like her colors are pieces more but wanted to put together a similar combo with pieces I already owned so my colors are a bit less interesting.

I just knew I would wear this tunic more. It is comfy and very versatile for all seasons. I have owned this crop grey sweater forever. I wear it every fall/winter. It is just one of those pieces that always looks good and never out of style. The red scarf was a New Year's gift from my Aunt when I was in high school! She also knitted a matching hat but I am not sure where that is. I hated hats then. I tied the scarf like a 'snood' and it looks cool.

The feather necklace is a thread show purchase. Compliments the fur trim of the boots.

And of course my faux fur trimmed booties that seem to make every outfit I pair them with very trendy. Unfortunately with the rain I didn't get to wear them today. Had to do rainboots but I was indoors most of the day anyway.

Notice I am so not styling my hair this week. Tomorrow afternoon is my big Brazilian Blowout appointment so can't wait to see the results...

Striped Tunic and Leggings - Forever 21

Crop Sweater - have no idea it is so old

Red scarf - handmade

Feather Necklae - Thread Show

Faux Fur Trimmed Wedges - Victoria's Secret Catalog

Today's Activites: Another super rainy and windy day. So went to my girlfriend's house for an allday playdate. She lives 30 minutes north of me so when we visit each other we almsot always have the kids nap there. It was total chaos at times but we had fun. The arts and crafts project for the kids turned to be a mommy art project when the kids got bored with it halfway. So we spent quite a bit of time finishing the felt frames and then printing and cutting and glueing photos. We chose photos of our kids together to symbolize all the fun activities we did together in 2010. They sure will be great to look back in years to come. Although the art project was simple the fact that we got it done between 4 little ones who speak and cry all at the same time wanting totally different things is impressive. We had to laugh at ourselves when one of us started to look frantically for the baby forgetting he was strapped in his highchair, while the other one started to dress the younger kid in older kid's clothes and wondered why there were not fitting. Sometimes kids kill your brain cells I swear. It was fun though and a perfect way to spend a rainy day. Hoping for dry weather tomorrow so we can go outdoors.

Here are the kids (her youngest was napping at the time) playing in the play tent:

Here are the frame ornaments we made:

The photo in the snowflake is at her son's 1st b-day party and my daughter is giving him a kiss.

The tree ornament photo was taken today of our sons. You can't get more current than that...

This last one is of all the kids together in the tub at my friend's house. It was in October where we spent the night overthere cause both our husbands were on work trips. We went apple picking the next day...

Great memories....