Saturday, December 24, 2011

While Visions of Sugar Plums Danced in Their Heads

 My outfit on Christmas Eve!
I was so drawn to this outfit in the Anthropologie catalog:
First the idea of a white sequined dress over burgandy tights and turquoise heels really appealed to me. I already had such tights and shoes in those colors but not a similar dress. So, I searched and searched for weeks for a similar dress at a lower price with no luck. I even checked out the actual dress on the website hoping for a sale but it was still full price and already out of my size.
So I got very excited when I saw this dress at F21 website. It wasn't sequined but it had the shift dress effect and material was upper quality then their usual cheaper versions. And it had a very interesting back detail.
When it arrived it was more light grey than white but it still worked.


 The dress is a perfect base to add bold accessories. I went GOLD! The headband helps covers my dire need for a root color and the updue shows off the back of the dress. Although my bun did not stay put through the night.



 The necklace was perfect and looked almost part of the dress. Then the glitter belt to add a bit of a shape to the shift dress....

And here is that back detail I kept referring to!
 It is just perfect cause it covers the bra strap and yet has a lot of sex appeal....Even when my bun came undone it was showing!

 Don't you love these contrasting hues together!? I love it...








Dress, belt - Forever 21
Tights - We love color
Shoes - Michael Antonia (Zappos)
Necklace - Charlotte Russe
Earrings - Thread Show
Headband - Send the Trend
Ring - From Turkey
Bracelet - gift from bf


TODAY:
We went out to breakfast just the 4 of us this morning. It had been a while since we had done that. It is hard cause my son gets up almost an hour before my daughter and is starving and eats right away. So this morning we had to ask him to wait a bit and had to wake up my daughter to eat at the same time.
After breakfast my husband dropped me off at home and took the kids to the indoor play area to decorate cookies for Santa and then to Chuck'e'cheese for lunch!
The entire time they were gone I never sat or stopped. I cooked, chopped, peeled and prepared everything I possibly can for tomorrow's meal. When the kids were napping, I ironed the table clothes, set the table and took out all the serving ware for tomorrow's dishes. I even made this elaborate breakfast that will just be popped into oven tomorrow morning for us to eat hot and fresh. It was as involved as making an apple pie.  

Here is the menu for tomorrow:
Breakfast: Apple baked French Toast
Xmas Meal: 
Herb pasted brined Turkey
Orange basil spinach salad with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds
Garlic basil green beans
corn cassarole
And my family is bringing potatoes, stuffing and dessert.
I am also going to make my cider drink and champagne punch since they are so popular....

We got ready and got the kids dressed in their holiday clothes and headed onto my mom's for a Christmas Eve get together party...
It was great to be with everyone and enjoy the night. My camera had a malfunction so most of my photos were blurry but got a few shots here and there:

My little Santa's Helper:
 My mom and stepdad had presents for everyone! They were so sweet. And my mom gave me the coolest thing ever. She made my daughter and I matching crochet mini skirts and berets! I will take a photo tomorrow to show and plan to wear it very soon. It is going to be soooo cute!

Laughing with Grandpa (Dede):

With my best friend:
 These 3 girls look adorable but man were they trouble. They got a hold of glass of milk poured into a frisbee and dipped their faces in it to make face painting.... By the time we discovered this the room had milk everywhere. My poor mom will have some project tonight!

Then when we came home we dressed in our matching PJs and set out the cookies kids made today for Santa. My son wanted to leave him some fruit cause he said he would eat too many sweets. We then took my brother and SIL's advice and left 8 celery sticks for the reindeers.
Then my husband read 'The Night Before Christmas' and the kids went to bed.
We brined the Turkey and wrapped Santa's gifts and put all the gifts for the kids under the tree.
The santa gift comes under their own tree the rest is under the big tree...






MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Blushing with mint

 Today's outfit was somewhat wasted as I ended up only wearing it out to run errands (grocery and bank) and picking up the kids from my mom's house. 

The inspiration was from the September 2011 issue of Lucky magazine. I had used the other outfit on the left side already...
I do love the idea of mixing 'blush' and 'mint'. And I haven't worn this super old cardigan for so long so it was great to remix with it...
 I added the mint cat eye sunglasses for a little fun flair...


 This necklace which was a b-day gift from my good friend was a perfect match. The bracelet is a gift from my other friend....
 This pose turned out a bit weird...


 When we remodeled our garage (I will post photos one of these days)... We took out this cute little chair outside. This used to be my bathroom chair in my other house. It was an antique store find...

Cardigan - Victoria's Secret
Tee - Forever 21
Skirt - Romwe
Boots - Madden Girl from TJ Maxx
Sunglasses - Anthropologie
necklace and bracelet - gifts
Belt - Forever 21

TODAY:
It was nice to sleep in a bit and wake up to no kid duty. But knowing I had to pick up the kids by naptime I had to hustle and finish the office organization project before showering and rushing to the grocery store for Christmas meal. I was going to go to Costco but consolidated that list to regular store to save time.
Then I came home to unload everything dry my hair and rush out again to go to the bank. I had to get a savings bond as a gift to my nephew and transfers etc... It took forever. Then went to my mom's to pick up the kids and brought them back home for naps and finally ate lunch.
It took my daughter so long to fall a sleep that she didn't wake up till almost 5 pm so we didn't go anywhere.
I did finish all my gift wrapping finally and even sent out our digital cards too. Hope I get in for my hair appointment tomorrow. You might be seeing a very different me. Lets see....

Under The Mistletoe

 Tonight was a date night to the lux movie theaters for dinner, drinks and a movie. This outfit was perfect for such outing! I don't know how I would have worn it if I was with the kids but I had already picked it for today so it worked out.

The inspiration was from a Guess Ad:
I like the idea of going all white on top with flared black pants and long black gloves. I don't have a red fur scarf so I added a red silk scarf to my purse for the effect...



 To create the effect I belted my peacoat. The odd thing was when I wanted to take off the coat in the restaurant and movie theater I had to take off my belt and felt like I was undressing so a bit awkward.
 Wearing the new necklace gift from my best friend. She said she bought it at one those in home jewelry parties...
 I have had these gloves for years and love them.



 My husband snapped this as I was running towards him to switch the camera mode from timer to normal!



Rabbit Hair Coat - Guess (very very old)
White T-neck & Belt - Forever 21
Chiffon flared pants - Asos
Purse - 6159
Silk Scarf - can't remember very old
Boots - J Crew
Sunglasses - House of Harlow
Necklace - Gift

TODAY:
My mom and step dad took the kids late morning. And I did attach one of my projects that have been on my list for quite some time which was to clean and organize our office walk-in closet. It took me hours and I only got half way done. Going through filing cabines and so much piled paperwork and old photos is such tedious work. I plan to wake up early and finish that and also attach my kids rooms while they are not here so I can pack up the toys and clothes they have grown out of.
I was still in my PJs when my husband came home to pick me up. So rushed to get ready and thank goodness the outfit worked.
We went to these luxurious movie theaters we have been wanting to try. They have fully reclining leather seats, tables and and arm rests and full wait service with food and drinks. Of course we realized these theaters sell out quick so every movie wanted to see when we got there was sold out. Picked out a 3rd movie choice for my husband for a show time that was 3 hours later! Ate somewhere else since we had so much time to kill then Christmas shopped at a toy store in the same strip mall for some friends' kids and a few toys for our kids. We then enjoyed the 'New Year's Eve' movie in the lux theater. We never wanted to leave it was so cozy and comfortable and whenever you were thirsty or hungry you rang for the waiter. If I can get that at my house I would love it!