The time is here

 This cape coat with utility green pants and rugged boots combo was inspired by this Taylor Swift look from 'Who What Wear' site...

Coat - TJ Maxx

Pants - J Crew

Purse - Chloe

Hat - Forever 21

Boots - Steve Madden

WEDNESDAY:
It was half day school for the kids. I did nothing but cook and bake after I dropped them off at school. Baking 3 boxes of brownies from a box was not that time consuming. BUT, individually wrapping each square in saran wrap sure was!
I also prepp'd the dinner and my lunch and the snacks kids will need between all the upcoming appointments.
Went early to school to help out with the bake sale that benefits an african children's organization. Then picked up the kids and rushed from Dentist to Orthodontist for my son while my mom came to the rescue and picked up my daughter so she doesn't have to come to all of this. Changed my son to his baseball uniform at the orthodontist office and rushed to his game direct from there!
The game took full 2 hours but they won and he even caught a pop ball (or is it called fly ball?, I am still learning)! He was so excited.
Came home to dinner I had already cooked and put them to bed. I was exhausted...

Dept. Of Speculation

Friday's outfit was inspired by a look at ThreadSence website and I bought these pants back then:

Hat - TJ Maxx

Top - Forever 21

Pants - Thread Sence

Necklace - a website I can't remember the name right now

Platforms - Luxury Rebel

FRIDAY:
It was my daughter's and my last day of preschool today! Quite a milestone in our lives and definitely marking the end of an era of 'mommy and me' classes I have been attending for the last 5 years.  The good news is hopefully will keep seeing some of the people via summer playdates and our teacher thru book club.
Afterwards we visited my friend who was admitted to the hospital for chest pain. I know how it is like to be in the hospital stuck to a bed with no outside connection so even though she was getting discharged we wanted to keep her company for just a little while. Then came home for a little bit and went to pick up my son and as promised took them the library then to the rec center so they can play before his swim team practice. I keep forgetting the practices are longer on Fridays and we didn't get home until 30 minutes before my book club meeting I was hosting!
Got them quickly showered and settled and my husband brought take out for them while I got ready for my friends and our meeting.
We had as usual a great discussion on our last book called 'Dept. Of Speculation' by Jenny Offill. A weird book that got really good reviews from critics but not so much from us. The interesting part was the way it was written using a distant narrator voice and just stream of consciousness thoughts that usually do not tie to each other. You follow the story from a very distant stance and never truly feel connected to the characters and therefore the book.
The cool thing is we picked a whole list of great books to read in the next few months and also picked our meeting dates too….

Trench Lessons

Yesterday's outfit came out exactly like this 'Chictopia' Post:

Loved the pop of yellow jeans and the red scarf agains this black and tan base...

I layered the form fitting kika black cotton top under the sleeveless babydoll style sweater top which I have owned for over 7 years!

This hat was my Grandpa's so I love wearing it and the scarf is very old from the time when I owned a total of 5 scarves and used them for warmth not as an accessory!

Hat, scarf - Vintage

Trench - Guess

Sweater, Jeans - Forever 21

Top - Kika Paprika

Boots - Steve Madden

THURSDAY:
Started early with ballet class. I have to stay that drive is getting old very quickly. I waited in my car cause it was cold and I am trying to finish my book before our book club mtg next week.
After Ballet we rushed to my Dad's Dr. appt. Of course there were problems and they didn't have it in their books but then found it but this whole thing took couple hours which is not easy with a 4 year old but she was a trooper. My dad and I were both falling a sleep. We then went to lunch and he went home for a nap while I went home to clean-up and pack snacks and rushed out to pick up my son.

Stayed in the area by going to the library to exchange our weekly books and to finish his homework then took them to the park and he attended his tennis lesson. It is a small community so I keep running into same mom's who are just as crazy as me taking their kids from activity to activity and we start chatting without even necessarily exchanging names. Most of them younger ones like my daughter who will all start kindergarten next year so we know we'll be seeing each other for years to come.
When we got home it was dark and cold.

Funny how in summer 5 PM feels so early and how there is still so much of the day left. But in winter it feels so late. I cooked dinner while working on stupid xmas card address labels which seem to require tweaking every year.

My daughter declared it was her elf's birthday and she wanted to bake cupcakes. I convinced her to just make a card and we would buy the cupcakes tomorrow. I honestly do not have time to experiment with cupcake making at this time.
Managed to shower them and into PJs before dinner then a quick dinner and a book and to bed but half hour late so they slept in a little for a change this morning!

The recent update from our Elves…

You can follow their daily mischieves on my pinterest board….

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas

 Yesterday's cozy holiday outfit to shop for the kids xmas tree and also going to an outdoor birthday party…

Was inspired by this very old Glamour from Nov 2011 issue:

Both of these pieces are so old it is quite ridiculous actually.  This sweater is extremely thick but it is just one of those never goes out of style fair isle ski sweaters. I save it for the coldest weather situations which probably comes once may be twice a year here. The pants are very old but they always fit perfectly and nothing ever happens to them. So here they are surviving many of my closet purges and succeeding to remain in my collection year after year!

Sweater - Victoria's Secret

Pants, Hat - Forever 21

Purse - DKNY

Boots - UGGs

SATURDAY:
We had a nice breakfast at home and took our time getting ready after watching a movie together and lounging around. Then went to a local tree lot to have the kids pick out their tree with my dad.
They keep picking tall and large trees but we had them agree on this size and instead of noble this year we got douglas. It is not the prettiest but the kids love it…

 She has chosen her tree!

Then we came home and I put lights on the tree but we needed more so my mom and stepdad bought some and came over. Then the kids put up their decorations in any way they liked….

The minute we arrived home she put on this outfit, bright tights and the big flower pin included!

The Tree is DONE!

Later we went to my friend's 30th birthday party on the beach. Except it had been raining on and off and it was quite cold and top it all very windy. It was so chilly but we tried to last there thru dinner and the cake then had to come home to warm up. Our friends who had also come to that party stopped by for a while…

Oh and to end the post here was our crazy elves getting into my make-up when we found them Saturday morning: