Family BBQ

This was my outfit today! First I was going to wear an outfit with shorts. Then it was so chilly in the morning that I switched to this from the fall list. Of course midday it got super duper hot but I knew by afternoon it would cool again so did not change and stuck to it.

The inspiration came from the following photo in the April 2011 issue of People Style Watch: 

I layed my neon tank and chartuse shrug on top of each other to get the look.  

This is 100% cashmere shrug I found on a clearance rack in Charlotte Russe for $10. They had couple other colors but this was the most interesting one.

This scarf was a gift from my cousin while we were in Turkey. It has beautiful black and black rose stiching print and goergous fringe. 

I love the layers and layers of bracelets in the photo so I created my own version with the ones I had collected last season. Kept them all on one arm and the new big leopard ring on the other. 

These heels are very old. I found them on clearance for $15 at Marshalls one night years ago. 

Chartuse Cashmere Shrug - Charlotte Russe

Tank - Forever 21

Pants - Target

Scarf - From Turkey

Bracelets & Ring - Charlotte Russe and Forever 21

Heels - Steve Madden

Today's Activities: The super busy day as I promised yesterday. Started with a great breakfast my son and hubby picked up from a local restaurant. It is their 'Saturday' tradition to go buy breakfast together and my son loves to go in his PJs with just a jacket and shoes. They usually get bagels and sometimes doughnuts and today was eggs, bacon and french toast.

I also attempted to apply a brazilian blowout treatment at home by myself this morning. Bought the solution a few weeks ago at the drug store. It is their brand and it is organic and supposed to last 30 shampoos. And guess what instead of $300 it costs $30! Since I had the first one at a salon I knew how it works. I did the blow drying in the main part of my room opened the huge sliding deck door open and turned on a floor fan at a high speed. Did not smell the chemical at all with all that ventilation. At the salon it was burning my eyes I remember. The instructions for this take home kis states though that it will remain in my hair for 48 hours! So I kind of feel yucky now but my hair looks somewhat good at least. I get to wash it off Monday morning!

So of course it took me longer that I calculated and I barely made it to my daughter's gym class where my aunt joined us so she can watch. Afterwards went to a 4 yr old b-day party.

At home prep'd for the BBQ. My parents came and my step dad brought his tools so we can hang the decorations I had been collecting in a bin for years now...

Check some of them out:

Most are from Turkey hence the evil eyes! We beleive these protect you from the 'evil eye' which is why i think they are called this in English.  

Rest of the family arrived. My nephew who is almost 2 mos old was sleeping in my arms... 

With my Brother (who is working all weekend long, hence the uniform) and my SIL...  

At some point in the night we had 9 people on our family room couch. I don't think we have ever had this many people sit on this couch ever!

From left to right: My husband, son, sister, sister's b, Dad, Mom, daughter, my step dad holding my nephew...And this is not even all of them as my distant cousin, his girlfriend, my brother, SIL and my aunt were outside! This is just the family in this city!

Pet Peeves

Todays' Fashion Beauty Friend Friday Post hosted by Katy from Modly Chic is about Blog pet peeves..
We are asked to list the 5 things that drive us crazy about blogs we visit.
1.  A very dark background that makes it very hard to read the contend.
2. Tiny or blurry photos where it is hard to see the outfit.
3. People that cut off their heads from the photos for privacy.
4. Background music. I am usually reading blogs when next to my husband who is working and hate when all of a sudden random music starts playing. Not necessary in my opinion.
5. Flashing photos or text. So distracting when you are trying to view or read a blog or write a comment.
After I typed these I realized I guess all my pet peeves are cosmetic. Contend wise I am not as picky. I prefer bloggers that are humorous and sincere and show their true personality thru their write-ups. But I am OK if they choose to not write anything and just post amazing outfit photos (i.e. Bee from Atlantic Pacific).  I don't read blogs that are just about advertising or all they do is be part of link-ups everyday anyway so I don't count them.

To see everyone else's pet peeves click HERE!





Also, check out the lovely style posts as part of Fashion Friday's on the Blonde Episodes blog.

This was my outfit today. I know I know it is a bit young for my age but it was kind of fun. My daughter of course wanted to wear her tutu cause I was wearing one! :) 

Skirt, leggings and tank - Forever 21

Plaid shirt - Target

Shoes - Converse

Today's Activities: Super busy day once again. Went to my friend's house for a playdate. The kids played their hearts out and amazingly both napped when we got home! As soon as they woke up my aunt and I took them to the zoo. The zoo closes early so we had to make the most of my Aunt's visit there and rode the zoo bus then visited a few animals. Got lucky and most were out and about and very active. Had dinner at home followed by super late baths but somehow managed to get both kids in bed on time. My husband and I are getting so good at our night time routine!

Another super busy day tomorrow were we'll be doing gym classes then a b-day party then hosting the entire family (12 people) at our house for a BBQ. I already shopped but need to cook and prep. So tonight started on some of the side dishes and made the hamburger patties etc...

The Prep School Bloggers Do It Better

Today's outfit is for the 'The Prep School' category the lovely Kristina from Pretty Shiny Sparkly blog has picked for this round of the Bloggers Do It Better challange.

Her requirement was wear a tie or a bowtie for sure and a vest, cardi or a blazer. My blazer photos are more down below.

I didn't even have to think of a new outfit as I already had two combo's in my list with my thrifted $3 plaid tie. This one was of them. The inspiration came from the tiny photo on one of the screens of Forever 21 website (I visit frequently and browse 'new arrivals'): 

And this is how I get inspirations. You  never know where I am going to see an outfit inspiration.

I actually own the animal print shorts in that photo but it wasn't warm enough for shorts today so settled on the brown capri's instead. 

The thin denim shirt was perfect since it had to be tucked in. I only tuck in the front part of blouses now and not the back so it add less bulk. I couldn't figure out how to tie the tie for the longest time. I should have looked at Kristina's website for the tutorial. I also wanted it loose a bit to give the effect in the photo which uses a scarf and not a tie. Added a studded thin belt to tie it all together. 

My motto when wearing 'menswear' style outfits is to always contrast with something very feminine. I added pearls the other day and today was the siren red the sharpest pointy toe stilletthos! 

And here is the blazer I had been holding. Of course it is part of yet another suit from my vast suit collection residing in my son's closet. He was all curious today why I was wearing stuff from his closet!  

The reason I did majority of the photos without the blazer is cause I like it more without I think.

I also did not wear the shoes all day long of course. Instead wore my red pointy toe flats. Not as cool obviously.  

Denim Shirt - from Turkey

Blazer - part of an Italian brand suit

Tie - thrifted

Pants, belt and sunglasses - Forever 21

Heels - Stuart Weitzman

Watch - Michael Kors

To see others supporting their 'Prep School' outfits please click HERE!

Today's Activities: A bit of a crazy morning today. Took the kids to my mom's house and went to my Dad's for a conf call with his Dr who is in LA. Usually we drive to LA for these appt but the Dr was nice enough to allow for a conference call this time. The good thing is he confirmed the diagnosis of the Dr here in SD. The not so great thing is my dad will be starting chemo if not next week the week after that. Afterwards I rushed home so I can prepare for my actual interview. It went surprisingly well. For a client who indicated they want a consultant on-site they seemed very open to me working from home. So we shall see. Of course I so would prefer to stay home with the kids but financially it would be great for our family. I am hoping they might require slightly less than full time hours so we'll see.

My mom and aunt brought the kids home in time for lunch and naps which was very short lived. I mean not even long enough for me to put fold and put away the laundry. My aunt played with them while I finished that and we went out for some Jamba juice and cupcakes as a treat (my Aunt's request ) before the oh so fun grocery shopping. Followed by quiet dinner at home.