Off to the see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz

Today's combo was a Fall 2013 J Crew catalog inspired outfit:

 I loved the combo of black skirt with graphic tee and fedora topped with a denim shirt...

Fedora - Vintage

Denim Shirt, Skirt - Forever 21

Tee - Marni for H&M 

Oxfords - Shoedazzle

Earrings - Cookie Lee

TODAY:
Monday's are rough. After a weekend of sleeping in (until 8 AM) getting up at 6:45 seems brutal. Plus we are never truly ready it seems to start off the week of making lunches, finding lunch bags, gathering school work etc... We manage to get out the door but is quite stressful.
We ran some errands after dropping off my son and before preschool and after preschool. Then came back home to finish putting away the laundry and getting the house back in order. Then went to pick up my son and met my friend and her daughter at the mall for an afternoon playdate and early dinner.
My hubby took over there so I could go meet up with my girls for happy hour and dinner.
This morning I was about to flake on all these plans but somehow as the day progressed I gather up the energy to do it all. It is probably because there is absolutely no down time what so ever to allow my brain to communicate to my body how tired I am.  :)

No place like home

This was yesterday's outfit which was used for the family photo shoot for my parent's holiday card...

The inspiration:

I had this off day where I lost track of time the entire day and therefore was late for everything including the photo shoot and of course never had time to take photos and forgot all my cameras so these were taken with my phone inside the photo place just not the best lighting at all obviously.

Jacket, Jeans, necklace - Forever 21

Top - Ann Taylor LOFT

Purse - Charming Charlie's

Booties - Steve Madden

SATURDAY:

The photo shoot was hectic but the group shot came out OK and our own family photo was acceptable for card so it wasn't total loss although we all felt the photographer was horrible putting us in these weird bride and groom poses that just didn't make any sense at all and then cut off full length photos of my mom and stepdad and my sister and her husband. It was just frustrating.

But afterwards we had a very fun family dinner at Cheesecake Factory, then with a spur of the moment decision my parents took the kids to their house and we had the night and the following morning off!

SUNDAY:

We had another fun family night where we carved pumpkins and had spaghetti and meatball dinner together...

Appetizers....

This is what I carved... 

My stepdad's

My son insisted on carving a light saber so had my husband by this gigantic $12 pumpkin! It does look like a lot of other things, that is for certain... :)

My sister's....

Blank Canvas

Last night's outfit was inspired by an old inspiration from In Style's April 2012 issue:

 I love this idea of a tailored vest over sleeveless top. And dark navy and lavender is a nice color combo...

 My sister located the XS of this Philip Lim for Target. I was in search of a simple white top that is not fitted and can go dressy. I like the detail in the front although it does add some unneeded bulk...

My attempts at eye make-up....

 Doubled up the multi-chain necklace with the spike necklace....

Got this gorgeous bag from TJ Maxx using the gift certificate my mother in law had given for my b-day. I have been looking for a new black bag and everything I tried on was just too plain and boring. Even the couple Michael Kors ones. This one just had the right amount of interest and yet pretty roomy and comfortable carrying it both ways. All real leather too...

 I can't afford real valentino's but I truly love the style...

Blouse - 3.1 Philip Lim for Target

Vest, Pants, necklaces - Forever 21

Purse - DKNY (from TJ Maxx)

Earrings - Cookie Lee

Heels - Shoedazzle

FRIDAY NIGHT:
So after that crazy day of driving to pumpkin patch picking up my son then going to my daughter's ballet rehearsal on the other side of the town and driving back in Friday afternoon traffic, I managed to get dressed and go out.
Well actually 'going out' for mommies is like conducting an orchestra. My husband had a very high level tennis match so we had to coordinate leaving the kids with my friend's nanny until her husband came home then my husband would pick them up from him. That added even more complexity to my already tight timeline but somehow it all worked out in the end.
And once we were seated with a glass of wine and paint brushes we could just breath and relax...
We took our time painting our wine plates then went across the street for some vietnamese. It was a very relaxing night after a very long and tiring day....

 Here is my plate. It is supposed to turn out in pink, blue, purple and orange. We shall see if it does...