One must desire something to be alive

Very happy with how today's outfit came out. I bought this top and pants together with the purpose of wearing them like this and then of course remixing with other things. It is the first time I am wearing the blush crop top. This piece is just so flowing and beautiful color and it is going to be a staple remixing pieces every season I feel.

 I felt like I had plenty of time this morning and got into organizing my closet a bit. Now that I have acquired two extreme flare jeans from F21 last night I moved all my old 'boot cut/flare' jeans to my hsuband's closet. Their time will come I am sure as jean cuts change season to season. Of course all this took longer than expected and I realized I was totally out of time and we had to leave right away. So did not have time to accessorize until I came home midday.

 The outfit looked great but a bit plain until I added this georgous statement necklace which I scored from Anthropologie last night on clearence. It was reduced from $58 to $9.99!

 I figured I needed to pick that green the necklace brings to the mix with my new romwe clutch which is a b-day present from my hubby and sister.

Can you tell I kept moving around the backyard and in and out of the house to get shots in different light. 

The nude colored sunglasses were perfect and again added later in the afternoon which is a shame.

 The nude heels go great. For daytime I swapped them with lizard print flat sandals...

  I am starting to warm up to high waist pants as long as I buy them in larger size so they don't cut my breathing. They allow you to wear crop boxy pieces without looking baggy or too revealing of the mid section.

Top & Pants - H&M

Necklace - Anthropologie

Sunglasses - Forever 21

Purse - Romwe

Heels - Steve Madden

Today's Activities:
So after organizing my closet and re-arranging last night's purchases we left for an orientation meeting with a state teacher who is conducting a free reading clinic this fall. My son is sooo into books that I am going to see if he has any interest in learning how to read. The method they use is phonics which I think is going to work better on my son than traditional methods. They teacher tells you how to teach your child which you do every day for 10-15 minutes. And once a week you go to the center so they can monitor your child's progress and answer any questions you have plus the kids get a dollar toy as a reward for completing their work.
My son is excited so lets see how it goes. Probably will start on Monday. The challange for me is my younger daughter. Finding one on one time with my son is not easy wihtout her distracting us. So, I decided to do the teaching after she goes down and before his rest time. Hope it works.
After the orientation we took the kids to McDonalds as a treat and then let them play in the play structure.
Afternoon might run some errands and do some return/exchanges.

Today's 

Fashion Beauty Friend Friday 

hosted by Katy at Modly Chic

is about looking at 

the dreams that we have – 

the ones we keep buried inside and daydream about when life throws a curve.

The quote in my title 'One must desire something to be alive' is from Margaret Deland

1. Fess up - if you could do anything professionally what would it be?

This whole topic is very hard for me to answer. Cause on one had I am a total ambitious hard core career woman who strives to move up. That side of me would like to work for a company where I can move all the way up to a high level executive position. But then the mommy side of me realizes achieving that would result in sacrificing my family time and that is just not worth it to me anymore. So in that aspect I would love to have my blog, which has brought me so much joy, make enough money through styling consultation and personal shopping where I set my own hours and can still be heavily involved with my kids activities.
 

2. What draws you to this?

My love of leading and managing and a fast pace work environment draws me to the executive position. My love of fashion draws me to the personal stylist position.
 

3. When did you first start dreaming about this ideal?

As early as middle school I knew I wanted to work for a large corporation and move up. I have achieved this party as I was a mid level exectuive before I quit working.

I have always been fascinated by fashion and clothes. My love of barbies and collecting many outfits and accessories for them since I was a little girl explains the trait.
 

4. What's holding you back from going all in?

I am very happy being a full time mommy right now. When kids start school though I will be going after one of these. Unfortunately will probably have to go the career route until I can figure out how to make money with the blogging aspect.
 

5. Sometimes the first step is the hardest... what's one step you can take now on the way to realizing your dream?

Since the blog/personal stylist dream is harder to achieve for me I think what I need to continue to is my blogging network. Also learn more about other social media tools and broaden my readership. The more I network the more I learn. And while I return back to the workforce I can create a local network of hopefully potential clients.

To see what others are dreaming about click HERE!

Kimono Top

This was the outfit I wore in the afternoon. Another inspiration from the Anthropologie Fall Catalog!

Isn't her sheer top super similar to my kimono top?! I honestly would have never thought of topping it over a red tee until I saw this photo. My jeans are not as flare or dark as I would like but I remedied that by shopping for one at F21 tonight!

 I knew this kimono top was going to be very versatile. The print and colors provide so much to work with...

 I loved this necklace when I saw it on F21 website. Unfortunately though the length is a very odd one. So I always attach it to another necklace to lengthen in.

My old old Dooney & Burke purse!. This brings back so many memories of my move to NYC right after college and how I went into the D&B store week after week lusting over this purse until I saved up enough to buy it. I still remember how the store clerks wouldn't even look at me (probably cause I wasn't wearing a designer coat). I am hoping this becomes vintage one day and my granddaughter will love me for saving it.

 The platform booties went nicely under this outfit but I swapped for flats for my shopping trip...

Kimono top - Tilly's

Red Tee & Necklace & Booties - Forever 21

Jeans - Citizens

Purse - Dooney & Burke

Today's Activities: 
Hosted a big pool playdate at our house today. Total 8 Mommies plus 16 kids! Managed to get a cup of coffee/tea in before we opened up the pool for swimming. It was hectic but kids loved it.

One of the mommies got in the pool last to take this photo. You can see my son and his friend doing their crazy jumps in the back. They are becoming such great swimmers!

After swimming we had lunch. Everyone brought something to share and we had plenty of food. Of course with 16 kids we sat half around the kid table and the other half on the grass picnic style:

 

My daughter and her friend swinging away...

 My 'Martha Stewart' friend made this amazing fruit pizza for dessert. It had a sugar cookie like crust and cream cheese frosting. Super yummy and beautiful looking!

After lunch the kids played a little more. Everyone helped out cleanning up and when they all left everything was put away! Just dishes left. I put the kids down and they both slept great.
Late afternoon my husband came home and I left for some retail therapy! Enjoyed the nice and silent ride to the mall even in traffic I didn't mind. Amazing how silence can be so precious for a SAHM!
I visited Anthropologie which is where I had a gift certificate from. Got great items from sale. Then Victoria's secret another store I had gift cards from. Got to love retail stores that send you gift cards to use on your b-day month! I bought their new kohl eyeliner and the exotic lipstick in coral. Loved it.
Then it was Forever 21 and you know that in itself is an hour long trip. Scored some amazing flare jeans, army jacket and some accessories. I had a gift certificate from there too. It was so much fun.

Oh, here are the photos from our hair coloring experiment last night!

 Got the colors all mixed up over the sink!

My bf mixing her color. You can see how she had caramel highlights in her hair already. These all became red afterwards and looked great.

First I do her hair. Started before the kids went to bed. You can see my son watching us with great interest from the top of the tub!

Then she colored mine!

black socks

Finally wearing this adorable top I scored at TJ Maxx like 5 months ago! I lined up 5 different outfits with it but haven't worn them yet. The issue is I have too many outfit ideas and not enough days to wear them!

 The top is silky in the front and soft almost sheer cotton in the back. Even the sleeves are half and half.

 Added layered coral beeds and a heart charm. The coral red rose ring and a gold watch and I was done.

 Obviously the funky part of this outfit was the black ankle socks in coral heels! Totally out of my comfort zone but I just did it!

 Sitting in front of my faux fireplace in the living room lined with all my b-day cards!

 Posing all over the living room/dining room area of the house today...

In front of the painting of my son my Step-dad has done. Temporarily we hung it here until we can hang it over the large stair wall...

Top - TJ Maxx

Shorts & necklaces & socks & heels - Forever 21

Watch - Ed Hardy

Ring - Ruche

Today's Activities:
Decided to take it easy today cause we have been doing some hard core playdates and have a big one at our house tomorrow so today was a rest day. Hit TJ Maxx first to look at some workout tops. I realized all of mine are very crop (you know from that era and when I had flat abs) so I needed some longer tops that is going to keep my midsection covered. I must say shopping for workout tops is not as fun as I thought it would be. Not that much selection. At least at TJ Maxx the prices are decent cause I can't see myself shelling full price ranges of $35-$50 for these. Of course when can you go to TJ Maxx and not find other stuff. They had a super cool selection of winter felt hats at F21 prices. Also some cool flat boots. I plan to wear more boots this fall/winter and need them to be flat. Looking for a distressed gray and a light tan color. I found some but haven't totally decided on them yet.
My son also found some dora lego set that was on clearence he was very excited about. He talked literally non stop about it the entire time! He is sooo into legos now.
Then we went to the indoor play area and had lunch there. It was packed but kids made some new friends and had a good time.
After naps the plan is to grocery shop for tomorrow.
My best friend came over and we attempted some crazy highlight project on each other's hair! Photos to follow later....