Happy New Year

Well here is the outfit I wore for New Year's Eve. It was the perfect host attire. Both the pants and the top is stretchy therefore comfy but yet looks elegant and sexy at the same time (at least I think so).

I had fallen in love with this ruffle halter top the minute I saw it at the store a few years back. Although I have hardly worn it as it does look quite dressy. Even though it buttons up in the front you don't need to use them as the whole back is elastic and it can just slip on.

And it has no back! Wish I had remembered to use a bit of self tanner or something so my back wasn't so white but oh well... 

I kept jewelry simple by wearing dangling black stone earings, my big rhinestone ring and a big stack of silver and rhinestone chain bracelets.  I sure am getting a lot of wear out of these platform heels. Contrary to their exteremely high looking heel they are very sturdy and I am able to keep them on for quite a long time without getting tired.

As I might have mentioned before I am all about outfits and hardly about make-up. I love the idea of make-up, browsing, buying it but when it comes to putting it on I always chicken out and wear very little. My sister and my mom on the other hand are pros when it comes to eye makeup and always joke how nothing I own adds any color. It is not that I have not tried. I just couldn't draw well and really don't have the patience or the time to dedicate anyway. But, I just dicoverd this new website called elf (eyes lips and face). It has super cool make-up at great prices. I bought a giant collection of 100 eye shadow colors for $10. I also bought these waterproof eyeliners for $1 each in midnight navy and plum. They feel like a felt marker and make lining your eyes a breeze. And if I can do it that means anyone can. I will probably go back and buy ton more in case they discontinue or something! :)

Silk ruffle halter top - Bebe

Tuxedo skinny Pants - Bebe

Platform heels - Newport News Catalog

Earings - Ann Taylor

Ring - From Turkey

Bracelets - Tiffany's & Red Envelope

Today's Activities: We are crazy people as we left the house at 8 AM and after a quick breakfast at a bagel shop met our friends and drove up the mountains to look for snow to take the kids sledding. Unfortunately did not find any as all the snow had melted already so ended up having lunch and walking around a cute town called Julian. Normally that would be fun and fine but on a day we were hosting a new year's eve party it was quite tiring. Got home around 2:30 PM and while my husband napped after all that driving I got the house ready for the pary. Guests started coming around 5:30 PM. We had all my family members and 3 other friend families. Had dinner delievered from Phil's BBQ which has amazing ribs. Everyone brought snacks and champagne. We did a huge celebration at 9 PM PST which was midnight on the east coast for kids' sake. Got them all ready for bed first and then let them dance in their PJs with the lights off and glow sticks all around their wrists and ankles. Already past all of their bedtimes they had a blast. Then did a whole count down and started hugging and kissing them. Even our 3.5 year olds were too young to understand what it means for one year to end and another to start but they didn't care. A bit tough to get them to go down after all that but almost all did with the exception of 1. Like we didn't have enough kid stuff we actually played my son's PS3 Sing it game and each parent sang their kid's favorite disney song. It was  hilarious. We then drank and played catch phrase. Everyone pretty much left right after midnight. One of our friends though spent the night as they live a bit further than the rest. Big slumber party. :)

Getting the food ready:

Family

My daughter in her party dress... 

My good friend who spent the night with her family.

The big PJ Dance Party!

Not quite the scene I am sure most of you were in for New Year's Eve but when you have kids things are a bit different. At this point though couldn't imagine anything more fun!

Deer Tee and finally blonde highlights

Interesting outfit I know. Our activities today required bundling up so I picked an outfit from the list that did just that. The inspiration came from the following Chictopia post:

This outfit reminded me of my tee with the deer on it which of course I haven't worn in ages. I was going to wear black tights but they were not thick enough so wore these ribbed super tick navy tights instead. They were pretty warm. If I wasn't going to a parade I would have worn my fur trimmed wedges but today called for uggs.

Here is the deer shirt underneath. I had to wear a long sleeve top under it so I wouldn't freeze when I took the jacket off indoors. 

Parka with fur trimmed hood - Guess

Snood - Thread Show

Deer Tee - Guess

Shorts and tights - Forever 21

Boots - Uggs

So, finally got my hair fixed today. He still didn't get it exactly the way I wanted but at least the colors are good. I wanted dark brown base with chunky very light blonde highlights. He did put blonde highlights today but they are somewhat all over not in chunks but that is fine. I can live with that.

Here is the photo of what I wanted:

Here is my hair after the fix:

Today's Activities: Woke up early to meet everyone at a diner downtown. Had a great breakfast while our friends held us a spot on the trade route and we got their breakfast to go. More friends met us there to watch the parade. The weather warmed up when the sun came out and we shed our coats and enjoyed all the balloons and the school bands. My husband took the kids home for naps while I got my hair fixed. Afterwards it took me close to an hour to order ribs for tomorrow's party. Cooked dinner and did laundry then left early to fit in a light grocery shopping before meeting my best friend for drinks and a movie. We saw Black Swan. Very interesting movie. The ending was perplexing. Tomorrow is going to be another super busy day of sledding with the kids then hosting a New Year's Eve party! If I don't get to post HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Here are a couple of the balloon photos: 

Part of our group watching the parade (standing is my dad with  my daughter on his shoulders and my mom, sitting is my friend with her two boys, my son and my other friend's daughter who ran the 5K with mommy before the parade!):

Here is my attempt to take our photo: 

Not Feelin It

I just am not feeling it these past couple days about the outfits. This has been on my list for quite some time. My wanting to re-wear this very old skirt and the top.  I initally wanted to wear the skirt with ankle socks and mary janes. But for one it was pouring and cold and for two the skirt's hem is too long and it looks weird on my skinny legs. I need the length to be right below my knee where this is down to my calves. May be mom can fix it for me. But, it is a very warm and cozy skirt. The top is from my Turkish relative's clothing boutique from couple year's ago. Love how different it is mixing wool fabric with wool knit and satin. The arms are knit so it feels like a sweater even though looks and feels like a dressy top.

Early morning photos do not come out great. I look so tired and puffy. I also got lazy and did not accessorize. Told you just not feeling it.

Flannel lined pink skirt - French Connection

Top - Boutique in Turkey

Boots - Newport News

Today's Activities: Knowing it was going to be rainy today had already made plans to meet at a new indoor play area with a few of my mommy friends. This place was called 'pump-it-up'. They pretty much took a warehouse, carpeted it and filled it with 5 giant jumpies. The problem was it was open play for all ages and my almost 2 yr old daughter got clobbered among the pre-teens. She then mainly stayed on the carpeted area. It was cool to check it out but not sure will go again. Afterwards came home for lunch to a pleasant surprise of finding my husband home early from work. When they woke up went to the camera store with my son to exchange my new camera bag for a backpack style. They didn't have a great selection so came home and ordered it from Amazon instead. Now until it comes I can't really go anywhere with the new camera. We then went to my mom's for dinner. My stepdad's cousin and her family was in town visiting. Great big group and a lovely dinner. Too bad my son puked right at the dinner table after his 2nd bite. Amazing how his spirits did not change at all. He even managed to negoiate with my step dad into taking two ornaments from their tree for his own tree. He is a funny kid that one. Tomorrow is the big balloon parade here so must go to bed now to make it to the 8:30 am breakfast plans. Oh, HAPPY to announce I will be getting my hair fixed tomorrow. Lets hope he really can fix it.

Baggy Clothes

I attempted to wear this outfit twice before and am tired of it so today I was wearing it no matter what. First time it was rainning and oxfords wouldn't do. Yesterday my son was sick all day so didn't go out at all. The inspiration came from the following outfit in the JCrew catalog:

When I put everything on though I realized it does not have the look I wanted. That is because as you probably can see as well everything on me is big on me. The coat is like 2 sizes big, looks huge. The pants are definitely a size big. I really want to re-use my existing clothes but I think sometimes I need to make an exception and let go. I mean this is no different that wearing clothes that are too tight on you I feel. Ill fitting either way is not good.

I do like how this necklace looks though. I hung it low so it almost looks like it is part of the sweater. I could have also gone with a burnished gold bib chain necklace that had rhinestones in the same hue as the sweater but I liked how this black picked out the black of the fingerless gloves. I saw a similar one at BCBG for over $100 but I knew I had one similar saved in my 'wish list' on Forever21.com website. But, as we were browsing the shops in Vegas ran into this in Bebe on clearance for $10 so got it right away.

Man this coat looks huge. Why on earth did I buy it this size even years ago. I know I was in a phase of wanting things to be loose and given that this is a coat but probably wanted to make sure it fit over winter clothes. But still... 

Cream Coat - JCrew

Sweater - Banan Republic

Lace trim tank (underneath) - Ann Taylor

Boyfriend Jeans - Newport News Catalog

Fringe necklace - Bebe

Oxfords - Forever 21

Fingerless gloves - gift from mom

Today's Activities: So washed my hair yesterday. I was so nervous I wouldn't feel anything different after spending all that money but I did. As it was air drying I immediately felt it 'not' getting bigger and frizzier. As I blow dried it when it was almsot dry it didn't fight me. Then instead of using a flat iron I used electric rollers. Before the rollers was not enough to cut out the frizz but this time they worked just fine. SO, I am very happy about the Brazilian blowout. HOWEVER, I hate the color. I forgot to take a picture I will tomorrow but I showed him a photo of a dark haired girl with very very blond highlights. He got the dark base color right but the highlights are not light enough and I don't like this all dark hair. I am going to call tomorrow to complaint. AFter spending a fortune I should be happy about all of it. Don't you agree? I even told him as my hair dried the highlights were not right but he kept saying they would get lighter after a wash. Well they didn't!

So back to today. My all night and all day puking and not moving from the couch son woke up totally fine and hungry. Figured after he downed his oatmeal and no puking he could go out. Took them both to the mall (outdoor as majority of the malls in San Diego are) where they have ton of kid stuff. Met another (Turkish) mommy there for a playdate. Fitted some after Christmas shopping for the kids as well between train and playground and lunch. After naps we ran errands of kinko's, dry cleanning and groceries. I printed some cute photos at home to include in my 'thank you' cards but they were not good enough quality for albums. I have this 'Christmas' Album where I dedicate a page for 'annual potluck', 'xmas eve', 'xmas day' 'new year's eve' and 'new year's day' for each year. Each page is 5 photos only. I started the year I was pregnant for my son (2006). It is already great to look back and remember who we spent the holidays with and how different kids look from one year to the next. So printed photos for that album. I know, I know...'you and your crazy projects' as my husband would say. :)

Bohemian on Seal Beach

The weather was touch and go today but chilly even when sunny so this thick and chunky sweater was perfect. I got inspired by the following mini photo in Elle Magazine:

The page was actually depticting different ways to wear a peacoat but I just used the part of a long country skirt and a crop t-neck sweater. I found this sweater in my mom's 'not currently wearing' closet. Even though it is abit loose at the waist I hid it by wearing a tunic length tee under the crop sweater. The skirt has a lot of material. Feels really cool whe you walk and sit. I loved it.

Obviously I could have gone with black boots but thought these were unpredictable and looks cooler. This elephant charm necklace was a stocking stuffer gift from my mom. Love it with this outfit.

Watching the waves crash with my daugther... 

Crop t-neck winter sweater - Victoria's Secret Catalog (very very very old)

Tiered full skirt - Mom's

Boots - Via Spiga

Necklace - Forever 21

Today's Activities: Since the weather looked like it could rain we decided to do a low commitment activity which was to drive up a bit further from us to watch the seals that reside on a beach in our town. Kids love going there and there is even a thin 'sea walk' so you can walk very up close to the seals without bothering them. Afterwards we had lunch in the same town at a 'burger lounge' most expansive burgers I have ever had but the most amazing onion rings. Then home for naps. Stayed home in the afternoon so I can put away all the china, wash and iron tablecloth and napkins and do more laundry. Had leftoevers for dinner then baths and bedtime. Except a bit ago we had to run upstairs again as my son pucked the 3rd time. Afraid he has the same bug my husband had couple days ago. Hope my daughter and I don't get. He is currently sitting next to me now so we can keep an eye on him.

 Seal Beach in La Jolla (San Diego) CA

They lift their tails when the waves come to not get wet! 

Sleepyheads... 

My hubby watching the waves crash and tickling my daughter...

Walking on Sea Wall with daughter...

Seal Watching