i'm pretty lucky

at church i work with the laurels. they are the 16-18 year old young women. it's my "calling". i was asked to fill in this capacity for an indeterminate amount of time, or until i have offended everyone within earshot. i absolutely love it. i'm luckier than a barefoot britney spears at a gas station with unlimited day-old nachos. i get to work with great girls(last night we talked about individual worth and prom dresses), i get to teach each sunday to a rapt audience, and they truly inspire me. they are hard working, fun, smart and fashionable. the total package.

kaela was so cute i couldn't resist snagging her for an outfit picture. i love the little pop of color on her blouse, the boho scarf contrasting with the no-nonsense pencil skirt and the cut-out for toe cleavage on her mary janes. LOVE! oh to be 16 again! and with a clue!

cardigan- kohls

flannel shirt- thrifted

belt- gap

jeans- gap forever skinny

flats- target

we go together

if peg bundy and sandy from grease had a baby, this is what she would look like:

scarf- gift

button up- thrifted

pants- tjmaxx

shoes- target

but i've never been a big sandy fan(or peg bundy fan for that matter) because she totally gives up her identity for danny zuko at the end of the movie. love is a two-way street! turn up the tramp and snag the guy with low to zero job prospects? way to go sandy! a paragon of womanhood!

but the tunes are pretty catchy. and i would love to be a beauty school dropout. with pink hair. and a satin jacket. and it's almost comical to compare who had the smaller waist, jon travolta or olivia newton john?

i'm in love and i don't care who knows!!!

 with what you ask? a spoonful of nutella, a spoonful of creamy peanut butter and a slice of bread. i call it make-out in a tub. which actually sounds a lot dirtier than i intended. so, how about edible love?still weird?(i'm an emotional eater and thomas is out of town.)

and i'm in love with wrapping and pinning cardigans. i don't do it enough, but every time i do birds sing! garden gnomes dance! i win final jeopardy! and i eat another tub of nutella! i had banned myself from the crack that is nutella, because i had gotten tired of the sound of my jean's buttons unbuttoning themselves and groaning(everyone's a critic) but true love knows no bounds. 

cardigan- express

flower pin- bluefly

tunic- calvin klein

jeans- sevens via kohls

sandals- amanda smith

my tips for a successful wrap and pin:

1. wrap cardigan

2. pin exterior

3. gently pin interior(where blue star is). sometimes depending on cardigan weight and pin weight i'll pin to my shirt as well to anchor everything together. if a cardigan is especially fussy or delicate, i'll turn the whole thing inside out and then pin and put cardigan on right side out.

4. be happy

boom.

please place your carry ons in the overhead bins

today nothing looked right so i went to church in costume, dressed as a flight attendant with a REALLY tall bun. it was so tall that it frightened little children. one even whispered, "what do you think is on her head?" "will it eat me?" "is that what happens when your don't eat your vegetables?" i soothed their fears by pointing out the exits nearest to their seats and then offering them small packets of peanuts and stale cookies. my grandma maxine always had a huge black beehive that scared me a little too.

tie neck blouse- express

skirt- target

tights- target

shoes- madden girl via tjmaxx

happy sabbath!

right on my sisters

today the family and i took a trip to the temple. normally i wouldn't do a post about what i wear to the temple since style and fashion are the last thing i think about when attending the temple, but my temple attendance absolutely influences my everyday style. because i was married in the temple(almost 9 years ago!) i always wear skirts and shorts to my knees and i need my shirts to have at least a cap sleeve and i don't like anything to be too low cut. it can be more than a little difficult to find items of clothings to meet these clothing standards, but the benefits are worth the effort. i feel like there is always a part of me that is just for me and not for the rest of the world. plus, by dressing modestly, i look different from a lot of other people and for me looking different is a key component of my style. being style conscious means not being afraid to stand out.

shirt- thrifted

skirt- thrifted

shoes- kristin davis via tj maxx

i was full of weird faces and poses today. and wrinkles from the car ride and i needed to retuck my shirt. the end.

and on a completely unrelated note:

sunday night on lifetime, the show "coming home" is featuring a friend of my husband and i who died in combat in september. mark forrester was an ordinary person whose positive choices allowed him to live a remarkable life. you will need kleenex. i still need kleenex on a regular basis.

coming home on lifetime

eye spy

i was spying on some youths at the park yesterday. an ungangly and impossibly pale but undeniably edward cullen wannabe goth young man(young man term used loosely) was waiting for his obviously underage girlfriend to get off the school bus from the high school. (at least i hope it was the high school and not the middle school. perish the thought.) they proceeded to PDA in front of me till i thought i was going to need to tie my hair back to avoid the the splashing. i never thought the park would need a sneeze guard. thank goodness i'm up to date on my shots. some free shows aren't worth the cost. then i realized that i didn't have my sunglasses on(my normal spy tool) and that every disgusted face i was making was visible to the offending couple. and then i didn't care. they both needed baths, and not the kind cats give themselves. shameless kids these days! (where are my teeth? is it 4:00 yet? denny's is waiting for me.)

button up- jcrew

belt- gap

skirt- target

shoes- target

and the shots in front of the couch are in homage to brittney of a day in the life too.

final word- i just saw a commercial for fast and the furious 5! cinco! talk about beating a dead horse. i fantastically, over-the-top, poorly acted, can't-be-bothered-with-a-script-or-plot dead horse. i can't wait! who's with me!?

rise and shout

i actually like basketball the least of any televised sport. there are FAR too many basketball games on tv and the last 10 minutes can stretch into what seems like W-E-E-K-S. the roots mini-series was shorter than some games. a game of church ball is great and a high school game can be pretty fun but basketball on tv can be a slow, drawn-out, sweaty kiss of death. i do have a paralyzing fear of falling all the way down the bleachers in a gymnasium. i once saw a guy do that before a fireside at the marriott center. it wasn't like 2 bleachers either. try 20. with lots of rolling and flailing and crunching. the horrible part of me laughed because laughing at people falling is a favorite pastime, but the compassionate part of me(a very small undernourished part of my psyche) was saddened and horrified.

anywho, BYU is in the sweet sixteen tonight. they are playing florida, one of my biggest sports nemeses. (i promise i'll stop talking about BYU soon. only 5 more months till  college football!!!)

did i ever tell you about the time i failed my aerobics class my freshman year because i forgot to show up for the final? a brilliant move on my part.

jacket- target

t shirt- byu weightroom

belt- gap

jeans- target

shoes- target

today was a target-a-thon kind of day

and that jimmer fredette. for real. looks like an accountant, plays like an accountant possessed with the spirit of wilt chamberlain.

favey crockett

the current inspiration that i can't get out of my head is courtesy of shannan of merci blah blah. i have an uncommon affection for shannan. she's as funny as all get out. she can layer and stack jewelry like no other. we're both from kansas city. our husbands and our daughters have the same name. and (drumroll!) we both own this maxi dress from target. i had all but cast aside my copy of aforementioned maxi dress. i bought it when i was pregs with scarlett because of it's fluidity and it's stretchy capabilities. i was at a loss at how to style it besides the normal dress/cardi combo until i saw this post by shannan. and this is my springy version of her maxi dress as a skirt style.

t shirt- jcrew

maxi dress- target
belt- gap

shoes- amanda smith

and i'm sure if i said to shannan, "let's hit up "the center" and then cruise noland and hoot and holler at boys", she would know where to meet me. 

blue skies, smiling at me

in the past week i have talked to three of my college roomates on the phone. when we chat, it's like time has never passed. jessica reminded me of the time that she and natalie and emily came to pick me up from school in the cougar(the most indestructible car EVER) wearing only their underwear. i had forgotten that gem of personal history. or when all of us and paula would sneak into the on-campus pool by pretending we were freshman who lived in one of the dorms when we were really all juniors and seniors. i miss college. i miss sharing everyone's clothes. i don't miss trying to get someone to ask you out on a date so that you can eat for the night because you spent all your money on new clothes. what? you didn't do that too? 

 i had a guest photographer help me with these photos. he did a pretty good job. minimal editing. but please ignore my face in all of these.

 dress- thrifted

scarf- grandma maxine

shoes- kristin davis via tjmaxx



 a self-portrait by my guest photographer:

are you sick of hearing about my kids yet?

motherhood has its perks

i had a bit of a moment this morning. i'm trying to allow scarlett to pick out her own clothes and have her own opinions on her appearance. mostly it backfires because she wants to wear the same hello kitty or mickey mouse t-shirts over and over and over. but this morning i said she could wear any dress she wanted and she picked out this:

i made this dress in college and i've been holding onto it ever since, just in case i would have a daughter who would want to wear it. though i have a background in clothing and textiles and sewing, i'm not a very good seamstress and i really struggle with following directions. this dress was not an overly difficult assignment, but i am a very slow sewer and not a perfectionist in the least. i have plenty of vision but limited skillz. i had an incredible professor at BYU, Dr. Catherine Burnham, who really believed in me and whenever i see this dress, i remember all she taught me and how much she encouraged me to figure this project out and also to figure out things in my life that i wanted to be. it was sort of a lean on me/stand and deliver/mr. holland's opus/karate kid experience. so when scarlett said she wanted to wear the "fruit dress", i was over the moon! i thought she would treat it like a dress up dress, but she wanted to wear it to church. i was so glad that i had completed this dress and held onto it more than 10 years later. maybe i'll even make another one. for ME! we can be twins! not really.

on me-

cardigan- loft(i should have bought 20 of these puppies)

blouse- charlotte russe

belt- gap

skirt- ?

shoes- steinmart

on scarlett-

dress- college project 2001

sandals- target

don't disturb this groove

it's no secret that i have anger management issues. one thing bugs me and i get in horrible moods and things escalate from there. like today. i hate this uncomfortable shirt and it annoyed me all day(plus i really wanted to wear a pair of shoes that i don't even own and i kept checking my closet and they were never there). i was too busy to change out of the offending shirt because today was my son's birfday party and i ran around like a crazy getting ready for the onslaught of partygoers.

horrible shirt- wal*mart(surprise, look what hell hath wrought)

vest- wal*mart

pants- loft

by this evening i just needed to be alone. it's a neccesary precaution for my family that i spend time by myself when i hit irrational levels of crazy. i went to target and wandered aimlessly until i got my groove back. i tried not to trip other people who walked in my aisle. then i stopped at super bilo for some fruit. fruit always makes me feel better. i checked out some lovely avocados. i asked the produce guy how much they were and he said, "yes, those are avocados." he completely disturbed my groove and almost got an avocado through his neck. i had to wait over 10 minutes for the produce guy to figure out the price. turns out they were $4 apiece! quatro? quatre? no way. now i'm just rambling. but it feels good to get it out. anger + blogging = crazytown post about nothing

on the way home paradise city was on the radio and i sang at the top of my lungs until my throat felt like it was bleeding. it quenched my bloodlust. 

and then the BYU cougars slapped around gonzaga and i feel like i got my slapping urges out by proxy.

for japan

i'm participating in the blogger day of silence tomorrow. i'm so saddened by the news of the earthquake and subsequent destruction and threat nuclear meltdown. follow this link for a way you can help. or, you can follow this link to donate to the LDS Humanitarian Fund. both organizations are great ways to send financial aid to the relief efforts going on in japan.

and, in order to act locally, how about we agree to make an extra effort to not waste, to be more kind, to give more, be more patient and to forgive others. unfortunately, a natural disaster in a reminder of how fragile human life is. let's remember to treat each as something special.

here i come to save the day!

i bought these pants months ago and i couldn't wait to don them on saint patrick's day. there is an interesting phenomenon out there. once the weather warms up a little, people start dressing in less clothing. it's very common, perhaps you've experienced it too. what never ceases to amaze me is that it can be 60 degrees and i will see tube tops, sundresses, booty shorts and muscle tees. incroyable! i like to fathom that they must work in a very well heated facility, like a chicken plucking factory. when i was in college at BYU, the sun would be shining for about 20 minutes and the snow barely melted and SOMEBODY would be wearing shorts. with a sweatshirt and socks and sandals. yet, i wear some green linen printed pants and i'm the one getting stared at in the grocery store. like i'm the weirdo! an unexplained phenomenon indeed.

 *note to self. find a new pose. you're not wonderwoman.

shirt- old navy

pants- thrifted

shoes- amanda smith

necklace- grandmother

you're looking good just like a snake in the grass

something that makes me laugh is the concept of a lifestyle blog. because if i blogged about my "lifestyle", it would be full of tips on how to avoid baskets full of unfolded laundry, going as long as humanly possible before cleaning out the fridge and ways to heal your foot after you stumbled all over a floor full of legos(how have they not figured out how to make legos less painful? HOW?). i'm not crafty, but occasionally i pretend to be. the results are normally disastrous but there is one thing i can do, a snake in the grass cake. i'm a one trick pony when it comes to cake decorating. if you want a special cake, it will be a cupcake with green grass and gummy worms for a snake. since my darling reagan's 6th birthday was today, i needed to make 24 cupcakes for his class and i went all out (with my old standby). so, i don't have outfit posts for monday or tuesday(but who's counting? i didn't even dry my hair either day and i wore an apron. ALL. DAY. LONG. but that's really not too unusual. this is a really long ellipses.) but i have nailed down most of the details of a monkey/pirate birthday party. and that's my lifestyle. are you taking notes yet? 

but i did wear this today as we played in the backyard, tempting broken ankles by jumping off the paver stones. after wearing this completely blah shirt i decided it would be my next dyeing project. and you get to pick the color. just tell me in the comments what you think. you can even check out the RIT dye website by clicking here. fun.

shirt- target a LOOOONG time ago

belt- byu bookstore a LOOOONGER time ago

jeans- gap forever skinny

flats- target

AND, today i did a guest post over at stuff jewish girls like. go check it out. 

men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses

i had to wear my glasses this afternoon. i was getting a bottle of bubbles down for the kidlets and i dropped it on the kitchen floor. the bubbles broke the laws of gravity after they landed on the floor and splashed up and hit me in the eye. the the burning was like a small forest fire on my retina under my contact lens.

these shoes were a gift from a friend after i gave birth to scarlett. instead of a baby present, she gifted me with a wedge sandal. and that's the best kind of gift. especially because right after you have a baby, shoes are about the only that you can wear that won't make you cry. shoes won't emphasize the your non-existent waist, or the huge bags underneath your eyes, or the fact that your fat pants are now your only pants and even then you may need to safety pin them together and wear an extra long shirt. more power to you new mothers! embrace the SHOE!

sweater- banana republic(dyed it myself! boom!)

belt- target

skirt- thrifted

shoes- paloma barcelo

it's a lot of work to look this disheveled

for me, casual is the hardest way to dress.

dressy- bring it

sloppy floor scrubbing- taken care of

workout- got my favorite sweat options for different workouts all planned out

church- my abfav day of the week to get ready

but

saturday casual- i am a ship lost on choppy waves without a map

i think it's because i don't have a formula for dressing. i go with my gut. anne shirley likes to feel a prayer, i like to feel an outfit. i like to see ideas and get inspiration from various sources, but when i get dressed i often just a massive pile on of different things and then i rearrange and put back as feels appropriate. there's not much method to my madness, but i do require my closet to be organized so that everything faces the same direction and all the colors are arranged ROYGBIV style. once i'm finally dressed, it's often too dressy for the occasion to which i am attending. i prepare myself mentally everyday for the inevitable, "why are you so dressed up?"  i simply love dresses and heels. plus, i'm rather vain(i don't know if this blog full of pictures of me was a giveaway or not), so standing out a little doesn't bother me.

this is what a wore today to watch my husband coach his deacon basketball team. i was the only one at the church wearing heels. i went through 3 cardigans before i settled on this one. sometimes i wish getting dressed in a fun manner wasn't so important to me. but not really. i wouldn't be happy any other way.

t shirt- old navy

cardigan- old navy

jeans- jcrew

shoes- kristin davis via target

bag- gigihill

and this is what i look like when i realize someone is watching me pose for my pictures. waah waah.

and yes i did wear this same t-shirt on wednesday. that was bounce house day and again, i needed to dress casual. and it was difficult but i pulled through.

dang gina!

back before i had kids, i worked for a company that sent people all over the southeast and southwest. i was in charge of booking and coordinating travel for about 300 workers. i am a master of ten key typing. sometimes i miss working outside the home, mostly i don't though. one thing i'll never forget is one guy's name. he had a very unusual name and i had to prep myself to talk to him each time he called. i'm sure he knew something was up because he was always on hold for a few minutes before i could pick up the phone. mostly because i was wiping tears away because i was laughing so hard. his name was michael...wenis. pronounced just like it looks. nice guy. unfortunate name. 

that's the whole story. the end.   

thomas said my shirt looks like silky nurse's scrubs. and that is why he is in charge of everything legal and i am master of everything else.

cardigan- older than original sin

blouse- charlotte russe

belt- gap

jeans- target

shoes- kristin davis via tj maxx

bag- gigi hill

remember me this way

i'm watching parks and recreation reruns with my husband and i'm having a hard time concentrating on writing something interesting. my husband's laugh is the best laugh ever and even if i don't like what we are watching, i like listening to him laugh. plus, my blog idea board of post-its(do you have one of these all over your kitchen cabinets?)is ALL the way downstairs. not in my bedroom. so, i'm going to wing blogging sans notes and ideas or wit.

 what movies do you want to see? my girl nat emailed me a link to the movie "prom", coming out april 29th. solid. this is right up my alley. i want to go buy a gross 80s prom dress and wear it to the movie theater. i think my senior prom theme was "remember me this way". i could be wrong. enjoy:

dress- target

cardigan- target

shoes- maxstudio via tjmaxx

i like my kids. they like me unless it's dinner time. then i'm a monster and their limbs and jaws stop working. 

smells like teen spirit

some days i really have trouble pulling together an appropriate outfit because i get ready at the gym. that leaves me about .325 seconds to pull something together and shove it in my gym bag. one radio station that i frequent plays a ton of early 90s alternative rock and i think it is really beginning to affect my fashion choices. today i grabbed cords, a flannel, an album t-shirt, a blazer and some teen angst. i'm currently polishing up my resume so that i can go apply for a job at empire records. 

where were you when you got the news about kurt cobain?  i think heard i heard it during channel one(did you have channel one?) possibly from anderson cooper or serena altshcul or rawley valverde or lisa ling. i can't believe i still remember the names of all the anchors, but can't remember to turn on the dishwasher before i leave the house.

blazer- target

flannel- thrifted

t shirt- old navy

cords- american eagle

sneaks- converse for target

bag- gigi hill

the 90s are a bittersweet time for me: junior high hell, high school and the first two years of college. for such an important decade in my life, the clothes were certainly horrible. and by horrible i mean, hell threw up a pair of overalls and someone called it fashion. so in honor of that uproarious decade, here are two of my favorite 90210 quotes to feast upon(and most of my 90210 viewing happened on rerun when thomas was in law school. and melrose place. don't get me started on melrose place.):

Brenda Walsh: You don't drink, do you?

Dylan McKay: Only at family reunions.

and

Dylan McKay: you hang around a boy scout, you learn the handshake