What I'm Wearing

sweater: Anthro

pants: The Gap

silk cami: Express

accessories: F21

We slept with the windows open last night and I was freezing this morning when I woke up to take the girls to school. I wanted to wear something kind of cozy. I'm trying to remix things that are already in my closet and challenge myself to get a little creative with how I'm putting myself together in the morning. These pants are wide leg and kind of slouchy. They are a blue and white pinstripe but I guess they photograph as a solid. The sweater has to be at least six years old and was one of my very first purchases from Anthropologie. D calls it my old lady sweater but I love and will probably wear it until it falls apart. The cami is a green silk. I waited until these went on sale at Express for $9.99 and bought them in about six different colors. The necklaces are from F21.

What I'm Wearing

Dress-twelvebytwelve F21; Shoes-Charles David endless.com; Cardigan- George -Wal-Mart

Today was on of those days where I really didn't want to get out of bed. I seem to be having more and more of those lately. I wanted something cool and comfortable and I needed to get dressed in under 20 minutes. Dress+cardigan+shoes=Mission Accomplished. This dress is cute and comfortable. The slight metallic sheen gives it a little something extra. The shoes were my first sandal purchase this year. I wasn't sure about the gladiator trend but I saw these on endless.com and had to have them. The platform makes them unbelievably comfortable. Seriously, I could wear these shoes for 10-12 hours and feel no pain. My favorite black cardigan is a little on it's last leg and needs to be replaced. I saw this the other morning at Wal-Mart of all places. I love the little puff sleeves and for $12 I thought I'd give it try. Yes, I realize that my shoes cost three times as much as the dress and cardigan combined but sometimes that's how I roll!

A Little Bit Country

The epitome of a country kitchen. The sink ,a chandelier in the kitchen-yes please, the skirting under the sink, the peeling paint...I love it all!

This one is a little more modern but still has all of the elements I love especially the farmhouse sink. I love the little desk too!

all images taken from countryliving.com

In my dream world, D and I would settle into a an old farmhouse in a small town with a lovely garden and loads of charm. I don't know that many people would look at me and think I'm a country girl at heart. My friends wonder I hate suburban wasteland but want to live in the country. To them it's the same thing. To me the difference is character. I don't want to live in a place where there is so much same-ness-the houses, the cars, the material aspirations. I want to live in a place where the floors creak and the wildflowers are in abundance. I have stacks of Country Living and the recently departed Country Home magazine that I reread every few months for inspiration. I hate the term shabby chic. I prefer to call it faded charm. I guess I think that there is a certain beauty in imperfection. In suburban wasteland big, shiny, modern kitchens with granite, stainless steel appliances, and professional stoves(even for those that do very little cooking) are all the rage. I'd like my kitchen with a little more charm and some mismatched pieces. I told D that kitchens like this inspire baking which could mean lots and lots of pies for him, but I'm not sure he's convinced.

Thank You Mr. Kennedy

Thank you, Mr. Kennedy.

Bravo!Bravo!

I may never leave the house again. Last night I was bone tired and took a short-ish-meaning three hour-nap. I completely forgot that the season premiere of the Rachel Zoe Project was on Bravo last night. I loved seeing the drama behind two of my absolutely favorite red carpet moments, Eva Mendes in the white and Cameron Diaz in the pink Chanel. I know lots of people didn't love it but I loooved the pink! I've been waiting for the return of Brad. Brad if you ever make your way to suburban wasteland gimme a call. Seriously...I Die!

What I'm Wearing

I have been reading a lot of fashion blogs lately and I've decided that my style is a little boring. When I was single and lived in a more urban area, I definitely took more risks with fashion- I was also seven years younger and ten pounds lighter, but, whatever. The move to suburban wasteland has tamed me in a lot of ways. In the land of Crocs and capris 5 inch platforms tend to get a "oh no she didn't look"...ironic, no?

Anyway I decided to challenge my self to get a little more creative today while being totally age appropriate, of course. I have a lot of running around to do today because the kids start school tomorrow. That means I need to be comfortable as well as cute. This skirt is Odille and is at least five years old from Anthropologie. The cardigan is also another Anthropologie oldie. I love it and it never fails to get complements. The blouse is twelve by twelve from Forever 21. I think I've only worn it once but I adore the color. I threw on the gold belt at the last minute because the skirt is a little too big. My go to shoes for height and comfort are the brown leather BCBG platforms.

Happy Birthday!

Last night my mom had a party to celebrate her 75th birthday. I have a somewhat complicated relationship with her. I love her but sometimes I think there is a whole lot of crazy packed inside her tiny little body. What I realized last night was that even though she drives me batshit crazy I really love her. There are things that happened between us while I as growing that I'm struggling to let go. But, I realize that, just like me, she did the best she could. I think sometimes we forget that moms, our moms in particular, are just people with their own sets of challenges that they were dealing with long before we came into the picture. She loves me and she adores her grandchildren. Mom you are FIERCE in every sense of the word and I love you. Happy Birthday!!

Photos: My mom, Frances and some of her fabulous friends; My mom and her giant flower pin and pink champagne;D and I; my mom and I

What I'm Wearing

Skirt/Jacket/Shoes-F21 Cami-Old Navy Necklace-Anthropologie

I totally overslept this morning and had to be out of the house in exactly 30 minutes. This entire outfit is from Forever 21 except my necklace. I love this little Members Only-esque jacket. The skirt was clean and already ironed which is always a huge plus when you're running late. I added my new Anthropologie necklace to give it a little visual interest.

She's Come Undone

I had an outfit post and some chatter about Project Runway for today that never materialized because things kind of fell apart when I got home this afternoon.

Being a mother is a lot of hard work for little payoff. Being the mother of three teenage daughters is kind of like Sisyphus pushing the giant boulder uphill only to see it come rolling back down just before you reach the top. My youngest daughter and I have been at odds for most of this year. Despite the fact that she is a super smart straight A student she has not been making very good life choices. A few weeks ago she was caught doing something and punished. Today when I got home she was on the phone which she knew she was a no-no. This led to a major blow up. Which led to her spending the weekend at my parents. Which led to me crying hysterically in the shower.

I don't have a career so to speak. I work for my family's business which allows me to have the flexible schedule I need to parent my children. My ex husband left and never looked back. He's not involved at all. Being a mother is the only real job I've ever had and I feel like I'm failing miserably. It is not a good feeling to know that your daughters are not really fond of you. They think I'm a tyrant that is trying to ruin their lives for shits and giggles. That is not the case. We've gotten to this place and I don't know how to pull us out of it. I'm so tired of fighting for us to be a family and for them to be smart enough not throw away their futures. Honestly, I'm ready to wave the white flag of surrender. They've finally broken me because I don't know where I'm going to find the strength to tough out these last few years before they leave for school. I feel like a failure.

*photo found at ppusa flickr stream

What I'm Wearing

Dress: Lillie Pulitzer Jean Jacket: Bitten Accessories:F21

I'm exhausted. It was clean and required no ironing....Sold! The dress is Lillie Pulitizer purchased from Ruelala.com for a steal because as much as I like Lillie I would never pay $300 for the retail price of this dress. This is my favorite jean jacket. Sarah Jessica Parker had a line for the now defunct Steve and Barry's store. It fits perfectly and was like $19. Side note: SJP did a meet and greet/signing at Steve and Barry's. I waited in line for like 3 hours but it was so worth it. She's super sweet. She told me I looked amazing and she loved my outfit. I cried. She was nothing but gracious. I'm wearing some great BCBG platform sandals but I couldn't get a shot of them. Oh well.

**after yesterdays's pretty decent photos i'm afraid we're back to crappy ones with really bad lighting. sorry**

PSA....

Never, ever drink a nonfat caramal latte at 8 p.m. if you want to fall asleep sometime before dawn. I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep. Hopefully, I'll have something to post later.

Smitten with Smitten Kitchen

D had a crap day at work yesterday and I wanted to do something super sweet for him. I've been collecting recipes from Smitten Kitchen for a while. If you've never read her blog it is a must read. She's charming, the photography is mouth watering and the the recipes are wonderful. Everything I've ever attempted from her blog has turned out so tasty. But, I've never tried to bake anything. I have baked goods-phobia stemming from a lemon bar incident that we don't even speak of in this house. Anyway, I was feeling brave so I decided to try the pound cake with strawberry coulis. Right off the bat I think I'm in trouble because I don't have all purpose flour, I only have cake flour but I go ahead because I really don't feel like going to the store(and I google it and come to the conclusion that it's okay and in some instances better to use cake flour). I think baking is hard for me because I have a little ADD and you have to force yourself to slow down, read the recipe and add all of the ingredients in the proper order.

It turned out beautifully! It smelled so good that we skipped our proper dinner and had that with nice single malt scotch for our meal. I don't know if scotch is often paired with dessert but I highly recommend it as a cure for a really long day.


*The coulis turned out beautifully but i didn't feel like prettying up a plate to take a picture. Seriously, why are you still reading this get over to smitten kitchen and find something to cook.

What I'm Wearing

Top Anthropologie; Skirt Bebe: Necklace Anthropologie; Shoes Jessica Simpson; Cardigan F21

Today we have some clients coming into the office so I needed to be a little more "dressed up". I'm wearing a babydoll top from Anthropologie that I got earlier this summer. I rewarded myself with it after losing 18lbs. The skirt is an oldie from Bebe. Bebe is hit or miss for me. Most of the time I find it a little too flashy for my taste but every so often I find something I really like. It's a classic pencil skirt with a slit. It's khaki colored with a slight sheen. The shoes are Jessica Simpson that I found at TJ Maxx on sale for $25. The necklace is a recent Anthro purchase and I love it!

A Bit of Lovliness

Hydrangea are my favorite. I know there are some snapdragons in there but I'm clueless about the other beauties. At the last minute I added some lavender for more texture and of course the lovely scent. I wanted to use a sweet little garden urn but was out of floral foam so I used my favorite milkglass pitcher. I want to challenge myself a little bit more next week. But for this week, I have this little bit of lovliness to make me smile

What I'm Wearing

Dress:Anthropologie ;Shoes F21

I've been in a vintage kind of mood thanks to Mad Men and 500 Days of Summer. The more I think about it the more I've come to realize how much I love this silhouette. The full skirt and fitted waist makes me feel pretty and on some days you need all the pretty you can get. The pictures aren't great and after looking at them I redid my updo(it looked a bit too messy). This was one of my other Anthropologie finds. I can't find the dress online and since it was in the sale section I'm not sure when it was originally available for purchase. As for the shoes, I found these little cuties at Forever21. I think they were a whopping $24.00. I have another pair of black peeptoes that I love but I can't wear them to work because I can only wear for them about 2 hours before I'm ready to chop my feet off. These are the perfect height for work and they are super comfortable. I'm headed to the DMV today...wish me luck!

What I'm Wearing

Antropologie Oconee bells robe;Shoes Steve Madden;necklace/braclet/Cardigan F21

I've been tempted by the new Anthropologie catalog. It arrived a few weeks ago and I've been looking through it every night since I got it. I decided to stop in and try some things on. I ended up purchasing three things. Two of them were in the sale section(yay!!). This dress/tunic was the only thing I purchased that was new. I didn't remember seeing it in the catalog and I couldn't find it on the website...until I looked under lounge wear. It is the Oconee Bell Robe. It is way to pretty for me to lounge around the house in. They were showing it with over a pair of jeans in the store, but I'm short enough that I can wear it as a dress. When it gets a little cooler I'll layer it with tights, boots, and wear a tissue weight t-shirt underneath. The cardi is from Forever 21 and so is the necklace. The shoes are my favorite from Steve Madden. The 4 inch heel means that when I wear them I'm actually about 5'6! The platform makes them super comfortable. I can wear these all day.

*update* looking at the pictures I'm not thrilled about how I look today and I fear the dress has some sort of Mrs. Roper vibe going on!

Pardon the interuption...

But I've been totally uninspired the last couple of days. With my job, myself and some of my life choices. To be quite honest with you I'm prone to bouts of melancholy or "the mean reds" as Holly Golightly calls them in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I've been a glass half empty kind of girl for as long as I can remember. This year one of my resolutions was to consciously work at being more positive to battle the self doubt and I've definitely made some improvement but I guess there is still more work to do. August is pretty tough month for me. I will be celebrating another birthday in a few weeks and for me that means a constant chorus of shoulda, coulda, woulda dancing around my head. I know that I have a lot to be thankful for-healthy children, a healthy relationship, secure job, great friends- but sometimes it's hard to pull yourself out of a funk. Please allow me a pity party for tonight. Tomorrow I'll put my big girl pants on and start all over.

Hello Lurverrr!!!!

I'm not sure why my hand looks so freaky. I promise I do have thumb.

I will openly admit that I am huge fan of Tori and Dean's Home Sweet Hollywood. D and I watch the show together every week. In fact my daughters and D have all told me that I remind them of Tori Spelling in a lot of ways(and I'm pretty sure that I should find this comparisona lot more insulting than I do). But, I find her charming, goofy and ultimately likeable. This long rambling backstory brings me to my newest acquistion and love. One night fueled by insomnia and boredom, I decided to check out Tori's collection on HSN. Tori sells a line of jewelry on the Home Shopping Network. Since it is a channel I usually equate with old ladies and doll collecting, I was curious to see what the her line would look like.

The TS collection has lots of cute pieces for pretty reasonable prices but I didn't find anything that I was dying to buy(sorry Tori). However, I did start looking at some of the other collections. Some of them are exactly what you might expect from a home shopping network(gaudy-party of one!) but then I found the Heidi Daus collection and this little gem. Hello Luv!!!! I've been dying for a critter ring since Rachel bought that serpent ring on the Rachel Zoe Project. I'm not much into snakes but I do love critters-birds, bees, ladybugs and frogs. This was perfect. I liked it in the picture but I adore it in person. It has the perfect amount of sparkle and is so flippin' cute. There was also a ladybug ring but it was sold out. So...I signed up for an email alert so they'll alert me the next time they show her jewelry. I'm determined to have the ladybug ring. Good grief..I'm an HSN shopper!Does this officially make me an old lady?

A Bit of Lovliness

I don't have a green thumb. I think the longest I've ever kept a plant alive was two months. I even managed to kill a cactus. But, I die for fresh cut flowers in the house. I ususally stop at TJs or the farmer's market to pick some up because they have have a great variety and a better price than the grocery superstores. Sunday I invited my sister over for brunch and needed to pick up a few things from the grocery store so I grabbed a bunch of white roses,these pink flowers(which may be a variety of mums)and some greens. It took me about 30 minutes to arrange them in my yard sale find milk glass compote. Because the container is fairly shallow I used floral foam to hold everything in place. I'm pretty pleased with way the arrangement turned out. I wish I'd purchased another bunch of flowers because I think there's too much filler but it's not to shabby.

What I'm Wearing

Yesterday afternoon I had a little coffee mishap, meaning I managed to spill what was left of my morning coffee all over the front of my dress. I had plans to meet up with some people and I didn't have time to drive all the way home so I made a mad dash to the mall to see if I could find a replacement outfit. I found a suitable(meaning really cute and inexpensive)dress in Forever21. I also picked up a cardigan that I can't wait to wear and the top that I'm wearing today. I'm only going to be in the office for a few hours today and then I have some errands to run with my son so I'm pretty casual. I paired the top with some skinny jeans from Target. I love these shoes. They're Kenzie from Macy's. I also included a shot of my new latest obsession....my jcrew bag! I love,love,love it! It was originally something like $350 and I got it for $150. It's a beautiful rose gold. The leather is soft, a little crackled and distressed.

What I'm Wearing

Dress: Anthropologie Shoes:Unlisted from Zappos.com Sweater,Belt and Accessories:Forever21

On most days I wear dresses because they are the easiest thing to wear. There are lots of people, especially other moms in my neighborhood, that think it must take me forever to get dressed in the morning. In all honesty, I can be ready and out the door in 30-45 minutes start to finish. After a few weeks of cooler temperatures the summer in Cincinnati temps have returned. In other words it's hot with a humid chaser! I usually will grab a cardigan to wear, even in the summer, because I hate my upper arms and the air conditioner is set to blast in my office. I bought this dress a few summers ago and I can finally fit in it again. It reminds me of summer. I had on a neutral shoe but decided to mix patterns just before I left the house. Nothing says summer like radishes and gingham..right? I had some second thoughts about posting pics because I am probably the least photogenic person in the world. To heck with it!

The World's Longest Yard Sale

Saturday D and I hit the open road to take in the sights and sounds of America's Longest Yard Sale. It runs down Highway 127 from Kentucky to Alabama. We started in Covington, Ky. and drove down 127 through Florence. I'm not sure how many miles we covered but we were out gettin' our yard sale on for about five hours. This was the first weekend in about a month that we haven't had any sort of plans or obligations. It was just the two of us and it was really, really great. Some couples spend an evening sharing a bottle of wine and a romantic meal to reconnect but for us five hours in heat and humidity rummaging through other people's old stuff gets us right back in sync as a couple. I guess that's how we roll!

I was looking for a couple pieces of milk glass to add to my assortment at home. I also decided to start a collection of vintage teacups and I knew I would be able to find a few that I liked. There were lots of great things I would have loved to buy-including a box of vintage horseshoes for $5-but I agreed not to make any large purchases. I found two milk glass compotes($15), a Collection of short stories from the New Yorker($1), two glass bottles($2), four teacups($40) and my favorite find, a vintage baby blue sewing machine($30). Total spent $88. Spending the afternoon with my guy on the road less traveled- priceless!

Scenes from Surburbia

Spotted: Two lovely ladies stolling through an open air mall laughing, bonding, ohhing and ahaing over everything in Anthropologie and mostly window shopping. All of this strenous wish listing makes these two lovely ladies extremely thristy. They decide to grab a glass of wine(rose for one and red for the other)at a nice quiet restaurant. Not wanting to drink on an empty stomach they order spinach and artichoke dip(because the calories don't count when sharing with friends). They drink, snack and solve all the world's problems. They give a hug and a kiss and head their separate ways.
Spotted: One of the dynamic duo must stop at Wal-Mart(please don't judge,it's convenient and yes a little part of my soul dies every time I go in there) to pick up something to feed her brood for dinner. After purchasing everything needed to make a healthy dinner for her kids she heads toward the exit. She sees a mother heading out with a cute baby in her cart. The mother tending to her baby is moving...not quickly. Not wanting to be rude and rush past them our lovely lady decides to exit through another door. She maneuvers toward the other door only to realize right before she runs her cart into it that it is in fact... a window! Which would have been okay if the man behind her didn't yell out"Damn girl! You been drinking or something?" She lowers her head in shame and hurries away. Moral of the story: Shopping at Wal-Mart not only kills your soul but it does nothing for a buzz.

Lazy Sunday

Saturday night included the following: a great group of girls, fantastic food, lots of vodka and lots and lots of dancing(followed by pad thai at 3 a.m.)!!

Sunday was spent in bed(most of the day) with left over pad thai, my favorite green tea, and these three lovely books. It was the perfect hangover cure.

Isn't She Lovely?

Emma Watson Teen Vogue Cover

"If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late? Nobody" Holden Caulfield- Catcher in the Rye




I have a small confession...I adore Teen Vogue. Someone gave one of my daughters a subscription for her birthday and I anxiously await its arrival every month. Occasionally I'll read an article or two but mainly I page through it looking for beautiful little bonbons of eye candy. I think that Vogue takes itself a little too seriously sometimes. Teen Vogue has a sense of humor and a quirkiness about it that I love. I can barely get my daughters out of their Chucks and skinny jeans(although the oldest two seem to turning into fashionistas) so while I don't think the ensemble Ms. Watson is rockin' in this photo is on their back to school shopping list, it's definitely on mine!