rhinestone cowboy

details:

wide leg jeans~target

plaid shirt~f21

shoes~jessica simpson

necklace~f21

sometimes after i get the kids off to school i crawl back under covers to catch a quick nap. umm...this morning's quick nap lasted forty-five freakin' minutes! needless to say i was running super late. i had nothing planned to wear so i pulled on these jeans. i bought this shirt a few weeks ago and i must say it is so comfy and cozy. i'm sure i'll wear it a lot this winter. the wide leg, plaid shirt and clog like shoe combination felt a little too....70s or maybe cowboy? i threw on all of this jewelry in effort to make it more modern and less of whatever it was before:) today is really a short work day for me then it's off to run errands. have a lovely day.

dressing up

details:

tights/belt~ f21

dress~h&m

cardigan~target

shoes~baker's

ranunculus necklace~anthropologie

i finally made it to the brand new h&m. seriously, i was like a frat boy at mardi gras for the first time, oohing and ahhing and trying to grab everything i could get my hands on! i lost my damn mind for a minute.(i also developed an instant crush on the guy that rang up my purchase. he was so cute and super sweet!) i'd seen this dress on weardrobe and was determined to make it mine. i love the colors and the watercolor effect of the print. i paired it with the crochet tights i bought at f21 over the weekend. the dress has sweet little flutter sleeves but it is november, so it's pretty much all cardigans all the time from now until next spring. i bought this boyfriend cardigan at target a year or two ago and i'm still annoyed that i didn't get it in the other colors they had. yesterday was sort of a blah day so i'm glad i took the time to get a little dressed up today. i really loved today's outfit but i didn't have time to get pictures until the end of an extremely long day. i hope that explains their quality, my lack of lipgloss and the expression on my face:) i'm off to watch a new episode of glee!!! have a wonderful evening.

take a look, it's in a book

there is a huge age difference between me and my my brothers and sister. the brother closest to me in age is sixteen years older. as a result, i grew up like an only child. we lived in a neighborhood were there weren't a lot of other kids and i had no siblings to play with so i spent a lot of time reading. i still love to read and try to read a book a week(on a night where my insomnia kicks in i've read two or three in one night). these are the books on my nightstand waiting for me to get some free time to enjoy them.

the nine: inside the secret world of the supreme court by jeffrey toobin
my life in france by julia child
family affair by caprice crane
garden spells by sarah addison
prospect park west by amy sohn

i used to be a strictly fiction kind of girl but i really enjoy reading non-fiction these days. last summer everything i read was non-fiction. what do you enjoy reading? the weather will be cold soon and there's nothing better than being snowed in with a cup of hot chocolate, a fire in the fireplace and a stack of good books. do you have any favorites to recommend?

suddenly wanting...

these glasses...

and this hair....

or this hair...decisions, decisions!

*image credit top photo- the sartorialist

it's a mad, mad world

details:

dress~anthropologie

cardigan~bebe

leopard peep toes~aldo

moto jacket~f21(not pictured)

happy monday! last week and weekend were crazy busy for us. two of my daughters participated in a local fashion show and they had fittings and rehearsals last week. the show was saturday afternoon. i was beyond proud. not just because they looked beautiful, but because they have the confidence to get out there and work the runway. the group they are members of focuses not just on fashion and beauty but in building self esteem in girls. the members of the group are all races and ethnicities, all shapes and sizes. all of the girls did an amazing job. my oldest daughter also performed in her school play this weekend. the school performed shakespeare's a midsummer night's dream. she was fairy and she did a great job, especially since this was her first production. the kids also got their report cards this weekend. three of my four children made the high honor roll and the fourth one missed the honor roll by hair. enough of the proud mom gushing!

this is one of my favorite dresses! it feels so betty draper. i paired it with my favorite leopard print peep toes. even though the temperature is supposed to be about 70 degrees today(which is crazy warm for cincinnati in november) it was a little cool when i left the house. i grabbed my moto jacket keep the chill away. d and i are going to the contemporary art center this afternoon when i get off work. i know this dress is one of his favorites so i wore it for him. it's funny but whenever i wear this dress i always get compliments from older gentlemen. it must be something about the combination of the full skirt and the peep toe pumps that makes them nostalgic. this morning while making my coffee run a man about 70 not only complimented me but insisted on paying for "the pretty little lady in the pretty dress". it totally goes against every feminist bone in my body to be called the pretty little lady but i'm not gonna lie, it felt kinda sweet. have a great day!

a little bit of lovliness

i made this centerpiece for daughter's birthday dinner a few weeks ago but i'm just now getting a chance to post it. did anyone watch flowers uncut last night on tlc? ah-maz-ing!! those and arrangements and creativity make my little arrangement seem a little sad. despite their lack of over the top-ness(i'm pretty sure i just made that word up), they make me smile. happy almost friday people!!!

i could never get the hang of thursdays

details:

top~twelve by twelve~f21

cardigan~heritage~f21

wide leg jeans~target

this was not the outfit i planned on wearing today. i put together a really cute look last night that includes one of my favorite dresses. however, when i woke up this morning i was bloated and crampy and the idea of having to wear spanx to keep everything looking the way it's supposed to in the dress was not appealing (good grief..that was a little tmi). today comfort wins! i love the color of this top. i would usually wear it with skinny jeans but i wanted to play with volume a little-and the idea of skinny jeans today was unbearable-so i puled out my favorite wide leg jeans from target. i swear every time i wear them someone will ask me where i got them. they are fantastic but super long so i have to wear my tallest platforms. i paired the cardi with the top to make it not so puffy and because the top has no sleeves just cute little ruffled straps and its cold here.

i lost the piece that holds the camera on to my tripod and i was running a little late so this was the only picture i could manage this morning. it's going to be a really busy day. i have a few hours of work, an eye doctor's appointment and then it's off to shuttle the kids around. i hope i have time tonight to check out the new h&m. maybe the crowd will have died down by the time i get there this evening.

i've also hit a bit of a block in the writing. i'm hoping to power through this weekend and get my word count back on track. have a lovely day!