Back to Work for a Day

Dress: Boston Store; Belt: gift; Leggings: American Apparel; Boots: Macy's

Pardon my dog's fluffy butt in the bottom of these shots.

Here's what I wore for my last day of work in 2011. Since it was supposed to be a snowy, rainy, slushy day, I didn't want to bother with too long pants getting all wet, so I opted for a comfy sweater dress and winter boots. Plus, wearing a dress gave me an excuse to put on my new obi belt, which I LOVE.

Also, thank you to Randi at Not Just Mom for the award!

I was educated that Liebster means "dearest" in German, and this award is given to bloggers with fewer than 200 followers...it is nice when the little people get noticed...The stipulations of the award are as follows:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your 5 blogger picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Hope that the people you have sent the award to will forward it to their favorite bloggers.

Here are my five picks:

Neroli Blossoms
Style Snapshot
Animated Cardigan
I Have A Degree In This!
Literate & Stylish

Have a super fun and safe New Year's! See ya in 2012!

My Favorite Cocktail

If you're looking for a cocktail idea for a New Year's party, I would highly recommended this one. It's definitely my favorite adult beverage right now...and maybe ever.

Source

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

• Half cake vodka (Three Olives makes a good one)
• Half pineapple juice
• Splash of grenadine

Source

I've also had a variation of this at a restaurant in martini form (same recipe as the first picture/link in this post). It was made with vanilla vodka, which would probably be easier to find. And it's basically just as good.

If you're into creamy alcoholic drinks, you can also mix the cake vodka with rumchata if you can find it. I'm not a fan, but my husband is, and he tells me it takes like Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Enjoy!  I know I will, haha.

New Year's Resolutions

Short Term

1. Do something active to get ready for skiing in February.  Because right now, I am way more out of shape than I was last time/the first time I skied, and I don't want to die of exhaustion halfway through the first run.
2. Finish fixing the blog layout.  I started tinkering with it, but I'm not sure if I'm sold on the template I picked, and I have to fix the header image now.
3. Get a haircut and try to upkeep said haircut.

Long Term and Ongoing

1. Get pregnant again?  This is a resolution for later this year...or maybe even as late as 2013 if the hubs gets his way.
2. Stick to Weight Watchers.
3. Go to church more often.
4. Eliminate impulse clothes buying by sticking to a list.  This doesn't apply to buying baby clothes, or if I go on any big shopping outings with the girls or something.  Mostly, I need to keep far away from the Target clearance racks this year.
5. Finally finish my pre-wedding scrapbook and start on a baby scrapbook.
6. Be more focused, innovative, and social at work.
7. Finish the basement.
8. Sew more.  And as two sub-resolutions:
   
• Sew something complicated.
• Sew more clothes for Bridget than myself.

Bang Inspiration

I've decided.  I'm gonna take the plunge and get bangs.  I've been wanting to do something different with my hair even though I'm super low maintenance.  BUT, I want to keep it long for now, and I don't want to change the color again until I start going gray.

The bangs topic came up again over Christmas because my mom got a super cute new haircut.  My husband commented how much he liked her bangs.  While I don't want blunt cut, wispy-ish bangs like my mom, I'm ready to take a change and get bangs again.  It's just hair, right?  Right.

Here are some of the bang looks I like:

Source: google.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Source: instyle.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Source: stylenews.peoplestylewatch.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Source: coutureinthecity.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

One of my BFFs is my hair stylist, so my plan is to set up an appointment with her sometime in the next few weeks.  So of course, before and after pictures will come at that time.

I'm curious.  Have any of you ever had bang remorse?  Or do you have any easy bang styling tips?

What Kind of Animal Are You?

I'm still on vacation, now in Ohio for Christmas 2 of 3, and I'm posting this from my phone. My husband has no patience for outfit photos, and the photo may be sideways, so I apologize in advance, heh. (But now it's Thursday, and I edited the post to fix the formatting.)

Here's my wear*it Wednesday (hosted by Young and Naive) outfit incorporating boots with a dress--in this case, the only dress and boots I packed. I took this picture after Hilary's post went up, but you should check out all the other lovely participants anyway!

There was much discussion about my new vest among my family. Opinions were divided down the middle, but the funniest quote was from my great uncle, which is the title of this post.

Dress: H&M; Vest: Macy's (gift); Leggings: American Apparel; Boots: Macy's; Gloves: Echo (echodesign.com) (gift)

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Not enjoying her first visit with Santa

Hanging out in the hammock chair Christmas Eve

FBFF Christmas Survey

Source: imdb.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

No holiday party is complete without: music

My favorite Christmas song/album: My favorite Christmas album would have to be Hanson "Snowed In."

My favorite seasonal recipe: Hmmm, I don't know. I guess I don't usually cook for Christmas.

The perfect New Year's Eve outfit includes: sparkle

At the parties, I'll be drinking: something with champagne/sparkling wine. My husband's family does mimosas on Christmas morning, and then I'm sure I'll have champagne on New Year's Eve too.

Eggnog, good or bad? Bad.

Did you ever take pictures on Santa's lap at the mall? Not that I can remember, or that I've seen pictures of.

Gingerbread Latte or Peppermint Mocha: Gingerbread latte. I don't like mint with chocolate.

Worst gift I ever got: My aunt and uncle played a practical joke on me one year and gave me a really ugly outfit just to see how I'd react. This had to have been at least 10 years ago. Since I don't like practical jokes at all although I think I handled it well, that'd probably be the worst.

Best gift I ever received: Is it cheesy to say my daughter since she was a December baby?

My family has this weird tradition: I can't think of any weird ones, but my husband's family has very specific Christmas traditions. On Christmas Eve, we all get pajamas for a present, which we wear that night. Then, on Christmas day, my father-in-law blasts Christmas music at like 5 in the morning. We all sleepily congregate to open the presents in our stockings with the extended family. Then we drink mimosas.

My best bargain find for a gift this year: I was pretty excited to get some shopping done at Costco for Bridget. Toys seem to be a lot more reasonably priced there.

If I could only buy all my gifts from one place, I'd shop at: Target

Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman: Rudolph I s'pose.

My favorite holiday memory: When my dad's mom was alive, she seriously bought us everything on our list (stay with me, that's not the only reason it's my favorite memory). My brother and I and our two younger cousins would head to her living room, organize the ginormous pile of presents into piles for each person. Then, and I loved this part the most, when it was time to open, the whole family opened at the same time shouting "thank you"s and holding up gifts as we went. It's not the huge pile of presents that was so special, but I really enjoyed the laidbackness and excitement of it all.

My favorite Christmas movie: Love Actually. Cry like a baby EVERY TIME.

The best part about holiday decorations is: the smell of pine?

Rip off the wrapping paper or neatly pull off the tape: Rip!

Miracle on 34th Street or It's a Wonderful Life: Eh

It doesn't feel like the holiday season until: December, for crying out loud.

All I want for Christmas is: for the long drive there and back to go quickly and easily

Books I'm Packing for My Trip

We're headed off to Maine and Ohio for Christmas soon, and I'm hoping to have a lot of downtime for reading with plenty of family around to help entertain Bridget. Here's what I plan to read in order (Warning: nothing intellectual here):

• One for the Money - My sister-in-law loaned me this book like two years ago, and I still haven't finished it.  I know I started it, but whatever I was using for a bookmark must've fallen out, so I may just have to start over.  Since there's a movie coming out, I figured I'd better finish it sometime soon.
• The Magic Christmas - I used to read this book every Christmas since I was 12 probably, but I skipped the last few years.  I'd like to get back into reading it every year.  It's just that good...at least I think so.
• Sweet Valley Confidential - Another reason I'm reading the Sweet Valley Twins book before this one is so that I can get a refresher on the characters.  I have not heard great things about this book, but I think it's still a must read for Sweet Valley fans.
• Modelland - After seeing Tyra's motion campaign or whatever it's called on America's Next Top Model this cycle, I'm even more curious to get into this book.  It's probably going to be super cheesy.  I just hope the whole thing doesn't read like the introduction and say "dahling" ever other sentence.

Then, when I finish those four, I can start The Hunger Games.

Mother Daughter Sequins

On Me - Blouse: Target; Long Sleeved Shirt: Walmart; Sequin Scarf: ?; Vest: swapped; Cords: Gap; Shoes: Kohl's
On Bridget - Top: LLBean; Pants: Children's Place; Socks: gift; Sequin Headband: Walmart

I almost forgot about Everybody, Everywear Sequins + Sparkles today.  I already picked out what I was going to wear, so I added this sequined scarf/tie/sash thing for a faux tie blouse effect.  As for Bridget, since she was particularly clingy this morning, I put this cute sequin headband on her and let her get in on the EBEW fun.  Although as my neck is experiencing right now, sequins are pretty scratchy, so I didn't make Bridget wear this headband for more than a couple minutes.

Is It Friday Yet?

I had a good weekend, but I'm kind of tired and cranky today, so I'll leave you with the Inspiration Monday pictures and an ugly sweater picture from a Christmas party this weekend.

Inspiration Picture

My Interpretation

Sweatshirt: Walmart, embellished by me; Cords: NY & Co, altered by me; Boots: Target; Scarf: Boston Store; Headband: Jaxie 

I took some liberties with this one. The pink jeans I bought over the summer are still too small, so I went with my other pair of colored pants--my purple cords again. Then, I whipped up this DIY from A Pair & a Spare of a lace trim sweatshirt.

OK week, let's get over fast so I can start my vacay!

If Only We Could Play Games Every Friday

Sweater Dress and Jacket: swapped; Cords: New York & Company; Boots: Kohl's; Belt: Luci Boutique

Yesterday for a team holiday celebration, my boss treated us to a trip to Dave & Buster's, which for those of you who don't know, is like a grown-up Chuck E Cheese's. I was a little skeptical at first, but it was a lot of fun! Deeefinitely not a bad way to spend half of my work day on a Friday.

I went with a more casual business casual outfit with two of the items I picked up at the swap last weekend. This blazer is A-line and swingy, so it's a little hard to style. I think next time I'll keep it really simple with jeans, a white T-shirt, and some accessories. A pencil skirt would probably work, too, but I have yet to find a suitable one for myself.

Racing the Sun

T-shirt: Target; Cardigan: Wet Seal; Jeans: New York & Company; Shoes: Mr. Shoe; Belt: Kohl's; Scarf: gift; Hat: H&M

This outfit is actually from a few weeks ago. It was my second attempt at recreating an outfit from Girl with Curves. This was also the day when my boss mocked my giant yellow scarf, haha. Men. Obviously I didn't wear the hat to work.

I was determined to use natural light for these pictures, so I raced home after work, glancing at the setting sun as I drove. Pretty sure the sun won--I had to lighten these pics up quite a bit. And one of my neighbors drove by as I was taking these, so the last couple shots were of me darting towards the camera. High five to you guys who do your photos in public.

Anjolee Jewelry Review

Sweater and Necklace: Kohl’s; Skirt: New York & Company; Thigh-High Socks: American Apparel; Boots: Target; Belt and Hat: Forever 21; Ring: c/o Anjolee

Since I’ve been with my husband, I’ve started to understand the value of quality and the longevity that comes from having something of quality. His motto in life is “Go big or go home,” and his weakness is electronics. He’ll only buy the best. And if he can’t find the best, he’ll make it (in the case of speakers).

Of the material goods that interest me, I notice a big difference in how long bags and jewelry last when I spend a bit more money. That’s not to say inexpensive things are always bad. I’ve had these affordable black boots for a couple years now, and they’re the most comfortable pair of boots I own by far. But I can think of many specific examples when I bought an accessory and it fell apart in no time. A couple New Year’s Eves ago, I bought a statement ring to go with my ensemble, and before I even wore it, the ring part came detached from the band.

I’ve never really been into fine jewelry in the past because my tastes change, and I tend to like bigger statement pieces. But now that I have a kid, I like the idea of having something valuable and sentimental to pass on to her. The center stone in my diamond wedding ring was my grandmother’s, and it originally belonged to her grandmother. Hopefully I’ll have some nice things to give to my children and grandchildren, maybe anniversary rings some years in the future to add to my bridal set.

Having said all of that, I was pretty excited when Anjolee contacted me to review one of their products. I chose the Millgrain Edge Diamond and Gemstone Eternity Ring because I may or may not have gasped a little when I saw the picture of this one. I love the look of the eternity band, and I thought the red was festive. And by the way, the ring also came in a gorgeous box. This particular ring is the cubic zirconia version, but I could see getting a diamond one maybe with yellow down the road to complement my engagement and wedding rings.

I'm also linking up with wear*it Wednesday on 12/21: How to Wear Holiday Inspired Outfits hosted by la boutique verte.

Disclosure: Although the ring was given to me for review purposes, all views and opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Twelve Month Stats

Height: 31 inches (96th percentile)

Weight: 21 pounds 15 ounces (66th percentile)

Head Circumference: 17.5 inches (34th percentile)

Food: Table food--fruit and veggies are still her favorite, but she also eats toast, waffles, muffins, scrambled eggs, pasta, and crackers. We'll have to start working some more milk-based products in now like yogurt and cheese.

Drink: Her pediatrician recommended going cold turkey with no more bottles, so we switched her over to whole milk in sippy cups last night. She's doing fine with it, but she doesn't chug it as fast as she chugged bottles.

Size: 18 months in clothes, 3 in diapers, between 2 and 3 in shoes

Teeth: We can finally see two on top and two on the bottom beginning to poke through. We're hoping that explains her crankiness at night as of late.

Milestones:

• Starting to understand how shapes fit through things.
• Mimics actions in her environment--holding her hand up to her ear if someone is on the phone, trying to comb her hair with a comb, waving bye if someone says bye, or clapping if someone starts clapping or celebrating in some way.
• Walks around with help.
• Pulls up on everything.
• Likes to climb on things.
• Super fast crawler.
• Babbles a lot, can say mama, dada, baba, nana, duck (I think the only one she knows what it means though is “duck”).

All bundled up, wearing my hat and mittens from when I was a baby.

Natural Light is Neat

Striped Shirt, Hat, and Boots: Target; Long Sleeve Shirt: H&M; Cami: Old Navy; Pants: New York & Company; Scarf: gift

I happened to have my camera in my purse these last couple days, so I decided I might as well try to get a couple outdoor shots in.  Although I love the lighting a lot more than the lighting in my kitchen, it's always awkward trying to get these without someone walking by.  And you can totally see the awkwardness on my face today.  Tyra would not be pleased.

Speaking of Tyra, tonight is the America's Next Top Model season finale!  Woohoo!!!!  At this point, I'm hoping Allison will win; I wouldn't mind if Angelea won; but my guess is Lisa is going to win it all although I REALLY don't want that happening.  So we'll see.

Not a great shot, but I wanted to be sure to include a picture of my sequin shoulder.

This week's wear*it Wednesday theme is winter hats, and it's being hosted at its new home, For the Birds.

Happy 1st Birthday, Bridget!

Today, my baby girl is 1-year-old! We're headed to her 12-month appointment this afternoon, so here are some pictures from her birthday party this weekend. We had six kids total ranging from less than a month old to almost 3-years-old, and then maybe 10-15 adults.

The theme was rubber ducks, and I found all the decorations on Amazon. I kept it pretty simple with just a centerpiece, plates and napkins, garland, and mini ducks as party favors.

I'm kicking myself because these rock star and fairy tale ducks were supposed to be party favors, but I forgot to hand them out after the second family left. This post-baby memory loss really is crippling sometimes. "Crippling" may be a little dramatic, but it's definitely annoying.

Bridget could not get enough of all the ducks around! She kept saying "Duh! Duh! Duh!" and pointing.

As for Bridget's party outfit, the dress is one I made this summer but never actually put her in it. Since it was probably the most complicated thing I've ever sewn, I couldn't let it go unworn. The crown I bought at Target. There's a matching tutu, which I put her in to go to school today.

Before:

After:

As you can see, the cake eating was quite anticlimactic besides the goofy goatee she gave herself. Hopefully she'll put more of a dent in the birthday cupcakes I sent with her to daycare today.

Sweaters and Shopping

Sweater: Target; Striped Shirt: Old Navy: Pants: Gap; Boots: Mr. Shoe; Belt: Luci Boutique

I love sweater dresses. I'm not sure if this was sold as a dress, but it's definitely a sweater tunic on me. But I still love it, and it served me well while I was pregnant too, as I'm sure you can imagine. I wore this to work of course, and then while running some errands. During my shopping trip yesterday, I forgot to pick up flannel sheets, which was on my list I never actually looked at, so I went back to Kohl's to look for those with a 20% off coupon in hand.

Gotta love Kohl's eh? They always have good sales, and having coupons on top of it makes them even more affordable. Speaking of, someone working with Kohl's contacted me and invited me to share some discounts with you! Since I'm there so often anyway, it was definitely an offer I felt compelled to share in case you have some holiday shopping (presents or festive outfits for yourself!) left to do.

Take an Extra 15% Off Fine & Sterling Silver Jewelry
Enter Promo Code SPECIAL15 at checkout
Valid: 12/6-12/7

Take an Extra 20% Off your Kohls.com Purchase
Enter Promo Code BIGGESTSALE at checkout
Valid: 12/8-12/11

Disclaimer: I received no compensation for this promotion; I'm just a fan of the store.