Monday, December 31, 2012

Mid-Celebration

Well, my in-laws went to bed after New Year's on the East Coast, and my husband and bro-in-law are in the next room finishing up their Axis & Allies game, so I'm killing time until Midwest New Year's. I took a couple RumChata shots with the guys, and now here I am. Hey, my sis-in-law came back! Over and out.

Here's what I wore today for a relatively low-key day of shopping, watching movies, and trying to keep the five dogs in the house from annoying the crap out of each other:

Sequin Top: Forever 21; Cardigan and Cords: Old Navy; Vest: Macy's; Boots: Mr. Shoes


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Year in Review and Goals for 2013

Wow, it's been an exciting year! As I was looking through my camera the other day, I was reminiscing about all the fun I've had being crazy, going to meet celebrities, traveling, hanging out at concerts, and even writing a novel.

Here are my highlights:

January

- Caught a glimpse of Jason Segel after a long, cold night of waiting


February

- Met Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys, and it was magical


March 

- Met Rami Kashou, my favorite Project Runway designer


April

- Celebrated 3 years of marriage


May

- Hung out and acted stupid with the Heymakers

Stolen from Facebook

June

- ...Was apparently a slow month. I can't remember what happened in June.

July

- Traveled to Maine with friends and family


- Saw an incredible Hanson show at Summerfest


- Experienced a very pleasant daytime Hanson concert in Iowa


August

- Met Tom Felton, Joey Lawrence, and Adrianne Curry at Comic Con


September

- Visited Disney World and my home away from home, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter


October

- Enjoyed lots of friend time celebrating birthdays, welcoming a new baby, going out for Halloween, and shopping


November

- Met my second favorite Project Runway designer, Christian Siriano


- Was VIP for the Miggs/Sixers show


- Wrote a freakin' novel!

Um, cover in progress.
This was just from me playing around
with Photoshop for awhile. It needs work.

December

- Traveled to Arizona, saw the Grand Canyon, and got to meet our little nephew


- Celebrated Bridget's 2nd birthday


My goals for 2013:
  • Celebrate my 30th birthday in New York
  • See another Hanson concert (at least one)
  • Finish revising my novel, get a few more eyes on it, and decide what to do with it
  • Participate in NaNoWriMo again in November
  • Develop and add more structure to the blog
  • Continue to attend blogger meetups
  • Get pregnant

Pretty solid list, I'd say.

Happy New Year! 

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Last Christmas

Sweater: Gap via E-Collectique; Blouse: Kohl's; Belt: gift; Boots: Target


This is what I wore for my extended family Christmas celebration on Friday. It was very nice, and we enjoyed giving and receiving more gifts and hanging out with family, but that's about all I have to say about that. We have a full house at the moment with hubs' parents and sister's family, and they're watching the DVRed Packer game from earlier today. So I'm off to pretend to enjoy football...or not.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Still Recovering

Christmas did not go quite as expected. On one hand, I made four different kinds of cookies, which were all delicious. I actually did something I pinned on Pinterest, woohoo! The ones that gave me the most trouble were the traditional frosted sugar cookies only because I don't have the patience for frosting. I even used store-bought frosting, too, so I don't even have an excuse. On the other hand, I can't even think about cookies right now because my husband and I both got sick Christmas night. I'm still not sure if it was the flu or food poisoning, but Bridget is fine, as are my parents, who were over that day. The morning and afternoon parts were great, though. We are three very loved and spoiled people, that's for sure.

Also, in my last post I mentioned trying to fix this dress to wear to church on Christmas Eve. When I was done with it, it looked even worse than the first time around. I should've taken a picture. And I broke two needles, and one of the pieces is still stuck in my sewing machine somewhere. So much for that. I've finally decided to give up and just turn the dress into a skirt. Oh well. Here's what I ended up wearing instead:

Shirt: New York & Company; Cardigan: Target; Skirt: Narciso Rodriguez for Kohl's;
Brooch: c/o Wantable; Shoes: Rebecca Minkoff (still on sale!)



Friday, December 21, 2012

Almost Christmas!

Today for my last day of work before Christmas, I went with a casual red and green theme for The Perpetual Student's Wife's Holiday Look Link Up. Wearing red and green together for the holidays may be dorky and cliché, but whatever. I enjoy theme dressing. Besides, they're olive pants (or basil pesto according to the website), so it could be worse. Um, also, pardon the mess in the background. That's where I was wrapping Christmas presents.

Cardigan: LOFT via swap; Turtleneck: Kohl's; Cords: Old Navy; Boots: Mr. Shoe;
Headband: Zing Accessories; Bracelet and Brooch: c/o Wantable


I still have a few things I need to do before the big day arrives (unfortunately, sending out Christmas cards is not going to happen this year...again), but I am fully in the Christmas spirit.

Christmasy things accomplished:
  • Put up and decorated a Christmas tree!
  • Nearly finished Christmas shopping. Just a few more easy things to pick up.
  • Wrapped presents
  • Listened to all my Christmas CDs, which I'm sure I will continue doing until Christmas is over
  • Watched Love Actually
  • Watched Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with Bridget
  • Just today remembered to put our fake mini tree on the front porch. Better late than never. We never did put up lights this year...we're slackers.

Still yet to do:
  • Make Christmas cookies
  • Attempt to fix this dress to wear to church Christmas Eve
  • Mend something for my dad while I have the sewing machine out
  • Buy my brother's gift
  • Clean the house for company

Four more days!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Wantable.co Jewelry Box Review

I first heard about Wantable from Corleen of Barely Practical. She had learned about the Milwaukee based company at an event and told some of us local bloggers about it.

Wantable is a monthly service like Birchbox and stuff like that where you fill out a profile, and they send you makeup products based on your preferences. Recently, Wantable has expanded their offerings to include jewelry as well. The subscriptions cost $36, or you can pay $40 to receive just one box. Another nice aspect of Wantable is that they ship free both ways in case you need to return something.

After some consideration, I opted to receive the holiday exclusive vintage glam jewelry collection to review. The site had me choose between a necklace or earrings as one of the pieces, which I appreciated since I don't have my ears pierced.

Here's what came in my box:

Pearls, chain bracelet, key necklace, brooch, ribbon, and ring


The pearl necklace is probably my favorite piece. It's super long and could be looped around my neck two or three times depending on how long I wanted it to hang.

I also like the chunky gold bracelet:


The dainty key necklace and the cocktail ring aren't pieces I would wear quite as often, but the necklace is very cute, and I do like the edgy details of the spikes on the ring.


Before today, I owned one brooch, which is silver, so I know this gold one will come in handy:


Although I don't partake in any of these monthly box services, I've always been interested in seeing what they were all about. I'm not sure I need to be sent makeup or jewelry every month, but I fully intend on buying one $40 makeup box from Wantable to see what those offerings are like. I could definitely use some quality makeup. I'll have to do another blog post whenever I get around to doing that.

Disclaimer: I received these products free for the purpose of a review, but all opinions are my own.

Monday, December 17, 2012

More Car Trouble

I'll keep it somewhat brief. We picked my car up from the dealership this evening, and they replaced the battery thinking that might be the problem although hubs and I both knew it most likely wasn't. On my way home, I made my first stop, and the car started up fine. I made one more stop...and the car did not start up. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my phone in hubs' car, so I went back in the store and used their phone to leave a voicemail on his cell. He didn't get the message that I needed to be rescued once again until over an hour later. Now I'm just hoping my car will start tomorrow morning so that I can drive it right to the dealership.

Anyway, the good news is I got all the Christmas shopping done for hubs' side of the family tonight. I have just a few more gifts to buy for my side, then I'm all set. Just in time.

Here's what I wore for all of that, inspired by the Style Imitating Art piece of the week:



Blazer: Rock & Republic (Kohl's); Tank Top: ?; Pants: New York & Company;
Shoes: C-Label via Piperlime; Necklace: E-Collectique Runway Boutique


OK, I should really stop complaining and go to sleep now because 5:30 AM when the alarm goes off is going to come way too soon.

Mixed-up Weekend

Needless to say, this weekend didn't start off too well. First and most significantly was of course the tragedy of the Connecticut school shooting. It boggles my mind why someone would kill innocent children, and it made me want to pull Bridget out of school forever and move to some remote location. I can't imagine what the people in that community are going through, but my heart breaks for them.

Despite feeling incredibly solemn and bewildered by that, I was optimistic about the fun weekend I had planned. (No really natural way to segue, is there?) While on my way to Madison to visit a friend from high school, I stopped at Kohl's about halfway there, and my car wouldn't start back up when I went to leave. Instead of continuing on, my husband, daughter, and dog came and got me, and we had my car towed to a dealership. And of course it started fine the next day. Of course it did. Oh well. In the grand scheme of things, not a big deal, but it was a bummer.

The rest of the weekend went off without a hitch, though. Saturday, I met up with Katy, Corleen, and Mary for a Milwaukee blogger meetup at Le Rêve and The Ruby Tap in Tosa. I highly recommend both places. Delicious and fun! After that, I headed to my friends' apartment for our annual Christmas party. That's always a good time.

Here's what I wore Friday:

Inspiration Monday photo:


My interpretation:

Dress: Tucker for Target; Leggings: Old Navy; Scarf and Boots: Target; Coat: MICHAEL Michael Kors

Work version:

Blazer: swap

After-work version:

Cardigan: Old Navy

Saturday: Katy has the group picture from the blogger meetup on her camera, but here are a few of my Instagram shots - terrible quality, I apologize.

Top: Lela Rose for Target; Necklace: Charlotte Russe; Jeans and Cardigan: Old Navy; Shoes: Anne Klein via DSW

Chocolate caramel tart and cappuccino from Le Rêve

Katy and Mary Instagramming at The Ruby Tap

And then from the Christmas party:

This was pretty late in the night...we were quite wined up at this point, hence my rosy cheeks.

T drew my name and got me Converse shoes and nail polish to match!

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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Two-Year Stats

She just likes the frosting...she definitely didn't get that from me!
(stolen from my mom's facebook)

It's been awhile since I've done one of these. Bridget had her two-year checkup yesterday, which was supposed to include her Hep A (I think) and flu shots. Unfortunately, since she still has a raging ear infection, those have to wait until next week.

Height: 36.5 inches (97th percentile) - Over three feet! She's one tall drink of water.

Weight: 27 pounds (55th percentile) - She's usually higher in the weight percentile, which was a little concerning to us. Because she's been sick, she recently lost a pound and a half. The doctor said not to worry, though.

Head Circumference: 18.5 inches (36th percentile)

Food: Bridget prefers fruits, veggies (carrots, peas, corn), bread, and yogurt. She likes cereal and crackers as a snack. Sometimes she'll eat meat if it's chicken, lunch meat, or hot dogs, but she won't eat ground beef.

Drink: We forgot that at two years of age, she can switch to 1% milk instead of whole, but since she's still a skinny minnie, we'll probably finish up the whole milk we have first anyway. By the way, I can't say "skinny minnie" to her or she'll want to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Learned that the hard way.

Size: 2T in clothes, 5 in diapers, 6 or 7 in shoes. I keep buying her size 7 shoes thinking her feet are going to grow, but I think her one pair of size 6 shoes fit better at the moment.

Teeth: She's still missing some. She's got four to go on the side (two on top, two on bottom) and then some molars, too.

Sleep: Lately since she's been sick, it's not been unusual for Bridget to wake up once during the night and need some comfort. Once she gets over the ear infection, I think we're going to convert to the toddler bed and see how that goes.

Potty Training: Yeah, about that. We're not rushing it. We do have some big girl undies that we'll start using more often especially once she moves into the next daycare room when they start potty training there.

Favorite Things: Lion King, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street

Milestones:
  • Can put two words together, but still has yet to really form more than two-word sentences.
  • Identifies some colors, but mostly green, which is her favorite color.
  • Repeats numbers back as someone counts. 
  • Repeats nearly everything that she hears, meaning mommy really has to watch her mouth now.
  • Uses real silverware like a pro and prefers that to her little plastic forks and spoons.
  • Drinks from a cup, but we still mostly use sippy cups so that she doesn't spill when she's moving around.
  • Mimics actions in her environment.
  • Walks, runs, and climbs stairs with ease.

Comments from Her Daycare Teacher:

Her teacher says that Bridget is one of the most advanced socially, and that she acts more like a three-year-old. She's the leader in the classroom (and also the oldest; she's moving onto the next classroom next week), and is a very good helper. However, Bridget is easily influenced by bad behavior. If someone else climbs up on the table, she'll do it, too, although she knows it's wrong. The skills Bridget needs to work on are naming colors and counting. Otherwise, she's perfect (her words...maybe mine, too).

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Lace Tights at Work

It took me until today to get the guts to wear these lace tights at this job. Since the rest of the outfit is pretty covered up and conservative except for maybe the studded belt, I figured a lace-covered knee would be OK. I actually don't even remember where I got these tights from, but I must've bought them in '09ish.

Sunglasses, Dress, and Boots: Target; Long-Sleeved Shirt: gift; Belt: H&M; Tights: ?


By the way, I was informed once again how giant my watch is. I really should be keeping track – it always seems to be guys than comment on it, too, which isn't surprising. Either the largeness doesn't bother girls as much, or they just don't say anything. Heh. I will say that my watch is getting kind of loose. I need to bring it in somewhere to get a link taken out of it. I wonder if I have to go back to the Michael Kors outlet to do that. OH WELL, if I have to, I have to! Haha.


Monday, December 10, 2012

More Painful Shoes



My interpretation:

Cardigan: Old Navy; T-shirt: Gap; Pants: New York & Company;
Shoes: Anne Klein via DSW; Necklace: gift


One of these days, I'm going to buy comfortable shoes again, or at least bring others shoes to wear when walking around outside. My toes were all crunched up after wearing these for a little bit. They felt fine for the 10 seconds I had them on my feet at the store, but I s'pose that's how it goes.

Sorry for the wrinkly pants. My main goals with this outfit were comfort and warmth, which is why I went with one of my warmest sweaters instead of a blazer.

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