Stripes and Pearls

Top and Shoes: Kohl's; Jeans: Kut via Hot Mama; Necklace: Charming Charlie

Is It Saturday Yet?

Here's the Style Imitating Art piece for this week:

And me:

Pants: Gap; Top: Kohl's; Belt: H&M; Shoes: Vince Camuto; Necklace: Maurices;
Bracelets: Charming Charlie, H&M, Target; Sunglasses: Express

I had no idea the belt was askew like that, but it's fine. It almost looks intentional.

Five days until I meet the Backstreet Boys...I cannot wait!!

July or October

Is it July or October? Based on the weather alone, I really can't tell. Not that I'm complaining - I'm not a fan of super hot temps, but I'm not ready for fall quite yet either.

Here's the Inspiration Monday picture for tomorrow:

And my interpretation that I wore to the dog park and running errands:

T-shirt: Old Navy; Cardigan: H&M; Jeans: New York & Company; Shoes: TOMS; Hat: Target

Bridget Goes to the Dentist

On Thursday, I took Bridget to the dentist with me since our dental hygienist recommended I bring her in to see what it was all about before she has her first cleaning at 3 years old. In case anyone's wondering, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry states that you should bring children to the dentist for the first time once they get their first tooth, or when they turn 1, but our dentist didn't require that early of a visit. And I was OK with that - 1 year old seems really premature to me.

I'm always nervous about going to the dentist because they inevitably find something wrong with my teeth every time; but with Bridget in tow, it felt like a new adventure. As I pulled into the mall parking lot where our dentist is located, Bridget asked, "Is this the dentist?" Then she asked again as we walked into the mall food court and again upon entering the corridor that leads to the office.

From the moment we sat down in the waiting room and Bridget located a teddy bear and a Disney Junior magazine, I knew that this was going to be a positive experience for her. We didn't wait long before the dental hygienist called us back and immediately engaged Bridget in conversation and offered her different things to look at while she explained what she was doing during my cleaning. Bridget was very friendly and well behaved and answered each yes/no question she was asked with "No" or "Um I fink so." Haha. She only got a little rowdy and squealed loudly when she saw the motion light-up aquarium lamp thing with the Nemo fish swimming by.

As far as the dentist part went, the hygienist let Bridget put the suction (or Mr. Thirsty) in my mouth, and she also sprayed water and then put Mr. Thirsty in Bridget's mouth (after changing the tip of course). While she was in there, the hygienist also took a quick look at Bridget's teeth and let me know that she's still missing two molars. I couldn't tell if Mr. Thirsty was Bridget's favorite part or if it was sitting on my lap and taking a ride in the dentist chair, but she definitely didn't mind being there.

After Bridget picked out a couple silly bands from the toy treasure chest, we went back into the waiting room so that I could schedule our next appointments. And Bridget, with some outgoingness she certainly didn't get from me, peeked out into the waiting room and greeted the college-age girl waiting with a "Hi! What's your name?" and then introduced herself with her first and last name. So freakin' cute.

Yup, she'll definitely do fine in January when it's time for her real first dentist appointment. Let's just hope she gets her father's perfectly healthy teeth and not mine.

State Fair Food Planning

Deep-Fried Peanut Butter & Bacon Nuggets with Berry Weiss Jelly (source)

Less than one week to go until the Wisconsin State Fair 2013 kicks off! Since I've done one of these posts the last two years, I wanted to keep the tradition going. Here's what I'm hoping to consume this year:

New Food - Find the complete list here.

• Beer-Battered Macaroni & Cheese Bites with Jack Cheese and Bacon - Sounds interesting. This might be a good alternative to the deep-fried macaroni. That stuff is hard to beat, though.
• Deep-Fried Pepper Jack & Bacon Macaroni & Cheese on a Stick - Oh no, more delicious fried macaroni options! What to do, what to do.
• Deep-Fried Peanut Butter & Bacon Nuggets with Berry Weiss Jelly - Peanut butter mixed with blended bacon, hand-rolled in Panko bread crumbs, deep fried and served hot and fresh with Berry Weiss Jelly. I hate to admit it, but I'm intrigued.

Food on a Stick - The complete list is here.

• Deep-Fried PB & J - Why did I not get this the last two years? I keep talking about it...
• Cookie Dough on a Stick - I always have this at the end of the night and can never finish it, but that's what friends are for. I mentioned in my 2012 retrospective that I might skip the cookie dough this year, so we'll see. It could happen.

Will Not Be Trying

• Better with Bacon Bar - Ice cream rolled in bacon pieces and dipped in chocolate. I said this last year, and I'll say it again - what is the impulse to add bacon to everything? The peanut butter and bacon nuggets sound OK, but I'm not sure about the ice cream. Maybe the salty/sweet combo would be good??
• Krispy Kreme Burger with Spicy Pig Candy - I don't even know what that means, but I'll probably just stick to the regular Krispy Kreme cheeseburger. Apparently spicy pig candy is candied bacon. Of course.
• Cajun Frog Legs on a Stick - Ew?

Yearly Must Haves

• Deep-Fried Oreos - Seriously, they taste like Oreo-flavored donuts. 
• Krispy Kreme Cheeseburger - It was surprisingly tasty last year (with ketchup), and I may just have it again.
• Sweetcorn Jalapeno Nuggets - So good.

Husband Jeans, Literally

The definition of boyfriend jeans has gotten pretty broad lately and basically seems to refer to any form of cuffed, sometimes distressed denim. (For example, no boyfriend I ever had would've worn these jeans, but who am I to judge?) Here, I'm wearing boyfriend jeans in their purest form as these actually do belong to my husband. Not the most flattering things ever, but I guess that's not the point.

Besides the jeans, I'm also wearing my husband's baseball cap, since it's the only adult-sized baseball cap we own, and linking up with Marionberry Style's Trend of the Month: Hats.

If the lighting looks weird to you, it's because I had to photoshop these within an inch of their lives because the entire beach was in a shadow, but the lake was sunny. Barely worth posting, but hey, I can't resist a linkup. At least you get to see my cute kid, who is looking a little perplexed in these pictures. She was talking to my husband and asking if she could take off her sandals, which she did shortly after.

Top: Anthropologie; Jeans and Hat: husbands; Watch and Bracelet: Michael Kors

The Package Tour Adventures

Another two concerts down. This weekend, my friends E and T and I attended the Package Tour shows in Chicago and Minneapolis. I must say, I love when Chicago shows are not downtown. As much as I do love the downtown area of Chicago, I do not love dealing with rush hour traffic. Driving to the Allstate Arena seemed like it took no time at all, and we arrived much earlier than expected.

Although our wedge sandals are cute, T and I were both in pain by the end (or beginning) of the show.

Tickets for this show must've sold out relatively quickly because we were not able to get seats together, which made for a less enjoyable concert experience. Still, we each had pretty good spots, and it's hard not to have fun while watching this show.

Boyz II Men

98°

NKOTB

And then Vanilla Ice randomly showed up! He mostly promoted his show on HGTV and of course sang his one hit.

After the show, it was POURING and storming, and I was wandering around in it for way too long, trying to find the car. The parking lot had to be the least efficient setup ever, and I probably nearly hit 100 fans with the car before I collected my friends. I should've timed how long it took to drive from one side of the venue to the other in that madness. At least a half hour - probably closer to 45 minutes. And I'm not exaggerating.

Eventually, we made our way to the fence dividing where the buses were parked from the rest of the lot, and we parked with the handful of other cars that were waiting it out. A couple of the Boyz II Men guys came out, but we didn't get pictures with either them. After a few of the buses left, we were able to get a better view of what was going on, which was Drew and Nick from 98° playing bags (or cornhole for Ohioans) together. When they finished their game, they actually walked over to meet the fans along with Jeff, who strolled up a few minutes later. For some reason, I never recognize Jeff until he's right in front of me. Everyone was swarming Nick and Drew, so I got a pic with Jeff first after he walked right up to my friend T like he knew her and gave her a hug. It was an awesome and adorable moment. She had met him in Milwaukee, so either he did recognize her, or he was happy to see fans, who knows. 

Yeah, they're pretty short guys.

The Nick picture took some more effort. Nick's security guard, whom you can see over my shoulder, announced that they were only going to hang out for another 3 minutes. With less than a minute to spare, I touched Nick on the arm and got to tell him I was a big Sing-Off fan and that I had seen Pentatonix (winners of the last season) in concert earlier that year. He seemed pretty excited about that and said that they're amazing. I agreed, thanked him for the picture, and told him I couldn't wait for the next season. And that was about it. Nick took a couple more pictures with people and then was whisked away.

Since we were going to the next stop on the tour, our plan was to follow the buses up to Minneapolis. Finally at around 2 AM, they pulled out, and we tailed the bus we knew at least one of the Lachey brothers was on. T drove first and switched off with E as the sun was rising, and I struggled to stay awake the whole time. But let's face it, I did doze off for a bunch of minute-long naps along the way.

It was a little after 9 AM when we entered Minneapolis. We followed the bus to their hotel and waited around a little to see if anyone would come out. Someone probably did, but we missed it, because then the bus drove to the venue.

From there, we made the 20-minute drive to my husband's college friend's house to crash for a couple hours. Thank goodness for free room and board and an accommodating host. By 3 PM, we were showered, dressed, fed, and back at it in downtown Minneapolis. I'm always surprised by how little sleep someone can survive on. With only about 3 hours of sleep each, my friends seemed like they had a full night's rest; and on less than that, I was completely functional if not a little cranky.

We didn't have any band member sightings during the day, so we just killed time until the show started.

Woohoo, we got to sit together this time!

The show was so much more fun sitting by the girls than sitting alone. I really wished that I could join them at the Indianapolis show in 2 weeks, but that's not going to happen for me. After the show, we knew a little more what to expect as far as the timeline went, and we knew exactly which buses belonged to the guys we cared about most - 98°. Jeff came out to take a few pictures at one point, but otherwise, he was mostly hanging out with his family on his bus. Nick and Justin walked by us later in the night, but when I asked for pictures, Nick's security guard shot us down.

Most of the fans were stationed on another side of the venue, staking out the New Kids buses. We did migrate over there when T saw Donnie out, and she got a pic with him! Here's a tip - have your camera ready when a guy comes out. Donnie was trying to get through the line as quickly as possible, and he moved on almost immediately if someone's camera wasn't ready. A few minutes later, we headed back to the 98° buses only to find that T's wedge sandals that we had left there were stolen (she had changed into flip flops). Not only that, but all except for Jeff's bus had left. So that was two bummers in one. Shortly after that, the rest of the buses left, as did we.

Although it was an exhausting weekend, and I am undoubtedly getting too old for this stuff, I can't wait to do it again. And in 2 weeks, I get a more subdued version when we go see Backstreet Boys!! After that, I'll be done with tour life for awhile.

Meeting the Two Birds

Saturday night, I went to Minneapolis for my third and final Package Tour show, which I'll have a post up about tomorrow, and I got to meet our lovely Inspiration Monday hosts after the show! They're even prettier in person. I was so overtired from getting barely any sleep that I talked basically nonstop for the few minutes I spent with them. I never do that, so Megan and Nora got to hear all about our crazy antics from that weekend. Haha.

I mentioned the inspiration pic for today, and since I was so tired, Nora joked that I should wear a nightgown, which this dress could very well be.

Dress: Old Navy; Cardigan: New York & Company; Necklace: World Market; Shoes: L.L.Bean

Project Runway Season 12 Premiere Parties for Timothy Westbrook and Miranda Levy

It's funny to think that just two weeks ago, I was slinking around the Pfister and the Intercontinental in search of 98° and John Mayer, respectively; and this time, I was actually a welcome party guest at both. My friend Sabreen and I met right at 6 at the Pfister to check out Timothy Westbrook's event first. We took the elevator to the 7th floor, paid at the registration table, and walked down the hall to find Timothy greeting people as they arrived. We're dorks and got a little nervous at first, but then I got the guts to ask him for a picture for my blog. He said something like, "Sure, I guess so" (but in a very upbeat and energetic way), and I got my pic. I almost forgot - when we were approaching him, he also said, "I don't know who you are, but you're both fabulous."

He knew the people before and after us, so we just kind of shuffled in to check out the scene after that. A delicious appetizer buffet was set up in addition to a small bar where guests could trade in their drink tickets (one each) or purchase the signature cocktail of the night, which was unicorn-themed and made of Orangina and champagne, I believe. Sabreen and I filled our plates and then went to find seats in the adjoining room where the fashion show was going to take place.

While we waited, I found Corleen (Barely Practical), who was wearing the most amazing dress; ran into Colleen (Flee Fly Flown), whom I used to work with; and also had the pleasure of meeting a few more Milwaukee fashion and personal style bloggers throughout the night! Aimee from Bows & Beau-Ties came up and said hi after she found me on Instagram.

Corleen's fabulous outfit - this dark cell phone picture doesn't do her dress justice, but you can kind of see what I mean. I'm sure she'll post better pictures on her blog. Sabreen really wanted Timothy's T-shirt, so he should definitely sell those if he's not already!

The fashion show was great, of course, but Sabreen and I only had camera phones (bad planning on my part), and mine died right after the show started. Keep an eye on Corleen's and Aimee's blogs for better pictures.

Before the show began

My favorite dress, obviously because it's yellow. Aren't cell phone pictures the best...

Our original plan was to leave halfway through the fashion show and take the free shuttle over to the Intercontinental to catch some of "Road to the Runway," the casting special which they were showing at Miranda's event before the premiere, but we didn't end up making it there until a couple minutes after the premiere episode started at 8. While the shuttle was a great idea, we kept just missing it and ended up driving over.

Miranda's event was held in the bar off the lobby. There was some seating right outside the bar area with a couple monitors set up to watch the show, and then every TV in the bar was also showing Project Runway. Just inside the bar was a raffle table set up with beauty items and jewelry that Miranda wore while on the show, and her dress that she wore for the promo pics also stood on display. Miranda looked gorgeous in a red floor-length creation of hers, and she was very sweet when I asked her for a picture for my blog.

These pictures are from Sabreen's phone.

Pretty Miranda with hot and sweaty me

I also recognized a couple more bloggers at Miranda's party. I approached a familiar-looking petite blonde girl and said, "Street Lily, right?" Funny how we remember the name of the blog but not necessarily the name of the blogger. As I was introducing myself to Julie, I looked up at who she was with and was like, "Hey, I know you, too!" Of course, in my head, I knew her as Heart of a Blonde until she introduced herself as Molly. The third girl of their trio was Chelsea, who just recently started her blog, This Grand Adventure!

Sabreen and I only stayed at the Intercontinental for about 15 or 20 minutes because we're old and wanted to sit down and watch the show outside of a bar setting, plus it was really hot in there, so we took the shuttle back to Timothy's party to catch the last half. Needless to say, I missed quite a bit of the show, and I'll be re-watching it on my DVR at some point, but I did see the runway portion and the judging. ***SPOILER ALERT*** The atmosphere in the room became pretty tense as Timothy landed in the bottom three for his design that week. A hush fell over the ballroom filled with a hundred or so people when Heidi delivered his fate and said, "Timothy............." And then, "You're in." Everyone cheered and applauded and breathed a sigh of relief. It was such a cool moment. Both Milwaukee designers were safe for now.

Going into the night, I didn't expect to do much networking, but when both the organizer of Milwaukee Fashion Week (who was gorgeous and super nice) and Miranda Levy told me to let them know if I needed anything, I was really regretting not having some business cards made up for my blog. Not that this is a business for me, but it was exciting to see how receptive industry people are to bloggers! Yes, by the way, Milwaukee Fashion Week. It's going to be a thing. Stay tuned.

So...can we watch every episode with one of the designers? 'Cause that would be great. I think Timothy or Miranda should switch off having viewing parties weekly. Or I can host them all in my newly carpeted theater-room basement, hehe.

What I wore:

Bustier Top: H&M (old); Skirt: MICHAEL Michael Kors; Shoes: Prabal Gurung for Target;
Necklace: World Market; Bracelets: Mexicali Blues, Target, and Charming Charlie;
Clutch: Melie Bianco via Fred Boutique

Backwards

Here's the Style Imitating Art piece for today:

And my interpretation:

Dress: New York & Company; Cardigan: Uniqlo; Shoes: Kohl's

I decided to wear this dress backwards today because I didn't want to have to layer a tank top under it; and although it doesn't fit quite as well backwards as it does forwards, it's still pretty cute if you don't look too closely.

Concert Outfit Planning

When we were in high school and college, one tradition among my friends was to have pre-concert sleepovers, which usually entailed watching videos of whatever band we were going to see, eating junk food, and basically just laughing a lot (or giggling inanely). One of my friends suggested bringing the tradition back and incorporating outfit planning into the night's events.

It was good to get feedback on my outfit ideas and to offer suggestions and access to my relatively sizable collection of accessories. The biggest decision was what each of us was going to wear to the Backstreet Boys show on August 3 in St. Louis since two of us had purchased VIP packages to meet the guys, and my third friend is hoping to still purchase it before the show. It was a lot of pressure and nothing seemed perfect enough. I think we all picked really cute things - thank goodness for being able to share clothes, though! I ended up with my friend T's dress, and she's going to be wearing one of mine for that show.

Here are my final looks:

And a preview of my meet & greet outfit:

Also, if you're a fan of NKOTB or Full House at all, you have to read Candace Cameron Bure's experience from the LA Package Tour show. So cute.

Below is what I wore for the first half of the day before I got chocolate on the T-shirt and changed. Speaking of spilling things, last summer I spilled milk or something on the floppy hat I bought at Bastille Days a couple year ago and didn't realize it until it was too late. So now I'm back to this weird-shaped hat I've had for awhile. I tried to wrangle my toddler to fully match the Inspiration Monday picture, but that wasn't happening.

T-shirt: husband's; Shorts: Target; Shoes: Converse (gift); Hat: ?; Necklace: gift; Bracelet: Kate Spade