My Husband Hates This Sweater

And my mom's not crazy about it either.

But hey, it perfectly matched the Inspiration Monday picture for today, so I had to wear it.

Sweater: Yoki via Zulily; Scarf: H&M; Jeans: Kut from the Kloth; Boots: Madden Girl

NaNoWriMo Wrap-up

Another year of NaNoWriMo has come to a close, and I can officially call myself a winner again!

Thank goodness for write-ins because I'm not sure I would've caught up otherwise. I was too shy and too busy last year to attend any write-ins (which are basically a bunch of NaNoWriMo participants in a room together with laptops), but I'm so glad I made it to three this year, including the one I hosted! I met three creative, like-minded ladies (who are all writing very different novels, which is a good thing) that live nearby, and I hope I get to read all their finished products in print some day very soon. At the write-in on Friday, they even gave me a great plot idea when I got stuck. Thanks, ladies!

Sunday, I attended the Happily Ever After party, and it was a lot of fun! Going into it, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm really glad I went. My s'mores bars I brought were a hit. (They always are, even when I forget to add the vanilla, d'oh!) I'm already look forward to next year.

I also got to FINALLY finish a work in progress that I began when I was 11 years old. Except this time, I wrote it from a different character's point of view, and I think it took the story in a completely new direction that I was pretty happy with. My brother (who remembers me writing the story the first time around) said I should put it out on its 20-year anniversary next year. So maybe I'll give the self-publishing thing a try.

But for now, my next plan is to go back to last year's novel and continue revising because I think that one has better potential to actually become something. Then I have to decide if I'm going to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo in the spring and summer...one thing at a time.

Here's what I wore to the party and for Inspiration Monday. I did consider wearing leather leggings like the inspiration picture shows, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Not in broad daylight. I went with studded instead.

Sweater Dress: H&M; Leggings: Target; Boots: Payless

Sheer

Yeah, so I didn't wear this anywhere. There are approximately zero places I would feel comfortable wearing a sheer shirt outside of my dimly lit hallway. Luckily, my top isn't that sheer. Since I didn't have an event to go to, I figured I'd just play dress up for Inspiration Monday.

Top: Kohl's; Skirt: JCP; Shoes: Rebecca Minkoff

Also, I'm debating whether to sell these shoes to a consignment store or maybe try Ebay. I've worn them a couple times, but the toe area is a little narrow for my wide feet, and I have trouble walking in them, even with heel inserts. I'm probably going to sell my Christian Siriano top, too, which I've also only worn once or twice. It does have sentimental value since I bought it from his shop in NYC, and it was a super good deal, but that doesn't change the fact that it will always be a little too snug.

Have you had luck selling shoes or clothing on Ebay? I can't decide if it's worth the effort. Going to the consignment shop would be a lot easier.

Vacation's Over

I've got a few random outfits for you today. Although I liked the outfits I wore on our Tennessee vacation this weekend, the indoor pictures I managed to take are pretty low quality. I wanted to give you something relatively decent to look at and show off my new purchases from vacay.

This isn't exactly what I wore to work today, though. I had to change my shoes right before I walked out the door because I simultaneously got my heel caught in the heating vent on the floor while trying to upright my tripod after it had fallen over. So now the shoe and the tripod are broken. I'm hoping to get the shoe fixed; the tripod, I'll just replace at some point.

Top: Fred Boutique; Necklace and Bracelet: Gin-o Boutique; Pants: LOFT; Shoes: Vince Camuto

I bought the necklace and one of the bracelets at a cute boutique in Franklin, TN, called Gin-o. It was right next to Puckett's Grocery & Restaurant, where we ate lunch, which was sooooo good. I would definitely go back there. The apple pie I took home was way overpriced, but the meal was very reasonable. I ordered the Puckett’s BBQ chicken sandwich, which was pulled chicken served between corn cakes. They also are very proud of their sweet potato fries dipped in honey mustard. My meal was delicious, and Bridget's grilled PB&J sandwich was tasty, too.

After lunch, we went to a park so that Bridget could run around for a little bit, visited a little vintage candy shop for some ice cream to cool off, and then I quickly ducked into Gin-o while my friend watched the kiddos. (She's not a big shopper and had to nurse her daughter anyway.) Gin-o had a bunch of cute things, and I almost brought three dresses into the dressing rooms to try on, but the last thing I need in my life is more dresses.

The next day while the guys enjoyed Emofest (the reason for the trip), the two of us girls and our daughters headed to the mall so that I could help my friend pick out some stuff to use up the gift cards she had. She ended up with a ton of cute things from both Ann Taylor and LOFT, and I even converted her into a leggings wearer! She was pretty proud of her first pair of leggings, haha. As for me, I tried to be good and only purchased something for myself that was on my need/want list - a pair of skinny, ankle-length pants from LOFT. Unfortunately, they were full price, but what are ya gonna do?

So anyway, here's what I wore to the Emofest family day and shopping on Sunday.

Dress: JCP; Sandals: Target; Necklace: New York & Company

Finally, this is what I wore for the drive home and for Inspiration Monday. As I've mentioned many times before, I'm still scared of printed pants. Printed shorts, on the other hand, I can handle, which is why I decided to go with those.

Top: Target; Shorts: Old Navy; Shoes: Converse

By the way, renting a house is the way to go. Instead of reserving three different hotel rooms, our friends found this gorgeous and spacious property to share for the weekend. The beds left a little to be desired, but otherwise it was perfect. Also, as beautiful as the Nashville area is, I couldn't live in the South. Visiting is fine, but the huge bugs freaked me out. I'll stay in the frozen tundra, thanks.

Inspired by Selena and Gwyneth

Initially, my plan for Inspiration Monday was to wear all black to work, then put on my vest afterwards to run errands. Well, I was in a rush this morning and forgot the vest; and anyway, it got up to 90° today, so I don't even know if I'd want to put it on had I remembered to grab it. So full disclosure - I didn't wear this version of the outfit anywhere.

Top, Skirt & Belt: New York & Company; Shoes: Prabal Gurung for Target; Vest: Old Navy

But I did wear this version all day. My husband and I watched Iron Man and Iron Man 2 this week, and I think that may have subconsciously influenced my outfit. It's a little Pepper Potts-esque, at least in my own mind.

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

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

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

Monsters

Here's the Inspiration Monday picture for today:

And my interpretation, which I wore to see Monsters University with my mom and Bridget:

Shirt and Skirt: Target; Necklace and Shoes: Kohl's; Watch: Zing Accessories; Sunglasses: Express

Bridget was super well behaved during her first movie in a theater, and she fell asleep about a half hour before it ended. I think the popcorn gave her a stomachache, but otherwise, it couldn't have gone better.

Coming Along

Here's the Inspiration Monday picture for today:

And here's what I wore to go to Home Depot a couple times to look at carpet on Saturday.

Shorts: Nine West; Sweater: Narciso Rodriguez for Kohl's; Shoes: MICHAEL Michael Kors

Our basement is looking pretty ridiculously awesome! Thanks to all the help from hubs' parents this week, we're so close to being done! The next step is carpet, which I attempted to pick out, but wow, I suck at making decisions. I know hubs has a favorite among the samples we brought home, so I'll probably just go with that and hope for the best.

Grocery Shopping Outfit

Here's the Inspiration Monday picture for today:

And my interpretation:

T-shirt: Maurices; Jeans, Shoes, and Necklace: New York & Company; Bracelet and Watch: Michael Kors;
Sunglasses: Target; Scarf: gift from a shopping event

And that's about it. The in-laws are over visiting, so I'm going to keep it short and sweet today.

I'm a Dreamer, That I Cannot Deny

Here's the Inspiration Monday picture for tomorrow:

And my interpretation:

This outfit has two elements that people generally feel pretty strongly about one way or the other - the mullet hem and the sheer overlay. Although I used to think high-low skirts, or mullet skirts, looked good on almost no one, I eventually gave in and bought this one on clearance at Kohl's. I don't think they're so bad, but I kinda do understand why some people hate them.

Skirt: Kohl's; T-shirt: Hanes; Cardigan: Forever 21; Shoes: Old Navy; Necklace: gift; Watch: La Mer

As for the post title, I couldn't stop listening to "Beautiful Girl" by No Authority the other day after my friends were reminiscing about the summer of '99. That song was also the one I sang to try out for the school musical senior year of high school. That was probably one of the most terrifying moments of my life. You know how some people have a fear of public speaking? I have a fear of public (or semi-public) singing - and the tryouts were only in front of two choir teachers. Still, it was horrible. I hated it. But it was worth it in the end because being in the musical was one of the most fun school-related events of my life.

By the way, I just realized when looking up lyrics to that song just now that I'm pretty sure I've been singing it wrong for 14 years. So there's that.

It's a little late, but I'm also linking up with the last day of the Pantone challenge.