At Least It's Friday

Shirt: L.L.Bean; Skirt: NY&Co; Tights: Target; Belt: gift; Bracelet: Kohl's; Shoes: Irregular Choice via E-Collectique Runway Boutique

Things wrong with today/last night:

• Bridget woke up at 11:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep until one of us got up.  Thankfully, that "one of us" wasn't me.
• At 5 AM, a half hour before my alarm went off, I heard the dog puking, so I had to leap out of bed to deal with that.
• I locked my purse, including my keys, in my car this morning.  Luckily, I was already at work, and I had my badge on, so I could go inside and call hubs from there.  Unluckily, I left a container of chicken alfredo in there to rot until lunch time.
• I didn't notice that I had a stain on my shirt that apparently didn't come out in the wash until an hour into my work day.

It's Friday, though, so I'm actually OK with most of the above.  Locking my keys in my car was just kind of funny, and I'm over the lack of sleep thing for the time being.  The only thing I'm bummed about is the stain on my shirt.  I'll have to hit it with Oxy Clean and hope it comes out.  It's too bad because I was happy with this outfit.  Ah well, such is life.  My hair is long enough to sort of cover the stain anyway.

Up until going to bed, though, last night was fun.  I ordered Chinese food and invited a friend over to watch the Project Runway All Stars premiere while hubs played Gears of War in the basement.  Rami was the challenge winner--woohoo!  Too bad he's kind of a one-trick pony.  After that, I watched Alexa Chung's new show, 24 Hour Catwalk, and I thought it was the dumbest thing ever.  Definitely not something I will be DVRing in the future.

I'm looking forward to this weekend.  Tomorrow, I'm getting a haircut, and then Sunday is my third and final Christmas.  Aaaand, I'm still not done shopping for that.  That's what tomorrow's for.

Coat: Talbots (gift)

Happy Friday!

Time to Let These Clothes Go to a New Home

Dress: Rodarte for Target; Blouse: eShakti via Boutique Larrieux; Headband: ?; Tights: We Love Colors; Boots and Sunglasses: Target

Well, I tried.  I've worn this blouse three or four times now, but I still feel weird every time--with or without the ruffle...but especially with the ruffle.  It's time I give up and let it go to a more daring dresser.  This Rodarte for Target dress is most likely going along with it.  The dress has had a good run, but I do feel weird wearing it to work each time I've done so.  I've worn it out once, and that worked well, but I don't really see myself wearing it out again.

I asked the hubs this morning why he didn't comment on my crazy outfit.  He told me that I couldn't surprise him anymore.  I took that as a challenge.  But really, I do value his opinion and would like to be told if I look like a crazy person.  Sometimes I'll agree and change, and sometimes I'll ignore it and go on my merry way.

When I was at E-Collectique on Friday, Mikelle the owner encouraged me to bring some stuff in to consign.  I would be curious to know how much one makes selling one's clothes instead of donating them.  Probably only a couple dollars, but why not give it a shot.  Even store credit would be neat--more dangerous, but neat. Have any of you sold your clothing to consignment stores before?

In other news, Project Runway All Stars starts tonight!!  Team Rami over here!

I Need Some Sunlight

Pants: NY & Co; Sweater: Gap; Cami: Old Navy; Blazer: Kohl's (Lauren Conrad); Booties: ModCloth; Socks: husband's; Scarf: gift

These pants are purple although you can't really tell in my dark kitchen.  I should've just given in and used a flash because all the editing I tried to do just made these pictures look either really neon or really washed out.

As far as my outfit is concerned, with the ribbon down the side of the pants, I wanted to go for a casual tuxedo look. Plus, I wanted to incorporate a blazer for wear*it Wednesday. Often with my outfits, I find I like the idea behind them, but something always seems a little off. Maybe it's my wet hair and makeup-less face. Heh.

And I just thought that picture was funny because my dog's like, "Whatcha doin?"

See? Purple.

Back on the Shopping Horse

I almost made it through the whole month of December without buying myself any clothes.  I had a good reason, though (can rationalize anything).  I had a groupon to E-Collectique Runway Boutique in Saukville that was expiring at the end of the year, so I HAD to.

Blouse: Christian Dior via E-Collectique; Vest: Land's End via E-Collectique; Pants and Belt: NY & Co; Shoes: Famous Footwear; Bracelets: Charming Charlie

In other news, my haircut cannot come soon enough. I scheduled it for Saturday morning!

I picked up the white Christian Dior blouse for $14 (there are a couple small stains on it that appear to be makeup) and Marc Jacobs rain boots for $18, along with a Land's End sweater set for $10 and a funky pair of green flats for $12.  Unfortunately, the boots were a little more ripped up than I had originally realized, so hubs forbade them from staying in the house...they're hiding out in my car right now.  Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I'm STILL not done with Christmas shopping (immediate family Christmas is this coming Sunday), so I did more of that yesterday and picked up a few things for myself, including two belts and a pair of purple cropped pants from New York & Company. The belts may have been an impulse buy, but I've been eyeing the pants on the website for awhile. And they were only $13--that is neat. I'll probably find a way to wear them later this week.

Hey, if you're into scrapbooking or would like to get into it or know someone who is, you should enter my giveaway!

My Memories Scrapbooking Software Review and Giveaway

I first got into scrapbooking about five years ago.  I went to one of those independent sales type parties at a friend's house even though I didn't think it was my thing, and I'm not a particularly crafty person.  Since then, I really started to enjoy creating traditional paper scrapbooks with themes like birthday parties, Hanson concerts, pre-wedding events, etc.  I even used a scrapbook I made of hubs and me for our wedding guestbook.

When My Memories contacted me about checking out their digital scrapbooking software, I was excited to give it a go.  I've been wanting to make a digital album of my Orlando trip to document my visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

First, I started with the Quilted Memories Blue template.  The program was very easy to use, and I made this page in minutes by adding some word art and a gold flourish to the existing template.  The only con I had was that the software took forever to download.  I'd recommend killing an hour or so elsewhere while you wait.  I'm excited to finish my album and see how it looks in book form!

The Giveaway

My Memories would like to offer you guys a chance to win your own software package to document your memories.  To enter the giveaway, go to MyMemories.com and comment below with the name of your favorite Digital Scrapbooking Kit.  They have a huge selection, and I was super psyched to find the Wizard School Kit.  In fact, I already downloaded it and am planning on incorporating those elements into the album I started.

For extra entries, follow My Memories on their blog, Twitter, and/or Facebook and leave a comment below for each.

You can also purchase the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software at any time and save $10 by going to http://www.mymemories.com/digital_scrapbooking_software and using coupon code STMMMS77260.

The deadline to enter the giveaway is Monday, January 9.  I'll announce the winner on Tuesday the 10th. Good luck!

I Said Burr, It's Cold in Here

It was way too cold and windy to go much farther outside than our front porch without a coat.  Hubs, Bridget, and I ran a  couple Christmas present-related errands this morning, and I'm off to continue those errands at the mall after I put Bridget down for her nap.  I like having Mondays off.  Four day weeks should be a normal thing.

Inspiration Monday picture:

My interpretation:

Blazer and Cami: Gap; Jeans: NY & Co; Boots: Mr. Shoe; Scarf: ?; Sunglasses: Target

Check out everyone else's looks for today at Two Birds.

Booze, Boys, Board Games, and Black Tie

That's what my New Year's Eve consisted of.

Sweater: Old Navy; Jeans: NY & Co; Shoes: Kohl's; Hat: Forever 21

Above is what I wore to run errands in the afternoon, and below is what I wore for the New Year's festivities.

Top: Express via swap; Cami: Target; Necklace: gift

Bracelets: Target, Pandora, Charming Charlie, gift

Ring: gift

As for the breakdown of the post title:

Booze: I only had two pineapple upside down cake cocktails all night, but due to a low tolerance, not enough food and water intake, and not thinking of taking Tylenol or Advil before bed, I woke up with a raging headache.  Worth it, though!

Boys: There were no boys in attendance, but there was plenty of talk of them.  Boys are a pain sometime, but we wouldn't want to live without 'em!  We also watched a Backstreet Boys video we had never seen.  It was basically terrible, and Kevin and AJ look scary as 80s rockers.  Nick was pretty hot, and Howie was hotter as a hairband guy than he is now.

Board Games: ...If you consider Apples to Apples a board game.  Partway into the game, we just started cheating and playing more than one card at a time, which made the game even more fun.

Black Tie:  The other three girls and the baby were all in their pajamas, so I was a tad overdressed.  I joked that next time, I'm going to come in black tie attire, so I called my outfit black tie for the rest of the night.  Dressing in something sparkly and shiny is part of the fun of New Year's, so I couldn't resist.