My First Swap Experience

When I arrived at the high school where the Schoolhouse Swap was being held, I dropped off my bag as I came in and headed into the gymnasium to check out the vendors and see if anyone I knew was there yet. Right away, I saw Elena from Caffeinerd and noticed we were both rocking shorts with tights. Great minds think alike!

One of the vendors was selling flower headbands for babies, among other things, so I couldn't resist picking up a leopard print one for Bridget. Then, I hung out with Elena, Randi from Not Just Mom, Rachel from Suburban Style Challenge, and later Piper from Chic & Cheap in Chicago, and Megan from Buffalo Hearts until the swap began.

Our hostess, Katy from Modly Chic, came in and chatted with us for a little bit before the festivities began. Before the swap portion of the night kicked off, they gave away a few raffle prizes, and then we lined up outside the doors for the swap. The high school girls were geeking out, which made me feel like I was ready to go into a concert.

When the doors opened, I wandered over to the first couple tables, which were accessories and shoes.  The first thing I grabbed was a yellow necklace that turned out to be Elena's!  Shortly after that, at the sweater table, I pointed out a yellow sweater I dropped off that Elena excitedly picked up.  I'm glad both our yellow items found new homes, haha.  I also ended up with a red sweater of Randi's.

Anyway, so the clothing was divided by type, each on separate round tables.  Then the dresses and coats were hung up on two racks.  When things were winding down, the bloggers started to come together to see what everyone else got.  Elena only had two things, so I encouraged her to check out a Burberry jacket I found in her size.  That led to my convincing her to try on a few more jackets, a couple of which are documented below.

I kept rationalizing, "Why not!  It's free!" and helped her fill her bag the rest of the way. She did take the blue jacket but left the black coat behind.

Then the whole group gathered back in the gym to show off our loot and take a blogger group picture, which I grabbed from Modly Chic.  Here's Katy's recap of the event.

From l to r: Randi, Elena, Megan, me, Rachel, Katy, and Piper

I went into the swap a little hesitant, not knowing if I'd be able to find anything in my size. Turns out, I found plenty! My strategy was to basically grab anything that I kinda liked and looked like it might fit. Because really, it's free. Anything that doesn't work out, I can donate.

I think I got a bunch of good stuff, though!

Besides what's shown above, I also picked up the black lace top and the yellow necklace that I wore in my last post.

Thanks for the great swap, Katy! I look forward to the spring edition. And it was great to meet all you girls!

Whirlwind Weekend

Friday

Lace Tank and Tights: Target; Long Sleeve Shirt: Old Navy; Blazer: New York & Company; Skirt: self-made; Boots: Vince Camuto

Scarf: gift; Shorts: Kohl's

Following a quick/putzy change of clothes after work, I headed down to Illinois for Modly Chic's Schoolhouse Swap. More about that in another post, but in summary, I had fun hanging out with some cool bloggers and scoring a big bag of new-to-me clothes!

We got done swapping around 9, so I still had time to stop by a friend's birthday party for a drink or two. I made it home by around 1 I think and crashed...after trying on all my swapped goodies and being quite pleased with what I came out with.

Saturday

Lace Tank: swap; Blazer and Necklace: Kohl's; Jeans: Old Navy; Clutch: Fred Boutique; Boots: Target

Saturday morning, I woke up far too early when hubs decided Bridget needed to come in and climb on mommy. It was fine, though, because I needed the time to clean and decorate for Bridget's birthday party. We had a good turnout for that, and Bridget got a lot of great gifts! More on the party in a later post, too.

Shortly after everyone headed out, including Bridget who was staying at grandma and grandpa's for the night, hubs and I continued the partying at his unofficial work Christmas party. It's held every year at a woman's house, and it's always a good time. Since I used to work there too, I really enjoyed catching up with my old coworkers. They're a fun bunch!

Sunday

Cami and Jeans: New York & Company; Tank Top and Cardigan: Old Navy;  Shoes: Kohl's; Necklace: swap

Since I woke up completely exhausted, I wanted to be comfy on Sunday, so I recreated Haylie Duff's look for Inspiration Monday. First, we had to go to my parents' to pick up Bridget. It was hard getting out the door when all we wanted to do was sleep, but we somehow made it to my parents' church on time. Then, we went back to their house for lunch and left shortly after that.

I dropped hubs off at home, and Bridget and I continued on to the mall. Caffeine was the only thing keeping me going at that point, but I had an expiring 40% off Gap coupon that could only be used in stores that I didn't want to waste. It was a productive trip, and I got all three of my sisters-in-law done for Christmas. I could've probably accomplished even more, but Bridget was starting to lose it near the end.

So yeah!  That was my crazy busy weekend.  I like having those once in awhile as long as it's not too often...it was tiring but a lot of fun.  Next weekend, the fun continues; and the weekend after that, we're off to Maine!  So far, I'm liking December.

Holiday Wish List

Fashiony Stuff



Non-fashiony Stuff

I Love My LBD

Dress: New York & Company; Blouse: Fred Boutique; Cardigan: H&M; Tights: ?; Boots: Mr. Shoe

I've been in the market for a nice little black dress for awhile. The one I had was a stretchy knit one from Gap that's at least 5-years-old, faded, and kind of too small. The fact that it was stretchy helped it last that long, but I wanted something with more structure for my next LBD.

I don't often buy black clothes because I don't think I look particularly good in black, and I can never keep black clothes free of cat and dog hair and bits of kleenex I forgot to take out of my pockets before washing. Still, every woman needs an LBD for the versatility factor alone.

Luckily, New York and Company ALWAYS has some coupons and discounts floating around, so I snatched up this one right before hubs declared we need to stop spending money for awhile. And I love it. It really is the perfect LBD for me.

Although this sounded like a sponsored post, it's not. I was just excited to find a black dress I liked.

You're Wearing That to Church?

Guys' reactions to outfits that are a little outside the box are funny sometimes. A guy I used to work with liked to give my outfits themes--like if I wore red and blue together, I was Super Girl. Or the one time I wore yellow tights, I was Lisa Simpson.

T-shirt: Old Navy; Cardigan: New York & Company; Skirt: self-made; Thigh-High Socks: American Apparel; Shoes: Kohl's; Necklace: E-collectique Runway Boutique

I'm glad that hubs calls me out when he thinks an outfit is crazy. Not too long ago, I had on shorts with tights, and he pointed out it maybe wasn't the most appropriate church-going getup. He asked the same question about this outfit; but in this case, I wasn't going to church. I wore this to the Baptism party I went to Sunday. However, I wouldn't have been that out of place wearing a T-shirt to church. Members of our church are often wearing Packers jerseys and jeans.

After hanging out at my friend's house, I changed into TOMs to wander around Costco with Bridget. As usual, I dropped way too much money there, but they were carrying Michael Kors outerwear! I bought two coats for myself--a down jacket for $30 and a peacoat for $50--but I haven't decided if I'm going to return the peacoat or not. They also had a really sharp looking parka for men, but hubs wasn't interested.

Today, I'm participating in Wear It Wednesday: How to wear graphic tees, hosted by Animated Cardigan.

Mayim Bialik Talks to Us about Managing Life

As you may remember, I dressed up as Mayim Bialik's TV characters twice in life now--as Blossom in 1995 or '96, and as Amy Farrah Fowler in 2011. When I saw that she tweeted "Hi Milwaukee" earlier today, I kicked into fangirl mode and learned that she was going to be speaking at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as a guest of the Jewish organization and the Women's Resource Center.

I met up with a friend from my old job, and we got situated. I of course insisted we sit right in the front. We felt a little old and out of place and figured that it was very possible a lot of the kids were there for credit.

Since I'm neither Jewish nor a hardcore feminist, I figured I was in for an interesting lecture. I noticed a giant flier when I first walked into the Union that said the topic of the talk was "Managing Career, Family, and Spirituality."

I had nothing to worry about. Mayim was not all about pushing her agenda on anyone. Instead, she started out admitting she was a nervous speaker and dove right into telling us her professional and personal background. As she spoke, she found her stride and continued on to the meat of her presentation...hmmm awkward wording for a vegan speaker.

She listed seven values she lives by that help to keep her grounded, which included things like character, routine, family values, having a sense of "other," God (which she generalized by saying "realizing that I am not God"), homeland, and one more I'm forgetting. It was really refreshing to see how normal she is--you know, for being a ridiculously smart, disciplined mom, actor, and PhD.

Mayim peppered her presentation with mentions of Blossom and Big Bang Theory, which were fun. During the Q&A session, she said that she's closest to Melissa Rauch, who plays Bernadette on BBT. She loves working with Jim Parsons (Sheldon) the most. As for her Blossom family, she's seen Joey at a couple events recently, but she was not able to attend Jenna Von Oy's (Six) wedding two years ago.

Since she had to catch a flight back home to LA, Mayim was not able to stay and take pictures with people. Of course I was bummed, but I couldn't hold it against her since she was flying home to get back to her family.

Oh I s'pose since I'm running primarily a fashion blog here, I should mention her outfit, which I wanted to steal in my size. She was wearing a dark gray dress with a fitted bodice, what looked to be maybe a drop waist, and a knee-length circle skirt; rust-colored cardigan; brown wide belt and really tall platform stilettos; a stack of skinny gold bangles; gold hoop earrings; and a silver Star of David necklace.

In summary, I had fun, and I'm really glad I was able to spontaneously make it over there. Although I could tell Mayim had strong convictions about what she believes, she seemed like a really sweet, open-minded person. And after the initial nerves wore off, she was a really great speaker, too. Maybe she will come back to Milwaukee for a photo op someday, like she joked about doing. We can only hope!

Somewhat Local Event: Schoolhouse Swap

As of right now, I'll probably head down there myself; but if anyone else wants to go, I'd love to go together or meet down there! Lemme know.

ModlyChic presents...
Schoolhouse Swap
Friday, December 2, 2011
5 to 9pm

at The Willows Academy for Girls
1012 E. Thacker St.
Des Plaines, IL 60016

Tickets: $12 with a bag to swap. (You can order tickets on the event page.)

How it works: Arrive between 5 and 7:30pm with a bag of your lightly used castaways. Then browse the vendor booths and mingle with other fashionistas. Doors to the swap will open at 8. Grab what you want from the tables and racks, then head home with new-to-you clothing. Any leftover items will be donated to a local charity. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Willows Academy.

What to swap: lightly used clothing, accessories, shoes, purses and jewelry.

The event is hosted by Katy Rose of ModlyChic.