Still Looking Tired

As a BzzAgent, I was offered the chance to try some fancy skin care products: Dr. Lewinn by Kinerase. I was sent the Under Eye Recovery and the Wrinkle Repair Daily Lotion. I used the Under Eye Recovery for a month and don't really have any complaints. I'm not sure if it helped my eyes look better, but it felt good when I used it every morning and evening. Here's the before and after photos, close-ups of my eyes that I'm not loving, but whatever. Looks like my eyebrows & pores need much more help than the bags under my eyes. In review, I can't recommend the Under Eye Recovery because I didn't notice any difference in my month of use.

I also received the Wrinkle Repair Daily Lotion to try. I used it for about a week, despite the fact that I didn't like it from the beginning. It was far too greasy for my already oily skin. I was really nervous about a break-out, but it din't happen. I think this might be a good product for someone with dry skin. I loved the light, citrusy scent. I can't comment on the wrinkle repair properties since I only used it for a week. Anybody else want to try mine?  I still have an almost full bottle.

Thanks Kinerase and BzzAgent for letting me try out these products but I am still on the look out for a good under eye cream. I'd like something that erases the bags & fixes/prevents wrinkles. Anyone have a suggestion?

More Holiday Planning

If you are thinking about Christmas cards, and were not swayed by the last lot I posted, maybe these will float your boat.

I've posted about Night Owl Paper Goods before. I adore the cards I ordered last year & have used all of them up. I need to order more! I even picked up a couple of birch postcards that I have on the wall in my foyer. I admired the birch Christmas cards and if I weren't doing my own this year I would seriously be considering something from Night Owl Paper Goods holiday collection. I love the birch ones, but now they have all of their great designs in a paper version also. And they just announced an incredible Early Bird Special - a 20% discount on all Personalized Holiday Cards PLUS free domestic, ground shipping on all orders $49+. This offer is only good until October 26th, so head over to their website & get choosing! These are my favorites (click on the image to go straight to the site):

   



Disclosure: Night Owl Paper Goods offered me a free goodie pack for posting about this special deal. But it was easy since I already love this company and have bought their products for myself in the past.

Shiny & New

In going with a metallic "color" scheme for my grandmother's birthday party I was using these images for inspiration. I found them on Pinterest.

After many hours spent crouching in my garage spray painting, and folding & taping till my fingers hurt, here are my versions of the shiny tin can flower vases and the paper rosette photo backdrops.

My sister borrowed some silk flowers and put together the arrangements (with help from her 9yo). I like the look of fresh flowers in the inspiration image, but this was SO much easier on the day of the party.

You can see that I needed about 50% more rosettes, but I love the coverings for the centers. I bought packs of paper doilies at Walmart (30 for 97 cents) and spray painted them in my metallic colors. The rosettes will look fab on my dining room walls for Thanksgiving, and maybe even permanently. That last shot is my family (sans the 7yo boy) with my sweet grandmother.

Holiday Dreams

I love the entire holiday season. Our house is looking Halloween-y now and I'm planning to recycle all the decorations from my grandma's party for the Thanksgiving dinner I am hosting. The kids are busily deciding on costumes and last night I started my yearly spreadsheet to track our Christmas budget and gifts. I haven't bought a single present yet, which is unusual for me, but probably good because the longer I have to shop the more I want to buy. I also started thinking about our Christmas cards. We usually send fancy ones in the mail every other year and stick with something simple on the off year. My husband wants to do e-mail cards this year and I am voting for a postcard.

But if you are also starting to think of holiday cards, and maybe taking beautiful family photos to send to all your nearest and dearest, you should check out these cards by Alma Loveland. I love her designs and have taken several of her Adobe Illustrator classes. (I'd love to take the 102 class online next.) And now she is offering a choice of 22 different card designs for a super low price of $15. And the best bargain of all is that you are just buying the template! You will do further Photoshop work yourself, adding your own pictures and changing fonts and color schemes as you wish. Alma even has great tutorials to help you to customize your cards. That's what I call a smoking deal!

 

Putting my party hat on...

Apparently after 21 days of daily blogging I needed a break. For a month. But I am still trying to put together decent outfits (most of the time) and I am thinking a lot about a 30 for 30 Remix. I want to do one but I want to take pictures of my pieces first & somehow that just hasn't happened. Maybe after I get though this next weekend. Last week my dear grandmother turned 90 years old! And my parents, aunt, sister, and I are throwing a big birthday bash for her this Saturday.

My Mom takes care of the food, my Dad did invitations and all the coordinating, my aunt is making a video and will be the resident photographer, which leaves my sister and I to do the decorating. Naturally I turned to Pinterest (my boards are here) for a wealth of inspiration. After a little searching we decided on a metallic color palette - mixing gold, silver, copper, bronze, and whatever else we might find. Here's my to-do list:

1. create a crossword about Gram
2. centerpieces
3. balloons
4. food table decorations
5. make a photo backdrop to document the guests
6. party favors
7. decorate a comfy chair for Gram to sit in during the party
8. make a pretty crown for the birthday girl

I'm trying not to add anythingelse to the list, as that's a lot of work for my sister and I already. I loved the recent post on Living in the Family Room about the birthday party Darcy Miller threw for Martha Stewart. It was such a fab party and I wanted to copy every detail but limited myself to the monogrammed balloons and the crossword puzzle, which I finished last weekend. It will be a fun, personal detail that my grandmother and all her guests will enjoy.

All day yesterday I made paper rosettes to put together into a photo backdrop to help Gram remember the people that came to her party. I am using the ideas from here and here. I have learned a few things about making these pinwheel rosettes. Last weekend I bought a bunch of metallic papers, alarming my husband by how much I was spending ($11 whole dollars!). But once I started folding and looked up some directions I realized that I needed three to five sheets of each paper to make a pinwheel. Which takes my costs up quite a bit. I chose a few of my favorites and will take the rest back. And then I found a cheaper source - spray painted paper! I grabbed my silver, gold, and copper spray paints and my big roll of kraft paper and was able to make some very large, shiny rosettes. The kraft paper was brown, so the metallic effect over the top is a little subtler than I wanted so I turned to plain, white printer paper next. The metallic paint shows up much better over the white.
Tomorrow I'm working on centerpieces - stay tuned for more inspiration pics and a few of my own too.

Day 21! Woo Hoo

Top: Target
Cardigan: Gap
Skirt: Loft
Belt: Target
Shoes: Easy Spirit
Necklace: Target

I went through a couple outfits in my head for this last day of the 21 Day Challenge, and the one that I thought would be great turned out to be not so much. My husband vetoed the skirt immediately, which was new and apparently unflattering. And I had tried to mix two black and white patterns and it just didn’t work. He also said he hated my shoes but I think he’s crazy – I love them! So I tried something else and I think it’s okay. I love the look of the belt on top of a cardigan and I’ve never done it before. I went for some neutrals with pops of color and I can see that belt getting a lot of use this year.

Thanks to all the people who have encouraged me through this challenge. Quite a few people have told me they were enjoying the outfits and I didn’t even know they read my blog at all. So it’s been slightly embarrassing, but so good for me to get out of a clothing rut. I haven’t worn flip flops or a plain, solid-color tee shirts for three weeks now.

The bad news is that because I have had clothes and dressing on the brain so much for the last month I’ve gone a little overboard on the shopping. My husband has had it. (Plus he wants to know when the lingerie challenge is coming.) Anyway, we’re going for a no-spending month of September. Well, mostly. We do have a trip to Seattle planned for Aaron & I to celebrate our ten year anniversary. But no new clothes! Next week I’m going to challenge myself to 30 for 30 challenge, a la Kendi Everyday, using only clothing I already have. Good thing I have some cute new things to work in. ;) I will certainly not be posting my outfit every day, but am shooting for a weekly post.

Day 20: Fancy Shoes

Top: Gap
Jeans: J. Jill
Heels: Last Chance

Sorry I didn’t get this posted yesterday. I cleaned all day & only managed to get showered and dressed just in time to go out with my sweet husband for his birthday. After I took a few pictures, of course. Since we were going out it was easy to choose Sunday heels to go with a slightly fancier than weekday outfit. I love the look of jeans with heels but never do it, so it really is a new look for me. I’ve had these gold heels for several years & love them!

Day 19: Adorn Your Head

Top: Gap

Crops: Gap

Hat: Target

Flip Flops: Old Navy

If you saw me wearing a hat today and thought I was weird - it's because of the 21 Day Challenge, whose prompt for today was to wear something on your head. Or maybe it's just because I am weird, and I bought this hat at the beginning of the summer because I love it. I've only had the courage to wear it a couple times before so I was a little glad for the push to throw it on today.

Day 18: Make a Statement

The prompt for today was to wear a piece of statement jewelry and I was happy to put on this necklace that I just bought on super clearance. I struggled a little about what top to wear with it and was happy enough with my eventual choice. I went into a clothing shop today to return something and the salesgirl told me she loved the necklace. She went on for a couple minutes and said how nice it looked with my eyes and hair, etc. She finished with, "It is such a statement piece!"  Talk about making my day. I guess I managed to pull off the challenge today.

Top: Gap

Necklace: Dillards

Trouser Jeans: Gap

Day 17: Mend It!

Top: Gap

Necklace: Fossil

Jeans: Gap

Wedges: Last Chance

I am so thankful for this prompt to mend something & wear it today. I've had this pair of white jeans for almost two years. And they were too long. Which didn't stop me from wearing them a few times with duct taped or safety pinned hems. And recently I have been trying really hard to hem them, but in the process my seldom-used sewing machine broke. And because of this prompt in the 21 Day Challenge, I searched all over online for the instruction manual for my machine, found it for free and downloaded it, fixed my machine in about five minutes, and hemmed those stinkin' jeans! Unfortunately I started all this at 11:30 last night, so I'm a little tired today, but I'm wearing my white jeans finally. I can't believe they still fit. (They are a little more snug.) Next on to the curtains that have been waiting for a year.

ps - have you all tried this tutorial for hemming jeans? i will be using this genius method from now on. so much easier than the regular way too.

Day 16: Menswear

Shirt: Old Navy

Tie: Rountree & York

Shorts: Gap

Loafers: Bass

The prompt for today was to take inspiration from menswear. I have seen women wearing mens' ties before and I really like the look. I mean, how much different is it than a scarf? So today I donned my husband's tie over a pink oxford. Shorts keep me a little cooler & I threw on my loafers, which are also menswear inspired. I have already received quite a few funny looks today for my tie, and one joke about how I didn't need to dress up, and it will be interesting to see the responses I get at my women's church meeting tonight. But I like it anyway. I think I'll revisit a tie when it's cooler and I can layer it under a sweater or vest.

Day 15: Copycat

I finally got to my copycat outfit today. I found some great images of seersucker outfits on Pinterest and was able to wear my new, clearance skirt from Land's End as well as fit in my remix white linen shirt for the 3rd time. Here's the overall look:

It's a little like  ♪ ♫ One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just isn't the same.  ♪ ♫  It's pretty clear which picture is me, but I like that it still feels consistent. Pink seersucker and white linen is always a great summer look, don't you think? Images found from Pinterest here, here, and here. My outfit (bottom left) is a top from J. Jill (my remix item for the 3rd time), pink seersucker skirt from Land's End, belt from Target, sandals from Gap, and vintage scarf as a bracelet. I'm really excited to check out everyone's copycat looks. They are linked up at Freckles in April.

Day 14: Copycat... OR... New Hairstyle

Today the prompt for the 21 Day Challenge is to recreate a favorite outfit from a magazine or blog. But since the prompts just came yesterday I haven't really had time to figure out what I want to do, so I'm switching it up a bit. The prompt for tomorrow is to try something new with your hair so I did that today instead.

Earlier this year I saw a few magazine ads for a fancy new bobby pin type deal from Goody. It's the Spin Pin and it has pretty much saved me during this hot, hot `summer. I have always admired pretty updo's and buns but since I have zero hairstyling ability I have never been able to do that myself. The Spin Pin corkscrews into your hairdo and does the work that ten regular bobby pins do. All of a sudden I can wear an elegant bun everyday! Or you know, my lopsided version of an elegant bun. I've done side buns, low buns, and high buns. But that's kind of the extent of my knowledge. But today I decided to try a french twist. So I worked on it for 30 minutes and came up with this:

It's not pretty and it's not what I imagined, but technically it is a french twist. And at least my Spin Pins held it in place for three hours of church. Now, I just need to get my sister to teach me how to do a french twist for real. And just in case my four readers might go into withdrawals if they don't see my outfit for today... here it is. And despite what it looks like I'm not pregnant. Just well-rounded. :)

Top: Gap

Skirt: Dillards

Heels: Last Chance

Earrings: Dillards

Day 13: Neutral with a Pop

Top: Gap

Trouser Jeans: Gap

Necklace: Made by me here

Belt: Old Navy

Wedges: Calypso St. Barths for Target

I decided to go with accessories for my neutral outfit with a pop of color. I have some bright pieces of clothing, but I didn't want to have too much color. If it was cooler I would have worn a bright top under a cardigan or blazer or something. But this week has been blazing! My kids haven't had recess for most of the week because there was a heat advisory. So accessories it was for me. I wish I had a skinny, orange, patent leather belt instead of my striped belt but whatcha gonna do.

Day 12: Fancy Jeans

Top: Kohl's

Jeans: J. Jill

Shoes: Easy Spirit

The fact that I don't have on anything from Gap is amazing to me. As much as I love that store I need to branch out in my shopping. I am happy to get back to jeans, as it's been a week or so. And per the prompt, I added a nicer blouse rather than a plain tee. I love that jeans can be dressed up or down and a dark wash, skinny pair certainly dresses up well - much more than I did today. But I am going to a baseball game tonight so I didn't want to go too fancy (or change). My arms look pretty bare though so I'm off to add a bracelet or two.

Day 11: Skirts or Dresses

Top: Gap

Skirt: J.C. Penney

Shoes: Easy Spirit

I'm sure everyone noticed that I didn't post my outfit yesterday. I did follow the prompt and pulled an oft-unworn item from my closet and built an outfit around it. But I wasn't very happy with my look & decided not to post it here; I just added it to the flickr group.

But on to today! The challenge was to wear a skirt or dress, which was so easy for me because I love to wear skirts all summer long. They are the coolest thing in sunny Arizona. I pulled on one of my favorites, added a girly top with ruffles and ties, some great heels and bright lipstick. I feel pretty today. And even taking pictures didn't ruin that. I already know I am well-rounded - but I can still feel pretty.

Day 9: Monochromatic

Tee: Gap

Cropped Skinny Cargo Pants: Gap

Earrings: Jewel Mint

Belt: too old to remember

Shoes: Easy Spirit

I like monochromatic outfits, but generally good ones involve more than a top and a bottom. I would have loved to top off this outfit with a military vest so that it was totally clear that I meant to wear all one color today. Maybe this one from Old Navy.

 But I'm okay with what I have on. I love these pants and they always make me feel a little skinnier... until I see pictures of myself. But really it's my top half that needs to lose some bulk. I suck in my middle so much for these pictures! That's one good thing to come of this 21 Day Challenge: I have more motivation to get exercising again.

Day 8: Fancy or Not

Top: silk blouse (ok, polyester), Mossimo by Target

Pin: Forever 21

Cargo Pants: Old Navy

Shoes: grey Keds with neon yellow laces

I love the idea of mixing fancy and casual. And I had a lot of ideas for an outfit, but unfortunately all my ideas involved items of clothing that I don't own. So I ended up with this instead. And I don't really like it, and my husband will probably be embarrassed, but whatever. I like the pieces individually, so I'm gonna go with it. In my head I'm wearing a gorgeous blouse with cut off jean shorts, or a bright sequined skirt with a plain tee. Check out pics of more succesful mixers on flickr.

Day 7: Layer Accessories

Top: J. Jill (remix item)

Belt: Target
Dress: J.C. Penney

Sandals: Gap

Loads of bracelets: everywhere

I threw my remix white linen camp shirt over a dress, added a belt and called it good for church in the mountains today. For my layering accessories prompt I decided to go with wristfuls of bracelets. I always feel crazy with so much jewelry, but when other people do it I think it looks good. So I'm trying to get over my reservations. I had a few more planned, but it turns out I've, ah... outgrown some of my old ones & couldn't get them on anymore. One more reason to take the stairs.

Day 6: The Unexpected

Polo: Old Navy

Jeans & Sandals: Gap

Scarf: Target

Here we are, up in the gorgeous pines for the weekend. In my hurried packing yesterday I was a bit hard pressed to come up with an unexpected way to wear something so I went for the tried and true scarf as a belt. Not super creative, I know, but it's not something I do... ever. So it's new for me. See some more creative people here.

Day 5: Belted In

Top & Skirt: Gap

Belt: Old Navy

Shoes: Last Chance

I love the look of belts but have a hard time with them for myself because while they can certainly make my waist look smaller, they also make my chest look bigger. And I just don't need that. This is my go-to belt - it's a neutral color and works better than most for me. I have a couple skinny belts and would like to pick up some more. I love the low-slung hip belt, but it doesn't really look good on me. I picked up a really cool one yesterday and meant to wear it for today's challenge but it just wasn't flattering. My husband vetoed it too, so it's going back. We're going out of town today so I'm planning ahead a few outfits and will hopefully have somewhere much prettier to take pictures.

Day 4: Color Blocking

I like the idea of color blocking since I have so many solids, but my normal black skirt and colored tee doesn't count I'm pretty sure. So I pulled out the brights today, mixing a top from Gap Outlet with shorts from Old Navy. Then I added my favorite wedges, Calypso St. Barth for Target. I love feeling taller! Check out more color blocked outfits in the 21 Day Challenge on flickr or at Freckles in April.

Day 3: Mixing Patterns

Day 3 of the 21 Day Challenge: Mix Patterns

I always like the look of mixing patterns, but have a hard time doing it for two reasons. 1- I'm a little scared. 2- I don't have many patterned pieces of clothing. I lean strongly toward solids, although that's a habit I'm trying to break. Today I'm mixing a maxi skirt from Forever 21 with a white tee and a blue striped, lace-edged overshirt/cardigan thing from Gap. It's not super gutsy mixing, but it's a start. Yesterday's outfit mixed a blue/white stripe with a floral pattern too. Hopefully I can come up with a bolder mix before these 3 weeks are up.

Day 2: The Tuck

Once I started taking pictures I remembered why I don't tuck my shirts in generally - it's my tummy that I'm always trying to hide. But I do like the look of the half tuck, with a belt peeking through, and it's good for me to mix it up. Sometimes I like to tuck in my shirt when I wear a high waisted skirt. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm taking on Kayla's 21 Day Challenge.

Day 1: 21 Day Challenge

I am going to try the 21 Day Challenge at Freckles in April. With the start of school & a little more free time to myself I want to try to actually get dressed & put together every day. Hopefully this challenge will give me some motivation. There are little prompts for each day, remixing is encouraged, and Kayla is a fellow Arizona girl - so hopefully I'll get some inspiration on how to wear more than a skirt and tee without melting into a puddle. I know I'm no fashion model, but I do love to shop, read fashion mags, and lately a bunch of fashion blogs & websites. I will try not to be embarrased and hopefully I can cover my well-rounded shape with some decent outfits.

Day 1: Remix (choose 1 item that will get thrown in at least three times in 21 days)

These jeans & white linen shirt are the J.Jill ones I blogged about in my last post. The white shirt is so versatile & you'll be seeing more of it in the next 3 weeks. I found the Bass loafers at Savers for $5 and they will get a lot of wear this fall & winter.

Accidental Purchases

Have you ever accidentally bought something? You know, you don't intend to shop, and you weren't planning to buy something, but somehow you come home with new things anyway. Last weekend I was on my own, as my sweet husband took our three boys out of town (you're the best, honey!) and I was indeed shopping. Hard to believe, right? But I was only looking for a wallet, as mine is falling apart and I keep losing important things like pennies and receipts. I was only looking for a wallet and managed to get in and out of several stores quickly without finding a wallet and certainly without buying something extraneous.

Then I walked into J. Jill. I've been there once or twice before, but never bought anything. I loved some of the looks up front which included linen items - I'm a sucker for linen. And as I headed to the back where they keep accessories like wallets, I naturally ran my eyes over the clearance racks. And since I liked what I saw I looked closer, rummaging through my own size. Since I am... curvy... and short, I often have problems finding things in my size and that are flattering on me. And there were several things on that J. Jill clearance rack and they accidentally came home to live with me. And I love them. It helped that all clearance items were an additional 40% off. If only they had wallets. But here are the new items in my closet:

J. Jill Authentic Fit Skinny Jeans    Skinny jeans are a bit hard for me, but I like them and my previous pair just wore through into holes in unseemly spots. These new ones are very dark & look nice - no distressing, whiskering, or holes. And they were about $20!

J. Jill Shimmer Linen Skirt    I completely fell in love with this soft grey, linen skirt when I pulled it off the rack. But it was a size too small. The sales person said they didn't have my size and that I should try it because they ran a little big. And she was right! On me it falls all the way to the tops of my shoes - a true maxi skirt. And the little, gold, metallic weave through it dresses it up a little and I noticed it helps to hide spills and stains. Of which I have many. Totally my kids fault.

J. Jill Linen Camp Shirt    They had quite a few linen shirts on sale and I tried on several and decided on this one. I love how they are crisp and soft at the same time and I favor cuffed and tabbed sleeves lately. Linen shirts are so classic - especially white.

We are Defiant!

Mom Select came through again with another amazing new toy - just in time for us to host a summer party for my boys and their friends. Defiants 4x4s are mini trucks that are almost as tough as the real thing. They have working headlights and two gears and have afforded my boys hours and hours of fun since our party.

We had ten boys here between the ages of four and eight and the Defiants were a hit with every one of them. We had straight floor races, trick races, curvy course races, and head to head action to see who could knock the others out of the way. The boys loved playing with the tall hill set, and also the flexibility of building their own courses and terrains. We must have gone through dozens of configurations during our party.

I love that although the Defiants 4x4s trucks are really cool, it still leaves most of the play to my boys' imaginations. They can be creative with the sets and their interactions between each other. The trucks are easy to use, easy to change batteries (AAAs which last about 3 hrs of serious play), and have held up well to hard play - even went we went camping and the Defiants ran through lots of dirt, rocks, and rough outdoor terrain. That's not to say we didn't lose the grills, headlights, and other embellishments on the body of the cars. Those fell off really fast, but my kids didn't care.

 

I think Defiants are a good bridge between plain vehicles and remote control vehicles. Plenty of room for on-their-knees-creative-fun, but can still run through the course by themselves. I would recommend these for boys (and any girls that like trucks) between ages three and ten. They are really fun for all ages. I admit to setting up a few tracks myself and running my Defiant through. These will keep us busy all summer!

Dream Trip

My darling, patient hubby and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in August - coinciding with the first day of school actually. And since we'll actually have all three boys in school at least half a day, I'm dreaming of a romantic lunch and some time spent at the temple, remembering the covenants we made to each other ten years ago. And then in September we are planning a lovely trip to the Seattle area, where my husband served a mission for our church. We want to see Victoria and hike in the Hoh Rainforest. We want to eat and shop and enjoy uninterrupted time together.


But this morning all my thoughts have changed. Seattle is out. Now I want to go to Paris! And I'm crossing my fingers that Jordan Ferney will be the one to get me there. Jordan is generously hosting a giveaway on her fab blog, Oh Happy Day, and the winner receives a 7 day trip to Paris. You can enter here, but please don't because I need my chances improved just a little. ;)

My New, Natural Look

Even though I love my mineral makeup, in powder form, I've lately been looking around to find an old-fashioned liquid foundation. I used to buy Estee Lauder and have several friends that love Bobbi Brown but I have a hard time bringing myself to pay the $30 plus price tags, despite my light use.

So when, as a BzzAgent, I received a tube of Cover Girl NatureLuxe Silk Foundation, I happily started trying it out. And I was immediately impressed. I love the silky formula that goes on just like moisturizer but doesn't get too oily. The spf 10 is nice, although I wish it were a little higher. Despite the fact that the shade I was sent was way too dark for me, I happily went around with that tell-tale line under my jaw for a couple weeks until I made it to the store to buy something that matches my skin tone.

I like the low price, the high availability, and the frequent sales and coupons from Cover Girl. They don't always have my favorite make up products, but they are reliably good. For example, BzzAgents also sent me the NatureLuxe Gloss Balm. Once again, the color was awful for me, but I kept it by my desk and just started using it as lip balm when I felt dry. And I liked it. Probably not enough to replace my favorite Avon, but I'm always looking for lip products that feel great and have lots of color options. So I also picked up a tube of this in a good color for me. And suddenly I have a great, new look for summer. Thanks BzzAgent and Cover Girl!