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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

WIWW- Leopard!

Leopard is a neutral. And if you don't agree we can't be friends. Ellie even has leopard in her wardrobe. The outfit I actually wanted her to wear today we couldn't find the leggings to, of course. So we had to go to plan b.



My outfit:
Top: CAbi Fall 2014 poppy top
Leggings: CAbi old, similar Fall 2014
Shoes: JCrew Martina calf hair wedges
Necklace: Bon Lemon
Ellie's outfit:
We bought this school shopping this year at the Gymboree outlet. So not sure if it was a last season or what. She rocks it.

Top: Gymboree (similar here, here)
Jeans: Gymboree (Ebay size 5, similar herehere, here)
Boots: GAP biker boots

Linked Up with: Tucker Up, The Pleated Poppy, Because Shanna Said So

**BONUS FEATURE**

So my little sister is on a trip with our brother to the Big Easy aka New Orleans. I'm so jealous. I've only been once, and was memorable trip :-) So in typical little sister fashion, she needed to borrow several items from my closet. So I did not get to go on a vacation, but my clothes did. They're so lucky.

Dress: Nordstrom Summer 2013                                        Tank: Target Summer 2014

Now this was not a feature I was planning on adding, but I could not resist. This is what is called a FASHION NO NO moment. You are not in hiding, there is such a thing as bad camo, and this is how you don't do it. I did not steal this off any website. Saw it with my own eyes picking up Ellie at school. I think the overkill is with the camo purse. I just don't have words.


Monday, October 27, 2014

The Waiting Place

The rainy season is here in WA. Friday nights football game was a downpour. Ellie's LAST cheer game for the season was wet too. It has been raining so much here there are just standing puddles everywhere. Which made me realize my kids do not have rain boots yet. My rain/snow boot of choice this season are the Slimpack Riding Boot by Sorel
I went and ran a 10k yesterday down in Portland. It drizzled on us just a little, but most of the race it was dry. I hate running in the rain, so that made me happy. And now when I say ran, I really mean I walked and lightly jogged. I am not a runner. I just don't think I'm built for it. This one lady ran by me in this itty bitty tank and like bikini bottoms. She looked like a freakin gazelle. I was like WHAT? Today my hip muscles are so sore. I physically wasn't ready for that long of a race, but I pushed myself and I did it in 1 hr 24 min. Today my body is reminding me of that. I think I deserve a pedicure today.

I'm not sure where to begin really with house news. I can say this, the county approved our drainage/scoping plan on Friday. So that took a little less than 2 weeks #miracle. The next step is submitting everything for the building permits. But we aren't going to do that just yet. And that's all I want to say right now. There has been I guess what you would call a "development" or opportunity. We are waiting to see how it plays out, and we will know in about 2 weeks. I feel like we are in the section in the Dr. Seuss book, "Oh the places we will go", its called The Waiting Place.
Image
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

And for your Monday morning smile. Here is Peyton in one of the 3 trips he made me take with him to the bathroom at the game Friday night. It's hard to get annoyed at that face.

See you Wednesday for What I Wore.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

WIWW- Werk it

I am a working gal. I work in a professional office, but I try not to dress boring. Somedays I want to be fun, some I want to be comfy, but I always have to be professional.






I always forget I'm short until I see a picture of myslef. (I'm 5'2) I look just like my grandmother, scary. She was this petite, busty cuban and I am a carbon copy. And I have a hard time taking these pictures of myslef. I guess I have no inner Kim K. 

Jacket: Ann Taylor Loft (couldn't find a similar!)
Top: CAbi Jubilee top
Pants: CAbi Fall 2013 Ricky leggings (similar here and EBay here)
Shoes: GUESS Tarrah Bootie
Necklace: Ann Taylor Loft

Linking up with Tucker Up, Because Shanna Said So, Get Your Pretty On, and The Pleated Poppy

I'm naturally curly and I like it most of the time. But lately I'm tempted to go back to the straight look. I guess I'm lucky in the sense that I can wear my hair either way. What's your thoughts, Straight or Curly?




Monday, October 20, 2014

Hurry up Friday

WARNING:This post is a little 'wordy' as I didn't post last Monday, and well I have lots to say.

It's Monday, and we all remember how I feel about Mondays from another post. I don't like them. I'm definitely grumpy today. Especially since when I got to work I realized I forgot my smoothie cup to use in my ninja blender. So now I'm not going to get my morning smoothie...and I'll be super hungry by lunch and make a bad food decision.
 
Thanks @shopsweetlife for the Instagram steal
 

Speaking of that. I tried to have a discussion with Ellie yesterday about food choices. I feel like I talk to her about this a lot. But usually it's when she's throwing a fit about not wanting to eat something, so I don't think what I say registers. So yesterday after cheer competition the girls had a lunch time. A few moms went and got some croissant sandwiches from Costco. Ellie refused to eat one and just wanted to leave. So we left. I said "Ellie you could have still eaten the bread, lunch meat and cheese and just took the lettuce and tomato off. All your friends were eating the sandwiches, so they must be good, right?" She just shrugged her shoulders. So in the car I talked to her about nutrients. She had a bag of Cheetos and a banana. So I explained how fruits and vegetables have nutrients in them, and why those are good for you and your body. She seemed to get it, I tried to engage her by asking questions so it didn't seem too much like a lecture. I explained about how Cheetos are not nutritious. She asked about the spaghetti dinner we had, aren't the noodles nutritious? No, Ellie, it you would eat the sauce with hamburger at least you would have gotten some protein. I tried to explain how there has to be a balance. We wouldn't eat all this good stuff if it was gross. She ate that banana like it was covered in medicine. It took the whole drive home for her to eat 3/4 of it. Moms, I need some help. What do you do with your difficult eaters?! We try every meal to get her to eat 1 vegetable, and its excruciating. Sometimes there's crying, or it takes an hour. I thought, eventually she'll get over this. No, this has been going on for years. I'm at my wits end. I want my kids to eat good, we try to eat good. I show them how I eat salads and vegetables. Nothing works. And in the end, I'm terrified my pushing her or something is going to trigger some eating disorder.

Okay...that got deep. Onto a brighter topic. Our weekend was busy with our little performer. She got to perform with the Capital Cougarette drill team on Friday night during half-time. She was great. All the girls looked so cute out there all in pink (it was the pink out game for breast cancer). She asked to do it every year. Saturday was just a typical cheer game day. And the girls had a hour practice afterwards in preparation for Sunday's big cheer competition. Side note- A few moms snuck down the street for a Mimosa during this practice, so yummy and needed. And then Sunday was the big day the girls had been practicing for all season. They did so good. And although they didn't win a medal for their age group, they were so supportive of the teams that did. She was a tired girl. We have survived the second season of cheer.
House Update- Some of you noticed last week I didn't do my usual Monday post. Well there was just nothing really to report. But here is the status. So we got the drainage/scoping report back from the geotech engineer. Kyle took the report in to the County last Monday. They said great, we'll get back to you in 2-3 weeks! UGH!! So Kyle was like "well in the meantime can we also submit all our plans for the building permits?" and we got a big fat NO. The County wants the drainage/scoping report approved first, then you can apply for the building permits. So we are just weeks and weeks out of being able to start anything. Breathe.

My big adventure last week was being summoned for jury duty. I and 80 locals got selected to be on a panel for a civil (non-criminal) case that was scheduled to last 14 days. This caused a lot of groaning. Day one people were excused for various reasons, I was extremely jealous of the woman who got excused because she had a vacation scheduled to Cancun during the trial. Given my work for the Attorney General's office I figured I would be cut the first day. But I wasn't, which was intriguing. So day two I rolled back in there with the group cut in half down to 40 left in the pool. We continued to answer questions, and a few more people were cut. In the end, there were about 25 of us left, me included. They picked their 12 jurors plus 2 alternates and I was not selected. So let me use this to make a little PSA. If you are ever called, really do your civic duty and go. Whatever you think of our justice system, its what we have and it has served our county well the majority of the time. Go with a good attitude and the mindset that you may really learn from this experience. If you for some horrible reason had to be in the position of needing a jury of your peers to decide for you, wouldn't you want them to want to be there? And, you end up meeting some really interesting people from your community.

A friend from high school, who I run into through the year at local events, her mom has been diagnosed with cancer. Her mom, Cyndi Dickson, has been a local business owner of the Filling Station Espresso for over 20 years and has always been a kind smiling face in our community. My good friend Amy always steps up to the plate and jumped on the chance to help. Through her local boutique Bon Lemon, she sold 100 bracelets in 3 days with all proceeds going to help this family with the expenses of fighting this terrible disease. Please read and share Cyndi's story.
To end our weekend we had a family pumpkin carving night. Lets see, there was crying, there were yells of GROSS! There were elaborate requests for carvings, like a witch on a broom. In the end we got some good old triangle eye cutouts and everyone was happy. And a bonus, a baby announcement!
I cut out the spiderman one, aren't I good. And by "I" I mean Kyle
Mike & Alyssa Camus (Mike is one of the Twins)
 

News to look forward to next week: I'm running/walking a 10K Sunday, see if I survive. Karlye and Josh may be able to buy and/or build on Camus Rd...nothing is finalized yet. I am starting an 8-week boot camp and I'm hoping I get some amazing results, so any and all encouragement is needed.

Oh to maybe help your Monday be brighter, Charlie says have a good day.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Inspiration: Master Closet

Oh the master closet, its every girls dream. And every husbands headache. Though I was surprised at how much Kyle did not gripe about the size once it was drawn out. Maybe I'm rubbing off on him. Kyle and I are closet people, in the sense that we don't like dressers and such in our bedroom. We like everything to be in the closet. So we are big "system" people. And we are big slobs. So if we can keep all our mess in a room where we can close the door, perfect.

Some pics of closets I look at are just over the top. I like pretty and functional. But mirrors galore is not my thing. Some of my main wants are: 1) Shoe wall (hellooo!) 2) Jewelry station 3) bench 4) Display hooks.

So this is the layout of our closet. I guesstimated at the measurements. I could be off a foot or so. But its close.

I really like the idea of having a pretty wallpaper, and a fun light/ chandelier. Kyle will hate that.

This closet if from a blog I follow Honey We're Home. I really like her displays and layout.




This closet is from the YHL Show house. I really like what they call the "Vestibule". Its this space between the master bath and closet. We have this space! and So again I want a fun light and this is where I'll place my large full length mirror. 

Love these great door knobs as hooks to display that days outfit. Must have!

 And a shoe wall of course. Not sure if I have enough to fill a wall. But I can quickly fix that.

What are your closet must haves? Do you have a closet system?

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

WIWW- Girls night out

So I have not perfected the art of the selfie. OR the art of taking a picture of myself in an outfit. Hopefully practice makes perfect. I went out Friday night for an impromptu girls night and got to wear a new outfit. Loved it and can't wait to wear it again.





I'm a huge fan of CAbi. I have been going to CAbi parties for 4 years and still wear the pieces. They are so great and comfortable. They wash great and I just have been extremely happy with everything I have ever gotten there. So if you are ever invited to a CAbi party and haven't gone, GO!

Now the Ann Taylor leather jacket was a splurge for me. I have been wanting a good leather jacket for sometime. Some that I liked were just way out of my comfort zone spending ($800!) and others were vegan- which is great- but they weren't that just right look I was searching for. Then this AT jacket pops up, and I really like it, and I felt the price was reasonable for a leather jacket. A leather jacket isn't something that goes out of style and I know I will get a lot of wear out of this.

Jacket: Ann Taylor Moto Jacket
Top: CAbi Jubille Top
Pants: Ann Taylor Loft Camo Print Tailored Twill Skinny Julie Fit
Necklace: Ann Taylor Loft (similar at Bon Lemon)
Shoes: Material Girl Bootie (Macy's)
Purse: Bon Lemon, local boutique

What's your go-to GNO outfit?! Linked up with and Check out Tucker Up , Because Shanna Said So , The Pleated Poppy Blogs for more fashions.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Inspiration: Laundry & Mud Room

Never in my youthful dreams did I ever think I would be getting excited about designing a laundry room. That room that becomes the catchall for STUFF when you get home from work and school and everyday activities.

But the truth is I'm not youthful, I'm an adult with mommy dreams. And mommy must have an amazing laundry and mud room to deal with all her family's shit. Can I get an Amen.

My HOUZZ and Pintrest boards have so many configurations of this room it's a little ridiculous. What is the exact perfect flow? How many hooks, baskets, cabinets is just right? There are laundry rooms out there that are the size of my master bedroom. We will not have that, that is silly (secretly I would totally have that). But when I was designing mine, I kept telling Kyle..more sqft, little wider. I'm feeling content with how it looks on paper. And I hope that it will feel just right when the beams go up, otherwise Kyle will just have to fix it.

If you are an avid follower- I know you all are- You will see I have linked to the Sunny Side Up blog a few times. I'm kind of stalking her because I LOVE her style and she's super organized and well she's already done this building thing so why not copy a good thing.

I know my room is 10 ft wide. I am guessing at the exact length, but its roughly 20 ft long.

So these are some of my must have features:

1. Built in laundry baskets.

2. Drying rack

3. Back-pack shoe station
How smart is this! Charging station in cubbies for kids electronics.
 
4. Cute lights

5. Fun upper cabinets

6. Chalkboard wall with the weeks activities, etc. I see this going on the back of the pantry wall

7. Drop off counter. I don't have a pic for this, but you get the idea. Its where when I open that door I can fling my purse, the days mail, etc. Charging station for phone. Pin board above for important notes etc.

The pictures for 1, 2 and 3 are all from the Sunny Side Up Blog. You can see her full laundry room and Mud room tours on her blog.

Tell me about your rooms! What is your favorite feature, or what do you feel is a must have?!