Thou Shalt Not Covet ... Unless It's Chanel

It's time to talk fashion! Oh how I love the way I feel in a well put together outfit. Admittedly, my everyday attire consists of jeans, boots and a sweater of some sort considering my full-time mom position. But that doesn't stop me from donning the occasional skirt and pair of heels to church.

I have been doing a little online shopping in anticipation of a couple of weddings I will be attending next year (I know, it seems a little early to be looking but, seriously, I don't have much else going on). The first wedding will be in the Scottsdale, Arizona area and I don't feel that I can just show up in my Sunday best. I've been looking at Bluefly.com and perusing the designer labels for inspiration. Then I found this:


Isn't this Yoana Baraschi dress gorgeous!? It totally looks like something I would wear: it's black with contrasting details and looks very elegant for an outdoor wedding. I'd be able to chase after my little ones without having to hike up the top or pull down the hem. Perfect. Well, except that there is only one size left, a 4, which I doubt I could zip up. So, the search continues ...

I don't know what inspired me to look on the EspritShop.com website but I found this little number, which I am seriously considering:


I adore the multiple patterns and the smokey gray color. I had no idea that Esprit produced such lovely clothes; I mostly remember this label from the '80s. All you girls out there who carried your books to junior high in an E S P R I T bag, can I get an amen!? I had two of them.

And, after trying on a few slinky black dresses at a local boutique, I thought one of them would look great with a simple sequined bolero shrug. My online retail therapy brought me to this:
Ah Chanel ... you are so pretty! You sparkle with such grace ... such elegance. But your pricey price tag is a bit out of reach for me. So, I will just admire (and maybe covet a little) and be on the lookout for something of similar beauty.

Who knows, the way my search is going maybe the United Colors of Benetton will have just the thing ...

A Lofty Find

Thrift store shopping is a hit-or-miss adventure. When shopping in consignment shops, second hand stores or Goodwill, I have a very discerning eye. My careful choosing has rewarded me with an azure blue %100 cashmere cardigan for $18, a wool/angora blend J. Crew sweater for $3.99, and an Ann Taylor skirt for $6.99. Not bad if I do say so myself!

This last weekend I had a blast doing some thrift store shopping with my mom and sisters. And it proved to be quite fruitful ...

Allow me to present my Ann Taylor LOFT boots. A great find at $7.50, they are in amazing condition and I feel very lucky that they fit my big flippers.

There are only minor scuffs, mostly on the toe. All of my other leather shoes/boots have scuffs on the toe so I'm not worried about a little bit of wear.

The low heal and tapered toe make these boots stylish, but so that I can still chase after my kids in them. And surprisingly, they fit very well around my ridiculously skinny calves where most boots are too big.

These soft leather beauties are proof there one woman's trash is another woman's treasure!

The Moment

Have you ever had that moment when trying on an article of clothing that makes you want to scream "YEESSS!" out loud? And maybe even do a little dance? I had that experience today.

Since it was recently my birthday I decided to have pity on my poor husband and pick something out from him (yes, I see the totally selfish undertones of this plan). I had been longing to find something to go with my French Connection sweater that I bought last year for my birthday. I haven't worn that sweater much since the ruffled shoulders feel a bit overwhelming and I didn't have the right thing to go with it. Anyway, I chose a simple cotton top also from French Connection that just screams "Kelly". Even my husband thought so when I showed him the photo. I waited thirteen long days for it to ship from New York. I frequently checked UPS to see what the status was on its journey. Today it finally arrived!

The pleated neckline is what I love the most. That and it isn't too tight on the areas I want to hide but I still have shape.

These ruffles used to make me feel like I had two large birds sitting on my shoulders. Having the perfect blouse to go with it makes me embrace their grandeur.

Here I am quietly reflecting on how great my outfit looks. Don't I look serene? Like I never once felt self-conscious of the huge matador sleeves. (Well, really a model I am not and can't seem to come up with any imaginative poses.)

I was instantly in love as I pulled it out of the box. Then ... I had that moment of pure satisfaction as I tried it on. Perfection! What made it even better is that it goes great with my ruffly sweater (I now have the confidence to wear it) and it was on SALE!

Ah, happy birthday to me indeed.

Blog Fodder

Rained Out

Our annual family camping trip was this last (Labor Day) weekend. It almost didn't happen because of the weather report: in the low 60s with rain and showers Saturday AND Sunday. We powered through until about Sunday, then several of us had had enough sogginess and many went home a day early due to the constant rain. You might say it really put a damper on things ... ha! We couldn't sit outside and roast marshmallows or go play in the lake. And when everyone in our party just stayed in their trailers instead of socializing, the purpose of the trip wasn't fulfilled. Still it was great to see everyone and I'm glad we got to use our tent trailer one more time before we have to button it up for the winter.

Our very sad and lonely campfire. (Note the unused boats in the background)

Shopping My Closet

I have been going through my clothes and sorting out things to donate, trying things on to create new ensembles, and making lists of things I would like to acquire. In doing so, I have realized that my Fall/Winter clothes are lacking in a variety of color. I am a "Winter", meaning the colors that look best on me are from the Winter palette such as black, gray, ivory, navy, red, wine and chocolate - which I have plenty of garments in these shades. Fortunately, I look good in jewel tones such as turquoise, azure, raspberry and butter yellow. Which brings me to my coveted color of the season: marigold.

After seeing Sandra Bullock wear a cardigan this cheery and rich shade in The Proposal, I have desired something very similar.

It may be just a temporary want, after all last year I had a brief affair with the color eggplant (that quickly passed), but I just will not be satisfied until I have something this color this season.


OxiClean

Seriously, this stuff is awesome! For example: just last week I bought my daughter a brand new pair of tennis shoes that she needed for school and she wore them camping. Needless to say, they ended up begrimed and unrecognizable. I wasn't going to stand for that! I took a wash bin and filled it with lukewarm water and a little bit of OxiClean. After letting the shoes to soak for a while, I scrubbed at the mud with a brush and popped them into the washing machine. After a run in the machine they were as good as new ... no joke! I also like to use a scoop of it with every load of wash I do.


Foux Du FaFa


With my favorite shows being reruns during the summertime, I have resorted to either watching nothing or exploring my Netflix options. And while at the local library one day, my son picked up a CD by a band called Flight of the Conchords. As it turns out, this "band" (who dubbed themselves as "Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo") is actually an award comedy act who have an HBO series, and two seasons are available on DVD. After checking out the CD and listening to their comedic tunes I had to see what the show was all about. I am just now getting through the second season and I am quite impressed with all the wit and clevernesss - not to mention the New Zealand jokes. It's about two naive guys from New Zealand who are trying to make it as musicians in New York and they face many of life's obstacles like eviction, girl troubles, an obsessed fan and a not-so-bright band manager.

I'm hooked! So ... when does season three come out?

Goodwill Hunting

Right now I am enjoying a nibble of a Dagoba "Seeds" bar and listening to the laundry spin around and round in the dryer. Some of our new purchases are in that dryer ... today we went to Goodwill. Have I ever mentioned that I love Goodwill? It is somewhere that we go every couple of months for these reasons:

1. Our kids outgrow their clothes so much, it doesn't make much sense to buy brand new clothes at retail prices all the time. In fact, our kids wear a lot of things from Goodwill because many of the clothes are in great shape and are so inexpensive that it isn't a big deal if they cease to fit in a couple of months. We have found name brand things like Tommy Hilfiger and Osh Kosh there before and my daughter certainly finds her fill of Disney Princess items.

My husband picked this corduroy shirt for my son to wear in the fall. He'll look adorable!

This cool summer tank top is just one of many princess themed items my daughter chose.

2. For years I have desired an old steamer trunk (think Titanic). I originally had in mind that I would store linens in one, or have it in my bedroom for extra storage. Well, recently we found one at Goodwill. It was a decent price, and we were lucky to snatch it up because while we were looking at it in the store, there was a lot of interest from other people. We now have it in our family room and it stores over-sized toys that otherwise took up too much room.

This trunk is so awesomely worn in, I wouldn't be surprised if it actually was from the Titanic!

3. Books. Books. Books. My daughter gets so excited to go to Goodwill because she is allowed to pick out one book per visit. Of course she goes right for the Disney stories, but at $.99, it's hard to deny her. I also find many hardback books for $3.49 and it's cheaper than paying late fees at the library.

4. Since getting our record player, it has been a kick to play old albums. Goodwill has an interesting collection of old vinyls from Barbra Streisand to Johnny Mathis. Today as I was thumbing through the stacks I could have sworn that my parents donated most of the titles that were there! I saw so many artists of my childhood: Billy Joel, Lionel Richie, Hall & Oats, etc. And when I excitedly flashed to cover of Huey Lewis & the News at my husband, he declared that he already had that one. Sure enough, he did which we listened to during lunch. Ah the sounds of my childhood ... priceless!

5. I feel good about donating our used items to Goodwill. A pack rat at heart, I find it very upsetting to have to throw anything away. I find some comfort that someone else might be able to use that pair of barely worn shoes.

I have noticed, however, that no matter what town you are in the store always smells the same - a curious blend of body odor, fabric softener and popcorn. That is why any clothing we buy goes immediately in the wash before wearing!

More Bang for My Buck

Who would have thought beans and legumes could be so lovely?

It would seem that everywhere I go I see evidence of the economic recession. Businesses are shutting down, golf courses are closing their doors, and luxuries like eating out doesn't seem to be high on the priority list. And while these are hard times, I think it is a good thing in some respects.

I am trying to be more creative with how and where I spend my money. I try to make meals that will provide good left-overs for next day lunches. And I have been cooking A LOT of beans! This last week we had 12 bean soup. It tasted good, was satisfying, provided leftovers and used up some leftovers. I used homemade chicken stock that I keep on hand in the freezer, threw in some left over Easter ham and a chopped onion. And probably the best part about it is that I bought the bag of beans for $.99!

I have started to make a point of going to the Grocery Outlet store before my regular grocery shopping and I have scored some great deals. Items like pasta sauce, tea, brownie mix and a hirkin' jug of Clorox bleach at low prices have made these trips worthwhile. And, and so does the Starbucks chocolate bars for half the price at regular stores!

At Last

I once lived in a town where the shopping possibilities were nearly endless. I once lived in a town where the Saturday Market was like a big, weird party located in the center of town. I once lived in Eugene, Oregon. Oh how I miss Eugene. Now I live in a town where our only department store has gone bankrupt; where everything closes at 5:00 pm; and where, up until this last Sunday, the only craft store was a JoAnn Fabric & Crafts.

That's right ... we now have ... (drum roll please) ... a Michael's Crafts! It's about stinking time! Now I might have a new hangout, a place to find solace, a place where I can go that doesn't close too early. Yesterday I took my kids there because it had just opened. My daughter immediately started going NUTS! Before I knew it she was pulling stickers off the shelves and filling the cart - whoa there little lady, I'm not spending $4.99 on Martha Stewart heart shaped stickers if I can get them for $1.99 two isles away! She wanted to do a "project" really bad so we decided that she could work on a scrapbook page. Satisfied with some Jolee's vellum stickers, we continued throughout the store.

Immediately the creativity started to flow for me. But I will have to go back, without the kids, to truly appreciate the store in all of its splendor.

The scrapbook page my daughter worked on ended up like this:

Really she just likes to put stickers on, well ... everything. But she did choose the background and the photo. I then let her have free reign over where to put the sparkle stickers. As you can see she likes to load them up in one spot!

While we are on the subject, here are some other pages she has done:

Halloween - Snow White

Halloween - Tinkerbell

Thanks to Michael's, the scrapbook store and a daughter who loves to work on projects, I can now get some scrapbook pages done with little involvement on my part. Just buy some stickers, some fun paper and let my girl go to town. Now THAT'S my kind of scrapbooking!

The Fruits of My Labor

I am not a fan of grocery shopping. I try to get into it, I try to savor the experience of picking out produce and planning fabulous meals - but the reality is I think it is work. I went last night because we were dangerously close to being out of milk and cereal (two essentials in our household), and I needed a little time to myself.

The cost of food these days are constantly fluctuating. I am used to seeing milk prices go up and down, and I choose my cereal based on whatever deal the store has available. But I was absolutely shocked to see the size of cereal and cracker boxes! Have you noticed how tiny they are? I am all for reducing waste and the senseless use of plastic packaging, but I am concerned that the amount of product in these boxes has gone down as well. The prices don't seem to be going down. I don't know if I am getting my money's worth anymore. It's very disheartening.

There is good news. I bought the ingredients to make a very good fruit salad that is worth my money. Everyone in my house seems to like it and it keeps for more than a couple of days in the refrigerator. My mom gave me the recipe and I like to call it "Rainbow Salad".

Rainbow Salad

First, the essential ingredient
1 can pineapple tidbits in 100% juice (do NOT drain)

Now add whatever fruit you like, fresh is best:
raspberries
strawberries, quartered
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
banana, sliced (best if added right before serving)
kiwi, sliced
blueberries

The pineapple juice is what keeps this salad from turning brown. My daughter practically inhales this stuff and I feel good giving it to her because there is no added sugar, just pure fruit! It is great with yogurt or by itself.

Grocery shopping may be a lot of work, but it's nice to know that my whole family can enjoy the fruits of my labor. Get it? Fruits of my labor!? Ha!

Get Out Of Here, You Are Ridiculous!

Shopping for clothes online is really a hit or miss endeavor. I personally enjoy pouring over websites, having a little retail therapy and wondering if this or that would look good on me. Recently for my birthday I received some gift certificates to an online store and suddenly I didn't have to wonder for too much longer.

I chose a gorgeous pale pink ruffle shouldered sweater from French Connection. Can I just say that I think just about everything from this brand is beautiful and very "me". Their stuff is usually pretty pricey, but with the sale and the gift certificates I only spent $6.95 of my own money for shipping.

Today my lovely new cardigan arrived. I heard the knock on the door from the UPS man. I steadied my pace as I went to the door (I didn't want to seem too eager) and I found my little package waiting for me on my front step. I carried it inside and ripped it open with vigor, tearing feverishly to get to what was inside. There it was in all of it's loveliness!

Then I tried it on and looked in the mirror.

It fit, it felt soft against my skin, the shade was delicate and understated. You would think it was perfect. But the sleeves! The sleeves are so ... full! Three ruffles on the sleeves look so beautiful in the picture, but on me they felt ... loud, poofy, flamboyant.

Perhaps I am just used to wearing simpler and more fitted clothes. Nothing too frilly, nothing too loose or chunky. But this sweater will take some time to get used to! I have decided to keep it because it's so pretty and this town could use a little classing up. But like in the movie Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, I worry that someone will find my outfit ridiculous. In fact, Bridget frets in the car on the way to a very important lawyers supper "What if someone says ''Bridget Jones, get out of here, you are ridiculous''?

I hope no one will say to me "Kelly, get out of here, your sweater is ridiculous!"

The Joke is On Us

When I go grocery shopping, I prefer to go alone. My kids are generally well behaved and content when they go with me, but things go much faster and easier when I am by myself. Yesterday, however, I had to take them along.

I usually use a regular cart with my son in the seat and my daughter walking beside me. But yesterday I noticed one of those cool racecar carts that are usually unavailable, and I had to try it. My kids LOVED it! They each had a steering wheel and pretended they were racing while I got my shopping done. You would think it was all wonderful, right?

Wrong! That cart was impossible to steer. The wheels were vacillating, I was running into everything, and to make matters worse, I was wearing sandals with no traction. Can you imagine what I must have looked like? I can just see the surveillance footage of me sliding around the store, crashing into cardboard oreo displays and trying to gracefully turn corners - all while my children were blissfully making vrooom vrooom noises. Of course now my kids will want one of those carts from now on.

I think these carts were created as a big joke on the parents - and a good laugh for the store employees!

The Smell of Scotch Tape

Ah, autumn is in the air. Can you feel it? As the nights have been getting cooler and darker at an earlier hour I have been craving my favorite season. I love pulling out my wool sweaters, lighting my spice scented candles and making soup. I realize that officially it is still summer, but since my daughter will be starting preschool in a couple of weeks, I am getting excited.

The other day we went to an open house at the school my daughter will be attending. We met her teacher, discussed the curriculum and got the school supply list. Mmmm, I love buying school supplies! There is nothing like a new box of crayons, newly sharpened colored pencils, or the smell of Scotch tape. My daughter is most excited about getting a backpack. It will probably be pink and have flowers or princesses on it.

If I were shopping for myself, I would head over to Prize, a charming little shop in Ashland, Oregon. They have everything from fine glassware and home furnishings to vintage items like antique Little Golden Books for children and interesting travel books for adults. In fact, I found a little "prize" there myself once - a vintage "Learn to Speak French" book from 1932. I think I could live there, except I doubt the owners would appreciate that. I would eat their bon-bons and sleep on their beautifully upholstered couch and write from this desk:

But enough about me. I am really looking forward to taking my daughter out and helping her pick out her supplies. It almost makes me wish I was in school again ... almost.