DIeting makes me ill…

I wish I could say that I was doing a legit food diet and that that was making me ill….but no I’m talking about a spending diet.  A crappy crappy oh so extremely crappy spending diet. 

About a month ago I decided that I needed to go on a diet (again, not a food diet, although I think I could stand to start one of those too).  Our credit card bills weren’t budging much and we were still putting some money on them every month so nothing was really getting paid down.  So I put together a list of needs and a list of wants and allowed myself some flexibility for special items….namely clothes.  When I saw some…I mean like almost none.  Again…crappy crappy.

I’m sure you all have heard about the 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target collection that came out yesterday, right?  Well if you hadn’t….3.1 Phillip Lim made a collection for Target that came out yesterday.  And I won’t be ashamed to say that I was in line.  I had saved up to buy one thing from that line, even researched the collection before hand so I knew what I wanted, and vowed to get that one and only thing.  This is what I decided on:

 

But as I waited in line (yes I got up and waited in line) I felt the anticipation of shopping and I said to myself “well, self, if you see other things you like just grab them because others are just going to be grabbing things and there’s no saying you have to buy them but just see what happens.”  I got all caught up in the frenzy of everything that the next thing you know I had all this in my cart:

 

OMG if I wasn’t dying about how cute everything looked on me.  Yes I’m being vain but speaking the truth.  This is really the first designer-for-Target line that I feel like fit me true to size, and I would TOTALLY wear all of this repeatedly.  The only problem is….I am on a diet.  I cannot afford to spend all these calories on these delicious items.  No joke, I went and found a corner of the store and calculated how much all these things would cost now, calculated a “cost per wear”, how much went with items already in my closet, the total combinations I could come up with…..basically anything to justify spending almost $200 on clothes.  I thought to myself “there’s no way I can come back later because these items just won’t be here,”…”This is a limited collection” and “I’ll never be able to find it on clearance in my size”…”this looks so cute on me and I’ll wear it a million times”…….

Then, without thinking I grabbed everything in my cart, tossed it on a shelf, and ran up to the cash register with the item I initially came for, paid, and literally ran out of the store.  And to be honest, I was almost crying.  I have been non stop thinking about those items all day and have had anxiety and sweats every time I think of that sweater with the sparkly collar or the way that leopard skirt and shirt would have looked so chic.  You think I have issues?  Oh yes…I definitely have issues.  And I should be proud of myself that I was able to walk away from everything but the exact item I went in for….but I’ll be honest and say that I’m more disappointed that I didn’t get those things.  I know it sounds crazy…but that’s because I am.  I never ever admitted to sanity.

So although I am deeply saddened by my loss of my beautiful Phillip Lim pieces…I shall keep an eye out for returns and clearances and hope that I can score something with next months budget for less.  In the meantime…I’m going to be paying down my credit card with the money I saved from NOT buying those other pieces, I’m going to be loving the heck out of the sweatshirt I got, and using my existing closet to it’s fullest potential.

BOOM.

(And I’ll be praying every night that I’ll be getting a few of those pieces on clearance…yes still obsessing.)

Outfit Challenge: Pop Pants

A little bored with your jeans and black/blue/white easy go-to top? Throwing on your Uggs or flip flops a little too easily these days? Us too. But you’re a mom. It’s ok… Or so you keep justifying to yourself. You’ve got 8,000 plates spinning in the air, so let’s add one more. Seriously though, you’ll be SO glad you added this one. And if one or two plates fall, that’s ok because you’ll look amazing while cleaning up those broken plate pieces!

Let me introduce you to our newest addition… The Outfit Challenge!
It started, mostly, because Lani and I tend to buy the same stuff. It doesn’t hurt that we text each other “Hey! Old Navy’s got [fill in the blank] on clearance! Should I get this one [insert text pic]?”. 3,000 miles apart and we are still each other’s shopping companions…

A few fun new pieces in our wardrobe lead to making a bit of an effort to mix up our closet. Reach for the Pop Pants instead of the acid wash jeans… What?! They’re back!
Sorry, that’s one 80’s revival I will not be a part of… But I digress.

We made a little pit-stop on Pinterest to check our Style boards for inspiration:
             

And since Lani and I have a lot of the same pieces in our wardrobe, we thought it would be fun to see how we style the same pieces. We are currently obsessed with the Pop Pants trend, thus our first challenge. We each own at least 2 pairs. I think Lani might have 3 now… I’m just waiting for Pay Day.

First up is Lani:
  
Here she is sporting an embellished cap sleeve top from H&M, magenta POP! pants by Mossimo from Target, and cognac spiked heels by Betsy Johnson. (You like my fashion show play-by-play?) Lani tried to push herself to be a bit more daring with color, too. I think she succeeded. She’s not a regular Mom, she’s a cool mom! (name that movie!)

And we have to get a close up of those shoes because I need something spikey in my life:
Adorable, right?! Studs on a bow is like the peanut butter to my jelly.


I took a bit of a different approach:
  
Earrings are from Target, red plaid scarf from Old Navy (men’s section), heathered chocolate cardigan Merona from Target, white blousy top from my sister’s closet, rope and leather belt from Target, red POP! Pants from Old Navy, Rickki tan boots from madden girl.

I am digging neutrals with a pop of color, right now. I also LOVE layers, and these boots. I practically live in these boots because they are flat and just so dang comfy. Oh! and my other new favorite accessory… LIPS! I splurged and picked up MAC Viva Glam matte red lipstick with the red enriched cremestick liner. I die! It is so smooth and goes on like buttah! It is a great red, not too orangey or pinky. And it lasts a crazy long time. I eat and drink while wearing it and maybe touch up once throughout the day. Yes, $15 for lipstick and $15 for lip liner is steep, but it wears so well and I always get compliments on it. Of course the compliments make the $30 price tag a little easier to swallow. Every girl deserves a treat like this now and then.

So what is your favorite outfit? or accessory? Maybe it’s a pair of boots you can’t live without?! Share with us! We’d love to see!
Post your pics on our Facebook wall or send us a shout out on Twitter!
We’d love to see how you style your pop pants and maybe we’ll share our favorites in a post! Let’s all get out of the Mom Jeans rut and turn in to the MILFs we are!

Hot chocolate bar

Being that we don’t have a mantle in our house I always like to dress up our little areas with something a little different and fun. Last year I did a drink station in our dining room (you can read more on that here)

 

This year I decided to do the same-ish concept but make it a little more kid friendly. We are still having our annual Santa Party and this little Hot Chocolate Bar will be awesome for kids and grownups alike!

Notice I still have yet to paint that little dresser of goodness.  Next year.  I swear it.

I want the theme of my house to be a bit modern and a bit rustic.  I paired my burlap trees that I made last year (here) with some shiny red ornaments and one of my felt poinsettias…also crafted last year (here). The bar got filled with all kinds of good fixin’s for hot chocolate like candy canes, peppermint marshmallows, and cookies for dippin’ and stirrin’.

 

I just used whatever I had on hand, and ball jars truly do work for freaking everything don’t they? 

 

And you really can’t have a hot chocolate bar without hot chocolate right?  This is homemade and AWESOME…easy peasy recipe to come soon!

There we have my little bar!  If you’re cold and need a lift, come on over and I’ll have a cup of cocoa all ready for you!  If you’re good…you might get a little Schnapps in there too !

Coral Me Happy

In continuing efforts to get our master bedroom decorated, I of course had to do something about the bed!  It’s the main focus in the bedroom…not to mention the item that gets used the most (bow chicky bow wow….more like zzzzzzzzzzzz). 

Noooooooot so exciting.  I really wanted to add some pops of coral in this room as I’m just over the moon for the turquoise and coral color scheme.  I found this duvet at Homegoods and thought it might be perfect!

I really love it with the rug too!  Its just fun and vibrant.  However (and there’s always a however with me) I’m not 100% sold on it yet.  I don’t know if it’s TOOOOO much of what I want.  But, it’s so soft and lovely and just gives the room that color it needs for right now that I’m perfectly happy with it.  I’m trying to think of ways to maybe keep it but tone it down a bit, like maybe with a white throw, or making the bed a little different so it’s more of an accent.  And those yellow pillows are a no…it’s just what we have right now.  I really want to hack this bed, too, and create an upholstered headboard and perhaps paint the frame….but the chocolate is fine right now.  Although it may not stay or may change slightly, I’m loving sleeping in my new coral layers….and so are the 2 little duders

Fairytales in Fall

I’ve been wanting to share this for a long time. I haven’t even shown Lani these pics! I did a photoshoot a couple months ago with some awesome vendors based on a nugget of an idea I had. That nugget grew into a full blown wilderness idea. Throw in a fabulous photographer (Sheri Wade), furniture rentals by Found Vintage Rentals, hair and makeup by Elizabeth, and a couple beautiful models, and you’ve got a table set up in the woods fit for Snow White.

Add a dash of DIYs:

A little rustic meets modern fairytale makes for an eclectic tablescape. Acacia wood slice chargers mixed with gold square chargers. Pinecones spray painted gold. A burlap table runner. Moss and feather napkin rings. Books turned paper apple placecards. I thrifted some fun things like the green glass cups perfect for dwarves, the brass candlestick holders, some of the green glass bottles, the white napkins, and the books to make the placecards. I bought some moss balls and plain moss to wrap the burlap and napkins. The centerpiece couldn’t be easier than a bunch of granny smith apples inside a cake plate and dome.

This was such a fun shoot in the middle of a real in-the-middle-of-nowhere location. While setting up the table for this shoot, I saw deer frolicking nearby. If that doesn’t scream “Perfect location for a Snow White inspired photo shoot”, then I don’t know what does.

Rug me Tender…

Hahaha…I don’t know why that title make me laugh, but it does.
True story….I have never bought a rug.  No never, not ever.  But when I saw that Rugs USA was having a sale, like an up to 75% off sale, and I had a coupon from Facebook when I “liked” them, I figured it was about time that I tried my hand at a rug.  The perfect place?  The bedroom that I’m currently working on, of course!  Let’s re-visit one of my inspiration pics for our bedroom:

I know that inspiration pics aren’t necessarily supposed to be taken literally.  I mean, if that were the case then I’d be sleeping in a crib right now, and tossing my underwear in that diaper genie there.  But anyway…when I saw this black and white chevron rug for $89 (before my FB coupon) I had to jump on it.  Had to had to had to.

Oh glorious day!!!  I snagged this little beauty for $71 when all was said and done!  WHAT!  I know!!!  And it’s an 8x10, by the way.  From all my rug window shopping, but never buying….I knew that was a KILLER deal!  About a week and a half later I had this bad boy on my front door step, and knew that during my first days off from work, this baby would be going under my bed!!!  I had one problem though…I have a super annoying, super heavy, super cumbersome platform bed.

Oh yeah, don’t mind my uber messy bedroom.  It’s gradually getting better and better.  Just concentrate on the rug for right now.  So I had to find a way to get this bad boy UNDER the bed.  First things first….mattress and box springs off:

I am SUPER WOMAN!  Do you know how heavy those mattresses are?!?!!  Well, they are heavy.  Next up was figuring out how to lay this rug out.  I originally intended for the rug to go long ways….with the chevron pattern oriented like the inspiration picture above.  But as you can see…that would have meant that the overhang on the sides would have been puny…like only a couple inches.  The only solution was to go sideways.

Ok so now I was stuck.  I couldn’t figure out how to lift the bed enough to roll the rug underneath and platform area.  Yes, waiting for the hubs to come home would have, ideally, been the best way….but I have zero patience.  So I had to figure this out.  I don’t have pictures, or really a process to explain this as it all just kind of happened out of sweat, sheer will power, and a little insanity.  Somehow I ended up at this point:

You know how people in certain situations can lift a car because of pure adrenaline?  Well…as soon as I saw the chevron laid out in all it’s glory on my floor (fully realizing that this was all UNDER the mattress) I somehow got that super hero strength from my own adrenaline and finally ended up with the rug how I intended under my bed


Oh My Gawd I love it!  What a difference it makes to the whole room!  It’s slightly unbelievable.  Even Craig asked “how did you manage to do this??”  Really…if you knew the weight of this bed, you’d be asking the same thing.  Heck…I’ve been waking up the past couple days asking myself the same thing.  But I don’t dwell…I just rub my feet on it and stare at its beauty.  Totally my favorite thing I’ve ever done in decorating.  My never-rug-buying-self has totally turned a corner!!  So glad I popped that cherry!!!!  Sorry….maybe that was gross….