MissAmy |

This outfit illustrates how you can mix up dressy & casual separates.  Pull the sequins out during the day!  Dress up the sweatshirt with pins!  Balance it all with a tough cuff (DIY tutorial)!  Mix it up!

Don’t you just love those “Buy, Keep, Store” pages in popular mags?  (Side note: I actually do.)  Do you ever notice that they rarely actually declare anything that was even remotely “in” to be “out”.

Check this one:

This one made me laugh.  When were camo tote bags in?  Did any of you carry one?  Ever?  I must have missed that trend LOL.

I think they just may be afraid to tell us not to buy something that may still be in stores.  Diplomatic, that.

I have been crushing on Annie Spandex’s awesome Silence & Noise vest for a while now.  While I was tempted to track it down & buy it – which is not my style – I also came across a similar vest on The Coveted that Jennine stumbled across & bought regardless of how weird it looked before she put it on.  (I cannot find the actual entry so I just linked to her blog – one of my faves!)  She showed a picture of it laid out flat & I thought, like I always do, “I can make that!”

I had this organic blue t-shirt material in my fabric stash for a while now & it turned out to be super perfect for this lil project:

Steps: Lay flat, fold in half, cut circle in the middle – this is where your arms go through.  I guessed as I cut but you may want to use a template of some sort to make sure it turns out circular.  Then, put on.  Ta-da!  For different fits, vary the size of the rectangle you start with.  I just left mine as it was so I got lots of drape in my vest.

I can also picture it similar to below & belted.  I think it’s a great shape! 

You may notice that I’ve added a new widget on the right that shows the last 5 links that I bookmarked on delicious.com.  Stay tuned because I update those any time I come across something new & interesting!

I found Poe’s original collar while going through some old things lately.  She was emaciated when we got her & has since double her weight so we had to buy her a new one.

Anyway, I wore it as a bracelet the other day!  I think it’s really cute & honestly was much cheaper than a similar fashion bracelet would cost.  Plus the leather is really nice & thick.  Who knew?

And here’s my adorable baby girl trying to get in on the fashion shoot:

Just a warning, heads-up, thinking out loud, etc…

The posting will probably slow down a bit around here.  I’m burning myself out with how much time I put into posting & I don’t want to go for full burnout.  Soooo, a compromise: I will post any good DIY’s I do, I will only be posting outfits that include DIY’s or ways to stretch your wardrobe (except in the case of extreme, way-too-cool outfits when can’t help myself LOL) and I will try to figure out how to automatically post links from my delicious.com account.  That way you’ll be kept up to date on all the goodies that catch my eye online.

I may also cut down on the blogs I’m reading so if your blog drops off my blogroll, please don’t be upset.  I’m just trying to focus a little more.  With the time I will recover, I’m hoping to be able to do more DIY’s to post.

Thanks for your constant patience with me!  And, as always, all of you guys reading this mean the world to me!

I decided to take Apricot’s wonderful advice about making friends just this past week.  I joined a meetup on meetup.com.  Unlike other times I’ve joined a meetup, this time I actually went to an event!

It was a lot of fun!  I don’t even know if I can express how good it made me feel.  And how I almost backed out LOL.  And how silly that would have been.

It’s a local group for women who just want to get out & socialize.  We met at Starbucks & once I got over the strangeness of  “hello, I don’t know you, but I’m going to sit here & drink my coffee while we chat.”  it went well.  I remembered most of the ladies’ names – a thing that I am terrible with normally.  But each of these girls had something unique about them that made the remembering easy.  (Plus, I can always sneak on meetup.com for a refresher LOL)  The conversations meandered from the local school board to sex shops to dance classes, skydiving, Twilight, ebay selling, motorcycle riding & even some great family anecdotes.

Anyway, I was totally comfortable & look forward to meeting up again with them sometime soon.  I’m avoiding the late night ones, for now though, since I’m not much of a night owl.  I might work up to that.  I am SUCH a homebody.  (My friends all know this about me.)

It was kind of funny – my husband was so concerned when I mentioned the group.  He had visions of cults, pyramid schemes & white slave labour going through his head.  Of course, one must take precautions so I told him where I would be & called him a little after I got there.  I thought it was really funny & cute, since I’m normally the worrier & he’s so fly by the seat of his pants.  (Where the hell did that phrase come from, anyway?)  And I still have both my kidneys – how about that?

When I mentioned I write a shopping blog one girl asked if I shop enough to have a website about it.  I had to laugh because, yes, sadly I do.  I had to admit I had stopped at Marshalls on the way there.  I had to waste time somewhere!  I only bought two items – very conservative for me!

Tahari ballet flats

Calvin Klein nylon bag – perfect for traveling with my camera – yay!

How do you meet your friends?  I have a bit of a mix of people I have worked with & wives/gfs of my husband’s friends.  It’s nice to meet new people though!

A blogger (I can’t remember who now) recently asked on her blog which new trend you would refuse to wear.  I really couldn’t think of one offhand to post in the comments.  Later in the week this smacked me in the face.  Why?  Why?

Are they freaking serious?  I will be resisting this one as long as I possibly can.  Socks over pants has GOT to be the DUMBEST trend I ever lived through.

(Scanned from Bazaar)

What’s your opinion?  Are socks over pants terrible or awesome?  What trends do you think are stupid?

Here is my first uniform post.  I combined my jeans & black t-shirt with lots of accessories for a fun but still casual look.

Liz Claiborne flats, Kikit jeans, Gap tee, Art&Soul vest, Target necklaces

The vest was either $1 or $2 at TJMaxx a while back.  I bought it to make something else out of it but just ended up wearing it as is.

You can also see I colored my hair again.  There nothing like fresh color!

These are Liz Claiborne pony hair flats – I think they were about $20 at TJMaxx.  I thought they were a cute complement to the white & black of the pearl necklaces.

I can’t wait to see what you guys have cooked up for you outfit post this week.  If you want to be involved with it, read the about the idea here.  I’ll look forward to hearing from at least a couple of you  this first go round!

Nothing too special here – just wearing my new scarf I scored at Target for $7.50.  It’s so soft & I love the purple & cream pattern!  Also this dress is getting too darn short on me – due to weight gain as well as (probably) some dryer shrinkage.  The waist it sitting at my ribcage right now – way too high.  I am thinking that I will cut it to make a skirt that will sit lower & a cropped top.  Cropped tops are “in” now (I hadn’t actually been missing them, if you know what I mean.)  Is anyone else out there going to crop?  I will be but with a slim tank or something underneath.  How about you?

Enzo Angiolini heels, Lapis dress, ? belt (TJMaxx), Target scarf, Walmart necklace, Claire’s headband