Look of the day

Necklace - gift from Peru
Shirt - Dickies
Sweater - Costco
Belt - Ross
Pinstripe pants - Chadwicks
Shoes - Pleaser

"Mom, you're supposed to wear your belt in your belt loops to keep your pants up."

I love living with boys.

Adding a pop of color with the red necklace.

169 lbs.

Oahu Toes

Cookies, Milk, Netbook on the lanai with a view of the Ala Wai Canal

Here is my pedicure while I was in Oahu with my brother. This is also a view of what I did every night while there. It was most lovely, and my niece and nephew are adorable!

Essie Licorice, nail decals, Waikiki beach, flip flop blisters

Sally Hansen Nail Wraps

the red is Julep Ellen

Holy Freakin' COW! I love these nail wraps!

I had stayed away from these for a long long long time because I couldn't justify the cost of what I basically categorize as stickers. $8.50 for sixteen? I pay eight bucks for a bottle of nail polish and that can last me years. Why would I pay eight dollars for something that I won't even be able to use twice?

Well forget it. I love these. They were super easy to use, look awesome, lasted for a week, and were just as easy to remove as to apply. 

I very, very, truly, totally recommend these.

Ivory cable-knit V-neck sweater

V-Neck Target
Skirt Chadwicks
Tights Smiths
Shoes Steve Madden

I did it again. I was out looking for something else and found the perfect thing.

I was at Target wrapping up my Christmas shopping and looking for a pair of grey sweats to act as my jammies for Christmas eve. I found this sweater instead. It was on sale for fifteen dollars. I think that was a pretty even deal. I didn't find any bottoms, but I discovered a really easy way to get to Target, so I will be visiting more often.

What did you do to your eyes?

Black cashmere vneck,
Black pencil skirt,
Awesome tights, penguin shoes

I work in an office within a building where I’m stuffed into a cubicle facing the corner with my back to everyone and everything. I like it because I can shut the world out and do my work and no one bothers me. The people I normally talk to are all over the country, so no one sees me except for the other two cubicle dwellers I share an office with and a few others in the building.

Dooce taught me that I should never blog about work, so that’s enough about that.

The reason I mention this at all is because I rarely wear makeup to work. No one ever sees me and it’s a hassle in the morning, and I hardly see my husband during the week, so I have taken to not wearing makeup during the week.

I love beauty products, I love wearing makeup, and playing with different looks. I just don’t like to do it for the day to day crap where no one ever looks at me or cares what I look like.

I always dress nicely for work: skirts, heels, pantyhose, blouses… blah blah. I find it interesting that no one asks me why I’m so dressed up unless I’m wearing makeup.

I wore makeup today: foundation, blush, eyeliner, mascara, lip gloss. Nothing fancy at all. My nails are even naked today!

I had the following conversation with a co-worker:

Him: “What did you do to your eyes?”

Me: “What?”

“Your eyes look different.”

“Different?”

“Yeah, something is different with your eyes.”

“Like how? (pauses) Oh. I’m wearing makeup. I don’t normally wear makeup.”

“Oh, I guess that’s what it is. Well, you always look beautiful”

End scene.

Someone else asked me why I was so dressed up. I’m not wearing anything different than I would wear on a normal day.

Huey has been showering at night because he has this long, shaggy hair and he gets cold when his hair is wet and he has to walk to the bus stop in the morning. This causes me to have extra time in the morning because I don’t have to hound him to get in the shower. I was really happy because I had new tights and put together a fun outfit today, so I took the time to put on minimal makeup.

I find it interesting that it made such a difference that people noticed enough to comment.

Also, wearing makeup equals “dressed up” to some people.

I have decided that all shirts should have snaps

Black Dickies shirt, White denim Ralph Lauren skirt

This is the third shirt with snaps that I have purchased in the last year or so, and I have decided that snaps are the way to go. Sure, they make a lot of noise in the dryer, but that's the only down side. They take seconds to snap, and even less time to undo. No more buttons for me!! It's snaps all the way.

I love Dickies. I know that most of their clothes are made for working stiffs, but that's what I am - a working stiff. The quality is top notch, and the style of some of their clothes is totally rockabilly retro and suits me just fine.

I liked this shirt so much that I turned around and bought it in white too. Can't wait until it comes in the mail!

Penguin Shoes

So. I told you about the Polyvore and I told you about the new shoes.

Here is the story about how Polyvore made me get the new shoes.

Right after I joined Polyvore, I was workin’ a set and putting together a black and white outfit (black and white is my favourite) when I did a search for Spectator pumps and these babies popped up.

OOOOOh! Those are cute! I thought.

So cute, in fact, that I thought and thought and thought about them. Then I dreamed about them and then I thought some more. I am familiar with the brand as I have two pair of shoes from the same brand and they are well made and affordable. Oh my GOSH did I think about those shoes and how cute they were and how much I loved them and how I would wear them every day and they were only $60.00, so I could justify the price and….

Well let’s just say that I could not stop thinking about those shoes and how cute they were.

A brief history of not buying something that I can’t get out of my head:

A long time ago, I saw the perfect white ballet flats. They had no heel whatsoever. There were no embellishments. They had a slightly pointy toe which fits with my pointy feet perfectly. They would have gone with everything. I had just bought a pair of shoes and had no more babysitting money, so I didn’t buy them. Years went by. I looked and looked and looked for white flats and could not find any that fit the bill. Either they had a weird heel or a dumb bow or there was no toe room. The main reason why no other shoes would do was because I had seen the perfect ones and couldn’t get the idea of the perfect shoes out of my head and nothing compared. I finally found a pair of Fluevogs that were perfect. I wore the heck out of them, befriended a cobbler, had them re-made, and wore the heck out of them again. I threw them out when I got married and moved from Canada to Salt Lake City and have regretted it ever since. To this day I have not found another pair of perfect flats and do not possess a pair.

What have we learned? That if you see something you LOVE, not like, but LOVE, you should get it. You should save up your money and think about it and if you can’t get it out of your head, then you should get it before it’s gone and you can never have it and it haunts you for the rest of your life.

I have similar regret with a pair of charcoal grey flannel pumps I saw at the Nordstrom Rack in 1998 and a pair of black and white houndstooth pumps I saw at Famous Footwear three years ago.

I always find what I’m looking for when I’m not looking for anything which is why I found these shoes. Seeing that I suffer from non-buyer’s remorse, I try to have a little extra tucked away for moments like this. Since I had thought of the shoes non-stop since I saw them, they would go with everything I own, and I LOVED them, I bought them. I had read the reviews saying that you need to go up a size, and since I already own two pairs of shoes made by the same company and they are super duper tight, I ordered a size ten and with the exception of some toe pinching on the left foot (which is normal for me when breaking in new shoes), they fit perfectly. I am VERY glad I went a size up. (going a size up is very hard for me because I already hate my feet, so admitting that they are also giant feet makes me very sad and want to crawl into a hole and die.)

I’ve had them two weeks and worn them three times already. Since I can’t wear my suede Steve Maddens in summer, these are my new New Favourites.

When dancing around the house with them on my feet, in my hands, on my head, and showing them to all the males in my house including the dog and forcing them to tell me how cute they were, the consensus of their opinions came down to this: they look like penguins.

You see why I have a blog? No one in my house appreciates me so I have to turn to the internet for validation.

Black and White 164.6 - up from yesterday, JOY!

I'm a simple person, I have simple tastes, I like simple, clean lines. I like Japanese and Scandanavian interior design. I don't like things to be cluttered or busy or too fancy and swirly. I don't like things that have too much going on.
Since I like to start with shoes, today's are black and gold stilletos. Instead of leather, these shoes are HAIR. Cool, no? (to each his own, I suppose). They are splattered with gold paint and have gold heels. Since the shoes have a lot going on, the rest of the outfit is pretty plain.
Take a look:

Black hose, black pencil skirt that doesn't fit and needs desperately to be altered but I don't have the time nor the desire to do so, White long-sleeved t-shirt (one of many, many white shirts I own) and black cardigan. In my hair I have a black and white Laura Ashley scarf that my Mother-in-law bought for me when I was first married.

I used a "photographer" today, my first born son. He didn't do such a hot job. My second born son insisted on being in the photo. He's adorable, so I let him. My first born warned him: "This is going on the internet, you know." Second born answered, "I don't care". There you have it; the difference between Jose and Hose B. Jose tells me he doesn't want me posting any more pictures of him on Facebook, Hose B. could care less. (more on why another time)
My jewelry is simple, pearl earrings, because the sweater is so fancy with the embellishments on the shoulders and the aforementioned shoes. I also went without hoops because my ears hurt from wearing cheap $5.00 earrings two days in a row.
About Hoop earrings and pierced ears: I got my ears pierced when I was 5. The rule was that I had to wait until I was 6, but my best friend had her 6th birthday in August and mine isn't until December, and she didn't want to have her ears pierced all by herself, so her mum convinced my mum to let me have my ears pierced at the same time. At the time we lived in a cul-de-sac. My best friend lived on one side, we lived at the top, and on the other side lived a family of boys - the Browns. Mrs. Brown was a beautician, so she pierced our ears at our houses with an ice cube. No gun for us! We were hard core! My best friend and her mum came over to our house and Mrs. Brown did hers first since she was the one who was technically six, and then did mine. I don't remember anything other than my best friend was so terrified and I held her hand and next thing we knew, she had these pretty gold balls sparkling in her ears. I was next. I remember the right earring going in fine, and then I remember waking up on the couch in my bathrobe. Apparently, when Mrs. Brown did my left ear, I promptly threw up all over her and passed out cold. So, so sorry Mrs. Brown! I had no idea that would happen. I felt so grown up and cool getting my ears pierced and it looked so easy when my friend had hers done, I had no idea that would happen! Afterwards, my friend said to me "and I was the one that was scared!" When I was 13, I had a second hole put in my left ear. I went with my Nana and my little sister to the Bay to have it done. My little sister was 6 and getting her first set of holes. My little sister's birthday is in November, so my Nana was taking us both for our birthdays. Little sis went first. As I was getting in the chair to have my ear done, my little sister melted into the floor, fainting. One minute she was standing there like everything was peachy, and the next she was a blob on the floor. Little sis had a history of fainting, and since I had fainted when I was six, I assured everyone that this was normal and she would be fine, and I picked her up off the floor and helped her sit down. So they pierced my second hole, and all the blood flew out of my head. I said, "oh, I'm going to go too", and promptly put my head between my knees. We were both fine after that, but I feel terrible still for my poor Nana having to deal with her two fainting granddaughters in the jewelry department at the Bay!
Once I was able to wear regular earrings after my initial piercing, my Aunt Shelley gave me some tiny gold hoops. The kind that connect in to each other so that they can spin around in your ear. They were supposed to be good for newly pierced ears because you could move them through the holes and there was less chance of infection. They were very pretty and delicate, and I loved being able to sit in class and stare out the window and spin my hoops in my ears. I wore those hoops consantly
When I got to Junior high school (grade eight), I got my first pair of big hoops. They were white plastic and about 3 inches in diameter. I loved them and wore them with everything. White goes with everthing, right? About grade ten was when the obsession began. I got a pair of silver hoops, also about 3 inches in diameter. I loved them so much I got another pair, then another. I kept getting bigger and bigger hoops. The goal was to find a pair of hoops that would touch my shoulders. When I was in grade twelve, I achieved that goal - a big ol' pair of 4 inch silver hoops. I would wear the big hoops in my two main holes, and a tiny hoop or a cubic zirconia stud in the second hole on my left ear. I worked at a clothing store in the mall and wore my hoops every day. I had gold ones, silver ones, white, turquoise, houndstooth, you name it. If they were hoops, I wore them. Customers would come to my store when I wasn't working and would ask for me, but they could never remember my name. They would say, "I was here yesterday and this girl was helping me with some jeans. You know, the one with the hoops." After that I was known as "Hoops" amongst all the mall personell. Weirdly, I also played basketball, but I was no good, the "Hoops" nickname had nothing to do with my prowess at basketball.
One time, my boyfriend was nuzzling my neck and it tickled, so I pulled away. When I did so, he started screaming in pain and holding his face. Turns out that when I pulled away, my hoop got stuck in his nostril. The hoop was stretched out in to a U shape instead of a C shape. I felt terrible and never wore those earrings around him again.
I served an LDS mission when I was 21, and as a representative for the Church, one must dress conservatively, so I had to give up the huge hoops. As a going away gift, my Grama gave me a pair of beautiful 24 carat gold hoops that were only 1 inch in diameter, so I could wear them on my mission. Sadly, I lost one of them on the airplane from Vancouver to Salt Lake City, UT. I was devastated. When I got home, I realized that I had a lone gold hoop from another set of earrings that was also 1 inch in diameter. To this day I wear them as a set and no one can tell that I'm wearing two different earrings.
After my mission, I kind of got out of the habit of wearing hoops. They just sat in my jewelry box while I wore tiny delicate studs. This was the post-grunge era, so the wearing of accessories kind of flew out the window. As I got older, I still loved hoops, and have a pair that are 1/4 inch in diameter that I would wear, but I was too self-conscious to go back to my bigger hoops.
Over the last year or so, I have quit caring what other people think of how I look, and quit trying to fit in so much, and I've gone back to wearing hoops. It is glorious and wonderful. I only wear hoops that are 2 inches in diameter or smaller, and I don't wear them every day. I still have the 4 inchers in my jewelery box. I guess I'm saving them for Halloween.