The ___ Days of Christmas Sweaters

It’s after midnight, but I’m up blogging because I’m a little behind on my Christmas sweater posts. I have a few excuses though. First of all, I don’t even know how many sweaters I have this year because I haven’t unpacked them all yet. Second, I’ve had a little problem with renewing my driver’s license. Apparently, my state birth certificate is not proof of my citizenship anymore because I’m adopted. Ugh. Anyway, I mostly have it straightened out now, but it is a lot of legal jargon to wade through (and the people at the DMV are not only unhelpful but also irksome as they have been making up laws that don’t exist). Anyway, here are two Christmas sweaters.

I can testify to how comfy it is to have a fur collar on your sweater in the winter. Who needs a scarf when your sweater is already keeping your neck warm for you. Think of how haughty you can be when you see people wearing two garments when they could be only wearing one!

You can tell I’m ready for bed in this picture. Also, my lips are zombie-colored from the lip cream I got in my advent calendar. However, I wanted you to see our new cat! Her name is Trudy. The animal shelter said that she was three, so we thought we were bringing home a mellow and mature cat. We were wrong. The vet said that Trudy is probably around one year old, and Trudy started acting like a kitten as soon as she stopped taking her antibiotics. I thought we had trained her to stay off the counter tops, but I have already caught her back on them again twice today. Thus far she hasn’t ruined anything or eaten any of our people food, so I think we are doing a good job of training of her. Anyway, I hope you’re enjoying your December! Trudy and I both say goodnight!

The First Day of Christmas Sweaters 2016

I’m getting a late start on my Christmas sweaters because we just moved. It took a while to dig out all of my winter clothing, and it was really hard to get motivated in November when it still felt like summer here in the south. However, December is here, and I am officially another year older. A new house and a birthday call for a new sweater, right? 


Teddy bears skiing? Um, yes, please! I could not pass this sweet sweater up when I saw it in the toasty, warm months of summer. 


Here’s the back:


I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t done my nails in weeks. You guys all know how serious that is! However, these pictures are really making me regret not having matching teddy bear nails. Well, there’s always next year! What will I wear tomorrow? Not even I know that! 

Thrifted Thursday: Pink Peplum Dress 7 Ways

 


It’s the inaugural post of Thrifted Thursday! This is where I will be showing off my second-hand treasures. My first find is my Easter dress, a hot pink Lilly Pulitzer. This showstopper was in mint condition. I wasn’t sure about the peplum, but I am personally always sold on gingham. Maybe it’s the country girl in me? Anyway, this dress was such an amazing find that a posh-looking mom followed me around Goodwill, hoping that I would set it down. Seriously, she was like those vultures at the Lilly for Target sale!

Anyway, I only wore it for an hour and a half at the Easter service on Sunday, so I decided to wear it again to Bible Study on Monday. I wore it differently each time, which gave me an idea to post how to wear the dress 7 different ways. I don’t think I will be doing this every Thursday because I still haven’t fully cleaned up the bedroom from the aftermath of styling so many outfits. Also, I don’t have a nice camera, so my pictures don’t really look that great. And it’s really hard to smile and “smize” for an hour. It’s even harder when you are an awkward picture-taker and not Tyra Banks. 😉 Anyway, on to the outfits!

I decided that I would make a week’s worth of outfits for my lifestyle using this dress. It is very bright, but I’ve added a considerable amount of color to my wardrobe lately. It’s way too hot to wear all black where I live. Also, sorry for the lighting. The sun peeked in-and-out, so sometimes the lamp lighting was all we had (and that’s why my skin is orange).


Day 1: Easter Sunday calls for being a classy lady, so I topped the dress with a small white cardigan. I pulled out my pearl jewelry and an envelope clutch (a gift from my favorite and only sister) to match my bow-bedecked, gold peep-toe shoes. (Fun fact: I wore these shoes to my wedding.)

Day 2: A Monday meeting calls for professionalism, but a writer also needs to look fun and creative. I paired my sweet pink dress with a well-cut blazer. Suede pointy-toe black pumps and a black foldover clutch match my black suede tassel earrings.

Day 3: A night of board games on Tuesday calls for something comfortable and casual. The cut-outs on the back of this sweatshirt give it visual interest. Wearing tennis shoes with a dress isn’t something everyone likes, but I think it’s a fun look. Note that I matched my purse because my matchy-matchy is my middle name. Actually, it’s not, but my middle name will never be printed on this blog. Who are you, my mother?

Day 4: Wednesday is the Lord’s half day, which means you can be a bit more casual at church. Ha! Mixing this vibrant green sweater with a hot pink dress is not for the faint of heart. The sweater is a bit longer than the peplum on the dress, so I belted the sweater in place. I’m wearing a vintage enamel pin to show that I am a proper church lady. Ballet flats help keep the outfit casual. (Second fun fact: my husband gave these shoes to me before he proposed to try to confuse me. They were supposed to take the place of some other pink shoes I had when I was little, which is a story for another day.)

Day 5: Okay, so we don’t go to the fair every Thursday night, but let’s pretend. I love to go to the fair! The fair is still country even if you live in a big city like we do. If you’re about to pet bunnies and watch pigs race, then you better get in touch with your inner cowgirl by wearing a denim shirt. A big necklace, cowboy hat, and cowboy boots are also required. If you don’t have a cowboy hat, you must tease your hair. Big hair makes you closer to God. (Third fun fact: during grad school, a friend confided to me that she had a dream of walking into a thrift store and finding a great pair of cowboy boots for a great price. A little while later, this dream came true… for me.)

Day 6: Friday night is date night. I stepped the dress up a notch by belting a sequined wrap over it. A beaded choker and earrings, a beaded clutch, and stiletto sandals elevate your dress from last night’s fair to tonight’s opera. Okay, I’ve never been to the opera. Usually, we go to a really nice restaurant and then go back home because I ate so much I can’t walk anymore.

Day 7: Saturday afternoon I don the dress for a baby shower. Everyone will be dressed up nicely, so I wear the gingham peplum dress. I keep it casual with a jean jacket. Everything else is silvery or clear: beaded hoops, large crystal necklace, small crystal bracelet, candy purse, and jelly flats. I may or may not be obsessed with accessories you can see through.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing one thrifted dress styled 7 different ways. I feel funny about posting so many pictures of myself. I’m going to go hide in my bedroom now. Oh, wait! I can’t because of all of this!

This is the ugly truth that style bloggers never write about on their blogs (not that I consider myself a style blogger). I better go clean it! Happy Thursday!

Oh, and don’t forget to tell me about your thrifting finds in the comments!

Mani Monday: Wet ‘n Wild Fresh White Creme & Fingerpaints Psychdelic Pop

 

Hello, friends! Did you have a happy Easter? I sure did. We went to church, dyed eggs, ate a delicious meal (ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, green salad, and ice cream with strawberries), watched a movie, and played games. I pretty much had the time of my life!

We watched the new Left Behind movie starring Nicolas Cage on Netflix. This movie got a lot of flack on my Facebook feed, but we liked it. It was entertaining, and ol’ Nic C. is always good. Also, my husband and I thought the special effects were great. Whether or not you believe in the rapture, it’s still a fun Sunday afternoon watch. (Personally, I think people should not be focused on the end times. The important thing is what we celebrate on Easter: Jesus’ death and resurrection, which pays for our sins.)

I had a fresh manicure to match my new-to-me Easter dress for church. It’s a hot pink gingham Lilly Pulitzer I found at Goodwill. I love to shop at thrift stores! Do you? I’m thinking about starting a series about my thrift store finds as I am trying to revitalize my wardrobe. Would you be interested in reading a series like that?

Anyway, back to my mani. The white is French White Creme by Wet ‘n Wild. This white usually wears for about three days. It takes three coats to become opaque, otherwise it is streaky. The pink dots are Psychedelic Pop by Fingerpaints. I really like this color. It is opaque and bright. It also has good wear time. I would definitely recommend it.

Have a happy Monday!

Mani Monday: Orly Green with Envy

Happy Pi Day, everyone! Did you eat any yummy pies? I had both grasshopper pie (mint chocolate chip) and razzleberry pie (mixed berry). Mmm…  😛 

Anyway, since both Easter and St. Patrick’s day coming up, I decided to do a pastel mani with a green base. The green color here is Orly Green with Envy. I thought it would be a creamy pastel, but it is actually a weird sheer green. It took four coats to get this opacity. I do not recommend this color not only because of its sheerness but also because of its short wear time. I dotted two other Orly colors onto my nails, Lollipop & Snowcone (lavendar and sky blue, respectively). They have an even worse wear time than Green with Envy, so I don’t recommend them either. I have tried them with both the Orly bonder base and an OPI base. There was no difference in wear time when I used the same brand’s basecoat with these polishes. It could just be the pastels though. These are the only Orly polishes I have ever tried. I also used two Colorstay polishes from Revlon. These polishes have a decent wear time for drugstore nail lacquer, but the brushes on all of the Colorstay polishes are cut unevenly (including ones I did not picture in this post). This makes creating a nice manicure nearly impossible. The colors I used are Provence & Coastal Surf (gray-lavendar and french blue). Have you ever tried these brands? Did you get the same results I did?

 

From L-R: Lollipop, Provence, Green with Envy, Coastal Surf, Snowcone

Well, I have some news for people who refuse to love math and celebrate Pi Day. Today is also White Day! No, white day is not a day where we celebrate white people. It is a holiday made up by confectioners in Asia to sell more candy. No, seriously, it is. I don’t know which countries celebrate it other than Korea and Japan. However, both countries make the girls give the boys they like candy on Valentine’s Day. A month later on White Day, the boys respond in turn. We don’t usually celebrate White Day at our house, but we decided to try it this year. My husband surprised me by taking the day off to do fun things with me all day! So far I have gotten two bouquets of flowers, seen a movie, gone shopping, and eaten pie. Pretty good day, right? What have you been up to today? Let me know in the comments!

Leap Day

Happy Leap Day! Today is a special day that acknowledges that science cannot dictate that which it studies. Nature does what she wants! Nature is not beholden to humankind!

I’m celebrating Leap Day by watching the movie Leap Year while wearing green and gold on my nails. Apparently, it is tradition for women to ask the men for their hand in marriage on a leap year in Ireland, so the green on my nails is for Ireland and the gold for wedding rings.

Leap_year_poster.jpg

I have never watched this movie before, so I have no clue whether it is any good. However, it is on Netflix and does have Matthew Goode in it, so it can tide Downton Abbey fans over while we wait for the season finale to be aired. I would like to note that this movie was released in 2010, which was not a leap year. Someone really missed the mark on that one.

My mani today is from Zoya’s PixieDust line. I really love how the texture brings out the sparkles. The emerald color is called Chita, and the gold color is Solange. Both are two of my favorites in my vast collection. They both have really good wear time of three to four days with no chipping. I wear Solange a lot in the summer while pretending I am lounging in a cabana.

How are you celebrating Leap Day? Are you wearing green and gold? Are you watching Leap Year? Are you going to ask your boyfriend to marry you? (Get it, girl!) Let me know in the comments.!

Happy Korean New Year!

That’s me in the long gray hoodie. 

 

Happy Lunar New Year! It’s a special day to eat tteokkuk (rice cake soup) and japjae (rice noodles) for good luck and long life!

 

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Yum!

 

My Mani Monday nails have red and gold sparkles to celebrate.

 

 

 

The base coat is Zoya Taylor, which is a beautiful, cool beige color. I never thought I could pull of a nude nail, but I didn’t know about Zoya’s wide selection of both cool and warm skin-colored tones. You should check them out if you have been having a hard time finding your perfect nude. They have a lot of darker tones too. Just be forewarned that this particular color does stain my nails yellow.

The red glitter is Be-claus I Said So, and the gold one is Only Gold for Me. These both came in a set with Are You Glistenin’?, which I have worn the last two weeks. (I almost added it to this week’s mani, but I thought you might be tired of it.) Interesting tidbit: I wore Only Gold for Me at our wedding.

 

 

We actually celebrated Seollal (Korean New Year) on Saturday at a local Korean church. They made food and had fun demonstrations. They had the children bow to their elders, and then the elders would give them money and advice. I’m not sure why they made me bow with the teenagers, but I now I’m a dollar richer. Ha!

I know that I have readers from all over the world. Did any of you celebrate Lunar New Year today? Let me know in the comments!

새해 복많이 받으세요!