Awkward And Awesome Thursday

Hello Lovelies,
I am in sunny Los Angeles as you read this.  Hope you are having a great Thursday.

Awkward:

•  My bra strap breaking while I am out running around.  Not a good look with one girl contained and the other running loose.  Not to mention this was my absolute favorite La Perla bra that is now discontinued.
• Being followed around by luggage salesman while son2 and I were shopping for luggage.  Dude could not handle the fact that he didn't have what we wanted. 
• Asking son1 if I could tag along to his haircut because I desperately needed a bang trim.  I couldn't risk working on them myself knowing I was about to depart for LA.
• Dropping the dog off at the kennel for boarding and being told that the poor dog is behind on her shots. 
• Our air-conditioning going out downstairs over the weekend. More just HOT than awkward really! 

Awesome:

• Getting the last free gift with purchase that Ulta had in stock when I purchased by Benefits Cosmetic item
• Finding the clothes washing detergent, GAIN with Lavender at Target and buying all that they had.  That stuff is impossible to find to use with an HE washer. (I know it is the little things in life isn't it!?)
• Finding an awesome bra replacement at Victoria Secret.  Nothing like the one I had, but I love it the most now.
• Finding some bins the right size to re-organize my make-up.  I knew it wouldn't last from when I did it back in January.  Hoping I have found the key to my dilemma.
• Being in LA right now with husband and sons and hopefully spotting a few celebs as well.

Are you loving this top as much as I am.

  I totally forgot I had it. 

 It was pushed way in the back of the closet.

  It is a thrifted top I got back in March. 

 Bonus:  trimmed in sequins!

Have an Awesome Thursday a wear some sequins during the day.  You will feel glamorous all day long, even is shorts!

tank-thrifted

shorts-GAP

sandals-Belk

Some Of My Favorite Things

So I am on my to LA this morning and decided to leave you with a little video of some of my favorite things that I have been loving this summer.

Hope you enjoy this and find a product or two that you will want to try.

My Long Lost Jeans

I don't know if you remember me saying that I had accidentally put a pair of my favorite jeans into the laundry basket that son1 took back to school in December.

I am telling you that I tore this house up looking for those jeans.  I remembered the last time I had worn them and just couldn't figure out where they went.

When son1 came home for the summer and deposited all of his laundry at the door of the laundry room, I never imagined my beloved jeans would be in that disgusting pile!

I decided I needed to wear them, since they had been neglected for so long. 

 

I paired them with a sequin tank and a little shrug

Threw on a pair of Jack Purcells and there you go!

I did the "front tuck" on the shirt cuz I just like the casual look of it

Pulled on my silver bracelets that were sitting on the sink and I was ready for a day of running errands.

Everyone always asks, so I will tell you... 

there are little birds on the inside of the jeans.

  That is what the print is on the cuffed bottoms.

Hope everyone is having a great day! 

Did you ever misplace a beloved article of clothing and found it again.....

sequin tank/shurg-Old Navy

jeans-GAP

belt-White House/Black Market

kicks-Jack Purcell-Zappos

necklace-Handpicked

bracelets-random

watch-Burberry-gifted

The Date

Hello All,
I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Saturday, husband and I went out for our 26 year anniversary which was actually on Wed.  As mentioned before I wore my new Banana Republic dress that I have been wanting since the first time I saw it.

I know I am not 5'8" & 100 LBS like the model shown wearing it in the magazine add,

 but I love the dress any way!!
Bonus: dress has pockets, I love pockets.

Husband and I made a day of it on Saturday. 

 We started the afternoon off by visiting the only brewery we have here in Charlotte. 

 The Old Mecklenburg Brewery. 

 It is only 2 years old, but it was fun.

  We toured the behind the scenes, drank some yummy beer, hung out with the cool, young crowd and even brought home a growler. 

I piled on lots of silver jewelry with this dress. 

 I thought about some wood pieces, but they just seemed to heavy and hot.

I slapped my high wedges on because this dress is ridiculously long and off we went.

After our tour, we had some yummy food and came back home to watch a movie. 

 After the movie, well.....

 that's just private business! :)

It was a nice relaxing celebration and that is just what we needed and wanted!

maxi-Banana Republic

wedges-Target

random silver bracelets

earrings-Old Navy

necklace-gifted

Friend Friday: Things I Never Would Have Looked Twice At Before

Happy Friday everyone!

Just wanted to update you on some changes for Friend Friday.  It will now only be the 1st and 3rd Fridays of every month. 

Now on to today's topic:

  Things I Never Would Have Looked Twice At Before

Before what you ask?  Blogging of course!

1. Since you began blogging do you notice a change in the types of things you gravitate towards while shopping?

• Yes, I am much more discerning in my shopping. 
• I am not so impulsive 
• I gravitate more toward things to add to my wardrobe to make it more interesting, not just to have a new item of clothing

  2.Do you find, as a fashion blogger, that you dress differently from your family and friends? Do they comment on that?

• I think the main thing I hear is that I dress up all the time
• I have learned through blogging that you have to get dressed anyway, so why not put your best foot forward!?

 

3.What’s the weirdest fashion that you secretly like, even if you aren’t bold enough to wear it?

• I don't know of anything "weird" that I really want to try
• I love the look of all neutrals, but that will never happen with my skin tone
• I love the look of killer heels! I just can't seem to master the art of walking in them! 

    4. Looking at current trends – what would you like to try but need to build up the courage to do?

•  I will pretty much try anything once, but my rule is usually, if I wore it the last time it was in style, I probably won't wear it when it comes back in style.  The two major exceptions to my rule have been: wide legged jeans and maxi's.
• There are some trends out there that I would like to try, but I am just not young enough anymore.

 

   5. Toot someone’s horn – what fashion blogger out there inspires you with her bold fashion choices?

• Tracy at The Closet Shopper
• Ashley at Two Eyes In the Mirror
• Kendi at Kendi Everyday

I have to  give a shout out to all fashion bloggers though.  Because of them, my ideas, sense of fashion and readiness to think outside of the box has changed!  I salute all fashion bloggers and am glad to be counted as a one of them.

 If you want to see what other's have to say about this subject, pop over to Katy's blog:

ModlyChic

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Hi everyone and happy Thursday! 

At least I think it is Thursday. 

With all of my crazy traveling, I rarely know what day it is anymore.

Just super casual today because I am working in the studio trying to play catch up.

Awkward:

• The sunburn on my head is finally peeling.  Big chunks of grossness floating around in my hair.  Took me about an hour to finally realize what was going on!
• Trying to spell out Happy Father's Day in chocolate chips because the only ice cream cakes available said Happy Birthday on them.  Trust me when I say it just looked like a bunch of random black dots on the top of the cake.
• Unpacking my suitcase and discovering that my hairspray had exploded.  Thankfully I had packed it inside a ziplock bag with other items that could have potentially exploded.  What a sticky mess.
• On my way out the door for a fun evening with friends and stepping in dog poo on the way to the car.  Dog poo and espadrilles don't make a good combination.
• Son2 going out to the garage to get a bottle of Snapple and almost stepping on a big old snake.  Smart kid immediately just chopped it's head off.  Turns out it was a Mangrove Snake.  People keep them for pets.  Thank goodness son2 didn't know that before he chopped the head off!

Awesome:

• Having so much fun with friends that we closed down the restaurant at least an hour after it was supposed to close and spending the rest of the night talking in the middle of an empty parking lot.
• Getting a dress I have wanted since the first day I saw it in the magazine ad and every time I passed by it in the window at Banana Republic.  I finally got it!  Last one in my size, 40% off.  Yea me!
• Husband and sons1&2 making our itinerary for our trip out to LA next week.
• Looking forward to date night with husband on Saturday to celebrate our 26th anniversary.  I will be wearing above mentioned dress!
• Finally moving and putting away a giant pile of clothes in my room and finding $25 underneath the pile.  Not only is my room now tidy, I am rich!

I got these great boyfriend shorts at the Loft outlet while in Florida.

I remembered I had a rewards card and so they ended up costing me only $4.

Bad lighting inspired me to try my hand at using a colored frame for this picture.

Have an awesome Thursday today and stay away from dog poo and snakes!

top-Banana Republic

shorts-Loft Outlet

kicks-gifted from a friend that bought them in London for me

necklace-Handpicked

earrings& watch-gifted

bracelet-Belks

After All These Years

If you aren't familiar with that title, it is from a song by Journey. I used it today because today is my 26th wedding anniversary. Husband and I were college sweethearts! I am not sure where the heck time goes, but it is hard to imagine that we aren't still those two fresh faced young kids. We have been through many things together and we are still excited about the adventures ahead!

I have worn an outfit similar to this before.

  This time I wore a different pattern shorts and paired it with a white belt and silver jewelry.

Remember my fabulous gold sandals I got at GAP for a song?  Well, while in Nashville they completely fell apart. 

I was able to take them back,

but they were all sold out of the gold,

so I ended up with these cute melon colored ones. 

 

 Husband and I will celebrating our anniversary this weekend

as he is in Atlanta and I am having a girls night out tonight.  

I promise to take some anniversary pics.

Hope you all have a great day and are spending it with a special someone in your life!

ps...was anyone else having problems loading pics to blogger today?
I ended up having to use html
not a good thing for me!

shorts/t-shirt-Loft

sandals-GAP

belt-White House/Black Market

bracelets-as many silver ones as I could find in my jewelry

earrings-Old Navy

Not A Worry In The World, A Cold Beer In My Hand

I have to start off my blog today by telling you that on the plane to Destin, I got to see yet another celebrity.
If you follow me on twitter you know that I had tweeted that the dude sitting across from me looked just like Maks Chmerkovskiy.  I just couldn't help but keep looking at him all through the trip. When the dude sitting in front of husband got up and looked just like Maks' brother, Val, I was especially curious.  When our plane started taxing in I checked to see what Maks had last tweeted.  Ta Da... he had tweeted that he was indeed on a plane going to Ft. Walton.  I was beyond excited.  He is my absolute favorite on Dancing With The Stars.

I thought he had hurriedly gotten off of the plane and left, but there he was in baggage claim.  I went up to him and asked if he was indeed Maks.  He was very nice, introduced me to his brother and said he was there for a dance show in Pensacola.  Let me just say that he is even better looking in person and very soft spoken.  Everyone has asked if had his shirt on, because he is known for taking his shirt off on the show. LOL  He was wearing a tank top.
  
Well, my trip was already off to a great start and it had only been 2 days since my last celebrity sighting. :)

The beach was beautiful, the water gorgeous and the weather fabulous!

We were there with husbands family. 

 His 4 brothers and sisters, wives, husbands, kids and mother.  It was quite a large group.

Ha, a rare photo of me in a swimsuit!

My two nieces. 

 I try to get a girl fix when I am with them since I am always surrounded by boys at home.

Husband and I enjoying a little beach time together.

  Son1 and son2 did not come on this trip. 

 They stayed home and worked.

A little fun at a restaurant where we ate while in Destin.

After we left Destin we drove on to Mobile where much of my family is. 

 A Father's Day photo of me, my dad, my sister and my brother.

I can't leave out my other niece in Mobile.

We had a little girly, girl time together as well

We got back Sunday night and I must say the boys did a nice job of cleaning up whatever shenanigans went on while we were away. 

 I am sticking to ignorance is bliss!

I will be back to OOTD posts tomorrow.

Have a great Tuesday!

Kick'n It Till The Morning Light

I am back in Charlotte and am bummed I couldn't post while away.
I am going to do my Nashville recap post this morning, even though it has been a week since I have been back.
It was just too much fun, not to post about though.

When we first got to Nashville, we encounter these guys,

 Riders In The Sky. 

 At the time we thought we were lucky to see them and that we really might not see anyone other "celebs" 

 Little did we know at the time.

Wednesday night we were able to get tickets to the CMT Awards show.

  We bought them off of the street and had no idea what our seats were going to be like.

  Much to our surprise they were actually pretty good.

  The awards show was great and we loved seeing all of the behind the scenes things that go on while filming a live TV show. 

 Hope you got to catch the show on TV that night.

BTW, the picture of the bottom left is where all the celebs sat during the awards. 

 Pretty cool to see them all together and having fun amongst themselves.

We came across these girls on Thursday down at the River Front Concert Stage. 

 Loved their shirts. 

(front: We left South Dakota, back: To find real cowboys)

 The concerts at the river front were great, but man was it hot. 

 I am pretty sure this is where my head got so sunburned!

(that is Craig Morgan in the background)

Top picture is from Boot Country where I found a pair of boots I really wanted. 

 BTW... that is my $4 Old Navy dress that I got into a fight over buying. 

 Next picture are my dream boots.

  Couldn't fork over that amount of cash though. 

 Bottom left picture is in front of the famed club Tootsies.  The line to get in at night was CRAZY. 

 Found out Kellie Pickler was hanging out there during the evenings.

  Last picture is our first night at LP stadium. 

 Our seats were fabulous!

Top picture was taken at Jack's Bar B Que.

  The line was not bad and well worth the wait!! 

 Delicious.

Next picture was from Fan Fair Hall where we went to see, meet and get photo's of celebs. 

 We always ended up seeing good people and a few people we never heard of. 

 Some day we might say, oh yea remember when we saw so so and didn't know who they were. 

 Bottom picture is from River Front Stage. 

 We bought cowboy hats first thing that morning to save our pretty little heads from the sun. 

 Last picture is me waiting at the airport to go home.

  So tired, but so happy!

These are the 3 boys that stole my heart while in Nashville.

  I wasn't the biggest fan when I got there, but I sure am now!

To My Great Friend Carol!!

  Thanks for sharing this incredible experience with me!

  You are the best!