Jacket--Cato, Shell--Target, Skirt--TJ Maxx, Shoes--Merona (Target), Earrings--New York & Co (gift from Mom & Dad)

It's called work-avoidance. And that's what I'm doing currently. Short entry though, because I really do need to do some work...

I said that we went shopping this weekend, but surprisingly, I didn't buy anything on my own. Because my grandmother loves me, she gave me $50 to spend at Cato yesterday, and I managed to pick up a jacket, two shirts, and a pair of shorts all for that amount (ok, it was $55, so I did spend $5 on my own, but even my husband can't complain about that!)

Today I wanted to wear my new $21 spiffy jacket!

I have been debating getting rid of this skirt for some time now, because I never wear it. I'm so glad I haven't though, because it pretty much looks like it was made for this jacket. Love it!

Parents Weekend

Saturday outfit: Shirt--Express, Shorts--New York & Co., Shoes--Aldo, Necklace--LLPA Gift Exchange

This weekend my family came to visit. We had a good visit--lots of quality time in, mostly via shopping adventures. Saturday we tore up the mall, and my cousin Logan made off like a bandit (it might have been due to my grandmother's three margaritas at Cafe Adobe.) This outfit I wore that day was super comfortable, and I promise that I didn't look near as fat in person as I do in these pictures:

This is my "littlest" cousin, Logan. He's starting junior high in one week and came to get some new duds.

Isn't my grandmother cute?

Love these shoes:

Sunday outfit: Shirt--Old Navy, Shorts--Cato, Necklace--Nana, Belt--White House Black Market

Sunday, we mainly just went to Cato and then Cheesecake Factory for lunch. I refrained from ordering a giant piece of cheesecake (I did eat two pieces of Logan's, though.) I also had an entire bowl of macaroni and cheese, so don't praise me too much.

I enjoyed playing with the outfit I wore on Sunday--I wore denim shorts and a long sleeve navy blue shirt--and used white accessories as accent pieces. It was fun to use white as my "pop of color".

Express Stripes

Jacket: Norma Kamali (from Walmart), Shirt: Express, Jeans: Victoria's Secret, Necklace: Gift from Ginny (Hill Country Gifts), Earrings: Gift from Tommy (Zales), Flats: Merona (Target)

I'm having another headache morning today. I think this one is less related to my recent bout of migraines, and more because I got about 3 hours of sleep last night. I tried a new taco/burrito restaurant by my house last night...probably the last time I go there. Which is really disappointing because while I was in there I learned you could get 44 ou. margaritas TO GO. Maybe I'll give the margaritas another try.

Today I am debuting a brand new haircut! I haven't had bangs since I was in high school, and sadly, those were generally the scary sausage-roll type early 90s bangs. I used to have a cyst above my left eyebrow which forced me to wear bangs of some kind to cover it up. I had it removed a few years ago, and went crazy knowing I was no longer forced to have a forehead cover up. I have an oval-shaped face, but I do think I have a high forehead, so I probably look best with bangs. I don't know. Its fun to get to play with different hairstyles. I took some length off too, but not enough so that my husband could qualify my new haircut as "short." That is the dreaded word to describe women's (especially my) hair, in his opinion. He is just no fun.

I also got this shirt last weekend when Leila and I went shopping. Its from Express (one of my three go-to labels) and is super comfortable. I tried on several pairs of jeans last night with this top, however. The horizontal stripe tends to hit right where the waist of my jeans do, and makes me look a little larger over that gray stripe. I'll just be sucking in today, I guess. I can't wait until Fall to wear this with leggings. For some reason the shirt and the haircut make me feel "rocker"-ish today, and I agree that its pretty silly that this is as "rebellious" as I get. So, even though I feel like crap, I tried to look like I'm a bundle of fun in my photo!

The necklace in this picture is my "lucky" necklace. I wear it whenever I need an extra boost of confidence or luck or just a little something to get me through the day. My grandmother bought it for me at this little gift store in Llano--for $1.00. Solely by coincidence, I've been wearing this necklace when some devasting things have happened in my life (which you might think would make this my unlucky necklace...except that those scary things have all turned out okay). It matches anything, too. When my dad ended up in ICU after taking a serious head fall, I wore this necklace everyday for 5 a.m. visits. It can go with anything and ever since then, its been comforting to me. These earrings are from the husband. They make me happy. More flats today, with too long of pants, but as I've explained, I get excited about being able to describe my pants as "too long"!!

La familia is coming in this weekend, and I hope that I'm rested and recovered by the time they get here so that I can be as chipper as they expect from me :)

Migraine Morning

Shirt: Agenda (Ross), Pants: Victoria's Secret, Belt: New York & Co., Shoes: No Boundaries (Wal-Mart)

What a yucky morning...or night, I should say. My husband is out of town, and I ended up with another migraine last night. Two weeks ago, I lost part of my vision and feeling in my hand, and babbled my speech a bit, and ended up in the hospital for two days for what they finally diagnosed as a complex/compound migraine. Since them, I'm plagued with mild migraine headaches, but nothing that a little Excedrin Migraine can't handle. Well, last night, my vision started to blur again and I turned quite pale and dizzy, so I had to break out the Real Stuff that they gave me in the hospital.

This morning, its pretty much gone except for a slight headache, so I'm back to Excedrin. The problem with it is the amount of caffeine that is in two of those suckers. I just took them about 20 minutes ago and I'm already shaking so badly that its hard to type. Nice when you work in an office.

I'm wearing a really comfortable outfit today which I didn't expect to turn out as well as it did, so I'm pleasantly surprised that it is pretty dressy. My office is the most casual law office I've ever worked in, so usually I'm overdressed compared to everyone else. I really try to live by the "when in doubt, dress up motto" though, so I like being extra dressy. This outfit fits in perfectly around here, however, and today I'm fine with that.

I'm wearing my go-to black flats today, which I'm about to have to replace because the back of the left one is becoming worn. My feet are big and weird and it takes me forever to find good shoes to wear all the time. Also, I'm cheap, so that probably makes a difference, too. Payless only has so high of a quality :) These were my favorite forever and they're from Wal-Mart!!

I realize that I should be wearing heels with these pants since they're extra long (still love that Victoria's Secret carries 36" inseam) and they're wide legged. To go with my fabulous morning, I had intended on wearing a pair of straight legged khakis this morning. I ironed them and everything, and as I got to the back of the last leg, there was some two-inch long mysterious oil streak of some kind on them. Where did I get an oil streak on the back of my pants from, I don't know... So, the back up plan was to grab another pair of khakis (the ones that looked the least wrinkled) and throw them on. I had my mind set on flats, though, so here you go.

Accessories are easy today--my favorite black ring that my husband bartered for me in Mexico (missing half the "diamonds" now), earrings from my mom and dad, and a bracelet that was my great-grandmother's that was all tarnished and polished up nicely with a jewelry cloth. I displayed it beautifully on my flowers here at work for the picture. :)

Okay, now Blogger has made my headache worse. I'm obviously inept at putting up these pictures, because I don't think its user friendly at all. I should look up some tutorials online or brush up on some HTML. I think I'll start with the tutorials.

Obi-One

Shirt: Old Navy, Skirt: New York & Co.,

Ribbon/belt: Gap, Purse: New York & Co.






Just in case you were wondering, the iphone is really inconvenient for taking self-portraits. I'm a big fan of self-portraits, too, so that was disappointing to me from the beginning. You have to position your finger around to hit the shutter button on the actual screen of the camera, which puts your hand in an awkward position, and if you move even a milli-inch, the photo blurs and your left with something not so cute.








Today I tried to go for neutral colors (and I specifically stayed away from black and white) but, of course, I still have a pink accent piece. This is a ribbon from a dress I got at the Gap last year. I've been wanting to try an Obi belt for a while now, but have yet to actually see one for sell other than what I can find on the Internet. I'm really weird about belt sizes, so I don't feel comfortable buying them online. So, I took this ribbon and made one myself.
I have a feeling I'll be adjusting it constantly all day (mainly because its only 8:20, and I've already been doing it all morning), but I've already been complimented on it twice so far and one of those was from my husband! :)

Speaking of husbands, mine is off on a business trip for a week today. :(

(Don't make fun of my big feet.)

Love this zebra scarf!

Pants: Victoria's Secret, Pink top: Old Navy ($3 special), Jacket: Cato, Scarf: Express.

Black, white and pink are not my theme for the week, I promise, but my go-to color is always pink. I'm glad I'm in a semi-power suit this morning because I've been dealing with frantic phone calls all morning. Everyone else is stressed, but I'm trying to keep a cool head in light of the fact that I ended up in the hospital two weeks ago due to high stress. (Yep, apparently I'm one of those people now.)

I bought this scarf this weekend with Leila. Of course, every color under the sun was on sale for $5 except the zebra print one that I wanted, but it was okay because I needed another $10 to put my over the coupon hump. The coupon hump occurs when I have a coupon for a certain amount off when you spend a certain amount and I'm only a few dollars short of reaching the next upper amount. New York & Company is the worst (or best!) about that for me, but Express applies, too. In this case, I got $30 off of $75 or $15 off of $60, so either way I was spending $45 total. Might as well bump that purchase amount up and get more merchandise for the price. The trick to this is, of course, not going too far over and ending up spending more than the $45...which is exactly what the business is counting on you to do, thus the reason for the coupon. I, however, am a master of the coupon hump.

My accessories are simple--diamond stud earrings and just some round-toe black heels, and a diamond ring on my hand that I'm not showing.

Dressing "up" for Munday

Top: Express, Skirt: Express, Shoes: Bandolino; Earrings: Gift from Ginny.

I've found that the more professionally I'm dressed at work, the better I can deal with little problems and crises.

Luckily today, I'm wearing a very grown up pencil skirt and heels. Of course, I can't get TOO grown up though, so the heels are hot pink and the skirt has a mock corset back. Just between you and I, my undies are from Victoria's Secret and they lace up the back just like my skirt ;) I know, TMI.

I bought this shirt at Express today. I love that it looks lacey but its just comfortable cotton. I love these mock turtley neck shirts from there. I think they are sexy without being revealing at all. And they are long enough that I can tuck them into most things.

My attempt at Boudoir

Lingerie camisole: Old Navy, Cardigan: New York & Co., Shorts: Old Navy, Necklace: Vintage from great-grandmother, Bracelets: Random.

This is my attempt at Boudoir, on my crappy IPhone camera.




Leila and I went Musueming on Saturday, and I wanted something cute and comfortable that could get me through a few hours in the inner city of Houston. Those who know me know that I often don't stray too far west of Stafford (which means I don't technically get INTO Houston very often).

We had a great time and saw lots of really, really good works of art. I can't believe how many expensive pieces were available for viewing. I also can't believe that they aren't all locked up somewhere between plates of steel and bullet-proof glass. I just don't think I should be able to reach out and touch a Monet if I want to.

After visiting the Musuem of Fine Art, L and I headed across the street to the Musuem of Contemporary Art. It was free to get into, which is good because it wasn't nearly as impressive as the Fine Art musuem. I'm sure that is my own unoriginal fault, but most of the things we saw left me with a crooked headed, squinty-eyed and confused look on my face. We did get to draw on our own fake dollar bill. The greatest thing about the Musuem of Contemporary Art, however, was the gift shop available on the bottom floor.

Leila bought the greatest purse ever...


(Why yes, that is a giant chicken purse. We are on a mission to find an egg-shaped wallet now.)

Afterwards, we went to the finals of Sugar Land Superstar and had too much wine and cheese. Here is evidence...







Nice.


And then, of course, like any good ending to a weekend filled with culture...

We watched the entire first season on Nip/Tuck on the couches in the living room all day on Sunday. Its impressive, we know. We didn't even stop for lunch...we just had the pizza delivery man bring it to us :)

Being Blair Waldorf

Shirt: New York & Co., Skirt: Old Navy, Belt: New York & Co.,
Necktie: French Toast, Headband: Yea, I made it :P






I'm channeling my inner-Blair this morning:

from the (homemade) bow headband, white oxford, cross tie, flair skirt and Mary Janes.

Loving it! I was really wishing I could take a picture of myself today to post it on here, but my camera charger (along with my battery inside of it) is currently MIA...and then I remembered that I can take a picture with my iphone and email it! The quality of the picture is obviously not very good (to my bane, the iphone is not made for taking self-portraits! If you know me, you know that's a problem for me!) but I've used my vast mental superiority and come up with a solution--I'll take a picture of myself using the bathroom mirror!

So, for the record...Brittany as Blair:

Calling all...cards

I know this is my third post of the day, but I just had to.  I'm brimming with ideas!

I've recently heard about this new thing 

called "Mom cards" which are basically contact cards for mommies.  What they really are is just a chic version of a business card, withou

t being..you know..so busin

essy.  Think Victorian era calling cards, back when it was the ubercool society lady's trend to whip a calling card out of her handbag, hand it casually to another woman (or man!) and say, "

Call me!"  What a great idea for moms, whether it is setting up a playdate, meeting new friends, or just trying to give someone your contact information while trying to juggle a newborn.

That being said, I don't think these new calling cards are only great for parents.  I think the calling card trend should come back full scale.  I'm employed full time, but I don't really need a business card for the line of work I'm in.  Many times when I'm meeting new people though, I find myself longing for the convenience that my husband has when he pulls out his wallet and flicks a business card at a new friend.

I want a calling card!  The biggest difference between these new calling cards a

nd boring old business cards are that they are creative!  They're colorful!  The

y stand out!  They are not meant to be used in a professional setting, and they don't want to.  Calling cards also have different contact information--meanin

g your home address and your personal email and your cell phone number.  The point is that these cards are meant to be given to new and old friends not business associates you don't want to call you after hours.

Below are just a few examples of some FUN and useful calling cards sites I've seen online.  I swear, I'm going to help bring this trend back, before I even have kids.  I'm all about being (or at least attempting) ladylike, and I can't wait for the opportunity to say, "Here's my calling card.  Give me a ring and we'll set that up, darling."  (Because naturally, my tone has to regress back fifty years.)

www.crane.com

www.cardsformoms.com

Looking pretty in the rain!!

I vow to look THIS put together next time it rains.

From The Limited Spring Fling collection.

Her freaking umbrella matches her dress.

I'd have to do this dress in pink, since I have a pink umbrella. In fact, I probably have a similar dress in pink. Its my go-to bright color.

I'm more impressed, however, in how pretty she looks, despite the non-existant rain. I might get some odd looks if I was carrying this umbrella and bundled up in this rain trench without a gray cloud in the sky...no matter how dang cute I look. :)

Still the Definition of Style.

HOW TO DEFINE HERSELF:


"Opportunities don't often come along. So, when they do, you have to grab them."

"My look is attainable. Women can look like Audrey Hepburn by flipping out their hair, buying the large sunglasses, and the little sleeveless dresses."

"There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl's complexion."

"It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it."

"You can always tell what kind of a person a man really thinks you are by the earrings he gives you." –as Holly Golightly, Breakfast at Tiffanys

"The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated." –as Eliza Doolittle, My Fair Lady

"If I'm honest, I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all."

AND THOSE WHO STILL DEFINE HER:

"After so many drive-in waitresses becoming movie stars, there has been this real drought, when along come class; somebody who actually went to school, can spell, maybe even plays the piano. She may be a wispy, thin little thing, but when you see that girl, you know you're really in the presence of something. In that league there's only ever been Garbo, and the other Hepburn, and maybe Bergman. It's a rare quality, but boy, do you know when you've found it." - Billy Wilder, director Breakfast at Tiffany's

"One got a sense that Audrey Hepburn didn't know how beautiful she was. There was never another movie star like her." - Issac Mizrahi, designer

"What a burden she lifted from women. There was proof that looking good need not be synonymous with looking bimbo. Thanks to their first glimpse of Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, half a generation of young females stopped stuffing their bras and teetering on stiletto heels." - The New York Times

"She's a lady. When she participates in the academy awards, she makes all those starlets look like tramps. Thank you for your class, Audrey... If any one ever said anything derogatory about her, I'd push them in the river!" - Van Johnson

"Style is a word we use often and for a multitude of purposes. In the case of my mother, Audrey Hepburn, it was the extension of an inner beauty held up by a life of discipline, respect for the other and hope in humanity. lf the lines were pure and elegant it was because she believed in the power of simplicity. If there was timelessness it was because she believed in quality and if she still is an icon of style today, it is because once she found her look she stayed with it throughout her life. She didn't go with the trends, didn't reinvent herself every season. She loved fashion but kept it as a tool to compliment her look." - Sean H. Ferrer, son of Audrey Hepburn