Cheery With a Chance of Stripes

The sun did not come out and play today...

     ...and yet these stripes and print definitely made me feel cheery!  This long-sleeved tee was on the verge of going onto my "night clothes" (i.e. pajamas) shelf in the closet since I've only worn it about a handful of times, but never successfully.  The most creative I've been with this has been pairing it with a white tank underneath and a pair of jeans.  (That was boring just typing it...) 

     Putting the tee together with the scarf actually occured last night, and not during my usual morning "ritual".  Here's how it went down:  The scarf had been eyeing me from the top of my closet for a while now, so I finally decided to give him a chance as my starter piece.  I scanned my closet several times not wanting to wear a solid color top (as I have worn with this scarf before), so I kept scanning until I realized that the blue in the tee was very close to the blue in the scarf...it was like an "aha" moment...  Knowing that I was still a novice at mixing patterns, it was best to make a final decision after trying them on.  Once I did, I was sold.  The blues complemented each other and the ikat  print (that's the best description I have for it) contrasted with the stripes in an interesting way (in my opinion). 
    Because there was enough going on with just those two pieces together, I went for a solid neutral (which black is) on the bottom.  After trying several pairs, I decided on these trousers because the look of the wide legs seemed to "mimic" the length of the stripes.  Okay, okay...it totally sounds like I'm making this stuff up, and I know I don't teach math and all, but really, can't an outfit have symmetry and balance?  (Laugh if you must!) Anyway, I went with the brown belt because I felt that it created another contrast against the black (and acted as another "stripe" of sorts) and coordinated with the brown tones in my bracelet.  I'm pretty much a minimalist when it comes to accessories/jewelry, so my trusty silver hoops (which have been a signature look for me since the seventh grade and I don't know if I should consider that to be good or bad) and silver bangles finished off the look.
    So that's it! I don't have any interesting stories from school today, but I do have a cute one invloving P from over the weekend:

    Since Friday, P was begging me to make him some macaroni and cheese (after he saw a box of it on the counter).  Because husbandM was going to pick up something on his way home, I tried to distract P from the mac n' cheese, which worked upon arrival of the chicken nuggets.

    Saturday morning, his brain was back on the "mac".  Whild husbandM was at the grocery store, I laid in bed reading a magazine,waiting until he returned to fix breakfast.  P was watching cartoons in the living room, but kept coming back and forth asking for mac n cheese.  Again, I tried to distract him until husbandM returned.  (1. I wasn't going to make that for breakfast, and  2. It was the boxed size, so he wasn't going to eat it all by himself which would mean that I would end up having to trash the rest).  P kept insisting but finally resorted to turn his attention back to cartoons.  After a while, he climbed into the bed with me, and the brief conversation that ensued went like this:

P: "Mom?"

Me: "Yes?"

P: "Knock, knock?"

Me: "Who's there?"

P: "Macaroni and cheese."

I laughed out loud,
took the hint,
and went into the kitchen to fix his mac n cheese.

Sitting here, typing, and wearing stripes and "ikat"...I'm still laughing! 
Yes, it's been a "cheery" day.

the pieces:

         

     

   

 

• Scarf -  The Limited (Winter '09)
• Tee - Gap
• Trousers - INC (about four years old)
• Belt - Forever21 (about four years old)
• Booties - Steve Madden (purchased from Dillard's for $14!, Fall '09)