Spring Break, Days 3 & 4

Although, I've been enjoying myself this week...it is slowly/quickly coming to an end.

So to continue with a review of my week, here's what I did on Wednesday and Thursday (which is still today, but the perks of being on Spring Break is that I can actually do a post early in the day rather than after 9 or 10 o'clock at night!).

Wednesday:  Chicken, Chopping, and Chuck E. Cheese's

First, I had a great lunch with M and P at our favorite Italian restaurant Hasta la Pasta.  I enjoyed the usual dish that I get but this time instead of shrimp, I had chicken ('cuz the lunch special for $8 only offered the chicken versus paying the $17 for the dinner price to have shrimp...you do the math).  And, of course, we also devoured the Spinach and Artichoke dip for our appetizer.  And, of course-of course, P played around the table rather than eating his food that was on the table, and we ended up with his entire meal in a to-go box.  This usually happens most of the time, but on this day, in his defense, he only had one thing in mind: Chuck E. Cheese's. 

Before hitting up Chuck E. though, I stopped at Hobby Lobby to find some items for a mini-DIY project that I had in mind.  In perusing through blogs, I've seen peole wearing necklaces with really unique charms.  I really like them, but rather than paying X-amount of dollars from a store for each necklace, I stumbled upon these really cute charms that I decided would work just as well on necklaces that I already own.

Here they are:
 
    Isn't he cute? I named him Owlie.              And since I'm ridiculously direction-challenged,
          He was only $4.99.                                    I was drawn to this compass. Naturally.   
                                                                                    Ya think it'll help? 
                                                                      It's vintage-styled GPS! Haha! And only $3.99. 

'K, moving on.  After Hobby Lobby (and since I had a husband and a child who were both equally awaiting fun and games at Chuck E. Cheese's), I quickly (ahem) dipped into the Gap and Forever 21 at the mall and walked away with a belt, cardigan, and necklace.  By the way, in the sub-title for this day's events, I used the term "Chopping".  Now, I didn't really do any "chopping", but since I was trying to stick with the pattern of alliteration, I substituted the 'S' in "shopping" for the 'C'.  I was trying to be cute-sy, okay?  Don't judge. ;)

Next up: a visit to Chuck E.  In a nutshell, here's how the experience was:

• $10 --------> 50 tokens
• 50 tokens --------> numerous games of ski-ball, "rides" on a mini-power-generated bus with a mouse, and 130 tickets
• 130 tickets --------> 6 pieces of candy
• 6 pieces of candy --------> a happy four-year old
• 90 minutes in a chaotic environment that is teeming with germs and smells like a poopy-diaper but brings pleasure to said four-year old --------> Priceless.   =)

We ended the night with yet another movie.  This one was titled In Her Skin.  It was good.  But what made it better was that it was a movie of the pay-per-view type!  Yea! (If you don't get this, see the previous post.)

Thursday: Hanging Up and Hanging Out

Back to my DIY DIM (do-it-myself) project...Lately, the cheesy-rigged-up-necklace-holder that I've had in my closet has been falling apart, so I decided to make a new-and-improved rigged-up-necklace-holder!  While at Hobby Lobby on Wednesday, I found a four-pack of cork board squares (that came with double-sided adhesive) and a big pack of clear thumb tacks.  So this morning while M and P were both still asleep (until I started hammering nails into the wall), I got to workin' and came up with this:

Before: (feel free to snicker)                         After: (maybe a little overwhelming, but better)
 

So, it wasn't quite what I had envisioned, but for now (and for less than $15), I can at least see each necklace individually (as well as my bracelets, which used to hang from the hanger ((go ahead and snicker again)) but I moved into a storage organizer that I found at TJ Maxx for $6.99)!  Up next: Earrings.   In the before pic, you can see a sad little strip of styrofoam leaning to the side (are you laughing again?).  I really like that I can hook my earrings to it without worrying about them falling (pre-lean) or rubbing up against each other, but it's not really pretty.  Does anyone have any nicer (but still inexpensive) suggestions on how to organize earrings?  I would appreciate any input!

Now, to the outfits.  Here's what I wore on Wednesday:
  
Do you like how all three poses are pretty much the same?  I never claimed to be a model!  Anyway, this dress is a little difficult to explain (as it was difficult to figure out how to put on the first time!).   I wish the pics were a little more clear, but the dress is a one-piece where the top portion is like a bib with a separate-but-attached tie-front vest.  There's a bit of elastic in the waist, which actually makes the dress kind of hard to wear.  It has a real loose fit, but that can backfire since it can kind of create a potato-sack effect.  However, the print is nice.  It consists of teeny-tiny navy and red flowers with green leaves.  The dress also came with a long-sleeved black mini-dress(?) attached underneath (that added to the difficulty of putting this thing on), but I cut that off and now wear it separately as a tunic/undershirt.  The dress is BCBG and I purchased it from the Max Azria Final Cut outlet store.  The  tank came from The Limited.  The sandals are Steve Madden (Macy's end of Summer clearance, 2010).  The necklace is some unknown brand from Dillard's.

And since I'm just hanging around the house, here's what I'm wearin' today:

Wait, you wanna see me in my pj's?

Didn't think so.

Have a great day!