A Big Deal (Part 2 of 3)

Navy striped dress-disguised-as-a-tee - Forever 21
Emerald Green Silk Skirt - Talbots (TJ Maxx)
Shoes- Calvin Klein (DSW)
Belt - Goodwill
Necklace - Talbots

So...last week, I posted about this Talbots skirt that I coveted last summer and was fated to meet again a few weeks ago.  And I teased y'all with another great Talbots a la TJ Maxx find....

and here it is!

This green silk skirt was one that I also tried, twirled, and tempted myself with at the end of last summer.  Even when it was on sale, it was still too much for my debit card.

But Enter TJ Maxx Here.

And a price tag of $14.99.

And another great big deal for me!

(by the way, another great find for me was this striped mini dress from F21 for only $10!  I would have flashed a peek of the dress underneath my skirt, but I'm not like that...)

(...okay, actually, I am like that...I just really forgot to take the picture.)  ;)

A Big Deal, Part 1 of 3

 

Navy Tee - Gap
Navy Striped Skirt - Talbots (TJ Maxx)
Shoes - Michael Kors (Dillards)

Okay, so last summer, I actually purchased this skirt.
And then I returned it...
but only because the size that I purchased was a little too tight and not really because it cost over $60.

Now, fast forward to this past weekend.  I was at the TJ Maxx near my house, and was surprised at the number of items from Talbots that I saw from the last couple of seasons (well, surprised and excited!).  But you'll have to wait for those little pieces.

Yesterday, on my way home from visiting my mom, I was dealing with a devil on my shoulder.  He kept telling me that I should stop in at the TJ Maxx I recently discovered that is en route from there.  He kept saying that there could be more items from Talbots that didn't make it to my local store.  He kept saying that I could be missing that one item.  He kept saying that it was only fair that I check out what they have.

So I gave in.

And as soon as I walked into the petite's section, there was this skirt.

And it was $14.99.

And I realized that that l'il devil was really an angel in disguise.

The Sweetest Thing

Cashmere Cardigan - Express (old)
Skirt - Talbots
Shoes - Nine West
Necklace - one of the many awesome items
 I won from Tiffany's giveaway!

Because I really can't think of anything else to write, I'll share with you a little story from about a week ago:

First, let me mention that one of the many selling features of our house, when we built it several years ago, was the fact that the master bath came with dual vanities.  I loved that I wouldn't have to share a sink (or counter space) with my husband.  Little did I know that four-plus years later, I would actually have to end up sharing my side of the vanity with another guy.....my four-year old child!

Every morning, P uses my sink to brush his teeth.  And on this particular morning last week, I was already "mid-brush" when he decided to butt in.  So, not only did he and his little 30-something pound body take up all the space on my side of the vanity, but he changed the temperature of the water from very warm (ok, nearly hot) to very cold (the nerve of him!). 

I hate cold water. 

He hates hot water.

He got the vanity space.

I was forced to walk around while brushing my teeth. 

No big deal, right?  A mom should make those little sacrifices for her kid(s), shouldn't she?

Well, I guess I'm a bad mommy because, quite frankly, I didn't want to!  Seriously, this kid takes For.Ever. to brush his teeth! 

This is his process:

Step 1: Play around on step stool and pretend to teeter and totter on it.

Step 2: Play with toothbrush.  

Step 3: Pretend to not be able to pump toothpaste out of tube. 

Step 4: Put toothpaste onto toothbrush...then accidentally-on-purpose let paste drop off of brush into the sink. Then play with that until it goes down the drain.

Step 5: Repeat Step 3 and first part of Step 4.

Step 6: Take several minutes to brush teeth.

Step 7: Splash water all over the counter his face.

So, while he was going through this whole process, I was standing around with a mouth full of toothpaste and stuff, which, to me, gets kind of gross after a while.

(Waiting....frustration....waiting...frustration....)

I was close to really getting upset when, after completing Step 7, P surprised me by adding a Step 8 for the first time:

After he completed his ritual, he did the most amazingly simple and chivalrous act that made me swallow all of the bad thoughts that I was having of shoving him off of his stepstool (I'm just kidding!), and almost made me literally swallow the toothpaste gunk in my mouth (seriously!).

Before stepping off of his stool, my four-year old male child reached over the sink... and changed the faucet tap from cold back to hot.   Just for me.

Was that not the sweetest thing in the world or what?



Gas Gauge Malfunction

Cardigan - Loft
Dress - Alyn Page, Ross
Shoes - Steve Madden
Necklace - Talbots
Belt - Thrifted via Goodwill

All right all of you teachers, moms, or just all-around hard-workers out there!

During the day, while you're busy, do you ever get the feeling that you're being extremely productive and you have so much energy that you can just keep goinggoinggoing until bedtime?

But once you get home and stop moving for just a few minutes, all that energy is zapped?

Yeah?

Me, too!

I had that feeling about a half-hour ago while sitting in front of my laptop and loading my pic onto this post.

And then I fell asleep...

... on my laptop.

But I have to say that those twenty-two minutes did fill up my tank with about a half a gallon of gas(How much does that cost nowadays? Like two bucks!?)  That should be enough to get me to bedtime. 

I promise to catch up on my reading soon.

Nighty-night!



Wednesday Night Recipe

Blouse  - Old Navy (old)
Skirt - Talbot's
Belt - Thrifted from Goodwill
Shoes - Lauren Ralph Lauren via Ross

 Here's a great recipe to use after a long day at work (or a long three days that definitely feel longer than three days):

Ingredients:

1 bath of hot water.

2 soaked feet.

1 plate of spaghetti.

2 episodes of last night's What Not to Wear.

1 InStyle magazine.

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together.

Spread out on a soft bed.

Relax for several hours

and

Enjoy!

(I know I will....)

What to Title This Post?

Cardigan - Talbots
Tee - Gap
Trousers - Banana Republic
Belt - Ann Klein (old)
Necklace  (of flowers)- from my mom's vanity

It's Day 2 of the new school year and, unfortunately, I don't have any classroom tales to share yet.

Unless.

You consider:
 Me, in the middle of a tantalizing lesson, being startled by the sounds of a kid vomiting on the right side of his desk...then on the left side of his desk (as the girl next to him watched in sheer horror)...then on his notebook...then across my floor as he's walking to the trash can by the door... and then out of the door to the nurse's office...
...and then back again in my trash can before he could take five steps to the nurse's office.  It was a sight.  Kids were scrambling and gagging while I was on the phone trying to get a hold of the front office or a maintenance person, while making sure someone walked my sick kid all the way to the nurse's office, while getting the kids to settle down while trying not to focus too hard on or inhale too much of the vomit....

I'll just say that this was my first vomit episode, and it was an experience.

After the mayhem ceased, I was able to get the rest of the kids settled out in the hallway where we finished our lesson. 

No big deal.

Like I said, it's only Day 2.





 

Meet My Alter Egos

Hat - old Old Navy
Dress - Gap
Belt - old Old Navy
Shoes - Michael Kors, Macy's
Flower Pin - Talbots

My husband went to lunch today with  a newspaper  boy wearing his hat, a prom teen and her corsage, and a bridesmaid still in her (short) dress and sash.
 
Random, huh?

Yep. 

Well, apparently, I have three alter egos.  And they all just randomly met each other today.

But I promise, I'm not as crazy as I look.  I promise, I'm not as crazy as I look.

Oh, and the blue handbag in the background?

Don't worry.  I did not throw that into the mix, too.

My alter egos and I didn't think it would match.

Black Friday Find: In The Name of Love

After yesterday's outfit rant, I decided to go very basic today.  A black tee and Gap skinny jeans.  I mean, that's like boiling water...can't muck that up, right?  {with the exception of the one special gal who told me that she can...you know who you are! ;) }

I haven't done a Black Friday Find post in a while...this one is special to me (and recent).

Yesterday, my sister mentioned that she had gone to the Talbot's Outlet store, which reminded me of a skirt that I had fallen in love with during my first visit to Talbots (not the outlet) a couple of months ago.  I was so enamored by the skirt (love at first sight does exist), that I took it straight to the fitting room and fell in love even more with the fit.  We were made for each other.

And then I looked at the price tag.

$129.

Really?

That wasn't going to happen, so with my heart strings still attached, I returned the skirt to the rack and heartbrokenly left the store.  I even went home and told my husband about "The One That I Had to Let Get Away".  (He's not so much the jealous type, so he was okay with that.)

Anyway, after not having followed up with the skirt since our first chance encounter, I called around to find it, but because the skirt had been out for a while and was so popular, every store in my vicinity was out.  I wasn't going to give up this time, so I decided to call every store in the state of Texas (and beyond, if need be) until I found it.  I did a store locator search on the Talbots website and began at the top of the list in Austin. 

Sadly, my heart couldn't keep taking the rejection after the fourth store in Austin said that they didn't have the skirt (a couple of people laughed out loud when I told them the name of the skirt, as if I was crazy to even believe that it would still be available...kind of like the nerd asking out the jock).  So, I decided to contact customer service...you know, kind of like a matchmaker.  And my matchmaker hooked me up with the numbers to three prospects, one in Arlington, TX...the second in Friendswood, TX...and the third in Santa Clara, CA. 

Friendswood came through for me.  With husband and son in tow, we took the hour drive to meet the new addition to our my family.  Even though M and I were having a great conversatioin along the way, I was mentally cheating on him.  My mind was totally consumed by the skirt.

There was a moment of fear/pissed-offness after we arrived at the Talbots in Friendswood.  The sales clerk had placed it on a hold rack, but it was no longer there.  I'm not the type of customer to ever be rude or get irate, but she was about to bring that out of me if she didn't find my skirt.  Luckily, after ten (very intense) minutes, my skirt was found and we were finally able to finalize our union with my purchase.

And so, I'd like to introduce you to the skirt that stole my heart:

The Daisy Lace Pencil Skirt

OH!  And the best part:

And the "bestest" best part were the words
that I love to hear:
Additional 40% off
Bringing the final price to
$38.39
sigh.

So, if you've recently had an encounter with an item that you were unable to take home with you, give it another try.  Love will always prevail.  (Lol!)



Yes, Your Madras-ty

Although it's officially Friday, this here is still going to be my Thursday post, 'k?

This must be my summer of shorts because I honestly think that I've worn shorts more times this summer than I have collectively over the past...ten years, maybe?  As a result, I feel a little insecure like a novice when it comes to putting together an outfit around a pair of shorts. 

This afternoon, I took P to our local mall to meet up with one of my sisters and her daughters (ages 17 and 19 and whom P adores).  I almost always make it a point to wear flats when I'm venturing out with P (high heels + active 30-plus pound child + nearly equally weighted purse = frustration/back pain), and I just wanted to be very casual.  Soooo...shorts, a shirt, and some shoes.  How hard could that be, right?

An hour-and-a-half-long-hard, I tell you.  An hour and a half.

That. is. ridiculous.

I mean, I could understand if I were getting ready to go somewhere important or special, but geez, I just wanted to take my kid to the mall and be comfortable, cool, and kinda cute.

I guess today was just an insecurity day.  I was whining complaining telling my husband earlier that if "it takes me this long" to put together a casually stylish outfit that just ends up looking like I spent a long time trying to put together a stylish outfit, then I must really not have any sense of style.  His response was actually a pretty good and uplifting one that should have completely obliterated my sour disposition, but too bad... I was not trying to hear it.  Misery was looking for company, and his invitation was quickly revoked

So, this outfit was the final result: 
Plaid madras Loft shorts (that I've already worn twice before, but obviously not well enough to post). 
An "unruly-necked" Gap tee (that kept shifting around...I think some poor soul at the mall was flashed). 
A flower pin from Talbots (that was awkardly placed and kept aiding the "unruly-necked tee" with the flashing).
And Old Navy flip flops (that I hardly ever wear).  

(Hmmm...and why was it again that was I skeptical/miserable/insecure to begin with???)

Seriously, I'm okay with the outfit, though. 

And I'm okay with myself, too.

Just so you know, I'm not going through some kind of crisis.

I'm just mad.

In plaid.