These Small Hours

When I started this blog I didn't know what direction it would go in. I wanted to do something that would get me writing again and I like clothes and shopping so when it went in the outfit/fashion direction I wasn't surprised. I've never felt that this is exclusively a "fashion" blog and wanted to include writing about other stuff that goes on in life. I have not done that in a while but yesterday while I was sitting around, having a relaxing Sunday with my little family this came to me and I decided to jot it down. Here it is, my attempt to freeze a moment in time...

Watching my little boy color, cut, practice writing his name. He's sitting at the kitchen table, his little feet not yet touching the floor. He's 4 years old. Where did the time before this January day go? How quickly will the time after this day pass? I wish I could bottle these little moments and store them away somewhere.. Then someday in the future when I'm missing my 4 year old Robert I can open the bottle and there he will be, smiling, sweet, telling me I'm the most beautiful, wonderful mommy in the world. Playing with his Hot Wheels. Sitting on the floor with mom and dad for an intense game of Busy Town. Learning to read the words on the pages of his favorite books.  Maybe someday I'll have that bottle to open. At least there will be pictures, videos, and these written words to help me remember. And right now I will treasure each moment I have with this little boy version of my sweet son.

Ahh, Saturday..

Got up early this morning, grabbed some coffee at D&D. Got to the car dealership, sipped coffee, caught up on paperwork, enjoyed the peace and quiet.. Got home, husband and R just ran off to husband's car dealership. I'm alone, house is quiet... Later on, date night with hubby.. R gets to hang out with his Nonna who misses him.. everyone wins. Oh happy Saturday :) 

Purple Cardigan: Loft (Fall 2011)
Lace Tank: Loft (fall 2011)
Jeggings: Macy's (last year)
Boots: Nine West Via Macy's (fall 2011)
Cross body swing pack: Coach (Christmas gift 2011) 

Trial and Error

This top has little dots beige dots on it that I love 

I don't love this outfit and wasn't going to post it, but I figured, what the heck? It's a learning process. Now I can look back and see that it didn't work for me. I thought these pants were great when I first bought them but really not digging them in these pictures, maybe it's the shoes or the shirt, hmm, I don't know. Now I"m rambling because this has been the longest week EVER and I"m beat. The good news, tomorrow I'm getting my car's oil changed. Doesn't sound very exciting? I get to spend at least an hour in a quiet waiting area sipping coffee and playing family feud on the i-phone. After a long week working with 5 year olds and coming home to a 4 year old, I'll take it!

Jacket: Bandolino (old)
Brown shrug sweater: Old Navy
Top: Banana Republic (fall 2011)
Pants: Gap (fall 2011)
Shoes: Seychelles via DSW (a few years ago) 

Underdressed and Unprepared

So I woke up this morning with a sore throat and feeling overall blah. I decided to go for a more casual look, just didn't feel like pulling on tights, dealing with a belt or heels, etc. At around 8:15 my boss pages me. I never get paged unless it's to sign a pre-ob (to be evaluated) so I walked to his office, pen in hand, prepared to sign. Well I was wrong about the pre-ob and instead met my new student teacher. I am totally fine with having a student teacher (this is my 3rd) but some notice would have been, umm, nice. I felt very unprepared and totally underdressed!  I mean I would have thrown on a skirt for the occasion if I knew in advance!
The girl was lovely and reminded me a lot of me when I student taught. She was very nervous but I kept reassuring her that she will be fine. My lovey-dovey kids adore her and she said she had a great 1st day. So I guess my really old, oversized, striped, worn as a maternity shirt back in the day, shirt did not give her a bad impression of me :)

Jacket: Loft (fall 2011)
Sriped Shirt: Old Navy (old)
Navy Tank: Old Navy
Pants: Banana Republic (old)
Shoes: Old Navy (old)

Battling the Elements

We finally got some snow in NJ this weekend. Finally, as in, it was bound to happen at some point so it might as well be this past Saturday. Not finally, as in, IT FINALLY SNOWED! YAY!

Don't know why this picture came out so funky.. stripes? 

No, not a huge fan of snow here. You see I don't have the cough privilege of having a parking lot where I work, so when it snows I have to deal with finding parking on street & getting over the huge mounds of snow. Then I have to walk to my building from whatever spot I managed to shove my car into, battling the snow, ice, and slush and trying not to fall flat on my butt. So every time it snows I can kiss my heels, suede, and leather shoes goodbye for a while. I am self proclaimed shoe girl, and this makes me cranky. Last winter I lived in my brown LLBean snow boots from December until March. When I pulled them out on Saturday they had a layer of dust covering them and dare I say I was slightly excited to wear them. (they are still shoes after all) Luckily the temperatures are rising and the snow will be short lived. Today was more of a rain boot day so I pulled out my navy blue pair from J.Crew and kept my outfit on the the casual side, waiting to trip and fall into a slush puddle, or for the inevitable icicle to fall on my head. It never happened but at least I was prepared!

Striped Top: Banana Republic (last winter)
Grey Button Down: Old Navy (2 years ago)
Leggings: Loft
Rain Boots: JCrew (Christmas gift 2 years ago)

Tina Sparkles!

A character from one of my favorite indie dance movies "Strictly Ballroom". Not many people I know have seen this movie except for me and my sister, and every time we see something sparkly we break out with "Tina Sparkles." If you haven't seen it, you should. It's a gem. Gem, sparkles, get it?  OK that was bad, sorry, it was a looong week at work :)  

In case you can't tell from this blurry picture there are little sequins on this Old Navy sweater and I was so cranky when I saw my shoes got cut off because they are sparkly as well.

I thought this sweater was a little more cropped which is why I added the red belt. 

Sweater: Old Navy (fall 2011)

Trouser Jeans: Gap (old)

Belt: Gap Outlet

Head to Shoes Loft..

... I couldn't really title this as "head to toe Loft" because my toes are actually covered by Target sweater tights.
Yes this Loft sweater dress is making another appearance. It's just so comfy and cozy that I can't help but wear it.. a lot. I'm wearing it with a different cardigan and different jewelry so that counts as remixing, right?
My little pirate decided he wanted to be featured as well :)
Dress: Loft (fall 2011)
Cardigan: Loft (fall 2011)
Sweater Tights: Target
Boots: Loft (fall 2011) 

The "Itch"

It happens to me every year without fail, usually around mid-winter. I get the "itch" to buy new stuff. And I don't mean new winter stuff that's on really great sale or clearance, I mean new spring stuff because, you know, I don't have another 2 + months of cold weather to get through! It makes PERFECT sense for me to run out and buy sleeveless tops,  cute little sundresses, and peep toe wedges. Yes, I am rolling my eyes at myself right now. I usually don't get this feeling until around February or so, but I guess since our winter has been so tame, it's hitting me a little sooner. (Now that I've typed "tame" and "winter" in the same sentence, I'm sure a blizzard will be forecasted by tomorrow!)
Well I've convinced myself that I can have patience and wait it out, not buy new stuff just yet. I'm focussing on trying to bring out things I haven't worn in a while, maybe try some stuff on and remix if I get a chance to. I put myself on shopping restriction this month... well I was weak and broke it in banana outlet (only bought 1 thing, but still..). I'm trying to learn to enjoy what I have, not rush into buying new stuff, and most importantly, not rush time. I have a big ugly habit of doing that! So the cute Kenneth Cole Reaction espadrilles that I ALMOST bought will have wait, a least a little while longer :)

Sweater Dress: Macy's (last year)
Leggings: Loft (last fall)
Boots: Nine West via Macy's (last fall)

Rainy Day

I didn't actually wear this outfit today, but it would have been a good rainy day outfit so there you go! I had an awful day at work yesterday. The one thing about being a teacher, and that I'm sure many teachers can relate to, is this: Most of the time it's the adults who are the trouble makers, not the kids. Put a bunch of women together in a female dominated field and some trouble is bound to get stirred up every so often. Yesterday was one of "those" days. The good news is it's over and I survived. And the kids are still cute. How do you not love a little mop top, peanut of a boy, coming up to you with huge eyes and stating "next month is February, do you know that it's LOVE month. We all have LOVE in February." I guess you had to be there but if you were, you would have been "awww" ing, trust me :)

Sweater-tunic:  Style & Co Macy's (last year)
Turtleneck: Gap (old)
Leggings: Loft outlet
Boots: Nine West via Macy's (fall 2011)

Better in Person

Yes I'm still trying to show off my red shoes.. 

I feel like this outfit looks better in person than in photo. At least that's what I HOPE!
I like my new hair but it's a pain to style. Whoever thinks shorter hair is easier to manage has probably never had short hair, or hair that is my texture anyway. I washed it for the first time since the haircut last night. It took straightening cream, hair dryer, several hair clips, a round hair brush,  my flat iron and lots of tsking to get it to took somewhat like it did when leaving the salon on Saturday. Tomorrow is my first "morning" hair styling of this "do". I'm not about to get up earlier than my 5:30 alarm so wish me luck!

Blouse: Loft Outlet
Cardigan: Loft (recent)
Pants: Gap (recent)
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction Flirt it Up (still available in the outlet,
just saw them today) 

The Best of What's Around

Uh-oh, I'm back to using Dave Mathews Band songs as post titles. Actually, I'm only using it this time because it fits in with my t-shirt, which my husband bought for me when we went to the Dave & Tim acoustic show back in November. I wore this last Monday, it was a jeans and T-shirt kind of day. Today is a shorts and t-shirt kind of day, with temperatures near 65 degrees here in NJ! I'm not complaining, totally loving it!
T-Shirt: Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds concert at the Palace Theater in NYC
Jeans: Old Navy
Boots: Nine West

Oh and it's goodbye pony tail, hello super short stacked bob. Got myself a haircut today!

The Beauty of the Sweater Dress

They pony tail is making it's appearance in my hair all too often lately. That can
only mean one thing.. time for a haircut! 

Winter + Teaching Kindergarten + Sweater Dresses = Perfection
They look cute, are comfortable, can be worn with boots or flats. Add a scarf or cardigan for some variety and some fun jewels to spruce the look up. I have recently added a couple new dresses to my wardrobe, including this one (which is purple, not sure if it's coming across that way in the picture) and I was able to move around freely and get up and down off of the carpet with ease. Oh please sweater dress, never go out of style!

Dress: Loft Outlet (recent)
Tights: Target
Boots: Nine West via Macy's 

Brrr!

Wow so THIS is what winter feels like. I had forgotten. I'll take those 50-60 degree temps back thank you very much!

Today called for warmth and layers so I did just that: black jacket over my pink top over my tan cami and wool pants over my tall boots over my grey knee highs. I even wore 2 scarves today and in my green LLBean jacket I felt toasty warm.

After looking at my first picture (not included because it was too blurry) I realize that my pants are too big and that is not a flattering look! I've been having issues with pants lately, just can't find a style/fit that I love. I shop a lot of Loft, Gap, Banana, and NY&Co so if anyone has a fit that they love from one of those stores or even another, feel free to let me know!!

Jacket: Loft (recent, Christmas gift)
Scarf: Loft (recent, Christmas gift)
Top: Loft (last year)
Pants: Loft (last year) 
Boots: Nine West via Macy's (fall '11) 

Buon Anno Nuovo

I figured everyone would have "Happy New Year" titles so I would at least change up the language and post it in Italian :)

We are boring and stayed in last night. I was sadly asleep before midnight. At least I am refreshed on this 2012 morning and ready to go eat lentils at my parent's house. Eating lentils on New Year's Day is an Italian good luck tradition in my family. There are certain areas of my life that I can use good luck in,  so I will be sucking them down.

Sweater: Banana Republic Outlet (several years ago)
Jacket: Loft (last winter)
Jeans: NY&Co
Shoes: Kenneth Cole Reaction (last year)