Sheer Shearling Extravagance

Coat: lipstick red, shearling lined suede from the Victoria's Secret catalog closing in on ten years ago. Sweaterdress from Lane Bryant, gray velour leggings, also Victoria's Secret. Turquoise beaded earrings from my early AM Black Friday Target run (which was actually to buy an outdoor firepit for my honey...can't wait til he opens it on Christmas!)

could say much more but just found out I gotta run--back soon, pinky swearsies!!!

I resisted resisting temptation

Shoes are my weakness. Always have been, right? And with our financial situation right now, I should not be buying ANY shoes. In fact, I think I've only bought one pair since I moved to TN (can that be right????) (if so, yay me, and yet...so sad.)

I have followed Allie at http://www.wardrobeoxygen.com/ religiously for years as a shining example of how a real woman with a real budget and a real body can look good every day, and I love to look through her blogroll and check out other stylebloggers when I have the opportunity. I found Yvonne at Vogue Inspired Fashion For The Real World and wow, is she ever inspiring with her bustier in the boardroom and over the knee boot looks! Her pictures are amazing and I was particularly fascinated by the shoes in her post titled, Leggings: Argyle Sweater. She credited them as being from Aldo and POOF I was off to check out the Aldo site. The style is called Rhiane and it was on sale for TWENTY DOLLARS AND NINETY-NINE CENTS with free shipping & handling. Before checkout I used another great Allie tip and did a quick Google search for an Aldo coupon code that saved me 2.10, so these shoes from a nice store in the mall ended up costing me *LESS* than full price Payless shoes.

Don't you want to see them? You know you want to...hehehe...

Coping with Your FashionWEEsta

There are so many versions of the term "fashionista" now. Recessionista. Maxxinista. Et al.

I, myself, have a fashionWEEsta (or two)!

Note: my daughter is the one matching her hair accessories to her jeans. I don't know WHERE she gets that from...

Both pairs of five inch heels courtesy of My Closet~and the black boots my daughter is wearing? Yep, those Alice + Olivia Stompy Boots of Amazingness that I craved so long ago, courtesy of eBay!!! Life truly is grand. And full of wonderful footwear.

Yaay!! Christmas Has Come

Thanks to my darling, wonderful, incredible, fantastic, and all other sorts of good things mother, I am now the proud and happy possessor of many of the clothes that I craved in the past 2 posts. The blue jacket from Old Navy? Score! The backseamed black ponte dress with the skinny patent belt from Lane Bryant? Oh yes.

I'll confess that with the Christmas money coming in from family, I really did have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. My mind spun with thoughts of facials, massages, being able to buy the Philosphy Vitamin C scrub that I love so much (and that costs 75.00...) Of course money only goes so far; when I saw my mom over Thanksgiving she was more than generous with her resources-took me to Old Navy and we bought stuff for the kids (and that blue coat for me!), Victoria's Secret for sprays and lotions (and I cannot even remember the last time I was able to go in VS or Bath & Body Works for some skin treats), and Lane Bryant for basically a whole new wardrobe in my now larger size-bras, jeans, dresses, black pants, sweaters, tunics, even a new purse. Lane Bryant was having a buy one, get one free on THE WHOLE STORE. Then at checkout Mom was offered 30% off her entire purchase if she applied for the LB card. So between the sale and the 30%, we made out like bandits!

This Is Why

my Xhusband used to call me, "Little Miss Want-Want."

Small Owen necklace by Gorjana at shopbop.com; draped ponte dress and asymmetric neckline dress, lanebryant.com.

I Want This! (and this. also, this...)

Old Navy Ruffle Collar Wool Blend jacket in Rosemary Blue. Merona Collection (Target) Women's 2Fer London Dress in Flamenco Red. Mossimo (Target) Women's Knotted Side Dress in green.

I wanted to spend my unemployment check this week on myself, some new clothes & a pedi for my homeless-looking feet. Instead I spent it on Guy's Christmas present and the deposit for Zac's trip to the Tremont Institute in the Smokies next March. And the last one I went to The Children's Place and bought Bookey's fall/winter clothes. Before that, I paid the cable bill.

The terrible keening cry of the mother: when is it going to be me?

Help Me, Rhonda....

Or rather, help me, ANYONE. Anyone? Bueller?

I can't figure out what to wear as a stay at home mom. (By the time I figure it out, I'm sure I'll be working again. LIFE. AAARGH. Why it must work that way?) Plus I've gained about ten pounds laying around all day and cooking. I think I've exercised maybe four times since April. In his gym class here in TN, Zac does a lot more actual exercise than he did in AL; last year it appeared that all they did was play kickball every day for an hour and a half. But this year he is doing pushups and situps and running a mile every week. Naturally his stomach (which was not large) is now flat as a friggin' pancake (whilst mine has burgeoned like a sail filling with wind). So to celebrate the four day weekend, I went running with him this morning.

Somewhere along mile two, I DIED.

But I love Guy so much that I managed to somehow REANIMATE MY BODY and make it home, so I could tell him that I was dead.

An Abject, Object Lesson

Stay at home momhood takes its toll on your fashion senses. Before long you are watching all day Law & Order marathons and forgetting to change the channel to Project Runway. And you haven't bid on any shoes on eBay in....(tries to count that high-fails).

That's just me, you say? Suuuure it is. Have you not been to Walmart lately? Because it is a retina searing, nausea inducing outing, oh yes it is.

Today I finished filling out a job application for the Middle Tennesee Electrical Cooperative. When I picked up the app, I had a severe case of bedhead & had not yet washed my face that day. The ladies of the MTEC, on the other hand, appeared to have just been released from their Barbie box and fresh from the hands of a dental bleaching specialist, as well. I was glad that I had put on a bra. Unfortunately that was the sum total of my grooming.

This business of waking up with him every morning and being told that I am beautiful & amazing is taking a heavy toll on my personal grooming standards, let me tell you. (A toll I am more than happy to pay!)

So I vowed that when I dropped my application off, I would be STUNNING. Or at least have brushed my hair, washed my face, applied a modicum of makeup, and wearing earrings (this always passes for stunning with me). I slid into one of my oldest and most comfortable little black dresses--I bought this back when I was still married! A pair of Jessica Simpson platforms that again, were purchased back during my marriage. The girls greeted me with big smiles of approval. I had to run into Walmart to pick up a few necessary supplies (okay, honey bbq sauce, copy paper, & toilet paper. NOW STOP WITH THE THUMB SCREWS!!!) I received 2 compliments on my shoes and one on my dress. Most people looked me in the eye & smiled. This is not the same response I get when I have on cutoffs & flipflops.

On the other hand, I never limp out to the parking lot when I wear flipflops, either....hehehe.

Could I BE Any More Neglectful of This Blog????!!!!

I mean honestly. Most likely the answer would be NO. I wish I had something fabulous to share with you, but the truth is I have been wearing flipflops and bike shorts and going barefaced seven days out of seven. I haven't discovered any fabulous new makeup or facial care products. I tried L'Oreal's new redness correction lotion--it turned my face green. GREEN I TELL YOU. All I needed was a pot of water dumped over my head so I could've screamed, I'm meeeelllltttiinngggg.


Which really there is no need for the pot of water as it is summer in the South and I am melting in the heat & humidity. So my fashion tip of the day is pretty much, Stay inside. Also, refrain from giving birth & growing older. You'll stay hotter that way. Hotter in a good way, in a "my thighs don't rub together & I don't have crowsfeet!" kind of way, not hotter in an "oh my God it's the heat AND the humidity" kind of way.