More Gwynnie Bee Goodness!

The only problem with Gwynnie Bee is that I have to return stuff to get new stuff! As the local library can tell, once something enters the door of my domicile, it falls into the "mine" category, as if my subconscious is a tantrumy toddler....wait I want to send back 3 things & get 3 new things: the dress from my last post & 2 tops, so I decided to have Lynda shoot a couple of pics of me so I could get a better idea of how I looked in the tops. My boyfriend liked them & he's pretty picky, but I have next to no mirror space to get a good full length view of myself. Hence, Lynda's new career as a photographer (Zac is too busy having All The Social Life with his friends & his new girlfriend over spring break). But now that I've seen the pics, I REALLY like 'em & I don't want to send 'em back! Decisions, decisions...

Gwynnie Bee

I can't believe I haven't blogged here since JANUARY 2011. Wowzers. My current call center job is nothing like as easy as my previous one. My only concern when dressing for work is comfort; I hardly ever wear heels. Also, I work Saturday AND Sunday and I can wear sweats both days...so I do. Long story short, I no longer dress well. It hurts that I don't look good. So I'm trying to get back on track, and one of the things I've done is join Gwynnie Bee. It's Netflix for clothing! Sizes 10 and up, so even though my curves have burgeoned into rolls, the whole site still fits me. I hate this picture, I think the dress looked a lot better on me in person. The dress is Geo from ASOS via Gwynnie Bee. Bag is Maxx New York via eBay years ago. Mountain Spring water from Crema in Nashville, where I went to celebrate after passing my first Microsoft A+ certification exam! One down, one to go...hopefully I will pass 702 next Friday.

Plans, I Have Fantastic, Wonderful Plans...

Two full weeks into my new job and I am ***EXHAUSTED***. All I did today was a Walmart run & registering Bookey for softball & I really feel compelled to lie prone & whimper, Why are you torturing me?

Really, why?!?

Hehehe. That's just life, forcing me to get off my ass. Much like my personal trainer. My new job has a gym in the call center. Membership is only fifteen bucks a month, and includes unlimited workouts with a personal trainer. I made appointments for Monday, Wednesday, & Friday (upper body, lower body, core) & went in Thursday as well just to jump on the treadmill for some cardio (zoned out with my book, am reading Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton).

I have been wearing good outfits every day except one. My black pants and hot pink sweater made me look like I was five feet tall and as wide as I was tall. Sweater looked great with leggings but unfortunately that wardrobe staple is verboten at my job. We can wear SHORTS on the weekends, but no leggings??? I am so glad that the world makes sense.

I filed my taxes this past weekend & hoped to have a nice check to do some shopping this weekend. Alas, it is postponed; I won't get my check for another couple of weeks, but in the meantime, I created this outfit off the Gap website & think that I may treat myself once the bird in the bush has alighted in my bank account, I mean, hand.

I think I'm a little bit in love with this outfit...a little terrified of buying an entire outfit for full retail price....we'll see what happens! What do you think, lovely reader?

New Year, Old Cliche

Seeing my hair lately in photos has been an unpleasant revelation. Starting my new job tomorrow, I want to feel confident & upbeat. Saw a cute photo of Jennie Garth's new cut yesterday in Us Weekly magazine, so I took it to the salon today and got a new haircut. I hate my chins, but I love my new hair!

Silver Bells...

Actually, silver necklaces. One of the advantages of seeing yourself from full length and further away in photos is seeing what your outfit needs. I love this all black outfit and own NUMEROUS all black outfits, but I definitely need a long, bold silver necklace. I tried one on at Lane Bryant while shopping, probably a year or so ago, and rejected it because I felt it made me look old: wrong decision, I wish I had that necklace now! Have looked in a couple of places but haven't found "the one" yet.

I kind of like this necklace, but I think it may be too young for me!



This picture doesn't do the piece justice, the chains are really long and come almost down to your waist. I love the drama, but just not sure if this would work for work.

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.

New Clothes, November 2009

I've been relying on the same 2 pairs of black pants and 2 pairs of darkwash jeans since....I'd have to check my blog history over at SAHMGQI but I believe at least 2 years.

Dammit. Now that is Driving Miss Crazy. Back in a sec. DAMN. Try November 2005. These pants are FOUR. YEARS. OLD. That is ninety seven in pant years.

So, after I got my 401K check and performed obligatory mature adult responsible purchases like catching up on the car payments, filling the fuel oil tank so we have heat, and buying warm clothes for Lynda, I trolled the Lane Bryant website and discovered their new Icon line. Saw a model in a royal purple empire waist top that my heart skip a beat (either that or I have had too many breathing treatments today. albuterol may be the only reason I am awake...well, that, and YOU, lovely blogreader--your butt is positively miniscule in those pants!) Called my local LB and they are the only store in Bama that carries the Icon line: one purple top in my size left. I put it on hold Thursday and finally made it there this afternoon (life. it's always getting in the way of my shopping.)



Although Purple Top did not make the cut, I did carry home a Bag of Deliciousness stuffed with new jeans that caused me to look in the three way mirror and cry, "My ass is FANTASTIC in these!" And I forced the reluctant staff to get down the mannequin wearing this skirt--hmm. LB does not wish to share their image with me, apparently. Here's the link: or not. Apparently they do not wish to share the link, either. Heh. It is the Icon ruffled ponte knit skirt, a pencil skirt with an asymmetrical ruffle that isn't really evident in the pic of me above. Apparently Zac is not the heir to the Irving Penn throne. As I was checking out with said skirt, an amazing necklace, and a pair of jeans that I may sleep with under my pillow tonight, the salesperson ringing me up confided that she had hidden the size 14 skirt on the mannequin on purpose so no one would buy it. She reckoned without my resolve and retail knowledge!

More pics tomorrow; I will introduce you to my Russian mail order bride, I mean, my blissful new pair of jeans.

We Will Now Pause

For a brief (well, okay, possibly PROLONGED) period of mourning that I saw these and missed the chance to buy them. Alice & Olivia jeweled boots, still on the Payless website, but sadly unavailable for purchase. Yes, taunt me with your unattainable loveliness, my sweets, while I yearn for your luscious black soles of Stompiness...these would have gone with every little black dress in my closet. AND my jeans (buries face in handkerchief for a storm of weeping). In fact I might have slept in them. We'll never know. I definitely would have propped them stylishly on my bedside table to admire if wakeful in the night.

Product Review for Benefit's Hello, Flawless!

I LUUUURRRRVE this!

Have had a promo pullout of the product laying on my desk for months (I do not exaggerate. SINCE. APRIL.) and one of my friends wandered by, picked it up, and said, "Oh! My girlfriend works there!" So, Friday night after work while Bookey was at cheer practice, I went over to Belk's in The Summit (also known as The Very Fancy Mall Where Rich People Shop And Therefore I Do Not) and visited the lovely and talented Brooke at the Benefit counter. I was interested in concealer and foundation as my weakness is always my skin. Between the breakouts and the rosacea, I often wish I could put a bag over my head in the mornings. And the afternoons. And most definitely the evenings. I've been using CoverGirl's TruMineral powder foundation and it is very good for a drugstore product. But Benefit's Hello, Flawless! has definitely taken coverage with a very natural look to the next level. In fact I have already had several people ask me if I am using new makeup because my face looks so good! Also, how can you resist a color called Me, Vain? Champagne~answer, I did not even try.

And I am *GLAD* that I did not! It has been soSoSO long since I have bought makeup anywhere other than a drugstore. Also, they have a brow product that looks good and a brow event coming up where you get your brows shaped and they teach you how to use the product. This may produce a more finished look then me simply swiping an almost dried out mascara brush over my brows, so I am signed up for that and greatly looking forward to it.

So, if there's a nice department store in your area, see if they have a Benefit counter. The products are GREAT and the counter people are well trained in what will suit your needs. I did not feel pressured at all and in fact though I tried several products, only bought this one because I felt it was the very best of all of them. Brooke gave me several samples & the fall catalog and I look forward to going back and treating myself to something new and extremely effective on a hopefully regular basis.

Product Review: Revlon ColorStay Lipliner in Red

I was recently seduced by the shiny print ad for Revlon's latest Heck-No-This-Stuff-Will-Never-Ever-EVER-Wear-Off, Would We Lie To You? product: ColorStay Ultimate Lipcolor. When Andie MacDowell smiles at me in bright red lipgloss, I lose my ability to say no. Plus the lipcolor came packaged with a lipliner. How could I resist? (answer: by checking my bank account balance, but anyway)

I LUUUURRRRVE me some red lipstick. Especially with my red hair. A look I rocked back in high school, but the past 2-3 years I have not been able to find a drugstore red that I really liked (I'm sure I'd be able to find one at the mall for roughly the same as my power bill, but I LIKE ELECTRICITY, TOO!). So I was expecting another too dark, too bright, too something that I would wear once and then it would fall into the Great Caboodle Crevasse with its brethren, the Forlorn and Unworn.

But no! If I line my lips and then fill in with the liner, it is muy perfecto. Don't even need the lipgloss. Five stars. And it really isn't that drying, and really does last nicely. Definitely five stars.

Heatwave

We had a cool and rainy spring here in Birmingham, Alabama. In fact, for the first year that I can recall, summer started pretty much on the calendar day marked as the first day of summer. The heat index has pretty much topped 100 degrees every day ever since.

So what does this mean for a sweaty and faltering fashionista like myself?

First of all, I am not torturing my feet with heels every day. Payless had a BOGO sale (I subscribe to their emails, you can sign up at their website of payless.com) and I bought Bookey a new pair of sandals and a pair for myself. A cute and strappy black patent leather pair, completely flat. Very easy to walk back & forth to work in as well as up and down the stairs. Truth be told, I haven't had the money to buy shoes in lo, these many months, and I'm not as enthusiatic about wearing the same stilettos over and over again. Okay, so it's thirty pairs I'm rotating, but it still feels like the same old, same old, to me.

WallyWorld has had some VERY cute dresses and I bought an emerald green jersey knit dress and an electric blue empire waist, both of these are making an appearance weekly. I LOVE COLOR! Also, I realized I could wear an LBD every single day of the week...including weekends...without repeating a dress.

I've been skinning my hair back into a dreadful ponytail sprig, REALLY need a cut. Wearing huge silver earrings. And pretty much no makeup, just sunscreen and maybe some mineral powder foundation, lipgloss, and mascara, that's as far as I'm going with makeup in this heat and humidity.

So: flats. Jersey dresses that don't wrinkle. Ponytail & huge earrings. That's me, this summer. And, ladies? Please do keep in mind that you want to keep your look proportionate. If my earrings are down to my shoulders, it has to be a very plain top or dress. No competing hair or necklace. Keep your height and your overall look balanced. I am nearly six feet tall and rarely find an accessory that I consider too dramatic. But if it's big, detailed earrings, let them shine. Check yourself in a full length mirror before you leave the house to make sure everything works. It takes less than thirty seconds and it's the last thing I do when leaving the house every morning.

L'Oreal EverPure Review

I'm back from the dead!

And my hair is so fried from constantly redying it red that it feels and, WORSE, looks dead. Then I found a box of L'Oreal EverPure shampoo, conditioner, and hair masque in my bathroom cupboard. I bought it back around Xmas but until I ran out of Pantene Red shampoo, I had completely forgotten about it. Now, this stuff is not going to take the place of hieing yourself to the local salon for a heated deep conditioning treatment, but it will keep you going until you can. I love the shampoo, lots & lots of silky foamy suds; the conditioner smells of rosemary (like Aveda, wonder what marketing genius came up with THAT idea???); and the masque genuinely rehydrates. I haven't tried the other products from the line like the UV protect spray and the leave in conditioner, but if I was at the store with money to buy I would definitely pick them up based on my positive experience.

I have read over and over again that the condition of your hair is something that people really notice about your appearance. Next time you are out, do a little people watching and look at the mom's hair, then their kids'. Kids hair is shiny. Adult hair usually looks dry and damaged, especially those pesky ends. And believe me, stand me next to my daughter and I am juuuust as guilty. So I have really been piling on the (Garnier Fructis Smoothing) leave in conditioner and using the L'Oreal products in an effort to reconstruct my hair.

Then I can move to fixing the rest of myself! A little Botox and plastic surgery, anyone? Anyone? Bueller?