The Birthday Wardrobe.

So I decided that for my birthday, I was taking my earnings shopping for some much-needed new clothes. I did buy a lot, but I promise you, I really did not spend a lot. I bought everything on sale and had coupons that made it silly cheap. But I'll stress, I needed some new threads. My closet is really starting to show its age/quality. I did buy some stuff at H&M and Forever 12 over the past year with the intention that the quality really isn't the best, but it's what I can afford for now. Without further ado, I give you, my purchases:

 

Okay, not exciting, but I seriously needed some simple dress tops. From left, the first is a white and blue striped top, the middle is a white with a blue box stripe, and the right is a white top with a texture to it. Simple enough to go with so much. You'll see what all I bought them to go with. Next:

The left top is one of the short sleeved tops on sale at Express this week for $19. I bought one in black and one in a plum color. I also have a royal blue one. The next is a blue sweater. I bought it specifically to go over the tops above. The right is a blue knit top with flowers on it. I should mention I also bought a blue and a black fabric flower for embellishment. Cute, eh? Now here's the real deals, the tops I bought at NY & Co, the one on the right here and the three above, I purchased as part of the buy-one-get-one 1/2 off sale. And I had City Bucks, so alltogether, I paid $50. Yes, $50. The Express tops, I had coupons with, so I paid $10 per top. It gets better. Just wait.

Then, I did some layering pieces: 

The first on the left is actually a bright pink ribbed sweater shell. I wasn't going to wear it solo, as pictured, but over some of my tops, namely the black one above. The next is a double breasted vest. I've been debating buying one of these for over a year, and finally I bought this one. Honestly, I liked the gray one better, but haven't been able to find it in my size. This one is more brown, but I am happy with it. The next is a sweater vest/cardigan. I actually bought this in gray, and it's close to this one, but I couldn't find the one I actually bought.  The sweater and the vest on the left were both bought with coupons, the sweater was part of the bogo, and the vest was used with a 20% off coupon. The cardigan was purchased at Forever 12 (as I like to call it), so it was only $13. Although, now that I see it in red, I may have to get it. More:

Alright, I need your imaginations here. The left, obviously a shirt dress. I actually bought a black one with 3/4 sleeves. But I couldn't find it. The right is a high-waisted skirt that I bought in black, not this ridiculous coffee-bean pattern. It's not actually high-waisted, but it does carry that look. I hate high-waisted anything, and despite the fact that this skirt does have pleating, it looks really cute on. The dress was on sale for $35 and I had a 20% off coupon. The skirt was 60% off and was bought with the 20% off coupon. So the dress came to something like $28 and the skirt was... under $9. Who can pass these deals up? 

Here's the stuff I couldn't find anything remotely close to photograph. I bought (to go under the gray sweater vest) a yellow ruffled top from Forever 12. Yes, yellow. Before you send the fashion police, know this. It's a light top, with a texture in the fabric. The ruffle lays flat and is actually quite flattering. I'm going to wear it in yellow as long as I retain my summer "color" on my face. Then I'm going to dye it red, because I think red suits my skin tone better than yellow. This way, if it comes out more orangey, it will still be a hue that I can wear. I also bought two knit v-neck tops (my signature top) from Express. One in white, because most people I know are still on the quest for their perfect white tee, and one in plum, because, well, I have a hard time passing up plum. Exp is having a buy-one-get-one free on knit tops, and I had a 15% off coupon, so this ended up being $17 for the two shirts. I adore Express and the way their clothes fit my body, regardless of my body shape, I feel good in the clothes. All my jeans and dress pants are Express as well.I did also buy a black chino pencil skirt from Old Navy. It's a much more casual skirt, but nice with flats for fall. 

Now I have to say, Forever 12 is just a daunting store. I hate shopping in there, but honestly, some of their stuff can be cute and is ridiculously cheap. I like that because if I'm not sure how much I'll like something that's cute, but out of my comfort zone, I don't have a problem paying $15 for a top that I only wear a few times. Rest assured, I don't go near their bottoms or dresses, because lord knows I am not shaped like a stick. I think it's all in how you wear something, and I've gotten lots of compliments on some of the items I've bought from there. Of course, rifling through their website and sorting tops that are labeled "dressy," I understand now why so many teenagers look so trampy when they are out with their friends. Someone needs to pare down the designers at that place, they are just out of control. 

I am so excited for my new clothes! The husband is quite happy that I really didn't spend as much as he thought I did, but that's smart shopping. I'd feel terrible if I spent that kind of money on only a portion of the clothing, because I would start to wonder whether I should put that money to use elsewhere. But no doubt, I got a great deal on all my stuff. And I know what you're thinking, that's an awful lot of blue hues, but honestly, I know what I look good in. And this way, I can mix and match more of my stuff. And honestly, some of the yellowish/green tones out this fall do not at all complement my skin. But this royal blue color carries through nearly every season and blues are my best colors. I still carry my red purse (the blue Michael Kors one I purchased is on sale at ebay, I just couldn't do such a big, slouchy bag everyday), so that's another splash of color. Also, I've upgraded a lot of my jewelry and accessories, thanks to a friend who works at a company that makes them. (F-R-E-E!!!). I feel much better about my style (the fact that I have a style, not just covet one) and who doesn't like to feel and look good?

In true me fashion, there are still a few things I am watching and hoping go on sale, you ask? This: 

it's a wool herringbone coat. And this photo doesn't do it justice. It was lust at first sight. I have a few coupons, so if they have a good outerwear sale, I am on it! Well, we'll see. I do need some photography equipment for an upcoming wedding I'm shooting. But I'm going to watch it and drool.

What are you buying this season?

Who wants to cook?

I love to cook. Growing up, my mother was always cooking on Sunday. I'm realizing, as I rush to the grocery store this morning to stock up on butter (because it's on sale for $1.66 a pound) that I am turning into her. Except that I still don't like pleated pants and on occasion, I do leave the house on Sunday. Truth be told, looking back, my mother was always more than happy to teach me about cooking, but my attention span was... well, not there. Plus, she was always cooking, so why would I need to know?

Fast forward to when I live on my own. Cooking? Somewhat of a necessity, no? I love it now. I try not to buy what I can make, and one thing I promised myself years ago was that I wouldn't return to Top Ramen unless we are destitute. And now, I'm here to Make you a cook. Check me out!

Our trip to Boston

Yesterday, in celebration of my birthday, the Husband and I took the kids into Boston. The plan was, ride the train in, ride the swan boats, and stop at a cupcake shop for cupcakes. So upon searching and mapping out our day, we were all set. We ride in on the commuter rail, which the kidlets were overly thrilled about. Where we live we can hear the train when it passes, and so they were ridiculously excited to finally get to ride one. The only down side was that the windows were so dirty on the outside that you couldn't see out of them. And the kids reminded us of this every ten minutes or so. It was a hard day, I'm not going to lie. It was in the 90s and sickeningly muggy. Also, we're not used to that much walking. Boston is a walking city, if you're not familiar. The Husband and I spent two nights in Boston before we actually lived up here, so we had some sort of a grip on things. If you're looking for a good city guide, the Not For Tourists guides are the best way to go. More on this one later. The day starts out, we get off at the wrong rail station (Ruggles) and end up hiking for like six miles to get to the Common. If you don't know me, I get really anxious when I'm lost. Which is also why the Husband and I have decided that our next vehicle will be equipped with Navigation. Anywho, after what seems like forever, we get to the common. Not without stopping at the Pru to visit the skywalk. Well, until we get to the top and discover it's going to be $40 to see a hazy view of the city. I'm sorry, but we're on a budget. We stop at Maggiano's to eat lunch. Not where we really wanted to stop, but at that point, we were STARVING and needed some nosh. Surprisingly, it cost us less than what the skywalk would have cost, and that was some Good Eats. I had half a spinach salad, the Husband ate half an order of linguine with red clam sauce, the Son had mac & cheese, the Daughter had her favorite, naked pasta with butter. It was one of the best meals we've had in a LONG time. We venture over to the Common, and the kids have a good time. I'm amazed at the wildlife and how accustomed the animals are to being close to people. This one little squirrel just stood close to us looking at it like "what? You've never seen a squirrel before?" It was really fun. We rode the swan boats, and as fun as it sounds, it was also disgustingly hot and muggy. I know I've said this before, but I just can't explain to you how gross it was. Strangely, the kids hung really well. Even the daughter had on flip flops (like me) and still did really well walking all over. When we were done, I had decided I wanted to indulge in my cupcakes. We exit the Common and start to regroup, when we learn we have somehow now lost our NFT guide. So imagine our situation, where even with the guide, we've walked for two hours around the city, lost. And now we have no guide, but an address and two cross streets. So we carry on. We've passed like five bookstores, so I figure if we walk up Newbury Street, we'll find another, we can just pop in and buy another guide, right? Yeah. Well, Urban Outfitters and Marc Jacobs don't care to tell you how to get around the city. So we walk the fourteen blocks to Mass Ave, we're hot, sticky, tired of walking, and want to just go home. But we press on to eat cupcakes at Sweet. Not to be confused with Sweet of Worcester. The kids are excited, the cupcakes are adorable, we pick out four regular cupcakes and one mini. And it's $14.75. Holy $hit, batman! That's almost half of what we spent on lunch! Now I've done my research. I love me some cupcakes. I've perfected a few recipes of my own. But I'll gladly buy yours if they're good. Sweet in Boston comes highly recommended. I gotta be honest, I really didn't like the cupcakes at Sweet. They really sucked. I had a mini of the Dark Chocolate with vanilla buttercream. It was... mehh. I had a regular size cappuccino cupcake. It really wasn't great. The cakes seemed very dry, and the frosting wasn't anything great. It was almost like pre-packaged, overly-flavored buttercream. The Husband had a Dark chocolate with chocolate icing, the son had the bubblegum, and the daughter had the pink lemonade. No one could finish their cupcakes. And the Husband and I were quite disgusted at the fact that none of us even wanted to finish them, but we paid almost $15 for them. As soon as we left, the Husband looks at me and says, "Your cupcakes are far better than those." He knew I was upset because I hate spending money on something I don't like. Now, I would have loved to be able to make the trek to KickAss Cupcakes, mostly because they serve fried cupcakes, and I have a hard time thinking of something better than that. If you're in the Worcester area, that Sweet is FANTASTIC. We compared on the way home, as that shop has the giant cupcakes, and I am pretty sure they were even cheaper than what we just had. I highly recommend them. So we got home, dead tired, gave the kids baths and decided to finish painting spots in the house that needed touch up. I'm not really sure why, but that's what we did. And I'll be making my own cupcakes that we'll eat with tomorrow for my real birthday. I feel the need to put cream cheese on top of something. If you'd like to see the photos I took yesterday, visit my photostream on flickr. I'll be uploading the daughter's photos later, as I let her carry my small camera.

Apparently, I'm in love with Jessica Simpson.

I'm not really sure how it happened, either. Okay, let me explain. It's been a terrible week for me. There have actually been some good parts, but it's the crap that I recall the most. First, my car rolled over 100,000 miles. I know, doesn't sound drastic, but I had a Certified Saab, which is covered for 100,000 miles. So my warranty is up. And my axle is leaking now. Of course. The next day, I broke my favorite wine glass. I have one left, but really, what good is one wine glass? They are crystal, and I bought them as a 21st birthday gift to myself. Strange that they lasted me almost exactly ten years? Oh well, what can you do? Thursday, I drove the Husband's truck to work. Upon jumping out of the driver's seat, I broke the heel to my red shoes. Truth be told, I only liked that they were red. I think they were a little dowdy, but they were the right price at the right time. More than a year ago. So I had to go out on lunch and buy a new pair of shoes. Enter a pair of adorable Jessica Simpson booties. I couldn't find a photo, and I don't feel like dragging out the camera, as my ass has made a perfect indentation in the couch. Now, I don't usually give a second glance, but they were really cute. They're a beautiful black leather, and really, she loves Louboutins, so they can't be that bad, right? They're actually built much like Louboutins, where the platform is hidden inside the shoe, so the heel isn't so ridiculous. Because as much as I love a 4" heel, those who know me know that my gracefulness usually shows through at the perfect time. It's this reason that I have sworn I will no longer buy cuffed dress pants. Anywho, I'm at DSW, and these shoes are on the sale rack. I had to do the math three times to make sure I didn't screw up, these shoes ended up being $21.00. Seriously. Actually, it looks like there's something (paint?) on the inside of one of the heels, but I have some black shoe polish that I am sure will take care of business. If not, I have tons of Sharpies. But let's be honest, I am going to kill these shoes sooner or later, so why not buy them with a flaw? Then I won't be so upset the first time I trip over a curb. You should have seen me, though, I was all "hide them so no one else will take the box while I'm still shopping." I ended up going back on Friday to purchase a pair of Nine West 3" black heels, a staple I've sorely been missing in my wardrobe. I digress. Let's back up to Wednesday. I shuffle the kidlets out of the house and am herding them into the car. My sunglasses are on my head, and I go to buckle the son in. And whack my head on the door frame. And crack my glasses. My Oakley XS Fives (yes, they are kids, stop laughing) that I've had for six years. I've always bought Oakleys since I was in high school. They always had a smaller face frame that fits me well. Because honestly, I have a narrow head and really can wear kids glasses. And I've gotten used to their brown iridium lens. Tear. Actually, it hurt really bad. So today, I stopped at the Outlets to check out the Oakley Vault. And to stop by the Vans Outlet to get the son a new pair of kicks—only to find they were closed. Sigh. I found a pair of Oakleys I liked, but not a pair that I love. I'm picky, I like tortoiseshell glasses, as I think black frames are too severe for my skin tone. And the styles out right now for women don't ususally fit on my face. I look like I'm trying to fit in my mother's oversized glasses playing dress up. Or I look like a fly. We leave and head to the mall. I park at Macy's, and we walk in to accessories and Coach. I peel myself away from drooling on the new Parker bag and peruse the sunglasses, not expecting to find much. And in the end, I fell in lust with these: They are adorable, no? A pair of slightly rounded, narrow-fitting Jessica Simpson sunglasses with brown lenses. It was love at first sight. But I didn't buy them. Yet. They weren't on sale, they were $45. EVERY other pair was, except the JS ones. Of course. So I asked the lady in the Coach section (I was told they were the only saleswomen who could help) if by chance she had a coupon I could use. She turned on the attitude and was all, "Uh, no. We mail those out to our PREFERRED customers." I felt like I was suddenly at a Mercedes dealership asking if they could cut me a deal on an AMG, cause I'm on a budget. WTF??? My mother shops at Macy's quite often. Her favorite thing to do is go home and add up what her purchases should have cost her, since she uses specialty coupons and apparently holds the cashier hostage until she's paid only $23.47 for approximately $679.65 worth of accoutrements. Usually, if they have a coupon out, they will just scan one for you. Normally, I make sure I'm near an old lady while I'm asking because you know they have like six extras and will lend you one. Instead, here I stand, facing Cruella. She simply places them on the counter in front of me like she's teasing, leans against the back of the opposite counter, looks at me and says, "well, you can open a Macy's account, you'll get 15% off, and make payments on these glasses. I resist the urge to choke her. I don't want to make payments, I want 30% off, like every single other pair! I look up and realize that my children have tried on every Sunday's best hat and have left them on the floor, and are running around with berets on their heads. I look straight at her and say, "Daughter, Son, let's go, we're going home!" Because it would be a shame to pinch this woman's head off and risk getting that beautiful white leather bag dirty behind her. Incase you're in shock, I'm not the type that leaves my kids' mess behind. Matter of fact, when we go out to eat, the Husband tries to remind me that I am no longer a waitress and need to stop stacking, scraping, and aligning all the table items for easy pick-up. But this woman is lucky I didn't strangle her with a removable shoulder strap.

The Photographic Mama, better explained...

Some of you may or may not know, this past Christmas, the Husband gave me a Nikon D60, my first Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera. The rest of the story is that I sold my traditional (read: 35 mm film) SLR on ebay to further finance a DSLR. One of my goals when we moved up here was to get back into photography and shoot more often. After all, I minored in photography in college. Now, I'm trying to remind myself to take my camera with me everywhere. That's always been my biggest problem. Life happens, and I don't have my camera to chronicle it. Now, I was hopping around the blogosphere and found MCP Actions, specifically the post of which I swiped borrowed this: And this is exactly how I feel every time someone makes this comment. Like MCP and many of the bloggers that commented, a camera is solely a tool. Yes, there are people out there that can simply snap great images. But it takes talent to consistently create amazing images using composition. Is it easier to achieve Bokeh? Yes. Can a better sensor pick up more detail? Yes. Does that make everyone with a DSLR a photographer? No. Anyone can shoot in Auto mode. To quote one commenter, "Did people admire Julia Child for her oven?" No. Hey, I own a ton of pencils and paint, but that doesn't make me a fine artist. Matter of fact, Daddy would be so proud if he knew that the caliper he gave me makes me an Engineer. Are you with me? When I used to shoot with film, I worked with infrared film. I preferred Black and White infrared because I could develop and handle it, as working with color infrared meant I would have to send it out for other people to do my finish work. And that is precisely why I no longer shoot BW infrared—the lack of access to a darkroom requires I send out my film. That, and the fact that infrared film is $$$. Anywho, the camera I used was a Nikon FM10. The most basic, fully-manual SLR. To answer why, I once shot a wedding, and the uncle with his "Mac Daddy" Canon came over and asked me what I use. He made snide comments about my camera, to which I told him, "My camera can do anything that yours can. The difference is that mine doesn't have an auto setting." I still don't think he understood. Part of being a professional at anything is fully understanding what you are doing and how to use all your tools. I own plenty of wrenches, and while I have more understanding of vehicles than most women, there's a reason you don't find me fixing them. (Hint: read my last post). So to sum this all up, it's not the camera that takes great images. And yes, I want to wring a neck every time I hear how my camera takes great photos. I have, after all, won awards for photography.

The truth about me and electronics.

I've come to a point in my adulthood when I need to finally declare that electronics and I just don't mix. Even with a father that is an Electrical Engineer, I cannot be salvaged, I am afraid. Terrible, right? Can you feel his pain? Here's the thing. Growing up, we could rarely afford to replace things. Especially since my father had the know-how to fix everything. I'll save the tales of his frugalness leading all the way to reusing nails for another posting. But he raised me to always take care of the things you have, as my parents worked very hard for everything. And I believe I do. Apparently, all my appliances disagree, somehow. I tear through vacuums. I moved out of my parents' house twelve years ago. I'm on my fourth vacuum. Yes, I have two kids, a husband, two cats, and a dog. But really, I don't buy stick-vacs, so aren't most normal vacuums made for this? I don't suck up stuff that I shouldn't. I just want all the hair and dirt gone. But I guess that's asking too much. My current vacuum--if I had the money to spend on a new one, it would be at the curb. My old roommate, who is quite possibly the messiest person I know (Danielle, if you are by chance reading this, you know I love you, but I speak the truth). She has had one vacuum since we first lived together. We picked it out ten years ago. After I killed her mother's Kirby. She still has that same vacuum. It's just not fair. However, if anyone from Dyson would like to send a sample my way, I'll promptly use it, break it, and send it back to you so that you can tear it apart and see what has gone wrong. Anyone? Anyone? Shall I beg? I'm also on my fourth set of washers and dryers. In 11 years. (The first year, I made nice at the laundromat. They probably rejoiced the day I left.) In all truthfulness, the third set we sold with our last house as a ploy because I wanted new front-loaders. But don't worry, we made up for that—I'm on my second motor for my current dryer. No, I don't overload. I don't shove an entire sheep in there. I swear. Think it's still a fluke? I've killed two refrigerators. And my mother's brand new french-door refrigerator broke one weekend after my wedding, where she hosted the rehearsal party. I don't even know why, but electronics simply run screaming from me. Even though I still take care of everything I own, as I work my ass off for it. The latest casualty? My iMac. I know, I'm trying not to cry directly over the keyboard to my MacBook. We bought it back in 2004, when I finally convinced the Husband to go Mac and never look back. I ridiculed him when he bought a Toshiba laptop in 2006 and it needed to have its operating system reloaded after nine months. And twice since then. I've always babied my iMac, and it has been a true workhorse to me. I gave it more RAM when we moved, as I knew I would be doing more freelance and needed the power. My boss upgraded it to Leopard 10.5 last year so I could sync it with my MacBook and use my new Creative Suite. And now, I'm afraid it needs a new midboard, as there's no video card for an iMac. I really want to fix it, not replace it. I'm going to perform a few more diagnostic tests before I take it off to the Genius Bar, but it is considered a legacy Mac. (= more $$$). Until then, I will try not to break anything. Although, I will say, something in the house usually breaks right after we get the "project starter" coupon in the mail from Lowe's. It hasn't shown up yet, so let's hope everything holds together.

What to wear to a wedding.

The Husband and I have to attend a wedding today. After looking high and low, I have found the perfect dress, from New York & Company. When I tried it on, the salesgirl kept telling me it looked fantastic. Instantly, I did love it, the shape is perfect. I'll show a photo, but I couldn't find the exact dress, this is similar and is in the same color. I wanted a print, but settled for a solid, as the only print was black and white, and I really didn't want to buy another black and white dress. It's an odd color, but when I told the girl the short story, she agreed I should wear it and not be nervous of drawing attention. The truth: we really don't want to go to the wedding. The Bride and Groom have broken (yes, broken. Way past burnt) many bridges along the way. I won't discuss the Groom's antics. The Husband has been friends with the groom for many years. Not close friends, as the groom can never be counted on. Ever. So when we moved up here, mutual friends of ours knew them, too. They've had a tumultuous relationship, been unfaithful, but have been together for something like 12 years. No one's really sure why they are getting hitched now, but whatever. Months ago, the bride came to me to design her invitations. Since this is what I love to do, I agreed. I made a custom invite for her, and it was a nice set. Honestly, she didn't pick the concept I would have, but to each their own. She agreed to everything, and told me to go ahead and buy the paper to print them. So I did. I spent $145 on paper and got to printing. After about 25 invites, I ran out of ink and had to stop. The Husband and I weren't in a great financial place, so it had to wait a few days. I let her know the total cost of materials, I wasn't charging for my time. Three days later, I get an email that she has now decided to make them herself. She thought going with me would be the cheapest option. Enter my rage. I didn't even answer her. I'll spare you the details of her greedily-planned shower that you had to purchase tickets to attend. (!) I was able to take most of the paper back, save for about $30 worth. So imagine my surprise when we got an invite. The Husband says, "We're not going, right?" I answered, "The Hell we aren't! Honey, they're serving Prime Rib. The least they can do is buy us dinner." He agreed. So we'll go to the wedding. And I'll be the one in a blood orange dress: Yay!

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Edit: When we arrived, ALL the women were in black. Everyone. We went to the lounge, had a beverage, and I had two women tell me how beautiful my dress was. I had one girl that was all "Seriously, can we switch in the bathroom?" The Husband and I ended up seated next to them, which was fun. During the wedding, four other women told me how nce/sexy my dress was. Oh, and the Husband loved it, too. Score!