Tuesday Shoes-Day

 

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I dont know about you guys, but I'm happy for the mid week holiday tomorrow! No parades or fireworks for me though - I'll be hitting a few sales, but otherwise just hanging out at home

The shoes I'm showing off today I actually bought this morning (above). I like nothing more than a comfy pair of slip on sneakers for casual days lounging around the house or when I'll be doing a lot of walking. I prefer the all black myself, but the white pair below are perfect for summer too, and would go great with a loose top and a pair of cutoff shorts, or even a sundress. 

What's your favorite?

-B-

Weekend Re-cap

Just a few snapshots from my weekend!

1. Got to spend some time with this cute little girl. 2. A grown up drink for a relaxing day. 3. A new tea and artichokes for the week. 4. Reading material 5. A new nail color for my nails. 6. My original ring (i.e. the weekend ring) and my newly dipped wedding band. 7. My 2nd ring (i.e. the weekday ring)

Happy Monday!

*J*

I'm obsessed

For this Summer I am officially obsessed with sheer tops and patterned pants. I can't seem to get enough! Luckily H&M keeps me satisfied and styled well. They can do no wrong!

The bonus of sheer tops is quite simple, they keep you cool on days when it is 94 degrees outside!Thank you fashion air conditioning!

*J*

H&M does it again!

My love for H&M has no bounds. I wore this outfit yesterday and thank god I did. The weather was scorching hot and I could already feel the heat at 6:40 in the morning. I got this lovely tunic dress at H&M over the weekend for $7. In fact I liked it so much I got another one in a different color. Thank you H&M!

Oh and did you notice my new haircut. I decided to get my hair cut shorter so my natural waves/curls could go crazy in the summer. Especially since we don't have central air and I don't want to be sweating my make up off before even leaving for work. So my hair routine can now be shaved down to a few measly minutes.

Happy Hump Day!

*J*

Tuesday Shoes-Day!

Hi, my name's Jennifer and I have a shoe addiction. While browsing the internet last week I came across this site. Ever since then my world has been turned upside down.

The first pair I'm featuring today are completely me and are everything I look for in a shoe. Which of course is bascially that "it" factor. I love when shoes are a little different and have a cool architecture about them.

The second pair of shoes are a little out of my comfort zone. I am by no means a tennis shoe girl but I feel like I could wear these with a more casual outfit and possibly treat them as a wedge bootie.

Even though I'm dying over these shoes and want them NOW I think I will wait to make sure I get some extra money before I go shoe spending. Shoes will do that to you. Make you crazy and all!

*J*

DIY - Pillowcase Dress for Toddlers

I've been wanting to do some sewing projects for a while, and after finding the materials I was able to finish a project I had pinned from a site called Prudent Baby.

I started with this - 

After 2 nights, a few modifications and a few choice expletives at times of confusion, I ended up with this -

It's a little bit messy, and I'm not yet sure if it'll stand up to the wear and tear of little M wearing it, but it's darn cute. I have quite a few more orphan pillowcases, too, so I think I will be doing some more practice and in the mean time stocking up on things she can wear to bed, which we are constantly running out of for some reason. (Laundry what?) I almost wish I could make one in my size of this, because the material is so comfortable. Now that I think of it, this pillowcase did have a matching sheet...

-B-

Freshness in a jar

With summer quickly approaching I tend to try and find ways to have lighter meals. The heavy meals of winter don't quite work for the summer so I have to find ways to change that up.

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE salad. While visiting other blogs and browsing through pinterest I noticed salads in a jar. I figured I would try it. Anything to help my lettuce last longer and to prevent my hard earned money from going down the drain.

Here are the simple easy steps:

1. Wash and dry the lettuce.

2. Once the lettuce is dry cut it up to your liking.

3. Put it in a mason jar and put the lid on it.

4. Store in the fridge (from my experience it lasts at least 2 weeks in the fridge like this)

Happy Eating!

*J*

Tuesday Shoes-Day!

Today's shoes-day is brought to you by Jens love of Zara (that is starting to rub off on me, even though I haven't bought anything from there.....yet. Jen recently took a trip and visited a Zara store and came back with these lovelies

A nice white shoe is great for summer, especially one like this. 
Even better is it has a twin in a nice neon color - 

I'm thinking of getting a pair myself, but its so hard to decide which! Though I do love the bright pair. Which pair would you choose?


-B-

Are those?..

So if you have checked out any fashion blog anywhere you have probably noticed a trend called Pajama dressing. That's what this is.

While at the thrift store this weekend I decided to try and find some pants that I could wear that were PJ'ish. Luckily in the pajama aisle (yes there is a whole aisle) I found these lovely beauties and another lime green pair. So I snatched them up and decided to see if it was a look I could pull off. I actually quite like the look and so did a few of my co-workers!

Even if they aren't the most flattering pants ever they are the most comfortable! Let us know if you try this trend!

Happy Friday!

*J*



Trend To Watch - Bug Jewelry

I've noticed more and more that insect inspired jewelry is coming to the fore-front lately. Beetles, Butterflies, Caterpillars and the like are beeing seen more and more in magazines, movies and television - even on shows like my favorite, Game of Thrones -

Sansa's butterfly/moth (?) ring isn't the only bug bling on the program either - she also had a dragonfly necklace, and other characters are also seen wearing bug rings and bracelets. I wish I could find if her ring is available for sale somewhere though - anyone else found it?

Honey bees have caught my fancy the most lately - Especially when the designs incorporate honeycomb shapes as well. This little "bugger" from JewelMint is cute - 

and my Etsy favorites have been "swarmed" with bees lately (har har)

This necklace in particular is up there on my wishlist - 

I have a few pieces of bug jewelry in my possession already, but those are comprised of mostly butterflies and spiders. I've been thinking of adding a few beetle bugs and other creepy crawlies to the mix, and I've found quite a few sparkly slithery things that would work out just fine - 

  

 

I'm not sure I have enough guts to wear a live beetle brooch, but a silver counterpart would be just fine.

Would you wear insect jewelry?

I hope all my post didn't "bug" you :)

-B-

Tuesday Shoes-Day!

In today's Shoes day post I want to share with you all a pair of shoes that I have been lusting after on Zara for quite some time and how I would wear this for a summer BBQ or even a day out shopping.

(Disclaimer: This is just a suggestion as I know my tastes are quite different then most.)

 

 To me nothing is easier to wear then a pair of jeans and a tank top and while it may seem like a boring combination there are many things you can do to jazz up this boring combo. 

Since I've been obsessed with colored pants these last couple of weeks I think these sandals would go perfect with these colored jeans and this simple swinging tank. Though it may seem crazy to pair light pink pants with a shirt that doesn't have any pink in it, that's what makes the outfit interesting. Just consider the pants a part of the "White" family and then they will feel more like a neutral. If you want to be even bolder you could wear this tank with some patterned pants. Its your outfit though so put your own spin on it and make it work for you!

*J* 

Eats - Crab Salad Stuffed Eggs

I hope everyone had a fun and memorable Memorial Day weekend! I've enjoyed a fantastic 3 days off, including a family barbeque on saturday that included a wide array of food and other than the chips most of it was made by me. Many of the dishes were old family favorites, but I made a few twists on the original. Like these deviled eggs - instead of the traditional yolk filling, I made a really simple crab salad to stuff them with.

Its primarily imitation crab meat, and diced celery. I didn't want something with too much mayo since we were having the party outside, so this has the bare minimum I felt it needed to hold it together.


Crab Stuffed Deviled Eggs
(makes ~1 1/2 dozen)


9 eggs, hard boiled
2 stalk celery, diced
6 oz imitation crab meat, diced
~1/4 Cup Mayo (eyeball it as I mention above)
Spices to taste (onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper)


Cut eggs in half, discard yolks
Combine remaining ingredients for the crab salad
Stuff eggs with crab salad.


These eggs were a hit - I also made traditional deviled eggs, and one with added Sriracha for a spicy kick. They all got eaten in no time.


Do you have any traditional picnic foods? I'd love to hear your recipes!

-B-

Tuesday Shoes-Day

Welcome to another edition of Tuesday Shoesday! Since sandal weather has finally arrived for most of us in the northern hemisphere, I thought today I would feature a few of my favorite pair of sandals!

These gladiator sandals from Jessica Simpson are one of my favorite pair for summer - they can be dressed up or down, and go with any number of dresses, pants skirts, you name it! I was drawn to them initially because of all the buckles and zippers. I sort of wish I had gotten them in black now, but I like having this pair in my arsenal for when I want more "subtle" shoe statements. They are pretty high, but since they have a wedge heel I find that they are surprisingly comfortable.

This red suede pair is another comfy set, in spite of the height. They were a steal for $13, I got them at Burlington Coat Factory and while they aren't a name brand the quality has stood up for the amount of abuse I regularly put my shoes through. The color is so fun and a great punch for neutral outfits.

Do you have a favorite pair of sandals for summer? Tell us about them!

-B-

Book(s) Of The Month - May Edition

It's been a little slow on the reading front, but this month I've been reading multiple books.

I first knew about Garrison Keillor from the radio show A Prairie Home Companion, and I actually read his other Lake Wobegon book called Pontoon. These books based on life in a fictitious small town in Minnesota are pretty hilarious, in my opinion, so I've been enjoying them.


Jen and I have also been reading the 50 Shades Grey series. My opinion about the books keep changing, because I think the whole premise is entirely too cliche and it makes me put them more in the category of a romance novel than a legitimate novel. I'm intrigued by the characters though, which is why I keep reading, although I'm sure Jen is getting tired of me getting to certain points and sending her text messages along the lines of "OMG REALLY THAT IS SO SURPRISING, oh wait- no it's not", or musing back and forth whether the books were sponsored by Converse and Audi.


Jen is actually lending me the books, which is kinda a leap of faith on her part because she is like me in that her books are her babies, and she is sending 2 of them over the great lakes for me to borrow. I told her I promise that I would keep them out of the twins' reach. They're too busy with their own books anyways - My BF and I recently got them a whole series of matching books that they love





So if you think about it, I've got a lot of books in circulation this month. My eyes are tired!

What are you reading lately?

-B-

DIY : Growing Celery

Remember one of our pins of the week?

Check out this orginal blog post on how to re-grow celery from cuttings

Well, I did it!

It's been growing pretty steady. Hopefully it will continue growing well so I'll be able to enjoy it.

Have you done anything you pinned lately?

-B-

LBD!

Hey look it's me! I know it's been a while since I've done an outfit post and I'm sure you want to see something more exciting than a little black dress but what could be more exciting that a LBD with classic tailoring?!?!

Working two jobs again really seems to put a damper on my creativity so I'm trying to revamp my wardrobe using classic easy pieces that will still give me a little bit of a punch. Lets face it, when you know you have a long day ahead of you the last thing you want to do is wear a whole bunch of fussiness!

And that's all about that!

*J*

(Necklace: Dots?, Dress: H&M, Watch: Target, Shoes: Charlotte Russe)

How Does Your Garden Grow

Since I've been living in a house for the past year or so and finally have a chance to put down roots I've been trying to cultivate my green thumb. I have a few houseplants as well but the wee ones have managed to knock most of them over so they are a little sad at the moment until I can get them re-potted. Outside is another story - In the fall I planted a lot of bulbs, and sat back and crossed my fingers. By the time they sprouted I had forgotten what exactly they were supposed to be. The day the first one bloomed I was so happy! Not only because they grew in the first place, but because I love Daffodils!

Something about Daffodils just makes me happy. They also make me think of Alice in Wonderland. I half expect them to start talking to me when I'm out in the yard.

They've all died off now, sadly, but I've got some more plants to add in for the interim since daffodils will come back every year. They spread, too, so in another year or two my garden will not look so sparse.

Last weekend I did a lot of gardening, and while nothing has blooms yet I'll post an update on them later on.

Happy Gardening!

-B-