Ageless Style - Valentine Date Look

I am so excited to share a new feature on my blog today:  the Ageless Style Link up!  Ageless Style, if you are not familiar with it, is a group of over-forty fashion bloggers who pick a monthly style theme and show multiple ways of wearing it.  I was so thrilled to be asked to be part of this team as I've been fans of many of these fashion bloggers for a long time. 

 Now normally, Ageless Style is on the first Tuesday of every month, but they just moved it to the first Monday of the month.  I therefore had to move my "Grandma & Me" posts to the second Monday of the month.  So for those of you who might have shown up today to see pictures of the grand kids, come back next week!

And now on to the party, where the theme is:  Valentine's Day!  It is no secret that I'm a huge fan of Valentine's Day, so I was happy that Kellyann chose this for my very first theme.

Valentine's Day has been getting a lot of bad press the past few years, and I would like to change that.  Valentine's Day is all about love.  The Bible has a lot to say about love, and I'm sharing one of my favorite "love" scriptures in the picture below.  For me, Valentine's Day is a sweet day to show EVERYONE in your life how much they mean to me.  It doesn't have to be an expensive, luxurious grand sweeping romantic gesture of love.  Just, stick a love note in your kids lunch boxes, send your girl friends a card, make your husband some cookies.  Just do something and don't expect anything in return and you will be surprised how much you enjoyed this "Day of Love" and how well it is received.

 For my Valentine outfit, I chose a new red top from TJMaxx.  I wore this top on Christmas Day, but I thought it would be perfect for Valentine's Day as well.  I have shown you this top before styled with black pants in my "What I Wore In December" post, and you will see even more of it next week as I wore it for my "Grandma & Me" photo shoot...that time with white pants.  It is such a versatile top and I know I will have it my closet for many years to come!

To jazz the top up a bit for a romantic date night, I paired it with a faux leather jacket and I carried a leopard print clutch.

 My black denim skirt I picked up on a clearance rack from Forever 21 for just a few dollars.  It was one of the few times I ever found anything decent on a Forever 21 clearance rack.  I normally don't even have the patience to look through their clearance clothes because they have so much stuff and it's usually very messy, but this time, I scored, and I scored big!

Since February in Wisconsin is usually pretty cold, I wore black tights with black suede booties.

The top has a beautiful elastic shirred yoke and a gathered collar.  The sleeves are lovely too as the cuff is a bit longer than usual as there is a slight gathering at the cuff.  And, did I say what a gorgeous shade of red this top is?  You would think red is red, but there are so many different shades.  I've been fooled before to purchase a red top only to bring it home and find out was more orange than red.  Red can also be very bright, which isn't always flattering.  The red in this top is somewhere between a bright red and a burgundy.  I just love this shade.

Of course I had to wear red lipstick and paint my nails red to match!  For jewelry, I chose these silver hobo earrings from Stitch Fix.

I hope you enjoyed my Valentine Day post as much as I enjoyed writing it.  Now, get out there and show everyone how much you love them this Valentine's Day!  

Top - TJMaxx, check your local stores, otherwise there's a similar one HERE,  Skirt - Forever 21, similar HERE,  Leopard Print Clutch - Express, similar HERE, black suede booties, old, similar HERE.

Have A Great Day and link up with us below! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Amy ~ Amy's Creative Pursuits Blog, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest

Bettye ~ Fashion Schlub Blog, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube

Daenel ~ Living outside the stacks Blog, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter

Debbie ~ Fashion Fairy Dust Bloglovin, Blog, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter

Jennie ~ A Pocketful of Polka Dots Blog, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Bloglovin

Jodie ~ Jodie's Touch of Style Blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter

Julia ~ When the Girls Rule Blog, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram

Kellyann ~ This Blonde's Shopping Bag Blog, Instagram, Bloglovin, Twitter

Shelly ~ The Queen in Between Blog, Instagram, Bloglovin, Pinterest, Facebook

Shugunna ~ Nzuri N* Simplicity Blog, Pinterest, Instagram

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New Clothes From My Amazon Wish Lists

 I love Amazon wish lists!  It makes shopping so quick and easy for everyone, and you are always going to get exactly what you want and need.  I still consider gifts from my Amazon wish list a "surprise", because my list is pretty big, and I tend to forget everything I put on it, so when someone gets me a gift off my wish list it's always a surprise to me!

I have two clothing and accessory items from my children that I received as Christmas gifts this year that were off my Amazon wish list.  The color block cardigan you may immediately recognize as I think just about every blogger in blog land owns it by now.  The other item is the gorgeous faux leather brown bucket bag.

I've had my eye on this cardigan ever since I saw other bloggers wear it.  Color blocking is super on-trend this year, so I really wanted at least one color block item in my wardrobe.  I tried a color block cardigan from Stitch Fix, but I did not think it complimented my figure:  wide stripes across a big chest is not flattering at all.   I thought a color block cardigan might work better for me because there is a break in the chest area where the opening is.

I was absolutely correct in my assumptions.  The openness of a cardigan is much more suited to my figure.  The long length of this cardigan is also very elongating and slimming.  But buyer beware, if you are petite this may not be the cardigan for you as it is very long.  I'm 5'7 with a long torso and long legs and it comes to the top of my knees.

As for sizing, it's a little big.  I'm wearing a medium, but I should have a small.  It's a little big in the shoulders and I had to roll up the sleeves.   I usually always wear a medium in everything, so I was surprised it was so big on me.

As for the quality, I have no complaints.  It's absolutely stunning!  I love the colors I'm wearing, but this cardigan comes in many other color patterns as well.  I also love how thin the knit is.  Anyone who is a regular reader of my blog knows I prefer thinner knits over chunkier knits.  They are more figure flattering and not quite so warm.

My next Amazon gift was this Hobo Bucket Bag.  I just LOVE this bag!  My old brown purse was getting quite worn, so I really needed a huge one.  This bag is so huge!

 

I pack up the whole house with me every time I go anywhere, so I need a huge bag.  Every side of this bag is a little different so I included pictures showing all sides.  I love this side zipper.  The back of the bag also has a zipper pocket, and the front has a nice vertical detailing.  It also has two strap options.  The one I'm showing in this post is the shorter strap.

The bag is very high quality for faux leather, and it came with a nice dust bag fo storage and a sweet handmade gift inside.  I love it when sellers are so thoughtful like that.  

For footwear I chose my grey booties to pull out the grey in my cardigan.

I highly recommend both of these Amazon purchases.  You will find links to these items at the end of this post.

Lovaru Womens Boho Open Front Cardigan Colorblock Long Sleeve Loose Knit Lightweight Sweater in Khaki - Amazon,   Large Ladies Hobo Bucket Bag - Amazon.  Pull on denim jeans, Stitch Fix, old, similar HERE.  Grey Booties, Blowfish, old, similar HERE.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

What I Wore In December

Hey Girlfriends, it's time for another round up of some outfits that I wore in the month of December.  I'm quite the homebody.  On average I only leave the house twice a week, so I never have too many outfits to share.  I always take a quick selfie before I leave the house, and I post it to my Instagram and Facebook stories, that's why some of the photos have hashtags on them.

This month, I was more of a homebody than usual as my family was here for the holidays and we didn't go out much.  We all enjoyed just cozying up at home.  But here are seven outfits I wore when I did leave the house.

This is an outfit I wore out to lunch with the hubs and shopping.  The top and pull on jeans are both from Stitch Fix.

Since December was a holiday month,  I have a few holiday outfits to share.  You may remember this Liz Claiborne dress I wore in my "Grandma and Me:  My Two Favorite Presents Under The Christmas Tree" post.  I wore this dress on Christmas Sunday to Church, but this time I changed it up a bit by wearing tall slouchy boots.  And great news!  This dress is STILL available HERE!

Another lunch/shopping outfit.  Grey jeans are from Stitch Fix, the black and white marbled sweater and tall riding boots are from JCPenney (both old).

I wore this outfit for a hair appointment.  The leggings are from Stitch Fix,
the sweater is from JCP, and the combat boots are from Charlotte Russe (all old).

Sometime during the holiday month I wore this outfit shopping.  If you can't read my sweater, it says "Honey It's Cold Outside". It is a word play on the controversial holiday song.  I wear it every year.  I found it at H&M years ago.  The words are silver crystals.  I wore my sweater with Burgundy skinny jeans and brown suede booties, all old.

Another holiday outfit I wore was a sparkly navy blue sweater with black pants and black suede booties.  I wore this the Sunday after Christmas.  The sweater was purchased years ago from JCPenney and the pants I received in a recent box from Stitch Fix.

And the last look I will share is a new top I wore on Christmas Day.  I picked this cute top up at TJMaxx.  You will see more of this top in an upcoming Valentine's Day post.  It is so pretty!  I love the yoke and sleeves.  I paired the top with the same stretchy black pants I'm wearing above and black suede booties.

I hope you enjoyed this months "What I Wore" post.  For whatever reason, they seem to be popular.  I guess we are all a bit curious what other women wear in real life, since most of us don't have that much to dress up for these days as our society is growing more and more casual.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

How To Wear Pale Blue In Winter

In last week's "Grandma & Me" Fashion Post I shared a new pale blue sweater that I purchased from TJMaxx.  In that post, I paired my pale blue sweater with white jeans, which looks great.  However, that pairing was just for our "Winter Blues" photo shoot, and was never worn outside.  Even though it is totally appropriate now to wear white jeans in winter, it is not suitable for my harsh winter climate. Where I live, our cars are covered in dirty salt and grime from the roads and it's almost impossible not to brush up against them when getting in and out of the car.  The sidewalks, parking lots, and driveways aren't much better.  They are ice covered when it's freezing and if it does warm up it all turns into an ugly grey mush which splashes up on your pants.  So, we cannot wear white in winter here in Wisconsin.  I've never seen a single soul in white pants in winter in my neck of the woods.  I think white pants in winter is for warm weather inhabitants only.

So, with all that being said, how else can I style my pale blue sweater other than with white pants?  Well, a dark blue jean would be one great alternative, but so would these dark grey skinny jeans I'm wearing in today's post.  Because the blue of the sweater is actually a periwinkle blue and thus has lavender undertones, it looks great with the dark grey jeans!

Other than the sweater, everything I'm wearing is old, so as usual I will link up with something similar at the bottom of the post.

I chose dark grey boots, similar to the color of the pants, to elongate the legs.

I colored my nails a fun light blue and wore a blue and silver ring.

For earrings, I chose this fun silver statement earring from Stitch Fix.

The sweater is so soft and cozy and has a nice length.  It is very loose and baggy.  I could have sized down for a tighter fit.

I think this sweater will be a great transitional piece in the spring because of the pastel color.  It will keep me warm on those chilly spring days we have in Wisconsin, and maybe by then the snow will have melted and I can wear it with my white pants.

 Because I purchased the sweater at TJMaxx, I can't find an on-line link for you, but check your local TJMaxx stores, you might get lucky and spot it!

Sweater - TJMaxx, similar HERE, Grey Skinny Jeans - Stitch Fix, similar straight leg HERE, Grey Booties - Famous Footwear,  similar HERE,  Silver Statement Earrings - Stitch Fix, similar HERE!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Grandma & Me: "Winter Blues"

I am back from Holiday Break!  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. We attended a wonderful Christmas Eve service at our church and we had a lot of great meals!   I had all my children and grandchildren home with me for a full week; we had so much fun just hanging out at the house.  It was the first Christmas that Alethea was really old enough to appreciate gifts.  I gave her a "Princess Jasmine" toddler doll.  Oh my!  If you could have seen the expression on her face when she opened it.  It was priceless!  She started singing "A Whole New World" once she realized who the doll was.  It was so cute!

  My kids gave me some nice gifts from my Amazon wish list I can't wait to share with you.  Hubby got me a new Mac!  After years of using a MacBook Pro lap top I went back to a desktop.  I still have my Apple iPad to use when traveling or when I want to lounge.  It's nice to have a desktop again because at my age I need the bigger screen! 🤣

We did two photo shoots with the kids when they were visiting:  today's  "Winter Blues" one and a "Valentines" shoot that I will show next month.  As usual, it was a challenge photographing both a toddler and a baby at the same time, but I think we got some cute shots! We used lots of props, and snuggled, giggled, sang a few songs, and made lots of funny noises to keep the kids entertained and smiling!

For our "Winter Blues" photo shoot, we all wore blue and white.  I wore a new cozy periwinkle sweater from TJMaxx with my white jeans and silver loafers.  Alethea wore a pretty blue T-shirt from JCPenney that has ruffles on the chest and sleeves and flecks of silver glitter scattered throughout.  She paired her blue top with a sparkly, white tulle skirt and silver shoes.  Atticus is wearing a new outfit I purchased for him for Christmas.  It's a super cute set from Carters that includes an adorable onesie, sweat pants, and a jacket.

The jacket has a hood and zips closed.  I think he will get a lot of use out of it as it's so neutral he can wear it as a spring coat with lots of other things.

I just love the little panda bear peeking out from the pocket.

On one of the legs is a lion, isn't he cute?

The onesie is white and says "One of a kind".  I love that!  

We used pine cones and these pretty snowflakes off my Christmas tree as props for this winter photo shoot.

Alethea always looks so beautiful in blue because of her gorgeous blue eyes!

 Atticus's eyes are blue too, but a much deeper, darker blue than Alethea.  He also looks great in blue!

When I looked at these photos I couldn't believe they were my grand babies.  They look so different than me!  They both have such pale skin and blue eyes, and I have dark hair, dark skin, and brown eyes, but they are my grand babies and I love them to pieces!

Alethea loves playing with the "magical pocket door" of this guest room.

Alethea is 2 1/2 years old.  She talks constantly!  It's so fun to converse with her.  The things she comes up with!

Atticus is 5 1/2 months.  He smiles, giggles, laughs, and is still the most content "chill" baby.  Whenever he sees you or you show any attention his way, he bursts into a huge smile!  He really started "babbling" the week he was visiting us too.  We wondered if it was because of all the extra conversation he was hearing.

It's always sad to say goodbye when we part, but I was happy to have a clean house again and have things return to normal too.  We will be seeing a lot more of them in the next few months than we usually do, so it wasn't as hard to say goodbye as it usually is.

I couldn't find my "new" sweater on-line, but be sure to check your TJMaxx stores.  It is such a soft and comfy sweater, and I love the shade of blue.  Alethea's clothes are all old, but I will link to similar items below.  Atticus cute outfit is still available at Macys!

Blue Sweater - TJMaxx, similar HERE, White Jeans - Charlotte Russe, old, similar HERE,  Silver Loafers - Macys, old, similar HERE, Carters Baby Boy 3-PC set - Macys,  Toddler Girl White Tulle Skirt, old, similar HERE,  Toddler Girl Silver Shoes, old, similar HERE, and Toddler Girl Blue Top, old, similar HERE.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!