Toadstool Cool: Skirts and Sweaters

Sweater and skirt: So, Kohl's

Bag: Amazon

Coat: Nine West, Kohl's

Shoes: Nine West, Marshalls

Lipstick: A Little Magic, Sephora, Kohl's

Red bangle: B Fabulous; Love bangle: Boscov's; Black and white bracelet: Mixit, JCPenney; Flamingo necklace: Ella & Elly, Zulily; Headband: INC, Macy's; Ring: Miami accessories cart; Necklace: The Tote Trove

Sweater: Jessica Simpson, Amazon; Skirt: XOXO, Macy's; Shoes: Nine West, Amazon

Colonel Cutie Necklace

Bag: Dancing Days, Banned, Modcloth; Yellow bangle: B Fabulous; Zigzag bangle: Strawbridge & Clothier; Green bracelet: Parade of Shoes; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City

Skirt: Wild Fable, Target; Leggings: French Connection UK for Sears; Boots: Penny Loves Kenny, Amazon

Bag: Olivia Miller: JCPenney; Blue ring: Mixit, JCPenney; Brown ring: Charlotte Russe

Sweater: Volcom, Macy's

These outfits are all about the timeless -- yet eclectic and unexpected! -- combo of skirts and sweaters.  Also, a bag that looks like a mushroom.  Believe it or not, I've been waiting a year to bust it out of the accessory forest that is my closet.  Not that I wasn't wooed by its woodland whimsy (in one of these pics, I appear to be clutching it with the dreaminess of Gollum and his precious).  But there are a lot of carryalls competing in that closet.  Sometimes when I walk in, I imagine them chirping, "Choose me!  Choose me!  My dress is the prettiest!" like the mannequins in the Beverly Hills Teens cartoon my sister and I watched constantly on VHS.  (Hey, I had to balance out that Lord of the Rings reference with one from a show I actually like.)  Yet no matter how many bags I hoard, there's only one that makes me feel like Smurfette while also expressing my love for those mushroom cannisters that everyone and their mom (mine included) had back in the '70s.

So, as I always say about pizza, make mine mushroom.  It's the fungus that we want among us.

Unlike those maniac mannequins.

Geek Peek Seeks Tweak: Go Get Those Goggles, Cowboy

We all know that things aren't always what they seem.  For instance, lots of people think that guys who wear glasses have more brains than brawn.  But this sticker from Tools Plus that arrived with the husband's new sander or whatever suggests otherwise.  He saved it for me because he knew I'd like it.  And I do!  The bespectacled mop top of a cartoon man seems to be saying, I don't always sit around reading Lord of the Rings; I can work a power saw better than the more manly Property Brother.  Just don't tell my mom.   

I too received a mailbox surprise associated with eyewear.  A pair of children's sunglasses!  Now, I didn't know they were for children.  I ordered them from Zulily without questioning that small, heart-shaped sunnies with tiny pineapples printed on the back would be intended for anyone older than ten.  

But once I realized that they wouldn't fit on my face, I decided to wear them around my neck -- as a necklace!  Yes, some wire and rainbow beads later I had a one-of-a-kind accessory that looked as if it'd come from a claw machine or -- where else? -- a Jersey shore tee shirt shack. 

Because like those beloved '80s toys-turned-Michael-Bay-movie-mascots known as Transformers, anything has the power to become something else.  And -- yes -- be more than meets the eye.  

Well, except for gauchos -- the pants, not the South American cowboys.  

Those will always be awful.

Ring Beader of the Rack: Circle Circus

There's a lot of questionable stuff out there about rings.  For example, Lord of the Rings, The Ring, and, to get away from movie franchises, that mysterious custom-made ring in season 3 of "Friends" that turned out to be a wrestling ring instead of the engagement ring that Monica wanted from millionaire Pete Becker.  (It may be twenty years too late, but that one still calls for a hey, Jon Favreau, get with the program!)  That said, I limit my own ring flings to the jewelry kind. Costume jewelry, that is ('cause what else am I gonna wear to the circus?).  And last week I scored some new spring bling from fellow Etsy shop PinkBopp.

This pink, red, and yellow stunner of a statement piece is kitschy, kawaii, retro, and Lolita -- a confectionery cornucopia of all my favorite styles!  (For more fancy finds and fab fashion, hop on over to PinkBopp's sweet blog.)  Yep, I've got to, ahem, hand it to shop owner Samantha Walker; she nailed it.  And only partly because this piece inspired me to paint my usually naked nails and buy (and then eat!) these cherry gummy candies.  This ring isn't just rad.  It's versatile, so much so that I just know it'll be the icing on oodles of outfits.  

Pretty precious, huh?  Somehow, I don't think Gollum can still say the same.