Shower Hour

Dress: kimi + kai, Belk

My sister and me.

Shoes: Katy Perry Collection

Bunny: Michaels

Bag: Madden Girl, Macy's

Blouse: Bongo, Sears

Big bow barrette (belt): Kohl's

Mommy and me.

Why not kick off Mother's Day weekend with the baby shower that my mom threw me last weekend?  It wasn't a surprise -- which was what I wanted -- and was held at my cousin's restaurant, the Maplewood III.  Everything was beautiful.  My mom outdid herself with the decorations, as did my cousin with the food.  Most importantly, opening all those bottles, onesies, and teethers made me realize that a tiny new person will come to live with the husband and me very soon.     

Even as I write this, I can feel baby girl kick.  All of my doctors say that she's "a very busy baby," and one even asked if I'd had caffeine!  (Just for the record, I hadn't.)  It's amazing to think that she's got her own little life going on in there.  Even if I'm a little worried that I won't be able to keep up with her once she comes out.

That said, I know I went overboard with these pics.  But I couldn't decide.  Because the ones at home are all perfect and posed, whereas the ones at the shower are more natural, right down to my outfit unraveling.  Yet all of them are part of my story.  Because as with most things in life, the truth -- and the true me -- fall somewhere in the middle.     

This is the kind of corny kernel that baby girl can expect to hear regularly.  All I can say is, kid, get used to it. 😏🎀👶

Eagles Nest Best

Sweatshirt: Bongo, Sears; Jeans: Candie's, Kohl's; Bag: Princess Vera, Kohl's

Shoes: Betsey Johnson, Macy's

Bird necklace: Mudd, Kohl's; Green necklace: Candie's, Kohl's; Barrette: XOXO, Ross

Over the years, I've made it clear that I'm not into sports, and that includes football.  But when the home team's in the Super Bowl, I can't help but jump on the bandwagon.  Especially because my dad's the biggest Philadelphia Eagles fan ever.  He even wore one of his many team sweatshirts during last night's Valentine's dinner.  I wore red, not to support Kansas City, but St. Valentine.  Yet today when I went out to run errands, I felt moved to don green and silver.  I even dug up my silver bird necklace, although it's a phoenix instead of an eagle.  Then again, maybe a phoenix is appropriate after all, considering the Eagles' frequent underdog status and their inspiring 2018 Super Bowl win against the Patriots.

So, fly, Eagles, fly, rise, Eagles, rise -- on the way to a fiery victory!

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.

Summer Rain Gain: Here Comes the Sundress

Bag: Ella & Elly, Amazon

Rainbow bracelets: So, Kohl's; Ring: Express; Giraffe bracelet: Target

Dress: Mudd, Kohl's

Sandals: So, Kohl's

Tank: Arizona Jeans, JCPenney

Sunglasses: Target; Green necklace: Target; Ring: Mixit, JCPenney; Rainbow bangle: B Fabulous; Pink bangle: Mixit, JCPenney

Dress: Lily Rose, Kohl's

Bag: Gifted from parts unknown

Sandals: Bongo, Sears

Bag: H&M; Sunglasses: Brigantine beach shop; Chunky necklace: Gifted from parts unknown; Jelly bangles: Target; Polka dot bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Pink bangle: Silver Linings, Ocean City; Pink stretch bracelet: Amrita Singh, Zulily; Ring: Francesca's  

Dress: Monteau, Marshalls

We all know that clothes make me happy.  And when it's summer, my favorite thing to wear is a sundress!  Simple yet stylish, this girlish garment takes me from garden party to seafood swap meet.  Not really, though, because these days I'm usually home.  Also, I would never go to a seafood swap meet (if there even is such a thing).  Although I once went to a farmer's market with a tent full of raw scallops sweating in the June sun.  Nothing like a side of ptomaine to spice up your scampi!  But enough about suspect seafood and nightmare-slash-magazine-spread-style outings.  This post is about my love for the sundress and how it can cure what ails you, no matter how horrific.  Behold my attempt to say so in verse:    

Ran into your ex

After bouncing ten checks.

Here comes the sundress.

Broke your new heel

After botching a deal.

Here comes the sundress.

Got stung by a bee

After losing your key.

Here comes the sundress.

Got fired by a jerk

Then saw your mom twerk.

Here comes the sundress.

Ate chocolate goop 

That turned out to be poop.

Here comes the sundress.

Blew out a tire

Then started a fire.

Here comes the sundress.

The world tumbles down

And knocks off your crown.

Here is the sundress.

As they say, into each life -- and wardrobe! -- a little rain must fall.  But if the rain is the curveball, then the sundress is the parachute.  You know, like that game in gym class where the gym teacher tosses the multicolored balls inside the big red-and-white-striped parachute and you have to shake the parachute so that the balls bounce around like popcorn.  

Hmm.  Maybe that was one metaphor too many.  Still, the sundress is like that parachute, colorful and uplifting, a beacon of hope when you're hurtling through a sky full of vultures.  

Rainstorms -- and firings and fires -- don't stand a chance.

Nor does ptomaine.  

Christmas in July, Insects Buzzing High: Bye-Bye to Bees and Bah Humbugs

For years, I've been wanting to do a Christmas in July post.  I guess all those commercials about  unseasonable Hallmark movie marathons and mattress sales got to me.  My hook?  Hanging some new necklaces from my, not Christmas, but still at-least-semantically-winter-themed snowball tree.  And today, on the very last day of the month, I thought, hey, no time like the present.  So I hauled my little stepstool, phone, and four necklaces out to the yard.  And discovered that my beautiful tree, which always looks so pristine from my kitchen window, was positively swarming with winged things, some of which were -- gulp -- bees.  Now, I'm all for suffering for my art, but even I have my limits.  In my thirty-nine years, I've never been stung by a bee, and I wasn't about to tempt fate today.  So I hightailed it back into the house and photographed my necklaces the way Santa intended, on nice, safe poster board sprinkled with mini pine trees. 

Tops, clockwise: Bongo, Sears; Self Esteem, JCPenney (two solids); ELLE, Kohl's

The necklaces themselves are not the least bit Christmassy.  But the Night Flight Necklace honors the insect theme with its twin dragonflies.  That's how I like my creepy crawlers, after all, inanimate and dripping with rhinestones.  

Night Flight Necklace

Trips Ahoy Necklace

Betty Confetti Necklace

Star Bright, Star Stripe Necklace

Stay tuned for when Christmas really rolls around and I dig out my pre-lit palm tree for a beach day in December.  

Faux Fur for Sure: Freshness Guaranteed

Bag: Zulily

Belt: Marshalls

Dress: Betsey Johnson, Zulily

Flower clips: Capelli, ULTA; First necklace: Carole, JCPenney

Shoes: Chase & Chloe, Zulily

Jeans: Bongo, Sears

Bag: Amazon

Purple, pink, and unicorn bangles: Don't Ask, Zulily; Striped bangle: Mixit, JCPenney; Mint bangle: Decree, JCPenney

Boots: Dolls Kill

Wrap: Zulily

Skirt: Delia's, Dolls Kill

Earmuffs: Trolls by Betsey Johnson for Macy's; Shoes: City Streets, JCPenney; Bracelets: B Fabulous

Wrap: Macy's

On the first day of spring, I leapfrogged into summer with the warning that I might post about a parka in April.  Well, it's still March and I've already regressed to winter with that glam glacier go-to, faux fur.  Which isn't the same as a parka.  But then again, a faux fur is just a parka that's got a hot date. 

That said, there's not a patch of fur, fake or otherwise, in the first outfit.  Which makes it scrappily springy, like the first daffodil fighting the snow.  Or, you know, an 80s pop princess hitting Hawaii.

So here's to wearing whatever, no matter the weather.  

And also to fresh pineapple.  Today I had two dented cans delivered.  Never one to bet on botulism, I tossed them.  

Hawaii, how I wish you were here.