Have a Heart or Three: Heartland Stand

Top: Wild Fable, Target; Skirt: Cat & Jack, Target

Print: Burlington Coat Factory

Crafty Cupid Necklace

Boots: Wild Fable, Target

Hair ties: Marshalls

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon

Tank: Nine West, Kohl's

Dress: Modcloth, Zulily

Heart Harbor Arbor Necklace

Barrettes: Michaels

Red bag: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's; Rainbow bag: Betsey Johnson

Sweater: LC Lauren Conrad, Kohl's

Heart Flower Bower Necklace

Bow: Carole, JCPenney

Bag: Target

I'm closing out Valentine's week with a bang.  It's hearts, hearts, and more hearts here at the Trove.  First, with more big bauble necklaces, then with the wooden heart candy dish that the husband made for my mom.  For me, he made the lip-shaped lipstick holder.  I'm psyched to display my Sephora lipsticks in it, especially because their cases are so cute and colorful.  

This is the first post in a while where I'm not wearing maternity leggings.  Instead I concentrated on kitsch, although I did wear leggings when the husband and I went out for V-day dinner on Saturday (more on that later).  Anyway, I bought the pink tank in the first pic a couple of years ago but never wore it because it was too big.  Now it fits perfectly, especially layered under that suddenly-too-small yellow top and over that below-the-bump skirt.  It's fun to see what fits I can finagle!      

Maybe by St. Patrick's Day, I'll have morphed into a rotund rainbow.

Big Prints, Big House: A Symphony for Sephora

Dress: POPSUGAR, Kohl's

Barrette: Carole, JCPenney

Polka Dot Posies Barrette Brooch

Top: Crave Fame, Macy's

Shoes: Kenneth Cole Unlisted, Marshalls

Skirt: Nine West, Kohl's

Hilda Harmonica Necklace

Fabulous Felt Desert Design Barrette

Green and yellow bangles: B Fabulous; Orange and striped bangles: Mixit, JCPenney; Barrettes: The Tote Trove; Ring: PinkBopp, Etsy; Belt: Marshalls

 

Pants: Vylette, Kohl's

Barrettes: SHEIN

Bangles: Mixit, JCPenney; Necklace: Candies, Kohl's

Socks: Zulily; Shoes: Circus by Sam Edelman, Kohl's

I never shy away from bringing big prints.  And in this post I bring a bunch, including polka dots, zebra, plaid, checks, and hearts.  Also, a harmonica necklace.  You may remember the first harmonica necklace I made using a bright green New Year's Eve party favor.  Well, last week I found its tangerine twin behind the TV.  I can only imagine that it landed there during one of my long-ago, four-person ragers.  Anyway, I was excited to spot it.  Even as I tried very hard not to think about how harmonicas are associated not with fun and games, but with jail and, in this case, orange jumpsuits.

Still, I'd be remiss in not mentioning that other big house big on big prints, namely old-timey prison-esque black and white stripes.  And that house, of course, is Sephora:

One opened in my local Kohl's recently, so I checked it out for Mother's Day gifts.  And it was a different world.  There were women rocking expertly winged eyeliner and others seeking that unicorn known as the perfect foundation.  As someone who buys most of her makeup at Walgreens (save for a few temptingly packaged lipsticks), I found it fascinating and glam, so much so that I photographed the wall art behind the counter.

I love its sentiment as much as its billboard-bright colors: "We belong to something beautiful."  

We do, Sephora, we do.  So think of this orange harmonica riff of a necklace as a symphony written, not in a penitentiary but in a palace, its bittersweet citrus notes sounding -- and in the spirit of perfume also smelling -- just for you.

Spring Fur Sure, A Lamb at the Door, and Also Sometimes Some Turquoise

Jacket: Sunset & Sixth, JCPenney

Red Planet Janet Necklace

Skirt: I Heart Ronson, JCPenney

Shoes: Chase & Chloe, Zulily

Yellow bangle: B Fabulous; Coral bangle: Silver Lining, Ocean City; Maroon bangle: Iris Apfel for INC, Macy's; Ring: Making Waves, Ocean City; Bag: Betsey Johnson, Amazon

Skirt: Hollister, Marshalls

Get in Gear Necklace

Sweater: GAP

Heart of Hearts Barrette Brooch

Skirt (a dress!): Three Pink Hearts, Kohl's

Bag: TJ Maxx

Top: Jessica Simpson Collection, Amazon

Bangle: Simply Vera, Kohl's

Belts: Hand-me-downs from Mom; Headband: INC, Macy's; Necklace: Betsey Johnson, Amazon; Ring: Mixit, JCPenney

Tights: Xhilaration, Target; Shoes: Nine West, Zulily

After an unusually snowy winter, spring is finally here!  The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the air smells like hope and grass clippings.  And also . . . it's still kind of chilly.  At least it is here in New Jersey, where spring doesn't so much arrive as make a guest appearance and clear out for the diva that is summer.  But I'm not complaining.  Because it gives me an excuse to flaunt my faux furs (summer's not the only diva), a luxury I'll enjoy until that menacing March lion retreats for good.

Fur or no fur, I am springing forward with one fresh new something: makeup!  I know I've mentioned this before, but back in high school, I collected cosmetics.  I had Caboodles full of lipsticks and eyeshadows in every color.  But like so many women, as I grew older and wiser, I narrowed my stash down to what worked -- Revlon Cherries in the Snow lipstick and Cover Girl Champagne eyeshadow.  And save for the occasional rogue impulse purchase, I never looked back.  The only way I'd ever wear gold lipstick again was if it was Halloween and I was going as C-3PO.  But then not too long ago, I crossed paths with some dangerously dark blue Revlon eyeshadow, followed by prettily packaged Sephora lipsticks and bright L'Oreal eyeshadow quads (buy two get one free at Walgreens!) that I just couldn't resist.  Entranced by their sleek newness and alluring shades, I uttered a silent apology to my tried-and-trues and thought, why not?  

Pink lipstick: Celebrate; Red lipstick: A Little Magic; Sephora, Kohl's 

Turquoise eyeshadow: Avant Garde Azure; Purple eyeshadow: Voilet Amour; Silver eyeshadow: Silver Couture; L'Oreal, Walgreens

Here I am trying out my new red lipstick and turquoise eyeshadow:

Headband: So, Kohl's; Top: BCX, Macy's

The eyeshadow is more intense than I expected, like the taste of birthday cake ice cream.  And I am committing the twin cardinal cosmetics sins of 1) matching my eyeshadow to my outfit and 2) rocking a bold lip and eye instead of just one or the other.  But I don't care; I love it!  (Cue the Icona Pop, people.)  It's fun to have an alternative to my go-to palette.  It makes me feel like the possibilities are endless.  Like I have a technicolor time machine and am sixteen again, browsing the beauty aisle at Thrift Drug.  That was a time when a new pot of lip gloss -- like lots of '90s girls, I was into the fruit flavors from Naturistics --could change your life.  Or at least make you think it could.   

But then, I guess that's the magic of makeup.  And of youth and rejuvenation.

So, in other words, spring.