What I Wore Sunday

It's been quite a while since I've linked up the ladies at FLAP for What I Wore Sunday. Recently my husband and I decided to refresh our wardrobes with a quick shopping trip to the Mall of America, so we packed up the kids, dropped them at the grandparents' house where they got to do all sorts of fun (play outside, use all of Grandpa's ropes to capture bad guys, play at the local fast food play space, go to church, and eat all the donuts they could want for breakfast) and drove ourselves to Bloomington.

We were very sad to see Bloomingdale's close last year; we don't buy a lot of new clothes but we've both decided it's worth it to invest in quality pieces. So we headed to Nordstrom.

This is now one of my all-time favorite dresses (now they put it on sale!):

Trying to get a shoe shot as well

Love the back piping!

 It's so CUTE and so easy to wear. I love how modest it is while still being really modern. At $138, it was more than I would normally pay for a dress - but I'll easily wear it 10+ times before winter comes (and wouldn't it look cute with tights and boots in the fall?), so I think it was a good purchase.

I wore it several days ago with heavier jewelry and it looked blah to me, so today I tried the yellow belt and a simple pearl bracelet and I like the look much better. Those wedges are awesome AND killer. My feet hurt. LOL

Here are my pretty girlies as well:

Nora's dress thrifted via Target, Tabby's is handmade via my mom!

My husband didn't make it to Mass with us this morning, but the girls get an A- for mass behavior, which is awesome. I admit to offering a "special treat" to those who did well in Mass before we entered the church... we stopped at the grocery store afterward. Nora chose a huge piece of rotisserie chicken and demolished it for lunch! Tabby of course chose a doughnut. :)

Jen

Also linking up at Watch What I'm Wearing!

WIWS - the blue dress edition

Time to link up our lovely Mass apparel with the other fine ladies at Fine Linen and Purple!

Remember a few weeks ago I found a great dress for less than $3? I decided to wear it today. I know it will look better once I trim a couple of inches from my waist, but.... it is so pretty.  And last week's dress was safely donated this week. May it find a home in someone else's closet! :)

AND I was at Goodwill yesterday. They had brand new from Target belts - orange, purple, and yellow - for half price/color of the week. So they were $1 each. Did I mention they were NEW? And in fabulous colors? And I'm in need of appearing to have a smaller waist? Yes. I really wanted the green belt but it was some awful horse-hair looking thing. Yellow seemed perfect with the dress:

Dress, Target-thrifted; Belt - Target-thrifted
shoes - Target clearance
Bracelet, thrifted
Messy bathroom, courtesy mad dash to get ready for Mass.

This bracelet is awesome! Found it at a local kids/women's shop for $1.99.

We are headed to Orlando in just five days. ACK! If anyone knows a good Catholic church near Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, let me know, 'kay? We are all dressy-dressy-dressy for Mass today since I'm not sure I will pack any super dressy stuff for Disney World.

Nora wants to see dolphins. Tabby is desperate to meet Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, and mommy wants to lay in the SUN. LOL Our high is 35 today. Woo. LOL 
Also linking up with Watch What I'm Wearing...

Jen

WHat I wore Sunday

Time for Fine Linen & Purple's WIWS link up - I got a hair cut so I can give the hats a rest for a bit. :)

I went consignment store shopping yesterday and found this shirt for 1.25. Score! I found a fabulous dress for less than $3, but I need to *ahem* lose a couple of pounds before I feel confident wearing it in public. 

Shirt, Maurices; Pants, Nine West
Shoes: Franco Sarto, Scarf: Target

I'm planning a bit of closet overhaul later today. Wish me luck! ;) My 7 year old and I had a conversation at the dinner table yesterday about why Mommy was sacrificing cupcakes for Lent. I think I need to hang a picture of myself in the new dress on the fridge to stay motivated....

Jen

WIWS #115 - in which I showcase my new leopard scarf

This is my second week linking up at Fine Linen & Purple for "What I Wore Sunday". Thanks to all of you who visited me and left such sweet comments last week. :)

So, here's the thing. For the longest time now I have loved scarves (this and my new propensity to wear hats makes my MIL have some hope for my fashion future*), but I have wanted a gorgeous leopard/animal print and I haven't found a darn thing that I would buy (well, that was in my price range).  So imagine my surprise when I was on Amazon earlier in the week looking for curtains, thought to search for a leopard print scarf, and found this:

Hat: Relativity; Scarf: Amazon
Top and pants: Ann Taylor

$6.84 shipped and I had Amazon credit so it cost me about $4. I love this scarf. It's probably my new signature piece. :) Yes, the hat again. I desperately need a haircut but the husband is swamped at work and my mom had an accident, so getting in is a serious problem. :/

Oh, and here's a closeup of the pants. The pinstripe is very subtle:

And that brings us to the preparations for Lent. What are you sacrificing or adding to your life for the 40 days? I usually try to do both; sacrificing something that's not so good for me and adding more prayer. This year I am committed to sacrificing baked goods and adding daily prayer time - not just bedtime prayers - with our two girls. I try hard to make it happen, but we are not in a routine. Doing it daily for 40 days should establish a habit!

Thanks for visiting me! See you next Sunday!

Jen

*My MIL and I are polar fashion opposites. She is tall and large-framed and wears lots of big, bold patterns and enormous jewelry. I am short and small-framed and relish nice neutrals and small, classic pieces of jewelry. She just doesn't understand why I won't try the things she likes - she has the best of intentions, but seriously, a pin she made me covered nearly half of my chest (true story. It's feathers; pink and blue ones and please don't beg me to show you because then I would have to share embarrassing photos!).