Shopping For The Perfect Wardrobe

              So many of us only have 1 size in our closets. When shopping we are reluctant to try on anything that "isn't our size".  We grimace to think anyone would even suggest such a thing! I say that's the wrong way to think. 

            And then there are others who have 2 sizes in their closets- the size they are in now and the size they use to be. Not good. Having clothing in our closets that are too small for us only make us feel bad about our size and figure we have now. We need to feel good about how we look and our clothes should fit and be comfortable. We SHOULD feel confident and even sexy.  

              Don't be afraid to have 2 or 3 different sizes in your closet, it's only a label (no one else knows what the label says). When out shopping, the important thing is to have the garment fit and fit well, even if that means you have to go up a size or if your lucky, down. We all know women's clothes are not like men's. One size DOES NOT fit all. Different designers vary in their sizes. The New York & Company size 6 may not fit the same as the size 6 of the Maurices brand. Also, not all the same exact garments (such as a cute blue t-shirt at Maurices) fit the same. They pile the fabric into a thick stack and as the cutter is cutting, the fabric on top is cut the right size but the bottom ones are just a bit bigger. It's like when you are trying to cut a thick stack of paper. The top cuts are right but the bottom are a little bigger. So, try on a few in the same size before you give up on that cute blue t-shirt.

            When out shopping, I have found it easier to have an idea of what it is you are looking for. Unless I am just looking for that new spring dress or blouse to add a little more color to my wardrobe, I make a note on my iPhone and even take a pic of the item I am trying to match. It's like going grocery shopping with a list and a full stomach. It keeps you from too much impulse buying and you actually get wearable additions. I'm sure you have all heard before, try to buy classic pieces. Pieces that will carry your wardrobe for years and years to come and add a few trendy pieces to that. 

           I have found that my key pieces that never go out of style are: a knee length denim skirt, a white button up (long and short sleeve), simple solid color tanks, khaki pants (in between  jeans and slacks), black slacks (be careful on your choice- you don't want look older), a knee length straight black skirt, of-course a great pair of darker washed jeans (nothing fancy-no rhinestones, patches, weird washes, etc.), a simple little black dress, a khaki skirt, a denim jacket (again nothing too trendy), black heels, red heels, brown boots, brown wedges and black wedges and a black summer sweater. All of these pieces can carry through for years and can be dressed up and down depending on mood and occasion. By adding some colorful, trendy and now pieces you have a complete wardrobe.

           And don't forget Jewelry!! By just changing a necklace, you can change the whole look and feel of the same outfit. And a lot of the time a cute necklace is less expensive than a new blouse. Accessories like belts, scarfs, vests, and purses are great in helping to change up your wardrobe, too.

          Some of my favorite brands are Ann Taylor Loft, New York & Company, Maurices (any brand that makes me feel thinner then I am gets my business), and Express. http://www.maurices.com/home/index.jsp

           Let's feel good about ourselves ladies. Let's dress to impress-ourselves!

Will We Just Have to Make It Work?

                    O.K.  We found out that we are NOT getting the house. And we didn't lose our earnest money because it wasn't our fault. So I have been house hunting AGAIN all week, with a new Realtor. It is way harder to find a house than I thought it would be, that is for sure! These houses are terrible! You would think that at least one of the houses that I looked at would be decent. A lot looked good from the outside but were a wreck on the inside. Floors buckling, water damage, mold, holes in walls and floors, roof leaks, wack-a-do bathroom set ups (like a bath in the master bedroom but the other bathroom way across the other side of the house, practically in the kitchen.) People are asking way, WAY too much for their houses that need way, WAY too much work done to them to make them livable.

                   My first Realtor called me a day or so ago, and said he had some news for me. O.K. I'll bite. So, I call him up and he tells me I can call up the mortgage company that owns the house we had put a bid on and get an approval letter from them. 'ALRIGHT!' I call them as soon as I get off the phone with him. I find out that they CAN NOT give us an approval letter. It has to be the owner or the Realtor that asks, the mortgage company's Realtor has to complete things on the equator first (what ever that means), and that they aren't even taking bids on the house right now.

                  Am I in the TWILIGHT ZONE or something??! Didn't he (my Realtor) already tell me once before that we could bid on this house and he was wrong??! COME ON!!! I will not be messing with this guy again!

                  We haven't found a thing yet, and I don't really think we will. Part of me doesn't want to go through the whole moving thing. Packing, sorting, throwing things away and then unpacking, sorting again and trying to figure out where everything will go again. Then part of me can't stand every room we have doing double, triple and even quadruple duty. We NEED some more space.

                   We are considering another property, a part residential and commercial property, that might be something. But I am trying not to get my hopes up. It is completely unusual but could be very cool and has great potential. After this one, I think we are done looking for a while. I will just have to ,as the famous Tim Gunn would say,"MAKE IT WORK!" Some how.

Making Mistakes

                    It is now day 4 of the "Are we getting the house or not" waiting game. I couldn't sit by and wait patiently any longer so I called the Realtor this morning. He tells me he hasn't heard anything yet and that because the mortgage company is out of state it could take a while. Well HOW long is it going to take?? But I don't question the time frame, I just bite my tongue. I don't want to come across rude. 
                     Then he tells me that the loan we applied for doesn't cover this particular property because it has rental property attached and that IF we get it we will have to pay MORE out of pocket money than first  discussed. What the #%&*?! So.... If we get the house and we can't pay the extra thousands (we have no idea how much it could be) than we could still lose the house and our earnest money. Which by the way he tells us after we gave him the check, that that particular earnest money amount might not be enough for this mortgage company. This time I really have to bite my tongue and get off the phone before I say something I am going to be sorry for.
                    And from what I gather, IF we don't get the house, we could be losing it because we didn't originally qualify for that property and we didn't give enough earnest money. Now if that isn't a kick in the head!!
                    The crap we have gone through with this Realtor for this house is rediculous!!
                    All I know is, whether we get the house or not someone is going to be in deep dog poo! Because I am not going to stand by and get walked all over by anyone. I don't consider this a mistake that can be forgotten. Two people, the Realtor and the Loan officer dropped the ball here. This is what they do for a living for crying out loud! They should have their stuff together and they should be watching out for the client!!!~! This is our money and future they are being so careless with. GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!! 
                      Now who knows what is going to come of all this.   

Growing Up TOO Fast!

           About a month ago Ayla was playing in her room with her Barbies and insisted on having her door shut. Well, that's not too unusual, she's always fighting for privacy around here with Sagan. I walked in to ask her a question and she has several Barbies naked and a naked Ken. She has a Barbie bed out and Ken and Barbie on top of each other. I asked her in a bit of a surprised voice "What are you doing?" And right away without letting her answer, told her not to do that any more with her Barbies.



Ayla and Grandpa

            Now I know I handled the situation COMPLETELY wrong but I was shocked and SCARED to think that it is time to have "THE TALK". I mean she's ONLY 8 and a half years old! SHE'S TOO YOUNG to have the sex talk!! I thought I had a few more years to get the speech ready. What am I supposed to say to her?! I know, I know, just tell her the truth. Yeah right! That's easier said than done!!

          

            When Ayla was little I always told her the truth and talked to her like an adult. None of that "baby" talk. She was and is a very bright child. She started walking at 6 months, talking at 7 months, she knew her alphabet and the phonics by 18 months and was already reading a bit by kindergarten. But, I find lately that I'm unsure of what to tell her and how to talk to her about certain things.



My beautiful littlegirl!

 

            I believe knowledge is power but sometimes some knowledge can get us into trouble. I don't want to shorten or hinder her childhood. Right now she still believes in Santa, The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. I know she won't believe for much longer but I want her to believe in magic and fairy tales for as long as she can.The kids grow up too fast these days! Why can't they just be kids as long as they can? They will be adults for so long, childhood is so short! There's enough garbage on T.V. today desensitising the kids today. I am very careful about what the kids watch on T.V. and try to be careful with what music they listen to. I know I can't shield them from everything, life is going to happen. My childhood was NOT ideal to say the least. I don't want that for my little girl! I used to be way overprotective. I have backed off a bit. Enough to allow her to go to a friends for sleepovers but the entire time I am scared to death something will happen to her!!

            How do you tell an 8 and a half year old about sex??!! And what is that going to do to her psyche?? Her youth?? UUGH!! 

            I know I have to approach her and have the discussion soon. She NEEDS to know the facts and the truth before her friends confuse and scare her completely. Why does parenting have to be soo hard?!! What and How am I going to tell my little girl??!!

Making a Bid

(I have both the camera & the dog)

                   April 7th, just 2 Sunday's ago, My family and I thought it would be nice to take Molly (our Doberman) for a walk around the neighborhood. We decided to take a different route than we normally go. As we are out enjoying the scenery (joke) and soaking up the vitamin D, we came upon an empty store that my daughter and I used to go to to find treasure. (It was being rented out as a Used Stuff Store or you could say a Thrift Store, but they had moved out a while back. It is hard to keep any kind of business running in this rink-a-dink town.)

                  We thought it would be neat to walk around the building  and look in the windows and just plain check out the place, when Ayla said "It would be cool to live here!" That statement took both Rene, my husband, and myself back a little. We rent our house right now and haven't tried looking for a house to buy for some time. Then we notice the FOR SALE sign. This property would be a little unorthodox for a home, but had excellent possibilities. Well, that started the whole ball rolling. My husband gets on his iPhone and opens up the Zillow.com app and gets any info. he can on the place. We are all chattering away about the possibilities and the need to contact someone A.S.A.P., when we come across yet another property FOR SALE. Only this property is a little more down to earth and just 2 houses down from the house we use to rent years ago. (My Husband has always liked this particular house.) Again, my husband starts searching and comes up with some great news. The house just couldn't be the price he found!  The rest of the walk home is noisy and exciting with all of us spouting possibilities and hopes.

Some of our "Scenery"

                    That Monday I waste no time in calling around to try to get some information on these 2 properties and I make contact almost right away. A Realtor can show me the house the next day. Sagan, my son, and I go to see the house and we love it. I love it for it's charm and built-ins and Sagan loves it for the echo and space to run. I couldn't wait to get my husband there! We make another appointment the next day to see it again and to see the other property also. We all ended up liking the house best. So we tell the "folks" about it and then take them to see it. (Dad has a great eye for spotting trouble.) While we are taking our tour another Realtor shows up and rudely tells our Realtor " When are you going to be done?! I have clients that are here to see the house." I was a bit livid to say the least. I decide to take just a little bit longer and discuss with the "folks" what they think of the house. That little bit turned into 20 minutes. (Shame on me.)

                  Ultimately we decide to put in a bid but so does the other couple.  When we found out about the other couple making a bid, we agreed to to go up on our bid, which takes away that little extra cash we thought we might have had every month. The Realtor tells us it could be 3 to 4 days before we will hear anything. (DARN!) Now we have been waiting in suspense since Monday when the bids were presented to the morgage company who owns the property. This waiting is KILLING me! Well, O.K., it's just very distracting!  Are we going to finally get a house that we can call ours?!? I hope we hear soon!!

                      

Organize Your Closet and Wear Your Clothes!

                 How many of us wear every single item in our closets? Probably not very many of us. Well, I haven't yet but I wear a lot more then I use to. And I plan on wearing everything in the near future. Because recently I revamped my wardrobe.

                For years I would go to my closet to get something to wear and an hour later half the contents would be lying on the bed or scattered on the floor and I would be left feeling completely defeated and miserable. Or, just end up throwing on jeans, a t-shirt and tennies just to get it all over with and skip the frustration. I want to open my closet be inspired and be able to just pull something out that fits, looks good and makes me feel good.

                I finally got so fed up with it all that I decided it was time to take action. SO, I took the plunge and purged my entire wardrobe. From jeans, slacks, skirts and blouses to belts, purses and shoes. Even jewelry. Anything that I didn't wear on a regular basis I tried on and checked for fit, comfort and style. I had to find out why I wasn't wearing these items. Then I checked everything that was left for any rips, tears, holes, missing buttons, messed up zippers, etc. I also got rid of any (well at least most) of my frumpy grubby clothes. I kept a few for serious house cleaning and painting. And that means I got rid of all the Teeny Bopper T's. Oh, And I took out ALL the pieces that I keep thinking I'll get back into one day. I didn't get rid of them yet, but put them in a bin at the top of my closet and gave myself 6 months to get back to that size. If I don't, no big deal I'll just donate. This way they aren't mocking me every time I open my closet. ONLY THINGS THAT FIT GO BACK IN!

             

            As for shoes, I tried on every pair and again checked for fit, comfort and style. I ended up letting go of a lot of shoes I really liked but never wore. Did you know, that the average woman has around 40 pairs of shoes but only wears 3-4 pairs of those shoes?! We buy the shoes because we like them, so why aren't we wearing them? For me it's a fit problem. I shop with the children who distract, rush and frustrate me so I end up with shoes that I think fit comfortably but actually don't. They pinch a toe or hurt a heel so I never wear them and just leave them in the closet not wanting to admit that I just wasted money on another pair of shoes I can't wear. I keep all my shoes in boxes to help with the storage issue. It does help with keeping the shoes dust free but if I had the space it would be better to have the shoes out so I could see all that I have.

         When putting everything back into the closet and on the shelves I organized the items by color. It really makes it so much easier to find what I am looking for. I also organized by type - Jackets with jackets, skirts with skirts, etc. To help with my space issue and to save the shape of my sweaters, jeans and slacks, I folded them and put them on shelves. It's awful to put on a sweater that has ears on your shoulders from the hanger.

          A lot of my jewelry is out see I can see it. Hanging on thick hooks or pegs to protect the chains and not put too much stress on them. I am still working on a dispaly system for bracelets. I wear a lot more of my jewelry then when it was all tucked away.

           Yes, it took me a while and am still finding a piece here and a piece there that I can get rid of and replace with something much better. But in the long run, I have found it so much more enjoyable to get dressed in the morning. I don't feel so stressed out and rushed in the mornings and actually have time to do my hair and put on a little make-up (usually). I definitely feel more presentable and my husband is loving not only the way I look but also my better moods.

Roasting Wienies and Making Smores

              I'm always  on the lookout for some fun activity the family can do together and this time I thought "Why not have a wienie roast and make Smores?" I had brought the idea up to the kids a week before and they couldn't wait for Friday to get here.  The Hubby got the fire going in the fire pit, while I got the food items together. I'll tell you, the kids had the BEST time! And this was a SUPER EASY and quick dinner. We had all beef hot dogs on buns and Doritos and then for dessert we made Smores. It is definitely not the healthiest dinner but certainly the most fun dinner we have had in a while.



"MMM GOOD!"



"I can do it by myself!"



              Ayla thanked us again and again saying "This was so fun! Thank you! Can we do it again soon?!?" Sagan had a blast being allowed to roast his own hot dog and marshmallow. Molly hated the whole expeirience because she had to be chained up (she's too hyper so she wouldn't be safe around the fire pit and was too tempting with all the goodies out on the table). She did get me feeling sorry for her so I gave her a little piece of hot dog to console her.

              I think this type of dinner would be fun for a get together. And we will be doing this again. Only next time it might be fun to find some good sticks to wittle into points for the hot dogs and marshmallows to roast on instead of the one roasting skewer. That way noone has to wait their turn.

Oh, clean up was a breeze! So fun and soooo relaxing!

           

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"Got to get it just right!"

Doberman Agility A-Frame Fun

Molly is my 1 and a half year old Doberman. She is extremely energetic and playful. She is very, very active and I can't seem to keep up with her sometimes even with 2 walks a day(usually), playtime with her favorite squeaky ball or rope ball twice a day and flashlight fun(yes, she LOVES to chase the light just like a cat- and boy is she FAST!) at night. SO I decided she needed some extra stimulation, exercise and fun and starting investigating Agility Course Activities. I talked to my husband and he agreed to make the obstacles for me. I found a book on Kindle called Dog Agility Construction Instruction: YOU CAN! Build Better Training Obstacles for Your Dog. It's a pretty good for those of us who don't want to spend an arm and a leg buying pre-made obstacles.

We have a lot of scrap wood just lying around and decided to build what we could with that. It took my husband about 4 hours (with LOTS of breaks) to build the first obstacle which is the A-Frame. He built it by himself with the occasional assistance from our 3 year old son. Molly loved it right away! The kids Loved it, too. Yes, it is very sturdy and very heavy. We do plan on painting the bottom half of both sides yellow for the touch points and will be adding sand to the paint for traction.



A-Frame Fun



Up and Over



"I Built That!"




Over Again





"This is fun!"



Ayla and Sagan having too much fun.



"I can do it, too!"





This is just the first of the many obstacles (Weave Poles, Jumps, Hoop, Pause Table, Teeter, Dog Walk, and a Buja Board to name a few) that we plan on making. As long as they fit in the back yard we will build it. We plan to make everything sturdy enough for the kids to be able to get on with Molly. How could a dog or kid resist??