Copy Cat

I love reading fashion blogs to see what others are wearing and to get ideas on color combos since I tend to be a bit predictable with my own. Last week, I discovered Ms. Tina and I have the same dress so she tasked me to send a photo of how I wore mine.

Ta-Da!

I hope I did just as well as she! If you haven't read her blog before, check it out. Tina is very witty and has great taste in shoes, clothes and baubles.

PS - Please excuse the messy office.

Details: Dress - Merona, Target (thrifted - GW); Cardi - Jessica Howard (thrifted - probably GW); Necklace - Target, Grey tank - Target; Shoes - Ann Taylor (thrifted - GW).

Why I pay someone to cut my lawn

There are a lot of things I can do for myself and I consider myself a fairly handy chick, although I wouldn't say I'm qualified enough to get my contractor license and apply for a DIY show on HGTV. However, there is one thing I learned this weekend... unless you have a riding lawnmower or self-propelled mower, it's good to pay someone to cut your lawn. My backyard is monstorus in size (or at least is seemed when I was cutting it for the first time EVER on Friday), so large that I had to stop 4 times to empty the bag on the mower. Ok, it's not THAT large and granted the bag on the mower is small - but goodness it was a difficult task. I will be so glad when my uncle returns so he can continue the lawn care.

Ok, I'm done bemoaning the woes of lawn maitenance and on to trying to finding a natural remedy for mosquitoes. Those pesky buggers can completely ruin outdoor enjoyment. So this coming weekend, I will plant marigolds and geraniums as well as lemon basal. If nothing else the marigolds will keep the aphids from my roses and the lemon basal will be great on fish and chicken. Hopefully, they will also help keep the pest population at bay.

And finally, on today's fashion calendar inspiration - it's my absolute fav - Mrs. Obama day (black with pearls). I still haven't figured out the right distance to capture the shoes in the photo and I couldn't totally crop out the step and ironing board (man, that maid needs to be fired)...but it's fun just the same!

Black Dress - Old Navy (thrifted)
Black Cardi - no tag (thrifted)
Pearl/Floral Necklace - Ross
Pearl Earrings - too old to remember
Shoes (not pictured) - black patent with red ankle strap - Steve Madden (thrifted)

Me thinks I've been thrifting too much! Naw!!!!!!

New Week for New Habits

Woo Hoo - it's Monday...Yeah, I know - not supposed to be so happy for a Monday, but I am for the major reason: I am once again a member of 24-hour fitness. I dropped my membership thinking it would save me money. Ha! I was wrong. Skippin workouts only lead me to deeper depression and spending more money resale shopping. So when I received the letter begging me to come back with promises of deep discounts, yada yada yada...I thought "why the hell not?" So tonight I will be turbo kicking my way back to sanity! Woo hoo for Monday.

Also, I read a megaload of fashion blogs. One of my favs is Fab Finds. Kimberly has done a great job keeping us frugal fashionistas updated and for providing some chic outfit ideas. So I've printed her fashioin calendar for June and here in my first attempt at dressing by the dots (instead of Nautical, Terrie and I changed it Seersucker Monday). Disregard the Cruella Deville hair and the poinsettias on the floor (I'm too lazy to store those holiday flowers).

Newsflash Houston - It's Winter!

As I glided in on my way to work this morning, it dawned on me that people here don't really own winter clothes. Folks may say that it's only cold 2 weeks out of the year in Houston, but for the past 6 years I've been here, we've had an actual winter. Personally, I own 3 winter coats, 1 suede jacket, 2 leather jackets, 1 down-filled ski jacket and a slew of thick sweaters. Contrary to popular belief, jackets are different from coats. A jacket is lightweight and meant for those breezy, not so warm days. A coat is made of wool and used on the nipple chiller days - you know, those "colder than a witche's tit" days.

So today on the land crab, I noticed folks in all manners of dress - mostly scrubs since I was heading to the medical center. People wear fleece and shiver, leather and shiver and nothing at all and shiver. Hello people, it's winter - it was probably 48 degrees by the time I got on the train. I only have on a long sleeve shirt and pants and frankly I needed a jacket! But these other folk - I don't know their excuses...wearing jackets and pulling on the sleeves because their hands are cold, women wearing men's hats - good lawd. Someone should take them all on a field trip to Burlington Coat Factory and show these yokels what winter clothes look like.

It's global warming - our temperatures have been changing for the past 10 years. Hello, it snowed here twice within 4 years - something's going on.

A piece of advice I offer to you...buy a COAT, a pair of gloves, a nice scarf, and if you must don a chapeau - make it stylish for your head - not mannish!