I don’t know if you’ll remember but I said I wanted to recreate this outfit that Emma Stone wore this year. I knew we were going to have a really laid back day, so I wanted my outfit to be nice but super laid back as well.

I wore this Gap Fitted Boyfriend Shirt in White with Gap Legging Jeans (mine have zips at the ankle) and Toms.

I also wore my Madewell Drifter sunglasses and for my hair I pulled it up in a low messy bun and swept my blunt bangs to the side. I actually really liked them this way and haven’t stopped wearing them that way since. My earrings are my Kate Spade Small Square Studs in Silver

On my face I wore: Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Siberia, Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla, Nars Blush in Deep Throat, Lancome Eyeshadow in Metallic Taupe, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Bourbon, Benefit Watts Up Highlighter, Benefit They’re Real Mascara, YSL Volupte Sheer Candy in #9 Cool Guava and Makeup Forever HD setting powder.

I was completely in love with this outfit. It was absolutely perfect for the day, and I managed (with the help of an apron) to keep my white shirt white during meal times which is an amazing feat for me because I’m insanely klutzy.

Howl thinks he’s a Vampire now and wants to know why he doesn’t sparkle! I keep telling him only Faeries sparkle.

I’ll be doing a post on what my husband and son got me for my birthday very very soon so be on the look out for that.

Of course since I’m still ill, the first outfit is just a toe in to fall fashion. I adore these green pants from H&M, last seen here. And this studded top from Gap is one of my absolute favorites, last seen here. My shoes are also studded loafers, that are the brand Wanted and I got from DSW.

For my bracelet I just wore an H&M black and gold bangle, and on my nails is Lancome’s Noir Caviar which is still going strong as my all time favorite. I actually think I might need to buy a new bottle soon, because I’m seriously running low.

Here’s a better look at the shoes. I absolutely love these, and even though I’ve worn them in all seasons, I think they’re at their best when paired with fall fashions.

On my face: Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, Nars Creamy Radiant Concealer in Vanilla, Nars Deep Throat Blush, YSL Babydoll Mascara

Howl is doing much better, which I am very excited about. This is his first fall ever. Since he was born in February. And I am so excited for him to play in leaves and go trick or treating with my son. And honestly? Winter was so weird last year I’m not even sure he saw snow last year.

Fall is definitely off to a very good start.

I’m wearing a Utility Jacket from H&M, Hollister Sweater, Gray Tank from H&M, Gap Legging Jeans, and Pink and Pepper Boots.

Even though it’s from Hollister and I’m not actually a fan of the Abercrombie company and it’s policies, I actually really love this sweater, and would totally buy more sweaters from them. This one is really soft and comfortable and washes well, even though it says dry clean only.
The jacket I bought from H&M last spring, and it’s absolutely awesome. I last wore it here. I adore this jacket, it’s comfortable and it’s perfect to layer with a sweater on extra chilly days.

These boots from Pink and Pepper I bought last year and I adore them. Despite the one inch heel they are incredibly comfortable and are my absolute favorite riding boots I’ve ever owned.

There’s no good close up of it this week, but I’m wearing the Pen Necklace Miss Cannady bought me last year for my birthday. I am obsessed. It’s probably my most worn necklace.

I am completely in love with my makeup from these photos too. I’m wearing Lancome’s Tient Visionaire foundation and concealer, Nars Deep Throat Blush, Lancome Eyeshadows, YSL Baby Doll Mascara, Lancome Rouge In Love Lipstick in Madam Tulip, and Makeup Forever HD Setting Powder.

Of course here’s Howl’s close up. If you’re wondering why his front leg has been shaved, that was from his time in the hospital. He is doing so so so much better, but he’s still on medication and constant surveillance.

How did your Friday the 13th go?

I originally read this book over a year ago, and recently picked it up for a thumb through when I was sick. I forgot how much I liked it. Things We Didn’t Say by Kristina Riggle is a really moving story, told from several points of view over a period of 48 hours.

Stepping into a ready made family is never easy, and on the morning the Casey’s secrets are driving her out, Dylan her soon to be stepson disappears after being dropped of at school. In the ensuing terror and upset as the family searches for Dylan, Casey’s secrets, among others come out, changing everything.

This story was written really well. Everyone’s back story while perhaps a bit traditional, since you  have the new Fiance, the Father, the bratty teens, the overlooked middle child, the brainy youngest, and the Batcrap Crazy ex-wife, it’s all still really well written out. The people don’t feel flat or one dimensional. Casey seems to be the only one who keeps her head in all of this mess, everyone else either goes off the deep end with worry, or in the case of the ex-wife is incredibly self absorbed and thriving on the Drama.

For me this story was a bit out of my comfort zone. The family dynamic type stories aren’t ones I usually read. In truth, I usually read either flippy little murder mysteries, supernatural type books, or dark and twisted books. This book felt more like a messed up sitcom to me than any of those. But I did enjoy it.

Final Verdict, I recommend it. While it’s not a light read by any means, it’s still a really good one. I know I didn’t go into much detail, but it’s the secrets in this books that make it so interesting.

The outfit I’m wearing was inspired by Nina of after the 40 bar finish. I really loved the outfit when I saw her wear it, and remembered it instantly when I saw my floral pants sitting on the chair in my room waiting to be put away.

I’m wearing a Feed For Target Chambray, Floral Pants from H&M (last seen here) and Sam Edelman Calypso Flats in Black.

I paired it with my Lover’s Locket from Jewelmint, which has been one of my favorites for this season so far, and been pretty much just alternating with my Pen Necklace.

Close up of the Sam Edelman’s. These are definitely one of my favorite pairs of shoes and well worth every dime.

I also wore my Madewell Drifter sunglasses and had a pink Emi-Jay hairtie for pulling back my hair while driving.

On my face was Lancome’s Tient Vissionaire Foundation and Concealer,  Nars Deep Throat, YSL Babydoll Mascara, NYX Skinny Eye Marker Eyeliner, and whatever random lip gloss I grabbed out of my purse first.

I felt surprisingly comfortable in this outfit, even though tucked in shirts are way out of my comfort zone. Have you worn anything out of your comfort zone lately and then ended up feeling like you were pulling it off.

I bought this book because I’m insanely impatient and I missed Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring in theaters and now I have to wait for September 17th for it to come out on DVD.

I don’t know what I was expecting with this book, but I didn’t get it. It was written by Nancy Jo Sales who authored the article The Suspects Wore Louboutin’s, which is what inspired Sofia Coppola to make her movie. This is an expanded version of that article. The full story so to speak. I didn’t love this book, but I didn’t hate it either. She mostly discusses the things that Nick Prugo told her about the robberies and what happened and what was said, she also talks to a police officer who was close to the case, and she talks about how these kids were fame obsessed and how it affected their decisions. I remember when this case happened it was only a few years ago and the kids were about my age at the time.  The actors they robbed weren’t much older than me at the time either. I remember seeing footage of Orlando Bloom after the robbery and just feeling heartbroken for him and how violated he must have felt. If you’ve ever had anything stolen from you, from your house then you know that feeling.

She mentions in one part that we’re all famous now thanks to the internet. Which got me thinking, do I want to be famous? Honestly the answer is maybe. I always wanted to be an actress growing up, but I never pursued it entirely because of the fame factor. I never could decide if I could deal with the Paparazzi following me, so I never even tried.

For the outfit I wore, I decided a bit of a reminder was needed before I recommend this book.

The Shirt says “Live Simply So Others May Simply Live”

I wore a Blazer from Nordstrom, H&M pants and a Tee From Sevenly. My Bag is from Urban Expressions and is 100% vegan.

My Chelsea Boots are from Asos

My Necklace is from Jewelmint and is the Rose Gold Lovers Locket, my ring is from the now defunct ColourMe.com and my nail Polish is Lancome’s Flirty Red.

My hair is just in a messy bun and my Makeup is: Lancome Teint Visionnaire in 100N, Nars Concealer in Vanilla, Makeup Forever Setting Powder, Nars Deep Throat Blush, Lancome Metallic Taupe Eyeshadow, Nyx Skinny Marker Eye Liner, YSL Babydoll Mascara, Vapour Elixer Lipgloss in Enigma.

Final Verdict? I recommend this book if you’re either obsessed with the case, or if you just can’t wait for the movie to hit DVD. I learned way more about this case than I normally would have wanted too, but I’m completely okay with that. I wouldn’t say it’s a must read, but it was an interesting one

Here are two more pictures of Howl being cute while I’m holding him for the above shot:

I’ve linked up to I Feel Pretty’s Weekly Link Up

This outfit was really fun for me. I was trying to walk the line between summer and fall. It was a bit chilly yesterday, because of recent storms, so I wanted to be comfortable but still bright and colorful.

I wore a stripey Top from Loft, Jeans that I don’t know where I got and I don’t know where my shoes are from either, but I they totally don’t get worn enough.

See aren’t they adorable? They’re wedges with gold embroidery and sequines on them. Plus they lace up. Normally you’re meant to cross the lace in the front to back but I turned it around and wrapped them to shorten it so I wouldn’t be walking on the bow.

I also really love this pen necklace and have been wearing it to death lately. My favorite thing about it is that it actually works.

This was a Gift from Miss Cannady, and frankly she always gives the best gifts, because seriously sometimes it’s like we’re the same person with some extra added in to make us different.

Okay so this is a better picture of my hair than my makeup, but seriously my makeup was just the usual: Lancome Tient Vissionaire, Nars concealer, Nars Blush, Benefit Badgal Lash, Benefit Sunbeam and Rosebud Salve on my lips. My bangs were being weird yesterday so I twisted them back in that style I was obsessed with when I was growing them out. I kinda still love it.

And OMG I knit Howl a sweater, how cute is he in it? He didn’t wear it long, because it’s still a bit to warm for it, but still I made that. It’s a bit short on him but that’s cool I have extra yarn I can lengthen it some. I’ve already started him another one in red. It seriously knit up so quick.

So cute.

Okay so those photos are not from today. They’re from yesterday. However they’re going up late because I had something I really wanted to do today, that I actually thought was next week. Thank goodness for Twitter.  Today was Sarahbelle93′s Rush Into Lily Event at the Kenwood Towne Center. So when I saw her tweet about it, I kinda just rushed out of the house, since I had the wrong day.

Here we are at her meetup:

She was so sweet, and super easy to talk to. I’m so glad I met her. Then after, I as I was shopping around I noticed Nordstrom had Emi-Jay hairties in some super cute patterns and since I was buying them for myself I picked her up some too, and then super awkwardly went back to the meetup to give them to her. I did some other shopping, so there will be a haul up from that very soon.

I can’t recall where I first heard about this book, but I bought it over a year ago and was extremely excited to get it.

I’m pretty sure it was recommended by a T.V. show or Actress I was obsessed with at the time, or something like that. My whole entire life, I have adored Barbie, but I hear constantly everything that it is meant to be negative about her. With the Subtitle of this book being “A Doll’s History and Her Impact On Us” I felt that it was absolutely a must read for me. I decided that for this weeks outfit, I’d do my best impression of Barbie, and got all dressed up to take photos. I don’t normally just dress up to take photos, usually I wear whatever I’m wearing in the post all day, but getting all done up just for the sake of being photographed was fun. Details will be at the end of the post.

This gives not just the history of Barbra “Barbie” Millicent Roberts, but also the history of her creator Ruth Handler. It talks of her early life growing up, who she fell in love with and how a girl who never cared about dolls created the most iconic doll ever.

The reason she created Barbie, named after her daughter, is simple. Girls want to play with a doll that looks like a grown up. You could easily stop here at this statement and say “Okay, now I don’t need to read this book.” But you’d be wrong. You’d miss out on seeing the different Barbie’s through the years and how she has affected many girls lives in both positive an negative ways.

This got me thinking, how did Barbie affect me? I remember the last Barbie I ever bought, was a Teacher Barbie, my parents found her at Goodwill, she was new in packaging,she came with 2 students, desks and a chalk board,and she was cheap only $5. I was 9 years old and I loved that Barbie to death. I had several other Barbie’s. My first one was bought at an old fashioned General store that had wood floors. I went in with my Grandmother and because I was quiet I got to pick out a toy. I chose Barbie. She was simple, and the cheap version, a kind of knock off of the original, but not really a knockoff since she was produced by Mattel. I adored her. She had such great hair and pretty makeup. I was given dresses and shoes and my fashion obsession began. I loved to dress Barbie up and go on adventures. My Barbies were all actresses because they were always pretending to be someone else. They were Nancy Drew and Paula Abdul and Kelly from Saved By The Bell. Once when I lost my Ken I dressed another Barbie up in his clothes to carry on acting out the scenes.

But Barbie didn’t just spark my fashion obsession as a child, she also bonded me with my one of my Aunts. I remember my Aunt Heather had the coolest Barbies when I was little. She had a couple of the Barbies from the Barbies and the Rockers Series. Every time I came over I’m sure I begged to play with her Barbies, but after I put one in chicken soup (she was sick!) I was never allowed to unsupervised. We put on concerts, had weddings, ran businesses, and did everything we could possibly dream of. I always felt so cool playing with Heather, because she was 7 years older than me. By the time she out grew playing Barbies with her niece, I had mostly outgrown Barbies. But I’ve never outgrown her completely.

Right from Barbie’s beginnings mother’s were worried about how the doll would effect their daughter’s self esteem. Barbie even has a syndrome named after her. I have never had any issues with Barbie, she was always just another toy to me. She represented what I wanted when I grew up, a busy girl with a bursting closet and tons of shoes. It never got more complex than that for me.

No matter your thoughts on Barbie, I can’t recommend this book to you enough.

On Me: H&M Dress, Kate Spade Earrings, Kate Spade Belt, Return to Tiffany Bracelet, Jessica Simpson Heels, H&M Sunnies, DIY Necklace from Forever 21 Headband, Nails Notting Hill Gate

On My Face: Smashbox Primer, Lancome Teint Visionnaire Foundation, YSL Babydoll Mascara, Nars Deep Throat, Lacome Various Eyeshadows, Urban Decay Bourbon 24/7 Eyeliner, Benefit Girl Meets Pearl Highlighter, Too Faced Lip Primer, YSL #4 Succulent Pomegranate Volupte Sheer Candy Balm
My Hair: Pulled in to a High Pony Tail with my Volume on top and hair wrapped to hid the band
On My Nails: Nails Inc. Notting Hill Gate

I have a favorite quote “When it comes to desire, when it comes to attraction, things are never black and white. Things are very much Shades Of Gray.” It was said by Brian Molko, the lead singer of Placebo. I try and focus on this quote as much as I can. What does that quote have to do with this weeks outfit? When I was getting dressed and decided my Feed Chambray would look good with my H&M Skater skirt, this quote popped into my head and I decided to go with shades of Blue instead of shades of gray.

I’m wearing a Feed for Target Chambray, H&M Skater Skirt

Accessories: White and Silver H&M bangle Light Blue Emi-Jay hairtie, Blue Gap Ballet Flats, Blue Twistband Headband and Silver H&M Leaves Necklace.

I adored wearing this outfit. It was easy and comfortable and still really dressy. It’s the perfect outfit and with different shoes and tights it’ll be perfect for fall.

A quick note about the Twistband Headband and a bit of and Ode to Emi-Jay: I bought these ages ago with Birchbox points, and I hate them. They’re really thin and they hurt my head and I just don’t love them. I do plan on picking up some Emi-Jay headbands the next time I’m near the local shop that sells them. Everytime I’ve tried any of the Emi-Jay knockoffs, I’ve regretted it. I really adore the Emi-Jay hairties and personally I’m going to stay with the brand.

Howl was dressed in blue as well!

I’ve decided that I’m going to try to make weekly book reviews a thing here. I’ve read a lot of books  in my life, and many of them were really good. Since I’ll continue to read for as long as I can, there will always be  books to talk about. I also plan to try to pair an outfit with each book. Either what I was wearing when I read it, or what it inspired me to wear after I read it. This outfit is a little of both.

I’m wearing Gilly Hicks Sweatpants, Enough Is Enough Tee from Sevenly, White Converse, Kate Spade Glasses.

On My Face: Kate Spade Glasses, Lancome Teint Visionnaire in 100n, Nars Concealer in Vanilla, YSL Babydoll Mascara and Benefit Girl Meets Pearl. I’m actually only wearing makeup because I’m testing this Foundation and Mascara to see if I want to buy the full sizes. You’ll find out in a future haul if I do or not.
My Hair: Pulled into a Messy Bun with an Emi-Jay Hair Tie, I love these hair ties.

And a very beat up and loved copy of PS. I Love You.

If you’re wondering why I chose this for the example of what I wore when I read this book, when it’s such a long book, well that’s because I’ve read this book so many times and I read fast even when I don’t know the material that I finished rereading it in 4 hours. I actually took these pictures before I started reading, which is why my makeup isn’t destroyed.

If you’re wondering why I was inspired to wear this well that brings us to the review, and that box of Puffs also pictured. The start of this book is sad. It’s heartbreaking. It’s about the first year or so of a widow’s life after her husband dies and how she recovers from the loss. She’s relatively close to my age, and I’m married so her loss really effects me. This is one of the few books and movies that make me cry. Like actual tears and everything (lets see how that mascara really holds up! BTW it’s not waterproof.) So I tend to wear something cozy and relaxed whenever I decide it’s time to reread this book.

It’s sort of really hard to review this book with out giving too much away, but I’ll try.  The book focuses on Holly, who is left a widow just a bit before turning 30, when it’s discovered her husband Gerry has a brain tumor. She’s an absolute mess until she receives the List from Gerry. Something they had only joked about before and here he’d actually gone and done it. One envelope a month with a task to help her get through the rest of the year. As the year goes on you see Holly begin to heal. To learn that there is a life for her without Gerry.

I think the subject of this book could have made it all too heartbreaking, and while that still would have made for a good book, I think the way that the author, Cecelia Ahern, tackles it with humor makes it easier to swallow. The whole book is both funny and sad at the same time. There were parts that made me both laugh and cry and I couldn’t tell you if it was because I was so sad for Holly or if it was because it was all just so funny.

I honestly love this book. I’ve read it so many times now, it’s more like a comfortable old friend, rather than just a story. Even though I know what’s coming as I turn the pages, I still laugh in all the same places and cry at all the saddest bits. I usually pick this up to read when I’m feeling a bit low, and by the next morning I’m already feeling much better.

Bonus: The movie version has what is by far my all time favorite movie quote: Ciara “Are you drunk?” Holly “No.” “Ciara “Well do ya wanna be?”

  I wore a my sheer Oatmeal Colored Tee from H&M, Turquoise American Rag Shorts that I cut off and distressed myself, my Olsenboye Satchel, A Floral Headband I made myself (a picture tutorial here), and my Green Hunteress Hunter Rainboots.

Here’s a close up of the Headband:

And my necklace which is from the now defunct Colorme.com.  On my nails are Lancôme’s Noir Caviar and Deborah Lippmann’s Across The Universe.

 

I went to pride with my friend Ryan, who I’ve known for 10 years and he actually used to be my Boss. Since he’s kinda spent the last several years moving all over the country, and has at least visited everywhere from Alaska to Amsterdam and a lot of places in between.

Here we are in the car on the way there looking awesome:

We actually didn’t get to spend much time at Pride because I had a Panic Attack that turned into an Asthma Attack, and we ended up having to head home to get my emergency inhaler. Once that was taken care of we decided not to let that get us down and went to go see The Heat, which was awesome. Seriously go see it. On our way home one of the small towns we passed through was having a fireworks display so we pulled over and watched the fireworks. It was awesome, because what could have turned out to be a horrible day actually ended up being amazing.

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