Excuses, Excuses!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week.

Look at my face...atleast I tried to take pics for my followers/lurkers. It's bad when I have to break out my glasses instead of my contacts!

This outfit basically brought to you by Target...it was the best I could do for an outfit post this week...don't judge me:)

The week started off with me getting home and working out*...leaving little time to take pics of my outfits. Truth be told though, my students were taking their state test this week which meant that my job was to stand guard over them like a pitbull to make sure they wouldn't cheat (speaking of cheating, I vividly remember my 5th grade teacher standing over my shoulder giving clues to the answer even though I didn't need them!). That means I didn't go out of my way to be cute at work...and by that I mean that yes I still wore heels...namely the Target wedges by Cythia Vincent (love...I'm wearing them in these pics but I'll do a better  post about them once I've detoxed from Sudafed), but everything else was jeans and a cardigan.

The shoes were still cute enough to get stares from the old battle ax teachers who rocked school spirit shirts with their Lee jeans. I dared not to wear my Nike's with mom jeans for an easy week (You know hell well I don't own any mom jeans!)

Then a few days ago, I got attacked by a random cold virus for no reason at all. I tried to take pics of my outift yesterday morning  but it was a joke. I couldn't breathe and wasn't in the mood. Bla bla bla...yadi yadi ya...the whole point is there was a reason for no posting this week. All in all, I would say that this week was crap but I'm above the ground instead of under...so I'll take that.

*(You know how I like to laugh at people who can't dance in my Zumba class? Well, I must be fair and admit that Monday...I sucked. I made the mistake of walking the 25 minutes to the gym to be all extra motivated. I didn't account for the fact that it was hot outside and might affect my work out. I made it to the zumba class and conked out. I was two salsa steps from passing out. My buddy Ro (whom I met through blogging but found out we belong to the same gym) had to drive me home after the class because I refused to walk back!! I guess it serves me right for laughing at people who are rhythmically challenged...lesson learned:)

Oh, By the way...I have a new theme song. If  you are driving and see a girl with an afro puff dancing violently in her car, assume two things...1)I'm feeling better and 2) This song is playing on the radio:)

( Disclaimer: I do not endorse strippers, drugs (well maybe Sudafed), bling, video vixens...hell really anything in the lyrics. I just like to shake it to this song and we like anthems here in the south. Even the best Christians have an anthem lol! Okay.........I DO endorse the video vixens but that's it:)

P.S..."Writing Without Periods"...please pay attention to the lyrics around the 3:14 mark in this song...written especially for you!

 What do you take to get over a cold?

By the way, I know that I am not hot in this outfit or pics... I just hate a post without pics:)

Click Click Boom

Alright, ladies, I've about had it. I've had my little Canon SD400 for a few years now (it was da b-diggity-omb back in 2007 - 2008?) and though it still serves me well, in camera years it should probably be collecting social security. Plus it's honestly not the most awesome picture-taking camera in the world - though I do like the 10 second delay on the timer (lifesaver!).

So I'm thinking it's about time for an upgrade. I know a lot of bloggers wax poetic about the Nikon D40, but I want to be able to keep my camera compact because I do take it on trips with me and love the idea of having something I can slip into my purse or clutch (and I don't want to break the bank). But I want to be able to also take some quality stills (not just of me - like actual pictures).

Do you lovely ladies have any recommendations on what cameras you gals use and what you would recommend? There are a million and one options out there, so I figured a point in the right direction would help.

Oh yeah, happy 100th post for me! Teeny little milestone check (and giveaway for you gals sticking it out  with me coming soon too).

Have a great weekend - thanks, thanks and thanks!

Yep - I did immediately take this dress off after reviewing my pics this morning and

steamed the heck out of it. But was too lazy to reshoot, so Hello Wrinkles!

Dress: Anthropologie Maeve Staysail shirtdress
Belt: Urban Outfitters Deena & Ozzy stretch
Necklace: Ebay Anthro-faux-logie
Shoes: Sofft Vivan patent leather peep-toe slingbacks

Husbands

re-post

There are an awful lot of comments on the internet by ladies who would like to have a no-shoes house, but have an husband who refuses to remove his shoes. I can only recall one comment by a man whose partner was reluctant to comply with a shoes-off policy.

Husbands, can you not see any benefit in having a clean home? If you have to get your carpet cleaned or replaced it will cost you money.

Why be bossed about by your wife? Why not take the initiative and introduce a shoes-off policy in the home yourself. Take some leadership in the household. If you read this blog, you will find plenty of reasons for not wearing shoes at home.

You cannot think that there is anything manly about being worried about getting cold feet?

Holiday lust...

It has suddenly all become too much in our household - everyone's a little tired, ill and weary (I count myself, my husband, Boo and the cat in this; Boo 2 is absolutely full of beans). I am starting to think alot (umm, as in all the time) about our next family holiday. We are going to Portugal in the summer; our annual pilgrimage to the Algarve, the southern-most part, for some time in the sun. I have such fondness for this place, having been time after time, both without children and with. Its quite rustic, full of locals, not much to do...

At present, without the prospect of a holiday, we would be starting to unravel, not unlike a ball of string...

I need to get on a beach, feel the hot sand on my toes, take a dip in the Atlantic...

Sit and watch the fishing boats come in, a cold beer in hand, with that scrubbed, been-in-the-heat feeling you get after a day at the beach...

Enjoy simple pleasures...Boo 2 trying to escape the laws of gravity and put a hat full of water on his head...endless fun...

Collecting shells...

To just look out to sea, empty our minds of the day-to-day...

Sunny afternoons strolling around little towns...

One year we left the children with grandparents and went to Lisbon, the capital city and stayed in this magnificent palace. This was our view, I love how the sun is setting ready for a night in a balmy city, cobbled streets, dinner out, glasses of wine...

Eating ice cream whenever as 'holiday rules' apply...this is my husband's invention of applying absolutely no parental logic and reason for the entire time...anything goes...

 Wearing floppy hats...like this one from Plumo...

Bare shoulders...oh roll on holiday!

Air Max 95

Retro 11s Release May 1st

(Love is Like a) Heat Wave

So here I am at Post 99 - and four months blogging! That's not a super-long time, but I am surprised every day that I am continuing to blog and that you gals read and follow me. Thanks again for the great support and I'll be coming back with a giveaway shortly to celebrate my 100-ish post. I write "-ish" because let's face it, sometimes I can be a lazy bunny. 

And here's my OOTD - BF took one look at me and said "that's cutting it close." So I think I am border-line with the pattern mixing here, but kind of felt good today. Because it was all about the shorts.

What do you ladies think? Way too busy, or does it work? I waivered back and forth dependent on the time of the day and glimpses into the bathroom mirror.

So flattering ... me bustin' a groove to the music in my head. I was feeling it. Apparently.

Crazy pattern mixing? Maybe ...

Top: Ann Taylor cotton voile ruffled
Sweater: J. Crew shawl-collar fleece cardigan
Shorts: Anthropologie Hei Hei Heatwave
Shoes: Indigo by Clarks Edamame

Ho Hum

I gotta be honest ladies... I've been finding it increasingly difficult not to yawn my way through shoe after shoe this season. Frankly I'm bored. I'm over gladiators (Don't think that means I won't be wearing the ones I already own) but I'm just ready for something new. I'm ready for these designers to shake things up. Introduce some new styles already. Okay. I'm done. But seriously! Does anyone else feel this way? Or am I just a crazy shoe blogger? (LOL! Obviously I wasn't done.)

Brice Pump - Bebe

Despite my rant above I really do like this pump by Bebe. Perhaps because it reminds me of this Dolce Vita pair I feature a few months ago but I never managed to get my grubby little hands on and then they were sold out everywhere. I am in desperate need of a new pair of black peep toe pumps but I'm thinking I'm going to splurge on some Loubies. However if I can't make that happen these may very well make the short list. I like the interest the textured leather lends to them and I'm still quite smitten with that exaggerated platform.

Another beautiful blogger...

I was very surprised/pleased to be awarded another Beautiful Blogger award, this time from Tania, who writes, along with her co-writer Sarah Vine, 'Backwards in High Heels'. Quite flushed with pride that Tania described my blog as charming and aesthetically pleasing. In addition, Tania is a proper writer and has published a proper book, so the fact that she follows little ole me is great.

As I posted on one of these lovely awards a few weeks ago, I wondered if you were all that interested in another seven things about me and some more blogs that I like...then I assumed '...yes, I suppose so!' It would be positively ungracious of me not to accept my award, so here we go:

Number One
My husband and I renewed our wedding vows in Las Vegas. It was at the Graceland chapel, we took the Elvis and Priscilla vows, officiated by a fake Elvis. We were with our two best men and their lovely wives. My favourite all-time Elvis song is 'Suspicious Minds' but that seemed somewhat inappropriate for nuptials so Elvis sang 'Hunk of Burning Love' instead! Anyone who has seem my husband's rugby-playing physique will grasp how apt that song choice is! My friend L, who was one of my bridesmaids in our 'first' wedding has a big thing for Elvis...so this is for you!

Number Two
One of my best ever films is 'Beautiful Girls'. It's little-known, subtle, charming. I could watch it over and over (which should be the measure of a great film). Natalie Portman plays a young girl called Marty and she is just enchanting - an old soul. The score is also haunting and nostalgic.

Number Three
I didn't learn to cook until recent years, so when I first left home I lived on Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and rye bread with Danish Blue cheese. Not the ideal diet. Later, as my husband did all the cooking I never needed to. Then he got busier and was home less and we had kids who obviously needed feeding, I eventually learned. Now I am quite good, much to the surprise of anyone who knew me when...

Number Four
I am ever so slightly obsessed with John Updike novels. I re-read them most years. Sometimes the maleness of his point of view frustrates me wildly. However, I think he writes some of the most accurate modern depictions of human emotion ever.

Number Five
We have a cat. I insisted on getting him the year my husband and I started living together. He has used up far too many of his nine lives. He has been run over by cars three times, he had been reconstructed by vets and special cat neurosurgeons. He has lost his meow. He is generally grumpy. But Boo still loves him.

Number Six
When I was at University, in those idle hours my housemates and I used to fill between lectures, we used to muse that I could be hand model 'when I grew up'. This was my fall-back plan in case the heady career I was anticipating from my oh-so-useful English literature degree didn't materialise. We even took test shots of my hands! I have these ridiculously long fingers...spindly I have always thought. Alas no, these are not them...but I love her nail varnish.

Number Seven
You might not have guessed it but I am abit of a thinker. Shock! Some very good advice I was given by my friend N who I work with, is simply to breathe...and it works!

Now I need to nominate some other blogs that I think are beautiful. As I so recently did this, I will limit it to three.

For beautiful writing...Mackin ink
For sheer prettiness...The Pink Pen Word Studio
For lovely quirkiness...My Guide to surviving and enjoying life's mundane

Good enough...a pensive post

How do we decide when anything is good enough? This largely female pursuit of wondering '...am I good enough?' fascinates me. It applies to every inch of my life and I ponder when exactly did it become a conscious decision? At what point did I insert that feeling that I could have done better?

I observe my daughter doing her homework and she does exactly what is required; no more, no less. I say '...why don't you explore that extra topic or why don't you draw another picture or read another page, do another sum?' She looks at me as if I am nuts and says '...it doesn't say I have to do more, so why would I?' Good point. What is it in me that I always think the more I do, the better?

A good enough mother? Well, don't get me started...a dose of working-mother guilt, those very rare occasions where I find myself shouting at the Boos, times when I would rather be doing something else than making train tracks/plaiting Barbie's hair and my mind wanders and I think - shouldn't I be more committed and content to just play with them all the time?

A good enough wife? Ten years of marriage and it's all very good (we got the love), but at times I think, do I listen enough? Do I blame or force my own agenda? Do I make enough time for him?

At work, because I do a job where I am very experienced in a very niche field, I know, most of the time that I am good enough. But that feeling, in a corporate world, is a temporary luxury. Tomorrow I might not be good enough...they like to call it 'raising the bar'.

I went to the doctors yesterday as I have tonsillitis - boohoo its just not my week! I get this once a year, like clockwork. It's a little reminder that I am running too fast. The doctor said I must try to slow down. I said that's difficult, my life runs on rails and the pace is fast. She said derail, try harder! So I have to try harder at that too!

Even blogging. At what point do we press the 'publish' button in the knowledge that it is good enough? I post it, then go back and look at it, tweak it, re-post it and worse of all when it posts by accident because I pressed 'enter' too soon! Heaven forbid! Something went out into the internet ether and it was not good enough! I am stickler for spelling and grammar, which comes from my time in publishing where if there was a mistake, it was so my problem. So I confess I spent a good few hours agonizing about apostrophes in the word 'Boo'. Yep, really. Is it Boo's, Boos, Boos'...I think I need some booze...

I think that is why I am enjoying blogging so much, because ultimately it gives me validation. When people comment they are saying, in a round-about way, 'you are good enough!' and I like that :-)

HEY LA!! Meet Christian Louboutin!

Get your butt over to the Louboutin Boutique on Robertson- fast!! He'll be there 'till 8pm and as of about 5 minutes ago the line wasn't bad at all!!

YIPPEE!

(photo from last year's Louboutin signing)

Sweet Child of Mine

Sweater: Gap cotton short-sleeve cardigan

Dress: Mossimo tank dress from Target

Necklace: Ebay Anthro-faux-logie

Bracelet: J. Crew studded bangle

Shoes: Sofft Roma

Tien's post last night about trying to recreate one of her mom's family recipes made me reminiscent for my mom's home cooking. What is it about the tastes from home that not only gets my buds salivating but brings back a flood of really warm memories?

My mom is self-admittedly not an awesome cook, nor does she particularly enjoy it. But to me, no one can make dumplings or egg pancakes or meatballs or even simple sauteed broccoli or spinach like she can - some real Chinese home cooking. And even though I remember helping her out numerous times in the kitchen through my youth and young adulthood, I can't recreate the same tastes.

Here's something I did try last night - Everday Fried Noodles from Saveur. This is not something my mom ever made, but it is actual Chinese food and not something you get from your local take-out joint. It's not a difficult or spectacular recipe, but makes for an easy weeknight dinner. I did feel like I needed to give it a kick though, and threw on some of my favorite hot sauce at the end to eat.

The raw ingredients. I didn't realize how long it takes to julienne things - sheesh.

The end  results - the dish was fine but I think I used the wrong noodles (these seemed a little too thick).

I also used a bit of my fave hot sauce to spice things up (the one with the rooster on it - that's the only way I recognize the brand).

Sorry for the dark pics - my kitchen isn't near any windows.

Are there any particular dishes your mom made that you miss?

The Prime Minister's Big Apology

Just over a week before the election, the prime minister got into a conversation with a voter in Rochdale, Gillian Duffy, who challenged him on the subject of immigration. Failing to turn off his microphone, he was overhead describing her as a 'bigoted woman.' The prime minister ended up having to make a personal visit to the woman's home to apologise and spent 45 minutes in conversation with her.

I hope Gillian Duffy made Gordon Brown and his aides take their shoes off. I would have done.

Live, Love, Life

Nine West - Livlovlif

That's where I would like to think Nine West was going when they named this platform sandal. Apparently the Nine West design team, teamed up with Nordstrom to design an exclusive collection and I really like the results. There is something that seems so, I don't know, "exclusive" about knowing you can find this shoe in only one place : ) A shape that is quickly becoming a favorite I love the multi straps + bold cut outs. I also love that Nine West decided to add little pops of color with the stones instead of keeping them neutral. It really adds to their overall appeal. I'm hoping I might find these in my local Nordies. Who knows? They just may be coming home with me...

Things of beauty...

Hello midweek. My toothache persists! Despite repeated visits to my dentist and attempts to identify which tooth and why; still no real improvement. Its really starting to get me down. I am wondering if I am going slowly nuts with this unexplained pain...? Ummm.

Plus Boo and I are ill. Off school for her and a quiet day for me. And then...I have an ant infestation in my kitchen! Eh? In April? So some prettiness needed to brighten the day.

Olivia Palermo...she is a clothes horse...I love how the chap she has passed by is looking slightly bemused...

Tiffanys Statement diamonds...I'd like to make a statement...

I'd also settle for pearls...this week's favourite image...

Bertoia chairs...my mum has these; I can attest that they are not that comfortable to sit on, but they look cool...

Pretty bridal fascinator and a wonderful 'I'm miles away' wistful look...

I have ordered these chairs from Liberty for my kitchen...I know they are not for everyone. Infact I was astounded my husband agreed to my idea...I love them. They are from the Target range; we don't have Target here so its a time when I am very grateful for internet shopping!

Some Country Living colour...

'Having You Back' by Jessica Cooper...I always like that her paintings are slightly off-centre.

Free as a bird. From it's mary ruffle...the most heart-achingly beautiful pictures blog to swoon over.

I would quite like this to apply in my house...poster from Bold and Noble.

Reading books...if nothing else we will always love reading books. At the moment Boo is reading 'The Witches' By Roald Dahl.