Fashion Friday 05.09.14 (on a Sunday)

Hi Everyone! I have been celebrating Mother's Day weekend with my family, so FF is coming a couple days late. Hope you had a great week :)

This week's look is a little "risky" for me and I stepped out of my comfort zone. I took a chance with the top, but it's really cute and could be substituted for something that's a little bit longer.

Check it out: Maxi skirt, jean jacket, and cropped leopard tank.

The red maxi is from Body Central Red Maxi. The jacket is from Old Navy (my favorite jean jacket ever) Denim Jacket and the tank is from Forever 21 and it was $13.80. I couldn't find it on their website, but almost any printed top would work to provide a bit a visual interest. I like the idea of it being a bit flowly so if you have a smaller bust and are self conscious about it, the top distracts from that. Crop tops are popular now but I know not everyone loves them. Here are a few other options:

Tribal Print Tank
Peasant Top
Mixed Print Tank
Zigzag Tank
Dandelion Tank

The shoes are new and are from DSW. They are Carlos Santana and similar to the sandals in last Friday's post. Wedge Sandal. They come in camel and black and I like both colors. I'm trying to push myself to not buy black sandals, because I always buy black sandals. These are pretty cool and can be causal or dressy. The sunglasses are super cute and super cheap from Forever 21. Quite often, inventory moves fast online, but you can find the items in the store or similar items online. Here are a similar pair, but the same low price! Sunnies

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend and an awesome Mother's Day!

always,
astreia

Fashion Friday 05.02.2014

Hi Ladies! It's the First Fashion Friday of May!

Today's look (as always) is simple and ready for summer. Maxi dress, jean jacket, cute sandals and a few accessories. Check it!

There's a little bit of back story with this dress. It's from Body Central and I think it's about $25. When I received the catalog in February, this dress was on the cover, and I really wanted it, but I resisted the urge to splurge, so I waited.

Body Central catalog cover

 

It's a beautiful kelly green color and looked so comfy. There are so many occasions you could wear it: running errands, hanging out with the family or even dress it up for a date night. I waited about 2 weeks before ordering it but the website said it was on back order until early March, but that didn't bother me. A week or two into March, I hadn't received any correspondence about it being in stock or a delivery date, so I put in a call about it. I was told the dress was completely sold out and there were no plans to get any more dresses in. WHAT?!? I was so disappointed because I had my heart set on it. Each time I went to the mall or Target, I was looking for something in the same color or same style, but never found anything comparable. Total bummer.

Cut to a month later, I was just browsing through Body Central at the mall with the twins, and I stumbled across the dress in 3 different colors; green, plum and orange. It was the best day! I purchased the green one and the plum one. The website doesn't carry it, but I'm sure you can still find it in store. But quite frankly, any maxi dress will work, and you can find them everywhere!

I bought the sandals about 3-4 years ago from Bakers. They are still pretty popular and they come in a few different varieties. Here is a link for the pair that Bakers is currently carrying and a pair from Aldo. Sandals from Bakers and Sandals from Aldo

The scarf is from Thirty One, and I bought it in 2012 when I was an Independent Consultant for them. The yellow isn't available any more, but they have a few others right now. It retails for $10, however, any cute, colorful scarf would work. Turquoise Scarf 

Each of the other pieces have been featured in past blogs. The jean jacket was featured in past blogs and it's from Old Navy. Denim Jacket. The sunglasses are from Forever 21. Sunnies

The bag is from the Nine West Outlet and it's no longer available. I found one similar on the Nine West website. It's a bit out of my price range (the one I bought was less than $20) but I wanted to give you a general idea. Clutch The necklace is from the Banana Republic outlet, but I found a super cute one in coral and yellow on the Forever 21 website. Necklaces

This might be one of my favorite looks for the busy mommy (or busy woman) on the go. Let me know what you think. If you make a comment, I will do my best to answer you quickly.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

always,

astreia

Spring Gardening Project

My thumbs are brown, not green. Just as most plants that are left in my care. I'm excited that I can keep my kids alive each day, so keeping plants alive is a whole other challenge. 

We've only been in our new house for about 7 months and my mother and aunt brought over three rose bushes as a housewarming gift; one representing each of our children. Very sweet and very thoughtful. However, my palms begin to sweat as I think of what it will take to maintain these guys. So instead of fighting it, I decided to embrace it and use this as a new challenge. My mom and aunt offered to help plant them and they wanted the twins to help. The kids LOVED being helpers! To get ready, my mom (whom they affectionately call "G-Ma") told them they needed to help clean the mulch beds by finding "mean greens" and getting them out. She made pulling weeds a game and I tell ya, my kids are competitive, just like me. They were racing around trying to find as many "mean greens" as they could.

After all the weeds were pulled, we had to rake the mulch and dig holes ("homes", as the kids called it) for the roses. Amaya surprised me! That girl really got into it! She wanted to dig, rake, and she didn't mind getting dirty at all.

I have to say, this project was so much fun. Not only was I spending the morning with my mom, my aunt, and the twins, we now have something special and sentimental for the house. The kids help me water them, and bring them in the house when I prune them. I still have a lot to learn, but it's an ongoing project that gets the whole family involved.... and it brought me closer to my mom and aunt Cynthia :)

We will probably plant a few more flowers and Jesse wants to plant some citrus trees. First I want to make sure I can keep these bad boys alive before we move to something bigger.

 

Spring has sprung, so get out in your yard and get planting! If the weather isn't ideal in your area or you don't have a yard, get a couple house plants and turn your brown thumbs green!

always,

astreia