SHOP SALE!!

 that's right!

i'm having a SALE, baby!

 i always find a need to clean things out

when i'm getting ready to go somewhere

 and since i'm prepping for 10.  WHOLE.  DAYS.

of vacation without my babies

just me and my hubs (swoon!)

the need to clean out some things has hit me.

lucky you!!

 so from now until Tuesday, February 7th

everything i have READY TO SHIP in the shop

is 40% off!!

just use code: CLEANUP at checkout

 there are limited quantities on everything listed

and when i get back from vacation, my next "To Do"

is work on my NEW shop, Miss Mookie

squeal!!

it's been a loooooong time coming with a lot of help and direction

from one of my most cherished friends and i can't wait to dedicate some real time to it!

 so head on over to the shop and find yourself some fun goodies!

everything will ship before i leave on the 10th!!

perfect for Valentine's Day!

Everyday look

I've decided to use minimal makeup on a day to day basis. I've always kind of worn a lot. Ever since I started wearing it. That's not to say that I wore so much that I needed to carry a travel size shovel with me to scrape it off every night (very rarely do I even wash my face at night. Naughty, I know.). I just always wanted to look "done."

Now, it suits my available time to only wear what I feel is really necessary, rather than everything. So it's: foundation/mineral powder, mascara and a tiny bit of blush so I don't look dead. Perhaps a dab of concealor here or there if my face hates me at the time. ;) Compared to my old usual of: foundation/mineral powder, concealor, brow filler, 3 shades of eye shadow, liquid liner, mascara and blush. I'll save that for the times I feel I need to be a little more dressy. :)

It feels great to minimize in this department. While I want to be beautiful, I don't want to be beautiful because of my makeup. This way, more of the real me shows through. And I like that. :)

Do you read Thrifted Things?  Katherine is a cousin of one of my friends and she's awesome!  This post really got me thinking about this whole not enough/too much makeup thing.  Check her out!  (and check out my friend Sophie and her sisters on their blog too.  This family is FULL of good ideas AND saving money!)

let's be honest.

it's no secret that i struggle with self confidence.  i've talked about it before.  and it's been a while since i've had any big issues with it, but last night was just one of those nights where i was (apparently) a little sensitive.  what was meant to be a joke, my brain interpreted as something else and that's where the bad self-talk, the self questioning came into play.

why is that?  why is it that we as women do that to ourselves?  not to say that men can't/don't do it as well, but it just seems so much more prevalent in women.  or maybe it's just me.  i dunno.  some days i can handle it, laugh it off as the joke it's meant to be.  and other days it just eats at me.  hangs out in the back of my mind, always there to put me in my place if i get feeling a little too good about myself.  stupid bad self-talk.

i hate how it makes me question everything about myself.

i'll never be the kind to turn heads.

why even try to work out if it's not going to work anyway?

do i just stop and be stuck the way i am now forever?

or worse than i am now?

he said it trying to be funny, but is that what's really on his mind?

you're being too sensitive, he didn't mean it....  right?

it's like a constant circle of self-abuse.  you think one thing that might be positive, but then a question comes up that turns it right back into negative.  i hate that.  i hate what it does to me.  i hate what it does to us.  only i'm not quite sure how to fix it.  all i  know is that it's a continual work in progress for me.  

(via)

today is a new day.  a chance to push it behind me and look to a brighter day.

(via)

January

I don't know how things look where you're at, but things here are so bizarre for it being January! Gorgeous, freezing, and no snow. Weird. I kind of like it myself. I hate snow on the roads and drivers that don't know how to drive in it. And it makes work a whole lot easier for my hubs.

But then again, we're losing the water it would've provided too. And hubs' boss and I went in on a season pass for snowboarding. Not so much fun there when the resort is having to MAKE all the snow they have. :/ dang.

Either way, its been stinking cold but oh so pretty here!

HIP or HIDEOUS

I just turned 29 in December and I'm only just beginning to figure out who I am and what "my style" is. I've always played it safe, wearing what most everyone else was wearing. Trying to blend in. Trying to disappear.

Well no longer!

I find that while I still enjoy styles that most wear and that don't stand way out, I do like to have ONE thing that does. Bright colored shoes. Or bright socks over skinny jeans with boots. A crazy watch. Crazy shirt. That type of thing. And I kinda like it being "my thing." So that I'm not JUST like my friends or anyone else. Just ME. The saying goes that "imitation is the highest form of flattery" (or something like that) but it mostly just drives me nuts. So in general, and thanks to inspiration from my older bro, I try to choose things based on if I think very many others would wear it. Obviously I won't be THE. ONLY. ONE. wearing said article, but in the group of friends I hang out with, I'd like it to be. I dunno, I'm weird like that.

So a while ago I got some awesome fabric from my grandma. The picture shown is some of what I received. Not really my style when I got it but I figured I might come up with something so I've been saving it. In an effort to decrease my cluttered fabric bin/piles, I've been wrapping it all on homemade fabric bolts made of foam core board cut to 7.5x20 or 22". Fabulous. So I'm wrapping this fabric tonight thinking, "this could be a really cute, flowy skirt" when my hubs says, "Wow. That is really hideous fabric." Hey!! With my newish form of style thinking, it could actually work really well. I should also mention that I don't like being told that either I CAN'T do something, or that I HAVE TO do something. My mind instantly says, "Wanna bet!?" And I go the complete opposite of what I was told. Hubs' comment makes me REALLY want to make something dead sexy with this fabric. I'm not sure what it is exactly. Its quite soft and really drapey. Probably a nightmare to iron. Seems like it wrinkles easily.

I'm thinking high waisted (or thereabouts), hitting just at the knee, and full-ish. Like I said, its got excellent flow to it and I probably have 3 +/- yards of it. We shall see!!

So what do YOU think? Could it be HIP? Or is it HIDEOUS?