What I Wore Sunday – Choosing Sides

   I bought this shirt from Goodwill many suns ago and finally got around to fitting it to me this past weekend, just in time to wear it to Mass yesterday.  I loved the colors, the fact that it was reversible, and the super-nice fabric.  I wasn’t in love with how beeeg it was:

So, I took out one of my fave fitted tops, traced it onto my blue/green number, put a straight stitch along the dotted line and a zig zag next to that for extra stability, and cut off the extra fabric with a pinking shears.

Unfortunately, I had to rob it of it’s reversible quality because I’m simply not good enough to know how to take it in to keep it that way.  So, since I already had the above green top, blue it was. 

Here’s how I wore it yesterday:

[Just call me Squints Under Cloudy Sky]
My photographer told me I’m an awkward picture taker…touche.  He also batted away my idea to picture-take with the fence as the background suggesting our vehicles would be a much better backdrop (also meaning he had to take less steps to humor his crazy wife by taking her picture to put on the www)… 

Top:  Goodwill $2
Necklace:  Ebay $8!!!!! (search “statement necklace” and China will come to your beck ‘n call)
Skinnies:  Target $7
Peep Wedges:  Consignment Store $5
A whole outfit for $22…not bad, not bad at all.

Putting up my link over at Fine Linen and Purple.  Lots more over there!

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I’ll be back later this week with a 10 month update on two little crazies and a two-tone dresser…and maybe something else…you’ll just have to come see.  :)

What I Wore Sunday – Corraled Coral

My mom gave me this coral, one-shoulder number last year but it was a smidge too big.  I didn’t mind the bagginess of it (baggy and post-partum are always friends) but the arm hole was a little too big and the armless side hung halfway down my abdomen making modesty a pretty massive issue.  To fix it, all I had to do was sew a straight stitch all the way down the side with arm hole, making sure to backstitch at each end for security reasons.  I took off about one inch and made sure to follow the existing seam so everything was nice and straight.

Then, I sewed a little stitch about two inches in at the top of the other side to “corral” the sagging and make sure I was full-frontally covered. 
 
It made a little pleat in the chiffon overlay that’s visible if you’re examining my underarm but lucky for the examiner, it doesn’t look bad at all.  It was seriously one of the easiest alterations there ever was.

Here’s what it looks like post-alteration:
 
I’m totally getting the hang of the art of selfies, no?  Ha!  Well, here’s the thing, I got smart this time and used the “self-timer continuous” option on our camera thinking that by taking a bunch of pics in a row, at least one would turn out.  Wrong-o.  As I was quickly glancing at the camera screen I was tempted to re-take but I couldn’t help laughing at these:
 
The “after” was the last in this series.  Lesson:  Make sure you’re 100% ready for the picture before you press shoot…shoes on and all.  

For Mass I tucked it in and added a cardi to get this:
 
Just another classic candid from yours truly.  In this shot, I’m in the midst of squeezing Cecilia between my legs to keep her from getting to the big tripod toy with the expensive camera atop it.  Thought I was still far enough away to get my whole bod in but I guessed wrong and we’ll just add it to the rest of my semi-decapitated stills.  :)

Don’t worry though, determined to get a whole outfit shot, I quickly drug her back and finally captured a semi-good moment just for you.
 
Skinny skimmers (skinners?) and cardi:  Target (clearance rack, where else?)
Belt:  Target via Dirt Cheap ($1 holla!)
Shoes:  Fashion Bug?  (spray-painted)
Top:  Gift from me Madre (I think she got it at Joyce Leslie)
Necklace:  ?  Found it in my jewelry box…I’m trying to reestablish a relationship with jewelry these days
Trashed bathroom courtesy of the twins…one of them learned how to open drawers (cough, Cecilia, cough) and they both went to town emptying it of it contents.

Linking up with all the other WIWSers over at Messy Wife, Blessed Life this week!

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Happy Monday y’all, emphasis on the Hhhappy!  :)

WIWS – Clash of the Fathers

So I wasn’t going to post what I wore today because we weren’t home and weren’t on our usual Sunday schedule so I didn’t get a picture of the threads.  On top of that, we hit up our high school’s (ours as in the one associated with Anthony’s youth group) campus ministry retreat Mass, which I wasn’t planning on going to but then did, but didn’t really have Mass-appropriate clothes to wear to it but wore what I had anyway…yadda, yadda, yadda.  Whatever, right?  Right.  No big deal/bigger deal made by me.  So, no Mass attire still-shot to share with the web.  But then I remembered that our fave padre with the white collar  instagrammed a little shot of our fam + him (he’s the Godfather of Cecilia so it was a little “Godfamily” portrait) and so I stole it. 

Don’t mind my humidity-struck mane, the blinding sunshine over-working our eyelids, or my sloppy, stretched-out tee (thank you week 33).  Do mind the fact that my outfit is a perfect clash between Anthony’s and Fr. Dan’s…totally not planned.  Now that’s a family portrait done right!  :)

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Annnyway, I just got back from the Mass I was planning to go to (I won’t let you think I’m that holy though – I had to sing) and my left arm skin is slowly being ripped off by a twin who needs her nails cut (I swear I just cut them!) and my right is cradling her passed-out elder so I’m going to skidaddle.  But not before I link my red and gray up with Fine Linen and Purple!  Head on over and see “What I Wore Sunday” done right!

Happy Palm Sunday everyone!!

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Sorry, one more thought before I click “Publish”.  Don’t you always feel like a jerk on Palm Sunday while reading your part - “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” – in the missalette?  I do.  Big jerk.  Sad thing is, we (I) do it everyday.  Nothing like that to strike a chord in my heart.  Thank God Easter is next weekend!  I’ll be needing a big pick-me-up after this sad week!

What I Wore Sunday: Newly Minted

Here I sit – the husband is out youth ministering, the babes are sawing twigs, there are cloth diapers that need to be washed, and toys, clothes, dishes, and Lord knows what else that needs to be put away – but first, I must blog.  Empty my noggin to you unsuspecting, sweet folks. 

I’m trying to think of some sort of deep reflection I can type out, something that struck me in Mass but I’m coming up short.  The only thing on my mind tonight is how busy Anthony is.  I’ve gotten used to mornings, noons, and lots of nights with just me and my girls and as much as I love that time, I miss ‘just me, my girls, and my man’.  I love when he’s home.  Everything just runs so much more smoothly and is so much calmer.  He doesn’t even have to be doing anything; both girls could be screaming at the tippity-top of their little lungs and the peace that hangs around while he’s here is intoxicating.  I love it.  He brings it in with him the moment he walks in our side door and out it goes when he does.  I feel like the Prodigal Son’s father so often…I get so excited the minute my love returns; the minute I hear his key enter the lock before he comes in.  I don’t always rush to meet him (and maybe I should…or maybe it’d freak him out) but it’s there the minute he is – the absolute joy and audible “Thank God”. 

And so here I sit – waiting for that key in that lock, the quick pick-up of my heart beats, the opening and shutting of that door, his face, that peace.

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But, until then, what’s a Sunday post without an outfit, huh?  Let’s pick up the mood.  Here’s what I wore to meet my other love:
 
Mustard, mint, and tan:  Target
Scarf:  gift from my madre  :)
Shoes:  Gabes (sniff, sniff…miss you Gabriel Bros.)

I looove pleats so when my friend Callie texted me a picture of the above pleated, mint top on the clearance rack at Target (online too, but not on clearance) a couple of weeks ago, I dropped the girls in their car seats and out we went to obtain one.  They didn’t have one in my size so I grabbed the next size up and got to sewing.  The fit wasn’t all that bad but the armholes were just a tad too big.  So, I took in the top of the shirt and let the bottom be.
 
You can barely tell the difference, I know.  I should’ve taken a side pic.

And because I have way too much time on my hands after bedtime, here’s a little diddy I whipped up in photoshop to show where I stitched:

(Pretend that the arm seams on the right side are lined up too.)  One straight stitch along the yellow line, a zig-zag next to it, and pinking shears to cut off the excess fabric and I’ve got me a new, cheap top.

I hope you had a great Sunday!  I’m off to wash diapers and put those toys, clothes, and dishes away before Anthony gets home and thinks all I’ve done all night is mess around in photoshop (well, technically pixlr.com) and blog.  ;)

Oh, one more thing…linking up with Fine Linen and Purple.  You should too (ahem)!

WIWS ~2/10/13~

I’ve been meaning to jump back on the party bus labeled “What I Wore Sunday” for some time now and thought I’d use it as an opportunity to decrease my alterations pile – posting my mass outfit only if it involves an alteration.  Good motivation.  My pile is large.  Well, then yesterday came along and I decided to pack up the kids while Anthony was tending to teenagers (ah, the life of a youth minister) and head out to the vigil mass solo.  I wasn’t wearing anything altered but I was feeling especially cheery in my yellow skinnies so I thought I’d participate anyway.  Thing is, by the time I got both girls fed and ready, diapers changed and re-changed, I only had a few seconds to snap a pic.  So, I grabbed Seraphia on my way to putting her in her car seat, set the camera on the dresser, clicked and ran to my post, said cheese, walked over and turned the camera off, and headed out.  With that said, this folks, is what I wore to mass: And this is also why you should never turn the camera off before making sure you’ve captured a crisp and clear sliver of life, aimed in the right direction.

Better luck next week.  :)

The off kilter details:
Sweater:  Tarjay
Skinnies:  Tarjay
Belt:  my dad’s old belt…vintage I think they’d call it  :)

You can be sure to find lots more haze-free outfits over at Fine Linen and Purple!

What I Wore Sunday

“What are you dressing for the color blind or something?”  That’s what came out of the hubs mouth as I walked out in my Sunday best tonight before mass.  “Go bold or go home” is what I should’ve said.  Instead I spouted that “Actually, I saw someone wearing these colors together and it looked good”, withholding anymore info than that for fear of opening a door Anthony would love to walk through.

You see, last night we were indulging in some mind-numbing tv viewing whilst trying to coax two over-tired babes into a peaceful dreamland when my brows perked up at a particular outfit one of ‘The Big Bang Theory"’ nerds sported.  I thought “Hey, I can do that”.

 

And so I did:(Is it weird that I copied a dude’s outfit?  Or is it weird that he was wearing that in the first place?  Either way, I think the verdict is in in that I should’ve copied his stance as well.)

Deets:
Shirt:  Hand-me-down from me seester
Pants:  Tarjay clearance rack
Shoes:  Fashion Bug and then capped by yours truly

If I were a little more spunky I’d have added a gold necklace or two or three and maybe some bangles or a bright colored scarf but I played my usual role as plain jane as far as accessories go and slipped some studs in my ears, calling it a done deal.

There’s many much more (Brian Regan anyone?) pretty, pretty ladies with much more fashion sense than I over at Fine Linen and Purple so hop, skip, and interjump over there for more.

Happy Sunday!  Go Giants!