What Happens in Vegas...

This weekend, Richard and I stole away together alone overnight for the first time in seven and a half years! Well, for the first time for more than 14 hours... A few years back, 6, to be exact, we flew to Vegas to see Prince's closing show. We left at 6 in the evening the night of the concert, and flew back to L.A. at 6 a.m. the following morning. Leo was a baby, so I couldn't bring myself to stay overnight. I also think I was nursing at the time, and that was a huge factor. At any rate, Richard and I have never been away together from the kids overnight until this weekend. Crazy huh?

Actually, come to think of it, December was the first time I had been kid-free for more than a few hours since Charlie was born. I was away for THREE days. And, we all know how that turned out; HaHa hospitalized upon my return... Mom punished for abandoning children...

Anyway, back to Vegas. We went to celebrate the wedding of my lovely cousin Dee, who is half of the reason Richard and I met. The other half, Richard's dear friend Brian, welcomed his baby daughter to the world on the same day that Dee and her beloved Paul got hitched! Coincidence? 

We had so much fun at the wedding, and the reception lasted long enough to kick off Richard's birthday! It was a perfect first weekend away from the kids! And, my wedding outfit was comprised of hand-me-downs courtesy of one Nancy Bryan. Thank you, Nancy!

By the way, if any of you reader's have a burning question you should check out my friend's new site Bad Advice for Good People. Anonymous questions are welcome!

Congratulations Paul, Dee, Brian and Jill!!!

Outfit:

White Jacket: Macy's. I had been wanting a white jacket after I saw an outfit in Vogue, et voila!

Black dress: Banana Republic. The black lace peeking out is from a slip underneath.

Shoes: American Eagle.

Flower: My cousin gave this to me. It's from Anthropologie. The perfect accent!

Peep Out!

I have been sitting at my computer for awhile trying to figure out how I want to frame this post. I guess I am having some writer's block. I also worked all day, drove home with the children, had a visit with my visiting-from-Thailand-brother-in-law, went out to vote, and came back home to put the wild boys to bed while Richard ran out to vote with HaHa. So, I guess I'm tired. Go figure.

As I was sitting here, in front of my screen, I yawned and sighed a bit. HaHa looked me in the eye and said, "Wake up, Mommy." It made me laugh. She is really turning into a funny and charming person. She sings little ditties that she makes up, runs around in plastic heels, tells me every day that my cousin Taylor's cat Lola "scratched" her, and she is so, so, very sweet.

So what does this all have to do with peeping out?! Nothing. I realized recently that not blogging keeps me from being on top of the awesome blogs I follow. I'm not on the computer as much, so I forget to check in. These bloggers are my peeps, and I love them so!

Outfits:

These outfits hail from January 18th and 19th, respectively. They also hail from clothes I bought for other people that didn't work out for them.

Jumpsuit: This was a Salvation Army find that I got for my Fresh Friend, and it was 50% off (so it was all of 3 bucks!) It didn't fit her well, so I tucked it away and tried it on after the new year!

Striped tee: Pollyanna hand-me-down.

Star shirt: This shirt was for Pollyanna, but she didn't want it. I got it at the same Salvation Army sale. It was going to go to the last clothing swap, but I tried it on and decided to keep it!

Polka- dot skirt: I got this from S.A., along with a few other items, for Sheena, the woman who did The Uniform Project. She, (or her people), never got back to me.

Yellow sweater: This is a post-New Year's hand-me-down from, yet again, my Fresh Friend. H&M.

My HaHa girl!

Today!

 I have been putting off posting for a number of reasons, and a lot has happened since my last post. Of course it has. It's life, right? Some things I can talk about, and some things are far too profound to discuss on a blog about not shopping.

First of all, the day I finished my job as a long term first grade substitute teacher, I came down with strep. Of course, I did not know that I had strep until four days into my illness, but it was strep, and it was horrible. It started when I was cleaning up five months of papers and lessons and other stuff that had ended up on my desk. I had not wanted to clean up, as my last day had been so emotional, but I needed to move my stuff because the other teacher was coming in on the weekend, and she needed a clean slate.

As I was filing papers, and replacing staples, and moving all about the classroom, I started to feel wonky. At first I tried to dismiss it, but by the time I gathered the boys and got into the car, I was positively feverish. Luckily, my mom and my aunt were at my house with HaHa, so after I made dinner I took a burning hot bath and crawled into bed.

I stayed there the whole weekend, lost six pounds from sweating, and only got out of bed on Monday because I knew that the pain in my throat was too horrible to be anything but strep, even though Richard was mocking me and calling me dramatic.

At any rate, being sick and missing my class were just two of the things that derailed my follow up posts.

I still have not bought any clothes in retail, and I have not been Goodwill shopping since my first couple of trips.  I went to a clothing swap where I got rid of over a dozen items, and brought home only two.

I did but a new pair of Earth sandals because I wanted a walking shoe. I lost one of my Fit Flops. These Earth shoes are pretty ugly, but now that my daily posting is over, and I'm a full-time SAHM , I don't need to look my best. I can go back to my mom jeans and bon-bons!

Today's Outfit:

Yellow sweater and green scarf : Fresh friend hand-me-down from last weekend. As I have said many times before, I am very lucky to have stylish and generous friends!

Grey sweater: Clothing swap!

Jeans: Goodwill.

Shoes: My new Earth monstrosities!

The shirt in the photo with the kids was also a newly handed down item! This was a few days post strep and I had a giant cold sore which is why I'm making a weird expression.

P.S. Forgive my shaky composition, it's been awhile.

P.S.S. This post is dedicated to the lovely Pollyanna, my posting coach!