Three Days to Go!!!

Can it be possible?! Do I really only have three days left of thinking about whether or not I've worn two or three items of clothing together already? Three more days of taking pictures of myself where 99% of them are horrid? Three more days of posting? Three more days where I am forbidden to shop?!

Heck Yeah! Three days to go baby! Boo-yah! I am almost at the finish line!!! Yippee!!!

I will probably have a few follow up posts, as mandated by Richard. Maybe tomorrow I'll let him post for me. I must say,  I have found that the blogging of this project, as well as the support and attention from my lovely readers, really, truly, kept me honest and motivated. I don't know if I would have kept my promise if I had just made it to myself. In fact, I believe I tried not to shop the year before last and I fell off the wagon pretty quickly. So, I really, really, thank you all for giving me the time of day!

Today, while driving to pick up my lovely mother-in-law at the train station, I got forced onto some carpool express way with no exits! I think it was going to LAX. After about 6 miles of driving (that felt like 10), I saw an exit for the 710 freeway, which happened to be ending. I was in Alhambra! All from one bad right turn.

Lucky for me, the train was late. So, I didn't have to feel horrible for making my mother-in-law wait in the dark, cold, night!

Outfit:

This outfit is so much better in person! So delicate, yet strong. I waited until the last minute to take my photos, and the light was not good. I then took them inside before dinner, but I was distracted. I was going to take them again right now, but I don't have the energy. At least you can see it's not a repeat!

Shirt: Goodwill. Isabel Marant.

Skirt: Thrift store. I got this many, many years ago. It was a dress, but I cut off the top. It was very frilly and not my style when I cut it, but I probably would wear it the original way today if I could! I think it is homemade.

Dress: Thrift store. Another ancient find. Joan Leslie by Kasper.

Shoes: Haha picked these out for me, and I rather like them with this. I probably would have chosen differently! Goodwill. Jelly Beanz.  




 

Day 182! Stat!

Hey! I really need to go to bed, so I am going to beg for mercy at not making a really great "I'm halfway there post!" We had a crazy night and when I was putting he kids to bed, HaHa cut her toe on the closet door. It's a sliding glass door, and apparently a tiny piece of exposed glass was at the bottom.

One minute I was walking to put something on my bed, the next minute there was blood all over the floor and HaHa said "Feet hurt." I was really upset, because she cut her toe this way before. Richard fixed the door, but I guess it came loose again. Anyway, the toe escapades threw off my evening schedule. I am just starting to write at eleven, and I really need some shut eye!

At school today, HaHa impressed me and Jordan by doing "pull ups" on the cubby hooks! She is so athletic! And crazy! I've included photos below.

Outfit:

Striped shirt: Hand me down from Pollyanna. Forever 21.

White shirt: Goodwill. Isabel Marant.

Brown pants: Goodwill. I.N.C.

Shoes: Predictions.

Jacket: Walmart. George. I got this when I was visiting my mom in her tiny Massachusetts town several years ago!

Sex ATC!

Okay. Although it pains me to admit it, every time I see an add for the new Sex and the City movie, I get a little giddy and I actually watch it rather than fast forward through it. When I lived in New York, I never saw a SATC episode. For starters, I didn't have a TV, and second, it just wasn't of interest to me. I even babysat for a woman who would constantly tell me that her best friend was one of "the producers of Sex and the City!" I would just nod my head enthusiastically and smile while thinking, "So what?" Later on I would look up said friend, and sure enough there she was on the credit list.

I also had a friend who was an extra on an episode and though I was happy that she had gotten some work, it didn't really matter that it was on that show. Again, I had no connection to the show, so I congratulated her and we moved on in the conversation. I didn't grill her about the cast, or Patricia Field, or being on set. Cut to March, 2001. I move from New York back to Los Angeles after 10 years of living in the Big Apple. 10 crazy and important years. Years I grew from girl to woman. Starting as an NYU freshman and ending up as a single pre-school teacher and nanny. I learned so much about life and myself in those year, and I had a lot of fun.

So it's  March 2001, I'm back in L.A. and I'm living with my mom and step dad thanks to NYU's exorbitant tuition that ate through my "moving to L.A." savings account. (But that's another story.) My mom has a TV, and she has HBO. I sit down to watch an episode with her and I am instantly filled with nostalgia and palpable love for the city I just left. I'm hooked. I relate to the story line and to the ladies as well. I can't believe I've been missing out on this pop culture treat.

After Charlie was first born I was alone a lot because we had moved, I didn't drive, and my friends and family all had jobs. Lucky for me, it just so happened that HBO was showing ALL of the SATC episodes from Season One to the present season! I can't explain what a comfort it was, but it was really helpful to me at the time. It gave me a daily dose of the city, and a dose of entertainment when I needed distraction.

So why am I telling you all this? Because The Richard and I are going to see SATC tonight and I am excited even though I am fairly certain it is going to stink up the joint. I liken it to fashion porn. It will be totally gratuitous and over the top, but can't a girl have a little mindless fun every now and then?

Outfit:

Inspired by SATC. I think there's a little Carrie in it.

Shirt: Goodwill. Isabel Marant.

Blue tank: Urban Outfitters. Very Old.

Pants: Massachusetts thrift store. Mossimo.

Shoes: Patricia Field for Payless. I saw these shoes in Lucky Magazine (shopping porn). My friend gives me her old copies. I thought they were very cute and I found them a couple of months later on sale for 12 bucks! Whoo-hoo! 

HaHa is feeling better! Thank you for the kind words!

Appreciation!

So now, every time I write, I have a little monkey on my back going "Is this interesting? Is this smart? Is this worth writing?" I must say, that while I have enjoyed getting this little project off the ground, there are some days I just don't have much to say. This is how the Topics! conversation came up with Richard the other night. He has given me a "No writing about not having anything to write about!" mandate, so I will pull something out of my a-, I mean hat.

How about appreciation? Yesterday I was visiting with a friend, and while we were chatting she got a call from one of her buddies. This other friend stopped by, and it turned out that we had met before, because we have yet another friend in common.  She had been at my house years ago when we were throwing a party for Charlie. What a small world!

She also has a son, and her son is nearly the same age as Charlie. Her son, like my sons, can be a bit challenging with his behavior sometimes, and we commiserated about this. Her son, unlike my sons, was diagnosed with Leukemia last year. When she said this, I was so surprised I did not know what to say. What could I say that would sufficiently illustrate how deeply sorry I was to hear this? That showed I could not imagine how truly painful it must be to endure watching your child suffer? I found some words, but mostly I felt like a jerk for complaining about my boys' bad listening, and less than charming qualities, while she actually had something to complain about.


Which leads me back to gratitude.  I must remember to appreciate ALL of the qualities of my children. The good and the bad, because they are children, and they are learning, and they are imperfect, and they are perfect, and they are my babies, and they are human, and they certainly have accepted me with my multitude of flaws. And, they are healthy. I must give thanks to good health. And thanks to everything in my life. Both good and bad. Yes, thanks to EVERYTHING in my life. Thank you, everything!

Outfit:

White shirt (underneath): Goodwill. Isabel Marant.

Print Shirt: Bought in the Bronx while visiting Josh and Brady! It's a bit big, but I love the print!

Brown Pants: From cousin. Gap. They still had the tags on them when she gave them to me!

Shoes: Mossimo.


I happened upon the scene below in the kitchen, and I thought it was so sweet!

Bieber Fever!

I've been hearing about Bieber Fever for a while, but it was only recently that I heard Justin Bieber sing and saw him engage in witty repartee with Oprah.  He was very charming and quite talented, I thought.  Besides his crazy hairdo, I could understand why young girls are obsessed with him.

What a lucky lad to be born in the age of You Tube. Where was You Tube when I was a kid? Pollyanna and I could have uploaded our "The Brunettes" songs! With our brilliant lyrics and dazzling personalities I'm sure we would have gone viral in a flash!

Just take the theme song (?) for our band: "Brunettes Have More Fuh-uh-un. I know it 'cause I am Wuh-uh-un (one). Brunettes have more fuh-uh-un. I know it 'cause I am one!" Sheer brilliance!

That song is second only to the toe tapping hit "Us". It goes like this: "We. We are us. We grow each day. Life can be easy, it can be tough, but, we have to take it either way." (By the way, Richard wants me to remind people that these songs are copyrighted and he is very litigious.)

Now, in our/my defense, we were in fourth grade and we were nerds. And, I am sure I was a negative influence on Pollyanna's lyrical styling. After all, she listened to the Beatles and Carole King. I listened to KISS-FM. Oh, to bring this back to the fashion side, we made our own Brunettes t-shirts with puffy paint. They were awesome! (By the way, Richard also questions the past tense use of "nerds" in referring to Pollyanna and me. Sorry Pollyanna!)

Outfit:

White shirt: Goodwill. Isabelle Marant.


Green Shirt: Goodwill. Lux.

Brown pants that look black in the photo: Goodwill. I.N.C. (fabric right)

Shoes:  zoe & zac

Fried Egg!

I did not eat a fried egg today, but I didn't know what to call this post and those words popped into my head. I would have eaten a fried egg if I had the time to make one. However, my morning was spent hurry-scurrying about gathering the boys' belongings for a sleep over with Aunt Janine and dealing with a dead battery in our oh-so-reliable Toyota.  On top of that our AAA membership had lapsed, but they were completely accommodating. For the record, I would like to say that I love Triple A!

I was out of the house the entire day and returned home around 8:30pm. After I put Haha down, I bee-lined for my computer so I could check my emails, see if I had any new comments, and all of that fun, computer-related stuff. Imagine my surprise when I got an email from Intact America saying that last week the America Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a new statement proposing changes to the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Act, a law that has prohibited any form of FGM in the U.S. since 1996. You can download the abstract on their site.


In an attempt to be culturally sensitive, and to stop parents from sending their girls abroad to have the ritual genital cutting performed, the AAP suggests that doctors perform a "nicking" of the girls' genitals instead. Interestingly, one of the things that the abstract said was that the term Female Genital Mutilation in itself was "inflammatory", and that "some forms of FGC are less extensive than the newborn male circumcision commonly performed in the West." Ha! Take that male circumcision advocates! You may or may not have read my post Cut!, but I can't wait to hear what pro-male circumcision folks have to say about this new recommendation from the AAP.

Outfit:

I took my pictures while I was out and about today and they are a bit sketchy. Needless to say, I have a lot more respect for models after doing this blog! 

Shirt: This is the shirt I wore underneath the sweater yesterday. I got it at Goodwill and I said that it did not have a label, but when I read the care label and saw a replacement button with an M on it today I  saw the name Isabel Marant.



Skirt: Forever 21. I got it when I was pregnant because it had the stretch that I needed!

Shoes: Miz Mooz. Since my outfit was so plain I thought I would jazz it up with bright shoes!


Oh the pain of posing! It hurts!