A Few Quips...

I really want a new pair of Converse low-tops. I had a pair ages ago and the darn things wore themselves out. Anyway, I know I’d wear the heck out of them this fall/winter on non-office days. With skinnies. And oversize sweaters. Just call me Ashley Olsen.

Ruby and her brother Ari got into something way stinky in the yard last night and after I bathed her, this is what she did…

#BathsAreTiring

On a more serious note, I’d like to ask everyone to please say a prayer for one of my high school friends. His name is Trevor Ware and recently, he was the victim of a hit and run accident. He was riding his motorcycle and a drunk driver hit him, knocking him onto the windshield of the car, and then leaving him to die.

*The driver of the vehicle was found and arrested.

**You can read more about the accident here. A Little Rock news station did a great story on it.

***You can read more on UAMS, who has offered to keep Trevor as long as it takes, despite him not having adequate insurance coverage.

Trevor is currently at UAMS in Little Rock and has had multiple surgeries already to fix several very critical injuries. It will be a long road of recovery time and probably many days of physical therapy afterward. He is unable to speak or breathe without assistance right now (he has a trac tube) and is in a coma, as indicated by the family via FB.

Please, please say a prayer for sweet Trevor and his family. He has a special needs brother and I know that his mom is hurting right now, struggling take care of everything. He’s one of those rare human beings that’s just innately good, in every sense of the word.

I’d appreciate for you all to send him your thoughts and prayers… he could really use them. He doesn’t have the best insurance and they really do need a miracle from God.

If anything, I hope this encourages everyone to go out and celebrate life today. It’s short and so very fragile. Enjoy time with your loved ones and take for granted nothing.

Be blessed, lovelies- 

How I Wear My Leather Leggings

via 9to5chic.com

It's Trend Watch Wednesday! And we're talking about...leather leggings. Two words that may strike fear into the hearts of women. Two words that also evoke pure joy and excitement in the hearts of me – er, other women : )

I love a good leather legging, boot, handbag, skirt or skinny pant.

I do not love leather biker pants, leather vests or leather chaps, (unless Brad Pitt is wearing them, circa the Jesse James movie.)

Those two items fall into the creepster/carnie category. Remember the carnies at your local county fair? Mine wore leather. They were fashion forward like that.

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I decided way back in the summer that I’d give leather leggings a “go” for fall and, last week, I did just that. I bought mine at Forever 21, because they were cheap and I figured if I hated them, it was only 11 bucks down the drain-o. You can find them below!

Ignore the disheveled appearance...this was taken at 10:30 last night. 

I paired it with my pointy ballet flats with the snakeskin accents and presh ankle straps. They came from Savoir Faire and I’d suggest hightailing it over there and buying them if you know what’s good for you. They were a steal at $35.

The top? A mega-slouchy, long(ish) sweat shirt from Forever 21 in an oatmeal color. I wanted the pants to be the focus on the outfit, you see.

Coated Leggings

(P.S.- Savoir Faire also has a great pair, which I plan to scoop up this week, now that leather leggings and I have established a committed relationship.)

The top? A mega-slouchy, long(ish) sweat shirt from Forever 21 in an oatmeal color. I wanted the pants to be the focus on the outfit, you see.

Let’s take a simple quiz to see if…YOU + LEATHER LEGGINGS = SUCCESS

1. Are you self-conscious about your booty? Leather is meant to be tight. If you’re self-conscious about your legs or bottom, these are not the pants for you.  

If your answer is yes, thank you for playing. You may want to opt for wax jeans, which have a leather-like look, but feel like denim.

If your answer is no, proceed to question #2.

2. Are you familiar with any of the following bands Iron Maiden, Heart or Styx?

If your answer is yes, congrats! Move to question #3

If your answer is no, then you have no place wearing leather – period.

3. Do you prefer skinny jeans or bootcut jeans?

If your answer is bootcut jeans…this is a serious question. If you don’t like how your body looks in skinny jeans, you won’t like leather leggings. So you may want to vie for a skirt instead.

If your answer is skinny jeans…congrats! You and leather leggings may have chemistry.

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Avoid the following pieces when sporting leather leggings:

-Any large statement jewelry with spikes or points. I’m serious, this stuff is “in” right now, but unless you’re going as Billy Idol for Halloween, it will appear a bit over-the-top.

-Avoid leather jackets with leather pants. You'll have yourself a leather tuxedo. Or you’ll look like The Crow. Or Batman. Or any other fictitious character in dark comics.

-Keep the entire rest of the outfit super simple. Go simple with the top, sleek with the shoes and don’t overdo the jewelry. It’s all about the pants with these puppies.

So yeah, leather leggings...a "do" for fall 2012. Try it if you dare.

Be blessed, lovelies-

Tyoos-day

(I had a middle school principal that pronounced"Tuesday" as "Tyoos-day". Sorry, but I had to.)

Another pic from Chicago. Thank you to "Phyllis from Boston" who graciously took our photo.

It’s Tuesday – let us rejoice that we survived Monday in tact. Unless, of course, you did not. And in that case, I’m sorry for the awkward opening sentence.

1. I got a little overly confident with my pumpkin bread last night and started tossing in “estimated amounts” of various ingredients. I felt just like Barefoot Contessa – putting in a dash of this and a pinch of that. It was truly invigorating!

Until said bread came out of the oven and Stephen and I proceeded to take a bite.

Have you ever chewed on one of those packing peanuts? This was only slightly more flavorful.

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2. On the quest for the perfect shampoo, I have stumbled upon a good ‘un. Redken Real Control. It’s great for windy, fall weather and especially fitting for those of us with uncontrollable manes.

And let’s just call a spade a spade…the name is more than a little appealing to Type-A personalities like myself. Those of us who frequently have nervous breakdowns when things don’t go according to plans.

So far, it seems to be controlling my hair quite nicely.

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3. I was wearing a strapless bra in Chicago that was slightly too big. We were walking off the L and I felt something around my waist. Apparently it was more than slightly too big.

Adjustments were made and the day continued as planned. My cups…they do not runneth over.

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4. It bothers me when girls, in conversation with one another, refer to each other as “dude”. For example, “Dude! I went on this date with John last night and it was amazing.”

We aren’t dudes, we aren’t bros. We’re ladies, yo’.

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5. I tried to watch Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and couldn't. It did me in within about five minutes. There is a limit to the trashiness I can handle on the tube and this surpassed it, I'm afraid.

 Be blessed, lovelies-

Return Trip

Hola, chicas! Back from Chicago and back to the blog - both good things. We had such an amazing time in the Windy City. I'll have some pics to upload on here later tonight, but until then, an iPhone picture purge for your viewing pleasure...

Exhibit A...Chicago! Where we just came from yesterday. Love the city and everything about it. If I ever live in a bigger city, this would be my choice.

Exhibit B...a pic that Ruby's aunt Stephanie (who house-sat for us) sent on Saturday. Boy did we miss this little girl and her big brother, Ari!

Exhibit C...I decided to edge things out while in the Windy City, choosing a pair of snakeskin flats (from Savoir-Faire) and leather leggings from Forever 21 for the flight and first day. LOVED this outfit.

Exhibit D...this boy was in hog heaven at the Cubbies vs. Cards game on Friday afternoon. Go Cubs!!

Exhibit E...another pic of Ruby from aunt Stephanie on Saturday. Her eyebrows kill me!

Exhibit F...and a windy but blissful photo taken at the Adler Planetarium on Saturday. Love this man and our adventures together!

That's it! See the other pics tonight via the blog Facebook page, located here.

Coming up this week:
-The September Savoir Faire Moment of the Month
-Leather Leggings, How to Style 'Em - How to Get Over the Fear of Having a Ross Moment
-Outfit photos featuring two presh pieces from Maude Boutique
-Confessional Friday, baby!

Fall...In All Its Glory

Found here.

Is there any better season than fall? In my opinion, definitely not. As a citizen of the South, I like to refer to fall as "the great relief". And what, pray tell, would this region possibly need relief from?

The 10,000 degree heat, of course.

(If there were an upside to such temps though, it would be that we can bake cookies on our sidewalks from June 'til August. Eh??)

So as a girl living in the Deep South (Farmer's Almanac classifies Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee as "Deep South", but I think y'all in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida qualify too), I feel it's my duty to celebrate fall. And everything beautiful that comes with it.

Wreaths

I love a decorative, rustic-looking wreath for autumn. In my opinion, anything with pinecones and burlap is just dandy. And I believe that wreaths bring a certain warmth to the outside of the home. It says, "Come on in, y'all!" (Unless, of course, you're a cat or a solicitor.)

I'm all about this pretty little thing from Etsy. The chartreuse bow just makes it, doesn't it?

And this one is beautiful too. I love the addition of the little initial!

Scents

I think I've blogged about the wonderful candles from Bath & Body Works before, but in case you missed it...I love the Cider Lane and Leaves scented candles. They burn for several hours and the scent is just marvelous.

Eats

When it comes to fall cookin', it's all about soups and chili at the S household. We love a crockpot of chili while we watch football, and for rainy Mondays, well, you can't beat a bowl of broccoli cheddar bisque.

For our favorite chili recipe, go here.

For the broccoli cheddar soup that I've tried and love, click here.

Decor

I think throw pillows are such a fun, inexpensive way to change up the seasonal decor of a room. Since plum is one of the trendiest colors this fall (for both decor and clothing), I thought it was fit to find a perfectly royal looking pouf for the couch. Behold!

She's plush and oh-so-pretty! Pssst...and only $34!

And please. Can't we talk about the cuteness of this herringbone throw from Dillard's?

Scarves

Oh my. If y'all knew how many scarves I owned, you'd think I was cray-cray. I love using them to change up an outfit on the fly. Ch-ch-check these out:

The Village People scarf from The Elle gets me so pumped for fall accessories!

And this Shimmering Leopard Scarf from Forever 21 is just as pretty in person as in the picture. I would know...stopped in during lunch yesterday : )

Boots

Are ya kidding? I can't sum up my thoughts and adoration for boots in one section. I'm doing an entire post next week, so please stay tuned. It's a good 'un!

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Okay, I'm out until Monday! We are off to Chicago to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary. There should be lots of wine, lots of photos and lots of ooshy-gooshy romantic nonsense. All my favorite things in life.

And don't think I won't be raiding H&M whilst there...psshaw! Stephen is dragging taking me to a Cubs game, so I think it's only fair that a shopping trip happen, right? ; )

Talk to you soon!

Be blessed, lovelies-