a few random things...

last week was mckinlee's first orchestra concert and i just have to say it was amazing!
i couldn't believe how much they've learned in just 2 months.

here she is right before it started

it was easy to spot her with the big red flower on her head!
unfortunately, she was right in front of the teacher which made getting a good picture very hard.

here our little family is after the performance

julie and amber came to hear mckinlee perform which i thought was so sweet!
here she is with amber

here she is with ryan--he plays violin. (he is in our congregation too.)

changing gears...
when my mom was in california, she went to this wonderful french store and brought me back this pretty cloth. i put it on the breakfast table and think it looks so pretty with my pumpkins!

i've really been into thrift store shopping lately. i love digging through things trying to find some wonderful item--kind of like a buried treasure! and hey, if it happens to be from anthropologie, even better!
i was excited this past weekend to go to a goodwill i just thought was going to be amazing. unfortunately, it was kind of pathetic. but i did find a few good things.
like this bebe sweater
(i LOVE stripes)

and this gray mossimo sweater
(i'm all about gray this fall)

and this beautiful j. jill skirt
(the embroidery and buttons are so pretty up close)

and finally...
what we had for dinner last night.
artichoke chicken, garlic-chili roasted broccoli and couscous.
it was yum!

organization...and 80's day

i haven't taken time to blog much lately and i have so many posts to get caught up on, so here's one...
i have been seriously inspired by this uber-organized girl and my equally organized sister.
while i love reading about organizing things, to actually do it makes me nervous. i know some people organize to calm themselves down and if they're really stressed out organizing helps. well, for me it's completely the opposite! i always love the end result, but i guess because i have so many things that need to be organized i don't even know where to start--that creates a horrible overwhelming feeling in me.
so this particular day, i just decided to start SOMEWHERE and picked a few drawers in the kitchen.
here goes...
my utensil drawer
this was making me panicky every time i opened the drawer!

here's the after:
i got a little system of bins from target for around $12 and threw away a lot of stuff i never used.
so much better!

another junk drawer filled with nothing we used:
after:
i dumped practically everything in there and put all the lids to plastic ware

yet another junky drawer filled with plastic bags, trash bags, napkins

after:
now holding the few containers i kept
(next step...getting rid of all the plastic and going with glass.)

one of our utensil drawers--not too bad at all.

added a little bin of kid utensils--makes more sense here than across the kitchen!

other utensil drawer:
(silly i know, but i don't like my 2 sets of silverware to get mixed up!)

after:
added 2 bins--1 of matches and 1 of steak knives

well...that made me feel so much better!
i made myself a schedule to organize something every single week. will keep you posted on that.
now...


on to 80's day!

it's been 'say NO to drugs' week at mckinlee's school. each day was a theme to dress up. she didn't do mismatched day which i thought would have been so fun, but she was excited to do 80's day and i think her outfit turned out great!!

isn't that darling?
who thinks the side pony tail is the coolest hair style ever?
i teased her hair and sprayed it so it wouldn't MOVE!
we had so much fun picking out stuff for her to wear!
(yes, i'm a dork. i LOVED the 80's!)

as an exception, she got to wear lots of blush, blue eye shadow and eyeliner. also a bunch of frosty lipstick!
we found my add-a-beads (remember those?) and my swatch watch (LOVE). sadly, 20+ years of decay made the swatch fall apart in my hands when i tried to attach it to her wrist :(

her 1st period teacher (who was going with the whole lace-from-head-to-toe-madonna look) LOVED mck's outfit and had someone take their picture and told mckinlee she bragged on her to a bunch of teachers! mck was pretty excited.

i begged her to say: "like, totally, to the max" when someone asked her something, but unfortunately that was taking matters a little too far. ha!

i'm feeling the urge to sing 867-5309, every rose has its thorn or thriller! hee hee!


have a great weekend--i hope to post some great deals on monday from a goodwill trip to the fancy-schmancy part of town we're taking tomorrow!

what we wore wednesday

wednesday's sure do come around quickly!
here's some of what we wore this week (it's quite the family thing, as you will see!)
linking up at the pleated poppy and jewelscapes.

staying around home
jeans: gap from resale
shirt: loft from resale
slippers: bon bons from goodygoodyshoes.com--love them!
necklace: the vintage pearl

sunday meeting
dress: from a boutique in waco
shoes: kohls
jewelry: outlet, goodwill, michele busch (earrings)
yes--my hair really looked that bad! :(

mckinlee & sadie
dress-mck: jcp
dress-sadie: old navy
bow: made by sadie's mom (my sis)

to the opera
dress: evan picone from belk
flower: michele busch
bracelet: goodwill
suit, shirt, tie: bachrach

anniversary party for sister and brother-in-law

mck jeans: justice
tank: from my sis
sweater: justice
scarf: michele busch
flower: made by mckinlee

me leggings: jcp
dress: from sister
tank: old navy
jewelry: sam moon, pandora bracelet
amazing boots: goodwill!

chris shirt: kohls
jeans: daniel cremieux @ dillards
shoes: ?

mck's outfit inspired by her friend claire
jeans: justice
shoes: target
tank & sweater: justice
scarf: target
headband: target
pearls: mine

grocery shopping
dress: from sis
leggings: walmart
shoes: target
tank: forever 21 from sis
flower: made by me at a stampin' up class
jewelry: the vintage pearl, michele busch

say no to drugs week--wear all the red you can
jeans & shirt: justice
red top: swap
shoes: target
bracelet: jcp
necklace: target?
headband: made by me

crafting with a friend
jeans: levi (with a hole in the back--chris won't let me wear them out of the house!)
shirt: walmart
flops: target
earrings: kohls

thanks for stopping by to look!

what i wore wednesday

i haven't been very good at taking pictures this last week--but here are a few things i wore.
go to the pleated poppy to see other people's outfits.
also linking up at jewelscapes too!

thursday night meeting
dress: target
sweater: target
boots: ross
belt: wal-mart
necklace: cheap wooden beads with a flower i made
bracelets: michele busch
earrings: lisa leonard

chris called me dale evans all night (i didn't think i looked western!) but i got a lot of compliments. i usually don't put short boots with dresses so this was a little out of my comfort zone!

here's a close up of the necklace and other jewelry:

running errands
jeans: kohls
tank: jcp
cardigan: goodwill (i got it for $1.99--it still had the $34.50 price tag on it! don't remember brand)
shoes: dillards
jewelry: michele busch and swap

running errands & lazing at home
jeans: gap from the swap
shoes: reefs
shirt: from my sister
hat: disney world

more errands, groceries, etc.
jeans: jcp
shirt: kohls (summer is apparently back!)
shoes: reefs
jewelry: sam moon

had to take mck to dr.
added a vest from resale and shoes from target

heading to stamp club
jeans: lucky brand from resale
shoes: target
shirt: forever 21
jewelry: spice, michele busch, lisa leonard, the vintage pearl

what we wore wednesday

i have been forgetting, or have been too rushed, to take pictures when we're about to leave, but here are a few from the past 2 weeks.
go visit the pleated poppy to see other people's outfits.

just hanging around the house
shirt: wal-mart
jacket: target
bermudas: sears
shoes: target

heading to our meeting
dress: kohls
tank: justice
shrug: jcp
shoes: swap
headband: she made

skirt: jcp
shoes: jcp
tank: banana republic from my sister
sweater: target
necklace: target via goodwill, flower: michele busch, earrings: michele busch, bracelets: world market

spending the day with my visiting family
jeans: forever 21 from my sis
tanks: wal-mart & sis
sweater: target
shoes: target (finally broken in...don't cause blisters anymore!)
jewelry: forever 21
flower: made by mckinlee

here's a closeup of the flower:

you can also see my pandora bracelet and charm!

lunch out with family
jeans: jcp
shoes: jcp
shirt: banana republic from resale
vest: resale
jewelry: kohls

leggings: kohls
shirt/dress: resale
shoes: target

to school
leggings: children's place
skirt: justice
shirt: jcp
sweater: target
shoes: target

around the house
jeans: levis
shoes: lands end
shirt: wal-mart
cardigan: ross
jewelry: lisa leonard, the vintage pearl
flower: by mckinlee

it got a little warmer, so i switched to this jacket from target:

finally...too warm for any jacket!

thrifting and lunch with friend
leggings: jcp
dress: sister
shoes: target
tank: sister
jewelry: lisa leonard--this necklace and these earrings--love them!
flower: same one by mckinlee. this flower goes with everything! the funny thing is, i'm not much of a purple person, but lately i'm wearing it all the time!

sunday meeting
dress: from my sister--you can't see it very well, but the sleeves are kind of flow-y. very chinese looking.
shoes: target
ring: forever 21 earrings: ??

this is how i've spent the last 2 days :)
shorts & shirt: walmart
hat: ross
shoes: academy

it's slowly turning cooler here in texas and i'm so glad. i got the most amazing boots at goodwill and can't wait to wear them!

thanks for stopping by to see what we've been wearing!