dress: forever 21, jeans: jolt, shoes: dkny, ring: forever 21, ballerina bun: sunnie brook jones tutorial

Jimmy loves more than anything, when I wear my hair back….and since it was his birthday wish, I had no choice but to oblige.

Friday was the actual day and celebration and in true selfless fashion, he chose to go to The Corvette Diner because it would be fun for the kids.
And they had a BLAST.
All THREE hours we were there.
{and then i took a xanax and went home to sit in COMPLETE silence for a good hour or more to recover.}

How on earth I was able to work FIVE hours shifts there all those years ago is beyond me.
{I was Buffy.  And yes, that’s my claim to fame.}
What is it about getting older and not being able to handle noise and chaos anymore?
I used to thrive on that stuff.

But now?
I prefer elastic waisted pants and good La-Z-boy recliner, and in bed by 10:30 pm.
{unless my sister calls and then bedtime’s off….discuss the latest dish, we must}
How times have changed.

In my defense, I did take both kids out to do the chicken dance/polka, and even remembered all the moves to the Roach.
So that makes me a little more cool, ya?

as i sit in my elastic waist pants poppin’ xanax while i’m still recovering 3 days later…

© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”

Just thought I’d share with you some of the little changes we’ve made to our living room since the last time I shared pictures.

before:

…and now:

Surprisingly, in the year we’ve lived here, I haven’t made that many changes.
And I think Jimmy loves me more than ever for it.

But, now that I have more energy….he should probably brace himself.

© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”

Yesterday was kind of amazing.

I had my first ever REAL photo shoot for my new gig at SheKnows.com, complete with hair and makeup styled by someone else!

{the gig is called “the mommalogues”, which will OFFICIALLY be launching VERY soon!}

I didn’t get too many pictures, since I gave that responsibility to Jimmy….who ALSO had the responsibility of keeping the kids happy AND out of the way all morning.
{lots of doughnuts and candy were involved} 

Needless to say, this is all we got:

{my living room all turned around}

{Erin, the stylist, keeping Chloe happy}

{omg, the shoes. i LOVE.}

top: brand is in japanese (from plato’s closet); jeans: seven for all mankind; wedges: fahrenheit (beyondtherack.com)

It was all kinds of fun, until it was time to shoot with the kids….who woke up that morning with a nasty cold and total attitudes.

So, THAT was fun.

Amazingly, Paul (the photographer) still got amazing shots and I can’t wait to show them off once the website is completed!!!

Until then, it’s gonna be tough going back to old school photo sesh’s in my backyard with Jimmy, who doesn’t shout out: “you look amazing, yes great, just like that….” every 2 minutes.

I gotta get him working on that. =)

© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”

shirt & skirt (gymboree): tj maxx, chuck taylors (converse): marshalls, socks: target, flower clip: homemade
{entire outfit from tj maxx = just under $50!}

Before I go into all the details on this post, can we just talk about that shirt?
I mean, it is THE best shirt I have ever seen and Chloe with her happy personality is the perfect girl to wear it.  I actually bought it a little big so she could wear it even longer…and I kind of wish they had one in my size.

So, Chloe and I recently had a moment together at TJ Maxx while we searched for the perfect “first day of preschool” outfit.
I mean, we always have a moment when we shop…but ESPECIALLY at TJ Maxx.
Which she knows by sight, by the way.
“TJ MAXX!!! YAY!!!”

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, then you know HALF my wardrobe and almost ALL of the kids wardrobe is purchased at TJ Maxx or Marshalls.  I just love that I can get name brands like Hurley and Quicksilver for Taylor or Ralph Lauren/Polo or Gymboree for Chloe…but not have to pay the name brand price.
I mean, I saw t-shirts for Taylor for like, $6!!!
Amazeballs I tell ya.
{lil fact: prices are 20-60% less than department stores.  that’s just ba.na.na’s.}

Not to mention every time I’m there (which may be kind of often), I’m guaranteed to find NEW stuff.
{lil fact: each week TJ Maxx/Marshalls receives 10,000 new items to restock the shelves and racks, which means it’s the perfect place to shop ALL YEAR LONG.}

But since this trip was a special one for Chloe, we focused on loading up the cart with all the most adorable things for her…
Like this Ralph Lauren/Polo dress.

I mean, really?
Does it get ANY cuter?
I’ll answer that.
No.  No it doesn’t.
{lil fact: buyers for TJ Maxx/Marshalls are constantly traveling the world and watching runway shows to keep their pulse on the cutting edge of fashion.  and it shows in their stores!}

And of course, besides the dress above and the outfit we picked for the first day, we also couldn’t leave without this:

Mostly because she wouldn’t take it off, and maybe because she slightly reminded me of the little girl in the Blind Melon video.

All in all, it was a perfect day of shopping.  We agreed on everything, loved everything, and found exactly what we wanted in the sizes we needed.

And she went to her first day of school TOTALLY in style thanks to TJ Maxx/Marshalls.

Btw, do you want a chance to shop TJ Maxx/Marshalls on someone else’s dime?
Enter the giveaway!


“I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of T.J.Maxx and Marshalls and received a gift card to facilitate my review and thank me for taking the time to participate.”

© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”

It was a normal, painfully early, morning…getting Taylor off to school plus a photo shoot with Chloe in our front yard before her first day of preschool…you know, the usual stuff around here.  When all of a sudden, I received a desperate call from my sister.

“Missoni is selling out already and the website has been down all morning!”

I felt my heart drop into my stomach.  But there was just no time for anxiety poo…  I realized my plan to go without kids was thwarted, and I quickly rushed my little girl into the car and off we dashed to the nearest Target.  And when I got caught behind a line of 10 cars at a stoplight, I was SURE they were all about to beat me to duvet cover I didn’t need but NEEDED.

Apparently, they were going to work.

But, still.
They were probably thinking about it.

I made it to the store by 8:30am, just 30 minutes after the store opened, and already the home decor section was nearly emptied.  One woman had already rung up over $2000 worth of Missoni brand items.
And I’m pretty sure she was the one who stole my luggage and throws.
Those were mine.  Not too sure what she was thinking.

It was INSANE.

I tried not to seem as desperate as the rest as I leisurely walked the aisles and casually dropped this and that into my basket….but inside I felt FRANTIC.
A floppy hat!  I don’t wear those normally, but I might one day…I need it!
Gloves!  It’s 80 degrees outside, but one day it won’t be.  Give it!
A baby blanket!  My husband is fixed, but procedures fail, and I AM feeling a little more bloated than usual.  MINE!

Might I tell you that the night before I had decided NOT to indulge in purchasing ANYTHING because it just wasn’t a need and I wasn’t going to buy into the hype.

And then I heard about ebay.

And then I realized it was only a month long line and after that, poof….it would all be Gone.

I needed.

And I needed NOW.

After about an hour, and three laps around the store, I loaded up with my car with more chevron/zigzag printed things then any ONE person should need (or have!) and timidly called my husband to have a conversation that began with:

“Um, honeybear? (i never really call him this)  Let me just explain to you the situation I am currently in at the moment before you look at the credit card statement….”

And while I most likely will only be keeping a few things…it was the experience that was priceless.

Watching Chloe light up with joy at the vision of chevron prints EVERYWHERE and having NO IDEA why it made her so giddy…was ah.mazing.

And the memory that she was late to her first day of Preschool because we were busy oohing and ahhing and BONDING over fashion history was worth every penny on that credit card bill.

And I’m sure Jimmy will end up agreeing after reading such logic here today.

Oh, what’s that?
You want to see pictures of that glorious day?

Okay, so we’ll start with what I hope to convince Jimmy we really DO need:

{boots and hat, i die.  and maybe a pleated skirt not pictured.  she NEEDS.}

{tray for my coffee table.  seriously, this is a NEED as well.}

{taylor is currently trying to offer his piggy bank money to convince me to keep this bath mat.}

{these dishes are amazeballs.  who could return them?!?  plus we’re about to host a bible study, so it’s kind of for ministry?}

And here’s what I have but will either sell or return or offer to my friends that didn’t get a chance to go:

And here’s what any of you are welcome to buy me and have delivered to my front door JUST because you love me oh so much:

And that, my friends, is what I’ll tell my grandkids one day when they ask me to tell them the story ONE MORE TIME about the time Missoni once came to Target.

© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”

tunic: f21; jeans: 7 for all mankind; shoes:  ; purse: marc jacobs knockoff; sunnies: dziner eyes

I just bought this tunic a week ago (a lil anniversary gift to myself) at Forever 21…and was IN LOVE the moment I saw it.
As I was, apparently, with EVERYTHING I saw that particular day…it was a little like I had never seen a clothing store.
Which, um, we know is so not the case.
But, have you been there recently???
omg.
i die.

And yes, I realize that I am a woman in my 30’s rambling on about a store that 12 year olds also shop at.
And?

No point.
Absolutely NO point, just sayin…that Forever 21 is amazeballs and I am quite happy with their recent selection.

Well, look at that.
A whole blog post about nothing but my love for Forever 21.

Okay, so let’s also talk about these pictures…
So the day we took them, my photographer (Jimmy) was not all too excited about pulling off into a random neighborhood after dinner to snap some outfit photos.
sigh.
He’s a fussy one…all stressed about trespassing and such.
{you should have seen him almost pee his pants the day we stalked the Real World house!}
And because of his stress load…he wanted to rush through and had no time to mess with lighting and camera settings.
I mean, I was just barely warmed up when he called it a day and headed back to the car.
sigh.
I guess that’s what you get for cheap (free) labor.

Now back to the tunic.
Does that print just make you a little.bit giddy for the Missoni launch at Target???
Eeeeeee!!!

I don’t know…would it be weird if I camped out there the night before?

{p.s. welcome to my new readers!!!  thanks SO MUCH for checking out my blog AND especially for coming back after my big ol’ sits day!!!  i am still making my way through the emails and comments, but my hope is by the end of the week i’ll have had a chance to visit all ya’ll back!  xoxo}

© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”

skirt: f21; shoes: steve madden; jacket: thrifted/vintage; top: f21; bracelets: ?; sunnies: f21; belt: f21

Well, it looks like I should sponsored by Forever 21 for this post, ya?
So, this skirt is another one of my anniversary weekend finds.  It was my impulse buy at the last minute, and it ended up being Jimmy’s favorite.
Whew.
I love the missoni feel of the print, the colors, but mostly…the length.  I could totally wear it with heels too.  Love!

Side Note.
Let’s discuss the LACK of ombre we are seeing in my hair these days, shall we?
See, this is the issue of putting color over bleach blonde hair.  It needs a filler before it can hold color….otherwise?
It’ll fade rather quickly, as mine clearly has.
So, 4 more weeks and we’ll try again.

Ombre is getting expensive….but you gotta spend money to save money.
Or something like that.

© 2011 “Le Musings of Moi”