I started watching Downton on a sick day while browsing Netflix.  I didn't know it would suck the King in too.  Let's just say Violet had him when she was describing Downton "Really. It's like living in a second rate hotel where guests keep arriving and no one seems to leave."  I also didn't know how truly lovely the costumes were going to be, or how much I was going to covet being tall and stick-like to carry those costumes off.  Since I won't be growing or losing my girly figure any time soon, I'll have to improvise.

This Saturday is my mom's tea party/birthday present, so Mom, if you're reading this, stop now, or the surprise you want will be gone.

I'll be wearing a blousy, dolman sleeved, lace number.  Mine is actually a blush color, not black, but one can't fight Polyvore.   For fun, I think I'll even try some Marcel waves in my hair.

The invitations that went out specified wearing fancy hats, I chose a fascinator.  Something I didn't own but ran across and decided it would be fun.  The rest of the outfit is Downton inspired, but without wearing an ill-fitting dress for my body type, I wasn't going to go all the way.

I've planned out a tea buffet with teas from a local tea shop called One Good Woman.  The king has been gracious enough to offer a hand and the minions will probably offer up some service as mini garçons.

Smaller scale but same idea

We'll be dining on tea sandwiches like cucumber with dill spread and hummus with sprouts.  I'll be making scones, because you can't have tea without them.  I'm thinking a sweet scone, probably pumpkin with maple icing because it's my favorite, and a savory one like olive and rosemary.  Some lovely little cupcakes (carrot) done up like hats.  Strawberries in a lemon lavender syrup to put something remotely healthy on the table and either french macaroons or cut sugar cookies.

cute cake I did last year

My mother 'gifted' me with my grandmothers china some time ago.  I lovingly refer to it as the ugly china.  We'll be using it for tea.  Yes, it's ugly as sin, but it's my sin.  My sins include way more pieces than I started with as I filled in broken and missing pieces over the years.  I have everything from berry bowls to teapots covered in pink 40's style flowers.

Homer Laughlin Priscilla Eggshell Nautilus

I've been stumped on decorations, I'll admit.  I'm a total black thumb and don't do well with any plant that's alive, or even was alive at one time.  I know I like the big puffball flowers, and I adore the look of this table.  Obviously I'll scale it down as it will be on my coffee table and not at a large scale wedding. But I think I can manage some candles and fake puffball things in a vase.

Puffballs are pretty

No party is complete without something for the guests to take home, so mom and I have been collecting old tea cups and saucers from thrift shops all over the mid-state.  Each guest will be going home with a one of a kind candle in a teacup.  I just have to find a couple more, and soon.  Seriously people, donate more cups!

Hello nameless size -0 model.

It's a cute outfit.  One I can get away with for days in the office.  So, tan pants - check, brown boots - check, off white sweater - yep have that too.  Awesome, an outfit for the day!

I don't know about all of you, but as Pumpkin Spice Latte season comes into full swing I really enjoy the crisp mornings.  The bit of nip in the air and the way it makes the leaves smell is nearly intoxicating.  This morning I decided on either a skirt or a dress, mostly because I wanted to wear my boots.  We all have a few go to pieces in our closets.  The black boots are one of mine.

Friends of ours had their 2nd baby early this morning, so Happy Birthday Ainsley!  I know where there are some cute jeggings and adorable shoes to go with the blinged out onesies that will make you look much more fabulous than the other babies in the nursery.  What?  This is a clothing post after all...

Unlike Ainsley, I won't be as blinged out.  I may wear a hat, but it won't be pink.  What I will be wearing is shown below.

Knotty Love Earrings

Moonlight Sonata Bracelet

Nuts For You Necklace

Unnamed as yet Earrings

Pumpkin Spice Latte Season Fall has finally begun.  The days are getting shorter, the air crisper and there are pumpkins everywhere.  All of this suits me just fine.  I love layers, evenings by the fire and pumpkin anything.  Also means I don't have to slather myself in as much sunblock, for which my freckles are happy about.

Oh, Pinterest, I <3 you!

Here's the outfit I put together from my wardrobe, adding a few things to give it more of a fall look.

Who knew a fashion post could be (in part) about autism?  Bet you didn't!  Well, my lovelies, today it is.  It's also about one of my favorite things, SHOES!

Autism has some of the craziest signs for a disorder, ever.  One of them happens to be toe walking, which, if you have a toddler is a common thing.  Toddlers will toe walk, slap their feet down flat or roll their foot like an adult as they learn to get themselves ambulatory.  For some people with autism, it's a learned skill to not walk on their toes.  Minion #1 is one of those people.  We still work on that skill, especially if he's getting tired.  As with everything else, as your  mind and body tire, the brain relaxes and things you have to think about doing go to the wayside.

As you can also imagine, it takes a toll on his shoes.  The wear patterns are different on his long toed, narrow feet.  The treads on the fronts and sides are worn down long before the rest of the shoe.  When he was younger, due to the shuffling and scuffing, the treads would come away from the shoe as well.  We tried a number of things to address the walking issues he had.  We went from constant reminders, showing him again and again how we walked to letting him go barefoot.  Nothing really worked.  Until flip flops.  Turns out toe walking in those makes you trip over your own feet.  After a summer or so of that, the issue resolved itself, minus a few small reminders now and then when he's tired.

We women also do a good bit of toe walking if we wear heels a lot.  It's a bit different in that the foot is forced into that position, but it does the same things.  There are a number of issues that can crop up from wearing heels, from bunions to stress fractures of the foot.  So, if you love your heels like I do, here are a few tips to keep your feet feeling awesome.

* When you buy shoes, make sure they fit your foot.  Not all shoes from all makers in your size will.
Clarks are a great shoe.  They don't fit my foot though.  My go to heels are from Aldo and Easy Spirit for flats.  I don't even feel them on my foot.

* Pad your shoes so you're always comfortable.  They make inserts for just that reason.
There are inserts for the balls of your feet, sides, heels...etc.

* Own more than two pair of shoes, guys.
If you wear the same shoes over and over before they have a chance to dry out, you'll end up with some rank smelling shoes from the bacteria that's breeding in there.  Freezing them for longer than 24 hours will kill the bacteria.

* Pedicures - do them yourself if you like.  It keeps the blisters, calluses and cracked feet to a bare minimum.

* If you're not great with heels, but still want to wear them, try a lower wide heel, or a wedge.  There are plenty of styles out there that don't look like your grandmas shoes.


Also, here is today's outfit

It's Wednesday once again and this week I decided on a dress.  A maxi-dress of all things.  Typically I stay away from anything longer than knee length because it tends to make me look shorter.  And when you're already a foot shorter than your king, it starts to look silly unless you wear heels all the time.  Oh wait...I do wear heels all the time.  The dress is so comfortable though, it's made of the softest t-shirt type material known to man.  I'm going to be sad to give to this dress up when it's time has come and gone.

Without the jacket

Anyway, the maxi is from Charlotte Russe, the jacket is a thrift shore find, belt is a Target special and the shoes are Kensie, from DSW.

With the jacket

The messy bun took me about 2 minutes to do.  Put your hair in a pony tail.  Divide the tail into two sections and twist it.  Make a twisted braid.  Band the end and using another rubber band, loop the small end to the larger band you used towards the crown of your head.  Then, with a few bobby pins, haphazardly pin sections of the twist to your head.  Poof, instant messy bun!

What are you all wearing today?

Sometimes you see something on Pinterest and you think, hey I have something close to that! There's a new outfit for me to try. If you're anything like me you're always looking for new ways to mix and match your older things to have them look like a new outfit.

This week I'm showing my inspiration outfit as well as what I'm actually wearing today.



Inspiration Outfit


And what I'm actually wearing is this:

The nearly fall no make up look

Jacket - Old Navy

This has been a crazy hectic week so far. I think it only gets worse from here so the post is short and mostly sweet. Outfits are polyvore this week.

It's also very hot and humid this week so I'm going with a lot of light airy cottons.  Typically I take sweaters or cardigans with me to work to combat the air-conditioning the guys adore so much.  I prefer things temperate, they like it arctic.  We compromise and I wear sweaters.

It was incredibly windy here yesterday, and the 90 degree temps went down to the upper 70's during the day.  It was feeling a little chilly, so we decided to spend a few hours on the water, and visit a few castles that are in the middle of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

We visited Singer Castle on Dark Island first.  The 11 mile boat ride took about an hour, but we had a tour guide filled with info to impart on us for most of that ride.  For instance, did you know the Skull and Bones society owns an island on the St. Lawrence?  The 1000 Islands island chain isn't made up of 1000 islands, it's actually 1864.  The largest is 11 miles by 9 miles and the smallest is 3 feet by three feet and a tree.  1000 Island dressing was indeed created here by some fisherman who forgot to bring salad dressing along on a fishing trip with a silent film star.  He whipped that up for her, she liked it and introduced it to her friend, George Boldt, the owner of the Waldorf Astoria, who then put it in his hotels and the rest is history.

Singer Castle, Dark Island

Singer Castle is currently for sale, in case any of you are in the market for an investment property.  For a mere 25 million it can be yours.  However, for your cool 25 mill you get secret passage ways that are cooler than any Scooby Doo mystery, a boat house, 2 ice houses, a squash court and a workshop.  In its heyday it took a staff of 27 to run it, but there are sleeping quarters for 6 currently in the attics.  The rest of your staff will have to sleep in the spaces provided in the kitchens and secret passages.

The winding staircase

Clay Wine Cellar - Holds 600 bottles

Alcove in the drawing room.  Secret passageway located above it

Secret passageway in the library

Windblown and overlooking the workshop and Canada

The next stop on our trip was Boldt Castle.  For any of you not familiar with the story, it's your average  richest boy in America wants to build his lady love a house story.  Boy buys girl Heart Island and commissions a castle be built on it.  Stone masons work diligently on it night and day for years until the poor lady love drops dead of TB.  Work halts and boy never steps foot on the island again.

The receiving room

Clover, the youngest daughter's bedroom

Other side of Clover's suite.

In addition to the bedroom, Clover also had a bathroom, 2 closets and her own reception room adjacent to this.  The reception room had window seats, and honestly, I'm still drooling over them.  Parts of the castle are still unfinished.  The Bride Authority currently owns the island and castle and without turning a profit have sunk 40 million into the place thus far.

When I was a little girl I actually believed that the guys on tv and print picked out their own clothes, and made themselves look amazing.  Then, I grew up.  I taught more than one boyfriend that it didn't matter how much you liked something, stripes and plaids just didn't go together, and fluorescent yellowy green goes with nothing, even if it is your favorite color.
 Here are a few of the pieces all my guys have.  Linen shirts, shorts, and pants.  Wifebeater type undershirts for layering on the non-sweltering days.  Long sleeved shirts that can easily have the sleeves rolled up by themselves, or under a jacket.  Printed T's that can be worn from the boardwalk to the office under something else and shoes.  Sunglasses are a must, and if your guys tolerate them, white jeans are nice too.

Minion #1 (sporting the faux hawk and brooding look)

Minion #2 (rarely seen without a hat)

The King, surveying his domain

The court jesters hamming it up

And there you have it, a few pieces for guys that can make up the most of a summer wardrobe by just mixing and matching.  Doesn't really matter if it's office, going out, or staying home.  The fabrics all go together and if you stay within a color palette, all the pieces will mix and match.

I had a request not too long ago from Becky about doing an inspired outfit.  She's hooked on Drop Dead Diva, which I'd never heard of, let alone seen.  But, by the power of Netflix, I was able to fix that!  After watching a few episodes, and visiting the shows website to take the which cast member are you quiz (I'm most like Kim, btw) I decided I'd fashion up a Kim outfit from my closet.

The clothes are all from White House Black Market, the shoes are Aldos.  I chose some diamond half hoops for my ears, put my hair up, because it's going to be 100+ , and brought some black flats along in case I had to do any real walking.  Stilettos look fantastic, make you taller and make the line of your leg look great, but aren't made to walk distances in.

Also, this is my 100th post.  So yay!

As usual I'm linking up over the Pleated Poppy.

Embracing the yellow and gray trend

wearing // gray chiffon top - Ann Taylor Loft - thrifted - $3
               buttery yellow jacket - Ann Taylor Loft - thrifted - $5
               capris - White House Black Market - $78
               bag - Aldo - $35
               shoes - Kensie Girl - $25
               sunglasses - Cole Haan - $20
               necklace - my own design - peridot, smokey quartz and buttery yellow ribbon with a dragonfly clasp

You can find this outfit and many others at The Pleated Poppy.

reading //  I never read just one thing at a time.  I know it's confusing for some, but not for me.  Right now I'm into The Scottish Prisoner- Diana Gabaldon, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - Steig Larsson and Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand.

watching // I'm not a big fan of reality tv, I get enough drama in real life thanks, but we are watching The Colony at the office over lunch time.  At home we're watching Flash Forward via netflix and I'm still working on my addiction to True Blood.  Don't judge, at least my fixations don't sparkle.

listening to // You could say my music tastes are eclectic.  Right now I have everything from Nina Simone and Patsy Cline to Seether and Niki Minaj (yeah, someone will be all over my hoopty hoopty hoop about that one) on the ipod.  I am a huge fan of Matt Nathanson and Adele as well.

eating // I'm not eating meat, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy and potatoes.  Probably a few other things too due to some allergies and intolerances.  What I am eating tonight is some awesome salad and stuffed mushrooms.

laughing about // Same thing I always lol about.  The antics of sheeple.

working on // The family room, still.  It's almost done though.  Once the room is finished I'm going to be working on getting my Image Consultant Certification.  So, if you want some help editing your wardrobe and updating it and are in the Central PA area, drop me a message.  I need a few guinea pigs people to start my portfolio with.

anticipating // The plans from the landscape architect.  I'm so excited to see them.  Our yard literally looks like we've been testing missiles in it.  I am not good with plants, so I had to bring in the big guns.

wishing // As with anyone else I have plenty of these, and few are really to do with me.  I tend to wish for things for others, and probably always will.  What I fall back on, in the back of my mind when I get asked questions like this is Dr. Seuss.  "You've got brains in your head and feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself in any direction you choose."  It's not the wish you need.  It's the gumption get out and make it happen.

What are you wearing, reading, watching, listening to, eating, laughing about, working on, anticipating, and wishing for today?

Let me know in the comments!

I'm fairly certain the King got all excited reading that title, but the truth is this article is less about clothes this week and more about beauty products.   Not to worry, there's an outfit and a Polyvore put together for reference too!


Most of you can go into a store look at something think 'hey, that's neat, I'll try that' and do so.  Those of us with allergies or issues with gluten, wheat and soy, can't.  I know a few of you are thinking, they make products for that, just go buy them.  You're right, they do, and Afterglow Cosmetics is one of them.  To get the bare minimum of what I wear day to day (powder, gloss, eye liner and mascara) I'd be staring down a $140 bill.

You can however, find other options.  ELF is one of them.  The same products will run you $29 direct from ELF.  Some of their products do contain tocopheryl acetate, but a quick email to ELF and they were willing to tell me that it was not soy based.  For day to day makeup, you can't beat ELF in my book.

I had the same issues with soaps, shampoos, lotions, laundry detergent, and fabric softner.  You can buy some really nice specialty products, but I have this thing called a budget.  Some of you may have heard of one, I stay within it so we can do things like eat.

After some trial and error (hives and itchiness) I've found that St. Ives makes some nice shower gels and lotions.  Pantene and Garnier make a few products without wheat, soy and milk, but as with everything, read the labels carefully each time you purchase.  Neutrogena Naturals are nice as well.  Face wash, lotion and lip balm. All free from wheat but has some tocopherol in the lotion and lip balm.  I've not reacted to it, so it's either VERY low, or not specific to soy.

Laundry detergent I gave up on and I make my own.  A few brands of fabric softner are out there that don't have soy in them, most are store brands.  The big name expensive ones almost all do.  Need a pre treater?  Use Fels Naptha, it's a laundry soap bar, they tell you exactly what's in it and it actually works better than the spray it on stuff.

When you visit the salon, be sure the products that are used on you are GF and soy free.  Don't forget about the little things too, like waxes, their towels, and finishing products.  If they don't know, or aren't willing to learn, find a new salon.  Same thing with your manicurist.  Some of the polishes are now soy based, same with removers.

You can also call ahead to hotels to check their linens and products.  Fairly certain Embassy Suites thinks I'm a total nutcase, but I wasn't itchy after sleeping in their beds and using their linens and bath products.

So, that's what I'm not wearing against my skin today.

What I am wearing is this:

Extreme Heat Today- hence the shorts

Tucker is ready for his closeup

White linen blazer - consignment
Turquoise linen tank - consignment
Those two were part of a suit, with a pair of lined white trousers - $15
Navy trouser shorts with a deep turquoise stripe - Thrifted $2
White Life Stride Slides - Marshalls $15 
Tucker - Adopted at the Helen O. Krause No kill Animal Shelter - Priceless
















P.S. You can find this outfit and a ton of others for more inspiration this summer over at The Pleated Poppy!