Searching for my Michael Kors birthday bag part 2



If you remember from my first post in this series here then you remember I am on a hunt for a Michael Kors purse under $200 as a gift from my hubby. The purse from my last post actually sold (insert sad face) because I went back to the consignment store to not only look to see if more purses came in, but that particular one sold, see my post here to see it. So I hit up two stores with my hubby for a date day. I will show you Marshalls store first.

Marshalls finds and my opinions:

My hubby actually loved the color of this bag. It is solid white with monochromatic MK all over it. Yes it was a nice color, but I didn’t lik th shape of it. The bag was $171.

This green one was not a great color (and I love green) but I did lik te shape of this bag better but it still wasn’t a love. The bag was $171.

This purse was a pretty blue and would go great as an accessory for summer, but I didn’t like the shape of it. This bag was also $171, I believe.

TJMAXX find and opinion:

I was VERY disappointed in the TJMAXX selection, all they had was this. Maybe if it was a few years back or winter time I would have loved this, bu I did not this time. I used to swoon over what MK purses TJMAXX had in the past, now my hubby and I (not to mention another customer there) labled the selection as “el stinko.”

In general all of these purses were not for me. My husband put it best, hey look to manufactured and mass produced, nothing of the quality of the bags I do own. Make sense?

I am looking online at belk.com and seeing some cute ones, but I would rather see it upfront before considering on buying from online. I a just picky that way.

Where should I look for Michael Kors purses? I already tried nordstromrack.com and didn’t see anything.

****Thank you Sherri and Carrie for featuring my last LBD on their What Wives Wear link up. Agi and I were chosen for this Thursday’s feature, so go check it out and link up yourself here.

With that said I am linking up with Sherri and Carrie again- click the button below, and Funday Monday, Spotlight Weekly.

Currently Loving

Summerizing a LBD and eventful Memorial Day




Outfit details:LBD- Michael Michael Kors (old, Michael Kors Outlet)//Fedora hat: Virtis (Plato’s Closet)//Sandals: Old Navy (old)//Sunglasses: unknown brand (Plato’s Closet)//Necklace:Charlotte Russe (old).

I thought I would share with you my LBD purchased on my honeymoon in Williamsburg, VA from my hubby at a Michael Kors outlet and how I accessorized, oops I mean summer-ized it.
I am rocking my fedora hat A LOT lately and loved it paired with the dress to give it a casual fun look. I was dressed this way for a family BBQ, park an creek play with kids (where these photos were taken) and shopping with my sister, sister-in-law, brother and kids. The dress was just the right length for creek water walking, a humid day outside, but cool enough for the outdoors and indoors. I wore this LBD styled this way through Saturday and got nothing but compliments, from my in-laws, sister, hubby even checked out by a creepy man at the grocery store. I guess you could call this a bold, step out of the box for me look, but I loved it. You can check out my winter-ized styling of this dress towards the end of the post.

Memorial Day events:
My memorial day was eventful, filled with pure enjoyment, I was allowed to sleep in while hubby took care of the kids, I went to starbucks for some me time and responded to some bloggers, ran to the grocery store and had my brother Luke and brother Jonathan and his family over for some water play outside and a cook-out.
I say the day was eventful, because it was packed with fun, but stress. The cookout and a million kids around was stressful enough, but our son Max had a fever most of the afternoon. He slept through some of the day, but was rather hot and throwing up. By the time the cookout was finished and everyone gone, kids in bed that was when Max woke up. He had been shivering like he was cold, he was burning up, tempature 103.2 so he was given a bottle of cold water. My hubby felt I needed to call his pediatrian on call, so I ended up speaking to a nurse about his symptoms and right away he started seizing. The nurse told me to call 911 immediately. Max had about a 3 to 5 minute seizure in my hubbies arms. I was in tears, scared, talking to the 911 dispatcher as she told me an ambulance was on it’s way and how to keep Max positioned. He threw up and continued to do so even in the ambulance to the hospital with my hubby. In God’s perfect timing my neighbor and her daughter came out and prayed with me and offered to stay with my kids til my mom and dad arrived. We spent 4 hours in the ER and were relieved that his tempature went down, he didn’t seize anymore and the seizure, we were told wouldn’t cause any longterm or harmful damage. God is good but He took care of our Max, and we are so thankful for His divine healing and for prayer warriors. Max is feeling a lot better, though not 100 percent.
He was diagnosed with Febrile seizures, commonly seen in children 3 mos to 6 years old that have tempatures from 102 up. I know a lot of moms read my blog but has this happened to your children or someone elses child you might know?
How was your memorial day?
My winterized version of this same LBD.

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Lauren for Mix it Mondays.

With morepiecesofme and onthedailyexpress

Whitney with Personal Style Monday.

Shea with iwouldsorockthis

Spring 2014 Family Photos




Photos courtesy of my cousin Taylor Petty.
Linking up with:
Anna with Currently Loving link up.
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Closer to Love




Outfit details: Purse: Hamilton Bag- Michael Kors (gift)// Tank top: Mossimo (Target) (yard sale find 25 cents)/?Pants: Style & Co. (yard sale find for 25 cents)//Ankle Sandalls: C. Label (Plato’s Closet)//Fedora: Virtis (Plato’s Closet).

I had several possible nonsense titles for this post, like ‘Tip of the iceberg” or “Michael Jackson” haha! But then I put in my Mat Kearney Black and White cd today and sang my heart out. I just love him…LOVE him. The song I sang was CLoser to Love, so it was only appropriate that I deem the title post after this song. If you haven’t heard of Mat Kearney or maybe heard his songs and want to check him out go here. I dream of seeing him live again, it’s been since he first began years ago, and boy has he grown in the charts and even gone to secular radio (which is good and bad in my opinion, since he started out all Christian music/label). I felt the fedora hat was very Mat Kearney-ish too.

I wore this outfit for a “me” date to the local library for a “Busy Bags” DIY make and take session. I left the library with about 8 or more made DIY educational learning crafts that I made and even implemented already with Nevaeh and Xander. With school ending in about two weeks I needed more things other than workbooks and notebooks for Nevaeh to use to continue the wheels in her brain for the summer. I shall do a busy bag post or several coming up (linking up the original Pinterest sites of course for your reference).

My hubby and I came up with a plan today to begin a more routine day for all the kids starting once Nevaeh gets out of school. His focus is on gross motor times and mine is educational/field trips/daily trips or activities. So he has left me to the “lesson planning.” I am going to feel like a full time teacher again for sure. Any wisdom or ideas? It’s hard to plan around three babies nap times but for Nevaeh in general those times will be quiet times spent in her room or in one area of the house working quietly.

Now for the honesty stuff. This past week has been a roller coaster. have had feelings of ineptness, putting myself down, stress. I was feeling like a terrible mom and wife. I guess there were little comments my husband made that made me think I should have known better or completed but I held on to those thoughts and couldn’t stop entertaining them as “I am dumb or worthless” even though I knew that wasn’t his intent. I carried some hurt (funny how we hurt our own selves sometimes) until the breaking point when one of my twins (Max) ripped my husbands Bible (well a few pages). My hubby was forgiving and knew he shouldn’t have left it at reach of the babies (Max loves to tear paper), but I couldn’t forgive myself for a bit until I spent some time with God and getting more assurance from my hubby that it was ok. I believe things are better (I know it has today) so my “me” time yesterday was much needed.

What do you do for “me” time?
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Birthday outfit




All of my outfit was from yard saling this past Saturday and you wouldn’t believe the prices:
Shirt: no boundaries (.50 freakin cents)
Cropped pants: INC $1
Heels: Style & Co. $1
Pink Bauble beaded necklace: .50
Sunnies (thrifted from Plato’s closet $3)
Purse: Michael Kors (gift)

I got a lot of steals yard saling outfits this past weekend and accessories (some of them free as you know yard salers become desperate towards closing time to give away things).

These are my first white pants(cropped actually) since middle school. I was so surprised by the fit and feminine sexiness that these pants added, and mixed together with metallic gemed heels and soft pastel pink I was in heaven. My hubby thought it was definitely a sexy look when I styled the look for him, hence it became my Birthday and church going outfit.
After wearing this outfit it made me not only think of the various ways I could style the pants, and shoes but I got to thinking of how I dress now versus next year (when I turn 30). I have been self- conscious lately that perhaps my style is too young or uncreative. This birthday look seemed to capture a 30 (well almost 30) me. It has the professional feminine 30’s look but a soft underlying still 20’s about it.
With that said I think I shall try and style my outfits here on out (at least til June) to be more professional (grown up looking and feminine, and to have more thought behind them). We will see!
what do you think?
Rachel xo
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Elizabeth & Max are 1 today!




-Photos courtesy of my cousin Taylor Petty!

Wow has time flown by! My twins are a year old today (5/16). Both are pretty healthy except for Elizabeth’s current ear infection, which results in a fever, poor thing, but I am glad they are happy and developmentally sound. I don’t know their exact weight (about 19lbs each) but they eat well, take formula and whole milk and just grow, grow, grow. I am very proud of them! I can’t wait to see what God has for them and thank God daily for my babies. I would give you more details, but I wanted to share my cousin Taylor Petty’s photos from our recent photo shoot. Aren’t these guys just the cutest?!?

I will need to post more photos from this shoot soon, so come back often to see them:)

Linking up with

Anna for Currently Loving.

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Featured Blogger Moment: Amber



Today I am thrilled to introduce to you one of my blogging/e-mailing buddies Amber. I admire this woman’s faith, fashion, love for family and job, but also because she represents how women should feel about themselves. I could tell you more but I will let her fill you in on more about herself below. She was kind enough to send me her favorite photos, answers to my questions and links to follow her if you choose to. Without further adieu meet Amber, you won’t be disappointed:

Why did you start blogging?

I have always loved girly things, namely fashion, hair and makeup. After my daughter was born, I didn’t want to lose that part of myself – but I wanted to find a way to transition into motherhood stylishly. I felt blogging would be a wonderful outlet for me but was extremely nervous to go for it. After the encouragement of my husband and family I decided to start up my blog to document my style and at the same time, I hoped to inspire other women (especially mommies) to put the best versions of themselves out there!

What has been a challenge so far as a working mom & wife?

Balance! I’m currently inspired by the acronym “JOY” which stands for Jesus, Others, You – meaning prioritizing in this order. I don’t know of any other way that works!

Describe your fashion style?

Wow, that’s a tough question! I’m very feminine and tend to love classic pieces with a few current fun trends. I prefer not to show too much skin at one time. Also, my style seems to be ever evolving so who knows how I would answer this question in the future?

To sum it up, I would probably say a combination of girly + preppy + modern retro + classy chic. (Hope that’s not too much!)

What are your passions in life currently?

Aside from spending quality time with my family, I’m really into my job as a Registered Dental Hygienist. I’m always passionate about helping people to improve their oral health. I pride myself in educating people in how to properly care for their mouth as an individual based on their needs.

In one word describe your personality?

Optimistic.

What do you hope other girls get from life?

What a great question! I hope that girls can first and foremost know that God created all of us as individuals. In our society we are not celebrated as individuals, but are pressured to conform into perfect women. I am guilty of feeling the pressure too. We need to know that because God accepts us for who we are (hello, He made us!), we should do the same.
I want girls to respect themselves, love themselves, take pride in themselves. It may be a life-long process for many of us – but it first starts within our hearts. Accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior is the only way to true peace and happiness, even in the most difficult of times, and the only way to eternal life.
It is absolutely true that beauty is only skin deep, but it is definitely OK to put your best version of yourself out for the world to see – shining and sharing Christ’s love with the world!

 

Thanks Amber for being real and such a lovely light for God. Thank you also for your time and friendship. One day I hope we meet face to face. You can visit Ambers blog here and/or follow Amber three ways:

Bloglovin

Instagram-@ambersolis

Facebook

Thanks for reading! Rachel xo

Simple to a tee

 

Outfit details: Tee: Trend Set (vintage)//Skinny Jeans: DKNY(old)//Purse: Plato’s Closet find// Scarf: unknown brand (gift)//Sandals: Charlotte Russe (old, thrifted)//Necklace: Icing (old).

I have been inspired by t-shirts in fashion lately, and didn’t like any of my tee’s till I found this vintage tee in a box in my basement along with these DKNY skinny jeans I had pre-pregnancy. God is good, I had been needing more regular jeans instead of maternity and these along with another pair of pants I found still fit me, and they are still in excellent condition. Obviously I got plenty of pictures with this outfit, but noted how drab the lighting came out, and my frizzy hair from the rain but oh well. I thought this lovely scarf dressed up this bag wonderfully, and it ties the outfit together in my opinion.

How should I style this tee next time?

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Dressed up sundress, and mothers day




Outfit details: Dress: Old Navy (old)//Cardigan: Old Navy (old, gift)//Heels: Bandolino (old)//Bracelet (gift)//Necklace & Earrings: unknown brand (yard sale find)//Purse: Michael Kors (gift). Photo courtesy of Hannah Smith and Annalise Wheeler(my sister- visit her new fashion blog here at http://911fashionexpert.wordpress.com).

I hope all you ladies enjoyed this past mother’s day weekend, and that you felt spoiled. I know I did, and more so because my Birthday is this coming Sunday so I got to celebrate with a lovely home décor star for the outside of my house and Plato’s closet gift card from my sister Rebekah. I got to spend some time with my sister Rebekah and my hubby at Plato’s closet spending that gift card on accessories I can’t wait to share about soon. I had lunch with the in-laws and a mini Birthday party for my twins (they turn a year old on Friday) with my family and then my sister Annalise and her friend Hannah watched the kids while my hubby and I went to a nice sit down Italian restaurant called Ragazzi’s to enjoy a free meal (I had a coupon). Like I said I felt spoiled.

Now about this dress, would you believe this is one of my sundresses, or dress I like to wear over my swimsuit. It is, but I wanted to make it more dressed up, so adding heels, nice jewelry and a cardi along with high end bag did the trick. My hubby disapproved though, telling me I overdid it and that perhaps next time adding a cowgirl hat and sandals would work better, since he didn’t see it as a “dress dress dress.” What do you think?

 

In lieu of mothers day I thought I would post a picture of my mom and I. Love you mom.

I was also honored to just be a mom this holiday. God is so good, and I am blessed to have my kids. Everyday is a new one, with its joys and challenges as a mom, but I thank God for His grace and forgiveness for my mistakes, but I thank Him for what I do that is right.  To my children, I love you!

I hope you enjoyed the post.

Rachel xo
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Linking up with:
Monday Bloom with dcinstyle.com

With morepiecesofme and onthedailyexpress

Whitney with Wardrobe Wednesday.

Spring/Summer Activity for Kids: Pine cone bird feeder




I have had these photos for a few months now of a simple bird feeder project using pine cones, string or ribbon, clothes hanger, peanut butter, bird feed and butter knife (and newspaper). Now I know many of you have probably seen these hanging at your child’s elementary school or maybe had your child bring one home but it’s my 5 year olds favorite out door project, this is our second year doing it. Here are some simple step-by- step instructions with photo captions:

Nevaeh with the needed items

Tie ribbon around the pine cone near an end

Attach the ribbon to a hanger. Do this for each pine cone, I did 4

Spread out a newspaper and lay the pine cones down on it.

Spread peanut butter on each pine cone and sprinkle bird feed on top.

Hang the hanger on a tree limb or post.

Watch your kids (and birds, squirrels) enjoy!

I am sure you found that easy, and it works to. The pine cones no longer have feed on them. Enjoy this project if you get around to it!
Rachel xo

Linking up with: Becky and others for Summer Activities for Kids

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