Friday Favorites Workplace Edition

August 3, 2018

I haven’t had the energy or the creativity to post this week because we have been under an overtime mandate at work due to excessive call volume. Happily, one of our production agents sits in a cubicle on the other side of mine and I get to listen to her all day long.

It’s Mary Ann

and she hopes “to ensure to provide you an excellent customer experience” if she happens to take your call.

With very clear and precise annunciation, Mary Ann adds cheerfulness to her calls and provides a bit of entertainment to those of us nearby.

This morning I heard her exclaim to a customer:

“I’m great, IT’S FRIDAY! Who could not be great on a Friday?”

She is an exceptional agent and at times will say things that make me drop my jaw, but given the subject matter, that is understandable.

She will not hesitate to declare her competence by informing her customer that she has “been with the company for eleven years”.

Of course there is no one who can better help the customer because [as she puts it] “we are the last… call center left in the United States”

Mary Ann will even provide her customers with her contact email sweetly advising “if you don’t use it, it’s your own fault”… “Darlin’.”

Today she is my

Favorite # ONE

She brightened my day today!

For my Friday favorites I have decided to make proverbial lemonade out of our workplace lemons and accentuate the positive!

Here goes:

Favorite # TWO

Dunkin’ Donuts

from Derek.

The new guy on the block decided to treat the team this morning.

What a nice gesture!

According to MyFitnessPal this Boston Kreme Donut contains 445 calories and 67 grams of carbs.I don’t want to talk about it.

Favorite # THREE

As I mentioned in this post Wendy has lost a lot of weight.

Today marked

A Pivotal Moment

as she walked into the office wearing a dress.

For the first time since 2002, Wendy donned a dress and ventured into the great outdoors… or at least to work.

Her dress is very cute and at $17.99 what a great deal!

AELSON Womens Summer Casual Sleeveless Mini Printed Vest Dresses

Favorite # FOUR

Wendy’s Electric Kettle

I use Wendy’s kettle most mornings to brew several (4) cups of green tea.

Green tea is loaded with antioxidants and nutrients that have powerful effects on the body. These include improved brain function, fat loss, a lower risk of cancer and many other impressive benefits (source).

It keeps me out of the junk food!

Thanks Wendy!

Favorite # FIVE

Currently the company is encouraging that we participate in supporting

I couldn’t agree more!

Click on the picture to access the website for more information!

It is a precious story!

In addition to what I have mentioned, there are other workplace positives:

The BENEFITS. I won’t divulge the name of the company I work for, but I can’t complain about the benefits.
The OPPORTUNITY to be part of a specialty team working Presidential Escalations and hard to resolve cases.
The BLESSING that several of my college courses have been paid in full. And they haven’t seen the last of me.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

thredUP Thursday

June 28, 2018

The first blog I followed was

J’s Everyday Fashion

Recently in her post “My Office Style Secret” I read that she prefers to purchase office attire secondhand. In this post about office attire, J explains that shopping secondhand is cheaper and good for the environment.

The item she shared in this post was a Cynthia Rowley floral pencil skirt c/o thredUP.

It set her back a mere $14 and I was impressed.

Since I like to try something new every now and then, I decided to check out thredUP.

thredUP

is an online consignment and thrift store.

I logged on, created a profile, and answered a few style and size questions.

A few days later a

Goody Box Just For You (me)

was on the way!

Today I received an email:

Hooray, your Goody Box℠ has arrived!

In that Goody Box was a custom mix of 15 items, handpicked by my stylist:

Club Monaco Shorts, alice + olivia Khaki Shorts, Lilly Pulitzer Casual Skirt, Paige Jeans, Lilly Pulitzer Tank Top, French Connection Sleeveless Silk Top, DL1961 Jeans, Paige Denim Shorts, Banana Republic 3/4 Sleeve Blouse, Banana Republic 3/4 Sleeve Blouse, Juicy Couture 3/4 Sleeve Silk Top, Kate Spade New York Casual Skirt, Broome Street Kate Spade New York Long Sleeve Top, True Religion Jeans, and a New York & Company Denim Jacket (similar).

When I retrieved it from my front door, I took it into the house and opened the box. I then proceeded to try on all 15 items starting with this

Juicy Couture Silk Top.This was my favorite top in the collection. I thought it was cute, comfortable, and one of my favorite apparel colors: black. It is difficult to see the detail from this photo, but it is very feminine and I’m close to talking myself into keeping it.

My next favorite was this

Banana Republic pink 3/4 sleeve top

I tried it on with these Paige denim shorts which LB liked, but I didn’t like them enough to invest $32.

Then things took a downward turn.

Although I love Kate Spade, this top did nothing for me.

Broome Street Kate Spade long sleeve top

And when paired with this

Kate Spade New York casual black skirt…I began to shed tears.

The outcome was not much better when paired with these

black alice + olivia Khaki Shorts

I tried on everything and was not compelled to keep any of the clothes.

In my welcome letter, I was advised:

“Items you’re not keeping need to be postmarked by Tuesday, July 03 to avoid additional charges. If you keep over $100 in item value (excluding taxes), you will receive a $10 shopping credit for a future Goody Box℠ or thredUP purchase. Shopping credit is good for 1 year and excludes future Goody Box℠ deposit fees.”

Today Everything Went Back

…with the exception of the denim jacket.

What do I think about thredup?

Like any thrift/consignment shop, there will be a search involved for items that appear to be not very used.

In my Goody Box℠ of 15 items, I chose 1 item…A denim jacket from New York & Company.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

April 13, 2018

Friday Favorites

Me and my homies from work doin’ the Friday Freedom Happy Dance!You know who you are!

Favorite # ONE

My daily lunchbox note from LB

Isn’t he the sweetest?

He knows just what I need!

Favorite # TWO

New Blouses

Two of them!

Last week I wore my new pants from LOFT with a blouse from LOFT that just didn’t quite work.

So I searched for a pink peplum blouse and found two that I thought might work.

A Ruffle Sleeve V-Neck Smocked Elastic Empire Waist Peplum Blouse Top

And a Sleeveless Skater Peplum Summer Top

Hopefully one of these blouses will look good with my new floral pants

Or I won’t wear them any more.

Favorite # THREE

Beautifully Divine DIY Woodcraft Studio & Custom Gift boutique

They put the ART in pARTy!

Last Christmas my son and daughter-in-law gave me [and Mama] the gift of a DIY workshop to share

at the

Beautifully Divine Studio.

We were finally able to coordinate our schedules and make an appointment to partake in this wood crafting together time. Mama chose the “God Bless Our Home” sign. Mine says Home Sweet Home referencing the state of Florida. We enjoyed the experience so much, as we were leaving, Mama was talking about plans to go back soon and include “all the girls”.

Favorite # FOUR

Home Sweet Home

The sign that I made at Beautifully Divine DIY Woodcraft Studio & Custom Gift boutique

not bad for an amateur, huh?

Mama is a crafter and enjoys creating projects like the one in this post. I knew that her sign would turn out to be perfect, but I was surprised that mine turned out to be so nice!

Favorite # FIVE

Making memories with Mama

Isn’t she cute!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Fave Spring Color

April 10, 2018

Once again, I have The Blended Blog to thank as they have provided me with a subject for my little blog.

Wednesdays on TBB will be style perspectives from various ladies that contribute to that site. For the next several weeks, the topics that will be covered are listed below:

Obviously today’s discussion is all about:

Fave Spring Color

If you assume that I am typical, you may guess that I have chosen a soft and delicate springtime pastel. Or, if you know me very well, you may guess that I have chosen black.

Neither is the case.

For spring 2018 I am stepping out of the box. I have selected a color of which I have very little in my closet collection.

It is audacious.

It is fresh.

It is…

[drum-roll here]

MEADOWLARK!

More simply put… Yellow.

It is What’s Happening

The swatch above is directly from the Pantone site and you can see all of the spring 2018 color palate by clicking here.

Pantone describes Meadowlark as bold and lively, a confident and outgoing bright yellow shade that highlights the spring 2018 season, glistening with joy and illuminating the world around us (source).

Although I have merely 3 items in my closet that compare to this color…

it is my favorite for this season and I intend on procuring other items in yellow before I sashay into summer.

Here are some of the options that I am considering from LOFT:

I’ve been shopping at venus.com for a long time. Here are a couple of cute yellow options from Venus:

Happy Shopping!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

No affiliate links have been used throughout this blog post; neither will clicking on links result in compensation for the blog author. That’s just the way it is.

It Has Been One Year

March 10, 2018

March 10, 2018 marks one year since I began this blog.

Today is my

FIRST

BLOGIVERSARY!

With no idea how to begin, I presumed if other bloggers I’ve followed can do this, so can I. My intention was to ease my way into fashion blogging because that’s what I like, so I registered with WordPress and came up with a name for my blog.

The title “Pretty is” came to me from a quote my Mama enjoyed repeating:

“Pretty is as Pretty does”

And apparently she heard it often from her mother.

Prettyis.me

was registered because pretty is dot net and pretty is dot com were already taken.

Also it sounds cute.

My first post was short and sweet and included nothing about women’s fashion.

It was a Friday, and I took the day off to keep my GlamBaby Lydia. She was 20 months old at the time. You can see that post by clicking here.

Ironically, I spent the day with her today, as well…happily pushing a Little Tikes car.

After beginning my blog, and as the weeks passed, I realized that fashion blogging isn’t as easy as it looks.

Although I enjoy reading fashion blogs, I spend a good deal of my time working an office job and commuting to and from that office [which happens to be located in another city and makes for a lot of travel time].

Rather than posts about fashion, I found that I was posting more and more about what I do and the people in my life, which is okay.

That said, today is a special day for another reason.

In Buffalo New York, on March 10, 1925, Bettelou Ellen McCarty was born.

Much later she met George S. Duckworth and she loved him.

And so she would become Bette Duckworth

My Mema

a.k.a. Mema Duck

Today we spent the day at my Mama’s house and I enjoyed taking some time going through her old pictures.

Mema left us on January 14, 2010That is another sweet face that I look forward to seeing again.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Kim

Friday Favorites

February 16, 2018

Friday is

My Favorite Day of the Week

because I get to stay up late and I DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO WORK THE NEXT DAY!

(Breathe)

And everyone who knows me, knows this!

Friday is also the day that I regularly share my favorites.

So here goes…

Favorite # ONE

Laughing at Wendy

She keeps me entertained.

This week my friend Wendy kept me afloat with her unintentional humor.

Among other things, one day she did a poor job of mixing her coffee.

After she took a sip, this is what I saw…

I SO needed that laugh!

She was mortified when I told her about Napoleon Dynamite, but I was in no way insinuating that she looks like him. I was merely suggesting that her reaction made me remember this scene.

Favorite # TWO

Pants from LOFT

Recently I ordered a pair of pants from Loft. At the time I didn’t realize that along with different pants styles there are also different pants “FITS”. For LOFT there is the Julie Fit and the Marisa Fit. The Julie Fit is a curvier fit which means it is smaller at the waist and rounder at the hips. The Marisa Fit is a slightly straighter cut from waist to hip. My order included Slim pants in Julie fit (in Vivid Red). They were on sale for $23.99 and I couldn’t say no to that price. When they arrived I tried them on and found that my normal size 4 was not so normal. Thinking everything runs large at LOFT, my first inclination was to exchange them for a size 2. Being a sale item, there was no size 2, so I returned them.

Since then I learned that there is the Marisa fit and I’ve found another pair of red pants on sale.

Skinny cuffed pants in Marisa fit (in Lava Red) on sale for $24.30. I’m not sure if it is the Marisa fit or the Skinny style, but these size 4 pants are perfect!

I love the way they fit!

Favorite # THREE

My Rockabilly Prom dress

from Amazon $32.99

Favorite # FOUR

For quite a while now it has been all about Halo Top.

Move over Halo Top… there’s a new kid in town!

Breyers Delights

Indulge without the guilt!

Favorite # FIVE

This one goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway…

RORY

She came home from the hospital today, and Glammy got to hold her.

She is BEAUTIFUL

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog!

Kim

Disney Bound

November 16, 2017

About a year ago I read a blog post about:

What to Wear to Disney World

The post began with a lesson on proper amusement park footwear. Next was provided advice on what type of bag/backpack to carry. The same post went on to include various summertime outfits that were very cute. It was very informative and well written.

This week we experienced Magic Kingdom Monday in my family; I couldn’t help but remember the “What to Wear to Disney World” post. However, when it comes to planning what to wear when visiting the Amusement Park, no one has it figured out like my sister and her family.Gina recently introduced me the the concept of

Disneybounding

For anyone who isn’t familiar with that concept, Disneybounding is a subdued, yet fashion-forward way for Disney fans to express their enthusiasm.

Although you likely had not considered this, there are rules and regulations that must be followed in order to obtain admission to the park. Besides having a ticket, you must not disregard Disney’s prohibited activities. One of these prohibited activities is dressing in costume; i.e. “engaging with other guests or impeding the operation while posing as or portraying any character in costume” (source) unless you’re under the age of 14. Because fans aren’t permitted to dress up as these much loved characters, a sub-culture of fashion has arisen. Instead of wearing costumes, Disneybounders dress in everyday outfits that are inspired by any particular Disney character within the Disney universe.

Here are some fun examples:

Stuart inspired by Aladdin posing with Minnie Mouse.

Here Levi strikes a fierce pose as little Mickey Mouse.

Sydney and Dillon are Minnie and Mickey inspired.

Sydney channeling a gloomy Eeyore.

And on another occasion a lovely Disney Princess.

Here Stuart is inspired by a character I couldn’t place. When I asked Gina, she told me to “guess”.

I think Stuart’s inspiration may have come from GOOFY, but my apologies if I’m wrong!

Stuart has always been creative, but I believe my favorite creative character re-creation came from Hei Hei.

Good job Stu!

The baby girls in the family are little princesses and both Lydia and Thea dressed as Belle on our recent trip to the Magic Kingdom.It appears that Levi is impressed.

In addition to Disneybounding, there is another Disney fashion trend that is timeless.

The donning of the

Mouse Ears

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This season produced a particular favorite: the coveted rose gold sequined Minnie Mouse ears.

I considered several possibilities for a part in the Disneybounding experience on our recent trip, but I’m not as flamboyant as I would like to be, and opted for a simple tee shirt.

That’s Me!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Kim