Happy Anniversary

May 3, 2017

Our sweet friends Laurie and Wayne celebrated their 20 year wedding anniversary this year on May 1st.

To enjoy this momentous occasion [i.e. party on], we and another couple (Debbie and Ray) joined them for a dining experience at

III Forks Best Prime Steakhouse

Our waiter, Brandon was very attentive and did a wonderful job as our server and also as our photographer

It was unlike our typical casual restaurant; very classy and quite an elaborate dining experience. The beef croustades appetizer was AMAZING and even more amazing was the price… free. Dinner was À la carte and sides served family style. We each ordered a different entree and enjoyed a taste of fish, rib-eye, ravioli, fried Brussels sprouts, potatoes Au gratin (with another name that I can’t remember), snow peas… and of course the blue cheese and bacon stuffed olives. Leave it to me to bring the place down a notch

At the end of the meal, Wayne and Laurie were presented with 2 slices of cake (Pecan and Chocolate) topped with lit candles.

We each enjoyed a few bites, which was over the top delicious, then left feeling completely satisfied.

It was a memorable experience and I’ll give it

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I almost forgot… Here is what I wore:

You can find my dress HERE.

And my shoes in taupe HERE.

Saturday at LOFT Outlet

April 29, 2017

I’m not sure what caused the influx of emails from LOFT, but my inbox is inundated! With all of the sales and other bloggers recently posting about this company, I knew it was only a matter of time until I made my way to the store itself. The only location I am aware of is at the St. John’s Town Center, which did not happen to be on the path of my Saturday travels. Since I didn’t intend on venturing to the town center to shop LOFT, I found the LOFT outlet on my way out Saturday.

It was the red clearance signs that caught my attention first so I headed in that direction

followed by my conspicuous camera man who doesn’t miss a moment of my shopping experience.

I picked up a pair of navy shorts that were marked down to $19.99 but then noticed the “shorts buy one, get one free” sign. The BOGO shorts were $44.99 and $36.99.

After finding a couple of different sizes I thought might work, I headed for the “Wardrobing Room”.

With several colors to choose from, I finally decided to buy these. The total cost came to $47.91 (with tax) and I thought that wasn’t too bad for a couple of well-made items. I’m sure I’ll put them to good use.

The same 4″ shorts can be found online in solid colors, but I did not see any of the same printed shorts that were in the outlet.

My camera man loves me

About Blogging

April 28, 2017

Since starting my wordpress blog on March 10th I have learned so much about setting up a blog.

I have been a follower of several fashion blogs for several years. It was J’s Everyday Fashion that hooked me. J would find a fashionable outfit, and style a look-a-like from items in her own closet. She gave me a good amount of styling info. Then I stumbled onto Grace + Beauty which led me to Jolynn Shane and others. I arrogantly expected that I could produce the same type of blog with great ease.

Not so much.

I’ve come a long way in one month (learned at lot), but have a long way to go.
That said, if I can help others have an easier time with this process, I am happy to do so.

To begin, here is what I’ve learned:
First of all, wordpress.com is BY FAR easier to manage than wordpress.org. HOWEVER, if you hope to have a blog like the ones aforementioned, you’ll need to utilize wordpress.org and first find a host (I use Blue Host), then install wordpress from that host site

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Secondly, there are SO MANY themes you can choose from if you have a self-hosted blog (wordpress.org). Choose wisely and KNOW that yours will not look the same without modifications. I have a Genesis theme that I have yet to customize to the point that it looks like the theme I purchased

If you know nothing about CSS (and such), you will need help. I have spent many hours searching YouTube for help. It can be found, but it takes time. This research time will cut into the time you may have spent writing/posting. If you have a full-time job and spend time commuting like I do, don’t be disappointed when your blog is not all that you expected in a short amount of time.
Next, your photos may seem to lose clarity when you “Add Media” into your post. In the editing stage, make sure you select “Media File”. Mine was default set to “None”. It changed many of my photos when I corrected this.

Which brings me to my “Site Icon” which is set in “Site Identity” when you customize your “Active Theme”. That was a run-on sentence, but forgive me. This is the Icon I created on the PicMonkey website

It may not mean all that much; you see this icon in the tab when you visit a website. I wanted mine to look “clean”. It took learning PicMonkey to make that happen. If you are as OCD as I am you’ll understand why this matters. I’ll be happy to answer any questions.

Now… my post with the most views is dated March 31 and was regarding what I thought to be a super-fail. Here it is:

As he walked through the kitchen in an early morning funk, LB announced sleepily “well baby, it’s the last day of fall”. I looked at him and replied, “I don’t even know what you just said.”

Well baby… its the last day of March!

Today I jumped in with my eyes closed and for the first time I posted to Jo Lynne Shane’s [famous] Fashion Friday.

I attached my 50 Shades of Red post because I thought it was a pretty good ‘over 40 fashion blog’ post for someone who doesn’t really know what she’s doing in the world of BLOG. Only I cut my head off. How sad is that? My LB exclaimed “OH NO” when I showed him. I felt like a failure.

Apparently I’m resilient.

Today I helped [at least] 2 people. One little old fella (and I say that because he did) who couldn’t figure out a problem. And one lady who just wanted someone to care, and attempt to fix her problem. And I Will fix her problem. I don’t feel like a failure.

As a side note, I looked pretty today. This is what I wore:

There’s more and I’ll continue my blogging quest and Happily help anyone who has questions.

Let me know yours

Casual Friday

April 28, 2017

TGIF and I am NOT KIDDING!

Its a beautiful day and I have spring fever. Today would have been the perfect day to play hookie. I was completely unmotivated by anything in my closet this morning. Patience was not a virtue for me as I stood in my closet with a blank stare at the sea of fabric hanging from the racks. With no desire to put an outfit together, I grabbed this yellow shirt from NY & Co and the light blue skinny jeans that I rarely wear. And voilà… casual Friday outfit

There are 452 emails (exaggeration) from LOFT in my inbox. Truth be told, I have NEVER purchased an item from LOFT. However I did tag an item from their website once and I cannot help but admire their sales persistence. Currently there is Free Shipping on $125 and 40% off when using code: OHGOODIE.

I’m looking at the website right now. This little skirt is TOO CUTE and

would look great with an Old Navy Everywhere Relaxed V-Neck tee and these little shoes Or maybe these little shorts

paired with one of the same Old Navy V-Neck Tees in slate, pine or navy. Buy them all… they are only $6. Or pair them with this Cold Shoulder top they are pictured with here

I might need that outfit.

Me and my orange obsession cannot help but LOVE this Sunflower Lace Shell

which would pair nicely with denim blue or white.

I suppose I’m going to need to visit LOFT and try some of these items out for myself. Sounds like a good shopping trip idea for Saturday!

Retail Therapy

April 27, 2017

One of my weaknesses is shopping.

This is a known fact to anyone has spent time with me (or read my blog).

Retail therapy is what some call it and rightly so. I find that it is an escape and a form of entertainment. It doesn’t always involve a purchase. Most of the time it involves filling up a shopping cart then closing the webpage. Occasionally I will find myself searching for something like a new pair of sandals in a specific color, with straps across the toes (not between) and a heel no higher than 2 ¼ inches. That is what I ENJOY!

This type of expedition may take weeks. Currently I am stalking these little sandals:

They meet all the criteria. And would look nice with this outfit…

I love planning and styling outfits. It isn’t always easy to put the whole outfit together. This is what I wore today:

I purchased this top a few years ago on a shopping spree night from Venus.com. Never worn until today. I love the top and tried styling it with white pants. It is so sheer that I could see my belt loops under the top. I didn’t like seeing my belt loops. Or my pants pockets or buttons for that matter. But wearing it with this little scuba skirt was an entirely different story. Nice and smooth.

For anyone interested… in the background is the 2015 Anniversary Edition Race Red Ford Mustang that has been part of my family since last January (2016). I drove that to work today. It matches my top.

Swimsuit Nightmares

April 26, 2017

I am one lucky lady! LB loves to give me attention, buy me pretty things, take me on vacations. He also likes to send me little “flashback” or “reminder” texts to brighten my day. Recently I received a text from him that read “only 6 weeks and 3 days till our tropical vacation”
I’m so excited!

This eventually prompted me to start thinking about my packing list:

white halter and orange shorts
red/blue striped off the shoulder and white shorts
sun dress with lace up front
sparkly flip flops
floppy straw hat
sunglasses
swim suit

Swim suit???

Yep… it’s time to break out the swim suit again.

I’ll be having nightmares for the next six weeks
You can find a lot of blog posts that attempt to provide helpful information about what type of suit is appropriate for the over 40 age group.

I have a few suggestions of my own:

Just because you are over forty, doesn’t mean you have to resort to a suit that is boring, old-fashioned, skirted or the like. Coverage is important, and more so as we age, but trying to hide imperfections with a larger than life swimsuit isn’t the best strategy. An attempt to cover everything may only draw more attention to those seeming figure flaws. Case in point, if you have large thighs, don’t try to hide them under a swim skirt. You may inadvertently appear to be wearing your tent to a camp-out. Opt for a one piece with a higher cut.

This swimsuit has a higher cut, but it also has a lot going on. Very cute. Proceed with caution.

If you have tummy trouble, a high-waisted bikini bottom may only accentuate the tummy you are trying to disguise. A one-piece with stripes that point downward help slim your figure while providing coverage.

On the other hand, I have talked about The Power of the Peplum in the past for tummy disguise, try something like this

Or we can cover all the bases at once and opt for A Miracle Suit!

Use code “MIDDLE” for a surprise discount.

Have fun shopping!

Monday Monday

April 24, 2017

Bah-da bah-da-da-da

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
A-you can find me cryin´ all of the time

(Thank you to The Mamas & the Papas)

It’s hard to explain why I have such a hard time appreciating Monday.

I’m not even going there.

Take 2

It’s a new week and I am blessed! I woke up this morning. I am healthy. And loved. I have a job. Which brings me to what I like to talk about… what I wore to work today.

This is pretty cut and dry, but if you are like me and always searching for outfit ideas, here is another one to add to the list. Today I am wearing a red sleeveless blouse. I simply cannot remember where I found this blouse. It may have been Forever21, but I’m not sure.

Dementia.

It has been a bit chilly in the office, so I took along a black cardigan along to keep me warm.

I’ve mentioned this scuba skirt before… or maybe the white one that is just like it. Actually I have a fuchsia scuba skirt, too. They all came from Forever21 and are no longer available, which is too bad. I love them all and pair them with different blouses all the time.

My Brighton tote is a favorite

If you’re shopping for similar items, you can find these basics anywhere clothing is sold as you can see in the following examples…

Looking for a Red Blouse? Check out these suggestions here, here, and here//similar black skirt//similar Brighton tote or maybe this Brighton tote // black sandals (similar, similar).

Shopping is a great pleasure and also therapy… particularly on a Monday evening after a grueling day at work.

YES… I survived another Monday

…but just barely

Take 2

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