Halloween Reveal: I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here

Annie & Sandy

Daddy Warbucks

Rooster

Miss Hannigan

Bathtub Gin

Leapin' Lizards

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Halloween Mystery Preview

Can you guess who we're going to be?

levi's | reachel's (vintage robe &  necklace) | andrew's (vintage fedora & tie) | coco's

10 Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

A Human Blueberry, A Follicly Abundant Female, A Pig Nosed Dreamer.  The flame of my jack-o-lantern heart glows for Halloween, but some years the portent of the holiday darts into peripheral priorities and that sneaky celebration arrives without warning.  Erego a collection of relatively simple ideas for your upcoming spooktacular.

Grayscale or Black & White Movie

Paper Doll

Baby Sushi

Little Gnome

cloud

bird

pop art

octopus

the birds

french burglars

more ideas here

And tomorrow Coco & Levi's costumes revealed

So what are you going to be for Halloween?

Beauty-Full Tuesday: Any 2nd Now

Passion is beautiful.  Different is beautiful. Cyrillynn of Any Second Now is beautiful. 

When I see beauty there's no doubt

I’m one of the devout…

“Sacred” 

Depeche Mode

Before kindergarten, I know that my mom fancied me to be somewhat of a "doll".  She dressed me up in frilly dresses and I remember seeing pictures of myself in cute little stylish outfits with coordinating purses and shoes.  I don’t remember those times, but it looked like it was fun. 

Somewhere along the way in elementary school, I think I lost the meaning of "beauty".  I was suddenly aware my appearance because someone said to me, "Wow, you have a big nose and huge lips!"  I felt too skinny, that my facial features were imperfect, and I felt awkward for my body. 

When I left elementary school, I discovered the importance and beauty of music.  I had taken piano lessons for much of my childhood, but began to appreciate sounds, melodies, notes, lyrics and harmonies.  I was a teen in the 80’s so I had found what I had been missing, which was a voice for all of my innermost thoughts and all my intimate details.  

After I found muse, it was then I started to carve my own path.  I stopped worrying about what people thought or said and I wanted to make a statement.  I decided all the “flaws" that people had picked apart in my childhood were what made me unique.  I started to meet people who found beauty in the same things that I did.

As I approached my twenties and thirties, I felt more beautiful than I had ever felt before.  I took pride in what I had and appreciated the beauty of the total person I was and had become.  Not only had I discovered early on that music was important, I had also discovered another outlet, which was fashion.  I could express myself and be different.  In fashion, it was what was expected.

Although my father’s passing in my mid-thirties left an empty space, I realize that it is a part of life.  My father had always taught me to appreciate everything, so as I enter my forties, I still find beauty in fashion and music, but also in art, places, friends, and family.  It was when I had accepted myself totally that someone else could see what I’ve always felt inside.  I married him, and now we have a beautiful son, and we are teaching him to love all that life has to offer.

I feel beautiful because I accept myself for everything that I am, and celebrate it in the things that I find beautiful.

Fitting Room Friday: How to Dress a Tweenager

Today's Fitting Room Candidate is clever, outdoor oriented, an animal advocate, and ten years old.

Meet Marli

Her doting parents adopted her at 18 months, and suddenly she's a stunning, sweet tweenager, with a sharply independent sense of style.

Her eyes narrow at the sight of skirts, dresses, leggings, and tights.  Stripes, dots, and even buttons irritate her fancies.  In short she's a juvenile minimalist.  An ensemble has been prepared precisely per her predilection.  

But first a petite canon of tween trousseau trusims.

Girls' Shoes by Western Chief

Girls' Tees by Gap

Girls' Tees by Crazy 8

Don't baby their fashion.

As their squishies begin to straighten, they're graphics should follow suit.  Instead of ridiculously round, chubby conceptions, opt for something leaning a few more inches toward realistic.  Don't throw whimsy out the window, but perhaps favor graphic over fussy.  Cute isn't off the menu, just apply it in small doses, like vanilla extract.  Rather than a whole dress of sparkly hearts, perhaps just an headband. Color is also important.  Also, soft, cuddley pastels need to fade in favor of a brighter, more saturated self-sufficiency.

And this is pure, unsubstantiated Reachel Bagley doctrine, but allow them to design their princess/rock star/future fabulista ensemble rather than shrouding them in a mass-marketed screen print.  Let them be the star of the outfit rather than the billboard.

Girls' Dresses by Gap

Infant Girls' Dresses at Nordstrom

Girls' Dresses by J.Crew

Kids' Watches & Jewelry by Children's Place

Don't Pimp a Prostitot*

They may have turned their shy lashes on a few lucky boys, but they're still just little girls.  Let them enjoy sweet rather sexy for a few more simple years of youth.  And I'd say more, but this guy already said it better. (*I admittedly pinched this headline from him.)

Girls' Skirts & Skorts by Boden

Girls' Skirts & Skorts by Hurley

Erego Miss Marli, this outfit is dedicated to you.  It includes no stripes or overly bright colors.  It admits only a tiny touch of animal whimsy and a discrete pattern on the socks. You are beautiful, wonderful, and special, and I hope I have a tween just like you someday.

Girls' Outerwear by The North Face

In the meantime, book a Virtual shopping session for you, for your progeny, for your next family frolic.  I was born to fashion childhood and the supporters of it.

I Will Reclaim My Brain

I've been pining for an excuse to use this picture for months.
Today is the day for cats playing tennis.

I was ready to mold my figure with maternity.  I was ready to acquiesce my time and energy to my progeny.  I was not ready to resign my intellect to motherhood.  


I do not embrace my fecund-ally linked stupidity.  


My scholarly, academic google research uncovered thousands of articles on how to flatten my abs post pregnancy; balance a family on one hip, career on the other; but where is the balm for baby brain?




When I poise my fingertips to write-I have beef stew for brains.  When I part my lips to speak, I require constant access to a search engine, using the Internet as an external brain drive to compensate for unexpected noun loss.    


Pretty soon my babies are going to need more from me than the ability to remember the entire alphabet.  They may want me to teach them how to string letters together.  Counting above ten may be required.


I want to remember the names of the medications I'm taking.  I want to navigate back to my parked car.


Consequently, I am going to bootcamp my brain.  The neural connections that were separated during pregnancy are going to be fused back together with the mere tenacity of my will if necessary.  

I plan to play games like kitten tennis on lumosity once a day through the end of the year.  I'll let you know if it works.

  
Has this happen to anyone else?  Am I the only one who lost their ability to form complete sentences post pregnancy?

What did you do to recover your intelligence?

In the meantime, I can still pick out a smart outfit.

Cropped Pants by J.Crew
Pumps by Joan & David