We Got Coco!!

We got clearance to finalize Coco's adoption, November 19th.  National Adoption Day. 


Generous gratitude for your pleadings, prayers, and petitions.

Chic Cinema: Pillow Talk

Doris Day had the voice, the figure, and the wardrobe.  Now you can sparkle opposite your own Rock Hudson with a modern day version of her dressings.

This post is dedicated to Missus Becky, with honored adoration.  "Your darling Doris inspired lookbook is also on it's cheerful way, but I thought you'd enjoy this in the meantime."

Day Dresses by Tahari by Arthur S. Levine
Satchels by Ivanka Trump

Pumps by Topshop
Hats by Topshop

Day Dresses by AK Anne Klein
Pumps by rsvp

Day Dresses by Calvin Klein

Day Dresses by AK Anne Klein
Pumps by rsvp

Coats by Anthropologie

Hats by Merona

This movie flickered during mine and Mister's first date. What did you and yours do on your first date?

Let Cardigan Empire fashion you from films.  Freshen up with a complete Fashion Package: combining a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session

Hello There! House Comp Ticket Winner

Source: style-files.com via Amy on Pinterest

Liz, your backyard and closet just won a Fairy Godmother.  E-mail me ASAP and we will get you your ticket.


Congratulations!!

Giveaway Emergency: Hello There! House Conference - CLOSED

Following is a compendiary four pronged case justifying your attendance at the
Hello There! House Home & Garden Event
this Friday and Saturday

1. You will learn how to do deftly DIY your entire domicile from the musty armchair that needs a new skin to the corner bleeding beige walls in your office
2. In my Charming Closets breakout on Saturday, I'll guide you through the five steps of closet catharsis and instruct you on how to display your clothes rather than store them
3. I'll be giving away a Cardigan Empire closet cleaning to one lucky class attendee
4. You deserve a pretty break, and your boss/spouse/children/home will appreciate you more following your self investment inspired absence.
5. I have an unclaimed complimentary ticket that I'm giving away on this very post.  To win tell me what you want to learn at the conference, and give me your digital word that you will come, because I am going to cry ugly tears if my guest pass goes to waste

I'll announce the winner today at 5 pm.

For every potential DIY jedi that doesn't win, register at my discount price.  Rather than $250, I'll get you in for $100.

Chic Cinema: Roman Holiday

Joe Bradley: "You should always wear my clothes."

Princess Ann: "It seems I do."

Upon donning the Teacher's Pet Skirt from Shabby Apple, my mind couldn't help but flit between gelato in the piazzas, walls of truth, and scarf wrapped Roman Holiday's.

sponsored by

The skirt does size generously, so I ordered down with success.  My favorite features include the high waist (are you listening hourglass and lower figures?), the midi hem line which extends far enough to allow vespa mounting, and the crisp pattern which costars perfectly with rich hues and refined textures.

Now here's what I need to finish the look off:

Button Front Tops by LOFT

What cinematic costume design would you like to carry off?

Let Cardigan Empire fashion you from films.  Freshen up with a complete Fashion Package: combining a theoretical look book & a practical virtual shopping session

Beauty-Full Tuesday: Alicia of Darling Duckie

I first exchanged acquaintance with Alicia of Darling Duckie when I wrote an essay for their We are Women book, and I could write a book about all her great qualities: well spoken, honest, tender  and of course intelligent, capable, important, talented, and unique.  

Every night, after prayers and kisses goodnight, even after my husband has fallen asleep, I pull out my secret, little notebook and every so quietly work on my list. It’s a list of compliments that I give to myself. “Quite conceited and a tinge silly, my dear,” you may be thinking. But it is neither. I suffer from what we call low self-esteem. A few weeks ago I reached a low and felt it was time to take action. That notebook was born as a way to point out (to myself) what I do well and what I admire about myself. At the end of each entry I write the same thing: I am beautiful. I am intelligent. I am capable. I am important. I am talented. I am unique. Writing it out, I remind myself of what I once knew but have so easily forgotten.

I wouldn’t say that I have ever been particularly confident in myself; but this “low self-esteem” business didn’t start to be quite so consuming until about a month before our daughter was born. (Before I go on, I just have to say that I love my daughter and I would choose all of the crazy emotions and life changes any day because it means having her.) That is when those fateful stretch marks began wreaking havoc on this poor, unsuspecting belly of mine. And there was nothing I could do about it. After she was born, things continued to go downhill: a squishy middle that my shirts no longer covered or flattered, hips that had widened, and a chest that was much bigger than anything I had ever dealt with.

Strange to say it, but I began feeling ashamed of how I looked. When I was with my sisters with their flat, well-proportioned figures, or with friends who had four children and looked better than I did even before my pregnancy, I literally wanted to hide behind the couch so no one could see what had become of me. It was absurd and dramatic, but it was the unfortunate truth.

It was like a vine, taking hold of every part of me, growing and covering the different parts of my life. My confidence was so thickly covered by that vine that I could no longer see it. In fact, I wondered if it actually even existed. And it affected so much more than just how I felt physically. It began to nibble at my relationships and my marriage as I let the frustration expand. As I compared myself physically to everyone around me, I let my personality and talents jump into the equation. I no longer saw the good that was in me but I saw everything I was not: I was not skinny or smooth. I was not as good a writer as that person. I was not as outgoing or confident as those other people. I was not. I was not. I was not.

And I felt that I was the only one dealing with this chaos. It seemed that everyone around me had somehow gotten through childbearing without so much as a single stretch mark. Or others who had “once been self-conscious about their looks” had come to love those things that society told them were defects. I was the only one left in the neighborhood, in the blogging community, in the ENTIRE WORLD who was struggling to come to terms with these things.

The truth is, each of us struggles or has struggled in one way or another. Some of us have to speak about it to sort it out and deal with it, while others deal with it in the comfort of solitude. But we each must take the required journey to learn to love ourselves. And comparing? Comparing is useless. With so many different stories and experiences that shape our bodies and our hearts, how can we compare?

Will there ever be an end to this journey of learning to accept my body? Maybe. But probably not. Because my body is always changing. There will be pregnancies, health ups and health downs, aging, times when those cookies just need to be eaten and times when they won’t. My body will change in every new stage of life, and so this process of acceptance will have to be present too.

I know what makes me feel more confident: being active, eating healthy, getting myself ready in the morning, dressing in clothing that flatters, smiling at and serving those I come in contact with, and developing those interests and talents that I have come to love. But even doing those things, there is still that moment when I see that girl who just had a baby and looks fantastic. My stomach drops and that little voice in my head is telling me once again to hide or be humiliated.

But I refuse. Because…

I AM BEAUTIFUL. I AM INTELLIGENT. I AM CAPABLE. I AM IMPORTANT. I AM TALENTED. I AM UNIQUE.

I may have to remind myself of this every day. But the more I do, the more I believe it.

MyMemories Suite Giveaway Winner

Pretty and easy aren't always a complementary team of descriptors, but when it comes to the MyMemories Suite Package, it couldn't be more flattering.

And Lady Emily is going to have pretty memories of her wedding, easy remembrances of her progenitor's wedding, and pretty easy recollections of her ridiculously adorable daughter's ...bfirst day of school...or some other age appropriate event, because she won the MyMemories Suite giveaway.

Here's my sum of 5 minutes + cell phone dump +  MyMemories Suite 2.0.

Untitled from Reachel Bagley on Vimeo.

The layout became reachelandrew ready in less than a handful of clicks,  and it's so snappy that Grandma is going to be getting a much more regular supply of her personal addiction.  

You can feed your gram gram's addictions too, get $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 total value)

CE Promo Code: STMMMS14508