Shoes to Shiraz | R Squared | Two Teens and Their Mama | Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy | A Lovely Little Wardrobe | Mishaps and Mayhem of Solitary Life | Puppies and Pretties | Daily Style Finds | Making the Most of Everyday | She Thought She Could | Foxy’s Domestic Side | Quilty Joy Joy | Curls and Cardigans | Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After | My Running Stitches | From Plaid to Pearls | Stashed Blog | X-tremely V | A Little Bit of Cheer | Nick and Nik |
Hey Fashionistas/os,
It is time for another installment of the Style Me Bloggers Link-up series featuring outfits from our second week of participation in Alison Lumbatis’s Style Me Pretty Challenge, Spring 2015.
I was out of town most of last week and through the weekend so didn’t wear the challenge OOTDs faithfully or exactly. But that is the beauty of these challenges…we can take the suggestions Alison provides and make the outfits our own. This spring challenge class of 2015 seems especially adept at translating the basic pieces from Alison’s shopping list into their own distinctive looks.
Let me preface my fashion spread by saying I mixed up my days (no big surprise there, huh?) so I wore Day 2 on Day 4, etc. That being said, here’s what I came up with for the week.
Ingredients for Outfit 2: Cardigan + Striped Dress + Hoop Earrings + Long Necklace + Wedges
I wore this outfit to the Texas Library Conference on Wednesday, Day 3, so not THAT off track. Apparently on Day 2, I went naked.
My sister and I have attended the Texas Library Association annual conference together for several years. Always such fun. We attend the conference sessions during the day and scrapbook back at our hotel in the evenings. This year, Brennyn and Cady came down to spend Wednesday night with us while we were in Austin. We posed for a pic in our stripes outside our Super 8 hotel room. Good times.
- My dress is from Old Navy. I got it for $15! Can’t beat that with a stick. Check it out here. The fabric is fairly thick and forgiving, and taken right out of the dryer (or off the drying rack), it doesn’t have to be ironed.
- My blazer is [old] Merona from Target. Similar here. Similar but striped here.
- Patriotic scarf from Dollar Tree. Ha! Similar here but two and a half times the price.
- White tennies from Kohl’s.
That night after the conference, we four gals ate dinner then went “bar hopping” in downtown Austin. No alcohol involved. Just slipped into a couple of little dives where live music was being played. Cady and I would dance to one song and then I would give her a $1 to put in the musicians’ tip jars.
Here we are with the Jail Birds, who were also dressed in the OOTD:
Ingredients for Day 3: Cardigan + Black Tank + Printed Scarf + White Jeans + Hoop Earrings + Wedges
Ingredients for Day 4: Chambray + White Tank + Dark Wash Jeans + Hoop Earrings + Bright Flats
I just seemed to disregard Days 3 and 4.
I had packed all of the items I needed to recreate those outfits but didn’t wear any of them while I was at the conference. So basically, my black and white tank tops just went along for a vacation.
But I did do Day 5.
Of course, I didn’t wear it on Friday, the fifth day. I wore it on Thursday, the 4th day. You might ask, how did I know what to wear a day ahead of time? I’m just good like that. Call it intuition. Tremendous foresight.
Or you could attribute it to the fact that Alison is releasing the outfits a week at a time just so we CAN switch them around or plan what to pack for out of town travel.
Are you still there?
Welcome to my confused world.
This is the kind of stuff that goes on in my brain all day.
All of this mixed-up thinking.
Where was I? Oh, Day 5 on Day 4.
Ingredients for Day 5: Bright Jacket + Printed Top + Dark Wash Jeans + Hoop Earrings + Wedges
Interesting. My dark wash jeans are really dark white jeans. Must have misread that.
- Dark white jeans are [old] Loft curvy straight. Similar here.
- Orange and white print top is from [old] Loft Outlet. It is pretty sheer (ooo, la la) so I wore a white cami underneath. Similar here.
- Aqua denim jacket [old] from yard sale. Ok, before you make a face or say GROSS… it belonged to someone I know. A teacher-friend, Kelly. We had a joint yard sale to raise money for another teacher-friend’s sister who was critically ill with cancer. I bought the jacket from Kelly before it was even laid out on the driveway for the yard sale. Similar here. And here.
- Kitty watch from Charming Charlie’s via my daughter Lauren at Curls and Cardigans. They are on clearance now and also have bunnies and monkeys and ladybugs (oh, my!).
- Target leopard flats [old]. Exact here. Similar here.
Here is my sister Valerie, who was waaaaay off the mark for the challenge in her palazzo pants and bright top.
She looked great, however. Love that bright color on her.
See?
But just a few hours later, my sister took a spill when her sandal got caught in her pant leg and she fell flat. Straight down onto the sidewalk at the feet of two very helpful Austin bicycle police officers.
Then she looked like this:
Poor baby sister, Wowsie Ann. Brennyn (a neonatal nurse) and Cady (a precious, doll baby) were with us when Val fell. All things considered, Valerie was very calm. Brennyn helped us clean Valerie up. There was blood pretty well all over her face, and splattered everywhere else. (My dark white pants took on a very colorful, new look) The police officers asked about calling EMS but Valerie thought she was ok, and thanks to God, she was, considering what might have been. No missing teeth, no concussion, no real gashes or cuts.
I ran to a like mini-mart down the street for wipes, peroxide and all kinds of over the counter pain meds. I call everything Tylenol, so all kinds of Tylenols. I knew some of the over the counter stuff with aspirin in it can increase bleeding, and because I can’t remember which ones have aspirin, I bought four different kinds of Tylenols…Advil, Motrin, Aleve, and Tylenol Tylenol. (That isn’t a typo)
Val ran – well walked, very carefully – to another store to buy scissors so we could cut off the ends of her very long palazzo pants. She was such a trooper that she didn’t even want to walk back to the hotel to change clothes. We poured peroxide on her clothes and mine, wiped off her face and headed to the library convention.
Cady collected the ends of Valerie’s palazzo pants, tied them together and used them as a head band to create her own fashion statement. And kind of Cinderella-before-the-ball look. The cinder-maid, if you will.
She can tend my fire any day.
But within a few hours, Valerie looked like this:
We consulted Brennyn (who had returned home earlier on Thursday afternoon) and Lauren (medical librarian) and her husband Francisco (anesthesiologist). They all thought maybe Valerie needed to be seen by someone to check for broken bones. We decided to head for home early Friday morning.
Here’s how we looked that morning before jumping in the car.
My participation in the challenge outfits fell off on Friday. Kinda. I did wear a challenge outfit on Saturday but at this point I am so mixed up, I am not sure what OOTD I had on. Here’s the pic. Call it whatever day you like, just not Day 2 because I was definitely not clothed that day.
Let’s call this…a rerun of Day 5. This time with dark wash jeans rather than dark white jeans.
- Nordstrom’s Wit and Wisdom stretch ankle jeans in DARK WASH. Exact here.
- Print blouse from Loft. Similar here.
- Loft fireball red cardigan. Loft Outlet has many similar cardigans on sale in the store.
- Nude pumps from DSW.
I went to the pool on Day 7, Sunday, with Lauren, before flying home to PC. I opted to save the Day 7 OOTD for later. Maybe a date?
Ingredients for Day 6: Cardigan + Gray Tee + White Jeans + Long Necklace + Sandals
Ingredients for Day 7: Chambray + White Tank + Printed Skirt + Stud Earrings + Bright Flats
Join me again next week to see if I ever put together Days 3, 4 and 6. And Day 7, for that matter.
Update on my sister: Her nose is broken. But perfectly broken. Still well aligned and won’t require surgery. By God’s grace. That was a pretty scary tumble.
Next blog post, I am going to share some pics from this year’s TLA conference and the conferences we have attended in the past. Thrilling stuff!
And I hope to incorporate some of the techy stuff I learned at TLA this year into my blog. (Still haven’t learned why my pictures are so obnoxiously LARGE)
Please stop by the blogs of my Style Me Blogger buddies who undoubtedly wore each of this week’s challenge outfits well, and very possibly in order. And click below to add your blog to our link-up.
Hugs and kisses,
Morgan
Your poor sister! I’m glad she’s okay. She’s a trooper! I don’t think I could have continued on! I broke my nose in high school. Not fun. I’m glad you all had some fun.
Sarah C
HOLY COW!!!!! OH MY GOSH! Your poor sister, and she just kept on going! What a trooper! Nothing is going to stop that lady, not even a broken nose, poor thing! I love this blog post, so funny! You’re a funny lady 🙂 Love you! Hope your sister heals fast!
Lana
You look lovely in your mixed up outfits – I love your yard sale jacket! Your poor sister – hope she’s feeling better.
Sharon
Loved the pic of you girls in stripes and loved your adventure in Houston minus Val’s accident. What a trooper she is! So glad you got to spend time with all of your favorite girls last week (minus me! ) 🙂 You looked pretty no matter what outfit you had on what day! XO
Karen S.
Oh your poor sister! I LOVE reading your blog Leslie, you make me laugh and smile 🙂 🙂 :). Hugs to you! Karen S.
Shaunacey
you look beautiful as always and so does your sister, I love that she’s still smiling, black eye’s and all! What a trooper!
I LOVE the pics Lauren posted of you two this week, such a beautiful mother/daughter duo 🙂
Lauren Buendia
Thank you, Shaunacey!!!
Carrie
My goodness! Your sister looks like she was in quite a bit of pain. Still you had some time for great style. Good for you, friend!
Lauren Buendia
All of these outfits are just adorable, mom! I thought about asking you to pass along that fun house picture of my day 5 outfit, but thought better off it. I had so much fun with you this past weekend. You’re my best friend! I love you!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Lauren. I had such a great time playing dress-up with you. I am saving the pics of the outfits I played fashion haus in for next week’s link-up. Your fun house picture was not that crazy when I looked at it on my computer. Just something about the way it looked on the phone was a little off. Shall I post it on Facebook for you? I love you, baby. You are my scarecrow.
Valerie
Thank you all for the well wishes. My nose is broken but well aligned and will need no more medical attention. My husband had warned me about the pants being too long and wanted me to have them hemmed. Therefore, I did not tell him the cause of the accident at first until he started talking about me needing to visit a neurologist because I had fallen once again (Thank heredity and God for good bones). I had to confess or an MRI would have been coming my way. He was actually relieved, but has asked about the whereabouts of said pants (they are still in hiding).
Elementary school with two black eyes has been an adventure with children asking daily why I am wearing that face paint. So sweet, gotta love them. I can already tell they are going to ask why I never wash my face in a couple of days when I get that slightly dirty look.
Austin was fabulous.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you, Valerie, for coming by and letting everyone hear from you. You were so strong in Austin. I think I would have just rolled around on the ground wallowing in self-pity. So glad your nose is going to be ok without requiring anything to be done to it. I bet the kids at school have been unrelenting with questions and comments. Love you!
Christy
Wow. Just wow. I’m glad your sister is ok. I hope you were able to have fun despite the fall.
Alison @ Puppies & Pretties
Great looks! I have to ask, is your whole family librarians?
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Alison, I am a school librarian but I actually was an art ed major in college. I needed a job and El Paso school district had a shortage of librarians and the rest is history. I never taught art in the classroom! My sister was an elementary teacher turned reading specialist turned elementary librarian after she saw how much I loved my job. I think she is very happily a librarian. My youngest daughter is a kind of medical librarian for a large pharmaceuticals and health care products company and she does research from home. My mom was a chemist and my dad a cancer research scientist at St. Jude. My oldest daughter kind of followed their lead and is a neonatal nurse. So we are all kind of doing semi-related things. Hope that clears it up for you. Thank you for the thoughtful question.
Sydney Fashion Hunter
Love your bright blue jacket! Those bruises look so painful I hope she recovers quickly. I found your blog through Stashed By Sara. I host a link up every Wednesday (still live) so stop by if you get a chance 🙂
http://www.sydneyfashionhunter.com/
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Thank you for finding me and connecting with me! I will try to join your link up on Wednesday. My (bruised) sister lived in Queensland, Australia for several years and thoroughly enjoyed it. Look forward to getting to know you better. Thanks for the kind comments.