Thrifty Thursday: Dress LOVE

Hello dolls  -
So, just in time for Thrifty Thursday, Dillards sent out their 30% off clearance sale announcement!  Excellent timing.

Here are a few of the dresses that I'm in love with - I'm on the hunt for something fab to wear to a "barn chic" wedding we're going to in Pennsylvania this fall.  Thoughts?



Aidon Mattox Sequin dresss, $121.80 - Love the sequins!  Might be a bit much for an outdoor evening ceremony...but, still, le sigh.  Also, not totally sure about this style.  Will it just make me look kind of frumpy, despite the sequins?  Can the sequins overcome the cut?  Do they need to? So many questions!



Antonio Melani Nia Floral-Embroidered dress, $41.40 - This is very cute and I love the pattern.  I also love that the green is more Mint than Kelly, which is a little different from the usual.  This style is nice, too, b/c my rib cage is much smaller than my hips and I can size to my ribs without worrying about the bottom being too tight.



BCBGMAXAZRIA One shoulder dress, $60.76 - I saw this dress on the Nordstrom site and fell in love with it in a coral-poppy color (shocking, I know).  I like it in this turquoise color, but I'm not sure it's as amazing.



Evan Piccone Floral Print Dress:  $41.48
This could be lovely IRL - just not sure...but the price is hard to complain about.

 

Laundry by Shelli Segal Jersey Hi-low dress, $123.90 - I LOVE THIS DRESS!  I love the color, the flow, the drape, the neckline, the uneven hem, and the back.  Not sure it's uber wedding appropriate, but maybe for the rehearsal dinner???



Maggie London Floral Print Matte Jersey Dress, $41.58 - I'm not sure I could pull off this look, being all pear-shaped and all.  But I love this dress, too.  The patterns are fun, but the red/white/blue combo makes them feel a bit more classic.




Have a fabulous, thrifty Thursday and send me any great bargains you've found recently!

Cheers -


Where'd She Go Wednesday

I've been trying to come up with a day dedicated to writing about running...and have been having a heck of a time coming up with an alliteration that I liked.  Well, leave it to mile 3 of my 6 mile run for creativity to strike!  "Where'd She Go Wednesday" is dedicated to running, of course, because I'm so fast, you're left wondering...where'd she go?!?  Ha!  Or because, many times, if you're wondering where I am, you can safely bet that I'm headed out for a run, or thinking about going on a run, or...you get the point.

For the first running blog post, I thought we'd discuss my current favorite running gear.  I know, twist your arm.

Without further ado, let's start with my current obsession (as in, I own 4 pairs).  These capris are amazing:

They compress as much as I want them to, aren't too hot, and the back pocket fits my iPhone perfectly.  I wear them winter/summer/spring/fall with different tops, depending on the temp outside.  Also, they go on sale at least twice a year and have been marked down as low as $29.99.  REI has a lifetime guarantee, so when the first pair I bought came apart at the seams...they gave me a new pair.  Awww jjjyeah.  The waist band holds my slight muffin-top in (thank you, multiple children!) and my stomach, when it gets all poochy half way through my really long runs.  (If you're looking for glamour, maybe skip today's post and wait for tomorrow.)

Ok - for all the reasons I love those capris, the reason I love this next item is for its simplicity.

When I run, I always have my phone with me.  I don't always listen to music, or use it to track my run, but I always like it handy - just in case.  When I do want to listen to music or track my run, I want to be able to leave the phone in whatever case it's in and not struggle to make the touch screen work.  Enter this beauty:

Yeah, I use Ziploc snack baggies for my iPhone cover.  My only complaint about them is that I haven't found them in the freezer version of Ziploc - that would make them a bit more reusable.  You can plug your head phones in and it zips around the cord, with minimal sweat getting into the bag.  I've been in downpours and felt pretty confident my phone would make it through - and then it did!  Also, I can put my phone in the ziploc and it still fits in the zippered compartment on my capris!  GENIUS!

And for my final pick, I'm going to go with the Amphipod Hydraform Handheld Water bottle.  I know, its way too long of a name, but man, do I love this thing!  I've tried others - smaller bottles, different shapes, less pocket, more pocket.  And this water bottle just gets it done no matter what. 

The handy little pouch on it is the perfect size for one or two gels and your car/house key, as well.  My one complaint with it is that, if it's really hot out and you go on a long run, your hand will warm up the water.  But apparently that happened to other people, too, because they came out with a neoprened version.
So, there you have it!  The first Where'd She Go Wednesday.

Cheers!

Are you sure?

So I just had a realization: no matter what decision you make in life, someone, somewhere, sometime will ask, "are you sure?"
This might not be such an amazing revelation for some people, but it's right up there for me. I guess I thought that eventually, as I got older, decision-making would get easier. That there would clearly be a right decision and the polar-opposite wrong decision.
Man, was I wrong! The only thing that's become clearer to me in my wise old age of 33...ha....is that there are one thousand variations on the "right" decision.
I've made some big decisions in the past few years - mainly having to do with staying home with the kids or going back to work. And of course, everyone has an opinion on this topic. But it's funny because, depending on the decision, the same people have sometimes given me exactly opposite advice. As in, deciding to go back to work - someone looks at you at the bakery, with your two little ones, on a sunny Monday afternoon and says, "are you sure you want to give this up?"
Fast forward a year and a half. Same person, watching your children scream like banshees and run around you in circles: "are you sure you can handle this every single day without daycare?"
I have to say - in so many ways - the further I get into this life thing, the less sure I am. But what I've also discovered is that decisions made are not permanent, 100%, always-gonna-be-the-way-it-is-today (or even right this minute).
The world is so less black and white than I once thought. Time marches on and I'm trying to embrace the feeling of being unsure.
Cheers -

Thrifty Thursday: bill planning

Wow, can you hear the snores over the internet-waves?!?!?  I know.  Bill-paying?
Well, in these parts, that is one of the things I find interesting.  Not so much the actual paying of the bill, rather the planning that goes into it.
As you may know, I'm starting a new chapter in my life.  It's going to be my domestic, stay-at-home, commune-with-small-children-and-all-things-homey chapter.  (It's a working title.).  As you also know, I am a major planner.  So my tip for Thrifty Thursday is pretty simple:  plan out your bills.
The way I like to do this is to print out blank calendars for the next several months.  I plot out each payday and then plot out the due date for each bill.  (Yes - I know you can do this electronically.  And I'm going to be honest: I plot it out that way, too.  One can never be too plotted!)  Once I have all my items entered on the calendar, I go through and subtract the bills due following each paycheck from that paycheck.  Whatever the balance left at the end of that pay period, I write down on the last day before the coming paycheck.  And then, when the next payday rolls around?  I start fresh with the amount of that paycheck (ignore any balance leftover).
This sounds sort of complicated when re-reading my explanation, but it's really very simple.  It's a tricky way of taking the exact amount on known income you have and subtracting the exact amount of known debits you have within each paycheck.  Whatever amount you have left over, you can then divide over the days between paychecks.  And, voila, that's the amount of money you have to live on until your next paycheck!
Here's my fancy, oh-so-technologically-savvy example, for all you visual types:

Red = debits
Blue = pay checks (or credits)
Black = amount for incidental spending (like groceries, fun, babysitters, lattes, etc)

Questions?  Comments?  How do you plot it all out???

Mom-mentum Monday

Mom-mentum Monday is a chance to post something mom-related on a blog that is mom-themed.  How's that for planning?!?
Not sure if you've ever Googled "obstinate four-year-old," but if you haven't, give it a whirl!  All sorts of fun things come up - women venting about their wild four year old step sons, people freaking out about the epic battles they're waging with their own four year old Tasmanian devil, and a general slew of four year old drama.  Which is to say, our house is nothing special!
But, man, can I be honest???  These nightly battles to get Big J to sleep are pretty much my most un-favorite thing so far in this parenting adventure.  He is a willful child, if I do say so myself.  And, since I know where he gets that from, I guess I just have to accept it and roll with it.  Right?
Well, I'm here to tell you that a willful parent + a willful child = epic freaking battles.
We have tried every trick in the book: nightlight(s), closet light on, CD playing soft music, a Twilight Turtle, the hall light on, blankies, special stuffed animals, certain blankets, sitting with him, laying with him, sleep rules (1. Stay in bed, 2. Close our eyes, 3. Stay very quiet, 4. Go to sleep), reward charts, aroma therapy, praying, begging, crying....oh, wait, those last three are a joke.  Sort of.
I even went so far as to take him to his pediatrician, just to make sure he didn't have some behavioral issue that was going undiagnosed.  (What?  You've never gone there in your head?)  His doctor explained that all it came down to is:  "he's playing you."  That is a direct quote.
So, the battle continues.  And I'll tell you - the best thing that works?  Standing your ground.  Don't lose your patience, don't raise your voice, repeat the same phrase over and over and over and over and over again.  "I know you don't feel good.  It's time to follow your sleep rules. Stay in bed, stay quiet.  I love you.  Good night."
And, after two hours?
One of you will eventually fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

Thrifty Thursday

So, two of my loves in life are a) shopping and b) finding a good deal.  I pay attention to fashion, though am not so in tune with it that I let it dictate my personal style.  I love what I love and my fashion motto is, "because I can."
With that in mind, I was perusing 6pm.com* this morning and came upon their sandal sale!  At 70% off, with sandal season so tantalizingly close, how can you argue?  Oh, peeps, you have to check it out!!!! 

Here are a few of my favorites:

• Charles by Charles David:  Flare  Hello, love!  Wedges, black and strappy detail???  I must own you!





• Stuart Weitzman:  Cuffed I love the metallic and the leather combo.  Walnut or Butter???  Hard to choose!



 Any great bargains out there that you have to share?  What are your favorite bargain fashion sites?

*This post is not sponsored in any way - I'm just sharing things I found online so you too can enjoy the beauty AND the bargain.

Balancing act

Welcome to my new blog, Juggle Like a Mama.  As you can tell from the title, I'm a mother.  I'm also a wife, friend, sister, and daughter. 
I entered the blogosphere back in 2006, when I was having a hard time getting pregnant.  It took us almost 2 years, and countless hours of drama, to conceive.  When we did, we lucked out with our biggest boy, Big E.  When we decided we dared hope for another miracle, we lucked out a second time with our littlest boy, Little H.  They are both forces to be reckoned with - each in his own way.
I work three days a week and spend the other four at home with the wee ones.  I am somewhat obsessed with running, design (both fashion and home) and trying to juggle the many hats I've come to wear now that I'm in my 30's.
This blog is intended to be a place for me to gather together all the things I love.  So, come along, enjoy the ride and try to keep up!  It's definitely going to be interesting.