Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Guest post by Abigail: Don't fight about the little things

(I, Elizabeth, went to high school with this fantastic girl named Abby, and she kindly offered to do a guest post for me!  It's really terrific, so read up!)
I have known Elizabeth for some time now and asked her if I could give this guest blogger thing a go and she said YES! So, where to start???? Well, let's see.... My name is Abigail (Abby, Abs, Gator.... pretty much anything but gail) and I have been married to my wonderful hubby, Chris, for over 3 years now.  We have a beautiful and very active 2-1/2 year old, Adrianna, who thinks she's 16.  My hubby is in the military and thus we are forced to uproot every 4 years or so and move.  It's stressful enough that we have to just pick up and move, but it's about twenty times worse when you find out you're going to New Jersey. Personally, I'm not a fan.  We moved here about 2 years ago and have been making it through the best we can.  New Jersey is much different than anything we're used to (which definitely pushed all of us out of our comfort bubble) and added a large amount of daily stress to our lives. My hubby and I are quite similar in the way we are very vocal about something if it is bothering us and since moving to New Jersey, we've had several "tiffs". The particular "tiff" I want to talk about occurred about a year ago.

It was one of those days that just seems like the NOTHING goes right.  I decided that right before bed I was going to make cookies to add a little bit of happiness to the end of a terrible day.  As I was in the process of mixing ingredients and about to add the butter, my hubby walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge asking where the butter went. I informed him that I was making cookies and needed what we had left for them.  That's when it happened. We started to argue....yes, about BUTTER.  He said he wanted to make toast and needed butter for it.  I knew that for him to have his toast with butter the way he wanted it, it was going to take too much butter and I wouldn't have enough... We continued arguing for about 5 minutes until I suddenly realized - We were fighting about a stick of butter.... I started to laugh and he, still frustrated and angry, asked what was so funny.  I had to take a minute to stop laughing and catch my breath before I could make him understand that we were fighting about butter.  I realized that we fight about a lot of small, insignificant things that seem like they are so very important at the time.  We've learned to take a breath and think about what it is that seems so significant. It usually ends up being something as trivial as butter; although butter is delicious, it's definitely not worth getting all up in arms about.  Oh, I almost forgot - my hubby ended up wanting cookies also and they were delicious!

- Abigail

Monday, 1 August 2011

Still need summer swimwear? Gorgeous suits on sale!

Still need summer swimwear? Gorgeous Badgley Mischka pieces on sale http://www.eversave.com/online/swimwear-me?sourceid=68762

Eversave.com is having a promotion which will last for three more days, where if you spend $20 on SwimwearForMe.com, you get a $40 value.  There are some really beautiful Badgley Mischka swimsuits over there which I highly recommend checking out.  I'm currently in love with that middle swimsuit in black.  Very sophisticated.  See the deal by clicking here.

Still need summer swimwear? Gorgeous Badgley Mischka pieces on sale http://www.eversave.com/online/swimwear-me?sourceid=68762 by ThatLadyWithTheDog featuring a party hat



Tankini bathing suit
$50 - saksfifthavenue.com

Halter bikini
$37 - saksfifthavenue.com

Juicy Couture party hat
$85 - stylebop.com

Friday, 29 July 2011

Today...I played paper dolls. Without the dolls.


Today I decided to "try out" Polyvore.com, which for me, means becoming immediately addicted/obsessed and tooling around on it all day.  It's exactly like playing paper dolls, but with an endless amount of clothing, and without the dumb dolls.  I've ALWAYS wanted something where I could put clothes together.  I hoped for a computer program like the rich girl had in the movie Clueless, which put together an outfit for her every morning.  Well, Polyvore will have to do. It's even practical in that you can find clothing items you already own, and see what other people would pair it with.  Instant inspiration!  Not to mention, the most fun you'll have since the last time you played with paper dolls.

To see a breakdown of the items showcased in the above picture, check out the set on Polyvore.  My account name there is ThatLadyWithTheDog.  If you have one or get one, let me know!  I'll check out your ensembles.  

Thursday, 28 July 2011

Layering, Dressing For Your Body Type, and OOTD

This outfit of the day shows what I wore for some quick family pictures taken the other day.  My husband's sister, Sabrina, is leaving for college TODAY and we are sure going to miss her.  Such an exciting time for her, though, I really hope she has a blast as she embarks on this new adventure.

Oddly enough, this was what I was planning on wearing before I knew we were doing pictures - I had decided I better do a more polished look for an OOTD post, since this has been my primary go-to style and I haven't shown it to my readers yet.  When I found out about the pictures, I freaked out and tried on tons of things in my closet, but ended up wearing my original plan, anyway.  This was even the first time I wore this ensemble!  Sometimes, what you picture in your head actually does work.  

So the big deal about this outfit is that the adorable "top" that I'm wearing is actually a dress!  That's something I've been wanting to try, to get more mileage out of my wardrobe, and this was the first time I've tried it.  In the following picture I bent over to try and show what the top of the dress is like - it isn't tucked in and bloused, it's basically just a long, hanging ruffle of sorts.  
Skirt: RW & co. Shirt: dress worn as top from American Eagle Shrug: don't remember, and I took the tag out Belt: The Limited Wrap Bracelet: headband worn as bracelet from Walmart Necklace:Jmundodesigns @ Etsy

 I really love that dress (worn as a top) from American Eagle.  I'll have to show a picture of it by itself so that you can see it.  I think it's a good example of shopping for your body type.  Normally I'm not hugely into shopping for your body type, I don't know why that is, and it's probably bad.  My body type is either pear or rectangle.  My hips are the largest part of me, so I'm supposed to select pieces that emphasize my upper body to balance myself out.  This dress has a soft, hanging "ruffle" that falls to just above my natural waist line.  Meanwhile, the rest of the dress is a jersey fabric that is form fitting in the waist with more of an A-line skirt.  It makes my chest look more normal sized (read here: makes it look as if I actually have one) and my waist look tiny.  In other words, it gives me that ideal "hour glass figure."  I feel divine in this dress, and I bought it in two colors.  I guess I should shop for my body type more often, eh?  

Family pictures coming soon.  

P.S.  Want to start shopping for your body type, or looking for dresses to layer?  The very cute blog, Kendi Everday, is having a terrific giveaway of a $200 gift card to Karen Kane!  All you have to do is comment on her blog post.  Go get on that, folks.  

Wednesday, 27 July 2011

Date Night, Marriage, and Memories

 Last night, we went to the movies, as we do every Tuesday night.  We got a (practically) flat tire, and had to go put air in it before we went home.  I decided I ought to take a picture of my wonderful man.  While he was refilling the tires, he reminded me of the time that we had to do the same to our previous car while on a cross-country road trip.  He had forgotten to put the caps back on and drove away, scattering the caps across the parking lot.  In his defence, I was just sitting in the car being useless as usual.  He realized what had happened and we drove back and hunted for the caps.  At the time, it probably wasn't the most fun thing ever.  Yet we laughed to remember it, and honestly, it just...took me back.

Derek and I have been through a lot together, and though we've only been married for two years, already it feels like a life time.  I think that's a good thing, but it can also have its downsides in that if all you can remember is now, then you forget the things that led you to now.  Spontaneously remembering that random, minor, silly misfortune that befell us nearly three years ago did something strange to me.  As if I had become numb without knowing it, something opened and I fell even more in love with my husband in that second.  Just like how the best memories are often the ones you didn't even intend to make, it's funny that the best part of my date night was an unscheduled and inconvenient stop.  Life is strange like that.
Cardigan: Dynamite Shirt: Charlotte Russe Tank Top: American Eagle Wrap Bracelet: headband worn as bracelet from Walmart Jeans: Fidelity Denim