C = Cute Casual Outfits

Images all from Pinterest, follow me here

All images can be found on this pinboard.

Love ya.  Enjoy the virtual (window) shopping.  Click continue reading (outfits viewable after the jump).

I have a ‘thing’ for stripes.  This seems very Chanel, without much of the Chanel – i.e. a Chanel look within budget!

This is gorgeous, very nautical in an unexpected way.  Very Lilly P without the prints.

Perfect for a casual Saturday.  Love the different length jeans.

Cute lipstick shades – how could this outfit not cheer you up!?

Beautiful hints of turquoise.

I know Fall is so long ago, but it brings some of the best inspiration for Fashion.

Perfect Ballet shades for older ‘girly girls’.

Casual but still dressed up.  I’d wear this on a dinner date.

Lovely for a casual stroll around town.

Bright and sunny!  Love yellow and so glad that it seems to be in fashion this S/S.

EDIT:  I have had a LOT of emails regarding the gorgeous yellow wedges asking where they are from, they are currently a STEAL at $54 from heels.com.  Just search ‘Galena’ to find them.

I have just realized that all of these outfits, bar one, have jeans.  That’s because you will never find me wearing a skirt.  Dresses yes, love them.  Skirts no.

Happy Hump Day! xxx

A mixture of work, home life, crazy schedules and new ventures kept me away from blogging ALL THIS TIME.

I turned 26, managed my first time of hosting Christmas dinner as well as huge changes in my work schedule.  It has been one hell of a ride recently.  Did you miss me? Ha ha!

Well, back with a BANG to talk about this lovely girly…

Nella Cordelia, daughter of the one and only, Kelle Hampton. I LOVE her blog, if you take a look around, it is hard not to soak up some of her enthusiasm for life.

I stumbled across Kelle’s blog Enjoying the Small Things like many of you might have, by having this incredible post forwarded to me.

Now, I am probably not the first one to admit that it may be cry absolute buckets.  Nor am I the first to slightly wonder what all the ‘fuss’ is about.  There are thousands upon thousands of blogs out there of families who have children with different needs, disabilities, illnesses, and medical conditions, so why so special? 

Many of you may have already heard of her, because I guess Kelle got ‘lucky’ in the blog world, perhaps because of said post- she instantly became one of those viral must-read bloggers, but can I tell you how freakin’ happy I am that she did?

It’s because of this - Nella’s 2 for 2 fund.  Guys, she is $36,000 (at time of writing) away from raising $200,000 for NDSS! – The National Down Syndrome Society. Wowza!

Blogging can be an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to fundraising, and I am asking you to donate something, anything, if you can.  They accept all currencies, and every little pound, penny, euro or dollar makes such a difference.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/lm9ccsTyg1c

THANK YOU xxx

I am also concious that I don’t want this blog to just be about the 30 Day, so I’m gonna pepper it with a few little delights.

I say delights, because what I have to share has delighted me over the month of June.

If you use Google Reader, you’ll know that you can ‘star’ posts to view later and save to your favorites, and my starred list is growing bigger by the day.  I thought I’d share with my favorite reader round up for the month of June (which may have some older items, or perhaps a few July ones) but you’ll forgive me for that won’t ya!?

All pictures are owned by the respective blogger and all links will take you to the blog in question.

Enjoy finding new blogs and let me know if you have liked this post, I think I’ll continue to do this month on month as it is a great way to bookmark the things I have discovered.  Oh, and Pinterest?  Yeah, I finally got my invitation and have been spending FAR too much time on there.  It is DANGEROUS I tell ya. Click here for a link to my boards if you want to see what I have been pinning.

Reader Round up – June ’11

First up is this GORGEOUS DIY piece of Monogram Art. A monogram of your initial made from buttons! My grandmother has a huge collection of buttons that she has never had use for, and this might be just the ticket. She is a crafter and this is right up her street. Mormor, if you are reading this, I’d love one if you have the time to make me one, once you’ve finished that quilt you are sewing for me of course! :wink wink:.

The handy step by step can be found here via the uber gorgeous blog Emmaline Bride.

Next up is this delicious looking Perfect Iced Coffee to whet your whistle while crafting that monogram button art. Recipe from the amazing Pioneer Woman.

If you are still feeling crafty after the DIY button monogram, and the Perfect Iced Coffee has given you a little caffiene kick, why not dig old those old t-shirts and learn to sew rosettes from t-shirts to adorn newer shirts, pillows, hairbands or just about anything you can think of. Instructions via Emmaline Bride. If you don’t have any old t-shirts, you may still feel pepped enough to fold your t-shirts like they do in stores.

I’d much rather sit and daydream about my Wedding though. I quite fancy a Woodland/Fall theme and these Oak Tree Invitations, via Emmaline Bride are to die for. Mr. S and I both have a thing for trees, so these would fit the bill perfectly.

My Wedding dress is all bought and paid for, so I best stay away from making these Berry Butters with French Toast. Ok, maybe just the once! Pioneer Woman, you are a Devil woman for sharing this recipe, but I still love ya.

Oh, and still on the subject of Weddings, I hate the thought of tossing my bouquet, and it being gone forever but it is a custom I think I’ll stick to, as I spotted The 10 Best Handmade Bouquets - I could just get a replica made after the wedding! Thanks Emmaline Bride for the resource.

I am thinking about Christmas already and it is only July! Is that wrong!? This year I might try to be organized enough to make some gourmet gifts. Michaela Noelle is an aspiring decorator, but boy she has got some great ideas for Cookie Mix Gift Jars - just what I was looking for.

These lovely DIY decorated terra cotta pots would make lovely gifts for Christmas too, or all year round for that matter. Again, from Emmaline Bride - they just find the best stuff!

You might be feeling a little peckish by now so I suggest these Lemon Snowflake Cookies courtesy of A Sweet Spot – I think she might love Christmas as much as I do!

Then you can wash it down with an Elderflower Syrup Champagne that you made at home all by your celver self. The syrup that is, unless you really are rather talented at squishing grapes and live in Champagne! Two things combined into a perfect marriage Elderflower and Champagne – pure heaven. Thanks so much Georgia Pellegrini I LOVE this tutorial. Store bought syrup cordial and syrup is too expensive so this is great.

I hope you all had a fantastic 4th July and I’ll be back with July’s Reader Round up in early August.

Think about your favorite childhood story.

Mine is Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White. Love it. I you haven’t read it and go get it – adults can enjoy it too. If your children don’t have a copy, shame on you! Click the image below and get to Amazon now, pick them up a copy they deserve this story. If you and your children do love it, then we are in great company.

I had somewhat of an epiphany last night. I have always wanted to learn how to write children’s books.

H2B and I got to talking about what it is that we really want to do for work.

I have always had fanciful ideas about working in many different ‘glamorous’ jobs, some might have been passable for glamorous, others not so much. I’ll do a post on that soon “The many jobs of Mrs Stepford”, it’ll be a corker.

Right now I am working as Marketing & Office Manager for a small company specializing in the Events Industry.

Do I enjoy it?
Yes, it’s ok.

Do I LOVE it?
Nope, certainly not.

Do I want to do it forever?
Hell no!!

What is it that I really, really want to do?………

About three years ago I started to learn how write children’s books, I started to write one and I relished doing it, but life got in the way. I had to find myself another job and things just got busy. I’d been out of work for a few months living as a lady of leisure and the writing of, and learning how to write children’s books passed the time. It still isn’t quite finished, but it’s calling me, waiting to be completed.

H2B reminded me of my little ‘book’ that was still tucked away on the hard drive at home and told me to start it again.

I sat thinking about it, we spoke about it, asked each other what is the worst that could happen.

I imagined myself at our local Guardian Literary Festival reading aloud my published books to children.

I also imagined myself owning my own independent book store solely for children, just like Meg Ryan’s character in You’ve Got Mail

And I cried. In public. Uncontrollable tears, tears of relief, tears of nervous excitement, tears because of the unknown, fear of what could be in both good and bad scenarios. I don’t know why, perhaps I just ‘knew’ that this really was my last shot.

Is this what I was supposed to do all along rather than bounce from one job to the other searching for something that would stick?

This might actually prove my Mother right. The day I was born she said she looked at me and saw that one day I would one day be a writer.

What is it that YOU really want to do? I want to learn how to write children’s books.

Now it’s time to make it happen, and I think I may need to invest in a bit of guidance to help me along the journey.

So now, I am off again to learn how to write children’s books, and then get published. Wish me luck!

I have decided that this Wednesday’s Wonder Woman is Ricki Lake.

No, not because of her 90′s chat show (which I did happen to love very much), nor her acting career including her portrayal of Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray, or her role in Serial Mom, but rather because of her advocation towards knowledgable birth and a womans right to choose how SHE wants to give birth – on her own terms.

Her documentary “The Business of Being Born”, included footage and details of Ricki’s own “life-changing” home-birthing experience and followed a midwife going about her work, Ricki described it as her life’s work and expressed hopes that the film educated and empowered people to really know their choices in childbirth.

Ricki also jointly wrote a book on the world of natural childbirth and birthing options, called Your Best Birth and went on to launch website MyBestBirth.com, an online social network, intended to allow parents and medical professionals to express and research varying birthing options and resources.

This whole topic leads me into what this post is really about – introducing my own Mom!

My Mom and I happened to have met Ricki last year, at an intimate talk she was giving at Doula event. My Mom happens to be a Doula (it all makes sense now doesn’t it).  Ricki was so charming and really fights for what she believes in.

Seeing as I am no expert on childbirth, having never gone through it, but having a Mom who practices as a Doula, it has really awakened a lot of options to me and increased my knowledge vastly about the whole affair of giving birth …..

I think this type of information should be available to ALL women, pregnant, trying to get pregnant, mothers looking for better options for their next birth, and well, women like me - hoping to have babies one day, and wanting the knowledge and empowerment to make the right decisions for me and my family right from the start, and not being led by the Medical Profession.

Doula’s, and Families who choose to have a Doula are not shunning the medical profession or midwives at all.  What Doulas help their ‘families’ to realize, is that it is OK to want to stick to your birthing plan, to communicate your birthing plan and arm yourself with knowledge and empowerment. To truly, have your best birth.

I wanted my Mom to write a post just to explain a little more about the profession and the “service” of a Doula, so sometime soon Wednesday’s Wonder Woman will be my Mom and I will be handing my blog over to her – when she has a spare five minutes away from beautiful newborns and their fab Mothers.

My fantastic, brave and clever Mom, who has helped and assisted in the birth of 48 babies so far and assisted countless families during the birth of their children.

For Mamma’s in the USA

For Mamma’s in the UK

Have you ever considered having a Doula for your birth?

“The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert.”

The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. After Jesus had gone without eating for forty days and nights, he was very hungry. Then the devil came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, tell these stones to turn into bread.”

Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say: ‘No one can live only on food. People need every word that God has spoken.’ ”

Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. The devil said, “If you are God’s Son, jump off. The Scriptures say: ‘God will give his angels orders about you. They will catch you in their arms, and you won’t hurt your feet on the stones.’ ”

Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don’t try to test the Lord your God!’ ”

Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. The devil said to him, “I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus answered, “Go away Satan! The Scriptures say: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”

Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.

Matthew 4:1-11

 
The following words are just what I wanted to quickly post and use to express thanks before we head into Lent.

We are encouraged to live simply during the time of Lent, to remember Jesus’ sacrifices and self control whilst in the desert.  His lessons on how never to lose faith.

I will be making the most delicious pancakes today for my family and all the while remembering how lucky I am to have the body to consume them, the body to make them and the mind to use the task to learn a lesson in faith. Faith in pancakes. Faith that they’ll turn out right, faith that they’ll taste great, and faith that we all remember WHY we make them.

I am thankful for my beautiful family, my spirit, my life, and my needs both material and spiritual being provided for by Him.

During Lent I shall be remembering to respect my body, I shall be giving up being lazy. The body is a temple, and I am sad to say that with many failed diets, lack of exercise and shameful reasons for dieting (it should be for health, not size 0 clothes – but you already knew that right!? – yeah, so did I).

It is time to become focussed and to have faith in myself.  Have faith that I will not fail.

I will say no to temptation and am heading to the gym tomorrow to sign up for a membership.

Thank you Lord for my temple, made in the image of you. Now is where it shall begin.

I hope you all have a wonderful Shrove Tuesday, enjoy your pancakes.