Saddle Up--

I've had no choice but to take on the new mother role once again! therefore being preoccupied with poop,pee,teething,crying,whining and general me!me!me! that babies can't help but demand. Only this time the newborn resembles a black bear cub of which the resemblance has the entire family "fighting" over what to name this pup. Hubby wants to name him Bear, oldest son-Havoc, second oldest son-Zeus, daughter-striker, 7yr old-Bolt, Me with inaudible mummer's Monster,Demon,trouble,shi##er,Pisser, pain in the @ss etc..etc..etc...but then he looks at me with one ear perked up and larger in proportion to his head while the other is still folded over; cocks his head sideways and blinks with all the curiosity of a brand new life and I'm reduced to gushing awwww...sweetie, cutiepie, adorable pups..

Hence the reason I'm MIA lately; the night shifts are taking a bigger tole than when I had a 5,3 and newborn all at the same time...of course that was YEARS ago!

Wow as I type this I realize again , just how fast time flies. In November I'm going to have a 20yr old son! two more children in between and pulling up the rear our 7yr old surprise baby.

I'm in such a weird place! I feel proud and all job well done on one hand and complete panic and sorrow on the other. The sorrow is because here the oldest three are teenagers! and nearly gone...

Sometimes I wish I could go back to each ones birth and start again...not because I feel like I did anything major wrong but because I have enjoyed every minute of raising them. All to quick it has come and gone! I realize I have lots of milestones left (college graduations,marriages,grandchildren) but I realized when the oldest stepped foot in that college (even though he is still living at home) from that moment on life is moving at full speed and it will never be the same! I guess I'm slightly selfish because I think to myself this is the last time that these kids are ALL MINE, I have to now share them with the world!

Whoa! I've veered off the subject of fashion big time! When I started this darn blog (again) I told myself to just keep it fashion, light, trivial that this is my escape so don't bring my personal life into it. Well I've tried and failed. Screw it! Life happens and I think typing it out here helps me figure it all out. So many blogs I run across are anti MOM BLOGS and have snippy little comments about them. I'd like to think I'm a MOM BLOG,fashion blog, family blog, thrifty blog,plus size blog, eclectic blog etc..etc...

Come on! what is more inspiring? a woman who is twentysomething and all she has to do is go to school or work and post outfits of herself and abit about her life or a MOM who has a million kids, million things to do, has to meet every need of every person around her and try to find time to bathe let alone wear makeup or style her wardrobe and brushing her teeth for more than a half minute is a luxury. I don't mean to sound gross but I can't remember the last time I went potty without an audience and there is always an intermission!(talk about multitasking) Who is lucky if she has two minutes in the bathroom without someone sticking a can of spaghetti O's through the shower curtain and asking if you could make them whilst your face is covered in soap?  So the next time you run across a MOM BLOG take a minute to say THANKS...quit rolling your eyes and acting like the ME,ME,ME infant that you are and one day if your lucky and have EARNED  the title MOM; you can have a MOM BLOG too!

Anyways...the reason I came here in the first place. Check out this amazing leather saddle bag I thrifted! it's roomy, beautifully constructed with supple leather, bronzed studs, hand tooled and painted. The best part is this fantastic push and turn closure...I'm in love! I'm not really a boho/hippie kind of dresser and wouldn't this be perfect for that look? keep an eye out for it in my etsy store, you might just see it there!

So what name do you like best for the puppy?

$15.00 In Free Merchandise--

Over the weekend I had a ton of errands to run as usual. Most of the time I wear a baseball hat, yoga pants and any Ole' over sized T-shirt of my husbands. More times then not someone shows up or I have an unexpected errand to run where I needed to be more presentable or I'm out in public and I look a mess! So I'm trying to be more pulled together in my casual attire and alittle less sloppy. It's really easy just to throw on a baseball cap with your hair in a ponytail through the back so it will be hard to give up. This outfit is nothing fancy but feels better and more polished then my standard "run around" attire.

One of the "To Do" on my list was stop into Goodwill and get my forgotten leather bag. Since I had to stop in anyway I decided to redeem my $15.00 in free merchandise by using my Smart Shoppers Pass. If you thrift, do you use that little red card?

If your not familiar with it let me explain. Goodwill has a program where if you spend $15.00 or more you get a stamp on this little smart shoppers pass they give you and when you get 10 stamps on  your card your next visit you get $15.00 in free merchandise.  I ended up using mine on this NWT's dress that I only paid $4.99 for and some mixing bowls marked France on the back with a pretty floral print and 4 custard baking dishes marked France. I am a sucker for French cookware.

Grey/red cardigan/thrifted last week (as part of my loot from last week)

Black chino's/thrifted

Grey shirt/Dot's (has a nice lace detail on the back)

Leopard print shoes/Grandville outfitters

Fall already--

When thrifting and spending that $84.00 part of what I bought was for me. (see above) well today I'm wearing the Lane Bryant, light weight sweater I thrifted and an Ox blood skirt I thrifted as well. I am loving purple&red together and already I can dress for fall this week. Over the weekend here in Ohio we had a Friday and Saturday recording breaking heat! of course that is when I decided to have my yard sale. Just sitting on the porch waiting for customers I had a constant sweat...then fast forward a day later; Sunday and it's cool and breezy, moving onto later in this week it's raining, winding and cold! cold enough to dress for fall weather. I've had enough summer anyway. My skin is peeling, cracked and dried out and ready for some TLC and layers.

 

I'm in need of a haircut so in the meantime I did a side ponytail/bun. I will like it more when I have more time to work on it. In the meantime it's all good! My boots are a new purchase last season from Jcp.com, Olsenboyz brand. I was worried about them fitting my large calves but they stretched and are even better this season. I love the red zippers on the side (you can't see them but they are there) and I think it helps tie the outfit together. Same necklace from Charlotterusse.com and bag from Dot's. The belt I'm sure was a thrift store find. One of the things I have to do today is go back to Goodwill and get my Tiangelo (sp) Mustard yellow crossbody bag that they forgot to put in my bag!

I found both the sweater and the skirt in the "average" size sections of the thrift store. A lot of times I even find women's in the men's clothing area. So if you're a thrifter scour the store and look in all the departments...You never know what you might find and where!

I can tell already that I'm going to love this skirt! It's so well made and higher waisted helping me suck in my tummy. The cut and the quality are so good...

Lane Bryant purple sweater/thrifted Goodwill

Ox blood skirt/thrifted Goodwill

Boots/ Jcp.com

Belt/thrifted

Necklace/Charlotterusse.com

Bag/Dot's

 

Life In Fast Forward...

Life has me crazy these past few weeks! But I have to confess I do it to myself...such as allowing my 19yr old professional dog trainer bring home his work! Fostering a German Shepard puppy...If your counting that makes 4 dogs! UgH! as cute as the little monster is he's much more work x's 10. One of my son's wants to name him Zeus and the other son wants to name him Havoc...hmm well I want to name him MONSTER...right now he's sleeping with his face in the food bowl shhhhhh.....maybe I should mention byhillary.com because I mention her once before and how much I love her blog and the next thing you know I have a comment from her...and maybe she will fall in love with dogs? as much as her cats and adopt a German Shepard? hmm, hmmm, hmmm? well why not? considering they become the size of an average adult she should have plenty of room right?  lol j/k but seriously her blog is one I try to read everyday and I really enjoy it. We couldn't be more different in life style etc but I love  her style just the same. (random thoughts happen occasionally)

Loving this Mustard trench I scored...wish it was my size!

  I set a goal for myself over at my etsy store and that was to get at least 150 items listed. Get my office space cleaned up and ready to repaint etc. Well, I was able to get a 149 items in total posted. Whew! that helps considering the other day while thrifting I spent a record breaking $84.00 dollars at two thrift stores and my husband was like you spent how much thrifting? but when I told him the potential profit I could make he was ok with it. I'm a little irritated considering I spent all this money and when I got home and starting looking through what I bought I noticed this mustard leather crossbody bag I bought was missing...grr...by the time I noticed Goodwill was closed. So early this morning I called and no answer...waited till 9am called again. Yep! They have my bag and now I have to make a special trip into town just to get the bag. On the big scheme of things no biggie but yesterday I spent my entire day in the car! I get really sick of driving all day all day all day...

Is it really that difficult to put the stuff you buy in a bag?

This hat is so beautiful!

Little Devil inside that cute face!

Hand water colored prints I picked up...Love everything about them!

My attempt at a Yard Sale...very few customers and someone stole the John Deere tractor toy I had for sale grrr......and I sold mostly my Dads eagles which the first sale I almost said NO, those aren't for sale! and I had mixed feeling about selling my Dads things. But after I gave all 4 of my kids eagles, my husband and Myself eagles and stored a few in the hutch. Plus have painting,pictures,prints of eagles and wood carvings, wood etchings on tree stumps...what's a girl to do? 

PS: I've not been dressing my best considering all the cleaning out garage, taking care of puppy, running errands...I have cuts on the tops of my feet from puppy teeth, my nails are a mess and I over plucked my eyebrows a few months back and haven't plucked since now I look like a Yeti! need to get myself together...:) see ya soon!

PSS: I have so many comments not sure if I can get back with all of you! but I'll try--obviously a JOKE :)

Lady in red--

Awhile back I purchased a few dresses from asos and they've been hanging around in my closet awaiting a debut. I hoped that the pieces I bought could transition into fall/winter and I think this in particular dress will. Being that it's sleeveless I can add a long sleeve T and heavy tights making it cold weather wearable. It is slightly big under the arms and in the bust area but I think it will shrink abit when washing. Overall I love the quality of fabric and details like the white stitching throughout. I paired it with my leopard print shoes,belt and animal print bag I bought at dot's for $18.00. I purchased it for a winter bag but couldn't resist wearing it today. This is the first time wearing this necklace too and I love it! I bought it awhile ago from Charlotte Russe while they were having a 3/$10.00 sale.

Dress/asos.com

Belt/dot's

Leopard print shoes/Grandville outfitters

Black heart&rose charm necklace/Charlotterusse.com

Animal print bag/dot's

Guilty! Your HONOR--

Some of you followed when I was ThriftyMomma and remember me telling you the tale of my second oldest son(4 kids) and his driving skills. Well back in early August he was stopped for passing on the highway and exceeding the speed limit. Today was his day to appear in court because apparently here in Ohio when your under 18 any and  every time you're stopped you have to appear before the Judge at Juvenile traffic court.

So I had two sons with me because the day before the primary school called and my youngest son was very sick and had to be cleaned up and sent home. Therefore I had to haul a sick 7 yr old with us this early morning(flash flood warning outside, pooring rain) only to enter the Juvenile courts building (Hall of Justice) and put my umbrella and purse through a ex ray and also walk through an ex ray. Make our way up to the third floor and check in. We sat for what felt like an eternity in this extremely long hallway with about 30 other kids and their moms. Finally called in, stood for the Judge and were sworn in, read our rights and what might or might not happen if we pleaded guilty or not guilty. One Mom and her son were before us and they plead not guilty and were instructed they would have a trial and if lost they would have to pay all court cost. Next was our turn and we plead guilty. Well before hand while waiting were were given a large booklet of what would happen second,third offense and so on...

This is my sons first offense and he was sentenced to the SECOND offense conditions. Which was a suspended license for 30 days, a 200 dollar fine, driving school, 500 word essay. After the sentencing we made our way back down the long hall to sign and pay the fees. At this point they asked my son for his license and ran it through a shredder, had him stand at a line and retook his picture and printed this on a piece of paper with restrictions for work and school driving only.

My son really made me mad because I told him to wear a dress shirt and nice pants so when I picked him up he conveniently forgot to bring dress pants. And it is NOT a fallacy that you are JUDGED by what you are wearing because as we were sitting there waiting and waiting a man came out of a door and walked down through all of us MOM and kids waiting...he did a noticeable pause with his cup of coffee at my son who was sitting across from me and looked down at his riped to HELL jeans. Guess what? He was the JUDGE! I swear he was sentenced more harshly because of his attire.

Later as we were still waiting, more parents and kids exited and we just in general asked what each other pleaded and everyone that had been there before gasped and said Oh no! always plead not guilty with this Judge, he really socks it to the kids! Geez...had we not been second maybe I would have seen how he Judge's and we would have pleaded differently.

The biggest thing I was worried about is had my son learned his lesson? had he realized that driving is serious business and not something you just wing and take for granted?

Well I think he has...He had to clear his throat a few times to speak to the Judge, I noticed him shaking abit when he had to stand and be photographed like a criminal. I don't know...I fluctuate between feeling like they are to harsh on the kids and feeling like well! you needed a wake up call!

If it helps to keep him alive and other while he's on that long wide road then I'm grateful!

As we were sitting at the table like on trial my youngest son was on my lap and he slumped down and laid his head on his arm and did a audible moan...the Judge looked straight at us and I elbowed him in the ribs to sit him upright. I mean come on, he's 7! Then he's laying on the hallway bench and sits up laughing as he exclaims " I farted, I farted" and he's sick remember? so the entire long hall is fanning themselves with crinkled up noses....

And the Judge's words of wisdom to Nick "If you're gonna drive take it seriously!"

I reached out for the manilla folder he sat in front of us as we were standing at the bench. He says " chuckle..."the baliff will handle that"

Sorry I've never been to court!

Simply Be --

Simply be sent me this cool catalog and I'm wanting,wanting,wanting. Has Anyone shopped online from there? Every page had me wanting something! I love the layout (very graphic and interesting) The prices were abit steep for me but I really want a few of their pieces esp. for fall/winter. If you've shopped there before let me know about the sizing,quality etc...please!

In the above picture I really want the toggle button cardigan with the built in faux fur vest...below I want that sweater with the elbow patches! and one of each pair of boots ha,ha!

To bad I'm not established enough to have offers of FREE product if I review it. Yeap! for this company and it's goodies I would do it! sadly that's not happening anytime soon so I will have to save my pennies and hope it goes on sale and doesn't sell out!

 Because for now all my money goes HERE (see below) Yes! SpongeBob takes all my money...lol

 

We celebrated our youngest sons birthday over the weekend. Whew! I am worn out with all these birthdays.