Golden Girl

My love affair with clothes and jewelry began as a little girl.  As soon as I was tall enough to reach my mother’s jewelry box on her bathroom counter, I would put all of her rings on my tiny fingers and pretend I was some luxuriously rich woman dripping with gold and diamonds who called everyone “Dahling.”  I would parade around in her fancy high heels and use the foyer of our house as my personal runway, loving the clip-clop sound the heels made on the tile floor. 

As I got older, I developed my own sense of style.  There were certainly the necessary faux pas that came with being a middle-school girl, as I believed black lip liner was a good idea and knee high socks with every outfit was a trendy choice.  To my mother's dismay, my favorite pair of earrings in the 6th grade were these lime green parrots I found at a mall jewelry store that specialized in gaudy plastic accessories.  With my backpack purse, fluffed-up bangs and parrots dangling from my ears, I was quite something to behold in 1993.  

Can we all just go back and give our 12 year-old selves a hug?  Bless our hearts.   

Over time, my love for both colorful and classic looks evolved as did my collection of shoes and scarves and my own jewelry box full of accessories.  Admittedly, I am somewhat of a jewelry-addict, which is a trait I obviously inherited from my mother.  Though if I’m honest, my jewelry box is not only a box, but a large frame to house my 60+ pairs of earrings and all of the necklaces I own. Accessories are like the sprinkles on top of a perfectly frosted cupcake; they complete and pull together every outfit.  Living in south Texas, one has to be creative in dressing for fall as the cool weather comes and goes and our afternoons get quite warm.  I have found that layering, finding lightweight cardigans and scarves, and things like ankle pants with flats or sandals are both functional and stylish for the season here.

Fall is such a sweet time for family traditions. When a big cold front makes it to our neck of the woods, I pull together my coziest pieces.  Dark jeans, and a plaid blanket scarf to match a flowing sweater vest.  It's the perfect outfit when I take my boys down to the pumpkin patch and end the day around our fire pit eating s'mores and making hand puppets on the fence in our backyard.

Since it's one of the best times of the year to be outside, I often meet my girlfriends for coffee or a soup and sandwich lunch together.  On the pleasant fall days that get a little warmer, I might wear a dress with a cardigan, a draped scarf and boots. Mustard is one of my favorite fall colors and I love to pair this cardigan with navy or plum colored tops too.

I am always in the mood for new jewelry. As if by magic, there somehow seems to be room in my jewelry box for more, just as it was with my mother.  I live by the motto that one can never have too many shoes or accessories!  My friends over at AUrate, have some beautiful gold pieces that would be the perfect accents to my fall wardrobe.  AUrate has pieces that are both modern and timeless, classic and fresh, with a stunning simplicity in design.  Their unique style and handmade pieces, such as their gorgeous earrings, can dress up an outfit as well as accent casual looks just like mine.

Not only do they have the loveliest designs, but they are a wonderful company that cares about quality, care and giving back.  It is so inspiring to read about women who are changing the way business is run by emphasizing the things that matter the most.

There is still a little girl inside of me who loves all things golden and sparkly.  It's been a while since I've put a ring on every finger and the lime green parrot earrings were retired by the end of middle school.  My grown up self continues to love the sound of my fancy high heels on a tile floor.  And every time I pull together an outfit with the perfect accessories, I'm reminded of my mother and how I hoped to emulate her beauty.

With its golden trees and amber sunlight, autumn always takes me back to memories of my mother.  No matter the season, wearing a pair of dangling earrings or clutching my dainty gold chains, is like having a piece of her with me all the time. 

Weekend Finds

On Friday morning I went to a book fair. Apparently, this fair comes every year to sell gadzooks of used books. All hardback books sell for $1 and all paperback books sell for $.50 cents each. And since my son is quite the bookworm, I decided it would be "fun" to go to the fair and find some new books for him. I'm not sure who is more over the books he currently has - me or him. Either way, it was time for some new reads.

I don't think anything could have prepared me for the little book fair that we went to though. I just remember walking in the doors thinking I was going to have a relaxing morning, perusing through books, visiting with my friend who I had met there and entertaining Tommy with the books we were looking at. Haha.

The book fair was being held at a local athletic center where several school districts play all of their games. After walking in and looking down onto the gym floor from the stairs, it looked like a million ants crawling over a cookie that someone had left out. If my mother-in-law hadn't have been with me, I would have needed to leave as there was no way I could have kept up with Tommy and found books at the same time.

I found the children's section of the chaos and quickly learned that others treated this sale like a Black Friday situation. There was pushing and shoving and grabbing and I wanted to tell several people, "Um, I'm pretty sure there's enough books to go around!" Seriously, there were thousands upon thousands, maybe even over a million books in this place. It was INSANITY.

Thankfully. I managed to find my way through the vicious moms pushing their screaming children in strollers. I almost got knocked over by a lady in a wagon, but I found a ton of new books for Tommy. Once my box was full I got in line to check out - I could only take so much!

I got Tommy 24 new books!
And I managed to find a few old copies of "The Babysitter's Club" books. I had those when I was growing up and I have always regretted throwing them away. So anytime I find one anywhere, I snatch it up and add it to my collection.
All 24 books for Tommy and 13 BSC books for my inner child was only $26. (Pretty sure they miscounted and I was undercharged - I realized this after getting home). Either way, I was all about the deals. Even with the insane crowds and the pushing and shoving, it was kind of worth it. And I will probably go back next year because you can't beat paying .50 cents or $1 for any book!

Because look at my little guy! We were in new book heaven all weekend!
Both of us were busy all afternoon reading all of his new books - oh it's so nice to have something new to read!
I also found Tommy's Easter suit this weekend. Todd's mom bought it for us. He's going to be so handsome!
Todd was off on Saturday, so we attempted to venture out......
We drove up to Cabela's. I took Tommy to the toy section of the store where he found a truck that he couldn't live without.
And we lasted all of 20 minutes before we had a severe meltdown and it was time to go and get our nap on.
I was one of those moms carrying my kicking, screaming and hitting child out of the store while everyone was looking at me with wide eyes and I couldn't help but wonder what they were thinking of me. Because I remember pre-Tommy, feeling sorry for anyone I ever saw like that or wondering if they were kidnapping a child, because what child could act like that towards their parent? Um yeah....

Books, Easter outfits and trucks aside, we had a nice weekend all together even though each part didn't look exactly like I had hoped it would. Things rarely go as you plan and I'm trying to learn to just roll with the punches and find enjoyment in the places that I can.

Did you find anything good this weekend?