Open to Interpretation

Amy's pick this round!

Source. Used with permission.

To be honest, this one was hard for me.

A couple people will probably leave my blog never to return after they read the blasphemy about to pour from my fingers (farewell, friends, I will miss you), but I have a confession:

I don't love leopard print.

I mean, it's fine, but I loved leopard print when I was 15 then moved on and it hasn't been gone long enough for me to miss it.

Been there, done that, got the hat. (Hi Laura!)

Also, I've never been a polka dot person. Or, really, a green person. So you can kind of see where I might have a hard time. I can't tell you how many times I went into my closet and just stood there thinking, "What on EARTH can I do for this one?"

I finally just had to give the silhouette a go because my closet was offering no other options.

Thrifted belt and shoes, skirt from a dress I chopped up, ATL shirt, necklace from my mom, cuff from a trip to the Bahamas when I was in high school. Please note the Stinky arm.

I didn't love it. To be fair, I would have hated anything I wore that day. I had a food baby that wouldn't go away, a massive cheekbone zit that is mercifully hidden by my sunglasses, and my eyebrows were launching an attack on the rest of my face (still are, actually). Totally reminded me of being 15. Which is when I last wore leopard print. Very appropriate.

And, on that cheery note, check out Amy's and Erica's interpretations then link up below!

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So. Hunger Games.

Ok, can we talk about the Hunger Games movie? Please? Cool.

Did anyone else notice that Gale was on screen for about 3 minutes total? Liam Hemsworth looks so out of place in all the press stuff and Jennifer and Josh are all like, "Inside jokes! Friendly ribbing!" and he's like, "...yeah, haha..ha.." and now I know why. J & J were on set together for months and Liam was there for about 20 minutes to film his scenes and then he got to go home. I kind of wonder if he's hating this press tour just a little bit.

via

Did anyone else notice how quiet the movie was? I'm not sure how they had enough material to release a whole soundtrack because most of the time I was smacking Aaron for eating his M&Ms too loudly and disturbing everyone else in the theater. You could have heard a pin drop. Or obnoxious teenage girls chattering over OMGPEETA. Whichever.

Speaking of obnoxious teenage girls, they cheered when Cato (spoiler) died. Ok, yeah, he was trying to kill Katniss and Peeta but it's not like he was a bad person. You can't blame him for trying to win. None of the deaths were worth celebrating. Twits. Their loud and constant commentary (in a completely full theater, mind you) ruined my experience just a bit.

As soon as it was over I wanted to watch it again (alone with my tissues, thanks), which is exactly how it was with the books. They brought Suzanne Collins on as a screenwriter, which almost NEVER happens. She steered them aright when it came to sticking to the source material. Sacrifices had to be made for the sake of time (very sad the bread from 11 didn't make the cut) but it was still pretty well done. Aaron said he felt unsatisfied, and I know what he meant. The books had so much more depth but that's kind of the way it goes when you're dealing with page to screen adaptation. I'm happy with what they gave us.

Did you see it this weekend? What did you think??

Me Elsewhere

I contributed a spring fashion post to Dianna's Spring Fling series. Go check it out!

OTI for All

Next Thursday (March 29th) will be our OTI link-up! It was Amy's turn to choose the inspiration, and this was her pick:

Source

If you'd like a button for your post, here's one for grabs-

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Vested. Also: Thoughts on Blogging

Forever 21 vest and jeans and bangles (this is almost everything I own from there, actually), Target shirt, TOMS shoes

Do you blog? If so, do you tell people you know in real life about your blog?

I have a confession: I am thoroughly embarrassed by this blog. I call it my silly vain little hobby. I hid it from most of my real life friends for a while (still do, to an extent) and am almost always a little horrified when it comes up in conversation with non bloggers (they just don't get it, you know?). I am definitely not one of those people who shares their blog posts on Facebook. In fact, I haven't even liked my own Facebook page because then people I know might see it.

At church a few weeks ago a friend of mine introduced me to a woman who had just moved into our ward as, "This is Kayla. She has a fashion blog." And I died a little inside.

We had dinner at my in-laws last week and I arrived late, after my husband had apparently already told some visitors about my blog. I took a seat and my blog came up and I tried to start talking about our family blog and they were like, "um, no, the other one." I spluttered an explanation and I could feel my face getting hotter and hotter..."Um...you're turning kind of red." Yes, well. That happens.

When people find out I blog I kind of wonder if they start to see me as one of those people who lives in their parents' basement and plays a lot of Dungeons and Dragons. Is blogging mainstream enough now that I don't have to be embarrassed anymore? Cool people blog too, right?

How do you handle the blog/real life divide?

Investment Pieces

Louboutins. Serious investment.

A couple people mentioned on my last Wednesday Want post that they do spend $80+ on jeans because the cost per wear ends up being pretty low. Nicer jeans end up being investment pieces.

The concept of an "investment piece" is one that I like in theory but struggle with in practice. Every once in a while (usually in January when it comes time to make resolutions) I'll get the idea that I'm going to invest in good clothing - jeans, a white button up, high quality shoes - and then it comes time to actually fork over my cash and I just. can't. do it. Aaron is the same way. He's been talking about getting a nice suit for at least a year but the thought of actually spending that much on a suit will probably prevent him from ever taking the plunge.

The other day I was thinking I'd like to have a couple pieces of nice jewelry-- the kind of thing I could pass on to a hypothetical daughter or granddaughter. And maybe that will happen someday but probably only if it's given to me as a gift. I doubt I'll ever spend the money on myself!

Do you own any investment pieces? How do you choose what is worthwhile to splurge on? If you had to choose ONE thing to splurge on, what would it be? Shoes? Jeans? Makeup? Skincare? Jewelry?

Q&A

I'm not really one who does memes but for Meredith? I will.

1. Post these rules.

2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 things about yourself/your life .

3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.

4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them that you've tagged them.

Picture by Stinky

1. Pineapple and kiwi make my mouth feel weird. I still eat a lot but at the end I'm not really enjoying it anymore.

2. I broke my nose when I was little and I have a not-so-secret wish for a nose job. I came into some money as a teenager (car accident settlement) and my mom told me a couple years later that she was surprised I didn't go for the nose job. I'm really annoyed that I didn't think of it at the time!

3. My (our) dream is to buy a house with a bunch of land and trees and have a pretty garden and spend lots of time outside together. I have to figure out how to garden.

4. I played softball in junior high. I'm pretty sure the only reason I made the team is because I was enthusiastic and very willing to learn. I spent a lot of time in the outfield and on the bench.

5. I like my hands and feet and I like my nails really really short. Long nails gross me out.

6. My first car was a Mercury Sable with iffy A/C and a broken motor mount that made it jerk if you accelerated too fast. Classy.

7. I was pretty good at climbing trees as a kid.

8. I studied anthropology in college. I knew I'd never do anything with it but I loved it anyway. I was supposed to go study in Ghana during my second summer at BYU but things kept going wrong and I finally threw my hands up and decided to go home instead. That's when I met Aaron.

9. I really want to go live in Costa Rica for a year. Our surf trip there in 2007 was one of the best times of my life.

10. I've always been able to raise my left eyebrow but it was only through very careful focus, effort and exercise in the 4th grade that I learned how to raise the right one. In retrospect, my teacher had to wonder what on earth was going on with my face every day while I sat there focusing and practicing.

11. When I wish on a star I almost always accidentally say "amen" at the end.

Me and Miss Micoe, my freshman roommate

And now for Meredith's questions:

1. What's the best  thing you ever ate?

This requires two answers. When I was pregnant and so very sick with baby Stinky I had a passionate love affair with Eggo waffles. I went through a period of like 6 weeks where all I wanted all the time was Eggos. There's a funny story here but I'm not sure I want to tell it since it involves me being furious at a perfectly innocent person. Let's just say someone moved in on my Eggos and I didn't take it well.

In my regular not-insane life, I can't put my finger on something specific but I'm sure it involved cheese.

 2. Do you prefer the radio, Ipod, or a CD while driving?

Silence, if I can get it. Otherwise it's the radio by default. My iPhone has like 4 songs on it, all of which are Christmas songs, and I'm not sure I even own CDs anymore.

3. What's your most prized possession?

Probably my iPhone. I was blown away when Aaron got one for me. What do I need an iPhone for? But I love it so much. I live in fear of something happening to it.

4. What's your fave ride at Disneyland?

Oh my gosh, I love ALL of Disneyland. It's my favorite place in the whole world. I can more easily pick a favorite child than a favorite ride.

5. What's your favorite clothing trend from your lifetime?

Maxi dresses. And skinny jeans.

6. What's the best road trip you ever took?

My sister and I took a fair number of road trips between Mesa and Provo when we were both up there at school. Several times when there was a 3 day weekend we were like, "Let's go home!" We'd drive 10 hours on one day, have a day at home, then drive 10 hours back. We laughed a lot on those trips. One time we accidentally went to California. Good times.

7. What's the first song you remember knowing all the words to?

Tom Petty's Free Fallin'

8. What was your favorite year of HS?

Senior, for sure. It was such a great year! It's tinted gold in my memory.

9. What did you want to be when you grew up when you were a little kid?

Something to do with animals, I think. Which is funny because I have since realized that I am NOT an animal person. Fuzzy baby animals that for sure won't pee on me? Yes. Everything else? Pass.

10. What's your go-to meal to make?

This chicken. Minus the goat cheese though (not my thing).

11. What's the first chapter book you ever remember finishing?

Probably Bridge to Terabithia? I also read a LOT of Goosebumps and Babysitter's Club so those are possibilities. 

My sister and I in high school

My questions for the tagged:

1. What is your favorite book?

2. If you got to choose a superpower, what would it be?
3. Would you ever consider plastic surgery for yourself? What would you have done?
4. What is your favorite kind of cheese?
5. How do you eat a Reese's peanut butter cup?
6. What was your best subject in school?
7. If you could live absolutely anywhere (and take your family and friends with you), where would you live?
8. How do you feel about snow?
9. Did you have any nicknames growing up? What were they?
10. What size shoe do you wear?
11. What is your favorite thing about yourself? (can be physical, personality, whatever)


Erica beat me to a lot of the people I was going to tag (and most blogs I read have already done it) so I don't have many, but I tag Nikki, Nicole, Kimberly, Becca.


(you ladies have zero obligation to do this! As a (normally) non-memer I will not be offended!)

Open to Interpretation

My pick! I feel like the longer we do OTI the more stressful it is to pick inspiration. I don't want to let it get stale and boring for us or for our readers. I want to pick something that will be fun and push me to use my closet differently but that also gives room for a lot of different interpretations. Not easy. But I really loved my choice for this round!

I sent Amy and Erica this picture and told them they could take inspiration from the character as a whole, rather than just the picture:

I spy pattern mixing on BOTH of them! Fashion visionaries, I tell you.

Oh how I love Anne Shirley and her gorgeous red hair and crazy antics! I also have a deep and abiding love for Gilbert Blythe (sigh).

Here's what I did with it:

Thrifted blouse (similar), vest from last chance (similar), Lauren Conrad for Kohl's pants, F21 bangles, Miss Mooz shoes via Last Chance

Anne is always in a shirtwaist with a collar and I really loved the vest in the picture above. I started off in a high waisted blue skirt that came almost to the bottom of the vest. I loved the look but it was too costumey so I swapped it out for pants, which I ended up not liking nearly as much. Live and learn.

Also, I slept with wet hair in Anne braids (to get into the proper spirit) which led to crazy waves. Alas, my sleeves were not puffed but that is because I look like a linebacker in puffed sleeves.

The next round (March 29th) is going to be Amy's choice and another OTI for All link-up. We hope you'll play along!

Click on over to see Amy's and Erica's interpretations!

Orange Blossoms

Forever 21 top, old skirt (similar), Charming Charlie hoop earrings, belt from JCPenney (came with a different skirt), F21 bracelets

This is my absolute favorite time of year in Arizona. The weather is perfectly gorgeous and the orange trees are blooming. Step outside just about anywhere and you will die from how amazing the air smells. We've got got an orange tree in our backyard that is currently making me want to have the doors open all the time (which is how this happened).

The one downside of blossoms is that they attract bees.

BEES

I Know it's a Bird, I'm On the Phone!

In order to tell this story, I must first set out three facts:

1. I am scared of birds. Up in the sky is fine. In my immediate vicinity is not.

2. I am weird about germs. I would say borderline OCD about them and in the real mental-health disorder way, not the cutesy quirky way. Panic and compulsive hand-washing have been known to occur.

3. Aaron works from home. He is ALWAYS home. He'll be gone for lunch meetings a few times a month but for him to be gone all day long is ridiculously rare. Thursday was one of those rare days.

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Stinky has preschool on Thursdays. After I picked him up we stopped to see a friend in the neighborhood and we were away from home for a couple hours. When we were pulling into the driveway I remembered that I had accidentally left one of the back sliders open. Oops. Stinky went in through the garage door while I got Baby 2 out of his car seat.

Stinky, giggling: Hey, Ma? There's a birdy in our house!

Me, wrestling Baby 2 out of the car: What do you mean there's a birdy in the house?

Bird, flying into the walls and ceiling: SQUEEEEQUEEESQUEEEQUEEEEEE

Me: AGHHH STINKY GET OUT OF THERE GET OUT GET OUT

The three of us stood around in the garage for several minutes while I tried to figure out what on earth to do about the freaky bird of disease and death polluting my kitchen. You know, THE PLACE WHERE WE EAT. This was when the manic crying hyena laugh started.

The situation was pretty funny, so I started laughing. Which turned into hysterical laugher. I laughed so hard I cried. The situation was also terrifying and frustrating so the crying also took hold until I was laughing hysterically while also bawling. And sounding like a hyena. This went on for a while.

I finally pulled myself together enough to be functional and realized I couldn't do anything about the bird from the garage and we had to get in the house. "On the count of three," I told them.

We have a baby gate between our kitchen and living room. In my rush to get the freak away from the bird I pushed through the baby gate which rebounded and slammed shut behind me. I ran off down the hall to hide in my room.

Yes. I abandoned my 2 and 4 year old in the kitchen. With the bird.

(In my defense, they were not scared of the bird, only annoyed at being locked in the kitchen, which they hate in any situation)

We hid in the boys' room (with the door locked, thanks to Stinky) while I made a few calls. Aaron didn't answer. Mom was at work and helpfully mentioned the possibility of the bird getting in my hair (WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT). I called a couple of other friends, none of whom could help me and some of whom couldn't even understand me, thanks to the return of the manic crying hyena laugh.

I was struck by a sudden, horrible thought that maybe the bird would fly out of the kitchen, through the living room and down the hall into my bedroom, where it would then walk on my pillow. So I ran to the spare room, pulled down my photography backdrop and used it to block off the hallway.

No birdies allowed

And then I quieted my crazy sobbing laughter as much as possible and crept to the kitchen to check out the bird situation.

I can't get the sliding door open if you're sitting over it. Idiot.

Any time I got near the kitchen the bird would freak out and then the manic crying hyena laugh would get really loud and I finally just laid on the floor and tried to make peace with the idea that the bird might be in my kitchen until Aaron got home really late that night. The bird clearly had not realized the garage door was open for him and I couldn't get to the slider. We were at an impasse.

Stinky decided to take matters into his own hands. He marched out of his room and declared, "Ma? I'm going to help you, ok?" I opened the gate for him and he stood in the kitchen for a good 15 minutes trying to reason with the bird.

"Birdy! You're being very silly. You need go outside. Your mommy is out there! The door is open! Go out the door, birdy!"

My hero

Weirdly, the bird kind of listened to him. Or at least it didn't freak out because of his presence (and vice versa). Stinky coaxed the bird to the other side of the kitchen. I figured maybe the bird wasn't scared of short people so I dropped to the floor and army crawled to the slider and opened the blinds. Unfortunately, our slider has a lock at the top so I had to stand up to get it.

Bird freak out. Drop to the floor. Manic crying hyena laugh under our kitchen table.

The bird calmed down and I army crawled to the pantry to get the broom. Between Stinky and I (but mostly Stinky, who calmy ate a tortilla while also shooing the bird) we finally got the nasty critter out the door so I could bleach my kitchen and start having nightmares about weird bird diseases attacking my family.

(Title and pillow reference can be found in full hilarity here)

Baby Love

The top photo is my mom and my sister as a baby. When my sister had her baby girl a few months ago she decided to recreate it. Isn't it beautiful? I keep going back to look at it.

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Feeling Dressy

1. Dorothy Perkins coral v-neck peplum dress
2. Asos color block dress
3. Alloy Carly Knit dress
4. Asos midi with belt
5. Modcloth Blue Isthmus dress
6. Vero Moda Button Back dress
7. Target belted dress
8. Vero Moda red midi dress
9. eShakti The Birds Who Gossip dress*

It never fails...we've had some warmer weather the past few weeks and yesterday morning I woke up and thought, "Jeans? Psh! Give me a dress!"

This is a very restrained list. I've seen SO many dresses lately that I love. Asos, in particular, is killing me but I've found good stuff everywhere.

(confession: I know I'm trying not to buy too much new stuff but I got #3 last week and LOVE it. A worthy purchase.)  

Don't forget there are often great deals on Amazon for designer fashions!

Seen any pretty and affordable dresses around lately??

Open to Interpretation

This round was Erica's pick!

Madewell 2011

Darn that Erica! Her inspiration pictures are always the hardest for me. I own nothing in this color. My one silk blouse is in the dry clean pile. I am scared of scarves. I don't own hipster glasses. I got nothing. I barely squeaked in under the deadline with my outfit but I did it!

Thrifted top (similar), thrifted scarf (similar), Gap jeans (similar), Target moccs, Simply Vera sunglasses from Kohls

Besos!

After spending an entire day going in and out of my closet searching for SOMETHING to wear for this round, I rediscovered this linen shirt all wrinkled and abandoned at the far back. It has very similar details as the one in the inspiration pic so I busted out the iron. I tied a scarf in my hair instead of around my neck so as to avoid the dreaded flight attendant look (no offense to flight attendants) and I quite liked the result.

Go check out Amy's and Erica's interpretations!