Bringin It Back

I haven't blogged in so long. Since November. Work and life have just been so busy!
But I miss you, my blogging friends! I haven't even had a chance to even read any blogs the last few months. I miss that. 


Here's the last 6 months of my life.

In November, I worked my butt off for 2 craft shows I did for my Lemon Drop business. Did pretty well and sold some orders for Christmas at the same time. Then I worked the next month filling orders, baking yummy Christmas goodies, buying & wrapping presents, and just the general holiday craziness of it all.

Oh and 3 days before Christmas, I got the fun surprise of having my appendix out. Yay me. Thank goodness medicine has come a long way and God was taking care of me. I know many of you have probably had surgery before but the first time you go under the knife is kind of scary...especially when you don't have a choice.

Then in January, on top of my full-time job, I started working part-time for Weight Watchers. I haven't talked about Weight Watchers much, but they mean a lot to me in my life. I lost over 70 lbs to become a Lifetime member of WW. Now I want to give back some of my time to work for them and help other members who are trying to reach the same goal.

February, March & April were full of lots of birthday celebrations with my own, my husband's, his grandmother, his father, and my father.

So that's the basic recap of the last 6 months or so of my life.

And what of all those things I listed that I wanted to do the year I was 30? Looks like I did 12 of the 30. Not great but at least I accomplished some of them...I guess.

This is what I DID accomplish:

• Ran my first 5K.
• Went to Europe with the hubby.
• Paid off my student loans, this was SO freeing!
• On average, I've said the $200/month I wanted to save.  Saved less some months and more during other months. 
• Sewed some pillows.
• Enjoyed the sunset from our patio...behind which there are now lots of houses built.  :(
• Stayed at my WW Lifetime goal weight.
• Surprised my husband.  I didn't really plan anything major for this, I just tried to be more thoughtful and also buy him treats he would like from the store.  :)
• I read 5 (not 10) books from the Top 100 novels list.
• Mentor at a school.
• Go 30 days without using my credit card.
• Sew a small quilt.

 Considering that I hadn't blogged at all the last 3 months prior to turning 31, I was surprisingly only 6 posts short of reaching 52 posts/year which would equal 1 post/week, per one of the items on my list.

And I shall leave you with a fun outfit I put together on Polyvore. 
I love any variation of coral or orange this season!

  

 Stay tuned for pictures of my recent trip to the Kentucky Derby!!

  


I promise I'll try to blog more often!

Fall Favorites

Hey kids, I'm back! Did you miss me? Let me recap the last month and a half of my life for you. (For those not interested, skip ahead to some outfit pics which were really taken a few months ago).

At the end of September and into October, my hubby and I went to Europe!! We had SO much fun there! Started off at Oktoberfest in Munich, visited some German castles in lower Bavaria, visited the Koln Dom, got caught up in the charming city of Bruges, saw amazing art in Amsterdam, and had some of the most wonderful meals of my life!!

Best. Trip. EVER.

Plus vacations are always way more fun when 1) kids are in school and 2) you spend it with your best friend.

I need to post pics of our trip and I promise that is coming, but I still need some time to catch up on life.

Post Europe, I came back to craziness at work. Super busy and people freaking out while I was gone. Thanks for that, coworkers.

2 weeks later, we headed to New Orleans for the Voodoo music festival that we attend yearly.

The weekend after Voodoo, I was in my first craft show of the year (and actually made a profit, Woo hoo!)

Then work from home all the following weekend.

Then 2nd craft show and more profits, YAY!

Back to present day (which is only 2 days after 2nd craft show) and it's Thanksgiving week already! I'll be glad for the long weekend but I have lots of orders to fill from the craft show.

Next week, I have my family's (mom & 2 brothers, not twins) birthday to celebrate, as well as my mother-in-law's birthday party to host.

Maybe THEN I'll have some time to just relax. Ha. We'll see.

But really, I'm not complaining. I like staying busy. It's easier to prioritize what you need to do when you have a million things to accomplish. Don't you think?

In some crafty news, I have a few new projects I've been trying lately that I will share with you soon.

Thanks for remembering that I exist and stopping by.

Here are some outfit photos I found in the depths of my computer files.

When my hubby takes the outfit pics, I get about 3 total and he says,

"Done. See? It doesn't take 30 minutes to take pictures of your outfit."

Boys are funny.

light grey pinstripe jacket (GAP), free from garage sale

white/black polka dot top (Macy's)

red/black floral skirt (Ann Taylor)

electric blue heels (Kohl's), thrifted

Yep, Lucy snuck into that last photo.

She's always curious when I'm taking pics.

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving this week! Family fun, fabulous food, and (hopefully) fantastic football!

Then I'll stay up to start shopping at midnight on Black Friday. People think I'm crazy, but it's a tradition in our family. Even if I don't buy that much, I still like getting up early to do it.

Do you have any crazy/fun Thanksgiving traditions in your family? What are they?

Hope y'all have an amazing week!

Fall Colors Work Outfit

Fall Colors Work Outfit by lemondroplinz featuring white feather earrings

Orange Red Top Remix - Weekend to Work

Orange Red Top Remix - Weekend to Work by lemondroplinz featuring shoulder hand bags

Ready for Fall with Color

Very busy summer. Not as much time to blog lately. And now September is here and we're even busier than we were this summer! Sometimes I wish for a quiet, lazy life...but I guess that would be pretty boring, huh?

Created this on Polyvore yesterday. I finally came out of my shopping ban...I pretty much came out of it at a sprint and hit up some fav stores, Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters, mmm.

I like the outfit combinations here and all the color! This perfectly transitions from a day at the office to a night out with the hubs.

Ready for Fall with Color by lemondroplinz featuring clutch bags

The only thing I'm lacking in my closet now are those colored pants! I have tried on skinny jeans, and you know what? They don't work for me! They make my ghetto booty (pear shape) look even bigger!

Looking on fashion blogs, I just assumed that everyone looked good in skinny jeans. But nope, I don't. So I'm giving up on that search.

So my new search is colored pants/jeans that are NOT skinny. And I have some good leads so far...J Crew and Nordstrom. Going to check out J Crew this weekend. And maybe hit up Nordstrom too if J Crew isn't successful.

I hope y'all are enjoying the end of summer and beginning of fall. We've actually had some decent weather in Houston this last week. Temps were actually in the 70s and 80s, NOT the 100s!

But Texas also has several large fires still destroying land and people's homes. Many prayers going out to those folks.

The Pattern Is Full

I totally messed up the last couple months and forgot to look at the EBEW website and participate in the challenges! Which means I missed Yellow and Thrift!

But I happened to remember to look for August and it's Pattern Mixing, woo hoo!!

I love bright colors and fun patterns so this is going to be fun!!

Lucy is so excited she can't even see straight or sit still!

Here's the ensemble I chose for pattern mixing.

striped sweater: JC Penney


ruched bright purple top with bow: NY & Co.
shiny purple skinny belt: Target


earrings: cheap jewelry store off of Harwin in Houston


lovely floral skirt: LOFT outlet

I incorporated 3 patterns into this outfit!

Maybe it's just my opinion, but I'm pretty sure I nailed this challenge.

I also made a trip to Sam's after work in this outfit. And I got the sweetest compliment on my hair. Isn't that the best?

I love my not-so-basic black heels for work! The heel is short and comfy and the print makes it unique. I hate for my shoes to look like run of the mill black work pumps. Boring!

Hope you enjoyed my pattern-full outfit. I definitely loved putting it together and wearing it!
Check out some other pattern mixing over at Every Body Every Wear. There are some great inspirations out there for your next outfit!

Minty Fresh & Sort Of Clean

We've been experiencing some hotter than heck days in Texas. When it is over 100 degrees for half the day, you tend to just stay inside and soak up the AC. Who cares if your light bill is higher for a few months, because you don't want to die before then by walking outside! And Houston is extra blessed because of the crazy humidity.

But that's enough complaining. Before I continue, though, I'd like to blame the heat and humidity for my lack of fashion posts. I just can't make myself take pictures outside when I am sweating within 10 seconds of walking out there. And y'all don't want me to do it before work, because my make-up gets put on in the truck. I know, safety hazard, blah blah blah.

Anyway, so I love this mint green blouse because it's so breathable for summer. It's light and airy and even pretty too!

In this first pic, I paired it with some Ann Taylor shorts for a quick and cute summer outfit for the weekend. I think this was a Sunday and I first had on a lace black skirt and then changed to shorts to bum around the house.

Note the stretchy headband and lack of footwear. I'm pretty sure I had just done a load of dishes and came outside to take a quick pic.

The next day, I donned my gray pencil skirt, fav summer blazer, and snakeskin heels for an easy breezy work look.

I love using 1-2 pieces from my Sunday outfit for a quick look on Monday. I just can't get inspired without help on Monday mornings. The weekend is over too quickly and my brain isn't functioning yet because I make my coffee right before I leave!

Y'all, this picture makes me laugh.
I mean, what on earth was I thinking when I looked into the camera like that?

"I know your deep, dark secrets, Mr. Camera"

haha.

Blouse: JC Penney, Blazer: Ann Taylor, Skirt: Target, Heels: DSW

Please ignore the fact that I need lipstick. Thank you.

Also, I hate lipstick. But I love lip gloss.

These are the earrings I wore on my wedding day! :)

Yay for love & dangly earrings!

Close up of this lovely blouse that I'm trying not to wear every single day.

But believe me, I totally want to.

Do you ever make it easy on yourself too and just grab a piece from Sunday to wear to work on Monday?

Sometimes I will even copy the entire outfit for Monday and just leave it at that. Please don't think I wear dirty clothes or anything, I only re-wear it if it was only worn on Sunday for a couple hours.

psbtw, It's good to be back! Missed y'all!