Keepin’ It Real: May 2014

Every month, I try to do a summary of that month with outfit outtakes and a quick wrap up of things I might have missed blogging about in that month. May had some doozies in terms of outtakes. And it was a doozy of a month for a lot of people I know, my family included. When I told my friend we had to endure one more day of May, she exclaimed, “NO-O-O!”

I hear ya, sister.

If you missed last month’s “Keepin’ It Real”, you can find it here.

On to this recap. May, I will not miss you:

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Recipe fail. My mom asked me the other day, “Do you post everything you make?” Oh my gosh, no! When you are experimenting with a new recipe there are going to be some misses. I have even made some recipes from very acclaimed chefs and have had to throw the whole dish away. So, no, I do not post about every recipe. Only the ones I would absolutely make again. And again.

The other day, I made this dessert. So bad. Tip: Do not add raspberries to Strawberry Shortcake. It sounds good. It is not good.

Outfit Outtakes:

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As promised. A glimpse of Holy Holey Girdle. It is such a small glimpse. We saved over the other original pictures with the revised ones, so this is what we have left. Here is the actual outfit post.

It really is more like an extra pair of skin colored shorts than anything else. And to be even more forthright, the only reason I wore them on this day was to hide my colored underwear. The dress is so flowy, it hides a lot of flaws. The girdle is not the typical spanx. It does not offer much support, but it makes me feel more confident.

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And I could not resist adding this picture because of the unfortunate placement of my hand.

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So, I fell in a cactus (picture of my cactus hand is in “Keepin’ It Real: April 2014. Link above). And my twirling has never been the same. The outfit post for this photo shoot is here.

This picture makes me laugh.

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“True Detective”, anyone? Just a bit of an odd thing to find around town.

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Peonies! Everywhere?! Yes, please! Tip: Trader Joe’s will let you take the plastic bucket if you ask nicely. : )

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Does this alert ever make anyone’s day better?

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At San Diego Children’s Hospital, the ceiling tiles are randomly painted overhead. Isn’t that just a nice unexpected thing? That way, when a child is being wheeled through the halls and into various rooms, they have something to look at and look forward to.

I could hug whoever thought of this.

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My mom gifted me a gift card to Anthropologie and these for Mother’s Day. Isn’t that the sweetest?!

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Father’s Day idea. My kids each made my dad and my husband some of these hammers a few years ago. We just painted a wooden hammer and then shellacked it. I found the idea on Pinterest. Easy peasy.

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And my most exciting purchase of the month. Seriously. These barf bags. I have a post about them ready. If you ever get car sick or have children that get sick, these are priceless.

With that in mind, May, you can be on your way.

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Oh my gosh! Last night my husband and I were dancing with the dogs in the kitchen to “I like to move it.” When we sing it to the dogs they dance with us. It is actually quite cute and comical.

The dogs are funny, too.

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Well, Ollie got too rambunctious and did a back flip! He hit his head so hard. We immediately stopped dancing, but I felt so bad for him. You can see the beginning of it in this picture. Who knew he had it in him?

Coming up in June:

Maui posts! We are heading back to Maui next week and I cannot wait to blog about it!
My Husband’s Secret Part II… She had to find out sometime. ; )
Honey Ice Cream! My favorite treat in the summer.
Whirlin’ Twirlin’ (Free People Mixed Print Tunic).

What did you think of May? Will you be happy or sad to see it end?

Bermeja Tunic Dress

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You would think a girl whose favorite novel being entitled, “Name of the Wind”, would be more interested in names than I am. Blame it on having the most popular name of my generation. A common name. And you will start to see the reasoning behind my conditioning. A name might be what is given to you, but the words you have earned by which your name is described to others, are your own.

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Lately, I have become more intrigued by the names of things. I think it also has to do with naming blog title posts each and every day. Do I give the post a funny name? A punny name? One that makes me smile? Or do I stick to what the search engines want and keep it boring and simple? I try to do both.

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This dress has the name Bermeja Tunic Dress. I decided to look the word “Bermeja” up. Imagine my surprise in discovering that the name of this dress is controversial. Historical. Quite interesting.

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Bermeja is a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico. Or was a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico. Or might or might not have been a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico. Nobody knows. Because either it disappeared or it simply never existed.

There are many theories about the island. I found my information on Lonely Planet. You can click there if you wish to learn more.

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The reason this is even more interesting to me is because on the day these pictures were taken, I wore my Holy Holey Girdle. Yes, you read that right. I will have to do a post on it sometime.

Well, this dress ended up being shorter than expected and we ended up having to edit Holy Holey Girdle out of two pictures. This led me to feel many mixed emotions. I have never edited a picture before by erasing a flaw in it. I want to be true to myself. But I also don’t want Holy Holey Girdle to get all of the attention.

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It is kind of addicting. This fixing of one’s flaws. I am not going to say this will be the last time I do that. In fact, I will say, that will definitely not be the last time I do that. But in an effort to be real, I will share an unedited picture on tomorrow’s Keepin’ It Real” post, complete with a glimpse of Holy Holey Girdle.

‘Cause if it is about names. The truth in names. Then I want my name to be a real island. Of truth. Even if the truth can get ugly. At least it won’t sink with the weight of lies.

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Paired with the dress, are my new Tarara Gladiator Sandals from Anthropologie (they are almost all sold out, but other stores have them. Bloomingdale’s has them here). Tarara is a small town in Cuba. In New Zealand, Tarara means fast talker (source: Wikipedia).

These sandal boots were made for talkin’…

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Had you ever heard of Bermeja before? What are your thoughts on names?

*The bracelets and necklaces are a mish mash of older pieces (similar bracelet here) and Forever 21’s Globetrotter Beaded Cuffs. The turquoise necklace is from Simply Livly on Etsy and the other necklaces are old layering necklaces from Anthropologie (similar here).

* I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!

It’s The Little Things: Summer Wine

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I did a post awhile back about my favorite red wine.Then I wrote about the time my husband came home with a bottle of wine named after the girl of his dreams. And I thought that would be it for my posts on alcohol. But who are we kidding? Or rather whose blog is this?

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It looks like someone else likes my wine, too.

My husband recently went to the store. And he came home with a pink moscato. And I was slightly disappointed inside. Not because I don’t like moscato. Because I do. I really, really do. For those of you who are not wine drinkers, moscato wines are usually very sweet and they often have a low alcohol content. And, of course, that was the reason for my sadness. I consider a wine with a low alcohol content, a waste of calories. There is much logic and perhaps sadness to that statement.

Nevertheless, it is true.

So, imagine my surprise when I saw that this moscato had a 9% alcohol content. The alcohol content is still not as high as a typical bottle of red or white wine. But it is higher than the 6% I had seen in previous moscato wines I have tried.

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Is it just me or is Murphy way too interested in this wine?… I think he’s guarding it!

And it is so good. It is perfect for summer. Sweet. Cold.

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Yep. That is definitely my dog.

The brand is called Barefoot. My husband purchased it for $5 a bottle at Albertson’s, because it was discounted if you bought six or more. He also bought their regular white moscato and a red moscato. I have not tried those yet, but the awards on the label look promising.

It’s the little things: adult beverages for the summer at a great price.

Do you like sweet wine? Have you tried this brand of wine before?

Anthropologie Late Spring Reviews

Last week, I found myself down in San Diego with my husband and my son. My son had requested that we eat at The Cheesecake Factory after an appointment that he had. So, we were very happy to indulge him. However, it was ten o’clock in the morning and the restaurant did not open until eleven.

Whatever would we do?

My husband took my son to The Lego Store where they happily discovered that the new Minecraft Lego set is now out. They set out to find a table to build it. So, of course, their day was made.

I planned on heading to Anthropologie to try on a few lovelies, but I got sidetracked at Forever 21 where I purchased a few things (this and this). And let me pause and say Forever 21 is killing it this season. I have been so impressed with the quality and price of their clothing. Usually I just go here to shop for my daughter but their clothes have been good for me, too, this year. And the accessories are fabulous for the low cost. Who cares that I could have a daughter the age of the name of the store? Sob.

Before I knew it, it was 10:40 by the time I made my way into Anthropologie.

I had twenty minutes to shop.

An amateur would have panicked.

I tried on the following items and even made these purchases that day in my time limit. They say everyone is good at somethin’. I don’t know that this is quite what they meant:

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First, this is what I wore that day. My Savant Swing Dress I purchased on sale with my vintage boots. And my gnome necklace sweet Heather from The Peacock Fairy gifted to me.

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And this Anthropologie wooden ring ($10!!!).

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I was really excited about trying on the Tinamou Stitched Tunic. I loved it online. I loved it in person.

I don’t do sleeveless.

I feel too self conscience.

I reluctantly put this back on the rack. I hope it makes it to sale for me, because I would definitely purchase this top at a sale price. I just could not justify paying full price for an item that I might not feel comfortable wearing all of the time. My usual size medium in tops fit fine. It was a tiny bit big but I liked it that way.

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I had immediately put the Peralta Flared Dress in my wishlist when I first saw it. I am a sucker for stripes. And bright stripes? Forget about it.

Unfortunately, this dress was not as good on me as it looked online. It is big and the cut of the arms and arm holes is awkward on my body. I tried on my usual six. Although the size six was too large, I think a size four would have been too small.

I sadly removed this from my wishlist. It just was not the right fit for me. However, it has two good reviews online. So, it definitely needs to be tried on. On the right body type, this will be beautiful. I think the more voluptuous amongst us will rock this dress!

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I thought the Parc Plume Tee was one of the most gorgeous pieces of clothing I had ever seen on the hanger. My heart beat faster when I saw it.

This is my usual size six. Unfortunately, the see-through material combined with the price made it a “no” for me. It also was not flattering on my body, but this top is so pretty. I think the right person will look smoking in it.

The jeans are the Pilcro Superscript High-rise Flare Jeans. I would need to go up a size in these.

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This is the summer of sleeveless.

I am the human with sleeves.

And, so, it looked like the season was to end with me buying nothing.

But then I spotted a dress with sleeves. The Ayame Silk Dress.

Only.

It had a print that was not something I would typically wear.

And a zipper down the front that I remember from decades ago.

I tried it on in my usual size six. I would definitely need an eight.

This dress just was not right for me. But I can see it being lovely on the right person.

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Finally, I spotted the Amapola Dress. I loved the pattern. I loved the mix of the tight solid top with the flared skirt. The kind of silhouette every woman looks good in.

But no sleeves?!

I decided to try it on anyway.

And I loved it.

Even without sleeves. And even though I am probably too old to wear it.

It was $148. I very sadly put it back. I hope I will be able to get it on sale.

Have you tried anything on lately? Do you have mad skills in the fitting room? How much time do you typically give yourself to shop in a single store?