February 26, 2015 by gn0mel0ver

I Call Bull

Dog, that is.

It is surprisingly hard to find cute english bulldog clothes. And, yes. I realize that might be a weird thing to search for, but I like bulldogs. I like clothes. And ever the two shall meet.

There are numerous french bulldog items. And pug items. But hardly ever english bulldogs. I wonder why that is. Whatever the reason, I usually scoop up the French Bulldog tees and give them love, any way. This French Bulldog shirt was no exception. My husband wants our next dog to be a French Bulldog. I want to stick with what we have, um, because have you seen our walls? They are covered in English Bulldog and Bichon paintings. It would seem weird not to continue the theme.

But, I digress.

What I really want to talk about is the act of getting dressed.

I am not a fashion blog. Or a style blog. Or anything like that, regardless of what some might think. I know nothing about either of those things.

I am simply a “getting dressed” blog.

As in, whoppee! I got dressed today! I can do this thing called life. Let’s be dressed together because whilst naked always sounds like fun it rarely ends up being so. Just ask my neighbors.

Men and women used to dress for the day. They used to really dress. I am not quite sure when it stopped. To be frank, I don’t really care what anybody else wears. I would never judge. I just wish that it went both ways.

For instance, I was at the grocery store later the day I wore this last week and the cashier said to me, “You’re all dressed up. Where are you going?” And I thought to myself, I’m wearing a dog t-shirt and a skirt. This should not be described as dressed up.

I started to feel defensive as other people turned to stare at the ridiculous girl who was dressed up.

“I just came back from a date,” I lied.

Well, I kind of lied. I had gone and seen a movie with my husband but we ate at Del Taco and went to the early bird seating. The whole “experience” cost less than $20. It was not exactly fancy, but again… dog t-shirt.

Honestly, putting on happy clothes makes a huge difference in my day. I knew I wanted to pair this happy shirt with my skirt I had scored at the consignment store last year for $10 (similar skirt here. I previously wore the skirt in this post here with my bulldog). The Glimmered Horseshoe Necklace, boots and belt were past sale scores from Anthropologie. And the scarf is a few years old from H&M.

Are you one of the “dressed up” few? How does that make you feel?

Did you notice that I never, not once, mentioned the somewhat unfortunate placement of the bulldogs on this shirt? It is because I am growing up. I didn’t even snicker it at all.

Bull…

January 19, 2015 by gn0mel0ver

Snow Ollie

Both of my dogs were flabbergasted by the snow that made its way to our house in Southern California a few weeks ago. The first time Ollie touched it he jumped about a foot in the air. Do you see his tongue? Is that not the cutest thing ever?

Murphy did not have such qualms. His terror quickly dispelled to anxiety that someone was going to touch his snow. It was all his. And he could not traipse through it fast enough to explore and guard it. The snowgnome threw him for a loop, though.

Once Ollie saw Murphy jumping through the terrifying whiteness he became a little more brave. He wanted to explore, but because of his love of cars, we had to put a leash on him lest he decide to go give a car a hug and become an unfortunate victim to his love.

I decided to take a few pictures with him in the snow just for fun. I had purchased this dress on a popback from Anthropologie for $30, so it is sold out now. It is all one piece. Anthropologie’s Layered Shirtdress is also a layered more work appropriate one piece dress and I wrote about my favorite layered one-piece last year. Free People’s Lily Dress is a sweet design in a similar vein. I guess I like the ease of an all-ready-put-together ensemble. Although I will admit part of me feels like a child in this. Perhaps it is the pigtails?

Nah.

Look at that face. It is pure love right there. Ollie looks pretty happy, too.

Do you own any easy pieces that look like more but are actually one item? Do your animals like the snow? Ollie spent about five minutes in it and then he was done. Murphy, on the other hand, would have stayed outside all day in it if we would have let him.

But we didn’t.

I don’t know if his little heart could have taken the harsh reality of the sun melting all of his icy treasure. I think he is still looking for it. He probably thinks Ollie ate it all.

Which would not really surprise any of us… Except Ollie.

P.S. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has made me as happy as this Instagram account in a very long time. It is Matilda_and_Kiki. The owner is documenting her newborn bulldog puppies several times a day. Sometimes with video. It is my family’s new favorite thing to check on the internet. The cuteness is heartwarming and I want to just grab two of the puppies and rub them on my cheeks!

December 3, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Three Stripes You’re Out-fit

I could not resist this Anthropologie Tartan Blanket Coat. I tried to. Oh, how I tried to, as I attested to in the review post I recently did.

I was going to wait and have my husband gift it to me for Christmas. But I wanted to get as much use from it as I possibly could with this slight winter we have been having here.

I cannot resist fun.

Ever.

It is my downfall.

I don’t even want to tell you the temperature it was in Southern California on this day. I will say it was the coolest day we have had this fall, but my husband laughed at me when he saw me in this hat (sold out, similar hat here).

I need to protect my tresses. I only wash them every three to four days. This was day four. I had waved my hair (post about how I do that here) so it still looked okay. But a hat seemed like the logical solution for the roots and it is honestly the only hat that I own.

Also, I like a flowy top. I’m not pregnant. That ship has sailed. I just thought I should put that out there ’cause this top looks like I am trying to hide something.

Just hiding dirty hair here, folks.

And look! I accidentally wore three different stripes on this day. That’s gotta mean something.

I don’t know what. But somethin’.

I wore this to grab breakfast with a sweet friend.

She very politely said nothing about my odd dressing.

I have worn this combo before. On Halloween to be exact. The striped dress is from Target (previously worn as a shirt). The purple top was an $8 popback from Anthropologie. These tights are my very favorite and less than $10 (also available in leggings). And the hat was a clearance find at Free People a few years ago.

I will be wearing this tartan coat as often as I possibly can here. If it is less than seventy degrees, this is what I will be wearing. I would not wear this in the rain. I do think it might get ruined if it gets wet. It feels like felted wool. I imagine this would shrink. For fit purposes, this is the XS/S.

Are you wearing a favorite coat this season? How do you decide whether to keep a splurge-worthy garment? Does it have to be practical or unique? My answer is always unique.

*I shared this on The Pleated Poppy and Reasons To Dress.

October 31, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

The Prerequisite Pumpkin Patch Blogger Post

Happy Halloween! I actually have two posts scheduled for today. One is going up later. It is a spooky home decor story. ; )

This year is flying by and when I told my kids that I need to know what they want for Christmas, they laughed at me.

“Mom! It’s two months away!”

Um, no, it’s not. It is less than two months away and I feel so unprepared.

What the heck does that have to do with a pumpkin patch?

Absolutely nothing, except to say that I am behind. We did not buy our pumpkins this year until the twenty eighth.

The pumpkin patch was incredibly crowded.

The drought caused the corn maze to be short this year.

This pumpkin patch is the best though. They do not charge anything for the maze. It is a sweet free fun family activity.

I would like to say that I am so cool that I sat on this hay stack and walked away unscathed.

I would like to say that.

But that would be a lie.

I was picking hay out from underneath that dress all night.

The pumpkin patch definitely had the last laugh.

Did I mention I am allergic to hay?

And pumpkins?

I know.

I was also so intelligent that day that when I went to cut the tags off of this plaid scarf from Target, I cut a hole right through it.

That is okay. It cannot be seen. I don’t think. Oh well, I love the two plaids mixed together. It made me unbelievably happy. I am wearing my plaid tunic that I purchased for $20 at Nordstrom Rack last year. So many stores have a similar dress this year (here -the yellow gives me butterflies and here).

I was unsure about wearing this tunic with just tights. I asked my husband over and over, “Honey, are you sure this isn’t too short?”
And he assured me it wasn’t. He lied.

I made it through the whole corn maze without flashing anyone. I knew it was too good to be true. I went back to the car and I bent over to grab my gnome from the car, as one does.

I was being entirely unladylike, but there was a car right next to me and I figured the odds of the people coming back to that car whilst I was bending over were nil.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I stood up, turned around and a husband and wife were directly behind me. The wife’s lips were pursed and the husband was red.

You would think that would be the most embarrassing thing.

But then this happened.

My husband was so happy that I wanted to give this little guy a ride.

By the way, those guys in the parking lot are high-fiving each other because they chose to wore pants that day. Showoffs.

It was all worth it to see how happy the gnome was swimming in the squash.

With his little purple pointy hat, bright blue shirt and black… Pants.

Sigh.

Well, at least one of us left the pumpkin patch with a little dignity.

Although if you really stop to think about it, swimming in gourds isn’t exactly hospitable.

You can’t take us anywhere.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

flannel

I Call Bull

Snow Ollie

Three Stripes You’re Out-fit

The Prerequisite Pumpkin Patch Blogger Post