Red Carpet Ready

One of the things on my list to do this year was to host an Oscars Party.  I've always loved movies and have wanted to have an Oscars Viewing Party for years, I just never got it around to it.  Well, this year I got around to it!!

I started pinning some party ideas on my Pinterest boards, but then I decided to start searching the internet to see if any local hotels or theaters were hosting an Oscars Party and I found this one at Screenland Armour.  It was a free event with a several inexpensive food and drink options.  I love FREE and I thought if the party was a big ole' dud, my friends and I wouldn't be out any money!!

I asked my friends to dress up, bring their favorite movie watching snack, and one of their favorite things under $5 to share with everyone.

I wore my mom's prom dress from the 1960's.  My grandmother made it for her and I love it!!  I love the history behind it, I love that it's vintage, and I love that my grandmother made it!!  Then I added long white gloves and silver flats.  I asked my friend Katie to put my hair into a fun undo!!

When we arrived at the theatre, we filled out our Oscars ballots and turned them in for door prizes.  I was disappointed that there weren't a lot of people that dressed up, but the ones that did, I made sure to tell them that I was glad they did so!!

The theatre was pretty full by the time we arrived, so we had to sit pretty high up, but still had great seats.  They had a few couches on the floor and then up near the top, but then the rest of the seating was normal theatre seating.  The Screenland Armour is an older theatre with so much character.  I tried to get a few pix of the inside of the theater, but didn't do a very good job!!

We ordered some food and drinks from the theatre concessions.  The had several grilled cheeses options and I ordered The Kevin Bacon.  Katie had a Mr. Jalapeno's Opus and Karen ordered The Italian Job.  The sandwiches were delicious and I think they made their chips too.

There were trivia questions during commercial breaks.  I answered a question correctly and won a Hobbit t-shirt for my boys!!  They were thrilled when I pulled it out for them the next morning!!

I had no idea about any of the movies that were up for awards in the major categories.  My ballot was probably one of the worst ones!!  I love the Oscars more for the performances and of course, the fashion.  I love seeing what the "stars" pick to wear and then I ohhh and ahhh over my favorites and rip up the worst choices.

The performance that blew me away was Lady Gaga singing "The Sound of Music" melody.  That girl can sing, I just wish she didn't think she had to hide behind lots of wigs, makeup, gimmicks, and costumes to do it.  Just hand the girl a mic!!  It was strange to see her so young and fresh.  I was a little dumbfounded!!  I wished she would have had a different dress on to perform in.  I felt like she fought with the dress the whole performance!!

Karen shared some fun little trinkets and some chocolate, Katie gifted us with some gold nail polish and delicious gold wrapped truffles, and I brought my favorite lip balm and dark chocolate covered almonds.

This pix shows Karen and I with our long johns under our dresses!!  It was a frigid night in KC and I knew I would be freezing all night if I didn't wear something under my dress - long johns were the solution for both of us!!!

We had a great time!!  It was definitely out of my comfort zone, but it was always something I had always wanted to do!!

Sunday Style - A Little Bit of Sparkle

I picked up this Express sweater at Goodwill.  I loved the style of it with the sparkle, three quarter length sleeves, and the turtleneck.  I knew it would be a great layering piece.  I keep a wardrobe wish list on my phone and a sparkly sweater was on it - CHECK!!

I paired my sweater with a hand me down skirt and belt from my mom.  The skirt originally was longer, but we chopped it down a bit to hit me right above the knee.  My tights are from Dress Barn and my heels are from Kohls, which I purchased on clearance several years.

My favorite accessory is my necklace.  I found this beauty at Charming Charlies right after it came to Kansas City.  I had a formal event I was invited to and bought this necklace to wear.

My outfit comes in under $40, including all my accessories!!

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Sunday Style - Bouquet of Flowers

This wasn't the outfit I had planned this morning - my original outfit just wasn't working, so this is what I went with!!

The Talbots beaded sweater is one of my favorites; I love the beading around the neckline and the  three quarter length sleeves.   I thrifted this last spring and am constantly pulling it out to wear.

The Jaclyn Smith floral skirt is a little outside of the box for me.  I love skirts and I love floral, but the combination of the material and style of the skirt is bit outside of my comfort zone.  I usually go with a pencil skirt in a solid color and usually only wear polyester on my top half.  One of the nice things about thrifting most of my wardrobe is being will to take a gamble with some of my pieces and not spending an arm and leg to do so.  If it doesn't work out, then I'm not out much money, and if it does work out - JACKPOT!!

I completed my look with some fun hand me down earrings and boots, and Walmart black tights.

It was a bit cold this morning, so I pulled out my new to me gray wool coat and purple scarf.  I picked up this Mossimo wool coat at my Salvation Army Family Thrift Store a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely love it!!  I could hardly wait to pull it out to wear.  Then I threw on a purple scarf that I picked up at Dress Barn on clearance a few winters ago.  I love the length and the bold color of this scarf and it picks up the purple in my skirt.

My outfit, complete with all my accessories was under $30!!

On Saturday nights, I like to paint my nails.  A couple of year ago, one of my sister-in-laws shared with me a line of nail polish that actually works for me!!  My nails never seem to dry 100% and end up smudged before I even get to show them off.  This Sally Hansen Insta-Dry is amazing and have it in several shades.  Today I wore Pink Blink.

I also LOVE a good red lipstick too.  I'm pretty picky when it comes to red lipstick.  It can't be too red, orange, or pink.  My favorite lipsticks are two discontinued colors from Mary Kay - Ruby Night and Midnight Red.  I don't know what I'll do when I run out!!

Since I'm growing my hair out, I'm trying to play with it a bit more.  I tell people, I just don't do long hair.  Most days, my hair is in a pony tail.  I loved my short hair soooooo much and one of the reasons is I didn't really have to fix it.  I'm not good with a straightener, the curling iron, bobby pins, teasing comb, or headbands, but I can braid, twist, and create a bun!  I've searched YouTube videos, bought hair products, and pinned ideas on Pinterest, but I always end up frustrated when I try something new.  By the time I get the hang of this long hair thing, I be whacking it off!!

Enjoy your Sunday!!

Thrifted Style - A Pop of Color

I've had these Ann Taylor mustard skinnies in my closet for about a month now and just haven't worn them.  They are a very bold color and finally just had to tell myself to go for it and wear them!!

I picked up them up at my local Salvation Army for around $3.99, along with my leopard print infinity scarf for just .99.  I'm wearing this scarf constantly!  It is the perfect length for me and it is extremely light weight.  The J Crew sweatshirt was only $3.99 from Goodwill.  I just picked it up last Thursday and I've already worn it two times!!  Finally, my boots are hand me downs from my mom.

My outfit cost comes in under $10!!

Happy Thrifting!!

Friday Finds

Yesterday, I was able to go thrifting for several hours!!  I have my usual stores I like to thrift at, which are close by, but every once in while I like to explore a new loop.  Wornall Road has four thrift stores that are within minutes of each other - The Restore by Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, City Thrift, and Red Racks.  I didn't buy anything at The Restore, but I always like to check out what inventory they have!!  Then on my way home, I swung by Maj-R Thrift.

Just about everything I picked up was J Crew!!  I love J Crew, but it is too expensive for this thrifty chick, so finding it second hand is a great option for me.  I have several J Crew items in my wardrobe - all thrifted!!  J Crew is high quality and washes beautifully!!

At Goodwill, I snagged two tops

J Crew Sweatshirt $3.98

Merona Top $3.98

At City Thrift, I picked up two items for my daughter

Gap Sweater Dress $2.98 (1/2 price Thursday!!)

Carter's Top $1.98 (1/2 price Thursday!!)

I actually picked up two of these tops yesterday, in two different sizes!!!

At Red Racks I found

J Crew top $5.98

I absolutely loved the details of this top!!  Lace, fabric covered buttons, and Swiss dots!!

Lauren Conrad Blouse $3.98

This blouse had a small stain on the front and the manager graciously discounted the price!!  

Thrilled to find this basic for a fraction of the price in the store!!

Red Tank $1.98

I am always looking for next season's clothing!!  

Winter is the perfect time to look for your summer wardrobe!!

Wooden H $.99

Then at Maj-R Thrift I found a MAJOR treasure

This is a Chico's knit blazer New with Tags for $6.25 (a 75% off tag!!)

This blazer originally cost $119!!

Harry Potter Gryffindor Scarf $3.98

Any favorites?

Happy Thrifting!!

Nikki

The Big 4-0!!

I will be turning the big 4-0 in September!!  It seems so strange to me that my thirties are coming to an end.

This decade has been very challenging - I have experienced life in a whole new way - I've seen life, death, sadness, and pure joy.  I am parenting a baby again, my first daughter, and a teenager.  I feel like I've come to understand myself better and I've definitely mellowed a bit.  I can laugh at myself.  I have come to embrace this body God has given me.  I feel like I know my style - in my home and in my closet.  I think I know where I want to be in another ten years.  I've deepened relationships.  I've walked through some pretty dark, scary, and overwhelming stuff and I made it through to the other side with a few scars and a new joy and resolve in my heart.

When I was turning 39, I started brainstorming a list of 12 things I wanted to do during this last year of my thirties. I wanted the list to stretch me - some of them are physically challenging, some are to grow me spiritually, some are things I've never experienced, and some are just for fun.

Here's my list!!

Train and Run for a 1/2 marathon - April 11th Rock the Parkway

Launch a Blog - January 1st - You are reading it!!

Do Something for Charity

Go on a Spiritual Retreat - December 30 - January 1st

Go to a Wine Tasting Event

Plan an Oscar Party - February

Go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride

Take an Instructional Class

Write Letters to People I Love

Keep a Gratitude Journal - Ongoing

Cut Off and Donate My Hair - September

Go Camping with My Boys

When September rolls around, I hope that I've been able to accomplish each of them and share my experiences with you!!

Green With Envy

This week is Restaurant Week here in KC and my husband and I wanted to enjoy a lunch out without the kiddos.  So I decided to dress up a bit for our date!!  I love dressing up and I love going out to eat!!

I picked a fun kelly green and navy polka dot Liz Claiborne blouse and navy corduroy A.NA. skinnies both from my local Salvation Army Family Thrift Store, hand-me-down boots from my mom, and a fun necklace I picked up from www.jane.com.  Jane is a fun website that has new goodies listed each day at a great discount.  I've picked up jewelry, leather moccasins for my daughter, and stocking stuffers for the family. Everyone should check them out!!

The total cost of this outfit with my necklace is around $20!!

Happy Thrifting!!