Stripes & The Lily Stitch Review

Anyone that knows me, knows I love stripes! It's my favorite pattern of all time. Polka dots are up there for a close second. I just think stripes are so classy. I hate spending money on clothes that are trendy and will be out of style within a few months. But, stripes never go out of style. Thank God, because I think half of my wardrobe is striped! :)
This is my all-time favorite dress I bought from the Ann Taylor outlet a few years back. It is so versatile and I can mix and match a million different colors with it! Today, I was feeling bright and sunny, so I paired it with yellow. :)

Dress: Ann Taylor Outlet
Heels: Marshalls
Cardigan: Nordstrom Rack
Necklace: Rue 21
I had to get one with my little man since he matched me!

God blessed me with two handsome boys!

I also wore stripes this past week to school. I told you I have lots of striped items! :)

Maxi: JCPenney
Shirt: TJMaxx
Cardigan: Nordstrom Rack
Shoes: Bealls
Necklace: Fred Meyer

I was asked to review some baby items by a sweet lady named Gail, who is opening up a new Etsy shop The Lily Stitch that sells custom burp cloths, bibs, and blankets. She made my little guy a cute and very soft matching bib and burp cloth set! I loved the material and how big they were. Luke can be quite the spitter-upper so burp cloths are a MUST! I definitely recommend her products! :)

And one more Lukeygram to say good bye and thank you for reading! :) Can you believe how big this munchkin is getting!?? 10 weeks already!!! (And yes, I'm brainwashing my child to know that I'm the best! ;)

The Modern Man

If you've been following my blog for a while now, you would know my purpose is to help ladies not get stuck in the jean skirt, t-shirt, pony-tail, & tennis shoes rut...Well, I also hope by helping ladies become more modern, that their husbands feel the need to "modernize" their wardrobe as well.
I am blessed with a husband who doesn't need me to help him get dressed, actually he usually helps me get dressed! My husband was a missionary's kid to Mexico his whole life, so he didn't have nice fashionable clothes growing up. He had second-hand, Wal-Mart clothes that people gave them. When my husband moved to America to go to college, he started buying his own clothes. He starting studying GQ and advertisements to see what was in style for men. When we were in college, guys would always tell me I was dating the best-dressed man in college. I agree. He is seriously the best dressed man I have ever seen. :)
So many pastors, missionaries, and laymen are still wearing their shirts and ties from the 90s! It's not only feminine to dress nice. Men need to know how to wear a suit and pair ties with shirts. So, since I have my very own GQ model living with me, I asked him to give men some pointers on how to be modern and look sharp.
Suits

First, make sure your suit is the right size. Any major department store can measure you and fit you for the correct size suit. Your suit shouldn't overlap in the front, but it should be able to be buttoned comfortably. Your jacket should not be pulling in the back or across the front. Your pants should not be bunched up at the end, but should rest comfortably at the top of your shoe and fall to the bottom of your heel. Every man that wears suits regularly should have a gray, navy, and tan suit. Keep it simple and classic with suits!



Dress Shirts

Stay away from bright solid-colored shirts. (Especially ones with matching ties in boxes, actually stay away from ALL boxed shirts/ties!) You should have shirts that match all your suits and that are remixable with many different ties. Try to keep it to classic colors, white, blue, and light colored patterned shirts. Never dry your dress shirts. That makes the collars deformed and the color fade. Hang up and iron your shirts. Nothing worse than seeing a man in a wrinkled dress shirt.


Ties

Graphics, words, cartoons, etc... are a NO-NO! Keep it classic, with stripes, polka dots, or solids.





Dress Shoes

Square toed dress shoes are not "in" right now. Instead, look for round toed brown dress shoes. Cole Haan are the most comfortable and nicest leather. Here's an example of nice dress shoes.


Jeans/Casual Wear

Look for darker wash jeans. Make sure your jeans fit correctly. Not super relaxed, but not skinny jeans either. Find the perfect happy-medium. Currently, my favorite jeans are Buffalo Jeans. Don't forget you can always ask your wife for her opinion.



Causal Shoes

No tennis shoes with jeans! There is a difference between casual wear and active wear. Tennis shoes are meant for sports/working out. Find some nice casual brown shoes. Sperry's or Toms are a great casual shoe.

Lime & Coral

It is still SO hot here in sunny Florida, so I'm still wearing sundresses and sandals, while every one else is already busting out their boots and sweaters. I actually can't wait until our fall kicks in, so I can wear all my warm, autumn colors! But, for now I'm still bright and summery! Today for church I wore my new dress from Maurice's. I think I only paid $6.00 for it! (I found it on the 75% clearance rack.)

I am starting an 8-week FIT challenge starting tomorrow to try to shed these last 20 lbs. that need to go! My goal isn't really the weight as much as it is to fit back into all my skirts! My wardrobe is VERY limited right now, as I can only fit into 4 or 5 of my skirts. So I'm wearing a lot of dresses and buying a few more "bigger" pieces here and there. I just really don't want to spend a lot of money on bigger sizes, because I KNOW I will not stay this size. I am determined to get back into my old clothes! :) So, pray for me as I start my new HEALTHY lifestyle change tomorrow! And, hopefully you will get to see my pre-pregnancy pieces start coming back into my posts! :)

Dress: Maurice's
Cardigan: Ann Taylor
Necklace: Forever 21
Sandals: Fred Meyer

Also, here's my church outfit from Wednesday! I LOVE this new skirt I bought at Old Navy! It's so comfy, go get one!

Happy 2 month birthday to my little man! I can't believe how big he's getting!

Raezy's Peplum LBD

I was contacted by Raezy to review one of her modest dresses, so I looked over her website and picked out the peplum dress. I had been looking for a nice peplum piece, since they are super flattering for postpartum mommas. One thing that is hard about finding cute dresses in "normal" stores is that they are always too short on me! So, when I received this Peplum LBD from Raezy, I tried it on right away, and it was the PERFECT length! I was so happy! It also is SUPER comfortable. It's made from a very soft jersey-knit like cotton. So, if you've been looking for a nice, modest dress, Raezy's is the place to look! One thing that I LOVE about this shop, is that everything is hand-made and she even can do custom dresses! So, when I can't find something I'm looking for again, I'm just going to show her what I want, and ask her to make it the same, but longer!
Here's how I styled the Peplum LBD

Dress: Peplum LBD
Necklace: Rue 21
Shoes: Marshalls
Belt: Ann Taylor



And here's one of my cute little man! He's growing so fast! Already 8 weeks old!

Teacher Outfits 101

As a high school Math teacher, I have about 100 students throughout the day staring at me every class period! So, I try my very best not to bore them with the same repeating outfits. :) I'm teaching at a new school this year, but last year, my students would always say that they had never seen me wear the same exact thing twice. That is my goal! I want to re-mix and create new outfits every day! By the way, it is very hard for me to create new outfits every day with me still not being able to fit in all my pre-pregnancy clothes...but hopefully soon I will be able to! I finally got the clear from my midwife to start exercising again!

The easiest way for me to re-mix my clothes is to change the color of my accent piece and/or accessories. For example, with my navy polka dot skirt below, I can also wear a mustard cardigan, a red cardigan, with a white or navy camisole, and change the necklace with each outfit as well. (So that alone creates lots of different looks!) So here are the outfits I've worn this week so far!

Skirt: Ann Taylor
Cardigan: JCPenney
Flats: Payless
Necklace: Forever 21

Skirt: Cato
Cardigan: Nordstrom Rack
Wedges: Bealls
Necklace: Forever 21

Skirt: Target
Top: TJMaxx
Flats: Payless
Necklace: Rue 21

Were It Not For Grace

This year our school's theme verse is I Corinthians 15:10 "But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." Which just happens to be my life verse. I don't believe in "signs" but if I did, that is a big sign that we are in the right place!

One of my favorite words in the whole world is "grace". Grace means the free and unmerited favor of God. When I think of God's grace, I can't help but tear up. I don't deserve ANYTHING, (except for Hell) but God loved me (and you) so much that He GAVE His only begotten Son to die on the Cross for our sins so that we could live in Heaven with Him one day. How amazing is that grace He gives us?!

I don't have a family background in church. I am a first-generation Christian. My parents are saved now, but they got saved later in their lives. If it wasn't for God's divine grace on my life, I literally don't know where I'd be. I know for sure I would not be married to a preacher that loves the Lord and is an amazing husband and father. I know for sure I would not be a Christian school teacher. I know for sure I wouldn't have a beautiful son. I know for sure I wouldn't be working at my home church that won me to the Lord. God is so good to me. My favorite song is "Were it not for Grace," I want you to read the words and think about where you would be without God's grace and thank Him today for having favor on your life! :) Love you ladies!
Time measured out my days
Life carried me along
In my soul I yearned to follow God
But knew I’d never be so strong
I looked hard at this world
To learn how heaven could be gained
Just to end where I began
Where human effort is all in vain

Were it not for grace
I can tell you where I’d be
Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere
With my salvation up to me
I know how that would go
The battles I would face
Forever running but losing this race
Were it not for grace

So here is all my praise
Expressed with all my heart
Offered to the Friend who took my place
And ran a course I could not start
And when He saw in full
Just how much His would cost
He still went the final mile between me and heaven
So I would not be lost

Can't leave you without an outfit too ;) Excuse my child's face...he was not a fan of taking pictures today!:)


Maxi:TJMaxx
Shirt:TJMaxx
Necklace: Rue 21
Sandals: Fred Meyers

I Survived!

Hallelujah! I survived my first week back at school! I really enjoyed being a stay at home mom for the past couple of months, but I am kind of glad to be back in the grind and getting dressed up every day. I have missed my son terribly during the day, but my sitter sends me updates and pictures to help me not miss him so much! I have enjoyed meeting all my new students and feel like we have already created a nice bond together.
So my classroom was painted a random light sage green color, so I just decided to decorate with hot pink & lime green. I actually decorated my classroom in 2 days..(I know I'm a procrastinator!) I didn't even start thinking about school until the week of in-service. I was way too busy being a mommy. So all that to say, it's definitely not my best decorating skills, but it's what I could throw together last minute.
On open house night, I figured what better way to meet my students, than to wear an outfit to match my classroom!

Here was my "first day of school" dress. I found it at Ross for $14! :) I was so excited!

I had some people ask me to show my classroom pictures, so I took some today for you all!




And here's some of my favorite pictures I took this week of my Lukie and my hubby! :)

Back to School!

Hello beautiful ladies! I have been so crazy busy running around like a chicken with it's head cut off! I've been taking care of a 6-week old, getting my classroom ready, moving, and trying to unpack. My life is a wonderfully chaotic. :) I can't believe we start school on Wednesday! Where in the world did the summer go?!? I am so not ready to go back yet...I feel like I didn't even get a summer with moving and having Luke! What a busy couple of months we've had!
I finally got my hair highlighted back to my normal blonde! It's a little blonder than normal, but I'll get used to it ;)
Anyways, I forgot to post my outfit last Sunday, which I loved! My husband took me to the mall for my birthday and got me a couple of new outfits that I felt pretty in! Feeling pretty is rather important when you are 6-weeks postpartum. My body is by no means pretty right now, but at least if I have pretty clothes on, I'll feel better! So he picked out this cute little black dress and a black and white maxi skirt with a gold top. Here they are! ;)


Dress: JCPenney
Shoes: Thrifted
Purse: TJMaxx

Maxi Skirt: JCPenney
Top: JCPenney
Flats: Payless
Necklace: Forever 21
I am in the process of decorating my new classroom, and this is all I have done so far...I know I really need to get on the ball considering Open House is tomorrow night and I have a million things to do until then! :) Let's just say, I'm going to be very busy tomorrow!