Stop? GO? WHAT DOES THIS YELLOW MEAN!?

An unnecessary panic attack has ensued as of one hour ago due to this Michael Kors bag that just entered my life.

But do I love it? Or do I hate it? I honestly don’t know. GAHHHH the inner struggle!!!!

So I’m asking my blaudience (blog audience, came up with that one all by myself, thankyouverymuch): at first glance are you all “Oh em gee, loves it. Makes me wanna don a sundress and go to the farmer’s market for some fresh cut flowers.” OR are you all, “That thing is hideodorous and that yellow is burning my retina. The only place that color belongs is on the pavement dividing lanes of traffic.”

These are my thoughts, people. I have to live with this schizophrenia on a daily basis. Just ask me about my hair.

I still have time to change my mind about the purchase, so please. Help a satchel-impaired sister out.

Polyvore (aka my hobbies keep getting stranger)

I read a blog of a very adorable woman in a completely different walk of life than I, but she has basically dedicated her blog to her love of fashion. Particularly, J Crew fashion. While a big fan of J Crew myself, there are two dilemmas I have with their products: 1) half of the stuff is a plain t-shirt with some simple embellishments and I hate these next five words, but dude… I COULD TOTALLY MAKE THOSE!! The second problem I have with J Crew is obviously the price of their products because even the messy sale racks make my billfold mysteriously lock up when I attempt to pay some of those prices for simple clothes. But this post isn’t about J Crew, it’s about what this lady has introduced me to and the hours I will waste hereafter on putting together collages of clothes. Somehow, this seems more productive than Facebook stalking, so I will justify it that way.

Allow me to introduce you to Polyvore, my dear friends. This is what I am wearing this very second. I woke up this morning with a little bit of an ICK feeling, and immediately ruled out high heels for work. Seeing as heels were not an option but UGGS may have been too casual for today, I chose to resort to my go-to outfit. This has involved, for about the past year, skinny jeans and these here boots because, well, I get stuck in ruts periodically. The boots have caused a major rut in my life.

Observe the awesomeness of this site that I was even able to include my Promise & Engagement rings in the outfit Yummy bling.

January 28 by courtneyhelman featuring Dorothy Perkins tops

So as I vowed to blog more often, I also am vowing to categorize my blogs. Once upon a time I created a category called “Style & Such” where I spoke about sandals, one time only, and then abandoned the category entirely. I hereby resolve to resurrect that category and give you free reign to throw tomatoes at my outfit selections. But really, I do love feedback, so if what I’m wearing sucks, UHH PLEASE TELL ME!!!!

I think this will also hold me accountable for the whole “don’t dress like a slob” issue that I discussed in my resolutions blog.

And now for the real life grand reveal:

OK, forgive my totally crappy image here, but I’m still playing with picture editing stuff, so this is all just a work in progress. Not to mention I took the picture on Photo Booth in my bathroom, so you get what you pay for I guess. And this blog is free to you. So hold your tomatoes.

Truly Mom… More like Truly THE BOMB!

At Orange Tree, we carry a line of products called Truly Mom and they are SO FREAKIN CUTE! I am a big fan of J. Crew and that whole preppy, ribbon-y* style and all of Truly Mom’s products have ribbon details which are so cute. I have the planner, which is not only a great organizer, but a cute accessory. This is not your momma’s date book. But it should be. ‘Cause it’s called Truly Mom.

I digress.

As many of you know, I am not a mom, though I do have some strange tendencies towards Motherliness. I tend to dress a little mature (like a cool mom, I tend to think), I read more mommy blogs than non-mom blogs, and folks, I have no qualms with my matronliness, and if you do, then you can take my Truly Mom agenda and STICK….. well, let’s just all be friends. Even though I am not a real mom, I AM planning a wedding, and Truly Mom has a great insert for their adorable planner that is called “My Wedding”, which replaces an insert called “My Day” (the “My Day” insert tends to revolve around children, hence it doesn’t apply to me) (thank God) (I mean, someday I want my kids to dictate my every move and breath, but that day is not today). But HOO BOY you give this bride-to-be that “My Wedding” sheet and I can come up with things to do all day long and still have a list a mile long, so it’s a really great organizational tool that does wonders for my sanity.

These women at Truly Mom are honestly the best vendors we work with in terms of kindness, good hearts, and overall friendliness. They have accepted returns from us that they probably shouldn’t have accepted (something to do with the inappropriate placement of our price tags which resulted in the ripping of the paper from their cute box… tends to screw with the resale value and make the box look not-so-cute… woops), and they offered to fix up my ribbon on my binder which I may or may not have snagged and then tried to fix with clear nail polish. I am queen of making messes messier and only doing more damage than has already been done. Again, woops. Just ask my dad about the interior panel of his car that I decided to “fix” with nail glue when my watch ripped it. Ugh, I’m stoopid.

So Stockton and I, in our search of wedding vendors, have decided that Truly Mom is a truly outstanding option (like how I threw in the truly there for effect? Eh? EHH???) for a wedding invitation vendor, and they have the charming-est* stuff on the block. Just dahling*, in fact. I think we have found the one that is possibly in the number 1 position right now, but I can’t show you. Sorry! Some things are just meant to be a surprise, you know. But here is an idea of the whole ribbonized* stationary thing that Truly Mom has down to an art.

I love, love, LOVE it all and want it in my life. Amen.

*Made-up words are acceptable and should be forgiven when one is as smitten with stationary as I clearly am. It’s scrum-diddly-umptious. Someone stop me!

Lovely

Last week, Stockton’s parents took us on a lovely little two day trip to Chicago. We had a fabulous time, amazing summer weather, and Anita and I went shopping. What more could a girl want?

I love J Crew very very much, and although I don’t have a lot of clothes from J Crew because I don’t cherish the price tags that all of the very adorable clothes come with, Anita was able to find two beautiful skirts that were ON SALE!! YAYYYY!!!!

*I have issues about buying things on sale. While I agree that being a thrifty shopper is a skill, and I am proud to possess this skill, I have been known to buy absolutely hideous junk just because it was a good deal. I would buy a dirty sock if it were on sale. In fact, I think I have.*

But these skirts were not anywhere close to hideous junk. They were charming and lovely and all things feminine. So I think that in an attempt to debut my new skirt, I am going to show you what I had in mind and then gauge your feedback (which means that yes, I am requesting you leave me comments and actually give me said feedback).

This is the skirt.

Isn’t it DARLING!? It is a cross between lace and eyelet, hits mid-thigh and here is my debut plan: I want to find the perfect white sleeveless top, kinda flow-y, and tuck it in to the skirt so it has a blouse-y look to it, and then decorate it up with some killer shoes and jewelry and wear it to our engagement party this weekend!!!

(It’s kinda annoying when people add -y onto every word to try and create adjectives where adjectives are not meant to exist. I failed grammar. Me talk pretty some day.)

Anyway, won’t it look very bridal and delicate?? All white? Like a bride?
GET IT?!?!?! Please tell me what you think, and be honest. I will just ignore you if I don’t like what you have to say anyway, so you might as well just tell me how you really feel. Just kidding I know how to take constructive criticism.

The other option would just be a dress for which I have 3 days (but more like 2 since the party is Friday) to shop for. It’s down to the wire, people. Ready, set, COMMENT!

Summer Favorites

Ah, summer. How I have missed you (wait, what am I talking about? I STILL miss you because apparently it’s THAT TIME OF THE MONTH for ol’ Mother Nature and she’s on a mission to put everyone else in Northern Indiana in a bad mood right along with her, hence the lovely spattering of rain and humidity and gloom and otherwise unpleasant Spring weather).

(See former vent session post about Indiana weather).

Regardless of all that, I am still eagerly awaiting those hot summer days and cool summer nights and there are a few things I have been dying to bust out of the ol’ wardrobe. I’m kind of excited about some recent upgrades I have made to my summer wardrobe, and I would like to impart my fashion wisdom (enter sarcastic scoff) on you at this time.

Though rubber flip flops have become a summer staple thanks to Old Navy’s supply which is available in umpteen shades of every color of the rainbow, I have resisted the urge to wear rubber flip flops thus far and will do my best to eliminate them completely from my wardrobe. It’s not that I have anything against them, it’s just that I think there is way cuter footwear out there that can make your outfit look WAY more put together. While rubber flip flops can’t be beat for flipping and flopping around the pool, I have decided to take an oath to vamp up the footwear on a day to day basis. Here are a couple (CHEAP!) alternatives I have found to carry my little footsies through the hot summer months where a closed toe will undoubtedly suffocate my pedicure and surely cause my feet to quiver up and die.

I love that they are gold because as Stacey and Clinton from “What Not To Wear” say, metallic is a great neutral and it goes with any color. Plus, these and are a good “not-black” shoe (the cool black shoe is coming right up). The best part is that they were bought at Marshall’s, at a significant discount from the original price, which is enough to make me buy UGLY shoes. The fact that they are cute, too, is especially great.

Ok, so I’m sure if you have read a PEOPLE magazine in the past year you have seen the gladiator sandals (fondly called Jesus shoes by my mom).

Isn’t she so creative?

Well, i was very skeptical of this trend, as I was of skinny jeans, leggings, bangs, and anything else that celebrities deem “cool” months before the idiotic public gets their hands on said “cool” trend.

I was diligently trying to find me some cheap Jesus shoes when I stumbled upon this pair at Target earlier this spring. It was way too early to wear them, but I knew they would come in handy, and I was right I love it when that happens. These are nice and simple, don’t go up to my knees like some of the more hideodorous gladiators that are frequently worn by celebz, and they go with PLENTY of outfits to have been a worthy investment.

What are some of YOUR summer staples?

More of mine to come in later posts.

xoxoxox
Court