who doesn't love ruffles?

So I came across this beauty at a garage sale last year.....



















It's a pretty simple nighty... pink cotton with satin around the edge of the arms and neckline. A little butterfly detail and some lace as well.

I tell you what, it looked comfortable, AND it was on a table listed "FREE"! So of course I grabbed it up. JDub instantly hated it... he said all he can picture (every time I wear it) was the "unattractive, large lady" from the garage sale we purchased it from. I will admit it did resemble a muu muu..........

But hey it was free and comfortable!? And its not like I was wearing it out in public or anything.

Any way, I decided to doll it up a bit :)

First I took it in a little on each side. Not too much.... but just a little so the armpit holes weren't gaping so much. I also seam-ripped and removed the front portion, with some satin and lace... The look wasn't bad but I just thought I'd change the neckline a bit. I used the excess fabric from taking it in and made some new "straps" for the front of the nighty. Since I seam-ripped everything the outer satin edging was already there to sew everything back on.

It still looked a bit frumpy, so I took some of the length off.

And I added some white ruffles!

Isn't it cute now? I know I'm prolly getting a bit old to wear frilly things... but eh I'm not 30......yet...

p.s. here is a fabulous link on how to add ruffles! ruffles tutorial

And the winner is.........

Blue polka dot!!!! (by a whopping 73%!) It's funny to see what dress people really like cause I was almost thinking it would be #1. Thanks so much for all of your input and votes :) I appreciate your help.... you saved me a good hour of trying to figure out what to wear!


me wearing the dress circa 2005 :)

Now let's just hope JDub makes it back in time from working out of town...... otherwise I'll get all dolled up for nothing?!

Oooo and I just bought some new Lia Sophia jewelry I'm excited to wear with it too!!

Have a blessed Memorial's Day weekend everyone!

Which Bridesmaid Dress should I re-wear?

Ok folks... its that time again. I can't decide what I want to wear?! It seemed to work out so well for my new year's eve post... I thought I'd try it out again.

Please see my poll on the right side and choose for me ok?! Cast your vote :)

Bridesmaid dress #1

This might look familiar to some of you... I did this "remake" a while back when I was obsessed with shirring everything! (see the original post here ) I wore the original dress as a maid of honor for my sister's wedding......... And I wore the remake to a friends wedding last summer and it was a hit! I had several readers at the wedding and they recognized it immediately :)

Bridesmaid dress #2

This lovely lady was suppose to appear at my eldest sister's wedding...... But then she eloped...... in Vegas! No alterations needed for this one.... and I did happen to wear it to 5+ weddings back in college...... but its cute right?! So what's one more time?

Bridesmaid dress #3

This is a dress originally worn by my sister, for MY wedding. Yep... this is the dress I chose for my bridesmaids! Looking back I'm thinking I should have gone a different route... but hey I was young... and in love.. and all that good stuff... I will probably NOT wear these shoes with it... but I was in a hurry to snap a photo! 

Assuming JDub does not have to work next weekend... we have a wedding reception to attend! I've only met the girl once... its a co-worker of his but you decide for me... What should I wear?

Please vote on the poll on the right. Thanks much!

Chalk it up

So ever since JDub ripped the wood paneling down in our kitchen I've been itching to redo the walls! We have this one tiny sliver of a wall; I thought might be cool to do something special.....

The gray area was covered with wood paneling.... there were too many different shades of "wood" going on with the new kitchen flooring and existing wood floor so it had to go anyway.

After a trip to Home Depot the lady convinced me I should try a magnetic/chalkboard wall... and get the best of both worlds... yea not so much. I hate to give bad reviews... but I did 4 (one more than the recommended 3) coats of the magnetic primer paint to find out that even the tiniest magnets would not cling to my wall! What a waste of hours of my time.... and $$ on that stupid paint. That paint was nasty too... kinda like Kilz.... it did not clean up well at all.

But at least the chalkboard top coat (2 coats applied) seems to be working great. You have to rub chalk all over the entire surface before being able to write. AND I had wait 3 DAYS  before being able to do that... try to tell that to an almost 4 year old dying to draw on the walls.... But all in all I'd say it was a success... its a mess! But at least chalk will wash out... for the most part I think....

I had picked these cute, hand-held chalkboards at a garage sale a while back... but they had lost their ability for chalk to write on it so I refinished it with the chalkboard paint and they are "good as new". I hated to cover up the alphabet letters and numbers....

I figure after the initial newness of the wall wears off I might be able to use it for reminders.... or cute messages... who knows... I might have to change to white chalk though! We have quite a rainbow going on right now....

Foosball is the devil Bobby Boucher!

So boys will be boys... and they will be rough on clothes. I rarely buy new clothes for the boys. They grow so fast, and are messy! I'd much rather buy used (cheap) clothes.... And sometimes they get a little worn out. After I patched up Ceej's jeans with Elmo..........

Bubba was getting a little jealous and requested one of his worn out pants get a patch too!

After some consideration..... he went with a football. I had some scrap brown fabric and white fleece...

It took some manipulation... but I was able to get the pants positioned so I could use the zig-zag stitch on my machine. It went a lot faster than hand-stitching :)

Its not perfect... but I was instantly gratified seeing his little face light up and hearing him say " my football pants!"

Atkins ready-to-eat shakes are delicious!

Since I started my Kosama workout... I've been sampling some different protein shakes and treats... I'm talking the ready-to-eat versions... I know you can buy protein powders and make your own shakes and all that.... but they say you should get a good serving of protein within 30 minutes of finishing your workout... and I can't exactly run a blender at 6:00 am :)

I had the unfortunate circumstance of up-chucking not once... but twice after eating certain protein bars and I just couldn't eat them anymore (my weird bout of the flu or whatever that was plaguing me a couple of months ago). They were ok... but pretty dry and I really did try to eat them a couple weeks after throwing them up but I felt like I would spew again so I gave them to JDub to keep in his work bag when he's on outages.

I have tried the Slim-fast ready-to-eat shakes (the Cappucino Delight I believe).... the Muscle Milk ready to eat (flavor vanilla creme) and the Atkin's ready-to-eat... I have to say that Atkin's is BY FAR the yummiest. Slim-fast tends to have a nasty, chalky aftertaste..... and the Muscle Milk was disgusting... I don't really know how to describe it... it was sweet... but a gross kind of sweet. I prefer real sugar myself... I like real sugar in my tea and coffee.. (I've tried stevia, Splenda, Sweet-n-low, Truvia..... nothing beats real sugar!!!) so whatever it was they were using to sweeten the Muscle Milk was not working for me. I bought the four pack and suffered through... but now I know!

As far as the Atkins varieties go... I have tried Vanilla, Cafe Caramel, and the Mocha Latte. They are all delicious! It's almost like you're drinking a real iced coffee!

The stats might not be as high as the Muscle Milk was... I believe it had 20g Protein... compared to the 15 of the Atkins... but I'll take 5g less when it tastes this good!!! I don't drink these to replace a meal or anything... I just usually chug it after my workout and then eat breakfast an hour or so later...

I know they're not the most cost effective way... but they are convenient. Just thought I'd share b/c they are sooo yummy! (I know my friend H has tried them and loved it as well!)