Tea Party and the Mad Hatter

Saturday was my (2nd) cousin's wedding shower. It was super cute. She did a Mad Hatter theme; we all had to wear these mini top hats that she decorated herself, so crafty. Now none of these pictures are a full on outfit post, but they'll do. I had a good time and was very tired by the end of the night. Oh, I changed my hair color too. I had initially dyed it a soft auburn, but wasn't really feeling that so I added some blonde highlights with a frosting cap. I gotta say I am liking the results. 

 Dress: Torrid. Necklace: Payless. Bracelet: House of Key. Watch and Earrings: Walmart. Mini Top Hat: crafted by my cuz.

 Picture I took for my cuz. She loved it.

 Hmmm...deep in conversation about something.

Later that night during the bachelorette party. According to the masks in order from left to right, I'd like you to meet Slut, Bachelorette, Sexy, and Bitch.  These masks were so dumb, they cut off half your vision. The only way I can even imagine them fitting anyone is if their eyes were practically on the sides of their head. Needless to say they did NOT stay on long.

Mother's Day Floral

Happy Mother's Day Y'all!!! Today I spent the day with my daughter, mom, and grandma. We got some takeout at KFC and ate dinner at my grandma's. It's was a pretty nice day. I hope everyone else out there enjoyed their Mother's Day whether it was with their children or Mamas. 

I wore one of my new purchases from Lane Bryant. So love this dress. It does run a bit small though. I'm always a little leery of sheath dresses and the fit, so when I read the reviews on this dress running small I got a little over zealous and ordered it in a 28. HUGE mistake (pun intended ;) ), it was ridiculously big. I ended up having to exchange it and got a 22. Now the 22 is a little more form fitting than I would like, but I'm still gonna wear it anyways. Oh and these shoes I just got at Payless, ridiculously comfortable and cheap too. I so wish they had them in more bright colors cause I would buy a ton. An awesome thing about these shoes is that they can probably accommodate almost any width fit as they are a stretchy sort of material.

 Dress: Lane Bryant. Shoes: Payless. Necklace: Kmart. Bracelets: Target & Icings.

Garden Estate: Lakewold

Sunday I took my daughter to the Lakewold Gardens. It was absolutely stunning. This estate is 10 acres and over one hundred years old, but has been open for 25 years as a non-profit. It was so beautiful.The mansion was gorgeous as well. The very front of the estate was super manicured, but as you continue back through the property it starts to get a sort of overgrown feel (while still looking like everything was planted in a very intentional way). There was a stream that meandered through out all the way to back of the property which is met by Gravelly Lake. It's one of those places that you are in serious awe. I WISH I could live there! I think Eulalia Wagner sums it up perfectly "As we become more and more city creatures, living in manmade surroundings, perhaps gardens will become even more precious to us, letting us remember that we began in the garden." 

It was fantastic weather so I opted to wear this new maxi dress I bought at Lane Bryant. It's funny because most of the last year I've been extremely disappointed with them. I just didn't really think anything LB was coming out with was particularly eye catching, until I logged online a few days ago and there were three dresses that I fell in love with. This was clearly one of them. I also feel like LB's sizing is off. I
 normally wear a 24 and ended up having to exchange this dress in-store for a size 20. Nevertheless, this dress was so perfect for our little excursion. I'm taking a trip to California in August and am already contemplating taking this one along (although we'll see once I get closer to the date). 

Dress: Lane Bryant. Necklace and Flip Flops: Walmart. Earrings: Old Navy. Bag: Kmart.

Skull and Roses

 We have had some seriously amazing weather in Washington, today was a lovely 84 degrees! My daughter and I went to the park, ate lunch, she played, and then we had a stroll around the water. We spotted the cutest ducklings ever too. I love these kind of days. They really are the type I always look forward to.

This skull and rose dress is one of my recent purchases. I first saw it at the store on a display, but they had none in stock so I ended up ordering it online. It was probably good that they didn't have it in-store because by the time I got around to ordering it, Torrid was having a sale going on that saved me a bit of money. This dress kept me relatively cool, but the cardigan had to come off! From the front the cardigan is rather plain looking, but the back is lace which adds kind of an interesting detail. I had intended upon wearing a pair of floral wedges, but opted out since I knew we would end up walking for quite awhile.

Dress: Torrid.  Shoes and Bag: Kmart. Cardigan: Walmart. Earrings: Old Navy. Necklace: Charlotte Russe. Sunglasses: Fossil.

Retro Inspired

Life has been busy lately! Monday was my birthday, but since I worked all week I didn't really do anything until Sunday. My family took me out to dinner, we went to Sizzler. I don't think we'll be going there again. The steak and lobster were definitely not outstanding, but oh well. I just recently purchased this dress and love it. I was scrolling through Torrid's website and got super excited when I saw it. It has skulls, roses and mermaids, I mean what's not to love?! I wore it to work on Monday also and got a ridiculous amount of compliments on it. Kind of makes me want a few more dresses in this style. I recently read some blogs that were talking about a label called Hell Bunny, similar styles and in plus size too. I may end up placing an order with them at some point. I was on a shopping ban, as of lately it has turned more into a shopping binge really. I kind of rationalize it that pretty much everything I've purchased has been at least 40% off and the fact that my birthday was coming up. It may not be super logical, but hey, I'm still sticking to it. 

Blazer, Dress, Shoes: Torrid. Necklace: real pears gifted from my little brother. Bracelet: Walmart.

This blazer is definitely one of my favorite pieces, a staple really. It's always my go-to when I need to add a little more 'modesty' or warmth to an outfit. I have no issue with sleeveless clothing, my job does however. They actually sent a girl home one day for wearing a sleeveless shirt, now we're not talking about spaghetti type straps either, I'm meaning some big thick straps just exempt of an actual sleeve. I don't take the chance, and this blazer always works.

Rosy

It was such a beautiful day that my daughter and I decided to hit the park up again. This has pretty much been our regular outing on my days off lately. I don't know what it is, but I've definitely been having a thing with red lately. I think I've seriously worn it at least 3 of the last 5 days. We also stopped at Sally's Beauty Supply and I bought a new Jilbere flat iron and a curling wand since they were having a buy one get one free. I finally got a hair cut too, nothing too extreme (that was after these pictures were taken).  

Dress and Lace Blazer: Torrid. Shoes: Lei.  Necklace and Earrings: Old Navy.

Feel Drapey

 I was super tired when these pictures were taken even though it was my day off! Which is also why I opted for something super comfy. Next time I wear these pants I think I am going to wear a dressier shirt. It was such a nice day that we decided to head out to the park and later to the theater to see Mr. Peabody, which was super cute by the way. And the park had these gorgeous trees in bloom, I could of died they were so pretty, especially when the wind started blowing and the florets were flying everywhere. These shoes, oh these shoes, definitely some of my favorites but I gotta say they have seen better days. It will be time to retire them soon, so sad.

Drapey Pants and Shirt: Old Navy. Necklace: Target. Black Bracelet: Walmart. Red Bracelet: House of Key. Wedges: Kmart. Bag: TJ Max.

"Mommy, the sun is in my eyes!"