Here it is....the outfit!

It's probably not a good idea for me to be writing my blog yet, since I have had only 1/2 cup of coffee so far, but let's see if I can manage coherent sentences here. ;o)

I went shopping yesterday to find my outfit for Ben's retirement ceremony. I had promised Jacob some new jean shorts and had an extra 15% off coupon, so I started at Kohl's. It was a good plan because I actually ended up with 2 outfits (plus Jacob's shorts) and that was the only store that I had to go to.

Here is the one that Ben decided that he likes best (and he is the most important vote here,) but you all can state your opinions in the comments too (unless they are just to tell me that my arms look fat, and I already realize that so you don't have to take the time to type it out...I need to get back into my workout routine, stat!)

His comments were that I "looked nice" and "not frumpy" and then went on to say that so many women at these things look like they are wearing the same clothes from when their husbands went into the air force 20+ years ago. So I guess it is a good thing that I shopped in the junior dept. even though I clearly don't belong there...hehe!

It's hard to tell because the black is absorbing all the light, but this little jacket is ca-ute! It has a little ruffle at the bottom and little tiny pouf sleeves (thus the fat-looking arms.) I had originally planned on wearing the tee untucked and hanging slightly below the jacket, but at the last minute decided to check on what it would look like tucked in...I immediately look like I had lost 10 lbs (arms notwithstanding,) so that decision was made!

This is outfit #2 and is definitely more comfortable of the two and will work awesome later for date nights (I am hoping that we will get to take those every once in a while now that we are moving within driving distance of the grandparents.) Notice the ca-ute yellow shoes! You all haven't seen those yet...they came from an emergency shoe-shopping trip on Saturday. Yes there is such a thing when you are with a 3 year old who has shoes rubbing blisters, you are out shopping a long ways from home, and payless is having a buy one get one half off sale...hehe! 

Now I have to brag a tiny bit about what all this cost. It was Kohl's, right, so you all know it's going to be good! I bought that black pair of pants, date night shirt, purple tee, black jacket, matching jewelry, an additional black sweatshirt (that you didn't get to see, but it's really cute too!), and Jacob's jean shorts for a total of...

are you ready for it???

OMG, I was so excited!!

$115

I had budgeted $200 (we don't count all the shoes because they can be worn to multiple occasions/outfits so that wouldn't be fair to their value for my wardrobe) so I was able to splurge and go buy these two pillows that I saw last week in Target and fell in love with...

My living room is yellow (that is the backside of my couch that you see there) and red. Remember Kat's bed??? Well, it's not working out. She falls out of it pretty much every night and sleeps mainly on the floor...not good! So when we move, the arrangement of the furniture in the house is changing (more on that later) and her bed is coming into my humongous living room where we need more furniture anyways. These pillows are for the ends of that piece. 

And I am going to go off on a slight tangent here....how the heck do you arrange a sunken living room that truly only has one wall?!?! I have NO IDEA what I am going to do with that huge room as far as furniture arrangement goes... Of course, I am having the same dilemma with our huge bedroom too and it actually has walls!

And while I was getting dressed up and photographed, Kat felt left out so she had to put on her pretty dress for the retirement ceremony. This is a dress that my mom bought her for her birthday and is so absolutely perfect for this day! Thanks Mom!!! And notice her cute little ballet flats...she LOVES those so much and did NOT want to take any of it off yesterday after we had taken photos. She does love to be girly!

And you all are (mostly) crafters so I thought that you would want to see this. That first jacket had a flower on the lapel of it. I am not a flower on the lapel kind of girl, but this flower is awesome! Do you see??? It's made from a zipper!?!?!?

Here is a shot of the backside.... How awesome is that?!?! I have no idea what I am going to do with it...maybe attach it to a fun/funky purse. I love it!

And finally, just a quick not because it is Memorial Day. Enjoy your day. Have fun at your barbecues with your friends and family. But remember, you can have all this fun because of our veterans who have sacrificed so much so that we can have the lifestyles and freedoms that we have. Take a moment to remember them today too...