Saturday, February 20, 2016

On a Blog Break

I'm on a Blog Break while I vacation in the Sunshine State!  I will return Monday, February 29th!


Friday, February 19, 2016

Wearing Cut-Out Shirts When Your Over Fifty

Hey guess what?  I do not have a winter outfit to show you today because I am currently in the sunshine state experiencing 70+ temperatures!  I am in Florida visiting my children for a couple of weeks, and the weather is absolutely gorgeous!   It feels so good to feel the sun on my body again!  

I did not want to close my blog down for two weeks, but in order to keep my fashion posts going I have to show what I am currently wearing:  which is spring or summer clothes!  So if this post isn't useful to you now, save it or pin it, because it may be useful to you in the near future.   Spring is just around the corner right?  

This week's post is photo heavy because we took the pictures at the most magical, gorgeous park called Kraft Azalea Park.   You will be able to read more about this amazing place in an upcoming travel post.


My outfit today consists of my own skinny jeans (old, Express) and shoes (old, Payless Shoes).  The shirt, jewelry, and vintage bag are all borrowed from my daughter.


I absolutely love the botanical print on this blouse...it even has birds on it!  I love birds!  The blouse has a low scoop neckline, so I wore a black tank underneath.  It has cut out sleeves in the shoulder, exposing the upper part of the arm.


I bought my shoes at Payless last year.  They have a peek-a-boo toe, and a wedge, straw heel.



The vintage bag was thrifted.  I added a red bead bracelet to pick up the red colors from the shirt.


Isn't this stone turquoise necklace gorgeous?  It belonged to Ashley's mother-in-law;  she wore it when she was a girl and gave it to Ashley.


 Shirts and sweaters with cut outs are very popular right now.  They bring an element of sexuality to an outfit without being over-exposed.  I personally feel they are great items for women over fifty to wear,  because it shows a sliver of skin, without revealing more than we're comfortable with.  Other people may disagree and find them inappropriate...but hey, to each his own.


I think the best way to wear a cut-out shirt when your over fifty, is to keep the rest of your outfit fairly modest.  I wouldn't wear this top with a mini skirt for example.  Because so much of my arm is exposed, I kept my legs covered.  Also, because the top is fuller, I balanced the bottom half by wearing something slim fitting like skinny jeans. 


Because the opening of the shirt is on the outside of my arms, the inner part of my arm  (where all that jiggly, sagging stuff likes to hang out) is still covered.


I absolutely love the full coverage of this top, and yet, it is still sexy because of the cut-outs.





If you want to see pictures of me in another, different cut-out shirt, check out this post HERE. 

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!


Thursday, February 18, 2016

Why Woman Over Fifty Should Use An Illuminator

It's no secret that the older one gets the duller one's complexion gets.  The easiest way to get skin that looks healthy and glowing is to use an illuminator.  

When I first started hearing about illuminators, I didn't think they would work for me because I have oily skin.  My skin is already shiny enough;  several times a day I have to take a tissue to my skin to sop up extra oil.  But I kept seeing "before" and "after" pictures of women "without" and "with" an illuminator, and I was awestruck by the difference. 

So I decided to try an illuminator myself and I was quite surprised with the results. 

Because I have oily skin, the first illuminator I tried was by "It Cosmetics"


Illuminators are available in both dry and cream forms.  The dry form is recommended for oily skin.  

The main purpose of an illuminator is to give a look of vitality, radiance, and illumination:  all characteristics an aging face like mine desires.  I was doubtful, but when I applied it, I was stunned.  It didn't make my face look oily or shiny, it truly did just illuminate my skin, giving me my face a healthy glow.  

I wear an illuminator every single day now.  I can't even imagine not putting it on, it makes such a huge difference in my look.  In the picture below I have the illuminator on.  If you notice the bridge of my nose, chin, and cheekbones are highlighted and there is an overall a younger, healthier  look to my skin.



Another illuminator I use is in the cream form.  It's a little easier to keep under control than a loose powder.   Because its a cream, you can apply it directly where you want it and it won't fly else where on your face.

The cream illuminator I tried is from Sonia Kashuk and I bought it from Target.  It's currently unavailable on the Target website that's why I didn't provide a link.  I'm not sure if it is still available in the stores.


Even though I have oily skin, I have not found the cream version to be a problem.  I actually use it more than the dry illuminator because I have more control over it.

So now that I have convinced you to try an illuminator how do you apply it?  That can be the tricky part!  

Illuminators can be applied all over the face, after your foundation and powder, to create a all-over-glow.  You can also mix a bit of illuminator into your foundation and then skip the powder if you'd like.  

The way I apply illuminators is to just use it as a highlighter.  I apply it sparingly to my cheekbones (above the blush line), above my eyebrows, the bridge of my nose (not the tip of your nose, or you may look like you have a shiny nose), and my chin.  But you can also apply it above your lips and your forehead too!  Basically, any area on your face you want to highlight or your entire face.

Here's a graphic I found on The Glow that shows where to apply an illuminator.

Image Credit
Illuminators really do work wonders;  giving the appearance of the dewy, glowing skin we had in our youth.  Another plus is contouring...a huge trend in make up techniques right now.  Illuminators are used to create high cheekbones, a stronger jawline, or a more angular look overall.  

So what about you?  Have you tried illuminators yet?  I'd love to hear from you!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Our Valentine's Day Celebration and a Beautiful Love Song

For this week's travel post, I thought I would share our trip to the big city of Minneapolis to celebrate Valentine's Day!

  We live in a small town in Wisconsin, about two hours from the Twin Cities.  We love to visit the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to go shopping at the Mall of America, visit the museums and botanical gardens, and to see all our favorite musical theatre tours.  So when we saw that Disney's "Newsies" was going to be performing on Valentine's Day, we were super excited!  What a great way to spend one of our favorite holidays:  dinner and the theatre!

Because we had spent so much money on the theatre tickets ($263.00!!!! Can you believe that?  Highway robbery!)  we had decided that would be my Valentine gift as well.  So you can just imagine my reaction when I walked downstairs two days before Valentine's Day and saw these beauties!  I certainly wasn't expecting them and was quite surprised.  My husband gave them to me early because I was leaving for Florida on the 16th and he wanted me to be able to enjoy them for a little while.  Isn't he so sweet and thoughtful?


I absolutely loved the beautiful card he found.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  So different than your typical store bought card....and so romantic and sexy too!  Love the black lace and the deep red color behind it.


Now I know I promised you all for weeks that I would let you know what I wore for Valentine's Day after the holiday was over.  But guess what?  I was so excited to see "Newsies" and actually CELEBRATE Valentine's Day that I forgot to have my husband take pictures of me IN my outfit.  Sorry.  So bad of me.  Just too busy living my life I didn't have time to chronicle it!

I did however do a flat lay for you to make up for it.......my first one ever!  I'm not a big fan of flat lays;  I like to see people wearing the clothes, not laying flat.  But since I forgot to take pictures, this was the next best thing.

It was cold and snowy on Valentine's Day, so I wanted to be warm and comfortable, yet still look sexy if possible.  I chose black tapered pants with a metallic gold thread woven through (last seen HERE),  a grey turtleneck sweater (Worthington), a black fur vest (last seen HERE), black booties, and a sparkly black and grey scarf.  My husband actually helped me pick out what to wear, so even though it was a conservative outfit, he thought it was sexy: and he's all that matters!


I didn't forget to take pictures of the marquee and the theatre.  Of course, we had plenty of time as we got there an hour before the curtains went up!




They had this cute photo-op in the foyer of the theatre, so of course I had to do it.  It turned out blurry though because of the dim lighting.


I couldn't take pictures of the actual musical, but I did snap this picture from our seats before the show began.  We had great seats...4th row in the first balcony section.  We could see everything perfectly!


"Newsies" was one of the best musicals I have ever seen.  It is very family friendly, filled with excitement, romance, great songs, and plenty of dance.  The set was an architectural and technical marvel.  It was basically just three levels of steel balconies and stairs (to simulate tenement housing) but they moved and repositioned about the stage quite often and used screens and images to cover portions of them to create different scenes.  It was quite impressive, and due to the height of the set, balcony seats were the perfect seats to have!

After the show was over we headed directly to our hotel to check in.  When we walked in the room we were so happy to discover our room had a hot tub!  What a romantic way to end our perfect Valentine Day!


 We did go out to eat after the play (we saw a matinee), but we just went to Ruby Tuesdays at the Mall of America to have burgers.  We were absolutely starving because we never had lunch that day, and both of us really just wanted to sink our teeth into a big, juicy burger!  And we did...the burgers were delicious!

The next morning I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to catch my flight to Florida.  My husband drove me to the airport and we said our tearful goodbyes.  He said "Don't die in a plane crash.  Come home to me safely".  I'm happy to report that despite a little turbulence, I made it to Florida safe and sound.  Of course, I still have the return trip in two weeks.


And now before I end my Valentine Day Travel Post, I wanted to include a love song written and performed by my lovely daughter Ashley of Daughter of Remembrance.  The name of the song is "Make Us One", you can find this song, and other songs she wrote on her YouTube channel HERE.  She would love it if you subscribed and promoted her channel as well!



I hope every one's Valentine's Day was as wonderful as mine!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

A Cheerful Duck

I heard someone was just released from the hospital and I sent her this get well card to help cheer her up as she recovers at home.

I cased the design of this card from Michele Kovack;  you can see her card HERE.


I just love this little Crafty Secrets image.  It is from the retired set "Feeling Yucky".  There are so many cute images in this set.

I stamped the image onto a rustic vanilla paper and cut a square shape with Spellbinder's Nestabilities.  I then adhered the main image panel onto Kraft card stock and mounted it up on dimensionals.

The designer paper is from Cosmo Cricket.  Two different colors of ribbon, crocheted lace, and a prima were added for embellishment.


The sentiment was stamped onto a banner cut with a MFT die.


Have a great day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Monday, February 15, 2016

Suede with Denim on Denim

I've shown you my new suede vest before that my husband bought me the day after Christmas HERE and HERE, but I never did a full post on it so I wanted to style it anew!  Because the vest is such a  light color I wanted to stay in that same color range so I chose a light blue base to wear underneath.

I decided on a denim on denim look wearing light blue flares from American Eagle and a chambray top (old).


I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this suede vest.  I was so happy I waited until I found the perfect one for the perfect price.  It's just so soft, luxurious, and warm.  Out of all three vests I bought this winter, this has been the one I have worn the most.  That really tells me how versatile, practical, and comfortable this vest is.


My chambray top has little white polka dots on it with embellished silver pearlized buttons.  I carried a boho cross body bag from Francesca's (old) and wore silver bracelets.








I wore white ankle boots (old, Francesca's) to coordinate with the pale colored vest.



I chose silver jewelry to complement the silver buttons, and I layered with a white camisole underneath my chambray top.  This is also a great trick I use for wearing button down shirts.  My bust line is proportionately larger than the rest of my torso.  If I bought a top that fit my bust line, it would be too big elsewhere.  So instead, I buy my usual size, then wear a camisole underneath leaving the shirt open or buttoned only beneath the bust line.


The "Don't wear denim on denim" rule disappeared years ago.  Now it's perfectly appropriate to wear multiple layers of denim as long as you wear different shades or textures of denim.  Here both my denim pieces are the same light shade of blue, but the top has polka dots plus I have the suede vest to break up the heavy denim on denim look.


Have a great day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!


Sunday, February 14, 2016

The Flowers and Plants of Busch Gardens

 In last week's Travel Post, I shared all about "Our Visit to Busch Gardens".  In that post I stated that the theme park was a zoo, rides, shows, and gardens all rolled up into one:   and I covered the zoo, ride, and shows in that post.  Today I want to focus on just the flowers and plants of Busch Gardens.

Busch Gardens is a tropical paradise filled with gorgeous flower beds, topiaries, potted plants, and lots of tropical foliage.

When we first entered the park, we didn't know what to expect or where to go and for whatever reason, we headed to the left.  It ended up being a good thing, because the first thing we discovered was this lovely garden with a winding path and pretty gazebo.  It was so peaceful, and it was so early there were no other tourists around, so we had the place to ourselves.  The perfect spot for some romantic photos!



This ivy covered trellis was a lovely spot to take a picture of my daughter Ashley and her husband Jason.


And since we so rarely get to be photographed together, my husband and I had our picture taken under this cute gazebo.


Since we were there the day after Thanksgiving, there were many gorgeous plantings of poinsettias.  I love how they used the plants to create letters in the ground.


Another lovely garden in this area was this beautiful water garden featuring a river, rock formations, and tropical plants.



There were so many gorgeous potted plants in Busch Gardens.  Here were a couple of my favorites:

I have this foliage plant growing in my sun room, but it's only about twelve inches tall.  Who knew this plant could grow this huge in a tropical climate?


I loved this flowering bush. Such a pretty interesting pink flower.  I also noticed most of the potted plants were always placed right near a bench so one could sit down and enjoy them for awhile.


The topiaries were amazing at Bush Gardens.  I've already shown you their nativity topiary scene HERE, but below are some more favorites of mine.

Some pretty butterflies:


And a big, scary tiger located right near the tiger exhibit!



 And perhaps my favorite of the day:  Floating Flower Boats!  Little row boats filled with flowers gently floated in a small pond in front of a restaurant.  It is such a clever idea.  If I ever have a large pond on my property, I will definitely be copying this idea.  Too cute and clever!





Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!