What I Wore To A Conservatory

 I am back from a wonderful week of visiting my children who live in the Chicago area.  We had a jam-packed action-filled week of activities that I am so excited to share with you on my Wednesday Travel Posts.  One of the things we did was visit the Garfield Park Conservatory.  Visiting a Conservatory during the winter months is such a rejuvenating experience.  It's the most wonderful feeling in the world to experience warmth and flowers in the middle of winter.

On this winter day however, it was fairly nice out.  We mid-westerners experienced a touch of spring last week with rare fifty to seventy degree days.  But, it didn't last long.  Our week of spring ended with a major blizzard and back to twenty degree temperatures.   The day I went to the conservatory it was cloudy and the temperatures were in the fifties or low sixties when the sun came out.

This is a dress I've shown you twice before.  The first time I styled it for spring HERE, and the second time I styled it for fall HERE.  This is one of my favorite dresses because the color can be worn in the colder months and it has a shorter length and short sleeves so I can wear it during the warmer months as well.  Thus I get a lot of use of it!  Plus, it's a shift dress so it's super comfy!

 I wore my shift dress with a black cardigan that could be easily removed if I got too warm.  I debated between a scarf or jewelry and I finally decided on a black and gold multi-strand necklace because I thought I might get too warm with a scarf and a sweater.   I ended up regretting that decision because we went to the zoo in the afternoon and I was a little chilled.  I should have taken the scarf with me and tied it to my bag if I didn't need it.  Live and learn.

I wore black and gold bracelets on my wrists.   I carried a cross body bag like I normally do when I travel.

My cardigan hangs lower in the back than it does in the front.

For footwear I chose simple black pointed toe flats with a velvet bow.

After the conservatory we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo where I was able to take this picture with the Chicago skyline behind me.  It was so nice to be able to take fashion photos with a fun, unique background again instead of on my porch.  I took fashion photos everyday and now have five days worth of posts!  Yeah!  No more dressing up on weekends for awhile just to take pictures!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

On Winter Break

I'm taking a winter break to spend some time with my children.  I'll be back on Monday,  February 27th.  I will still be active on Instagram if you want to follow me there!

How to Wear a Summer Dress In Winter

The last time I wore this dress it was summer (see that post HERE).  It's a wonderful summer dress because it's lightweight, has short sleeves and is short.  But I thought because it's black, I might try styling it for a warm winter day and this is what I came up with.

I thought my old sweater vest (shown previously in these posts HERE and HERE), would not only bring the extra warmth I needed but add some interest as well.

Because it's winter, I wore black tights and black over-the-knee boots.

The dress has a lovely lace up detail.

 The vest has an asymmetrical cut so it is longer on the sides and shorter in the front and back.  It's also a solid white on the back with the stripes only on the front and sides.

Because of the grommets on my dress, I didn't wear a necklace.  I wanted the lace up detail of the dress to take center stage.  I wore several silver bracelets and rings instead of a necklace and carried a beige bag.

I did punch more holes in the back strap of my over-the-knees to tighten them up a bit, but they still slip down.  If over-the-knee boots are still in style next year, I will have to look for a pair with a higher shaft.

Everyone in Wisconsin is so excited about the warmer temperatures we've been having.  It's wonderful to see the snow melting so early and I'm hoping all the ice will finally be gone from my driveway soon!

Next week were expecting temps in the 50's!!!!!!  Yeah!  We'll all be walking around with shorts and flip flops I'm sure!

And this will be my last blog post for over a week.  I'm driving down to Illinois to spend a week with my kids.  I won't be posting here, but hope to still stay active on Instagram so please follow me if your not already!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.

Valentine Cards

 Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  What a wonderful coincidence that Valentine's Day landed on a Tuesday this year.  I post my craft creations on Tuesdays, so today I can post the Valentine cards I made.

Every year I send Valentine's cards and a box of treats to my children.  The card below I gave to my daughter and her husband.

This card is so different than my usual clean and simple style.  It is loaded with trim and silk flowers. I added some snow flocking to the flowers to blend them into the colors of the card a bit.  The pink is a lot softer in real life.

I used wedding designer paper for the heart and background.  The grey paper is a metallic silver.  I also added some heart brads and punch a small heart through the paper as well.  The heart shapes were cut out with Spellbinders Nestabilities.

The problem with making cards like these is that they don't fit in a mail envelope nor can you mail them the traditional way.  That is why I normally don't make cards like this.  As pretty as they are, they are not practical.  But since my card was going into a box of goodies, it didn't matter that it was too bulky to fit in an envelope.

So instead of putting my card into a traditional envelope, I made a little tulle pouch using tulle left over from my daughter's wedding.  I also put some Valentine's Lip Balm in this bag.

To make the pouch, I simply folded a piece of tulle in half after it was cut down to size.  Then I sewed up the sides and hemmed the top.  I ran a piece of off-white ribbon through the hem to tie the pouch shut.

My next card I made for my son.  I cased the design from Pinterest  The lady I cased it from cased her card from a YouTube video.  You can the tutorial for both from THIS PAGE.

I thought this card was just too cute, and it was so simple and easy to make.  I love that I didn't have to spend hours coloring.  

The entire card was made using different sizes of heart dies...the same die set I used to make my other  Valentine cards.

This is the inside of the card.

And this is the back side of the card.

I glued on a red bow for an added touch of cuteness.  The eyes were made with a white gel pen and a little black dot of black card stock punched out with a hole puncher.  The whiskers were hand drawn or 'dotted' on.

The ears and nose were embossed with the "Swiss Dots" embossing folder.

And finally, here is the card I made for my husband.  It's the same card sketch as the one I used for Ashley and Jason's card, but minus all the lace, ribbon and flowers.

I kept the design clean and simple since it was for my husband.

The sentiment is from MFT and the paper is from Cosmo Cricket.

Have a Great Day and Enjoy Your Valentine's Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.

I Finally Found A Bomber Jacket!

I have been on the hunt for a bomber jacket for a couple of seasons now and I am so happy to announce that I finally found one!  The sad news is that I was able to purchase this bomber jacket at an amazing low price because our local Macy's is going out of business.  Everything in the store was marked down 40 to 60 percent off.  It was so depressing walking around the store and seeing it half empty of merchandise.  The past eight years of bad economics has really hit our mid-west community hard and we have lost so many stores and businesses as a result.  

This bomber jacket was originally $49.00 and I got it for $20.00!!!!  But most importantly, it was exactly the type of bomber jacket I was looking for.  If you remember my Stitch Fix Post, I requested a bomber jacket and they basically sent me a sweatshirt in the shape of a bomber jacket.  I wanted an actual coat material, like nylon, so I sent it back.  I also wanted a more simple one.  So many bomber jackets are embroidered or covered in patches or floral designs.  I think those coats look great on the young un's or the adventurous, but they are not suitable for me.  I wanted something simple and preferably in a color other than olive green or black.  I have enough coats in those colors.  So when I spotted this cute burgundy one, I knew it would be coming home with me!

I found the jacket in the Juniors department so I grabbed a size large.  It's probably a tad to big, but I believe bomber jackets are suppose to have a over-sized look to them...like your wearing your boyfriends jacket.  I also wanted it nice and roomy so I could wear anything I wanted underneath without worrying about it being too snug in the back or arms.

For this look, I paired it with my black and white striped tunic, last shown to you HERE.  My black skinny jeans are by Levi's.

 I carried my old faithful black bucket bag from Express.

The only jewelry I wore was a chocked from Forever 21.

The bomber jacket is a lightweight nylon with gold zippers on the front and the arm.

I love wearing grey booties with black jeans.  I feel they stand out more than if you wear black shoes with black pants.  And notice anything else in this picture....no snow on the ground beneath my feet!  Yeah!  I could finally move off my porch and into my yard a little bit.  Here's keeping my fingers crossed that spring is just around the corner! Although it wouldn't surprise me at all if we had a few more blizzards headed our way.

I have the feeling that I will be living in this bomber jacket come spring.  It was certainly warm enough outside to wear it today!  I love how lightweight and comfy it is. 

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

A Dressy Valentine's Day Outfit

 On Monday's Fashion Post, I shared a Casual Valentine Outfit.  Today I wanted to show a more dressy option, but still weather appropriate if you live in a cold climate like I do.

I don't like to run out to the store and buy all new items for a special occasion if I don't have to.  I prefer to shop from my own closet.  Everything I am wearing I've had for a few seasons or more except the bag.  My daughter gave me the gold handbag this year.

Leopard and red are one of my favorite pairings.  Since the top exposed quite a bit of skin for our cold temperatures, I added this furry leopard print infinity scarf to keep me warm.

My top is just a long sleeve tee with tab sleeves from Express.  The skirt is black pleather and has little tiny holes all over it.  If the skirt is too edgy for you, you could easily recreate this look with any black skirt suitable to your taste.

To keep my legs warm, I wore black tights and black suede ankle booties on my feet.  I tried my new over-the-knee boots with this outfit for extra warmth, but I felt like the small space of flesh between the bottom of the skirt and the boot was odd.  Although, it would have been nice for the extra warmth.

Since Valentine's Day falls on a weekday we will be celebrating the holiday this weekend.  I'm not sure what we will be doing yet, probably just dinner and a movie.  Last year we went to the cities and saw a Broadway musical and got a nice hotel room.  And the next day I left for Florida for two weeks to see my kids!  This year, it's not quite as exciting, but we are also spending a lot of money remodeling our new master bedroom.

On Monday I asked you which outfit you think I will actually wear on Valentine's Day.  Knowing me, and now knowing my plans, which one do you think it will be?

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.
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A Casual Valentine's Day Outfit

With Valentine's Day only a week away I thought I would spend this week's fashion posts show-casing two different Valentine Day Outfits.  Today's fashion post is a Valentine Outfit for a Casual Date.  On Friday I will show you a Valentine Outfit for a dressy date.  Then I'll let you try and figure out which outfit I actually wore on Valentine's Day.

This whimsical heart top I purchased for Valentine's Day two seasons ago.  The first time I wore it HERE, it was one of the coldest days of the year.  I paired it with a jacket and thick scarf.  It's a lightweight short sleeve top that I usually wear in summer.  If you'd like to see a summer look, see this post HERE.

Because it's both light weight and has short sleeves, if I want to wear it in the winter I have to wear a shirt or cardigan over it.  I decided to try it this year with a chambray shirt, dark blue denim, dark brown boots, a blue neck tie, and my burgundy bag for a bit of color.

I'm so happy thin neck ties are in style this year, aren't you?  I love scarves for they hide my aging neck and keep me warm, but I really don't like them if they are overly thick and bulky....I feel like I'm suffocating!  Don't even get me started on what I think of those crazy, bulky blanket scarves. 😄

Even though this top is no longer available, you could create a similar look with any heart print top or Valentine graphic tee (see my options below)!

I was torn between wearing sneakers with this look or boots.  I know sneakers would have looked better, but it's still too cold here in Wisconsin for sneakers and bare ankles.

And if you're wondering what the big smile is about in this next picture it's because I'm looking at my sweet kitten Jackson.  I was posing right in front of our back door so I could run in and out of the house quickly as it was freezing as usual.  Jackson was staring at me through the door watching me pose.  He wanted to come out with us so badly, but I love him too much to let him out.  We have way too many feral cats and other wild animals in our yard.  I don't want him to get hurt.

This is a cute, casual Valentine outfit if you have a very laid back date.  And if it's warm enough where you live already, you could probably skip the chambray shirt!

Here are some other fun heart shirts I found on the web!

Found HERE

This cute kitty one is from Target!

And if extra warmth is what you crave, I love this heart sweater from Macy's!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!
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