A Cozy Warm Spring Look?

 Wow! What a difference a week makes.  Last week it was eighty degrees on Mother's Day and today it was fifty.  I was fifteen minutes late for church today because I couldn't decide what to wear.  It feels like winter and I wanted to snuggle inside a cozy sweater and bring out my tall boots, but it's spring!  I don't want to wear fall clothes!  I finally decided to dress cozy warm, but look like spring by wearing a thick nautical sweater, a white jacket, jeans, and a scarf.

 Lightweight scarves have always been a lifesaver for me for transitional seasons.  They add just that extra warmth I need;  especially on windy days.  Because I have such a neutral base on, I really wanted to bring some color to this outfit so I did that with my scarf, bag, and a bright lipstick.

My nautical sweater has a anchor image woven into it.  You can get a better look at that image on THIS POST.  It is from Talbots (old).  My jacket I found at CJBanks.  I can't tell you how much I love this jacket!  It's a lightweight terry knit with pockets and a draw string hood.  I love the length and the relaxed fit.  It is perfect for spring/summer and I have a feeling I will be getting a lot of use out of it.

I have to talk about CJBanks for a few minutes because I know I've been starting to feature a few clothes from them here and there on my blog and my regular readers who know I'm a thrifty shopper might be asking "What's Up?".  At first glance, CJBanks seems like it's an expensive store (Expensive to me anyway.  I know some of my readers who think nothing of spending $200 for a pair of jeans or $600 for a pair of shoes would think it's a cheap store.)  But I am a thrifty shopper, I don't like to pay more than $20.00 for anything.  So when I first walked into CJBanks, I found them kinda pricey.  But like most stores, they have a rewards program and also great sales.  If you go to their web page you can sign up for emails (and also their rewards program) which will alert you to their sales.  The jacket I'm wearing is normally $50.00.  I bought it at 60% off plus I used a $20.00 off coupon if I spent $50.00 or more (I bought two other tops at the same time to reach my minimum).  Since I turned 54 I wanted to start shopping at stores that feature styles better for my body type (like Talbots, Chicos, or CJBanks) but I found most of the them just too expensive.  Looking more deeply into CJBanks  was a real lesson to me about not ruling a store out immediately upon one visit but to inquire about rewards programs.  I encourage you to do the same if there is a store you would love to shop at but you don't think is affordable.  You never know the store might be more affordable for you than you think!

My grey jeans are new this season.  They are buy Liz Claiborne and purchased at JCPenney.

 My bright pink cross body bag was a gift from my daughter.  My beaded bracelet I picked up in Vail, Colorado while on vacation.

Selecting what shoes to wear was the hardest part of putting together this outfit.  I finally settled on a pair of nude wedge pumps by Nine West.

Wearing lighter, brighter colors when the weather is cool is the perfect way to stay warm but still fit the colors of the season.  I can still have a thick sweater on to stay warm, but because it's a bright white and I added a bright bag and floral scarf, I still look like I'm dressed for spring.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

My Spring Garden: Flowering Crab Apples, Vibernums, Phlox, Lilacs, and Ivy

Almost every Sunday, during the growing season, I love to share "What's Blooming In My Yard"!

This is what has been blooming the past two weeks:

For weeks, I've been watching all my favorite fashion bloggers pose in front of or under gorgeous flowering trees, and it was finally my turn!  The crab apple trees bloomed in Wisconsin this week!  We have four flowering crab apple trees in our yard:  two pink and two white.  Here is the white one with some white tulips in the foreground.

The white viburnums have also started to bloom;  see it in the background?

Here's is that viburnum bush as seen from the other side of the flowering crab apple trees.  See all the green stems of the daffodils on the hillside?  The few dots of yellow is what is left of these flowering bulbs.

And here is a closeup of the flowering blooms.

This pink flowering crab apple isn't as full as the other trees because it gets too much shade, but I love it nevertheless.

The ferns planted beneath the tree are growing extraordinarily well because of all the rain we have been getting.

I under planted the ferns with a beautiful ivy.  They have a lovely yellow flower each spring.

I also have a ivy with a purple flower growing right next to it.  These two ivy's though have really taken over this garden and I will have to dig it all up and toss it someday when I have the time.

The tulips surprised me and stayed in bloom a long time this year...almost two weeks!  Most have lost their blooms by now.  The chartreuse green you see in the foreground is a ground cover sedum.

The phlox is also finishing up.  It looked so beautiful until heavy rains washed all the pretty blooms away.

 I love how the flowering branches of both the pink and white crab apple trees frame a picture of the white flowering crab apple tree in the distance and the creeping phlox.

My old wooden garden steps are deteriorating, but I love the rustic look.  Eventually we will replace them with stone steps.

This crab apple tree we planted the year my father died in honor of his memory.  We always refer to it as "Grandpa Arnold's Tree"

The view of my yard from the front porch.

 Aren't these two tulips so pretty?  They are not perennial tulips so they get less, and less every year.  Next year, I will probably only have 1 pretty tulip left.  Time to replant!

The bleeding hearts are still going strong!

 The common purple lilac bush is always the first lilac bush to bloom.  I'm still waiting on the other three varieties of lilac bushes to bloom.

I love the smell of lilacs!  Have you ever met anyone who doesn't?  I cut a bouquet of lilacs and put them in my kitchen so I could have the scent as long as possible.

My flowering onions just started to bloom.  Hopefully I can get a better picture for you later in the week.  Most of them are not fully opened yet.

I had so many flowering onions this year!  This is just one small patch.  I did re-do this garden last year so I must have dug up and divided the bulbs (I don't remember) because I never had this many flowering onions before!

And the last picture I have is my pom-pom ball Viburnum bush.  I have two of these bushes.  They are just beginning to open up.  If it ever stops raining, I will get more pictures of these beauties when they are fully opened.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Olive and Blue

I have been trying to avoid purchasing sleeveless tops this summer but somehow ended up purchasing three more.  What can I say?  They just don't make enough cute short sleeve tops and when I see a cute sleeveless one I lose all my willpower.

This olive green one sold me on the colors, the embroidery, and the swing style.  I only wish it had sleeves!  But because it is dark, I can see wearing this under a jacket or sweater in cooler weather....there's my sleeves!

Right now, it's too warm for outerwear, so I did wear it as is.  I styled it with navy blue pull on pants by Liz Claiborne (old) and gold and brown accessories and shoes.

The top is by a.n.a, and is sold at JCP.  It is a gauze material and has gorgeous embroidery on both the yoke and the hem line.  It also comes in two other colors.

While selecting which pictures to use for my blog, I noticed I was developing a farmers tan from all the gardening I have been doing.  I'm trying to avoid getting any more sun on my back or chest, so I've been wearing t-shirts in the garden.  I think I need to switch to tank tops and just put sunscreen on my chest and upper back.

I picked up this cute necklace and matching earrings set while on vacation at Myrtle Beach.

The bag was a gift from my daughter.  I wore gold bracelets to accent the gold detail in the necklace.

I absolutely love the scalloped, embroidered detail in this top.

My shoes I picked up on clearance for $9.97 at DSW the day after Christmas.  This is the first time I was able to wear them.   They are by Steve Madden.

I really liked the color combo of olive and blue in this top. I kept it simple on myself by wearing pants the exact same color as the blue in the top.  I'm not sure what other bottom colors would go with this top.  I would love suggestions from my helpful readers of other bottom colors I could wear.  You gals always give me the best tips!

There is a keyhole button closure on the back of the top.  The pleated design of the top makes it nice and roomy.  I love tops that don't cling for summer.  The style, combined with the gauze material, will make it very comfortable to wear in the heat of the summer.  I'm wearing a medium for size reference.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

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