"Sew" What's Up?

Happy weekend dear readers! We are loving this gorgeous spring weather here in NC. My allergies, however, aren't loving it so much but thank goodness for allergy medicine.

Anna has always said she wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up. She has quite the flair for fashion and putting outfits together. Our local 4-H had a beginning sewers class last week and since I was working, Anna and my mother in law Linda went to it. Linda is a great seamstress and she was a great help to Anna in the class. If I went to the class, it would have been like "the blind leading the blind" since I have never sewed before.

Anna picked out her fabric, a blue and black zebra striped cotton and black beaded trim. It is so HER! We made a hair pretty since she needed to accessorize her outfit. Next we are making round fabric flowers (yo-yo flowers) to go on her shirt. Too cute! Here's the finished product. The black and white jacket totally clashes with it but that was part of her ensemble today without the skirt.

We went to my mom's today to sew on the trim. That was not fun plus mom's machine is quite finicky. We got it done though, it was a nice lesson in patience. In defense of her sewing machine, it is 40+ years old. I'd like to try to sew something on a newer model and see if it is still a pain in the tail to use or if it would be worth it to invest in one.

Everyone who took the class has to be in a fashion show in May to show off their garment and the clothes will be judged on workmanship. It will be interesting to see if Anna still wants to be a fashion designer after this. We will look into the 4-H sewing club for next year and see if she wants to do that. She is in a 4-H cooking club now and she really likes that. If there is 4-H in your area, I highly recommend trying it out for your kids. It is not all raising chickens and judging livestock. We are in a small county but our 4-H offers a lot for youth, especially in the summer.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and Happy Palm Sunday tomorrow!

XOXO,
Melissa

Great Clothes Shopping Day!

Hey everyone! I really hit the jackpot today for kids' clothes. I hardly ever pay retail for Anna & Camden's clothes, or mine for that matter! Here's how it went down.

After helping my husband at his office, I hit the Goodwill. Our GW is wonderful and I go at least twice a week. I found Anna a snow suit and they are hard to find in the larger sizes. This one will be perfect next winter. I found a girl's Lilly corduroy dress with a polar bear print to resell next fall (size 5--anyone? I can send you a picture) and I found me a purple cable knit sweater. Oh! And a shoe rack for the bedroom since SOMEONE *cough* Camden *cough* broke our other one.

Late this afternoon, the mom of one of my friends called to tell me she's having her famous yard sale tomorrow and would I like to come by for a sneak preview? You betcha! I loaded up the kids and bought some cute things for summer and fall, spent $10 for it all. Great deals!

The best part of the day was going to my church's twice-yearly consignment sale tonight. This sale is huge and I got to shop an hour earlier than the other consignors since I snagged a 3 hr. volunteer time, only 12 of those are available. I found Camden a ton of shirts, pj's, and a few shorts. I was kind of disappointed in the selection of clothes for Anna but it's not like she's hurting for clothes. Mom went to a big consignment sale two weekends ago and found lots of cute clothes for Anna. I did find Anna a swimsuit, pair of sandals, and a few shirts. Only spent $26 and yay for that!

I don't have much to get to complete their summer wardrobes. I feel like I can get the rest of it from Old Navy and Target. It's stuff like sandals, a swimsuit or two for Anna, and pajamas.

However, with all this fun I had today with clothes shopping, now comes the icky part, washing all these clothes! My washer is packed with clothes and I forsee lots of laundry tonight. Then tomorrow I'm going to weed out the heavy winter stuff and put a few spring clothes into the mix. The weather is so fickle, it's hard to plan too much ahead. It's still way too cold for shorts but we can make do with short sleeves and a jacket.

Have a great weekend!
Melissa

LL Bean Catalog

The spring catalogs are starting to arrive and I enjoy leisurely looking through them and dreaming of warmer weather, sandals, grilling out, and playing outside until past 9 pm, all while wearing new clothes :) So when I received the LL Bean catalog recently, these two things caught my eye:

Madras Comforter Set
How cute is this?! If I had a beach house, I would so decorate Anna's room in this. It just yells Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket-and I've never been to either! I have to live vicariously through Preppy Sue when she blogs about her vacations there. The madras is so summer-y and you can't go wrong with it. I love dressing Monkey Boy in madras shorts and Kangaroo Girl in a madras dress in the summer.

Whale Cardigan Sweater
I love classic, tailored clothing. Whenever I wear trendy clothes, I feel like they are wearing me instead of vice-versa. I don't have the style or flair to pull it off so I stick with something safe. I loved the preppy look back in the 80's and when I saw this sweater, it instantly took me back to my childhood. I seriously doubt I'll buy it, but I loved the walk down memory lane.


Where's my bermuda bag?! Aah, now my outfit is complete.

Until next time,
♥ Melissa ♥

White Sandals

Every Southern gal worth her weight in grits knows you don't break out the white shoes until after Memorial Day. An exception is if you live in the Deep South and it's warm enough after Easter, then go crazy and show 'em off.

I am so hard on my sandals that every year I need to buy a new pair in brown and white. I don't pay much for them since they are so worn out by summer's end. Unfortunately, living in a small town there is not much of a selection of fashionable shoes. If Wal-Mart or Belk's doesn't have it, you are out of luck. I love shopping online since I don't have to schlep the kids to the mall.

I was in search of white sandals for this summer so a Google-ing I went. I had a great buying experience on jcpenney.com. The site has a huge selection of shoes, the shipping is reasonable, and you can find many coupon codes to use! I just purchased these white sandals for less than $25 including shipping! They are leather and so comfortable, I wore them this morning actually. I also bought Anna a pair of leather Keds and she is in the largest size they make in this particular style so they are hard to find. JC Penney had them in stock and they were here super fast.

The next time you are searching online for clothing, check out JC Penney. You won't be disappointed!