Forever 21 for the 40+ . . . recent finds

My daughter turned Sweet 16 on the 18th of this month. As a present, she received a Forever 21 gift card which was burning a hole in her pocket so I took her shopping last week and actually found a few things for myself.

I've shopped at this store many times since my daughter started high school and began caring about fashion. I probably would never have even entered the store had it not been for her. The prices are fabulous (the quality is hit/miss) if you want to score trendy items that you don't expect to last through several seasons. The majority of their stock is geared toward the teen/20's age group but if you shop carefully and with a "how would I style this" mindset, you can find some great pieces that will work for more mature fashionistas.

Here's what I got and how I'm going to wear it:

1) I'm much more curvy than the model.   This striped scoop neck top with ruched sleeves is going to be fabulously sexy on a casual date night with the hubs.  Add dark wash boot cut jeans and black high heels (see below). . .voila!  

 .  . .with my black Vera Wang heels from Kohl's

2) No, I won't be wearing this color blocked sweater with leather pants.  I imagined myself wearing it with dark wash skinny jeans and black motorcycle inspired boots.

3) I will wear this retro inspired t-shirt top underneath a 3/4 sleeve cropped blazer with ruched sleeves (see below).

. . .with my Metaphor blazer from Sears

4) I chose a size of this tiger/union jack shirt that was more form fitting than the one on the model.  I think loose fitting clothing adds pounds on a curvy girl so I prefer a fit that embraces my curves.  I'm going to wear this vintage inspired t-shirt with snakeskin skinny jeans (see below) and some wedge booties (see below).

. . .with my black Apt 9 snakeskin coated skinny jeans from Kohl's

 

. . .and my Merona wedge "shooties" from Target

 

Adventures in Thrifting

You may already know that I loooove me some thrift store shopping.  I've done it for years.  I enjoy it even more than antique store shopping because the bargains are better even if the selection isn't.  There's no regularity to my thrifting.  I just get out and hunt whenever the feeling hits me.  It's more fun that way.  Yesterday after I picked up the boy from school, we popped by Sally's (aka Salvation Army) on our way home and I got quite a good haul all for under $20.  Some of it will be refurbished with paint, some will go into my etsy shop, and others I will keep.  Can you guess which?

And here is another little find I picked up from a prior thrifting trip for just $1.95.  I finally brought it in from the garage, wiped it down and used wood glue to better secure the legs to the seat.  The seat is a little warped but I think imperfection adds to the charm.  Up next, is a coat of paint (not sure if I'm going to use white or black--I'm leaning toward white) and maybe some French accents.  You'll have to check back to see how it turns out.

A recent thrift store find transformation. . .cheese dome turned cloche!

Please come back and visit soon.

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Sharing at:  You're Talking to Much (Meet Me Monday)

My new yellow shoes!

Do you remember the other day I posted about my new striped top and I did an inspirational collage to show how I would wear it?  If not, click here for a reminder and then come back and read the rest of this post, k?

Okay, so last night I went shopping with my daughter, one of her friends and the friends' mom.  We were at Kohl's looking for a prom dress for the friend and I wandered into the shoe department (alright so I made a beeline for it the second I walked in the store but who's keeping track).  Low and behold, I found these beauties (the last pair in my size).

They are almost identical to the ones in my collage (see the tan leather-esque detail on the strap?) and these were on sale for $21.99 (reg $54.99).  Plus, I had a 30% off coupon so they ended up being only $16.61 (incl. tax)!!!  I don't believe in paying a lot of money for shoes in general but it's especially true when the shoes are a trend that I probably won't wear more than a year or two at most and these fall into that category.  I'm still working on finding a pair of white jeans (yikes!) but in the meantime I can wear them with regular denim jeans or a pair of white denim cropped pants (aka peddle pushers, capris) I already own.

Thanks for letting me share my shoe joy with you.  Please come back and visit soon.

If you like this post, I hope you will consider following my blog!

Decorating updates and Etsy finds

Hi Nesters,

I've done a little bit of decorating to cozy up our home for the changing season and I thought it would be fun to share the updates with you.

I originally purchased this little chair to sit in front of part of our sliding glass door in the family room.  I thought it would be extra seating for company.  Well, we don't entertain all that often, but when we do, it's usually in small groups and our current family room seating is adequate.  I missed the open feeling of having nothing in front of the window so I moved the little chair to our media room, which would be considered the formal living room in most houses.  But since we don't entertain formally, it's better used as a media room.  We definitely can use extra seating in here and the chair is finally getting some use.

 I painted the chalkboard frame white and added a tray with a small framed clock print, a clock coaster used as a candle holder, a faux herb plant, and a wooden bowl for chalk.  The chalkboard now says, "Time flies when you're having fun!"

I've made some recent pillow purchases on Etsy.  There are so many talented people out there, you are bound to find something to suit your decor.  I purchased the crown and bee/wreath pillow covers as a set from Simply French Market, the double frayed ruffle pillow cover from The Industrial Cottage and the Swiss cross pillow cover from Red Bird Vintage Home.

The mercury glass lamp is also another recent find from Tuesday Morning.  It has a black French label on it which adds to its vintage style charm.  It even came with the perfect woven shade.

 My new entry wall decor and tablescape.Wood vintage eye chart inspired art "The meaning of life is quite simply whatever you want it to be."

 And in case you haven't seen my previous home tour, here's a mini tour so you can imagine where my tiny 46" entry wall is situated.

Please come back and visit soon.

I hope you will consider following my blog!

Sharing my new chair!

Hi Nesters!

We had an empty area in front of our sliding glass door in the family room and I thought a small-ish accent chair would fill the space nicely without taking up too much room.  This chair fits the space perfectly.  It sits in front of the part of the door that doesn't open so the path to go out isn't blocked at all.  It's size is substantial enough to not look like a little kids' chair but yet it doesn't overpower either since it doesn't really have arms. I would say it's a good size chair for when you want extra seating for guests but you wouldn't want to curl up in it to read a book. The chair seat is the perfect height and I can sit all the way back in it and my feet still touch the floor (I'm 5' 4").

Some assembly (just attaching the legs) was required but I knew that from the description before I bought it and it went smoothly.  The fabric is the perfect color.  It is a flatweave (some sort of microfiber?) with a velvety/chenille feel but there are striations in it that give it the appearance of linen.  The legs have a modern shape but the tufting on the back gives it a more traditional feel.  This combination of styles suits our decor wonderfully.  

Oh and did I mention the chair was only $169 at Wal-Mart.com?  Yes, Wal-Mart. . .I know!  Shipping was free and they sent it directly to the store of my choosing.  It arrived about 1 1/2 weeks after I ordered it.

You can probably tell that I'm thrilled with my new chair.  I've never ordered furniture online before so I was hesitant.  Most of the reviews were good so I took a chance.  And since I had the option to return it to the store instead of having to ship it back, it was a no-brainer for me.

P.S. We got a new rug too!  I found it at Lowe's for around $125.  There's the old rug rolled up leaning next to the armoire.

Here's an old photo of the previous rug.  When we got our leather furniture for the family room a couple of years ago, we also got a new rug.  However, I ended up liking the new rug better in the media room so I swapped them out.  Now the crazy color blocked rug (yes, I did love it at one time) is looking for a new home.

Thanks for stopping by!

Robyn

Get your weekend shopping done with these great deals!

Hi Nesters!

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