Do You Hear What I Hear?

Four more days until Christmas! I can't believe this year is nearly over... as it's a bit of a blur.  Blame it on the busy schedules or the red wine.  Both are, ahem..  correct.

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas... just a tad wee bit stressful for me.  I am a horrible Santa.  Kid you not.  I pick the crappiest gifts ever.  Even my parents think so!  When I go shopping for someone my mind goes blank as soon as I step foot in the store.  Sadly, I'm starting to feel that way about shopping for my sons!! Finding gifts for them is REALLY difficult now as they've gotten older.  Austin is all about clothes and shoes and accessories.  I actually had him circle the items in a magazine that he wants and I picked his gifts from there! Sad I know but he's so specific about what he wants!  And then of course he always puts a few games on his wish list which are easy to buy.  Ethan, my little saver, has more money in his wallet than I do.  This kid is pretty content with what he has.  He says he doesn't "need" anything.  Love that guy!  His wish list this year... 4 items.  Three video games and a new scooter.

I can only imagine that it gets tougher from here.  What do you get kids that have every techie gadget out there?  As they get older, is a measly gift card suitable?

Ugh, just realized something.  Speaking of giving... :(

I wanted to take the boys to do some volunteer work this year for the holidays.  I started looking into it back in September but, how horrible am I?... I forgot.  I have a new lady friend from my Game Night group that does some volunteering.  I will definitely have to ask her about it.

.... and speaking of Game Night....  I joined my girlfriend's group about a week after I started my new group back in May (so yeah, I go to two a month now!)  Last night was her groups Holiday gift exchange.  We had to bring a $5 gift card and a $1 "creative" gift.  Okay.  Did I mention that I SUCK a little bit at giving gifts and even worserest if I can only spend ONE DOLLAR!?!?!  I felt like I was going out of my mind for the past 3 weeks looking for a $1 gift... oh yeah, a "creative" one.  I searched the net and even the almighty Pinterest!  Nada. Ziparoo, Nil, Zero with a capital ZEE!  My creative gift was purchased a couple of days ago... Thank you Russell Stover for my $1 box of chocolates.  That's as creative as it got.  I was relieved that the lady that got my gift was actually pretty happy to get a little box of chocolates.  These ladies are great and I look forward to seeing them every month.  We had a lot of laughs last night. The gal that hosted last night made an awesome dinner and dessert and her house is AHHH-MAZING!  I felt like I was in a winter wonderland.  She has every little nook and cranny filled with Christmas decor.  Gorgeous.

If you were limited to a $1 gift, what would you buy /make?

Last night's outfit for Bunco! :O)

I want (need) that handbag!

Did I mention I won a prize for Most Buncos!?!? Yup yup!

Red and Leopard Print by aznat73 featuring skinny jeans

Knit cardigan
$33 - ginatricot.com

H&M skinny jeans
$16 - hm.com

H m
$4.86 - hm.com

Gonna Be Alright...

Is today the last day ever?  People said that the Mayans predicted that the world would end on December 21, 2012.  I've never believed it.  There are countless articles that state that the calendar was misread.... that the Mayans weren't actually predicting that the world would end.  Ta-dee-da-da and then some.

Sheeeesh... Maybe they just got sick of working on the calendar?  I don't know but IF the world ends tomorrow, Imma be pissed that I paid bills this morning and baked cookies all friggin' day instead of running around naked, smoking a joint and listening to Bob Marley with my hubs.  I'm just kidding!  Of course I woulda spent the day with my sons and my hubs doing something memorable and in honor of our last day on earth!  Ugh... who am I kidding! Can tomorrow get here already I'm seriously sick of hearing about this already.

So people! Put the black sweat pants and the Nike's shoes down cause the Alien's aren't coming to save ya!

Everything's gonna be alright! :O)

Happy 14th Austin!

Yesterday was my son's 14th birthday.  I quickly grew sad as I was looking for a baby photo of him to post on Facebook.  I just wonder where the heck did time go? Where's that little hunk of chunk that I used to cuddle with constantly and nibble on his chubby cheeks? In place of that little ball of happiness is this tall, slender, quiet, loud, shy, outgoing, musically talented, video game addict of a young man!

Here we are with our little Austin at 1week old.

Here's Austin on his 4 month bday :)

Talking it up on the phone! Austin at 9 months.

Here's Austin a couple of months ago with his little

brother, Ethan... best buds <3

It was funny, yesterday, we decided to treat him to lunch. He wanted Micky D's for lunch so I took it into the office and waited for him to come get it.  I also had his cell phone that he forgot at home even after telling him about 5 times not to forget it!  But anyhow,  there must've been about six other parents in the office... not sure why. Don't care.  But yeah, so anyway, Austin comes into the office:

Me: "hi!" (as I gave him the Micky D's bag and his phone) "How's your day son?"

Him: "um, good"

Me: "so you're enjoying today?"

Him: "yeah"

Me: "getting a lot of Happy Birthday wishes?"

Him: "some"

Me: "okay well enjoy your lunch baby, remember we'll be here to pick you up after school so we can head straight to your birthday dinner okay?"

Him: "okay, thanks"

Okay, then awkward moment.......... I know he's super shy and gets embarrassed if I try to hug or kiss him in front of people/kids at school and I totally respect that.  I know eventually he'll grow out of it so it doesn't hurt my feelings at all.  So I take a step back and he takes a step back and then forth and then we're like all weird and awkward cause I don't know if he's wanting a hug er not... so I start to walk away and he says to me, (in front of all the people!)

"I LOVE YOU MOM"...  Melt my heart away moment. :)

I just have to say that he is a pretty amazing dude!  Although I hate that he's getting older (because the means I'm getting older), I absolutely love that we can hang together and watch movies, talk about music and shop together.  Each year he changes just a little bit more... more mature, more thoughtful, more loving.  It's exciting to watch him grow into such a great young man.  I'm truly blessed to have him <3

So off to dinner we went as soon as we picked him and his brother up from school.  His choice was The Yard House.  It's a great restaurant in Scottsdale by the Fashion Square Mall.  For us it's a haul as we live about 45 minutes away but he's so worth it.

Below you will see a Polyvore outfit that I put together inspired by the outfit I wore to dinner last night.  I'm really digging cardigans and blazers this year!!  I'm dying to get my hands on a brownish-taupe colored one.  I find myself LIVING in boots this winter as well.  LOVE them! 

What's your favorite style of boots? Do you like the ankle boots that are in style this season?

Cognac, blue and white by aznat73 featuring a quilted blazer

River Island striped tee
$13 - riverisland.com

Vero Moda quilted blazer
$65 - oliverbonas.com

Sacha leather bag
$52 - debenhams.com

Snow Day

We may not have hired a professional photographer... oh wait. I am...  No... wait...  Every mother out there with a digital camera is a freakin' pro now.  I  set up my tripod and we get what we get! I can't bring myself to spend the money on something I know how to do! I set up the tripod and run back and forth like a crazy woman... in this case... it was a nice fellow that took our family photo in exchange for me taking a photo of him with his sons.

Snow day.  I don't mind the 1.5 hr drive up north to play in the snow for a while.  We drive up, eat lunch, play, freeze and drive home.  It's just enough time for my sons to have a little fun and for this "Mama with a digital camera" to freeze some memories.

Ok.  Pathetic story. Here goes.  I actually planned my outfit on POLYVORE!  Holy yikes. I know, sad.  I almost had it to a tee 'cept I forgot to throw my scarf on for the photos.  I was freezing and in a hurry to get back in the car!  It was really snowing pretty hard.  I couldn't keep my face up or eyes open for too long without getting snow flakes in my eyes.

Okay, so here's my outfit... Did I mention I love this site? It's like playing paper dolls on your computer.  So. Addicting. So. So. So.... Darn you Polyvore... I love u! :)

Snow Day by aznat73 featuring black gloves





A few "out takes" :O)

Me and my "little" lovies

Dale was trying to take a photo

of us all together... here he is trying to hold

my ginormous Nikon!  He didn't do too bad

and we had quite the laugh!

Dale and our boys :O)

Making memories people... making memories.. that's what it's all about :O)

Animal Print meets Grey & White

Okay so I had no idea that each set I create will be posting to my blog as well.. but I don't mind. It will certainly light a fire under my bootie so that I'm more active in here as well.

I live in Arizona so I throw out the whole "no wearing white after Labor Day" rule right out my window and into the 70-80 degree weather!  Although today, is feeling a bit more like winter.... the clouds are low and dark and we had quite the storm last night.  The weatherman says we wont be reaching 60 degrees today which will be nice!  I've been counting on some weather like this because then I know that less than 2 hours north, we probably have some snow.  I've been slacking a bit in the "Christmas Card" department.  I wanted to get a family photo for our cards this year and I just haven't been able to get us out the door to do that.  So, a trip up north and a quick little photo shoot in the snow will be perfect for Christmas cards I think!

About the outfit.  I love mixing grays and browns.  And like I said, I wear white whenever I want.  I have every item here except the scarf.  It's amazing how hard it is to find a nice animal print scarf without it feeling cheap.  Tops like this you can pick up super cheap at Forever 21 and they usually have cute jewelry.  I scored some sweet Guess boots this past week in this exact color.  I'd been looking for them for two months! I paid way more than I ever would but they are well worth it. All leather and the color I was after? Score!

Do you wear white whenever you want or do you follow the Labor day rule?

Animal Print meets Grey & White by aznat73 featuring yellow gold earrings

Feathers & Chains

Some of you may have heard of a little site called Polyvore.  Can I just say it's EVIL!  It's just as horribly addicting as Pinterest!!  I like looking at the endless photos to try to get some inspiration but some of the photos are so cluttered and overwhelming! I decided to join a while back and make my OWN inspiration photos.  My goal was to post one outfit a day by trying to match my own outfits.  I only chose items that would be in my budget and I am reusing items as if they were in my own closet.  As I purchase new items I search for them on Polyvore and save them to my list.  There are some items that I save that I do not have... you can call it my  "wish list".  Best thing of all is that if an item that you've saved on your list goes on sale, Polyvore will email you and let you know about it!

Ok, so the problem with doing this everyday is, I don't get "dolled" up everyday.  Especially now that my hubs is working from home, it's just the two of us at home while our boys are at school so we're usually in our workout clothes and (embarrassing to admit but...) sometimes, yes, sometimes our jammies!  So.... today I discovered that you can enter contests in Polyvore! There are all kinds of contest groups that you can join and tons of contestants.  The chances of me winning are slim but, what the hey... I joined!

Posted below is the outfit I entered.  The subject was: FEATHERS.  Wow! I wouldn't normally put a feather outfit together but I have to say that I'm digging those feather heels! I am not going to follow my "budget rule" for the contests so I'm sure some of these items are probably a little bit on the pricey side :O)

What do you think of my first entry?  Would you wear this outfit for an event or holiday?

Click on the photo to see some of my other outfits!

Feathers & Chains by aznat73 featuring swarovski crystal earrings