Saturday, May 24, 2014

Gwen Stacy

Happy Saturday!

Ever since I watched "The Amazing Spider Man 2" with my fam bam, I have always wanted to do a post on a "Gwen Stacy" look.  I. Seriously. LOVE. Her. Wardrobe!  Every single outfit that Emma Stonw wore as Gwen in that movie is drool-worthy.  I didn't grow up with super hero comics since I don't have any brothers.  So I don't know the story at all.  When (spoiler alert!) Gwen fell to her death, I was devastated.  No more cute outfits to oodle at!  

Since I own a blue coat, I wanted to do a look that resembled that of Gwen's outfit in that fatal scene.  I found a blouse and a short skirt I already owned, threw on a pair of stockings and black boots, then voĆ­la!

So, here's Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy (I think I have a girl-crush on her.  She's SO adorable):



And here's my version.  Of course I'm no where as cute as Emma Stone.  But given what I had in my closet, I think I did fairly well.  :)



Coat: J Crew from ages ago.  Here's a really cute one (that channels Gwen even better!) from ASOS
Top: Lush via Nordstrom
Skirt: Old from Guess.  Here's a cute one from Guess, and another one here from ASOS
Tights: Old from H&M, here's a pair that's even more Gwen
Boots: Old from Banana Republic, I'm loving these from Ted Baker via Zappos
Bag: Chanel

So the essential pieces you need for this look is actually pretty simple.  A blouse, a mini skater skirt, a pair of stockings, a pair of boots, and a long coat.  Then you've got yourself an outfit that even super heroes can't resist!  ;)

Have a good rest of the weekend!

Xoxo,
Lin

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Professional But Not Uptight

Hi All!

My goodness, it's been almost about a month since I wrote the last post!  It's been too insanely busy these days.  I'm sure all of you with school-aged children can relate.  The end of the school year is almost as insane as the beginning of the school year.  All these activities and field trips.  On top of it all, you're trying to plan family vacations for the summer.  And not to mention trying to find summer camps to keep your little wild animals busy.  Ahhhh...the joy of motherhood.  ;)

I had to attend a meeting for the boys' school today.  I was one of the room parents for my sons' first grade class.  Today was our last meeting (hooray!).  I am normally a leggings and a simple sweater kind of mom.  But since it's meeting day, I thought I'd step it up a notch.  :)  You know, days like this, I DO try a little.

So here's what I put together last night before I fell asleep with a (very heavy) 3 year old resting on my stomach.  I wanted to look professional but not uptight.





Blazer: Topshop via Nordstrom
Blouse: Old from The Limited, here and here are similar ones from ASOS
Pants: Paige Denim via Nordstrom
Shoes: Kate Spade via Nordstrom
Bag: Louis Vuitton Monceau BB Cross Body Bag

I think I pulled off the look pretty well, don't you think?  I love the whole peplum look of my blazer.  I recently discovered Topshop (I know, I'm so old, how can I have only just discovered Topshop now?!), and came across this beautiful blazer.  I'd been looking for a structured white blazer for while, and this one works perfectly!  For Mother's Day, my hubby generously bought (ok, it's more like I bought it myself) the cross body bag for me.  I had been looking for one for months.  I looked at the Valentino Rockstud, the Celine ones, the Prada, Fendi, Chanel, you name it, I looked.  Then I finally came across this one and absolutely fell in love with it!  Cross body bags are so trendy right now, and I felt this burgundy-ish, eggplant-ish color works well with every outfit.  So far, I haven't been able to put it down!  It was a great investment!  Thank you, Babe!  ;)

Have a wonderful Thursday evening, everyone!  Oh!  Nordstrom is having their Anniversary Sale.  Go. Shop. NOW! 

Xoxo,
Lin

Friday, May 2, 2014

Mommy Life Hacks

So we've all seen those "Life Hacks" on Pinterest that gives you tips on how to make your life easier. I've got a few up my sleeves as well.  I must say these have helped me in one way or another.  You gotta give it to a mom of twins to figure out how to do things easier.  So...drumroll, please!

1) Tickle them awake - You know those mornings when you have to wake your kids up for school?  Maybe you don't, because your kids actually fall asleep at a decent hour.  But I have my twins in one room, and even though I put them in bed no later then 8:30pm, who knows what time they actually fall asleep.  Once I leave the room, I think they stay up and chit chat for another 30 minutes about Legos or Clash of Clans.  So naturally, they can't wake up in the mornings for school!  I used to have to yell and threaten and give time-outs.  But I finally got smart and thought I'd just tickle them until they physically get out of bed.  I mean, it's genius!  What else can make you wake up faster than loud, insane laughter?  It works SO well.  They're wide awake after a couple of minutes of incessant tickling, and I go my merry way downstairs to prepare breakfast.  No fights, no anger; everyone is happy.  :)

2)  Unloading the dishwasher - You don't need to be a mom to use this trick.  I read this somewhere but can't remember where.  We have two dishwashers at home.  But with 5 people in the house, sometimes I feel like I need 10 dishwashers.  I don't mind loading them, but it's the unloading that drives me crazy.  So now after one load of dishes are done, when I need clean ones, I just go directly to the clean dishes that are still in the dishwasher.  That way, as time goes by, there are less dishes in the dishwasher to unload, and less dishes to load into the dishwashers.  Love this tip.  Even if you have just one, or two, or even more, this trick works.

3) Kids sleep in traveling clothes - Maybe you already do this, but I recently just learned this trick from a dear friend (you know who you are).  I was telling her one day how much trouble it would be to get my kids ready in the morning to catch a 6am flight.  She told me to dress the kids in the clothes they'd be traveling in when they go to bed.  You know, just sweatpants and t-shirts and stuff.  That way, you at least eliminate one thing you need to do.  I was like, "why didn't I think of that?!"  And we've been doing that ever since.  It doesn't sound like a lot of time saved for those of you w/o children, but those of you that do have kids, you know what I mean!

4) Save plastic "kids" cups from restaurants - Those plastic "kids" cups that we get from restaurants when we order the kids meals really come in handy.  On those mornings when we're running late for school (which is like, every morning), I make the kids breakfast and take them with me, then pour their milk in those kids cups with lids, and there you go!  Breakfast in the car.  It's nice because those cups already have lids.  And it's the perfect portion for a meal.  No more having to buy sippy cups at Target, and you get to help Mother Nature by re-using those restaurant cups more than once.

5) Do a potluck picnic instead of a sit-down meal - I thought of this when the boys were still very little.  A bunch of our friends decided that we were going to go to the aquarium together with all our little ones.  And we wanted to have lunch before we went.  We were going to find a restaurant that would accommodate us all.  I suggested that it might be better if each family brought some food to share, and just have a picnic at a nearby park.  That way, the kids can eat and play at the same time, and we wouldn't be driving ourselves crazy trying to keep them in their seats, which is what we would've had to do had we been in a restaurant.  This went well, except we were late and the picnic was over by the time we got there!  Ha!

6) Go to dress rehearsals - For those of you with children who have school performances.  If the school holds dress rehearsals and the school allows parents to go to those, because they want to accommodate everyone's schedule, then GO TO THOSE.  Seriously.  It's the same as the actual performance, only with significantly LESS PEOPLE.  We just experienced that this week.  My husband couldn't go to the actual performance today, so he went to the dress rehearsal yesterday.  I went to both.  And let me tell you, there were only maybe 10 parents there at most yesterday, with plenty of parking, as opposed to today, where it was almost impossible to find parking, and a mob of people fighting to get the "best" spot so they can see their own children perform and get good pictures.  My husband got beautiful pictures yesterday of our daughter.  It's a no brainer.  Every year we're attending the dress rehearsals.

Our beautiful and silly little munchkin

That's about all I can think of right now off the top of my head.   When I think of more, of course I'll post them and share them with you.  TGIF!

xoxo,
Lin