Three on Tuesday

1. Emerald Green is in the fashion magazines this season. Emerald is one of my favorite shades of green (along with avocado and lime and olive and moss and sage... oh, I guess I just like green in general!). InStyle magazine had a great suggestion for makeup: wear a little purple around your eyes when you wear emerald green clothing. Obviously you want to do this carefully--these two colors together look like a Mardi Gras party. But why stop with makeup? Why not wear a chunky purple necklace with an emerald green blouse?

2. Susan Isaacs twittered about a free trade jewelry website: Big Village. I found these amazing earrings there:

Be aware that this is a Canadian company, and the exchange rate is not what it used to be.

3. Don't miss Shari Braendel's advice on fall fashion.

Monday Oops

I think I'll do a series of Monday Oops Posts. Nothing cheers up a Monday like reading about someone else's failures, right?

I am blessed to be a Homeschool Mom to three fabulous females. This year I have a fifth grader, a second grader and a first grader.

We started school last week--just a couple subjects each day--and today we jumped into almost the full schedule for my fifth grader. My littles need help remembering their reading skills, so we are concentrating on that before diving into their complete routine.

I had this great idea for a photo. I bought the Homeschool Super Mom shirt:

and each of my daughters has a Homeschool Girl shirt from Great Products.


The girls all had new dresses for the first day of school last week, but of course Middle Child got confused and put on her Homeschool Girl shirt that day. She brought it to me and traded it for her first day of school dress.

Today was T-shirt day.

And today Homeschool SuperMom can not find Middle Child's shirt. It is gone.

Of course Middle Child doesn't care. Why would she want to match everyone?

So...no photo.

Any wardrobe goofs at your house today?

Fantasy Friday: Pixie Cuts

My fantasy hairstyle is a pixie cut.

Like Victoria Beckham

or Margaret Feinberg

(That's a great book, by the way.)

But my hair is too curly. I've asked several stylists and they refuse to cut my hair that way. It just won't work for me. Sigh.

So instead I'm going to ask for this look at my next hair appointment:

I was so happy when Melanie Moore won So You Think You Can Dance, because I knew that meant it would be easy to find a photo of her to take to my hair stylist.

Do you have a fantasy hair style? Something you would love to do if you had a different hair texture or more patience with styling aids or longer hair or ....

Style and the Middle Child

My oldest daughter chooses her clothes based on comfort. She likes long shapeless knit dresses.

My youngest daughter usually throws on the first clothes she sees in the morning. She might wear a sweater in July or a sleeveless dress in December. She is never cold or hot, and she manages to squeeze her size 5 self into size 2T shorts. Once in awhile she gets bored with her clothing and lies in the middle of the floor saying, "Oh I have lots of clothes, I just don't feel like wearing any of them."

My middle child looks for three things in clothing: pink, leopard print and bling. When she was four she wore a tiara constantly. She wore it to Walmart and to the park and after awhile I hardly noticed it. It was just part of her.

She is also the tomboy of the family. She smashes bugs with her pink shoes and she climbs trees while wearing a tutu.

Sometimes my youngest daughter will decide to match the middle child, but never the other way around. Middle child has no need to match anyone.

On Sunday I painted my nails a dark purple color. Oldest daughter came along and I did her nails the same color. Youngest daughter watched us and asked for lavender nails (youngest likes long words--lavender is preferable to purple).

And then we all showed our nails to the middle child: "Look! It's purple fingernail day!"

"Very pretty," she said softly, "may I choose my own color?"

And she chose sparkly peach.

Three on Tuesday

I know, I know, everyone else writes "Five on Friday" posts, but I'm already posting "Fantasy Friday" on that day of the week.

So why not Three on Tuesday?

So...Three Things That Caught My Attention Recently:

This DIY necklace project at the Pretty Life Anonymous. Simple. Beautiful. Wearable. Customizable.

This straight purple skirt at What I Wore. I love the way she paired purple with leopard print, and the skirt looks so versatile. I'd like to find a green skirt in that style.

This bag on sale at ninewest.com. It's casual with a hint of elegance.

What caught your attention online this week? Any beautiful clothing...accessories...sales...???

Fall Color: Bordeaux

Shari Braendel, author of Good Girls Don't Have to Dress Bad, recommended bordeaux as a fashionable color for fall.

I thought I couldn't wear bordeaux. I thought my red hair would clash with it. I avoid red and pink tones in clothing. Shari suggested I try wearing a few accessories in bordeaux with a color that works well for me: olive.

That sounded like such a fresh and fun color combination, I just had to try it.

So I've been collecting accessories in bordeaux.

This wrap

to wear with this moss green shirt (moss is very close to olive, right?).

This scarf

which I will probably wear with an indigo denim shirt and an olive skirt or olive jeans, and big olive earrings.

I found this amazing nail polish, which is a color somewhere between bordeaux and black. I'll wear it with my connemara marble ring.

And my husband crocheted a hat for me. Yes. My husband rocks.

It fits kind of like this hat, except I wear it a little further back on my head:

Last week I was hunting in my garage for a curriculum guide I need for my children this year and I found a beautiful Bible cover.

I thought I gave this away years ago, but here it is, and just the right size for carrying my parellel Bible, my keys, wallet and phone to church. It's the fall color and it works with this fall's purse shape as well. I updated it with a scarf.

What color is calling to you this fall?

Fantasy Friday: tartan skirt

Every year in April we attend a Celtic Festival. It's held in a park where peacocks roam freely, their colorful feathers blending with the kilt-wearing men and women who stroll around playing bagpipes and dancing in Irish or Scottish traditions.

I always look for a kilt or a tartan skirt, but they're rather expensive, and women's kilts tend to be very short or very long.

I found a tartan skirt online that I absolutely love. It's a straight skirt, which is more flattering for me than an A-line, and it's just below knee-length. The price keeps it a Fantasy Friday item (not to mention the very short season in which the desert is cool enough to wear a wool skirt), but I do love to look at it.

Wouldn't this be fabulous in fall with a pair of riding boots?
I'd choose the Irish National tartan:

How about you? Is there an item on your clothing wish list that reflects your heritage?