My Beautiful Girls

Without planning it, the girls happened to dress similarly one day, both in shades of black and gray, as had I (with the exception of a scarf to add some color.) We thought it was so funny we decided to take some pictures to document the event.

I love the headbands with similar red flowers, both of which were purchased in Tracy over Thanksgiving weekend.

They are growing up so quickly.

Evil Hair Days

Don't get me wrong, I love my curly hair. But sometimes it has a mind of its own.

And when it decides to go its own way, the results tend to turn out, well, evil.

Because when my hair misbehaves, it tends to resemble the hairstyles of various nemeses in books and movies.

Take this classic look, for instance.

Flattop, from Dick Tracy.

I achieved this one when I didn't pay attention while diffusing my hair one morning. I ended up with a bunch of curls on the outer sides of my face but the top of my hair was still flat.

Or this one.

Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men"

This one I managed to create when I decided to straighten my hair one morning, but I don't have a really good flat iron to do so. I kid you not, my hair looked exactly like this.

And I've managed to achieve this look several times.


Cesar Romero as The Joker in "Batman"

Yes, my hair will curl this way, especially on its own while I'm sleeping. It's crazy and sticks out in all directions, and wobbles in one big wave when I move.

The good part of having curly hair is that most mornings I wash it, I put a little product in it and let it dry on its own. Half an hour later I add a couple of spritzes of hairspray to keep it from frizzing throughout the day and I'm ready to go.

But when my hair decides to be bad, it is evil.

"Spring" Fashion

At this time of year I chide my children to never, ever lose their mittens.

Why? you ask.

Because if they did, I couldn't go to a store and buy them a new pair. Yes, it's February in Minnesota. Yes, we are still getting snow every other day. But apparently the retailers have decided that it's time to plan for spring. The children's section of Target is filled with shorts, t-shirts and, of all things, swimsuits.

Huh??

One day last week the following two catalogs arrived in our mailbox:

I flipped through them both quickly, admiring the fashions and how amazing they looked on their models.

And then I threw both of them in the recycling.  Because this is what it looks outside:

The very thought of putting on the clothes in these catalogs makes me shiver. I wonder how quickly I would get frostbite on my legs if I wore shorts, or how I would keep the snow out of the toes of my sandals if I tried to venture outside in them.

I want to curl up in a ball under my down comforter when I see pictures like this.

I understand that in other parts of the country it is warming up. My dad informed me the other day that they are starting to see 70 degrees in Arkansas, and hiacynth and daffodils are starting to pop through the earth. But when you live in warmer climates like that, 70 is not warm -- 90 is. So even in his household they are donning long pants and sweatshirts until it warms up more.

So I will do this year like I do every year. I will wait until it actually feels warm outside to get my warm weather shopping done. And that works well for me, because by then everything's on clearance and I can buy it for the prices I want to pay anyway.

Until then, you'll find me hibernating in my bed, under a few layers of blankets and down. See you in spring!

Getting ourselves dressed

 I have a friend named Julie who always looks very stylish (she's second from the left, in case you're wondering). Every time I see her I tell her how put together she looks, and each time she gives the credit to this guy named Anthony, her personal shopper at J Crew. He helps her put together pieces that she would've never put together on her own and picks out accessories to pull it all together. She's been shopping there for 5 years and he knows every piece that's in her closet, so he knows what pieces will go with things she already owns. He even stopped her from buying a third gray cardigan after reminding her that she already owned two.

A group of us got tired of hearing about this Anthony without meeting him, so we asked Julie to hook us up. So this past Sunday eight of us arrived at J Crew at closing time to find this sign on the door:

We had the store to ourselves for 2 hours after closing time, with Anthony helping us with our style issues.

One of us was looking for an outfit appropriate for a gala but something that could be used on other occasions.

One of us was looking for pieces that could go from office to casual weekend wear with just a couple of switches.

I myself was looking for help with my boring long-sleeved t-shirt that I use under nearly every blazer and sweater I wear to work. Bor-ring. I even wore one to the appointment so he could see how boring it was.

He surprised us by putting some of the ladies in skinny jeans...and they looked surprisingly good! I would've never imagined that on women who have hips. (Yes, we have hips.)

Anthony managed to keep options in front of all of us and to our collective amazement, kept all of us straight. (Did I mention that 7 of the 8 people at this personal shopping party have names starting with "J"?) He could tell you what worked, what didn't, and would put together pieces that some of us would have never put together.

Best of all, we all got an additional 20 percent discount on our purchases, even clearance items. We all walked out of there with J Crew bags and smiles.


Janel, Julie, Gianna, Janey, Jenny, Jennifer and Anthony

I have never shopped at J Crew before - whenever I looked in the window the clothes seemed so basic and plain to me. But upon closer look they stock nicely constructed basics that you can invest in, i.e. blazers, skirts and pants, with more interesting shirts and accent pieces to put together an outfit.

I will definitely be back and will put Anthony's infamous memory to the test to see if he remembers me or my particular style challenge. And hopefully we can have another personal shopping party - it was so much fun!