laurspag

So that leaves two more outfits to bring for dinner. This dress here I am pretty sure I'm bringing. The jewelry choices aren't really set yet, but here are some options. The dress is qarmwr than it looks in this photo. lastly, there is the orange dress. Im fumvling a bit on how to accessorize it. I think because my husband is wearing a printed shirt that night. Its so funny how we dont coordinate our outfits oferall, but I'm bothered about competing with a print. i have a starfish necklace in antique gold, but my brain tells me no because it doesnt match the print on his shirt.

That being said, I love how those hoops look with the dress. When an outfit makes me smile, then I feel like I've figured it out. By the way, you will notice I often wear slides. Those accommodate my foot issues well. The ones with the cross strap look I wear to work so I know they feel ok. Margaret, I'm glad the smoke isn't as bad as the first time. We are still trying to be careful with it.

When she makes her earrings, no two are alike. Here is a sample from her page. Mine have more of abright blue.

Here is another outfit, so outfit number four, since I already posted formal night and dress your best outfits last week. I am thinking of different earrings, since I have a few options. Here is another. I'm contemplating different earring for this dress also, but I love the overall look Herr. i am a. Little hesitant to show these earrings, only because the colors are coming through wrong. These would provide a completely different look for this teal dress. While they have a purplish undertone, they aren't purple.

Here are a few planned outfits I have thus far. I generally think this first one is pretty well set.

PTMom, share a link if you have one! There was a time where I would wear a shoe no matter how badly int hurt, which is probably how I ended up with the bunions and neuroma to begin with. I try to balance comfort and style these days, and those new sandals felt so good! I was really bothered that the others were too big at the ankle strap area, because they felt comfortable and were very pretty. In reality, they were not the color I was looking for, and were more expensive than the kitten heels as well.

Margaret! Good to hear from you! Both sandals came in. The sparkling ones are very pretty and comfortable, but I have to send them back. There is no adjustment in the ankle area and that part is too big. They are so pretty though. The gold kitten heels are perfect. I'm so excited with how they fit and feel. The bottoms are a bit slippery, but I have non slip stick on pads that I use for that. They are really fantastic. Anita, I'm so glad the dress worked out for you. I can see that as is with flat sandals, or maybe dressed up a bit. You could add a sweater in cooler weather, etc. That is so versatile. I have taken the pictures I want of my evening outfits and have started the daytime outfits as well. Since we switched over to the teal comforter set, it seems colors in my pictures are so off.

Some better pictures of the colors.

Don't mind me - it's been raining off and on today so I'm doing laundry and cleaning house. My husband has a good friend in town so they are getting dinner. Here is something funny: I was looking at my swimsuits, and found one I forgot I bought! If I recall correctly, it was a clearance find at Athleta over the winter. I purchased it thinking that it could work well in the hot tubs because it is lighter' so it shouldn't bleach out. What do you think? The lighting in my toom is so off. The comforter is dark teal and the swimsuit is green. So here are a few more outfits ideas. This teal dress falls into the dress up or down category. I have it paired with more casual accessories, but I feel I could change the look easily if I opt for the gold or bone sandals. The hoop earrings are so pretty.

I like those shoes a lot, Anita. I think I need to look at those. I could definitely wear them to work. Do they have other colors? Here are the earrings for the blue dress. they are pretty basic but i think they will work. for the burgundybdress, im picking up on the style of that dress adornment.

Anita, I will share the up close pictures of the earrings for each dress. I literally take a ton. I eventually delete them so they don't take up too much space on my phone, but the whole layout format is so helpful to me. I love having the pictures instead of dragging everything back out all the time while I am toying with ideas. Here are two pairs of shoes I am considering, since they come in wide width and have a lower heel. This pair is a thought for replacing my trusty bronze shoes that are showing their age, and are no longer comfortable to wear. They are not bronze, but they look like they would be a viable choice for when I want to wear a more antique gold or bronze like color. These are the standard gold replacement option, which is almost identical to the bone sandals I already have. The bone sandals I wear to work off and on in the summer - I think they look nice with a suit. We are less formal than we used to be at work, so I like to add some of my personality to my outfits.

Anita, I as wondering - are you looking more for a dressy flat, or a casual one?

Here is my formal night outfit. I think the little rhinestone thingy at the top throws me off when it comes to jewelry choices, but this approach should work. The sandals didn't photograph great, but they are a soft gold. With dress your best night, I'm good with the dress but I don't know what I want to do for accessories. This necklace is an antique gold. I like that it isn't super formal. I wore that dress when my daughter got married. Here is the jewelry I wore with it. Thoughts? It feels a bit much to me. I don't shy away from dramatic jewelry, but I think I like the other combo. Last cruise, I wore an ivory dress and I love how I felt. I get more of that same feeling with the antique gold flower necklace than this one here. For reference, I wore a bone colored sandal for the wedding, with a lower heel. I used those for the last cruise and could probably do the same this time. Not sure about wearing them with that burgundy dress...they are comfortable though, and more broken in. There is a pair of gold sandals I am considering that I would like to buy, as the heel is more modest. I think it would be fun to do a few outfits at a time to get your thoughts. I always have a lot of jewelry options...a lot. I've built a collection over the years so if you suggest it, I probably have it, lol.

Anita, you must be so excited! I tend to migrate towards "uniform" dressing. I think it was Margaret that pegged that in a comment once, and it stuck with me. When I went on the coastal cruise, I was not going anywhere beachy or doing things that require a lot of different clothing. I went with more of a capsule wardrobe. I had cropped jeans and full length jeans that I wore with different tops and different scarves. I was going to be outside, so I had a lightweight coat that was water resistant, along with another twill jacket and a sweater. I know you like to travel light, and take a similar approach. I think I would do the same thing if I wanted to bring along a dress that might be worn a handful of times. I love the whole dress up or down process. We are somewhat similar in shape. I have broad shoulders, I'm very busty, somewhat big ribcage, but my waist and hips are not that far apart. My shoulders and hips are not the same. I am short waisted as well. Sometimes, when I post body con style dresses, they don't really fit me that way. They are fitted until you get to the waist, and then hang loose. It is not necessarily the best look for me, but I have to be careful with how much flare there is once I get past the waist. I guess i look for something that flows visually that doesn't make it look like my boobs are practically at my waist, lol. I'm all for trial and error! I would definitely try that dress you posted myself. You can do so much with it, and you can get a lot out of it after your trip too. With the merino wool, I know you have indicated that it is not itchy, and it is breathable. Does it have any stretch? For me, I tend to look for stretch so that I don't get that little section of fabric that sticks out near the underarms, across the bustline. What is the weather supposed to be like when you are on your trip? I told my husband that I look forward to taking a trip or two that is a bit different. A co-worker just got back from Clearwater, and it sounded like a lot of fun. She loved that the hotel offered a shuttle to and from the airport, and then there was a free trolley that went to a number of places. I was thinking about how I would approach a vacation like that. I tend not to repeat clothing as much when it is hot and humid, but I not tend to bring a few things that wash and dry very easily. They are pretty much tech fabrics, and I was very happy that I brought them along the last cruise, when I had a makeup mishap and had to quickly wash and outfit. Shoes can be a big issue for me too. There is something about the bunions and neuroma where ballet flats bother me a lot. My daughter, on the other hand, wears hers all the time. She wears them with straight or ankle dress pants in an office environment that is business casual, with a very firm focus on business. You may have noticed with my cruise pictodiary from last year that I wore some flat sandals a few times. It is hard for me to find something that I can wear easily. I have some photos ready of possibly cruise outfits that I'm ready to share, but nothing is really set in stone just yet. The sandals, in particular, may change. I have been wearing the ones you will see posted to work to make sure that I can handle them.

That is a tremendous amount of rain, Melody. We got some much needed rain last week. They were calling for it all weekend, then changed the forecast. I really have to check and see what it says for this week. We still have that big garden bed to do, but we are taking it one step at a time, and had a very busy week last week, along with the rain. Our current preoccupation is with wildlife. We had a raccoon getting into our bird feeders, so removed most of them. After a few weeks, we can try them again. They have never been a huge problem when we approach it this way, but they will check back for a while so we are trying to make sure they forget about it. We still have saflower seed out, as they don't seem to like it. Then there are wo baby woodchucks living in the retainer rock wall in the driveway. I try to leave them be as long as it isn't problematic, but they decided to mow down some new plantings, and we weren't too happy. I really don't want anything to happen to them, and our road is busy. We live next to a wooded area so I am hoping that if they don't get too comfortable, they will relocate. They lost their parent earlier this year when it tried to cross the road so it just isn't a good place for them to live anyway. I tried red pepper flakes around the plants. That did not work. I put some lavender out yesterday. We will see. I spent some time taking pictures of possible accessories for the dresses I have chosen so far. That is always a fun thing for me. While I had no choice but to get some new clothing due to weight, I also have some older things that still fit in the mix, and my jewelry collection is rather extensive, so I'm just pairing up different things. It is amazing how you can change the look of something so easily by just changing the footwear and jewelry. I plan to use layout and put some things together, and I'll post later today or early this week. I love to get ideas from all of you, and have someone to share with. I am looking at options for the dresses I haven't selected from yet as well, as sometimes that helps the process. I will say this: one dress that is going for sure (the orange tulip hem dress) and one of the maybe dresses (purple Chico's dress) have been difficult for me to figure out. The orange dress is probably the most casual dress I have brought along, which in itself isn't an issue. I think the deal is that I was thinking that some of my choices look weird next to my husband's tropical print shirt. I am not 100% sure, but I think this is the first ever print shirt he has worn on a cruise. The purple dress is just hard to figure out. We have such a beautiful day today that my husband is doing a lot of puttering outside and in the garage. The garage is his happy place, and the Humira seems to be helping so much. He is getting around well and is feeling so much better than he was. I am very curious to see if this helps with all the issues from the RA or just some of them. Grout can be tough to clean. The group in my bathroom we purposely chose as a beige like tone. It created contrast with the white tile while helping with the fact that grout is so hard to clean. There are two things that have worked for me. One is Clorox all purpose cleaner with bleach. The bleach smell is pretty strong, but it does a good job. I spray it on rather heavily, and leave it for a bit. For a floor, I will often use a somewhat soft bristled scrub brush to go over it, but that is mostly to be able to get into the grout area well. For my shower, I just rinse it with water. I spray the shower walls every other day after a shower and it seems to stay clean that way. I have heard a lot about using vinegar, as Melody suggested. Also using a hydrogen peroxide mixture as well.

Anita, I think my current seats have some of the same type of fabric. It is a leather look. I can't say I really see or feel a difference, but the center of the seat is cloth, and everything sticks to it. One of my dogs is white, and we put him in a crate in the back seat when taking him to the vet. I ended up with dog hair all over and it has taken forever (furever?) to get off the cloth part. The other part is very convincing - it looks and performs like leather. My husband's truck is a 2012, and has leather. The seats are a bit cracked here and there, but he is the type that really babies his vehicle, so it always shines and the interior is always taken care of. He has ventilated seats. That is a nice feature when it is warm out. We don't have a whole lot going on this weekend other than household chores. I have laundry going, and my husband is mowing. Initially, they were calling for rain all weekend so we made plans to take my husband to his favorite local restaurant tomorrow for linner. (that time between lunch and dinner) I wanted to do a cookout for him with my daughters, but then the forecast changed my mind. Plus, I cook out a lot all summer, so it didn't seem quite as special to do. We did get him a watch. He LOVES watches, and he broke two of his favorites recently. With one it is just the band so I will get a new band for that, but the other stopped working. Monday, we may work on the light fixtures because we still haven't gotten to that! Other than one year as a teller, my job has always been a desk job. I'm used to it, so I am not really bothered by that part. Wearing a Fitbit reminds me to move all the time, and since I am on the third floor, I find myself making multiple trips to different floors all day. I used to combine trips and just drop things off once, but now I will often stop down and speak to someone in person rather than send an email, just for the option to move around.

Melody, your yard is looking great! Anita, going back to work and the interview process is a pretty big deal! We expanded our department a bit, along with the employment situation brought on by Covid. I have performed so many interviews that I don't want to ever do another one! I would not be exaggerating if I said I've done 50 over the past two to two and a half years. That number might even be too low. One rule of thumb that I have is that I want to see someone who is genuine and easy to talk to. Dynamics are so important. I expect to see them wear what is appropriate for their position when they apply, preferably a little bit nicer even. From what you were mentioning, it sounds like it might be a more artistic field so that may be easier. Good luck with everything!! You want to hear something funny, Anita? I won't buy a car with a cloth interior. I had one and I felt like I had to constantly shampoo the seats. My next vehicle had leather by chance, and everything just wiped off with those Armor All Leather Wipes. I was sold after that. My current car is a lease, and my previous one was also. I had hardly nothing to choose from but I had to have a car. They told me there was one in transit, and it would be there within a month. It turned out to have all the features I wanted, but leather. It does have fake leather combined with cloth,so I went with it. I talk all the time about how I want to buy a vehicle instead of leasing. I can buy this car. I keep debating because it doesn't have full leather, lol. My thought was that the next car I buy is going to be held on to for very long time, since I didn't want car payments when I retire.

There are a lot of good features on newer cars. I find that we really embrace warmer weather here, because we do have four distinct seasons. My car has the sun roof/moon roof combo, and if it is cool, I at least move the cover back to let the sunshine in. If it is warm though, being able to open that up just feels so invigorating. My car is a lease, but I do plan on purchasing it. I really like it. It is a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. We finally got a little bit of rain! It wasn't a ton, but it was a steady rain this morning for about an hour and half. The plants and grass needed a drink. We are going to get more Monday, so that is good. If we keep getting some rain off and on, it will be a good time to work on the last garden. It has been so dry that with heavier clay soil, it's like a rock. It makes it very difficult to work with. We have finally figured out what we are going to do there, so it should be really nice when done. I'll share pictures. I still have alllllll my dresses hanging up in my room, lol. Since final payment was due, I feel like it is totally justified to fuss over my outfits, lol. Seriously though, I have not really figured out the last two dresses. It's funny, because I sometimes realize that we have underlying reasons for our choices that don't always stand out. For example, the orange dress is really going solely for the reason that my husband plans to wear that fun, tropical print Syracuse shirt. He has a thing about wearing Syracuse shirts on the cruise during the day, and this was a fun option for a casual night. (most likely tropical night, since he doesn't really wear printed shirts) It was just such a fun idea to wear something that coordinates, and that matches the casualness overall. At the same time, if he wears that on tropical night, I'll be pretty disappointed if I'm not wearing one of my fun tropical dresses, you know? Nevertheless, I got to thinking that while I love the dress and would definitely wear it on a cruise, I probably would not have made it an instant "yes" if it wasn't for the matching thing. I really am focused on having fun with my choices, and really going with what feels good. My burgundy formal night dress was chosen for two reasons: it fits, and my husband likes it. I won't lie - I like it. I don't love it. Maybe I just need to try it on with some sandals and get excited about it. Off to do laundry! We may run a few errands, and work on replacing those light fixtures today.

Melody, your overall cost makes more sense now. I have nothing to tear down. My deck would only be about a foot off the ground, ad we would like a wrap around stair. We would rather go the route of a patio, but we have a very large, old tree with roots that have been coming to the surface. It is too close to wear the patio would be and would create a lot of havoc. With a deck, it is easier for us to work around. We have a front porch which I like a lot, but it is not deep enough for us to use as much as I would like. The sun and rain still get you, and there is street traffic. Plus, my dogs only go outside in the backyard because it is fenced in. We can take them out on leashes in the front, but they get so stressed by not being able to wander. Often, my husband and I will talk about a dream project, and compare notes. We try to decide what is most important to us, and then work on creating a project that fits our budget and checks off a few wish list items. We feel a nice big deck, where we can add a gazebo or pergola over the part closest to the house would be ideal. We would probably do this in stages, with the deck first, then some sort of cover over part of it, then furniture. We can use it before we get to the furniture part, as we do have items that would work for now. In New York winters, you need to do something with the furniture in the winter. In our area, people who have a covered deck move everything to the center under the roofed area, and use tarps and furniture covers to protect it. If we don't do that, then we have to find a place to put away all that stuff. We are very focused on the low maintenance stuff. I love to putter outside and I know I will be doing that when I retire as well as my husband, but we cannot due what we used to, and we will be able to do less over time. Side note: the first dose of Humira went well, an he is feeling pretty good! If this works even fairly well, it will be a game changer for him. Our air quality is getting better as the smoke moves out of the area. The smoke is still here, but you can see well and your eyes don't burn as much. It is also cooler and we are getting a few showers off and on. We need the rain really badly! We have indoor projects too, and with my husband feeling a little better, it makes it easier for us. We have two new light fixtures we will be installing soon, and two new ones to purchase. We still plan to do the batten and board in the den, and we are working on the layout now. We will be using MDF - it paints beautifully, and you can even have Home Depot make the cuts for you. Nothing like convenience! We are finding time for fun things too. At random on Memorial Day, my husband drove to Anyela's Winery. It is stunning there. They have a lovely chacuterie board we enjoyed along with wine. Well, my husband had water. He can't drink with his medication. He did sip one or two of my samples, but that was it.

You're in North Carolina, right? Yes, this is really yucky. My house is pretty air tight, but work isn't. We have a storage area that is part of our floor and it is cement block. There are small vents in there as well, with just some screening over them. I think that is why it has been so hard to work. It is supposed to be better for us tomorrow. Hopefully, it will pass quickly in your area too. Stay safe!!! Melody, we were planning a 20 x 20 deck about three years ago, and it was $12,000. I don't know what the estimate would be now but I'd like to get an update.

Air quality is at 391...was at 402...this awful. Melody, that is great! It must feel do good toget around.

Thank you for the suggestions! I will look at those. Melody, your deck is beautiful. We have no deck or patio and it's been a huge item on the top of my list for a while. My husband thinks he will feel better, and have his friends help. They have done beautiful work, but they are busy and my husband's health is a bit up and down. I also want a composite. We were a bit surprised with the estimate we got three years ago, and I'm sure it's way more now. I'm going to try and convince him to do this next year. Fingers crossed! Well, we are right in the midst of the wildfire smoke. It is recommended that we stay indoors. I have never experienced this before. I never knew how bad the smoke would be, I just figured it would be hazy. It's like being close to a campfire.

Now that you mention it, I think my sister gave me a package of those! I will have to try those. Are they hard to use? It looks like they might be tricky to attach behind your back.

Hi all. Has anyone found a racerback or convertible bra they like? Soma used to carry a few bras where I could cross the straps but they discontinued them. I really like them for some of my sleeveless dresses and tops. I have a lot of trouble with straps showing and falling down.

As you can tell, I have some figuring out to do. In the first picture, the first three dresses are definite. I know that in the second picture, I want to bring the orange dress once I take it in. To be honest, the orange dress is more about the color. My husband and I often do not match, because we wear what appeals to us. He is wearing a certain shirt and that dress will work perfectly with him wearing his shirt. I really want to bring the tropical dress that is first in the second picture as well. I wore that on the last cruise, but didn't get a picture because it was the last night. Technically, all the others could be changed around. Comfort is more important to me than it used to be, but all the remaining dresses are comfortable. The blue one probably requires a bit more fussing such as a shaper underneath, but I really feel good in that dress.