A Christmas Eve two-fer

This may be one of my favorite outfits of the year so far. I don't know why I don't do this more often: just put on a bunch of my favorite things all at once, and see what happens... I wore this for a raucous family breakfast at a local diner to celebrate some Christmas Eve birthdays. I loved the outfit, even if one family member (who shall remain nameless) asked about the "raccoon hanging around my neck."

Fur-trimmed sweater vest: Macy's

Long-sleeved brown v-neck shirt: Kohls

Skinny jeans: Lauren Conrad

Brown boots: Target

Rhinestone star-drop necklace: vintage

Where: family breakfast out, lots of cooking.

I swear, this outfit looked a lot better in person. What a terrible photo! Anyhow, I was going for something out of White Christmas. Full skirt, tightish (although mine is getting a little baggy) fur-trimmed sweater... I wore this to a Christmas Eve/birthday dinner at my parents' house. But I had to leave right after dinner (and before cake!) to get my son home for bed... there was a serious over-tired meltdown brewing! Ah, a mother's social life...

Fur-trimmed cardigan: H&M

Beige sweater shell underneath: Liz Claiborne

Wool skirt: thrifted

Grey ruffled wedge boots: Kohls (see them better here)

Rhinestone star-drop necklace: vintage

Where: Christmas Eve/birthday dinner at my parents' house.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

In which I come perilously close to breaking my own rules

So, I have very few rules for myself when it comes to clothing. The white-after-Labor-Day rule? Nah. Open-toed shoes in the winter? Nope. Mixing black with brown or navy? Sure, why not.

But there is one rule I have. And it is this: Leggings are not pants. I don't care how awesome your butt looks or how thin your thighs are. Please, for the love of all that is good in the world, please don't put on a pair of leggings and a short shirt and call it a day.

It's true, I love leggings. So comfortable and so versatile... and they make dresses so much more wearable when you spend your days chasing children, as I do. But I always, always wear something long over them. Like this sweater. Which - as I'm looking at the photo above - seems to have gotten shorter and shorter in the time that I've owned it. We're now hovering precariously atop that mid-thigh cutoff area, above which it is quite likely I am flashing everyone in town, each time I buckle my son into his carseat...

Sweaterdress: Old Navy

Blue t-shirt: Old Navy

Dark grey leggings: Kohls

Black boots: Target

Studded watch: Mudd

Studded bracelet: Baked Beads

Where: Preschool, shopping mall, photo store, craft store, liquor store, preschool again, tons of work at home.

Re-entry

Action Tuesday. It's safe to say that re-entry from a vacation is no fun — especially when you are re-entering during the week before Christmas. Thankfully I got the bulk of my Christmas prep done before we left - cards mailed, gifts purchased if not wrapped. So this week is primarily spent batting cleanup on my Christmas list. Oh, and the wrapping. So very much wrapping yet to come...

Grey metallic "inside-out" sweater: DKNY

White v-neck t-shirt: Kohls

Jeans: Lauren Conrad bootcut in "huckleberry"

Black harness boots: Target

Snowflake necklace: gift from my mom, rechained

Where: Preschool dropoff, eye doctor, then staggering around half-blind with my eyes dilated. Work at home, preschool pickup, gymnastics class, tons of errands.

In which I give next to no thought to clothes

Hello! I'm back. We spent a week in that east-coast mecca of kid paradise, Disneyworld. It was pretty awesome. And while I was there, I wore pretty much the same outfit every day: long shorts, tevas, v-neck t-shirt, cardigan. Just in different colors. It was the most functional, appropriate outfit possible, if not very fashion-forward. But perfect for tons of walking, going on safari, a few rollercoasters and meeting Mickey. Needless to say, I was not dressed as well as Kasmira on her trips there.

I did manage to take a few photos during the week. This (despite the unfortunate angle) was my traveling outfit. Pretty basic, tee and jeans with a light wool cardigan for the plane. I wore pretty much the same thing on the way back, just with a purple tee and animal-print scarf.

Ruffled wool cardigan: Marshalls

Yellow v-neck t-shirt: Kohls

Jeans: Calvin Klein lean bootcut

Brown harness boots: White Mountain

Sunflower yellow scarf: F21

Brown studded belt: Gap, thrifted

Yellow rubber watch: swag from my husband's old job

I did manage to get semi-gussied up for dinner one night, to get roared at by dinosaurs. This is a slight modification on the outfit I wore last summer that got so much love here. It worked out well until my son wiped his mouth on my jacket sleeve.

Striped top: French Connection

Coral linen shorts: Gap

White short-sleeve denim jacket: CAbi

Silver and brown wedge sandals: Target

Short Sleeves...in the Winter...in the Northeast...

I work in an old building with the worst temperature regulating capabilities in the whole entire world. Yes, really. I checked. I am either so cold that a wrap myself in a blanket and hat or I pull out my bathing suit that I keep in my file cabinet when the heater does not realize that I really do mean 68 on the thermostat and not 90. Okay not really. A hat is overkill. Today's outfit is a compromise. At least I think it is.

The Wear:

Sweater: Banana Republic

Dress: Calvin Klein

Tights: Merona

Boots: White Mountain (I almost wrote White Castle which is awesome.)

The Where:

Work, the young one's holiday party where they will attempt to get a bunch of toddlers and preschoolers to sing songs in unison (oy vey), and home.

HAPPY FESTIVUS FOR THE REST OF US!