Spring Dresses Wishlist From Modcloth

Spring is in the air, and so are all the pretty new floral dresses!  Of course, Modcloth is my most favorite site for shopping, and I have tons of favorites!  In no particular order here are five of my favorite Modcloth dresses for the season:

Just In Timeless Dress in Blossoms

In the Early Morning Flowers Dress

Wing the Blues Dress

The Show Must Glow On Dress

Green House Grandeur Dress

Happy spring shopping everyone!  And have a great day today!

Grab Bag of Goodies #2

Good morning!  It is a lovely day today!  I got another bag of goodies from my mom today!  As I've told you before, she is constantly going through her things and passing them on to me.  I just like to share to show you that you can find fashionable items from all over the place!

Pretty pale pink sweater.  I love the delicate lace at the collar!

Zany, wild, and crazy abstract zebra print jacket.  I can picture wearing this over a dress, sheath, or a skirt.  I'm trying to picture a print I could wear this with.

A basic sage green pencil skirt.  I can picture this going with lots of things.  :)

So, there you have it!  Find fashion possibilities anywhere - don't count out clothes, and always try things on - you might be surprised at what you like and what you decide to keep!  And of course, have fun!

A Fiesta, A Field Day, A Fling... It's Spring! In Yellows and Purples

Good morning everyone!  So, it was beautiful when I planned this outfit - the entire week had been reaching the 40's and 50's!  That is extremely warm for around here in these western mountain states at this time of year - and so I was ready for spring.  Of course, the day I wore this outfit it had to snow again!

I love bright florals and colors in the spring, and I love pastels too.  So, I thought, why not combine all three?

What you need:

Floral Skirt

Choose one color in your skirt and find a pastel blouse to go with it

Choose another color in your skirt and add a cardigan

Vintage Floral Necklace

I love that I found these shoes from Modcloth that absolutely match the color and flowers in my skirt!

My vintage ring that looks like a hat.  :)  Love!

Blouse:  Modcloth (Similar)

Skirt:  Modcloth Ikebana For All Skirt in Floral

Cardigan:  Modcloth Charter School Cardigan in Orchid

Shoes:  Modcloth

Necklace:  Vintage:  eBay

Ring:  Vintage:  Local Boutique - Sylvia's

Hair Flower:  Gift from a friend

Modcloth Wish List - Full Skirts - Spring 2015

Here are my top 5 skirts that I have on my wish list for spring from Modcloth!  In no particular order...

Magnificence in Motion Skirt

Only a Flatter of Time Skirt

Watercolor the World Skirt

Freewheeling Whimsy Skirt

Greenhouse Grandeur Skirt

What do you love for this spring?   What style are you going to try this season?  What new trend are you planning on trying?  

For vintage style dressin' girls out there - we know that that style never goes out of fashion.  :)

“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.”

― Coco Chanel

The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale - Book Review

My second grader is not a very confident reader.  She is very good at reading, but words and letters sometimes get jumbled up in her mind.  So, I am always on the look out for books that she will enjoy.  She is not quite ready to read longer chapter books because those are "scary" to her.  So this book seemed to fit the bill - longer reading sections, with lots of pictures, and short chapters to break it up.

Final verdict:  success!  She loved reading this book.  She loved it so much that she read the whole book in one night.  She then proceeded to read it out loud to me over the course of a week or so.  She loved Princess Magnolia and the Big Blue Monster.  We both loved the adorable illustrations - which had a fun vintage feel to them.  I also loved that a princess could be the super hero and save the day - what a great message for our young ladies!

All in all I would give this book and story 4 out of 5 stars!

And I hope that Shannon Hale writes more Black Princess adventures - we will read them all.  :)

Recommended for:  Kindergarten - 2nd grade

Reading level:  1st and 2nd grade

(I was not asked to write this review - I am just reviewing this because my daughter loved the book so much, and I wanted to share our experience with other families out there.)

Buy it here on Amazon

K12 Science Week - 4th Grade Unit Ten / Kindergarten Unit 7 - Dinosaurs and Measurements

I decided to try and combine grades and lessons this week to try and do more classes together with my chickadees.  They are always doing their own things by themselves, and I am not sure that I like that aspect of K12.  I see other family homeschools where they do family projects, and so I wanted to try it.

I do realize grade level understanding and attention span are different for each child - so I did take that into consideration.  My second grader is so far ahead in science - I had her just sit in on my 4th grader's science lesson.  For my Kinder student I had him measuring using dinosaur feet and his own feet.  We talked about Length and height comparing himself to dinosaurs.  We also talked about heavy and light, how much something holds, and hot and cold using dinosaurs.

We combined his science with his math lessons going over the same things.  We even did story problems comparing dinosaur's feet etc.

For my 2nd grader and 4th grader we learned about the layers of the earth.

So we made 3 different layers of sand and beans.

We put them in a small rectangular bowl and watched as the layers of sand fell and mixed together.  We learned the oldest layer is usually on the bottom and the newer layer is usually on the top.

Next we learned about fossils.  We took clay, and put petroleum jelly on shells.  We made a mold fossil in the clay.  We mixed up plaster of paris and poured it into our molds.

We let it dry for 30 minutes.

When we popped them out- we had beautiful cast fossils.  All 4 chickadees did this activity together.  They all enjoyed it  very much.

We made a really fun diagram illustrating how fossils form.  We learned that when a dinosaur dies it settles down on the bottom of the seabed or ground.  We decided this dinosaur fell into a lake.  Over time sediment forms over the dinosaur until it is buried.  The sediment is slowly turned into sedimentary rocks.  Years go by and water slowly seeps through the ground and brings with it minerals and chemicals that turn the bones into hardened fossils.  

As the days passed it was neat to see what had happened to our bean experiment.  We applied it to the sediment crushing together at the bottom - making sedimentary rocks.  We also talked how the beans could represent the layers changing, or even flipping over making the newest layer be the bottom layer, and the oldest layer being the top layer.

We also read Come Learn With Me:  What Fossils Tell Us found here on Amazon.

This book is very interesting, however it is heavy into evolution.  So, for us, we just looked at and read the factual science parts, and we discussed why the theory of evolution is just a theory.

So, that was our science week this week!  What projects did you do for this unit?  Any other suggestions for other projects or books we could read?  Thanks!  And have a great rest if the weekend!

Velvet and Pearls - Quick and Easy Outfit Ideas

Good morning friends!  Here is a new outfit idea for you to try!  Pick a jacket and a skirt that are monochromatic:  (That means in the same color family).  Blues, Greens, Yellows, Pinks, whatever color you enjoy.  Add a floral blouse underneath!  Don't forget to accessorize:  earrings, necklace, rings, bracelets, belts, shoes - that is the easiest way to dress up your outfit.

What you need:

Jacket:  Pick a dark color

Skirt:  Pick a light color in the same family as your jacket.

Blouse:  Floral

Opt:  Belt, Heels, Necklace, Earrings.

Pearl dangle earrings that I have owned since elementary school days!  Pearl necklace:  gift from my aunt.

Jacket:  Old - from Modcloth Similar

Blouse:  Old - from Modcloth Similar

Skirt:  Gift from Aunt Similar

Shoes:  Old - from Shoedazzle Similar

Belt:  Thrifted - eBay

Necklace: Gift

Earrings: Old - Gift

K12 2nd Grade History Review: Unit 10: The Feudal World / Medieval Times

My daughter in 2nd grade studied Unit 10:  The Feudal World last week in school.  Here are the activities we did to accomplish this goal!

We learned about Castles - so I had Chickadee #2 design her own castle.

She also made a castle scene with a King, Nobles, Knights, and Serfs.

She built her own castle out of blocks.

She also built her own catapult.  We did not use the K12 catapult - as it was very weird and complicated.  We found our own here:

 Catapult Design

She lay siege to her castle!  I love this picture - the block is flying through the air!  The other kids all needed to build a catapult as well - and they played with the blocks for at least an hour.  They dug them out the next day as well to start playing again.

I believe that kids learn by doing - not sitting in front of a computer screen.  I also believe kids remember the activities they do in school and not  the essays they write, or the books they read.

When learning about the lives of knights, I had her design her own shield.  Hers has a mighty cat on it!

We read Knights in Shining Armor by Gail Gibbons, and then watched A Knight's Tale!  (This movie is PG-13, and you would need to decide if it is appropriate for you family to watch.)  We did have to fast forward two scenes in this movie that were not appropriate for our younger viewers.  However, the rest of the movie shows what we were learning in school about knights, and makes it come alive!

We also read about the legend of Saint George in Saint George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges and I also looked up a printable coloring page here:

St George and the Dragon Coloring Page

For the last lesson on the Cathedral she made a stained glass window using wax paper and black construction paper.  I cut out a "window" for her, and taped down wax paper to the edges.  She made a scene with tissue paper.  Then I put another layer of wax paper on top.

Really fun unit this week!  It was enjoyed by us all!

Stitch Fix Review - Fix #1

Good evening friends!  I  stumbled across a Kindergarten blog the other day - and she was raving about this website called Stitch Fix.  I am almost always in the mood for clothes, so I decided to look into it, because it sounded too good to be true.  And you know, if it sounds to good to be true, it usually is.

What they promise:  for a $20.00 styling fee you get a personalized stylist who sends you five different outfits, or accessories to try out.  You can pick out when they send it to you, how often, or even not at all.  It's not a subscription service, or a fix-of-the month club, so you can basically have a "fix" as much or as little as you like (up to every two weeks now).

You go onto the website, fill out a personalized survey - basically picking outfits you like, or dislike.  Then you get to tell them what kind of clothing you like and at what price.  They gather all sorts of information on you.  It takes about 10 minutes and it is kind of fun.

Now, I have tried other "personalized" websites in the past:  Shoedazzle, Just Fab, etc, just to name a few.  Is it personalized?  No, of course not.  All of your responses are read by a computer, and you are given generic "showrooms" every month that are just like everyone else's.  So, I was highly skeptical about the "personalized" stylist bit.

But I decided to try it.  The clothes this blogger got seemed stylish and cute, and she seemed to really enjoy the service.  And I figured even if I waste my time doing this is was only $20.00, and I would never order another "fix."  

The long awaited day arrived, today!  I opened up my package and a beautiful stack of clothes all wrapped up in tissue with a sticker on top looked back at me.  The excitement started to mount.

I received this lovely card from my stylist:  Brittany.  Low and behold - it really was to ME.  How did I know?  Well, I had told them in my notes that we were planning a vacation to the S.Western U.S. in the coming weeks and would like something fun to wear.  I also gave them my blog link so they could see my style.  Low and behold, Brittany actually knew about my vacation, and she actually looked at my blog!  She knew that I love to belt things, and mentions it in my note!  

I couldn't believe it.  How awesome was that?  I actually had my own person stylist.  And they had actually read my message.  And they had actually looked at my blog.  And they had actually noticed something about my style.  That alone was fun enough!

In your Stitch Fix box, you have a style card for each outfit they send, helping you see how to style your outfits.  They also include instructions:  try everything on.  Even if you don't think you will like it.  Try things on with things you already own in your wardrobe.  They give you three days to check things out in your own home, with your own things, without the stress of going to a shopping mall, and without the stress of having to decide to impulse buy.

So... without further ado... here is what I got on my first fix. (Pictures are not the best, just trying to show them as I tried them on.  They are not meant to be styled pictures.)

A really cute floral dress with a unique neckline.  But a little short, as I prefer things to be at my knee.  Most likely going back.

An amazing gray "leather" moto jacket.  I have been wanting one of these for ages!  But I loved the gray color - so different from the black I usually see!  Plus I love the hard and soft of putting the jacket with a floral skirt.  I was so excited about this one.  Plus, it is so soft.  I can see myself wearing this one a lot.

Jeans?  Jeans!  Ah jeans!  I haven't bought a new pair of jeans for a very long time.  So - this was an unexpected pleasant surprise.

A really cute black and white heart blouse.  With a cute v-peep.

OK.  I am so in love with the blouse - it is so versatile!  I can even wear it with the gray jacket!  Plus, I haven't gotten new jeans in forever... I think I need to keep these.  They are so comfortable and I think they look pretty good.

The last piece was a gray and lemon yellow knit pencil skit.  I didn't think I would like this one at all.

I tried it with the heart blouse, as well as a lace tank and gray jacket.  Oh how it grew on me.  I really really wanted to keep it!  But I decided that it was a little too short, plus I didn't think I would wear it enough to justify keeping it for the cost...

The final verdict:

Jacket:  KEEP!

Heart Blouse:  KEEP!

Jeans:  KEEP!

Dress:  Return

Skirt:  Return

Speaking of the cost, if you keep anything the $20.00 styling fee is deducted from your cost, so you are really not loosing any money.  Plus... and this is a big awesome plus!!... if you keep your entire order you get an amazing 25% deduction from your cost!  I was so tempted to keep all five items just to get that deduction!  That is how low the price was for these items!  If I would have been in love with the skirt a little bit more, and if the dress wouldn't have been quite so expensive, I probably would have kept it all, and sold the dress on eBay.

So, final thoughts:  I am so in love!  It was so much fun getting a personalized box full of goodies to try on without going to the mall.  With 5 little chickadees running around, I seriously do not have time to go shopping anymore, other than if it is online, at night, when everyone is asleep.  Not only do I not have time, do you know how unfun it is trying to shop with 5 little chickadees?  

It was so fun trying things on in the comfort of my own home, with no pressure to make a snap decision.  All these clothes were mine, and I had 3 days to decide what to keep and what to return.  I loved that I could mix and match them with clothes I already owned.  I loved that I didn't have to make a impulse buy.  What I know about myself is:  when I make impulse buys, I usually regret it, and I hardly ever wear what I buy.  I need time to think about it.

The stylist really does listen to you, and read about you.  You really do have a personalized stylist.  

This is just so much fun, and I would highly recommend it to everyone!  Here is a personalized link:

Stitch Fix Referall

Have fun, and let me know if you decide to have a "Stitch Fix!"